Being able to keep the Hunter behind is a good thing to celebrate for Leah and for Blackstone Collar.

And Linda is about to have a qualified teacher.

......

It was almost afternoon, Qin Song and Alice were still busy in the hut, after a day of hard work, countless modifications and adjustments, a simple steel drilling machine about one meter long and a small simple milling machine half a meter long, finally completed.

Brackets, slide rails, fixtures, hand-pulled drill bits, there are seven kinds of drill bits alone, with different diameters. Although there is no such high-end component as a bearing, the overall design is reasonable, enough to drill a standard steel pipe, at least in this era, the accuracy is unmatched.

Of course, the development work was not all smooth sailing. The larger the diameter of the steel pipe, the more difficult it is to make because of the driving problem.

Originally a hand-drawn drill bit, it was plasticized by Alice to make steel pipes with a diameter of about 2-3 cm. As the diameter increases, the efficiency of the hand drawn drill begins to plummet. A steel pipe of more than five centimeters and a huge drill bit can only be drilled into slowly under the combined force of Qin Song and Alice.

The key reason is that Alice's plasticizing ability cannot make the strength of the steel pipe too low, otherwise the pipe body will be deformed under the impact of the drill bit. But it can't be too high, too high to drill, and with the passage of time, the strength of the pipe body continues to recover, and sometimes even the drill bit is stuck in it.

In the end, after many efforts, the only large-diameter finished steel pipe was a steel pipe with a diameter of about 5 centimeters and a length of nearly one meter.

Qin Song stroked the shiny metal tube, the joy on his face was overflowing, the caliber and length, as long as the shell was properly designed, it was a deadly weapon that transcended the times.

"Whew. Alice wiped the fine beads of sweat on her face, in order to drill out this steel pipe, she had a lot of strength, and her shoulders were sore: "Qin, is this kind of pipe the weapon you said?"

"It's still too small. In Qin Song's imagination, a super-large caliber is the true meaning of a cannon. 5 cm, which is equivalent to a 50 mm caliber, even a mortar, is light: "But barely, it's enough." ”

"Uh, is it bigger?" Alice stuck out her tongue, "Maybe we can ask Linda to help, she's stronger than the two of us combined." ”

"Alice, why do you want to ask for help from others?" Qin Song smiled and shook his head: "Knowledge is power. ”

Alice wanted to ask again, but Qin Song put down the steel pipe: "Tired, aren't you?" Let's go out and rest and drink some water." ”

"Oh. Alice's divine power had just been used up, and she was indeed very tired mentally, so she nodded obediently.

After adding some water to the soup pot from the water tank, Qin Song lit the bonfire below, then moved a wooden bench and sat in the shade of the stone house, quietly not speaking.

Alice sat quietly beside him, still thinking about 'knowledge is power'. After a long while, I couldn't help but be curious, and asked in a low voice, "Qin, do you mean that knowledge can replace us?"

"Not a replacement, but transcendence. ”

"Beyond?" Alice didn't have any doubts: "Beyond human power?"

"Including Linda's strength. ”

Alice became more and more curious: "What kind of knowledge is that?" ”

Qin Song turned his head, the light in his eyes jumped, and he said slowly: "Wait." ”

"Uh...... Wait? Okay. ”

Gradually, the water in the soup pot began to emit white water vapor, and Qin Song added some firewood to make the fire burn more vigorously. It didn't take long for the water to boil and steam to come out.

"Alice, what do you see?" Qin Song looked at the soup pot with a smile.

Alice was stunned for a moment, her expression was confused, and she said tentatively: "The scorching heat of the fire makes the water boil. ”

"That's knowledge, Alice. Qin Song nodded: "Knowledge - exists in nature, exists around you." Boiling water is knowledge. ”

"Uh......" Alice's brows twisted together, "That, knowledge—boiling water?"

"That's right!" Qin Song stood up, found a wooden plank and walked over, covered the soup pot, and then sat down again, continuing to be silent and not speaking.

Alice stared at the plank as white vapor began to gush out of the cracks in the edges, and the plank continued to tremble.

"Alice, what do you see?"

Qin Song asked again, Alice pondered it carefully, and said slowly, "The moisture makes the lid jump." ”

The corners of Qin Song's mouth hooked up: "Yes, as you can see, this shows that even if it is water vapor, it has its own power." It looks weak, right? But what happens if you seal everything around, no matter how weak the force is, after continuous accumulation?"

"The power of water vapor is constantly accumulating. Alice thought for a moment, and some inspiration seemed to be sprouting in her head: "Will lift the lid!"

"That's the power of boiling water. If we had a large enough soup pot, even a stone slab would not be able to stop the power of water vapor. ”

"Qin, you mean to say. Alice's brows furrowed: "We can use the power of water vapor, right? But I don't understand, how can we use this power? Can this power of water really surpass people, even Linda?"

"Knowledge will unravel the mystery. Qin Song stood up, lifted the wooden board on the soup pot, and the water vapor that had been accumulated for a long time erupted: "Alice, nature is the real power. As the gods say, there is wonderful knowledge in all that He has created, and we will uncover the true face of knowledge under His wisdom. ”

"Is there the power to boil water?" Alice's heart rose with anticipation, "what kind of power would that be?"

Qin Song smiled and filled the enamel wine glass with hot water: "Rest, take a break." ”

Holding the hot wine glass in her hand, Alice touched the hot air with her hand, and turned her head to see Qin Song's graceful side face, he blew the hot air gently, looking so calm, full of wisdom and calm.

Alice has a little like the feeling of being with him, cooperating tacitly, listening to his wisdom, or just quietly staying by his side.

Away from the castle, away from the hustle and bustle, away from those troublesome trivialities, wander in the ocean of knowledge with him.

Wonderful and cozy.

The power problem is the foundation of industry, and now it relies on Alice's divine power, but when it comes to mass production, her divine power is far from sufficient.

It's time to make a real artifact - a steam engine.

After drinking the hot water, the divine power in Alice's body has almost recovered. Qin Song put down his wine glass and said with a smile: "Alice, are you ready to uncover the mystery with your own hands?"

Alice's eyes flashed with excitement, and she said sweetly, "Ready!"

"Since we are knowledgeable about boiling water, the first thing we do is to make the utensils for boiling water—pots and stoves. ”

"Pots and stoves?"

"The combination of the two is the only way to improve efficiency. ”

"Understood!"

The difficulty of the steam engine lies in the cylinders and pistons, which require high precision. The requirement of the boiler is sealing, and the accuracy requirement is negligible.

"Come, let's make a big iron sheet first. ”

Alice's plasticizing ability is simply an industrial manufacturing artifact, integrating forging, cutting, welding and other functions, including the seams at the joints, which can be perfectly smoothed and integrated.

Soon, a large vat made of large iron sheets was made, and the bottom plate of the water tank was set near the bottom, the upper part was sealed with a conical lid, and the lower part of the furnace opened a square mouth and chimney to serve as a combustion chamber.

In this way, a simplified version of the boiler was built.

"Qin, I kind of understand. Alice looked at the boiler, which was almost as tall as hers, "We're going to seal the water in there, right?"

"Yes, but you can't keep it closed, otherwise it will have serious consequences. Qin Song patted the lid on the top of the boiler: "We have to set up an outlet for the water vapor before it can do work." ”

"Do the work?" Alice couldn't understand the meaning of the word.

"It's about making the water work. ”

"Let the water and gas work?"

This sounded even more unbelievable, and Alice was a little dizzy when she heard it, completely beyond people's imagination.

"Yes, so, we're going to make a place for water vapor to work. "The principle of the steam engine is very simple, there are countless handmade videos on the Internet, all kinds of 'foreign guys handmade mini steam engines', 'wooden boards make steam engines' and even 'cardboard making steam engines'.

"The cylinder used to hold the gas, or as it is called, is called a cylinder. ”