Accompanied by her "fiancé-to-be" Dussand, Lorraine and her parents meet in a glass gallery outside the ballroom. Dussand, who was in charge of accompanying him, received a showman's boo from the "mother-in-law-to-be" under the corridor for a while.

With the most appropriate way to cope and smile with the performance for a full two quarters of an hour, a layer of fine sweat behind Dussand's back was able to get out.

After bidding farewell to the Lorraine family, Dussaint swayed through the crowd before finally entering the ballroom. He couldn't wait to come and see this "invention" first.

"This is ...... 'the most important invention of our time'?" With the fact that he was the only son of Baroness Androni and that he had "the innate curiosity of a ten-year-old child", Dussaint was granted the right to take a look at the invention in the lounge of the ballroom.

In the center of the lounge, an iron table that is clearly different from the gorgeous environment style appears quite abruptly. On the table was a strange-looking metal artifact.

The upper part of the lump of metal is cylindrical, and four brass pipes are submerged on either side of the cylinder. The lower middle part of the metal is enclosed by a boxy iron box. On the outside of the box, there is a metal wheel about the size of a steam wheel.

The inventor of this strange creation stands at the table, ready to answer the visitors' questions.

"Yes, Mr. Lord." Although he was only ten years old when he was named Dussand, he was still referred to in the Imperial Code - only nobles with the title of baron or above could call him "Dear Little Dussand" or other more "intimate" names that would fit the status of a ten-year-old boy.

As the inventor of this machine, one of the few women in the entire empire with a high education in mechanical design, Polina, who had no aristocratic status, still had to call the little brown-haired boy in front of her "Lord", and also need to lift the hem of her skirt and bow her head in salute.

These little things don't matter to Polina, though. In fact, even the fact that she was forced to leave her studio in Orin forever and come to Newsar alone...... It's not that important.

She had been anxious that her invention would be financed by at least one or two nobles. Whether the other party sees the potential of the invention or something else about themselves......

Only when she received the grant could she continue to improve her invention.

Polina was convinced that her invention would change the world, and that it would go down in history forever, just as Wald had invented and improved the steam engine.

May the young lord be rightly aware of his ignorance, and not be as wanton as the great craftsmen of Orin are to denigrate his inventions.

She sighed inwardly, if the little lord was a little older, maybe she could use some other way to gain the favor of the other party.

Because he refused to admit defeat, he entered the field of mechanical design, which is "exclusive to men", but it turned out that he needed to rely on his body to gain recognition...... This tactic seemed to Polina to be a complete disgrace.

But in order to get funding, she simply didn't have anything to think about herself.

Polina's mental activity is wonderful, and Dussand's expression is wonderful.

"It looks like some kind of power plant." Dussander put his hands behind his back and carefully observed the "equipment" for a long time, and then suppressed his shock and asked his own question with a natural curious expression, "These brass pipes should be the fuel supply, right?" There are some traces of oxidation on the outside of the pipe, are you using some kind of fuel with a relatively high temperature? ”

Polina's originally gentle expression suddenly stiffened, and her eyes slowly widened.

"You've sealed the main moving parts with a black metal plate with hinges, surely to get a lot of amazement when the other Excellency dismissively points out, 'This is just a small steam engine.'" The idea is good, it's dramatic. ”

Dussander continued his analysis, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, as if he had seen the impending pretending slap in the face, and he continued, "In fact, the work of this power unit does not need to produce steam by heating water—the fuel fed in from the pipes expands rapidly through combustion inside the machine, which is the core power of its operation. ”

Polina's expression stiffened, and like an unlubricated robot, she slowly turned her head to look at Dussand, her lipstick lips opening and closing several times, but she couldn't say a word.

Dussaint didn't have the time to appreciate the other party's surprise at all, and he was indeed shocked by this product that suddenly appeared in front of him.

According to the history that Dussaint was studying before, the human tech tree in this world was completely different from the world in the previous life. An inventor named Wald invented and directly improved the steam engine. Subsequently, under the influence of this new power source, mankind quickly began the first industrial revolution - in the world's proper noun, this is called "the Great Revolution".

However, before the first industrial revolution caused enough socio-economic changes, a second huge discovery was made – the discovery of minerals that allowed objects to jump directly into space.

What exactly is this mineral, how does the space jump work, and how do people ensure that the direction and distance are correct when space jumping...... These problems were so tormented that Dusand couldn't sleep at night.

But he hasn't learned the relevant knowledge yet. Aristocratic families adopted a model of education for their children, which was attended by a tutor. All knowledge was transmitted through the tutor's dictation and board books – he couldn't even satisfy his curiosity by reading the textbook in advance.

In short, after the discovery of this mineral, mankind completed the first successful manned space jump in two decades, and quickly discovered dozens of habitable planets.

The rapid expansion of human living space has become the best weapon for alleviating social contradictions.

Under the moderate economic and social conditions, the demand for scientific and technological progress forced by the relations of production is no longer acute, and there is more space and resources anyway. Far from being quickly replaced by the need for miniaturization and quieter and more efficient, the steam engine continued to develop with great vigor for nearly three hundred years.

The great technicians with sufficient professional knowledge have basically been hired by the companies or nobles of various colonial stars to be applied talents with high salaries, and the improvement of the steam engine by human beings is basically in a state of minor repairs. Today's steam engines have been on the road to miniaturization for a long time, but progress has been extremely slow.

The basic concept of the external combustion engine has never been challenged.

The internal combustion engine, which was supposed to appear about a hundred years after the improvement of the steam engine, was two centuries late.

Now, it's in front of Dussand.

"So, what kind of fuel is this machine used for?" Dussaint reined in his divergent thoughts and refocused on the amazing machine in front of him. Internal combustion engines are naturally more efficient than external combustion engines and are more conducive to miniaturization than steam engines. At the same time, the noise is less, and the vibration when running is much smaller than that of a steam engine.

But the problem is that the internal combustion engine does not have the appetite for the steam engine. Almost all fuels can be used as a source of heat for a steam engine, but an internal combustion engine can only use a few specific fuels.

Although oil has been discovered by humans today, this fossil fuel has only been found on six colony planets. At the same time, the amount of "oil-based" matter produced by different colonies is also very different. At least on Newsar, the "oil" found is extremely viscous, almost as thick as bitumen.

Such a fuel is obviously not possible as an ideal source of heat for an internal combustion engine.

"We use gas." Talking about professional knowledge, Polina's nervousness has noticeably improved. "It's a toxic byproduct of coal mine excavation," she whispered. ”

Although it is not known why Lord Dussand, who is only ten years old, can recognize the internal combustion engine at a glance, let alone why he seems to know this kind of machine very well. But she explained that "the price of coal under the control of the mining consortium is too expensive, and if they can use the gas they don't need as fuel, the prospects for the development of such power equipment will be very good......

Dussander shook his head and said with a look of regret, "This machine has a lot of potential...... But alas, you're in Newsar right now. ”

Polina didn't quite understand what Dussander meant, and she stubbornly defended her invention, "I am very confident in my invention, and its potential is endless. ”

"There's nothing wrong with having a lot of potential, but if you want to get the minds of all the gentlemen at this ball...... Then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. Dussander frowned, "Your machine hasn't been experimentally running since you came to Newsar, has it?" ”

"Because there is no need, the time is too short, and I don't bring much gas......" Polina's voice sounded a little weak, and then she quickly added, "I have tried it many times when I was in Olin, and it works perfectly!" ”

"In Orin? Then it's no wonder. Dussaint smiled a smile that was very much in line with the image of a ten-year-old boy, "I can assure you that at Newsar, this machine will simply not be able to run continuously. Your invention will be the laughing stock of all nobles - its failure will cause great damage to your reputation, and the entire empire will henceforth recognize you as ......"

He paused, then saw the name tag engraved on the machine by Polina, and added, "...... Ms. Polina, is a complete liar and paranoid. ”

No matter how noble the status of this little lord in front of him is, it is absolutely unacceptable for any inventor to degrade the equipment he has invented with countless passions and energies.

Polina's lips were pale, and she was about to blast out the little boy who didn't understand anything but spoke wildly.

"But I can help you improve it." Dussander smiled and said, "Its future prospects are very bright, but first...... You need to know why this artwork can't work properly in Newsal. ”

Before the other party could question, Dusson first revealed a small part of the answer, "This is Newsar, a plateau planet with an average equivalent altitude of 2,400 yols. The average equivalent altitude of Orin is only twenty-seven yols, and such a machine can still function in Orin, but this is Nyusar. Your work may not even be able to sustain a successful cycle. ”

He spread his hands, "Didn't you feel a little strained to breathe when you came to Newsar?" ”