Hearing Hobert's question, Polant immediately said: "Many people have had such an idea, but no one has acted on it, because ......"

At this time, the light bulb on the other side of the generator suddenly flashed and went out.

The rector of the technical university spread his hands and smiled: "It seems that this light bulb is not blessed by the god of steam and machinery. ”

This is a joke about electricity in the tech world, because how long the bulb can last nowadays depends on luck, with a good fortune lasting dozens of hours and a few minutes of bad luck.

So the professors ridiculed those light bulbs with short lifespans, which were not blessed by the gods.

At this time, the bulb is basically used as a voltage tester, and the state of the current is judged by observing whether the bulb is lit or not.

As for the role of light bulb lighting, it is not well known, and the only commercial order for the role of lighting is military flashlights.

Hobart also bought one, but it only ended up being used once when he was exploring the ruins with Mr. Azik, and then it broke after a while there.

It's not that the bulb doesn't work, it's that the flashlight is broken.

Ponter continued what he had just said: "Because electricity does not have much use, the telegraph should be the largest use, but it does not use much electricity. ”

"I have a great idea to make electricity available to every household." Hobart asked, "In that case, would a huge amount of electricity be needed?" ”

Pont was slightly stunned: "Use it there." ”

"Lighting."

Polant immediately thought, "Have you found a way to extend the life of your bulb?" ”

"Sort of, there's going to be a series of experiments."

"How long can it be extended?"

"800 hours is not a problem."

Ponter was slightly surprised: "According to our calculations, when electricity shines, it can produce a high temperature of more than 2,000 degrees!" ”

Hobert smiled, "Of course I do!" ”

Polanter thought about it for a moment before saying, "As a friend, I would like to remind you that the market for electricity is not large.

"Because light bulbs and batteries are expensive, they are not affordable for ordinary people."

Audrey on the side also bowed slightly, she had heard of the battery, which could be used on a wireless telegraph, and the battery was not expensive for her. But it is true that ordinary people do not spend money on this, and even nobles are not necessarily willing to spend this money.

Hobert was not surprised that the rector did not have the concept of laying wires: "That's why I'm going to meet the professor of materials science in a moment. ”

He added: "I need a large generator now, but I only understand the principle, but I can't apply it in a short time, so I need a talent who can build a large generator!" ”

This is the reason why he generously donated the 5,000 pounds, this era is not as fast as the spread of information in the Common Era, and it may not be possible to recruit the talents needed for a year or two.

The best way is to use gold pounds to open the way, so that professional people can recommend professional talents.

Portland, of course, knew that this was the reason why the earl was willing to donate the 5,000, and he thought for a moment and said, "I have a student who is proficient in electricity and mechanics, and he just quit his job last year for personal reasons, and only started looking for a job again last month. ”

Hobart asked, "Is it convenient to tell me why I resigned?" ”

"I'm seriously ill."

Hobert once again felt the characteristics of this era: if he did not undergo treatment with extraordinary powers, some diseases would take a year or two to recuperate.

For example, tuberculosis, although Russell invented so many things, did not "discover" antibiotics.

Therefore, many diseases will torment a person for several years, and those who can be cured really have overcome the disease! However, most patients do not survive the pain.

In this era, there were many special therapies for the treatment of tuberculosis, such as "mountain therapy", which established tuberculosis hospitals in some mountains at moderate altitudes, and took advantage of the cooler climate in the mountains to cool patients with fever all day.

Of course, in the kingdom of Fenerport, there is basically no such trouble, as long as you often go to the Mother Earth God Church to pray, or donate a sum of money to the church, the illness can be "miraculously cured".

Polant promised to write to the student this afternoon and ask him to go to the lord's palace for an interview.

After a few more small talks about electrical issues, Hobart and Audrey got up to take their leave.

Then they went to the school building, where many students recognized Hobert and greeted the earl when he had been on the front page twice before, and the newspaper had his portrait attached to it.

Hobert also responded to their greetings enthusiastically, without a single.

As for Audrey, the students were amazed, but they only dared to look at her secretly with their peripheral vision, and did not dare to look at her directly.

In a small conference room in the upper part of the teaching building, Hobart met Professor Isaac, who had a considerable academic standing in materials science.

The professor was not very tall, wore glasses, and looked very stern: "Hello Earl Horbert, I heard that you want to invest in my research project?" ”

Unlike the semi-politician and half-scientist state of Polanth, this professor is a relatively pure scholar, so he speaks more directly.

"That's right, I'm going to invest £3,000." Hobert didn't even ask what project the other party was working on.

Professor Isaac lifted his glasses and glanced at the generous nobleman.

Ordinary aristocrats and tycoons need him to explain for a long time when investing, and he is ready to explain how to make a profit from his research, but before he can speak, the other party directly invests 3,000 pounds.

He praised: "You are an earl who understands the true value of science. ”

Hobert smiled, "Can we sit down and talk?" ”

"Please sit down, please take a seat!"

After the assistant served coffee, Hobert got straight to the point: "In addition to the investment in your research project, I have also renovated a laboratory on my estate to study the use of tungsten. ”

"Ah, that's a lovely element." Isaac said dotingly as if talking about his own child: "It has a melting point of up to 3400 degrees, and it is very plastic. ”

Speaking of this, he frowned and said: "But the use of tungsten is very limited, and I have also imagined using it to make alloy materials, but it can only be used in some places such as steel that need to withstand high temperatures. ”

Many people have a misunderstanding, always think that the previous people were stupid, obviously have met all the technical requirements of an invention, but that invention has not come out for a long time.

In fact, this is a kind of "futurist effect", and often the stage of an invention from scratch is the most difficult, because the future people are used to the existence of that invention and can no longer feel the difficulty of starting from scratch.

Hobert also discussed this issue with friends in the A.D. era, maybe just a few hundred years later, people think that people in the 21st century are unreasonable, and why use thermal power plants and hydropower plants when there is a controllable nuclear fusion system there?

"I thought of a good use for it, but I don't know if it will work at the moment, so I need some experimentation." Hobert smiled: yes, I "thought" that tungsten filament could be used as a filament for electric lights.

He added: "I would like to have an expert in materials science to help me complete this experiment, preferably with an understanding of electricity." ”

"I have a lot of students who are looking for jobs." Isaac said, "I can write to two or three of them and ask them to come to the Earl's Court for an interview. ”

Relatively speaking, at this time, the demand for talents in materials science was low, and many students in Isaac had to change careers to do other research work after graduation.

Hobbert nodded, and said without any fuss: "I also want to study more uses of natural rubber, do you have any students who are proficient in this research?" ”

Hobert unconsciously recalled the military flashlight he had bought, when the flashlight broke, he took it apart and looked at it to understand what was broken: it was this extraordinary world that made the flashlight not light up.

First of all, the shell of the flashlight is wooden, although it has been waterproofed, but in a humid environment like Beckland, the effect of simple waterproof treatment is very limited.

Secondly, Hobart found that the electrolyte shell of the battery turned out to be a tarpaulin! Some leaks and corrosion have occurred.

The reason why these structures look so strange is simply because there is no oil in this extraordinary world!

In the A.D. era in which Hobert lived, the shell of the flashlight and electrolyte could be made of plastic.

And the relationship between oil and plastic is like wheat and flour.

The fundamental reason why the northern continent has completed the initial industrialization process, but has not entered the second industrial revolution for a long time, is that chemical materials have not kept up with the development of the times.

In fact, in the early days of the Second Industrial Revolution, the role of oil as a fuel was not very large.

If you have an internal combustion engine, most vehicles can be powered by electricity, and you don't necessarily need oil.

The huge role played by oil is actually in the chemical industry.

And because the chemical field involves all walks of life, such as polyester, acrylic, cotton, etc., which are widely used in the textile industry, more than 90% of the ingredients are from petroleum.

They don't need to wait for flax and cotton to grow and mature, and they can start production non-stop.

For Hobert from the A.D., this was all common sense.

But for a world that has never seen plastic, the first thing that inventors can think of is a wooden structure that has been treated with waterproofing, and they can think of a container for discharging electrolyte, which is also a special oilcloth that is resistant to acid and corrosion.

Hobert was aware of this for a long time, so his solution was to replace the use of petroleum rubber and some plastics with natural rubber.

More than 100 years ago, Russell laid the first telegraph line in the north and south continents, which was a metal wire wrapped in natural rubber.

The people of the modern North Continent, even the top scientific and technological scholars, did not think of laying wires all over the streets because the cost of materials was too high.

It is acceptable as a telegraph line, but as a wire pulled in the streets, no one can afford such an upfront investment.

The point is that there is only so much production of natural rubber, and even if it can pay this huge expense, it is limited by the production of rubber, and it takes a long time to reach a large-scale laying.

Hobert didn't know if Russell had thought about using extraordinary power to increase the production of natural rubber, but considering that the Republic of Intis and the Kingdom of Fenerport had been at war for a long time at that time, and could not get the help of the Church of Mother Earth God, I believe that even if he had such an idea, it would be difficult for him to implement it.

For a moment, Hobert's thoughts drifted far away.

"I also think that natural rubber should have a wider range of uses." Isaac smiled.

Isaac's words brought Hobart back to his senses: "You are a scientist with a long-term vision. ”

After a few more conversations, Isaac promised to write letters to a few students who studied rubber, and Hobert and Audrey took their leave.

On the return carriage, Audrey smiled and said, "Hobert, the business you are going to carry out has not officially begun, and you have already spent so much money, is the return of this business so rich?" ”

"Not as rich as you think." Hobart smiled, "The reason why I invest so much money is because I have other more important purposes. ”

He had already figured out that the light bulb produced by the factory would be called "Earl's Light"!

Hobart also printed a stick figure with Count Hobert's face on the wrapping paper of each light bulb, in order to make people associate with it.

When people think of light bulbs, they think of Earl Hobert, just as Hobart thinks of Edison when he thinks of light bulbs.

Audrey was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "If you are short of funds, I can persuade my father to invest in you." ”

Originally, she had planned to invest in Hobart herself, but she found out today that Hobert's investment in the business seemed to be very large, and the twenty or thirty thousand gold pounds she could use might not make much difference.

If more than 30,000 gold pounds were to be used, her father would need to authorize it.

Hobert smiled: "Not at the moment, but sooner or later we will have to invite other nobles to invest together, but not now." ”

He is still in good financial condition and is unlikely to be short of money in the future.

Inviting other nobles to invest is to use a part of the profits to tie up the interests of a part of Bakeland's political power, so as to avoid the trouble caused by some people's jealousy.

But he has to wait until he builds the brand effect first, and then he can always control the company's leadership with other shareholders.

On the way back, Audrey fell into deep thought again, she could feel that Hobert's current career might bring some changes to the future, but so far, she still didn't understand what Hobart wanted to do.

Audrey looked out the car window, the evening mist covered the streets again, and she understood another truth: although I can judge the truth of Hobert's words and deeds, but I still can't complete the real "mind reading", everyone's mental world is like a barrier, and I can't judge the other party's intentions without my knowledge.

Suddenly, she felt like she had digested a lot of her potion.

……

Back at Earl's Court, Hobart receives a letter from Elliott stating that the Balk family has decided on a steam engine to buy.

Attached to the letter was a list of 21 steam engines of all kinds that they were going to buy in one go, and Hobert called Todd, who was staying for dinner, and asked him to give him a low price, which together were worth about 18,000 pounds.

The price of each steam engine was a reserve price that Upton could hardly get, and Hobert added £200 to each and sent the offer to Elliott.

With Hobert's current deposit, it doesn't matter if the 4,200 pounds is earned or not, but the Balk family's payment method must be gold, and Hobert has to cash it out, which will definitely incur certain expenses.

If the Tudor family or the Bloodline wanted these steam engines, Hobert would have to ask them for at least 30,000 pounds!

And Hobart also hopes to use the financial resources of the Balk family to develop a number of light industries in the southern continent, so it is better to let them have a certain flow of funds for new investment.

Late at night, Hobert looked at the empty bedroom, still not quite used to it.

He thought that he was going to Jeffrey tomorrow anyway, so it would be better to go over tonight, and he could make out with Forth, maybe he would be able to fall asleep soon after the intimacy.

So Hobert came to the bedroom of the Lord's Mansion of Jeffrey City through the "Traveler's Gate", which had placed the gateway on Beckland's side to the Earl's Court.

Foirth was sleeping soundly at this time, and Hobert got into the bed to kiss and caress him, and the other party also woke up with red cheeks.

The two of them were just about to get down to business when Hobert's spirituality suddenly sensed danger!

He was slightly stunned, wrapped the quilt in Folth, and shoved her to Beckland's side with the "Traveler's Gate".

Furth stood in front of the door of Earl's Court for a full seven or eight seconds before she suddenly came to her senses, and she realized that there was danger on Jeffrey's side.

"Madame!"

Foirth was about to reach for the doorknob when the voice of the Dophes butler rang out.

The bedroom door opened without wind, and Dophis stood in the door with a candle in his hand: "You'd better not go back yet." ”

Furth also immediately understood that it was also a burden for Hobert to go back, and she said a little anxiously: "Then, what should I do?" ”

"If the Count is not sure that the danger over there can be resolved, he will come with you." Dophes calmly analyzed: "I will ask the maid to bring some tea and snacks, please be patient." ”

Furth wanted to say something, but she finally found that she couldn't do anything but wait.

……

Hobert, who was naked, looked around the corner: "Who are you?" ”

At this moment, the monster in the oil painting hanging on the wall stepped out, but before it could curse, it was completely swallowed up by the tide of shadows.

There was no light in the room, and Hobart felt like a bottomless pit of pitch black in the corner of the wall, as if it was darker than the darkness, as if it could swallow up all the light.

A gloomy male voice in the shadows smiled, "It's really disappointing, I wanted to see the lord and the lord's wife in bed." ”

Then he added: "I didn't expect you to have such a powerful seal in your bedroom, although the monster just now was very weak, but I can feel that its ability is more than that." ”

Hobert didn't pick up the clothes immediately, but moved to the side of the bed, picked up the gloves on the bedside table, and smiled while putting them on: "It seems that you know a lot about Jeffrey's collar!" ”

"It's okay, after all, I've been a neighbor for a while."

Hobert's gloved movements were slow, as if he was afraid of alarming an enemy who was not sleeping very well: "Are you from the Aurora Society on the other side?" ”

"Yes."

"You're here to get back to the Aurora members we caught?" Hobart pretended to laugh lightly: "You're late, I already ordered his execution a few days ago!" ”

"I know, it's just a 'secret prayer person.'" The gloomy voice said, "I'm here for something else." ”

"What's the matter?" Hobert began to wear another glove.

"Kill Hobert and Furth and take complete control of the entire South Coulson area." The other party said without emotion: "Originally, my plan was to taste the taste of your lady in front of you, and then kill you slowly."

"Unexpectedly, you are already a 'fallen earl'."

Hobert frowned: a bunch of lunatics! Sure enough, it should be wiped out.

Before Hobart could continue to stall for time, the other party said, "Aren't you surprised why I suddenly came to kill you?" There are two reasons for this, the first is that sooner or later you will kill on the other side of the river after you are ready, it is better for us to strike first and catch you off guard.

"The second is because we have received news that you have become the true master of this land, and as long as we kill you, we will be able to completely rule the South Coulson region."

Both of Hobert's gloves were put on: "Wishful thinking! ”

"That might be." The other party seemed to laugh and said, "I know, your gloves must be magical items, but you don't want to know, why didn't I interrupt the process of putting on your gloves for a long time?" ”

As soon as the other party finished speaking, Hobart saw his knife suddenly pull out of his cane and slash at him.

Hobart dodged the attack from the black knife and vaguely saw a black shadow clutching the knife.

He immediately realized that it was his own shadow!

And that enemy in the shadows is a "Black Knight"! The demigod of the "Secret Prayer Man" path!

If Hobart doesn't qualify, then tonight is really dangerous.

Suddenly, figures swayed in the darkness around him, and Hobert seemed to be in the middle of a dark crowd.

At the same time, Hobart could feel that an extremely evil force was controlling the dark figures, and they all cast hostile glances at him.

There were two closer figures, like tentacles, entangled in Hobert's legs, and more black shadows were like pythons, winding towards Hobert, trying to entangle Hobert, or trying to entangle Hobart and let the shadow hack Hobart to death with a knife!

"Related!" Hobert finally makes a move, and he strengthens his bond with the shadow.

The shadow with the knife suddenly paused there, as if suddenly in confusion, not knowing whether he was Hobert's shadow or if he belonged to darkness like those figures.

"Weakened!" Hobart was cautious in his attack, as he still couldn't clearly sense his opponent's position.

This is the promotion of "shadowing", and before the main body of the "Black Knight" shoots, it is difficult for opponents of the same level to perceive the opponent's position.

Although it was in the dark, the figures seemed to suddenly fade, and the power that wrapped around Hobart weakened.

"Twisted!" Hobart jerked the distance between him and the bed, and the shadows that wrapped around his legs were torn in half, turning into ordinary darkness.

Hobert grabbed his clothes with one hand and took out a "Runaway Stone" from his pocket!

After becoming a demigod, Hobert can already make the "Runaway Stone" work within a range of tens of meters, and he can also choose the target of the attack without harming his own people.

The enemy seemed to sense the danger of the "Runaway Stone", and another black shadow appeared in the corner, which was the shadow of the "Black Knight".

A layer of viscous black objects immediately appeared in the whole room, and these liquids seemed to be formed by extreme depravity, and even the tables and chairs that had long been lifeless appeared one by one black spots.

But the slime did not appear on Hobert, and apparently the "Black Knight" was a little out of breath, as if he had forgotten that "Fallen Earl" also meant "Fallen".

When Hobert was taking the potion, the black slime representing "Fallen" had already entered his body, and this kind of Fallen attack could not hurt him at all.

"Out of control!" Hobart threw the Runaway Stone, and the shadow of the Black Knight flew up and wrapped the Runaway Stone tightly before it burst out with the power of the Extraordinary Properties.

Hobert was slightly stunned, it was the first time he had seen this kind of operation!

But the shadow suddenly trembled violently, and its size swelled rapidly, and some strange objects grew on its body, including tentacles, sheep's hooves, and bull's head.

Eventually, he turned into a monster with black flames in his eyes!

When it looked up, it howled silently, destroying everything in the bedroom.

This shadow is out of control!

……

Jeffrey City at this time, Department of Special Operations.

There was a figure flickering in the courtyard, but no one was in sight.

In the darkness, it was as if some force had pushed the door open, and an evil force had invaded the room.

Suddenly, the lights came on in the room, and there were more than a dozen dark shadows on the ground under the light.

As Angus announced in a loud voice: "It is forbidden to turn into a black shadow here!" ”

The dark shadows were visibly stunned, as if they had been resisted by something.

Angus's power, on the other hand, is rapidly increasing.

The Black Shadow simply reverted to its normal human form and wrestled with the members of the Extraordinary Beings around it.

According to Captain Dunn's training, the Special Operations Department is on duty every night, and one of the people on duty every day is an "astrologer".

The "astrologer" who was on duty tonight sensed the danger and performed a divination to confirm it, and woke up the other members.

Angus's first thought was to protect the lord, but Dunn disagreed: "Even if you go to help, you can't help, but if Jeffrey City doesn't have any extraordinary strength, many people will definitely be killed!"

"If that happens, you're really living up to Hobert's expectations of you."

Angus and Helen thought of Hobert's usual words and deeds at about the same time, and felt that Captain Dunn had a point, so they stayed.

After this delay, before there was time to prepare seriously, the enemy's attack had already begun, and the enemy was either Sequence 6 or Sequence 7, and the strength was very strong.

Fortunately, after establishing a complete "Seal Application Rules", Lord Hobert left 3 Level 2 Seals in the Special Operations Department.

Angus and Helen each gave one piece and the other to a Sequence 6, and under their leadership, quickly stabilized the situation.

He even forced a "Bishop of the Rose" to tear apart one of his fellow "hermits" and cover himself by detonating his companion's flesh.

At this moment, three figures came out of the shadows at the entrance of the courtyard, the leader of which was wearing a hooded bishop's robe, embroidered with a cross and an upside-down hanged man.

Angus and Helen glanced at each other, these three people are definitely Sequence 5!

……

The barracks outside Jeffrey City, which already had a size of 500 people at this time, had finished a day's training, and the snoring sound resounded throughout the camp, and only the guards were still patrolling seriously.

The shadow under the brazier suddenly stretched and rushed towards a barracks.

Just as the shadow was about to enter the door, a blue magma greatsword fell from the sky and stuck in front of the shadow.

Archibald and his "adjutants" walked unhurriedly over to this side: "It seems that I have one more lieutenant for the 'secret prayer' pathway." ”

He smiled: "Okay, come out, your position has already been exposed!" ”

"Shadowing" cannot hide the thread of spirituality.

The "shepherd" who led the team was slightly stunned, according to the information they heard, shouldn't there be only some "low-order" extraordinaries in the barracks? No matter how it looks, the momentum of several staff officers is not weak.

Just when the "shepherd" was strange, one of the "staff officers" appeared around him with a dawn-like light, and then the morning dawn giant sword appeared in his hand and slashed towards the "shepherd".

The "shepherd" was about to dodge, but his movements suddenly became stiff.

……

In the Lord's Palace, Hobert's hide-and-seek with the "Black Knight" continues.

The Black Knight's previous words sounded crazy, but when he fought, he seemed to be very cautious, observing Hobart secretly.

In fact, if Hobart also has such ability, he will also carefully observe the opponent first, and then make a targeted attack plan.

Hobert had already understood the other party's thoughts, so his core abilities were not used, and he didn't even break the seals of those two seals.

If he pushes the opponent out without exerting his full strength, then Hobart will win the game.

If Hobert's reality is perceived by the "Black Knight" in the following response, then the "Black Knight" wins.

It's just that what the "Black Knight" doesn't know is that his hope of victory is very small, because the "fallen earl" in front of him is still the "founder", if he sees this, I believe he will be completely desperate!

Hobert dodged the attack of the shadow of the "Black Knight", the shadow absorbed the power of the darkness around him, and his size was getting bigger and bigger, and Hobert could even feel the madness that the other party was overflowing!

Its most powerful attack was "Fall", which unfortunately did not work for Hobert.

"Related!" Seeing that the shadow's out-of-control state was almost over, Hobert strengthened the connection between the shadow and the "Black Knight" in time to see if it could transmit its loss of control and madness into the body.

Crash~

There was a sound from the roof, and it turned out that the other party was not in the room at all.

The "Black Knight" had cut off the connection between his shadow just now, but now the faint sense of madness and loss of control coming from the shadow made him pay no attention and exposed his whereabouts.

"Zoom in!" Hobert, who had been backlogged for a long time, finally made a move, he jumped up, "magnified" the slap he had made, and lifted half of the roof away.

Then, Hobart "twisted" gravity and levitated in mid-air, roughly determining the location of the "Black Knight": "Hubris! ”

Now "arrogance" is already a range ability, in the darkness, a dark shadow suddenly surged, forming a figure that seemed to be wearing black armor, and his two arms suddenly turned into long blades, slashing towards Hobert.

"You've lost!" Hobart smiled, "Chaos! ”

Yesterday I had more than an hour more time to write than expected, so I wrote more than 2,000 words (* ̄) ̄)

(End of chapter)