Page 37
Well, it's beyond saving...
Lin En shook his head and started a fire to clear away the debris on the ground.
“I shouldn’t be doing experiments here!” Lin En looked at the house covered with frost and couldn’t help but sigh. It seemed that the alchemy workshop had to be built as soon as possible, otherwise he would not even have a secret place to practice magic.
If some reckless apprentice breaks in when I'm casting a spell next time, the consequences will be serious.
Money, money...
Lin En muttered a few words with emotion, changed out of his robe that was stained with a little liquid nitrogen, took his professor badge, and went out to find money!
……
In the evening, in a remote workshop on the west side of Yieta Harbor.
The half-orc Darren was fiddling with the gadget made by Lydia out of boredom - it was a T-shaped flying toy made of hollow wood. As long as he rotated it heavily in his hand, it would fly directly with the help of the wind.
But why can this thing fly, but larger aircraft can't?
Just when Darren was puzzled, the wind chime hanging at the door suddenly rang.
"Welcome to the Half-Body Workshop..."
Darren quickly put down the toy in his hand and turned to look at the door.
It was Lynn who walked in.
To avoid being too conspicuous, he did not wear the professional robes issued by Iyeta College, nor did he wear any medals, but Darren still quickly recognized that he was definitely a great wizard.
Because a few days ago in the square, Lin En appeared next to the great wizard Hellram and had a pleasant conversation with him.
Realizing that this was a big customer, Darren immediately shuddered, stood up from his chair, rubbed his hands excitedly, and asked respectfully and humbly: "Mr. Wizard, is there anything you need?"
"There are many novel and interesting things in the workshop. You can take a look at this fan. It can rotate by itself without magic. Also, this steamship model. Put it in the water and pull the rope at the back. It can really move..."
Chapter 66: Lydia of the Skillful Hands
There were hand-cranked fans, moving miniature steamships, wooden flying wings, and many proportional and very exquisite carriage and house models. Lynn even saw the prototype of a waterwheel in the center of the workshop.
This is a round wooden roulette wheel with a diameter of about 1 meter. Water is constantly flowing down from the reservoir above the workshop, driving the roulette wheel to rotate continuously. It also drives the giant fan in front to rotate slowly, providing a cool breeze for the guests entering the workshop.
What a waste of talent...
Lin En shook his head. This thing could be used to irrigate farmland or even generate electricity, but Lydia only wanted to use it to power the fan.
When Darren saw Lynn shaking his head and sighing, his heart suddenly rose to his throat. Although the little gadgets made by Lydia were very interesting, they were definitely not comparable to the alchemical instruments of the wizards.
Fortunately, Lin En had no intention of keeping us in suspense and spoke directly.
"I am not here to buy any goods this time. Instead, I want you to make something according to the blueprint."
As he spoke, Lin En picked up the model of the steamship and looked at it for a few seconds. The model was very delicate and almost restored in proportion, down to every detail.
From the chimney to the cabin and then to the hull, it was exactly the same as the steamships he had seen at sea, except that there was an extra rope at the back of the cabin, which could drive the propeller below to turn by pulling it.
Almost instantly, Lin En guessed its principle, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he asked again.
"I heard that Lydia is very skillful and can always make things exactly as required. Is that true?"
"Of course! I dare say that no one in Yieta Harbor has better craftsmanship than Lydia!" Darren said confidently. Even many wizards praised the gadgets made by Lydia after seeing them, which earned her the name of "Skillful Hands".
"Is she in the workshop now?" Lin En put the model aside. "I want to see for myself whether she can meet my requirements."
"No problem, Lydia is busy in the backyard now... I'll take you to find her!" Darren quickly jumped off the stool, hung up a sign for a break, and opened the door to the backyard of the workshop.
Lynn followed Darren in and immediately saw the large aircraft he had seen before. The halfling Lydia he was looking for was standing under the aircraft. She was holding a hammer that was half as long as her body and was hammering several thick iron nails into the wings of the aircraft.
After completing all this, Lydia wiped the sweat from her head, and then pulled the wing hard with her hands. The joints were very strong, but the stability was still a bit poor, which was why some parts of the aircraft fell apart after landing.
The half-orc girl didn't notice the two people coming in at all. Her brows were slightly frowned, and her clothes were already covered with dust, but she didn't care at all. Her mind was full of how to improve this aircraft.
Just then, Lynn's voice suddenly rang out.
"Since the quadrilateral is not stable enough, why not try to add a crossbeam at the diagonal corners to transform it into two triangular structures?"
Lydia was stunned for a moment, then immediately turned her head and found Darren and Lynn standing next to her.
"Master Wizard?" The half-orc girl shouted in surprise and doubt. She quickly recognized Lin En, with whom she had met briefly in the square before.
"You can try it first!" Lin En pointed to the wings of the aircraft and said with a smile.
Lydia was not stage-frightened. She immediately rolled up her sleeves, picked up a piece of wood of suitable size with both hands, and placed it at the diagonals on both sides of the wing. Then she picked up a hammer and nails and started hammering on them.
What a great strength...
Lin En was very surprised to see Lydia, who was only about 1.3 meters tall, easily lift a wooden board that was bigger than herself. The rumor that halflings are naturally strong was indeed not exaggerated.
This doesn't conform to biology at all...Lin En took a look at the half-orc girl's arms, which could only be considered "strong", and couldn't help but complain in his heart. Then he directed the other party to build supports in various parts of the aircraft to strengthen the overall structure, and dismantled many unnecessary structures to reduce the weight of the aircraft itself.
Darren also hurried forward to help. After working for a while, the entire aircraft was completely renewed. The wide wings on both sides were connected to the fuselage with a triangular structure. Lydia put her hands on the wings and shook them vigorously a few times, then knocked on them with a hammer, but there was not the slightest deformation.
"This is simply...great!" The joy on Lydia's face was almost overflowing, and then she turned her head to look at Lin En and asked in confusion. "But why is this?"
She also noticed this difference when making those models on weekdays, but she didn't understand why it was like this.
"Because the three sides of the triangle are connected end to end, they form a very stable structure. We can know the answer by doing a force analysis..." As Lin En spoke, he took a few wooden sticks and assembled them into triangles, quadrilaterals, and pentagons. He then pulled any side or corner of the sticks to demonstrate the changes in the forces on these polygons.
Lydia sat on the wing of the aircraft, her bright eyes fixed on the wooden stick in Lin En's hand, like a student listening to a lecture. For a moment, she even forgot that this was only the second time she had met Lin En.
However, Lynn's course was not so easy to understand. There was a wooden stick demonstration in the first half, and Lydia could understand some of it. But she was completely confused by the subsequent explanations of center of gravity, wind resistance, and friction.
Only two conclusions were drawn.
First, the wizard in front of him was very knowledgeable and knew a lot of things. Second, whether the aircraft could fly might be related to these forces...
After talking for a while, Lin En smacked his lips, and the half-orc girl immediately understood, jumped off the wing, ran into the room, took out the kettle, poured a glass of water, handed it to Lin En, and then looked at her eagerly and asked.
"Then Master Wizard, can this aircraft fly now?"
"If you just want to stay in the sky for a while, then there's no problem. But if you want to fly freely in the sky, I'm afraid that won't work!" Lin En shook his head. "The power of this aircraft is too poor, and its appearance and structure do not conform to fluid mechanics..."
The half-orc girl looked confused. She could barely understand the concept of power, but what was fluid mechanics?
In just half an hour, she heard many high-end words that she had never heard of before. Lydia looked like a kitten who saw a ball of fur but couldn't scratch it. She looked pitiful.
"Master Wizard?" Darren on the side was a little worried and couldn't help but interrupt. Although he also wanted to hear this knowledge, he knew one thing clearly: in the land of wizards, all knowledge is very precious!
Lin En seemed to have just realized it, and a smile appeared on his lips. "Sorry, this is a professional problem..."
"I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Lin En, and I'm the new professor of Olympiad Mathematics at Yieta College!"
"Is he the professor of Olympiad Mathematics who was rumored to have frightened a student to faint on the first day of class?" Darren exclaimed.
The corner of Lynn's mouth twitched involuntarily, and he looked at Darren very 'kindly'.
If you can't speak, then you'd better shut up!
Chapter 67: Lin En's Space Airship
Under Lynn's extremely 'kind' gaze, Darren swallowed hard and immediately shut up.
Lydia seemed to have remembered something and asked in surprise, "Professor Lin En, did Master Hellram ask you to come? Have I passed the test?"
"My purpose of coming here has nothing to do with Master Hellram!" Lin En rejected the girl's guess, and then, seeing the girl's disappointed expression, he spoke again. "I want to ask you to make something."
As he spoke, Lin En took out a page of parchment from his pocket and handed it over. Lydia took it and looked at it for a few seconds, and couldn't help but exclaimed.
"so beautiful……"
On the parchment scroll was a very large and strange-looking alchemical machine.
The top looks like an inverted elliptical sphere, and the bottom is connected by ropes, something like a hull. Even the internal structure is drawn very clearly. The overall framework is complicated but not messy, revealing a strange beauty.
"What is this? The latest alchemy ship?" Lydia asked in surprise. She saw propellers and rudders on it, which were only used on ships.
"It's called an airship!" Lynn replied.
At first, he actually wanted to make a hot air balloon. This was the simplest way to fly into the sky without the need for magic. But after careful consideration, he gave up this idea and simply prepared to do it in one step and directly make an airship that could travel long distances!
The purpose is of course not just to make it look good. He has already inquired about it in the past few days.
Although some third-ring wizards who are proficient in elements and plasticity can fly in the sky, the energy consumption is too high, the flying height is limited, and the speed is not fast. Only great wizards can stay in the air for a long time, and it is generally not used as a means of traveling.
The island beneath their feet was very large, with many mines. The entire wizard city was built next to a huge magic mine in the center of the island. Land transportation to various places was actually not easy.
For example, if a batch of goods is loaded on camels from the port of Yieta and travels around the mountain roads to the land of wizards, it will take seven or eight days, and there is a possibility of encountering attacks by monsters along the way.
It would be different if we started from the air, as the time could be shortened by at least half. Although the airship's carrying capacity was not large, it was still cost-effective to transport some important materials or new gadgets that were not available in the Wizard City.
In addition, the steam airship itself is also a commodity. As long as two magic crystal cannons are installed on it and some protective spells are added, it can become a mobile air fortress!
It's easy to sell this thing for thousands of magic gold coins.
As for the issue of technology leakage, there is no need to worry about it in the short term. As long as he can make a steam airship and fly it in the sky, he can apply to Parliament for alchemical patent protection.
Yes, in the wizarding land there is a protection mechanism for the recipes for making various magic items. Only in this way can wizards publish the results of their hard work.
In fact, in addition to alchemical items, the same is true for high-level magic. Even with his status as a professor in the academy, he can only learn some low-level magic for free.
As for the long term, there is no need to worry. What he has taken out are just low-level toys. In a few years, when he has figured out the situation in the wizarding land and directly developed an internal combustion engine, the so-called steam airship will be as slow as a snail in the sky.
"Airship, a ship that flies in the sky?" Lydia asked impatiently.
"Yes, that's about what I mean." Lynn nodded.
Lydia immediately looked like she had found some treasure, with excitement flashing in her eyes. However, she soon discovered that there were no wings on the design of the airship. There was only a small propeller, and the power it provided was definitely not enough to keep the airship suspended. It should only be used to adjust its course.
"Can this thing really fly?" Lydia asked curiously. Does it require some kind of magic?
"Of course it can fly." Lin En said with certainty, and then continued to ask with a smile, "Do you know why wood can float on the water?"
Lydia shook her head in confusion. Isn't it common sense that wood can float on water?
Lin En explained. "Because wood of the same volume is lighter than water, that is, its density is lower than that of water, and the weight of the water it displaces is greater than its own weight, so the buoyancy is greater than the gravity... You can try it, not only wood, but anything with the same properties can float on the water, and otherwise they will fall into the water."
"The reason why an airship can fly into the sky is the same as a piece of wood floating on the water! As long as the density of the gas in the air chamber is less than that of the normal atmosphere, then flying will not be a problem."
Lydia listened very carefully and nodded as if she understood. "So when we sit on the airship, it's just like sitting on a boat. We use this very light gas to rise into the sky, right?"
“You have a good ability to understand, but you know too little knowledge. If you could take a few more of my Olympiad math classes, maybe you could design your own aircraft!” Lin En said with emotion.