Chapter 96: Tesla of Xumi
"It shouldn't be special minerals and metals. Could it be the remains of elemental creatures?" Kavi made such a guess while stroking the light blue communication device.
"That's possible, senior. It could also be a substance we haven't seen before, synthesized using a special method," said Haroldt.
There is no plastic in Teyvat. After all, it is unknown whether there is oil in Teyvat. Before he crossed over, the game map only reached Fontaine.
Fontaine is already the most technologically advanced region known to date, but Fontaine follows the steampunk route, using steam and elemental power as energy.
He did not see gas lamps, cars and other items in the game, which means that the continent of Teyvat may not have crude oil products such as gasoline, kerosene, and asphalt.
This does not necessarily mean that there is no oil in the continent of Teyvat. It may just be that the residents of this world do not need to use oil, so they have not developed these uses for oil.
After all, what kerosene and gasoline can do, elemental power and mineral energy can also do. Fontaine has developed a method to use the elemental power in minerals as energy. Isn't this more environmentally friendly than using oil?
I don't know how Ms. Alice made plastic. Did she dig up oil somewhere in Teyvat? Or did she just use oil and plastic from other worlds?
Harold thought both were possible. He could try asking Ms. Alice next time she came to see him. If there was oil on the continent of Teyvat, they could make plastic.
Although the shells of many strange creatures and the remains of elemental life forms on the continent of Teyvat have properties similar to plastics, they are too difficult to obtain, so plastics are a good substitute.
Moreover, plastic pollution should not be a difficult problem to solve in Teyvat. The warm climate of the rainforest and the land of Teyvat that contains the power of the earth veins can accelerate the degradation of plastics.
Plastics can be reused by bringing them under the control of the Fatwa Council and only using them for necessary parts and daily necessities. Relevant laws can be enacted to require residents to send waste plastics to plastic recycling points at a fixed time each week.
Hmm...it seems like I'm thinking a bit too far ahead. It's still a mystery whether there is oil in the continent of Teyvat.
Harold rubbed his temples and pulled back his scattered thoughts.
Kavi nodded, agreeing with Harold's statement.
"This device may have used the power of words. Although I hate to say this... I can't think of a way to achieve long-distance real-time communication using only our current mechanical principles, and it's just relying on such a small device." Kavi held his forehead in distress. He felt that his hair was going to fall out again.
"I can sense the faint elemental force, and these runes. They should be the key to unlocking the secret of this device. Elhaisen, can you decipher them?"
Elhaisen: “This is the first time I have seen these characters, and I am also curious about them, but I can rule out the possibility that they are pictographic or phonetic.
Your guess is very likely. This may be the writing used by an ancient tribe, but it has obviously been refined and summarized, which does not conform to the characteristics of ancient writing. If I can find more similar runes, I may be able to try to decipher it. "
Kavi: "'Maybe'? You actually said maybe?"
"Isn't it strange? Different scripts have different levels of difficulty in deciphering. It is common sense that ideographic scripts are much more difficult to decipher than phonetic scripts," said Elhaisen.
Harold remained silent and refused to join in the conversation.
Because he recognized the words, in simplified Chinese, it said "Made by Alice, the strongest witch in Teyvat."
I didn't expect Kavi to guess in the direction of Yan Ling, and I didn't expect Elhaisen to agree with it.
But on second thought, it seems very reasonable. Some of the characters on the continent of Teyvat do have special powers. Ms. Alice placed these characters in a very conspicuous position, just like the Red King wrote the words on the surface of the mechanism. If you don't recognize these characters, it's really easy to think in that direction.
Hmm? Someone asked why Elhaisen, who knew the Liyue characters, couldn't see it? The Liyue people used a font similar to the small seal script, and the grammatical structure was different from the small seal script. The Liyue characters and simplified Chinese cannot be said to be exactly the same, but can only be said to be completely unrelated.
Ms. Alice most likely learned this kind of writing from another world, and then took advantage of the fact that no one on the continent of Teyvat knew how to use it and let it run wild.
But I came here from abroad, and this is my mother tongue.
Harold thought helplessly that it would be quite a test of one's acting skills to play dumb in such a situation.
Even Elhaisen couldn't decipher the text, and Kavi was even more disappointed: "Then I really have no way to crack this mechanism. I thought I could make a popular remote communication device based on this device, but I know it's not that simple..."
"Senior Kavi, have you ever thought about how to make long-distance communication equipment?" Harold asked curiously.
He then realized that Kavi had actually come up with this idea, but in the continent of Teyvat where even electromagnetic induction had not been discovered, it was extremely difficult to make a telephone or telegraph.
"My original idea was to reduce the size of the phonograph and camera as much as possible, preferably to two cubic centimeters, so that after recording the sound or video, we can put it in a bamboo tube on the foot of a twilight bird or a carrier pigeon and bring it to another person."
Kavi shared his initial idea with the two without reservation. After that, he coughed shyly and continued:
"In fact, this may not be considered a communication device. Compared with the device you found, its defects are too obvious, and I haven't even figured out how to shrink the phonograph.
If possible, I would also like to make a device that can realize real-time calls and videos... But I have no idea about these two things now. "
"I can tell from what you hear that your days ahead will be very fulfilling. In a sense, it's a good thing to have something to do," said Elhaison.
"I'm just talking about my research direction and future plans. Who asked you to give a speech?" Kavi said dissatisfiedly.
Harold: "I really hope that Senior Kavi can succeed. I really want the mini phonograph and mini camera that you mentioned. In addition to being used for communication, I think they should have many other uses. For example, maybe I can hang the mini camera on the neck of the dusky bird and let it help me take some videos of animals."
Kavi's eyes lit up: "Yes, there is such a use. Then I will start researching in this direction."
Harold smiled and nodded.
Regarding the telephone and telegraph, Xumi is actually the closest to these two things, because Xumi once had a scholar named Alva Nicola who proposed a theoretical weapon called the Nicola Coil, which was based on the lightning element circle used by the Thunder Abyss Mage to create artificial lightning.
This "Nikola Coil" is obviously a reference to the "Tesla Coil", and even the name of its proposer Alva Nicola is a tribute to the proposer of the Tesla Coil "Nikola Tesla".
Tesla originally invented the Tesla coil to produce ultra-high voltage but low current, high frequency alternating current, and then applied it to inventions such as electrical lighting, X-rays, and radio transmission, hoping to achieve global communication through radio.
Harold was not sure whether there was any overlap between Alva Nicola's research and Tesla's research. Alva Nicola only proposed the use of the Nicola coil in combat, and did not propose using it to achieve radio transmission.
Moreover, the principle of the Nikola Coil is based on the lightning element circle of the thunder abyss wizard. I don't know whether his research uses elemental power instead of technological components, but since Planner O named him and his project like this, Harold believes that there should be a connection between the Nikola Coil and the Tesla Coil.
But just as the wireless telegraph invented by Tesla was stolen, the fate of Alva Nicola was also very bumpy. His research was not taken seriously and it is said that his research report was eaten by a mushroom beast. Otherwise, Xumi might have entered the electrical age.
There's nothing we can do about that. He has a general idea of the principle, but it's impossible for him to use this half-baked skill to make a telephone or telegraph.
When Elhaisen becomes the chief clerk, I will try to ask him to look for relevant information. Maybe I can find Alva Nicola's research materials from that year. Then I can find a way to let Kavi "accidentally" discover this information and continue his research based on his research.
...
Port of Ormos.
After meeting with Nilu and others, they purchased some cloth and yarn to prepare for making special performance costumes.
The existing performance costumes in the theater do not match the style of Mr. Shakespeare's novels. Fortunately, prop master Rickard is also good at costume making, otherwise it would be difficult for them to buy desert-style clothes in the rainforest area.
"In addition to clothing... we also need to prepare weapons and jewelry. It would be even better if we have a camel pack animal." Nilu said softly while counting the purchased items.
Zubair: "We can make pack animals based on the beast dance of Liyue. Let Rikal make a few pack animals out of cloth and bamboo strips, and then let Kurosh crawl into them."
Kuroshi: “Huh?”
Zubair: "You can continue to perform your acrobatics in there. It's up to you whether you can entertain the audience."
Nilu couldn't help but let out a soft laugh when she heard that.
A few people walked to the fur stall chatting, ready to buy some more pack animal furs.
At this time, they found that the people on the street were walking purposefully in the same direction along a narrow street.
"Is there an acrobatic performance over there? But I don't hear any music." Nilu noticed the abnormality and shook her head slightly.
"Maybe the milk tea shop over there is having a special offer, Mr. Zubair, can I go and take a look?!" Kurosh was eager to try and prepared to sprint. As long as Zubair nodded, he would rush out like an arrow.
Zubair put several heavy furs into the basket and said, "Nilu, do you want to go?"
"No, no, no, I don't really want to." Nilu waved her hands and said, "Let's move our things to the boat first, Mr. Zubair."
Zubair looked up at the sky with squinted eyes: "Don't worry, the sun is very strong now. It's easy to get sunburned if you do the moving work at this time. Let's wait a few hours before moving the things onto the ship.
So if you want to go, let’s go together. I’m tired, so I’ll just find a place to sit nearby. I won’t go with you guys. I’ll just stay here and watch things while you come back.”
"Sir, come sit here and have a drink of water. The weather is hot. It would be nice if there was some iced milk tea." The stall owner brought out a low stool and said with a smile, "Maybe someone over there will treat you to milk tea. It's always like this lately. I'm used to it."
"A treat with free milk tea? Why? Do they have too much money to spend?" Kurosh asked in surprise.
"You haven't bought milk tea for a long time, right? Now all the slime milk tea stalls have launched a card game. As long as you buy milk tea, you will get a card with a chance to draw a special character card."
The stall owner also moved a stool, sat on the low chair with his legs apart, and introduced himself to the few people slowly.