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Lin En nodded, said goodbye to Sean and others, and turned into a stream of light and disappeared into the sky.
"Find some psychic wizards and take this halfling away for interrogation!" Vittorio gave the order as he looked at the halfling who was tied up tightly on the ground with a terrified expression on his face.
Although this native is weak, he is very valuable. They can use his memory to decipher the language and obtain a lot of basic information about foreign lands. This is why Raphael sent him here on purpose.
……
About forty minutes later, Lin En returned to the royal capital. He took the time to tell Harof and Aurora about the information he had gained during this trip. He also called a wizard who was in charge of managing intelligence and asked about the whereabouts of Lydia and others.
Speaking of which, he hadn't seen Lydia for quite some time. He had been busy studying the application of magic at the microscopic level and had no time to pay attention to her. When he wanted to see her again, he found that she had disappeared and was no longer in the newly built air force base.
"Lady Lydia may be in the Alchemy Institute now..." the wizard said hesitantly.
He heard that Master Dennis was recently researching a new explosive propulsion device to be used in new fighter planes. Several accidents had occurred in the past few months, and the parliament had received many letters of complaint.
"Explosive propulsion device?" Lynn suddenly became interested.
This is about making a jet plane.
No wonder Dennis didn't even attend this year's academic seminar...
Chapter 528: Dennis's explosive thrusters
An hour later, in the royal capital, Lin En stepped into the Magic Academy and was warmly received by Vice Dean Tim. After Vittorio left, he temporarily took over the position of dean.
When Tim learned that Lynn was looking for Dennis, he complained even more bitterly.
"Chairman Lin, you'd better give Master Dennis some advice this time. His propeller plane was doing well, and the upper limit of its maximum speed was constantly being raised. The results were very gratifying, and the maximum cruising speed was almost approaching 400 kilometers per hour. But for some reason, he suddenly turned around and wanted to research an explosive propulsion device..."
Originally, the Alchemy Research Institute was supportive of Dennis's new attempt, but Dennis's explosive propulsion device was just like its name, very explosive...
In the past year, there has not been a single peaceful day in the laboratory assigned to Dennis, with explosions ranging from small ones to big ones like the laboratory being blown up.
Although unexpected situations are common when studying magic, the frequency is too high!
The continuous noise seriously disturbed the research of other wizards, and casualties were also a big problem. There were more than 60 formal wizards injured, and the number of apprentices exceeded 100...
You know, the kingdom is short of manpower right now, and they wish they could split every official wizard into two halves. Many people have multiple jobs, and the injury of a large number of wizards will affect the progress of more than one project.
Listening to Tim's constant complaints, Lynn was also quite surprised. Even if they were researching jet aircraft, there shouldn't be such a terrifying frequency of explosions. Now even he was a little unsure what Dennis was doing.
It was a large workshop, built very simply, with only a frame there - according to Tim, there was no need to do too much decoration, as long as the walls were strong enough, there was no point in building it too beautifully, as it might explode at any time.
Tim's idea was undoubtedly insightful, because just as the two of them walked to the door of the workshop, a violent explosion was heard from inside, and the door exploded directly, and they were greeted by a strong explosion shock wave.
A sharp piece of metal debris was mixed in the shock wave and flew towards them at an extremely fast speed. However, the moment it reached in front of them, the speed of the metal debris suddenly changed from extremely fast to extremely slow, and finally hovered in the air.
Lin En reached out and held the fragment in his hand, then stepped in.
The interior of the entire alchemy workshop looked smoky and foul. The ground, walls, and ceiling were full of potholes due to the aftermath of several explosions, and their original appearance could no longer be seen.
“Sure enough…” Tim followed Lynn in and shook his head.
If Dennis had not made outstanding contributions to the improvement of steam engines, internal combustion engines and propeller fighters, which made many congressmen hold a glimmer of hope for his new achievements, this dangerous research and development project would have been stopped long ago.
Due to the explosion that just happened, the entire alchemy workshop was in chaos. Fortunately, this was not the first or second accident and no one was injured this time.
"Chairman Lynn?"
An alchemist quickly noticed Lynn and Tim coming in. After learning the purpose of their visit, he immediately notified Dennis.
The two did not have to wait long. Dennis, who had received the report, quickly came over with his men. Everyone was covered in dust, but their expressions were extremely excited.
Dennis saw Lynn and Tim and pulled their sleeves, saying with great joy, "Quick, quick, you're just in time! My research is successful, my research is successful!"
Tim, who was about to make a sarcastic remark, swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth, and instead had a look of surprise and doubt. Could it be that Dennis really had developed that explosive thruster?
Dennis, who was extremely happy, took the two of them to the inside of the workshop and showed them his new achievement, a thruster about two meters long and forty centimeters in diameter.
It's just that the middle half is curled outwards like a twist, and the explosion just now was obviously coming from here!
"Is this what you call success?" Tim pointed at the severely damaged thruster in front of him and said with a strange expression.
"Of course it was successful. You know, this time it ran for one minute, a full minute!" Dennis's voice rose several degrees, and his voice was trembling with excitement.
This time it didn't explode directly, but started running. It was a breakthrough from zero to one, which meant that they were very close to the finished product!
"I think it's still a long way off." Tim was speechless. What can one minute do? This is simply a waste of precious human and material resources...
Dennis ignored Tim's words at all. While directing the halflings and alchemists to check the thrusters and summarize the experience of failure, he explained the design concept of the new thrusters to Lin En in a torrent of words.
Traditional propeller aircraft convert the engine's rotational power into propulsion. As the propeller continues to rotate, the blades push a large amount of air backwards, generating a forward force on the blades...
But Dennis believed that relying on wind power was too inefficient, and as the speed continued to increase, he vaguely sensed that limit, so he decisively turned to researching a newer propulsion device.
This time, what he wanted to use was the shock wave generated by the explosion!
This is not impossible. In fact, they have already made extensive use of this power in weapons. For example, bullets and artillery rely on the impact force generated by the explosion of gunpowder to attack the enemy at high speed. Even internal combustion engines rely on internal combustion reactions to provide power.
This fully demonstrates that the explosion is the primary driving force!
"You're crazy, Dennis. A fighter plane made like this is simply a walking bomb! It might be more appropriate to call it a suicide aircraft!" Tim rolled his eyes.
"As long as the material is strong enough to withstand high temperature and impact, and there is a reasonable structure that can make the most of the impact force, there will be no problem!" Dennis said firmly.
His experiment undoubtedly verified this point. Compared with the violent impact force during the explosion, the propulsion provided by the propeller was simply weak!
Dennis pointed to each component of the thruster and introduced them one by one.
This explosive thruster has three air chambers inside.
The first gas chamber is engraved with an alchemical array that converts magic power into oxygen, which will continuously produce pure oxygen. The second gas chamber is responsible for transporting pure hydrogen. They will be sent to the third gas chamber at a stable speed through the pipeline, and then mixed and detonated. Finally, the high-temperature and high-speed explosion airflow will be ejected from the rear end of the thruster to produce terrifying thrust...
"I have tested that pure oxygen and hydrogen will not produce a combustion reaction, so the first and second gas chambers are safe. In addition, the pipes filled with gas block the return path of the explosive airflow, so that it can only be ejected from the nozzle at the rear end..."
Dennis explained his design concept in detail and quickly, then turned to look at Lynn and said proudly.
"How is it? Speaker Lin, how about this explosive thruster I developed?"
"Well, I can only say... simple, direct and clear!" After listening to Dennis' description, Lin En forced these words out of his mouth.
Dennis’ design principle can actually be summed up in four words – great force and flying bricks!
It’s so simple that it’s a bit too ridiculous!
When designing the aircraft, he considered propeller fighters rather than jet fighters because jet engines are very difficult to manufacture.
Before arriving at the Alchemy Research Institute, he was a little puzzled as to how Dennis had solved so many difficult problems a year ago. It turned out to be obvious that Dennis had no intention of solving these problems at all. What he produced was something between a jet engine and a rocket thruster.
It's not that this thing is completely unusable, but as Dennis himself said, how to make a material that can withstand high temperature and impact is a huge problem.
The power of a hydrogen-oxygen mixture detonating is extremely terrifying, and its danger can be seen from the extent of the damage to this alchemy workshop.
Lynn's praise obviously made Dennis extremely happy. It was the joy of having his achievements recognized, not to mention the approval of this magic star.
A group of alchemists, Lydia, Darren and dozens of other halflings were busy with the final debugging and testing work, reporting from time to time.
"Everything is normal in the hydrogen-oxygen mixed transport array!" "There is no problem with the first gas chamber either." "There is some damage inside the second gas chamber. It may be that metal fragments from the explosion entered the chamber..."
"The metal inner wall here is severely damaged. We have used the strongest metal and added a fire-proof array, but we didn't expect that it still couldn't withstand the high temperature and pressure brought by the explosion..." Lydia raised her hand high, her originally fair cheeks were covered with oil and dust, and looked pitch black.
"It seems that the problem of last failure should be here!" Listening to the reports of the alchemists, Dennis nodded continuously and continued, "Then this time, reduce the fuel delivery speed by 30%, adjust the ratio of hydrogen and oxygen mixed combustion, and try again. We are very close to success!"
Lydia nodded excitedly. Although Dennis had said similar things hundreds of times during this period of time, the experiment just now was different from the previous failures because the explosive thruster did work.
Even though it exploded again within just a minute, at least there was hope of completion!
Dennis took a deep breath and secretly prayed that this time he would succeed. This was the key to future research and development funds and the continued development of the explosive thruster...
With the joint efforts of a group of halflings, the more than two-meter-long cylindrical metal thruster was quickly reassembled. Ten alchemists then used magic to connect the joints, placed counterweights, and installed wings. In this way, a most rudimentary mimicry flying device was completed.
"The 367th experiment, let's get started!" Dennis said with great anticipation.
Hearing this, the group of halflings who were originally gathered near the thrusters evacuated as quickly as possible to the protective wall fifty meters away. Even Lydia, who had become a wizard, and the other alchemists retreated ten meters and cast several protective spells on themselves.
Dennis was very confident about this experiment, and since he had means to protect himself, he didn't move at all.
Lin En did not retreat either. Even if an experimental accident occurred, he would not be hurt.
Tim wanted to hide, but seeing that Lin and Dennis didn't move, he had to stand still, secretly comforting himself that he was a great wizard after all, and he shouldn't be killed by the explosion...
After everyone hid, Dennis pressed the start button. As the alchemical array in the thruster was activated, a large amount of magic power was converted into hydrogen and oxygen in a specific ratio, which was poured into the third cylinder and detonated instantly.
An eardrum-shattering roar sounded in the workshop, and the entire thruster shook violently, followed by a scorching flame gushing out from the tail end of the thruster.
Under the strong impact brought by the explosion, even the device used to fix it below was creaking. Tim's heart was in his throat, fearing that this thing would explode directly.
Lynn's domain has also been deployed, ready to deal with the worst situation at any time. Lydia and others are also staring at the constantly vibrating thrusters.
One second, ten seconds, thirty seconds, sixty seconds...
A minute passed quickly, and although the metal on the outside of the thruster had turned red in the scorching heat, the expected explosion did not occur!
"Success, we really succeeded!" an alchemist shouted immediately, his face filled with ecstasy.
The other wizards were so excited that they could hardly contain themselves, and Lydia cheered with joy.
Dennis was undoubtedly the most excited one. The idea of using the shock wave of the explosion to propel the vehicle had been in his mind for a long time. Now, after a full year and a half of hard work, he finally turned this original idea into reality!
"What's the speed? What's its speed?" Dennis pulled the alchemist in charge of the test and asked anxiously.
A thrust detection device is installed under the thruster, which can easily determine the thrust strength provided by this thing.
"About 700 kilometers per hour!" The alchemist's face was full of surprise.
"It's doubled...it's doubled!" Dennis slammed his left fist heavily on the palm of his right hand, muttering to himself excitedly.
Tim's eyes widened in disbelief, and Lynn was also amazed. He originally thought that it was too early to develop jet planes, but now Dennis taught him a lesson and told him with practical actions what it meant to use magic and alchemy to solve problems!
Chapter 529: We can set a small goal, first break through five times the speed of sound!
"How is my research, Vice Dean Tim!" After being excited for a while, Dennis turned to look at the dazed Tim.
The latter was speechless for a moment. Tim had never expected that Dennis's outrageous explosion propulsion theory would actually work out. He could only smile bitterly and say that he was indeed wrong. In the future, the institute will send more people to fully support his research.
Seeing that Tim finally gave in, Dennis immediately let out a sigh of relief.
During the year he was researching the explosive propulsion device, he had suffered a lot of ridicule from ignorant people. Especially after the research reached a bottleneck, the Magic Research Institute was even unwilling to send more alchemists to assist him.
Firstly, there is a shortage of people everywhere in the kingdom, and secondly, many short-sighted wizards think that his explosion advancement plan is too crazy and has no chance of success at all, and is just a waste of time and resources!