Chapter 245: Chapter 239: Engines and Trucks_2
Initially, Chui Chui had been very enthusiastic about recommending her griffon modification project to Yan Xing.
She wanted to transform the griffon into an aerial weapons platform.
The core of this griffon aerial weapons platform was the elusive turbocharged jet engine, which had yet to materialize.
Now, Yan Xing had not only purchased a batch of griffons from Count Theodore, but the Eternal Domain was also about to be upgraded to a Seventh Grade Domain. This would allow the construction of griffon towers to recruit griffons.
In the consciousness space, Chui Chui donned the garb of a scientific researcher: a white lab coat and large, black-rimmed glasses. She held a teaching rod in her hand, and a blackboard appeared beside her. The blackboard was filled with formulas and dissected diagrams.
"Reporting to Master! Chui Chui has developed the Turbocharged Jet Engine 2.0 in its physical experimental version.
"The engine has been assembled in the Alchemy Laboratory and has started boot-up tests.
"Once I obtain the test data from the physical experimental version, we can develop the 2.1 version. It is predicted that after at least twenty more tests, the final physical version of 2.0 can be finalized."
Is it so slow? Do we really need that many tests?
Although Yan Xing knew that designing a brand-new power engine inevitably required a very long and repetitive testing process, he still felt the testing period was a bit too long. He feared it wouldn’t meet the needs of the war.
"This is already very fast." Chui Chui explained to Yan Xing from a research perspective, "We have a lot of realistic data for reference, and a large amount of data can be verified through virtual calculations. However, the physical testing process must be strictly carried out. After all, sometimes data is just data, and the real situation can deviate."
Developing the engine indeed should not be rushed.
Moreover, the engine designed for griffons differs greatly from airplane engines and cannot be directly copied.
"Proceed with your development steps and try to speed things up as much as possible. War doesn’t wait for us," Yan Xing reminded Chui Chui, then asked, "Is there any progress on the project to develop new trucks in collaboration with the Goblins?"
With griffons in the Eternal Domain, the pressure on air defense wasn’t too great, so the development of the flight engine could wait.
But the demand for trucks was urgent.
Since the road between the Eternal Domain and Nuta City was completed, the Eternal Domain had entered the transport network of the Silvermane Principality.
In the future, as the Eternal Domain continued to expand, its demand for materials would grow exponentially.
The supply of materials from the real world would inevitably reach a bottleneck. At the very least, all the buildings in a city could not be made solely from bricks, cement, and steel. The domain’s supply system would also have to shift from unified distribution to a market economy due to the increase in subjects. In the future, only key materials would come from the real world; all that could be replaced by alternatives in this world would shift to local supply.
With the Eternal Grain Bank’s Grain Tickets being issued so successfully, the Eternal Commerce Guild could use them for large-scale material procurement. To develop the domain quickly, the volume of procurement would have to be very large. The high transportation costs in this world caused the price of an item to soar once it reached another place. To obtain materials relatively cheaply, a transportation tool with low energy consumption, large carrying capacity, and high speed was needed.
Roads are the arteries of the economy, and trucks are the blood that carries the nutrients.
If the trucks are good, the blood is healthy.
If the arteries aren’t up to standard, the quality of blood needed is higher.
The world full of beaten-earth roads meant that trucks from the real world would have to undergo magical modifications to be able to run properly.
The Eternal Domain had to develop quickly and without hindrance, so the new type of truck needed to be developed as soon as possible.
Chui Chui tapped the blackboard with her teaching rod, and the text and diagrams on the board changed to things related to the new trucks.
"Reporting to Master! The Goblins have provided a Magical Energy Engine for the new trucks, replacing our gasoline engines.
"However, their Magical Energy Engines tend to fracture easily under high RPMs due to material quality issues. I am trying to find suitable replacement materials from the real world to enhance the power output of this Magical Energy Engine.
"Several custom parts made from these materials are already en route."
Goblin technology could produce engines where mechanical movements drove gears. However, due to limitations in material quality and precision engineering, they could only increase power by making parts bigger and coarser, which consumed too much energy. To reduce energy consumption, more expensive alchemy materials and Alchemy were needed. Therefore, it was difficult to apply widely.
Magic and Alchemy aim for expensive items that can achieve extreme properties. High-grade alchemical items might possess attributes unimaginable in the real world, but they can never produce universally cheap and useful goods.
It’s normal that the goods from Goblin alchemy shops are expensive.
They’re not meant for the average consumer to begin with.
Goblin Gaga was curious about the truck because it was clearly distinct from high-end alchemical goods. Furthermore, Yan Xing driving the vehicle so swiftly was not how one would typically handle a piece of high-grade alchemy. That’s why Goblin Gaga was very sincere about the collaboration to develop the new truck, bringing out many top-notch Alchemy Technologies from their collection.
After replacing the gasoline engine with a Magical Energy Engine and using current materials for its parts, the power was still insufficient. However, this problem could be solved by reducing the truck’s tonnage. With more experience and technology in the future, the Magical Energy Engine could be further optimized, and modern parts could be used to offer more improvements.
Bit by bit, the power was increased.
The carrying capacity of the first-generation Magical Energy Engine-powered truck was set at four tons. As the vehicle became lighter, the demands on the roads were naturally not as high as for trucks with a carrying capacity of more than ten tons. However, even four tons was too heavy for some hardened earth roads. Using tracks would inevitably increase energy consumption.
Therefore, the Goblins introduced another Alchemy Technology: installing a set of retractable multi-legs under the truck’s chassis. It was a simplified version of the multi-legs used by heavy war golems. When the truck got stuck in mud, the multi-legs could be activated to help it escape. Although this technology didn’t solve the problem fundamentally, it was at least an emergency solution. As for the ultimate solution, the new truck research institute would need to integrate both parties’ technologies and gradually find an optimal one.
In any case, the initial trucks were lightweight and would mainly operate between Nuta City, the Eternal Domain, and the Thunderous Swamp. The roads were newly built, so there should be no significant issues. Even if the new trucks broke down due to technical issues, they could quickly contact the Eternal Domain’s network information system for rescue.
Listening to Chui Chui’s explanation of the progress in developing the new truck, Yan Xing finally said, "Trucks are different from turbocharged jet engines. They represent a technology where both sides have fully developed components, making it an integration of existing technologies.
"I want to see the first prototype within ten days. If there’s no problem, we’ll start production immediately. Can you do it?"
"If it is for emergency production, there’s definitely no problem," Chui Chui answered very decisively. "We can produce while testing and modifying at the same time.
"I’ll make a procurement list. You just need to order the items on it, Master."
Finally, there was progress with the new truck.
And, since it didn’t use gasoline, it greatly increased the adaptability of the new truck in this world.
Once the first batch of trucks was produced, the Eternal Domain would keep some and then sell a portion to the Eternal Merchant Guild.
Those merchants would certainly like something that could carry more, run faster, and unlike beasts, didn’t need to eat or rest.
Thinking of the Merchant Guild, Yan Xing asked Chui Chui to pull up the map. The training camp of the Guild’s Mercenaries was not far from here. Since they had come this far, he decided to see the current situation there.
Yan Xing instructed the accompanying Werewolf Warriors to continue along the road toward the Eternal Domain. Meanwhile, he spurred his beloved steed, Shadowflash, to veer off the road. All four of Shadowflash’s hooves were encased in alchemical horseshoes, the silver-colored footwear etched with magical runes.
The moment Shadowflash’s front hooves stepped off the road surface, they struck the air, producing a crisp sound as if hitting steel.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...
An Air Barrier as hard as steel formed beneath Shadowflash’s hooves. This allowed it to gallop upon the barrier, rising higher as it ran. Then, with a loud neigh, a pair of air wings with a wingspan of ten meters unfolded from either side of Shadowflash’s shoulders. The swept-back air wings directed the surrounding airflow backward, propelling Shadowflash rapidly towards the sky.