Chapter 174: Steam Research!

Wang Zhen's voice echoed through the banquet hall; he wanted to exaggerate his dream, saying that a bizarre, fantastical world could not shock these people, but if it were a dream entrusted by the ancestors…

"The ancestors entrusted a dream to me, showing me a scene never seen before!" A sacred and yearning expression appeared on Wang Zhen's face.

"I have seen a power called 'steam'! It can drive iron behemoths that travel a thousand li per day on land! It can power ten‑ton wheels that sail the windless sea! It can replace countless laborers, making spinning wheels turn by themselves and causing mine water to drain automatically!"

"This power will completely change the world! And those who master it will become the new rulers of this world!"

The banquet hall fell into dead silence.

Everyone was frightened by Wang Zhen's description.

An iron behemoth that travels a thousand li a day? A ten‑ton wheel that sails without a sail?

This… this is no longer something mortals can imagine. It is clearly a miracle found only in myth and legend!

Lu Bian Yitian felt his brain was about to give out. He strained to imagine the world described by the Head of Family, but his cognition and imagination could not keep up.

He only knew that it must be an incomparably powerful and glorious world.

"And you," Wang Zhen's gaze swept over each face, "are the ones chosen by the ancestors to open the gate to the new era!"

"My Wang Family has already established a new Science Academy! Its sole purpose is to turn the divine artifacts shown in the ancestors' dream into reality!"

"You will become the first batch of apprentices in the Science Academy! You will have the chance to personally touch, study, and create that great power called 'steam'!"

"Your names will be recorded in the annals together with this great undertaking! Millennia later, the world will remember that it was you who opened a brand‑new era!"

Wang Zhen's voice was filled with a beguiling power.

Lu Bian Yitian was already immersed; any 'cultural cleansing squad' or murder‑arson compared to this undertaking was nothing more than child's play!

This is the ultimate goal worth pursuing with one's life!

"I am willing! Head of Family! I am willing!" Lu Bian Yitian could no longer control his emotions; with a thud he knelt, murmuring louder and louder, "I am willing to give everything to the Wang Family, to the Science Academy, even my life!"

"We are willing! Please, Head of Family, grant us this!"

The ninety‑nine companions behind him also knelt in unison, each face filled with fervor and resolute devotion.

"Good!" Wang Zhen nodded with satisfaction, "I knew you wouldn't disappoint me."

He waved his hand, signaling everyone to rise.

"However, I must also remind you," his tone grew serious, "the path of exploring the unknown has never been smooth. Especially a power as mighty as steam—it can benefit humanity, but it can also cause harm."

"During research, failures and dangers may arise. That boiler that heats water may explode. That rotating flywheel may engulf a person. Some of you may be injured, even… die."

"I will give you another chance to choose. If anyone now is afraid and wishes to withdraw, I will not force them. They may stay in Yangzhou, become a prosperous steward, and live a quiet life."

Wang Zhen's gaze swept over the crowd again.

No one moved.

Everyone's eyes were unwavering.

"Very well." Wang Zhen smiled, "from today, in the Science Academy you will no longer be Lu Bian Yitian, Tian Zhong Yilang. You will each have a brand‑new code representing your sacred mission."

"You are the first‑phase apprentices of the Science Academy. Each of you will take Zheng as your surname, with a number as your given name."

"You," Wang Zhen said, pointing at Lu Bian Yitian, "from today, you shall be called Zheng Da."

"You, Zheng Er."

"You, Zheng San."

…

Lu Bian Yitian—no, now he should be called Zheng Da—looked around; each person who received a code seemed to be reborn.

The name 'Lu Bian Yitian' represented his humble past. Zheng Da represented his brilliant future.

After everyone's names were changed, a hundred people knelt together, grateful to the Head of Family, their eyes brimming with emotional tears.

…

After the welcome banquet ended, these Japanese were taken to the depths of the fortress, an isolated courtyard guarded by high walls and layers of sentries.

This place is the location of the Wang Family Science Academy.

The courtyard already gathered hundreds of people: white‑haired veteran craftsmen and some oddly dressed figures who looked like hermits summoned from the mountains.

They surrounded several huge, strange devices forged from brass and steel, arguing heatedly about something.

"The seal of this cylinder is still inadequate! Once pressure rises, it leaks everywhere!"

"I think the boiler's material is the problem! Our cast‑iron technique still can't pass the test; it can't withstand that much pressure!"

"Stop arguing! In my view, the problem lies in the Dao! Water and fire cannot coexist—that is the Heavenly Dao! Forcing the forces of water and fire into a single furnace is defying Heaven! It's no wonder accidents happen!"

Zheng Da and the others leaned forward curiously.

They saw the thing from the sketch the Head of Family had shown them.

A boiler resembling a massive iron pot, with roaring charcoal fire beneath it. A thick copper pipe attached to the boiler led to a half‑human‑tall cylindrical cylinder.

A slender, gray‑clad scholar with a gaunt face was directing several craftsmen, carefully adding water to the boiler.

He was Luo Yi, the most renowned mathematics master the Wang Family had recruited from Jiangnan, now the highest‑ranked scholar in the Science Academy.

"Everyone, step back! Prepare for the third pressure test!" Luo Yi shouted loudly.

The craftsmen, hearing this, hurried back ten or so steps, taking cover behind a row of thick wooden planks.

Zheng Da, though unsure what was happening, also stepped aside.

As the fire beneath the boiler grew fiercer, the boiler began to emit a 'gurgling' sound. Streams of white steam hissed out from the junction of the boiler and pipe.

The simple pressure gauge attached to the cylinder showed its needle slowly climbing upward.

Everyone's hearts rose to their throats.

"Pressure... one... two..." a recording apprentice reported, voice trembling.

Just as the needle was about to point to the 'three' mark,

Boom!

A deafening, earth‑shaking roar!

The huge metal boiler, like a balloon that had been blown up and burst, suddenly exploded!

Scalding steam and boiling water, mixed with countless shattered metal fragments, swept outward!

"Ah!"

A scream rang out.

A craftsman who was closest couldn't dodge; a flying Iron Control fragment sliced off half his head, and he collapsed on the spot into a pool of blood.

A few others nearby were also scalded by the boiling steam and hot water, rolling on the ground in pain, wailing incessantly.

The whole courtyard was a mess, as if it had just endured a small‑scale war.

Zheng Da and his companions were all stunned.

They finally understood what the Head of Family meant by "danger".