Chapter 346: Chapter 343: Art Is an Explosion

「Ten days later」

The Core Area had already begun to take shape.

"This might be the biggest Alchemy Device I’ve ever seen," Andre said, craning his neck and clicking his tongue in amazement. He saw several sheet-metal towers standing side-by-side, interconnected by a web of countless pipes. Below them were numerous furnaces and other unidentifiable contraptions.

"Hmph, this is just to strengthen the cylinder walls. I used the same type of Magic Array as the one on an Airship’s gasbag. If you put it that way, the Airship is actually the biggest Alchemy Creation right now." Rorschach stood with his hands on his hips, looking insufferably smug. He made sure to emphasize the "right now."

They were currently standing before the first experimental setup. Lacking experience, Rorschach could only cobble together a pocket-sized miniature device first to see if the process would even work. This step was called a "pilot test." The device was designed to produce a substance with a sharp, invigorating smell—ammonia.

Once the lab-scale process, built on the core principles, was up and running, the next step was to scale up the device in stages. This was done for two reasons: one, to determine the scaling laws for materials and other data, and two, to eliminate the strange and quirky problems that arise from scaling effects.

For example, boiling a cup of water is easy. But when you’re heating a whole boiler, something as simple as calcium and magnesium deposits clinging to the bottom can cause uneven heating, creating the risk of an explosion.

The normal design and construction process should have gone through stages like "scaling experiments," "small-scale trials," "pilot tests," and "industrial production tests." But Rorschach, acting on the principle of ’If it blows up, it blows up, as long as no one dies’... no, that’s not right. He was acting on the pioneering spirit of "daring to venture and forging ahead," and so he decided to pursue leapfrog development in these extraordinary times.

The only thing Andre recognized was the "Transmuting Dust Collection and Conversion Unit" half-buried in the very center. It was basically the same model as the one in the basement of the Tower of Stars’ research building. However, instead of producing Transmuting Dust crystals, this one outputted pure, refined Magic Power.

The Demonic Puppets no longer needed to "eat." Their method of charging had changed to standing still in front of a "Charging Station" and inserting a cable into their own bodies.

Right now, eight Mechanical Bodies were standing stock-still like this, their glass-orb eyes blinking, which made them look a little dazed and cute.

In truth, they were already full of Magic Power, but Rorschach had run into a vexing problem and was forced to halt work. "The core’s computing power has hit a bottleneck. We need the Intelligence Core to control the Demonic Puppets and to regulate the Collector, replacing manual adjustments. It also needs to process massive amounts of data for the factory’s future calibrations..."

"I can have the original team come and manage this Collector," Andre offered, wanting to ease his teacher’s burden.

But Rorschach rejected his proposal. "No, the original Collector can’t be shut down. The crystals it produces need to be carefully stored as a backup energy source."

"Then the only option is to expand its computing power."

"Should we summon the Watchmakers again? But our relationship has been a bit tense since the incident with the apprentice." Rorschach could only pin his hopes on the one apprentice who had seen the complete blueprints.

The root cause of Rorschach’s soured relationship with the Watchmakers—the curious kid, Gao Pei—was currently in a secret basement deep beneath Lansite that no one could ever find...

He wasn’t imprisoned; he was being educated. Taking turns lecturing him were none other than four professors from the Munich Institute of Technology!

From mathematics to mechanical principles, from metallurgy to the common tongue, hiring these professors was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. In theory, a professor’s high level of expertise doesn’t necessarily translate to high-quality teaching. However, Gao Pei still believed his life was in the hands of the evil Rorschach Mage, so he studied as if his very life depended on it.

He was either in class or doing homework and studying blueprints. He even had to wash his meals down with an Energy Potion.

His zeal for learning (born from the threat of death) deeply moved the four professors. The story they had been given was that a young master, who suffered from a rare disease that prevented him from ever seeing daylight, wished to study. He was said to be especially interested in mechanics, so they were invited to this basement to instruct the motivated young man.

Rorschach had originally arranged things this way for secrecy, but this only further convinced Gao Pei that he was a prisoner. He was furious but dared not speak out, so Rorschach had no idea the kid was overthinking things.

Since the invitation came from a wealthy patron, the professors had set aside their pride after being paid to come and teach. They were then quickly moved by Gao Pei’s dedication.

"Although your natural talent is a bit lacking, no university student can match your drive to learn. If you complete this phase of instruction, I am willing to jointly petition with the other professors to award you a special graduation certificate, attesting that your knowledge is equivalent to a degree from our institute."

The normally taciturn professor had rarely spoken so many words at once. He patted Gao Pei’s shoulder encouragingly.

Don’t ask why Gao Pei’s eyes were always brimming with tears; it was because he loved knowledge so deeply. Gao Pei didn’t know that he was about to become the world’s first "university student by correspondence," destined for a small footnote in the annals of history.

Rorschach, too busy to worry about the poor apprentice watchmaker’s mental state, was now with Andre, anxiously preparing for the first startup of the "pilot test device."

"This gasbag here is the same model used on an Airship, and the gas inside is also ’Lightweight Flammable Element,’" Rorschach explained. He was teaching Andre the operations and procedures, just like a veteran training a rookie in a factory.

"As fuel?"

"As a raw material. We’re still purchasing it from the Dwarves for now, but those treacherous dwarves are quoting prices that are way too high. The first production unit in our future factory complex will be to produce water gas from coal. I’m going to crash the price of ’Lightweight Flammable Element’ for all of us." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The Dwarves, currently on a cheerful, oblivious work holiday, had no idea Rorschach was preparing to turn "Lightweight Flammable Element" into a commodity so cheap it would be practically free, causing a huge number of their kin to lose their jobs and flood the construction labor market.

Rorschach had two cards up his sleeve: he could use the Transmuting Dust Collector as an energy source, converting Magic Power into hydrogen via water electrolysis, or he could build a coal processing unit.

’Hydrogen produced from the former method, water electrolysis, is called "green hydrogen," while hydrogen from the latter, coal, is called "grey hydrogen." These terms were coined in my past life from an environmental perspective. But environmental protection? The Druids are all dead, so that’s not a concern. All I see is that coal is good stuff, and I need to make the most of it.’

Once the hydrogen was produced, he just needed to combine it with nitrogen from the air in a 3:1 ratio, and ammonia would be born.

3H2 + N2 → 2NH3

It was so simple. Even Gao Pei, at his current level, could understand this balanced chemical equation. But to actually achieve this one simple step, the number of devices and pre- and post-processing procedures was so overwhelming that Andre’s head was spinning.

"Inside this air-cooling tower are twelve inscribed Frozen Arrays. At the same time, an Air Cannon Magic Array is used to pump in and pressurize a large volume of air to produce sufficient liquid nitrogen. After a partial depressurization, it is re-vaporized and transported here..."

Rorschach gestured and pointed from a distance with his staff, occasionally stopping to quiz Andre. "This pipe, where does it run from and to? What substance flows through it? Liquid phase or gas phase?" "What’s that valve over there for? During startup, should it be fully open or only partially?"

Although Rorschach had explained all this not long ago, the sheer volume of information was overwhelming. Andre felt immense pressure and stumbled through his answers.

Fortunately, Rorschach didn’t press him further and continued with the procedure. "...After impurities like sulfur are removed, it can be mixed with the nitrogen. Next, we have to fill it with pure nitrogen to purge the oxygen inside... which is what’s commonly called the Flammable Element in Alchemy. Then, we need to pressurize it to 70 megapascals... sorry, that’s five hundred thousand millimeters of mercury."

"How much?" Andre thought he had either misheard or his teacher had misspoken. Atmospheric pressure was only 760 millimeters of mercury.

"Five hundred twenty thousand millimeters of mercury," Rorschach said, his voice firm. He pushed a control lever, tightened a valve, and the Magic Circuits on the main reaction tower lit up one after another, emitting a scorching glow.

’You think I want to do this? The only catalyst I could get my hands on is iron oxide, so I have no choice but to use the high-pressure method...’ "Not only does it need to be pressurized this much, but it also has to be heated to 500-600 degrees. So if the Flammable Element isn’t completely purged from the main chamber, then just you wait..."

Before the words had even left his mouth, an earth-shattering explosion roared across Lansite.