Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1176: WWI: IC Breakthrough (2/3)

Prof Indra Karma, his hair dishevelled and his eyes outlined with dark circles, looked like someone who had neither eaten nor slept for days. He sat in the cafeteria, scratching his head in annoyance, unable to figure out what had gone wrong with the day’s experiment.

’Haven’t I accounted for all the variables, what else could have gone wrong?’ His emotions were restless as he wondered in his heart.

"Chief, please finish your dinner first, it’s about to go cold." A young but mature voice sounded in the ears of Indra Karma, but looking at who it was, he simply waved him away.

"Alright, Alright, I’ll eat!"

He was too preoccupied to even look at his dinner.

The young man, who was the chief assistant, shook his head with regret, finished his dinner, and left with his colleagues. Walking down the hallway, someone in the group commented. "I hope the old man doesn’t die suddenly"

The entire group became silent until a short, dark man, fixing his spectacles, commented.

"True, but he is not too old, so the chances are low."

Surprisingly, none of the people in the group thought there was anything strange about discussing whether their chief researcher might one day die in his sleep from overwork. On the contrary, everyone nodded with solemn expressions, some even looking relieved, as if it were a genuine possibility, and that included a nod from the chief assistant himself.

"Actually, I’ve read the chief’s files, along with the comments from colleagues and researchers who have worked with him and under him." The chief assistant said, and then he continued, "They all said that he’s a very serious and professional researcher, particularly brilliant at managing interpersonal relations and personal health."

Thinking about something, he shook his head with a look of regret. "Just when the research started, Chief still looked like a strong elderly man whose body was as strong as a boulder, but now, sigh..."

The short, dark-toned researcher said, "Well, it’s understandable. If the research on the new hydraulic cooling system succeeds, the military will likely push the project straight into practical testing. It could even be used in the war. With the way things are moving now, everything is happening far too fast. Competitors are appearing both within the organisation and outside it, and it’s easy to imagine just how much pressure the chief is under."

Back in the canteen, Indra Karma had no idea that his assistant researchers were discussing him, but even if he did, he wouldn’t have cared. At last, he looked away from the experimental log he had pored over so relentlessly that the pages were already wrinkled, despite having been written only a few hours earlier, and finally turned his attention to the dinner set before him.

’sigh’

He started to eat in quick bites, wanting to finish all the dinner as quickly as possible, so that he could go to his dormitory and ponder about the experiment some more.

Just then, a commotion occurred. A man ran from the dormitory block through the canteen and directly into the administrative block. Although running in public places, especially for the researchers in the Academy of military sciences, is rare, it is nothing unusual. Sometimes, when the researchers are too excited, it is not uncommon to see even 70-year-olds running as if their life depended on it, but what made the current situation different is that the man was still wearing his night clothes and his hair looked wet.

Anyone on the path who was in his way quickly moved aside as if they had seen a lunatic who escaped from the asylum. After the swift wind passed, they looked at each other and scratched their heads.

"Was that a researcher?"

"Probably. Apart from researchers, who else can even enter?"

Just then, Indra Karma had finished his dinner and was on his way back to his dormitory, but out of nowhere, a wind hit his face, and when he regained his senses, he noticed a man running towards the administrative building with all his might. Indra Karma was confused, but he vaguely recognised the person who had just crossed him.

’Hey, isn’t this Maha Sangapati?’ His brows furrowed in confusion. He knew Sangapati because as soon as Sangapati completed his first semester of internship, he came to him and asked to be his assistant in the research team. Sangapati’s constant ramblings even gave him a vague inspiration about his project, which at the time was still in the beginning stages. Safe to say, Sangapati had left quite an impression on him, but unfortunately, he did not have any spot left in his research project, and not to mention, the young man had not made any achievements on his own. Still, he made a note in his mind to let the young man participate in the research in case he set out on a new journey.

Over time, he had forgotten about him. When he later inquired, he learned that Sangapati had still not made any major breakthroughs since entering the Academy of Military Sciences and was continuing to work on a personal project that had received no funding and remained in the theoretical stage. Now, however, seeing him run with such enthusiasm made him wonder if Sangapati had finally achieved something.

He hesitated, unable to immediately make a decision on whether to go back to his dormitory or check out what was going on with this potential prospect of his.

He struggled for a few seconds, but in the end, he decided to give it a try.

Not because he knew that Sangapati was a hidden genius or something, it was simply that the idea he had put forward was very interesting and had sparked a lot of discussion among the intellectual circles, but sadly, since new steam inventions were appearing frequently and, more recently, research in the field of electricity became more popular, there was almost no one left to research along the direction proposed by Maha Sangapati.

"Alright, maybe taking my focus away from the experiment for a while can do me some good." He declared to himself and walked towards the administrative block.

At the administrative block, Mahasangapati was in quite a pinch.

Lost in the excitement of outlining his theoretical idea for a new energy engine and drafting it on paper, he completely forgot one crucial detail. To initiate a project review, especially during night hours, a senior researcher had to vouch for him so that the management could send invitations to other active senior researchers and allow those interested to participate.

The excitement that had lit his face only moments ago was quickly replaced by dismay. He knew it wasn’t a serious problem and that he could apply for a project review in the morning, yet the disappointment still lingered.

Just as he turned back in dejection, preparing to leave, he was caught off guard by a familiar sight. Standing at the entrance was the researcher he admired most, Professor Indra Karma, looking at him with a faint smile. For some reason, the professor appeared more haggard and worn than he remembered, yet the sense of awe Sangapati felt did not fade in the slightest.

"Could you show me your work? If I think it is interesting, I can vouch for you."

Sangapati was immediately overjoyed and quickly handed over the piece of draft paper he had just drawn. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Noticing that Sangapati was only handing him a single piece of paper, Indra Karma was a little disappointed. Although there was no rule that for a project review you need large documentation, it is usually prepared by the research proposers in order to show they are very well prepared and show that their attainments in the field are deep, and the project is well considered. Although there are some researchers who only submit a single draft paper or even a design drawing drawn on a newspaper, those are all senior researchers. He obviously did not think Sangapati was at that level yet.

When he opened the draft paper, his brows furrowed. ’Huh!’ He was not shocked or even amazed, but simply confused. What he was seeing looked like a piston compartment of the Devaraya atmospheric engine, but looking at it again, it was not quite the Devaraya engine either. There were some other additions that he could not understand.

"Can you explain this?" he asked. Indra didn’t want to make premature conclusions without knowing the full details. But looking at his eyes, one could easily tell that he was not too impressed.

Mahasangapati did not know the professor’s thoughts, but the enthusiasm on his face remained, and he excitedly explained his ideas without any reserve.

At first, Indra Karma listened with a scrutinising attitude, with the mindset of wanting to correct the junior and advise him to be down to earth, but the more he listened, the more his eyes widened and the faster his heartbeat rose.

"Officer, I fucking vouch for this project," he roared, almost more enthusiastic than Mahasangapati himself.