Chapter 1 A Sloppy Ending
"Pan Jinlian's hand slipped and hit Ximen Qing who was passing by. Ximen Qing was about to get angry with the pole in his hand, but he was stunned when he saw Pan Jinlian's charming and seductive figure."
“He wants to.”
"Why does this pole fall? Why does it only fall to the ground, instead of falling to the left or right, or flying into the sky? Why are all things in the world attracted to the earth?"
"He left the streets in a hurry, and later he discovered gravity."
"Cao Cao was cooking wine, with green plums on a plate beside him. He raised the wine jar and was about to say something, but when he looked at the boiling wine, he was stunned."
“He wants to.”
"Why can the boiling wine lift up the lid? If we use a huge pot and boil a lot of wine, will it have more power?"
"He put down his bottle of wine and devoted himself to experimenting, and later he invented the Cao steam engine."
"Li Yuanba threw the hammer up into the sky. He was about to point his finger at the sky and curse, but when he saw the hammer flying upward, he was stunned."
“He wants to.”
"If I throw the hammer upward, it will fall down after a while. If I throw the hammer with more force, it will fall down later. If I throw the hammer with very, very great force, will the hammer never fall down?"
"He turned around and left, and later he calculated the first cosmic velocity."
"King Zhou of Shang was holding Daji in his arms, enjoying himself amidst the wine and women, when he suddenly froze."
“He wants to.”
"Why does the wine overflow when I enter the wine pool? Does the amount of wine overflowing have anything to do with me?"
"He pushed Daji away, and then he found out"
"What did you find? Go on, Hughes."
"Yes, yes, hurry up and tell us, everyone is waiting to listen."
A group of people formed a circle, staring at the young boy in the middle.
Some of them stood with their arms folded, while others sat directly on the ground - looking at their dirty clothes, it was not clear which one was cleaner, the ground or theirs.
Several dirty wheelbarrows were thrown aside, which were used to transport coal. The steel monsters in the factory swallowed the coal, spit out steam and black smoke, and if they were in a bad mood, they would also swallow a few workers' fingers, limbs, or even lives.
The boy called Hughes grinned, revealing a row of snow-white teeth that made the mud on his face look less dull.
Every day during the lunch break after work, he would tell some strange stories here. Gradually, many workers gathered here to listen. Everyone thought that these were made-up stories, but slowly, some people became more interested in the difficult-to-pronounce nouns in the stories.
"So what exactly is universal gravitation? I remember you mentioned it several times, Hughes. Damn, I get dizzy when I hear these words."
A sturdy man came over and looked down at Hughes.
Xius raised his eyebrows. The man's name was Kyle, and Xius had some impression of him.
After all, industry was just beginning to sprout in this era, and most of the workers were originally farmers. They had lost their land and traded their lives for money in factories. The average life expectancy was less than 30 years old, and listening to Hughes' stories was their only entertainment.
Kyle, who is as strong as a bear, is hard not to attract attention.
"Good question! This universal gravitation is..."
Xius' eyes lit up and he was about to start explaining, but was suddenly interrupted by a shout from behind.
"Xius, come here, Master Kale is waiting for you." The supervisor was sticking his head out of the small door on the side of the factory and looking over here.
The people gathered in a circle and turned around. Master Kalai was the owner of this factory. Why would he come to see a peasant like Hughes? All eyes fell on Hughes.
"Go quickly, Hughes, and remember to come back and continue telling us stories!"
"Yes, and there's that something-something force!"
Pairs of dirty hands patted Hughes, and Hughes smiled and responded to them: "Wait for me to come back soon, and then the most interesting part will come."
Hughes walked towards the second floor of the factory, where there was an office. A fat-faced supervisor was standing at the door. He nodded to Hughes expressionlessly and closed the iron door after he entered.
The workers' view was blocked outside. Hughes stood inside the door and paused for two seconds before he adjusted to the somewhat dim room. The supervisor was already a few steps ahead of him, leading the way.
"Mr. Supervisor, what can I do for you?"
"You'll know when you get there." The supervisor said perfunctorily without even turning his head.
Xius frowned and had a few guesses in his mind.
He told stories to the workers leaving work every noon, which naturally attracted some people's attention.
This was inevitable, and even Hughes had fueled the flames a bit. After all, he didn't want to remain an apprentice and have his future and dreams mixed up with those of a cold machine.
Although organizing workers' rallies would quickly bring him into the sight of some big shots, it was definitely not a good thing. No factory owner would want someone under him to be able to organize the workers together.
And what Hughes did was more than just gather people and tell stories.
He was an engineer in his previous life, and the factory and machines in front of him seemed quite primitive and crude to him, so he looked for some areas for improvement and used some clever means to send them to the factory owner, Kale.
Sure enough, the factory owners of this era were never conservative, at least they had not yet learned to be arrogant, and soon the machines he improved began to spread throughout the factory.
With unremitting efforts, his destiny was finally changed.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
Hughes knew that industrialization was destined to sweep the entire world like a tide, and he had an opportunity to change his destiny.
The supervisor stopped at the door of a room, opened it and pointed inside.
Hughes took a deep breath and walked in.
The door closed behind him again, and Hughes looked into the room.
Master Carlisle was wearing an elegant suit, which he had never been seen wearing in the factory before. He had a flattering smile on his face and looked to the other side of the room.
Hughes followed his gaze and saw a man sitting there wearing a church robe? A steel mask covered his skin, and his limbs were made up of gears and various complex joints.
It looks like a robot, but if you look closely you can find normal hands and feet under the metal limbs.
What is this? Is there such a weirdo in the church? Is he wearing an exoskeleton? So exquisite?
Hughes was shocked.
"Your Excellency, he is Hughes. It was he who improved the transmission bearing of the steam engine on his own, and no one else was involved in the whole process." Carlisle said with a flattering face.
Father? Only then did Hughes notice the church emblem on this strange man, and what he was playing with in his hand was a bearing removed from a steam engine.
The strange man's fingers turned into a screwdriver and a crowbar, and he easily disassembled the bearing casing. A hoarse voice sounded from under his hood.
"Did you design this?"
Zeus's heart moved. Looking at the priest's skillful disassembly movements, it was obvious that he fully understood his ideas for improvement. If he could demonstrate his strength, he would surely attract the other side's admiration.
Judging from the factory owner's servile appearance, the priest must be of high status.
What a great opportunity! Perhaps he could use this opportunity to get in touch with higher-ups in the empire.
Xiu Si's face straightened, and he nodded and said, "Yes, Father, it was I who improved this bearing. Its efficiency can be increased by at least 30%, and its service life is also..."
Hughes' words stopped abruptly.
An iron arm pierced his chest. Hughes looked up in disbelief and saw the priest in front of him holding the church's candle emblem. He slowly pulled his hand back, and his fingers, which had just been disassembling parts, were covered in his blood.
"You are the evil god's lackey, you have defiled the sacred machinery!"
A hoarse voice sounded in the house, and the priest seemed to say something else, but Hughes could not hear it, and his eyes went dark.
Hughes, death.
(End of this chapter)