Chapter 00160: Internal Combustion Engine
# Internal Combustion Engine
Chapter 160
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 160: Internal Combustion Engine
Time always slips by unnoticed.
In a flash, another ten-odd days had passed.
Li Chengxi opened his shop as usual, greeting a group of students who came in the morning to buy bread and milk.
Viola had also returned long ago, and her trip back was even less trouble than Audel's.
He had called Qian Sen in advance, asking him to have his men send back the confiscated sword.
Viola dressed neatly, took the clothes and some snacks he had bought for her, and with a leap towards the television, she dived right back through.
He hadn't used the television for Audel's return because Li Chengxi felt she should go back the same way she came.
It was the same this time; since Viola came out of the television, she jumped back the same way.
These past ten-odd days had been very peaceful.
Qian Sen hadn't called Li Chengxi again.
When Li Chengxi called to ask if they had caught the person, Qian Sen could only reply that the Head Office's report hadn't arrived yet and that he would inform him of any new developments.
There was no new information from Section Nine, but the news was abuzz with reports about the armed robbery at the shopping mall.
Perhaps because it wasn't a real gun and no one was injured, it didn't make the main evening news, only the provincial satellite TV station.
The matter was also discussed online for a while.
The witty netizens fully exercised their creativity, with each comment more brilliant than the last.
However, on the internet, information spreads fast, and its popularity fades just as quickly.
In a few days, the incident dropped off the trending list.
A few days after that, almost no one was talking about it anymore.
After all, there wasn't much to discuss.
The police had already released their preliminary investigation results, and further details would have to wait for the official police bulletin.
Although it had been a hot topic, thankfully, Li Chengxi's involvement was not mentioned in the news.
It only said that a hostage had taken advantage of the robber's distraction and bravely fought back, creating an opportunity for the police to successfully break in.
It was likely that Section Nine had intervened.
The incident had a certain supernatural element, so it wasn't suitable for Li Chengxi to be exposed.
He was happy not to be exposed.
In fact, he hoped such things would never happen again; it wasn't good for the heart.
There were also discussions about this incident on Section Nine's internal forum, but the content was all publicly available information from the news, showing that even insiders didn't know the inside story.
Of course, Li Chengxi wouldn't go blabbing about it everywhere.
He felt he might get his account banned by the administrator if he did.
Other than that, nothing much had happened these past few days.
Life was peaceful.
"Brother Li, we'll take these two."
Lei Lei and Gan Xiaoyan came to the convenience store together today to buy bread and milk.
Seeing the bread they placed on the cash register, Li Chengxi said:
"Just this? For the two of you? That's not even enough to feed a cat. Go grab an old-fashioned loaf."
"No, no, my weight has been a bit dangerous lately."
Li Chengxi, of course, had never experienced the worries of young girls.
When he was in school, he was a big eater, having large meals three times a day and constantly snacking in between.
Lei Lei gently nudged Gan Xiaoyan, who immediately understood.
"Brother Li, the code."
"Huh? Still doing this? Alright, fine. Today's is... oh right, Heavenly King Covers Earth Tiger?"
"Pagoda Suppresses River Demon."
Due to the incident with a third party disguising themselves as an acquaintance to infiltrate their social circle, Gan Xiaoyan and Lei Lei had devised a set of secret codes.
They even changed it based on the day of the week, reporting the code upon meeting to confirm each other's identity.
Even Li Chengxi was dragged into it.
Since it was for safety, Li Chengxi didn't mind.
He even found the two little girls quite endearing.
–‐‐——–‐‐——
Demon Lord Calendar, Year 648.
Mid-June, morning.
"What exactly did you want us to see?"
Just after finishing her prayers, Audel dragged Viola out of the Chapel, saying she had a new research breakthrough and wanted her to see it.
Wendy, who was following beside Viola, immediately became vigilant.
"It's not something dangerous, is it?"
Audel's new inventions had left quite a psychological scar on Wendy.
Ever since they were young, every time Audel wanted to show off something, an accident was almost guaranteed to happen.
"Don't always judge me based on past experiences. I've become much more steady."
"......"
Are you sure you're steady?
"It's very safe this time. Just watch."
Audel led the two to the newly constructed waterwheel and ducked into a warehouse beside it.
Soon, Audel was directing the workers inside the waterwheel to push out a strange carriage.
The main body of the carriage was no different from a normal one, but there was no place to harness horses.
The roof of the carriage had been crudely sawn off, and standing beside it, one could vaguely see some sort of mechanical contraption inside.
Wendy was at a loss.
"What is this?"
"This is called a car."
"A wh-what car?"
Wendy had never heard this word before, but Viola remembered it.
"Did you make this by imitating the vehicles from the Divine Realm? But the appearance is so different."
"The appearance isn't what's important, it's the principle."
Audel patted the carriage body, not minding the grease that got on her hand.
"This is all thanks to the Lord for granting me the structural diagram of an internal combustion engine. Although it's just the simplest two-stroke internal combustion engine, it still took me a great deal of effort to get it working."
Wendy was astonished.
"With this... what did you call it, internal combustion engine, this carriage can run on its own? Without horses?"
"It doesn't need them. It only consumes this type of fuel."
Audel took out a small bottle and shook it, revealing a light yellow liquid inside.
"I did my best to separate a highly flammable fuel from petroleum. Although I can't mass-produce it yet, we can conduct small-scale experiments."
The reason it couldn't be mass-produced was simple: the resources invested were greater than the value of the output.
It was like bombarding mercury with gamma rays to produce gold; the cost far exceeded the value of the gold itself.
However, with technological iteration, the cost would decrease, though by that time, they would probably be entering the Industrial Revolution Era.
Audel poured the homemade gasoline into the fuel filler port on top, then held onto the edge of the carriage to climb up.
"It won't be dangerous, will it? Won't pouring fuel into it cause it to burn or explode?"
"An explosion is exactly what we want. The internal combustion engine mainly relies on the thrust from detonation to drive the pistons."
Wendy was a little skeptical, but Audel was very confident.
"If the internal combustion engine is successfully developed, I believe it can be used in many places and greatly solve the problem of insufficient productivity."
Viola immediately realized the immense value a machine that only needed fuel to provide power could bring.
Seeing Audel's confidence, she nodded.
"Be careful."
Audel pressed a switch.
A large puff of black smoke shot out from the exhaust port under the carriage, startling Wendy.
However, the internal combustion engine had indeed started successfully, making a sputtering sound similar to a motorcycle.
In truth, this carriage was just a four-wheeled motorcycle.
It used a belt to drive a chain below, which in turn propelled the two rear wheels forward.
There was no gearbox or anything of the sort.
As long as one pulled the lever to engage the gears, the chain would drive the wheel hubs.
At first, everything went smoothly.
The workers and Royal Guards present all exclaimed in amazement, surprised that this vehicle, which used neither magic nor livestock, could actually move.
But after traveling less than ten meters, the engine suddenly sparked with a crackle.
Immediately after, a large amount of black smoke billowed directly from the engine, not through the exhaust pipe.
In an instant, thick black smoke enveloped the carriage.
Audel, covered in soot, rushed out of the car, coughing incessantly.
"As expected, the forging quality is still not up to par. Our production process can't achieve the strength required by the design."
"Don't complain to me about my territory's blacksmiths. How could something from the Divine Realm be so easily replicated?"
"That thing won't explode, will it?"
Wendy pointed at the still-smoking carriage, looking a little worried.
"It won't, don't worry. It'll be fine once it burns through all the fuel."
Highly doubting whether Audel's "fine" was true, Wendy decided to take a few steps back to maintain a safe distance.
Just then, Audel suddenly froze for a moment, then nodded as if talking to someone.
"The Lord told me that the internal combustion engine is too difficult, and I should have researched the steam engine first."
"Then why did you start with the internal combustion engine?"
"I was just curious."
"......"
Wendy had suffered quite a bit because of Audel's "curiosity."
"Oh, oh, hmm, I understand."
Audel turned to the other two and said:
"Although it was a failure, the Lord seems very pleased. He's asking what reward we want."
Viola immediately blurted out:
"Can we have instant noodles?"
"Hey, yes, I want that too."
"What are instant noodles?"
Wendy had never seen instant noodles and had no idea what they were.
Then, the three of them saw a light orb appear on the ground not far in front of them.
When the light orb dissipated, three boxes of instant noodles appeared in its place.
The three of them had come to a conclusion: it was okay to act a little cute with the Lord every now and then...