The war between the Holy State and Northland continued. Those who had never seen the young Pope sneered at his “moonlight address,” but the many whose hearts held devout faith in the Lord were filled with deep reverence for him.
Some said he was sanctimonious, using his address as an excuse to vindicate the Holy Court's launching of the war.
Others said the Kingdom of Northland was in the wrong from the start, and the war was merely a holy punishment handed down by the Lord.
For a time, opinions varied wildly; whenever anyone mentioned the young Pope of the Holy State, a heated argument was bound to follow.
Meanwhile, in the Holy Court, Lu Li had already begun busying himself with another great endeavor.
“Professor Mekal, please wait a moment.”
Inside the Logos Foundry, after the monthly blood draw was completed, Lu Li stopped Professor Mekal, who was about to head to the laboratory to research and analyze the blood sample.
He believed this genius professor would definitely be interested in that thing.
“Does Your Holiness have any other instructions?” Mekal asked unhurriedly, handing the vial of blood to an assistant at her side.
“Professor, have you ever seen a mill's waterwheel?” Lu Li asked.
A flash of curiosity gleamed in Mekal's eyes. Though she did not know what he was trying to say, she still nodded patiently. “There were many waterwheels like that in my hometown.”
She was born in a remote, small nation on the Eastern Continent. The population there was sparse, and many tasks had to rely on waterwheels to be completed.
“A waterwheel turns because water pushes the wheel. What if we substituted something else for the water?” Lu Li followed up.
Upon hearing this, a look of realization flashed through Mekal's eyes, and she instantly lost interest.
“Your Holiness, water can push a waterwheel because things always move downward. For example, rain falls from the sky, apples drop from trees, and people who jump off cliffs are dashed to pieces.”
“These are very simple laws of nature. If you are interested, you can chat with Professor XX.”
Her tone was somewhat perfunctory, and this was only out of respect for Lu Li being the Pope and having contributed quite a bit of research material to her. Had it been anyone else speaking to her like this, she would not have given them the time of day.
Seeing that she seemed about to turn and leave, Lu Li was momentarily taken aback and hurriedly spoke up:
“Wait, wait! Professor, have you never thought about what it would be like if we could use something else to replace the flow of water?”
Mekal stopped and sighed.
She said, “What you are actually referring to is the power armor, isn't it? Even without anything pushing it, it can still move freely.”
“But its power source is diluted red mercury. Red mercury is an extremely rare transcendent item; besides, it cannot be used to drive a waterwheel.”
Although it looked incredibly crude on the outside, the structure of the power armor was actually extremely precise. To absorb the energy emitted by red mercury, Mekal had made over a thousand attempts before finally finding a successful method.
“No, no, no. Have you never thought of using steam to replace the flow of water?”
Lu Li made a gesture, trying to demonstrate the sight of steam pushing open a lid.
“Oh!” Mekal came to a sudden realization. “You mean wind? There should be quite a few hand-held toy windmills at Professor XX's place...”
“Oh, no!”
Lu Li did not know how to explain it anymore. He simply instructed Anthelia to fetch some dry firewood and a kettle of water, intending to demonstrate it to her in person.
Mekal was very busy and had no time to play house with the little guy, but under the boy's pleading, she ultimately relented.
However, compared to Lu Li's excitement at the thought of about to change the world, she seemed somewhat uninterested.
Yet just as Lu Li lit the firewood and set the kettle upon it, Mekal seemed to think of something, and her expression could not help but shift.
She began to rethink every word Lu Li had said after stopping her. When she connected everything together, her expression became solemn as never before.
“Look, Professor, I'm boiling water now...”
Lu Li squatted on the ground, speaking as he steadied the kettle.
He looked up as he spoke, expecting Mekal to still wear an exasperated expression, only to be startled by the utter solemnity on her face.
“P-Professor, are you alright?”
“Your Holiness, use this instead. It heats up much faster.”
Mekal shook her head, then got up to retrieve a mysterious tool from a nearby cabinet. It looked somewhat like the fire extinguishers from Lu Li's previous life.
“What is this?” Lu Li asked.
Mekal walked over to Lu Li with the “fire extinguisher” and squatted down beside him.
“This is the ‘Flames of World Purification,’ an instrument of torture developed by the Logos Foundry specifically for judging heretics.”
“An instrument of torture?”
Lu Li found it a bit strange; no matter how he looked at it, this didn't resemble a torture device!
Yet in the next second, when the nozzle spewed forth blazing flames, he was startled so badly he nearly leapt up from the ground.
This was a fucking flamethrower! No wonder it was called the Flames of World Purification...
As the Flames of World Purification blazed, the temperature in the room seemed to spike instantly. Within a few seconds, the kettle was venting white steam, and the tightly buckled lid began to dance up and down.
“Indeed, the ‘steam’ you spoke of refers to this, correct?”
Mekal turned off the Flames of World Purification, speaking as she pointed at the rattling lid.
Then, she turned and offered Lu Li a solemn bow of apology.
“Your Holiness, I apologize to you for my arrogance. You are the greatest sage I have ever met—no! You are the greatest sage in this world!”
Lu Li blushed slightly at her praise. He was merely standing on the shoulders of giants, and he was far inferior to the great minds who had truly contributed to history, let alone the "greatest sage."
“Err... Professor, that's too much of an exaggeration,” he spoke with slight embarrassment, his gaze gridfting awkwardly to the side.
“No, no, no! It is not an exaggeration in the slightest. You don't understand at all...”
“No, no, no! You understand perfectly! This will be a monumental discovery that overturns the entire world!”
“So, great Holy See, what do you need me to do for you?”
Mekal's eyes shone with astonishing brilliance, as if she had discovered some world-shattering treasure. Her gaze locked tightly onto the young boy, refusing to blink, terrified of missing a single shred of the revolutionary wisdom from his mouth.
“Uh... I was wondering if you could build a machine that can use steam to drive the rotation of gears, thereby providing power for... say, a carriage or something similar.”
“Rest assured, leave this matter to me! I promise I won't disappoint you!”
Before Lu Li could even finish speaking, Mekal spoke up with urgent anticipation.
In his eyes, he was merely giving a start to the arrival of the steam age.
But he had forgotten that there was another, very different kind of power present in this world.
At this moment, the young boy was completely unaware of what kind of era the few words he casually spoke would unleash!
Rate on N.U.
