A few days later, Lu Li, who had been invited to witness the test of the Logos Foundry's new product, stood inside the testing grounds, looking with slight surprise at the carriage parked not far away.
It was a crudely designed carriage. Perhaps because it was merely a test model, it lacked any ornamentation, and rough, unpolished wood splinters were faintly visible on its surface.
And what pulled the carriage was a mechanical horse gleaming with a metallic sheen.
“Your Holiness, this is the new style of carriage we developed, inspired by your great wisdom! I call it the ‘Iron Throne’!”
Mekal’s voice carried a blend of excitement and pride. This was a “king’s chariot” she had built on a whim while pouring her heart into researching the “Fortress of Heaven” over the past few days.
Though it looked shabby right now, it was merely a prototype. If the Holy See liked it, the Logos Foundry certainly possessed the capability to make a larger, grander one.
“Um... Professor Mekal...”
Looking at the “Iron Throne,” Lu Li felt at a loss for words. A troubled look crossed his face as he tried to figure out how to explain to Mekal that a carriage didn't necessarily need a horse to pull it.
Before he could speak, Mekal suddenly cut in, “Your Holiness, I knew you wouldn't care for this! Come, come, let's go to my office. I have something wonderful to show you!”
As she spoke, she instinctively reached out to grab the young boy's hand beside her, only to suddenly remember something just as her fingers were about to touch him, rapidly pulling her hand back.
She had been too excited just now and almost forgot that the Holy See's body could not be touched casually.
Rubbing her hands together, Mekal walked briskly ahead to lead the way, glancing back from time to time to see if Lu Li was keeping up.
This was the first time Lu Li had seen her so excited, like a child, and he couldn't help but feel curious about what new thing the professor had developed over the past few days.
Along the way, he pondered everything from tanks and airplanes to trains and giant ships. Yet when he saw the draft papers spread out across Mekal’s desk, he still froze on the spot.
“P-Professor... this...”
Lu Li stared at the city design drawn on the blueprint, then turned his head to look at Mekal beside him, uttering a question from the depths of his soul, “What is this?”
He genuinely did not understand what it was, though no one could blame him. The blueprint depicted what looked like a miniature version of the holy capital, but the holy capital already existed. Did Professor Mekal want to build another holy capital?
And as it turned out, he was completely right.
“This is the ‘Fortress of Heaven’! A...”
Mekal paused mid-sentence, her emotions soaring with intense excitement, as if she were gazing upon a sight that would come to pass in the future. Her tone suddenly turned solemn and grand:
“An impregnable fortress flying in the sky!”
She's insane!
That was the first thought that popped into Lu Li's mind.
What do you mean, an impregnable fortress flying in the sky?
Lady, is that something your current level of technology can even dream of?
Just build me a proper car, for goodness' sake!
He had already mapped everything out in his mind: starting with automobiles and trains, then promoting steam engines nationwide to foster the development of an industrial system and liberate productivity...
Of course, all he could really do was propose ideas; implementing them relied entirely on everyone at the Logos Foundry.
However, Lu Li had never expected Mekal's imagination to be so... wild. Calling it a leap in thinking was no exaggeration—she had skipped straight from primitive steam engines to a floating city in the sky.
With glowing eyes, Professor Mekal pointed at various sections of the draft, explaining the technological conditions required for each structure and the engineering hurdles that would need to be overcome in the future.
In truth, Lu Li, whose mind had been wandering off, couldn't understand a single word, but the term “red mercury” that slipped from Professor Mekal’s tongue suddenly jolted him awake.
“Transcendent items...” he muttered softly under his breath, suddenly realizing the potential feasibility of the Fortress of Heaven.
Mekal paused slightly, assuming he was worried she was eyeing the Holy Relics inside the sanctuary, and immediately spoke up to reassure him:
“Your Holiness, rest assured, the construction of the Fortress of Heaven will not require the Holy Relics at all, nor do I currently have the time to research those things.”
The grand vision proposed by the Holy See was enough for her to dedicate her entire life to achieving it. How could she still care about mere Holy Relics now?
When all was said and done, they were nothing more than a pile of dry bones. Dealing with them every day made her feel like she was tainted with the “foul stench” of Holy Relics.
“What I mean is... can you really build the Fortress of Heaven?” Lu Li asked.
His gaze fell back onto the blueprint. The originally massive Holy City had been scaled down, making it appear much more refined.
Even so, Lu Li estimated that its land area would be no less than three thousand square kilometers—roughly one-third smaller than the current Holy City.
“Give me some time. Ten years... no, five years... If all goes smoothly, three years! It can definitely be done in three years!”
Noticing Lu Li’s expression darkening, Mekal spoke faster and faster, shortening her original estimate from ten years down to three.
“Then do you know how many years it took to build the holy capital?” Lu Li felt a pounding headache coming on.
“Your Holiness, that is different.”
Mekal shook her head. “When the holy capital was first built, no one knew what form it would eventually take. But now we have an existing model. Even though the Fortress of Heaven is considerably smaller in area, it will still be enough to accommodate the entire population of the holy capital.”
Of course, there was one sentence she left unsaid: the construction of the holy capital was not achieved overnight, but was the result of the tireless efforts of countless people over a thousand years.
“Fine, whatever floats your boat,” Lu Li replied, rendered speechless.
He couldn't control another person's thoughts, so he could only adjust his own strategy.
Mekal might be a mad genius, but she was definitely not the best person to push forward industrial development.
Perhaps he had picked the wrong person from the very beginning.
No, it was that he had been overly confident in himself, believing that merely proposing an idea could guide the course of an era.
This mindset was wrong and needed to be corrected promptly. Fortunately, it was not too late.
Professional matters required professional people. While he wasn't material for managing talent, someone else certainly was!
...
“Your Holiness came to see me just to tell me this?”
Julia sat behind her desk, surrounded by stacks of heavy documents, clearly with a mountain of official business left unfinished.
After listening to Lu Li's brief recount of events, she understood his helplessness regarding Professor Mekal and realized why the young boy had suddenly come looking for her.
“So Your Holiness believes that I am the right candidate?” Julia asked, looking at him calmly.
Thinking she was simply asking for his perspective, Lu Li gave a slight nod and explained, “You understand the workings of this nation far better than I do, so perhaps you should be the one to guide—”
“Your Holiness, do you realize what you are saying?” Julia interrupted him, her tone growing distinctly heavier.
Lu Li felt somewhat bewildered. The young Cardinal’s attitude didn't seem joyous at all; in fact, even her face looked significantly sterner.
He couldn't understand why Julia wore such an expression. The emergence of the steam engine meant labor would no longer rely entirely on human effort, bringing a qualitative leap in productivity.
Shouldn't this be a good thing?
Rate on N.U.
