When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

"What's happened?"

Jeanne hurriedly rode up on her horse. Before the horse had fully stopped, she gracefully dismounted.

Alongside the sound of hoofbeats, Patrick also dismounted quickly, having come along.

Horn smiled awkwardly, "There was a problem with the depth measurement of the salt well. You'll need to weld us another piece of iron pipe."

Picking up a piece of iron, Jeanne stepped forward, narrowed her eyes, and subtle sparks began to leap in her hand, with intense white light shooting out from between her fingers.

The edge of the iron pipe began to melt rapidly, joining with the new pipe, though the joint seemed to be surrounded by a thin black ring.

Unlike the initial grand display of lightning spraying from her palm, Jeanne's control over the lightning had reached a new level after prolonged welding work.

And thus, a solid iron pipe about ten meters long and as thick as an arm was welded together.

"Alright." Horn clapped to draw everyone's attention, "Insert the iron pipe into the salt well, and then start filling it with water."

Filling the pipeline with water first was necessary because Horn was not using the original Newcomen steam engine's double beam pumping structure, but opting instead for a centrifugal pump.

After all, brine doesn't have the viscosity of oil and doesn't require handling high-pressure liquids, so why not use the more efficient structure of a centrifugal pump?

"Is this the wind-up engine water pump you mentioned?" Patrick reached into the iron pipe and fiddled with the fan blades inside, "It doesn't feel much different from the blower at the salt furnace."

"Of course there's a difference." Horn pulled Patrick aside, directing the Beastmen to install the pump on the iron pipe of the salt well. "The fan blades of the blower are straight, while mine are curved."

"What's the difference?" Jeanne looked at the assembling pump, confused.

Horn smiled, "Of course there's a difference. Curved blades generate centrifugal force when rotating. As long as the direction is correct, it can throw the water out, creating a vacuum at the center of the pump.

To fill this vacuum, atmospheric pressure pushes the water up from below, and it flows out through this outlet."

Patrick felt like he was staring at a clump of iron parts, discs, and gears as he circled the ugly contraption before him.

Knocking with his strong knuckles, he could hear the echo within.

Some workers continued pouring water bucket by bucket into the pipe until filling the entire pipeline.

After circling twice, Patrick thought for a moment, "Are you saying you can use this fan to blow wind element and suck the water up?"

"Yes."

"That's impossible." Patrick immediately shook his head. "I know you might have gotten inspiration from elephants drinking with their trunks, but that's just a small amount of water.

Actually, the suction needed to lift well water is too great. We once had a Witch capable of manipulating wind elements who tried drawing water from a well by sucking up air.

But this Witch, powerful enough to blow over 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of rock, could only lift the water a foot before losing control. Does your pump's power exceed that of a Witch?"

"Did you cover the wellhead when pumping? Were there gaps in the well walls?"

"Didn't cover it," Patrick replied. "Does it matter if there are gaps in the well walls?"

Horn was momentarily at a loss, uncertain how to respond. Should he explain from Newton all the way to atmospheric pressure?

Seems like it's time to write a book on natural knowledge and scientific methodology; maybe call it "Mathematical Principles of Natural Theology"?

"Forget the advertisement, let's see the effect." Horn pushed Patrick aside, walked to the starter of the wind-up centrifugal pump, and grasped the oversized wind-up key similar to a tractor handle.

At that moment, Horn couldn't help but feel a wave of excitement. He had been searching desperately for machines like this one, and finally, there was a glimmer of possibility.

When he initially learned this world lacked coal and sulfur, and steam somehow magically dispersed into the void, he almost lost hope.

But truly, when you find something without seeking it, you do it effortlessly.

The steam engine brought humanity its first industrial revolution, quickly surpassing waterpower and animal power, freeing human hands and enhancing productivity.

Could the clock face-like structure of this wind-up centrifugal pump be the steam engine of this world?

The centrifugal pump consists of three parts: the spring box made with copper springs and star-forged gears, the curved blades inside the pump, and the long suction pipe.

The spring box installs the copper spring on the escapement speed regulation structure, and connects with a star-forged gear about a meter in radius, which in turn connects with a cast iron gear of 10 centimeters radius.

When engaging in gear transmission, gear diameter is inversely proportional to speed. So when the large gear rotates at 200 revolutions per minute, the small gear can probably rotate at about 2000 revolutions per minute.

Horn just needs to input enough energy into the star-forged gear weighing 2000 pounds to allow the 2-pound gear to rotate at 200 revolutions per minute.

According to the kinetic energy formula, the energy input for startup from Horn is roughly one-thousandth, with the rest provided entirely by the Ether inside the gears.

These are theoretical values; the actual speed may only be less than 1500 revolutions per minute, but it's sufficient.

Additionally, Horn found an interesting point; although Hilov said turning the crank would absorb a small amount of mana periodically,

but under the control of the spring and the escapement speed regulation, it surprisingly requires no extra mana absorption, just slightly higher wear.

Horn slowly twisted the wind-up key until fully tightened, took a deep breath, and released his hand, "Gear machine, start!"

In the creaking friction sound of the spring, the wind-up key began to turn slowly. Under the regulation of the escapement, it rotated extremely slowly, while the massive star-forged gear commenced its rapid rotation.

Amidst the continuous engaging sound of the gears, the pipeline started vibrating with a buzz, as tidal water sounds reverberated through the pipe.

In Patrick's incredulous gaze, brine from the bottom of the well gushed out like a fountain, with the Beastmen scrambling to catch it with basins.

And the King's Hand of Carthage hurriedly and anxiously directed the clumsy Beastmen attempting to catch the brine, "Oh dear, didn't insert it properly, it's full, it's full, ah, it's going to overflow."

Standing beside the gear, the forceful wind stirred by the enormous gear blew Horn's bangs into a parted style.

Patrick moved dreamily closer, reaching out as if wanting to touch the gear.

"Careful," Horn warned, "Yesterday, a refugee helping with the trial run got his hand caught. If Dass hadn't acted fast, amputating his forearm, he would have almost lost his life."

Horn couldn't help but be amazed by Hilov's fast handling.

After Horn explained the principles to her, she drew up the design in a day, made a prototype and modified it in two days, and successfully collaborated with Jeanne to produce the first trial version in another two days.

Jeanne stared dumbly at the machinery before her.

What if this thing was mounted on a carriage, with rams and spikes added in the front, against Knights, how would it fare?

Probably only the legendary Great Knights could match it?

Excluding the creation time for the star-forged gears, even without ready-made materials, manufacturing and assembling this thing from scratch would require just over a week.

And how long does it take to train a Knight? Ten years, or twenty years? Not to mention the Great Knights who top all Extraordinary Knights.

Perhaps, this is the hope to counter the Extraordinary Knights?