Chapter 260.1: Tide and Mission for Level B4

Lone Wolf had analyzed it for a long time but still couldn't figure out how the machine could achieve more than 60 horsepower.

It was not because the machinery was too complicated.

It was actually the opposite. It was just too damn simple! It was so simple that he couldn't help but wonder if the game development team was being lazy.

The principle behind a portable steam engine was actually not too deep. In essence, it was nothing more than boiling water. The movement of the piston would drive the crankshaft to rotate and then drive the flywheel to output power.

Ignoring the cost to performance ratio, it was actually very easy to increase the power generated by the engine. It could be done using various methods such as increasing the volume of the cylinder, increasing the number of cylinders, or increasing the pressure in the cylinder, or things like that.

However, what confused Lone Wolf was that the portable steam engine before him only had a single cylinder!

60 horsepower on a single-cylinder portable steam engine?

That was ridiculous.

Lone Wolf asked suddenly, "What's the maximum horsepower of a single-cylinder diesel engine?"

Hearing the young professor's question, Athlete Foot froze for a moment before blurting, "I've heard it’s 30 horsepower."

Bathroom Goer added, "I recall that some can do 35."

Lone Wolf nodded. "Close."

He knew that some single-cylinder engines could achieve 40 or 45 horsepower, but they were not common; most were capable of around 40 horsepower, give or take a few.

On one hand, agricultural implements did not need so much power. On the other, it was generally impossible to use portable steam engines for large-scale equipment which might require hundreds of thousands of horsepower.

But this single-cylinder portable steam engine can actually reach 60 horsepower?

And it only weighs 500 kilograms?

Lone Wolf couldn't help shaking his head. "I've never seen anything so outrageous."

Bathroom Goer said with a chuckle, "It's also the first time I've seen such a thing,"

Athlete Foot scratched his head and said, "I just don't understand. It’s the same with the light trucks of the Army we dismantled in the past. Our designs followed a similar logic as theirs, but why do their engines still produce more horsepower than our imitation ones?"

Picking up a belt, Lone Wolf held it in his hand and looked at it for a while, then suddenly muttered to himself, "... What is this?"

Athlete Foot was stunned. "This... This is the engine belt, I guess?"

Bathroom Goer also nodded. "I think so too."

No shit, Sherlock.

Of course Lone Wolf knew he was holding the engine belt, but he couldn't tell what material it was made of. "Doesn't seem like neoprene..."

He was, unfortunately, neither an expert in materials science nor an expert in engines, but because he studied automation design, he had a little understanding of stuff in those fields.

"Not just the belt, but also the gaskets, hoses, and O-rings... All the parts normally made of rubber are made of materials that I have never seen before. Is it a case of form over function?" Lone Wolf tapped the casing of the cylinder with a wrench and heard a clanging echo.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Holy shit, are they using titanium-aluminum alloy on this shit?!"

Hmm, not quite.

But probably something like that.

The more Lone Wolf studied it, the more surprised he became.

The game development team was quite clever to make things out of materials he had never seen before. That way, he could not prove that such designs, which would normally be impossible to realize in reality, were completely unreasonable in the wasteland.

The 3 pillars of modern technology were Energy, Materials, and Information. For example, there were many people who understand IC design, but not everyone could make computer chips.

The game development team did not give the solution, but only gave a general direction. The deeper he dug, the more surprised he became.

He finally understood why Yan Feng was so obsessed with this game.

"This game is not that simple!"

Looking at Lone Wolf who was muttering beside the machine, Athlete Foot and Bathroom Goer glanced at each other with strange expressions on their faces.

"Should we remind him that this is just a game? Maybe the thing he couldn't figure out was Brother Light's line of code."

Although the two of them took things seriously sometimes, they were far from being as serious as Lone Wolf.

Bathroom Goer scratched the back of his head. "Uh, let's wait for him to figure it out."

He was a newbie, after all.

When they first arrived on the wasteland, there were a lot of things they didn't understand either. Until a month ago, Sword Execution was still thinking about what kind of cement was used for those houses on the wasteland. It was so strong the houses were still standing after 200 years! In time, they simply became accustomed to such things.

Anyway, there were still 7 more of the same portable steam engine lying around... It was enough to keep those two busy for a while.

...

On the official forum.

[Announcement:

The immortal, Bucky, has joined our shelter. He comes from Ideal City on the distant East Coast and once aspired to become a great adventurer. However, he was infected by Slime Mold and part of his body mutated. He is currently helping Dr. Yin Fang in the scientific expedition team with some data processing work.

]

[

Usually, Bucky will move around the shelter in armor, so if you see a mutant that can speak like a human, please don't hurt him.

]

[Luca:

Sunny weather has lasted for more than a month, and the snow on the surface has basically melted. The busy days of farming are getting closer.

]

[Wrench:

There are Deathclaw activities in Remote Creek Town, and 3 residents have unfortunately been killed. The dangerous area has been marked on the map, please be careful!

]

[Bug Fixes:

Updated the seasonal system, snow melting now causes air humidity to rise. Please stay warm!

]

Garbage: Damn it! Why the heck am I getting randomly disconnected again?!

Makka Pakka: Hahahaha! Weak!

Yaya: Boohoo! Is winter about to be over? Can I see Xiaoyu building a snowman again? (ó﹏ò)

Irene: If this winter doesn't end soon, there will probably be only rats left in the granary ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Night Ten: Yaya, are you guys there yet?

Teng Teng: Yep. We arrived tonight, not long ago. By the way, Boulder Town feels really far away. It was only 20 kilometers away according to the map, but it took 2 days to get here.

Tail: And the city gate was even set to close at 8:00 at night! We were so lucky to arrive 10 minutes before it closed... (`-д-;)ゞ

Sesame Paste: That was a really close call.

Sisi: But you know, the city gates were so lively at night. When we were standing right outside the huge walls, it didn't feel like we were in the wasteland at all.

Tail: Big city vibes! ψ(｀?′)ψ

Teng Teng: We plan to rest for one night! Tomorrow, we will continue to explore the mysteries of this city!

Night Ten: Hehe, just glad you got there in one piece.

Ample Time: (Side eye emoji)

It had been 2 full days since the caravan set off.

2 tons of Psychoid Leaves had been successfully delivered to Boulder Town, and Chu Guang had learned from Shu Yu that Liszt had paid him all 100,000 chips.

Psychoid Leaves were indeed a hot item in Boulder Town. Almost as soon as they were delivered to the warehouse, there were buyers coming to them with offers.

In order to facilitate the transaction, Shu Yu opened an account at the Boulder Town Bank as per Chu Guang's instructions. The huge sum of 100,000 chips would change hands in the form of a bank transfer.

It was much safer than putting the chips in a safe.

In addition, the owner of the Gray Squirrel Clothing Store had recently approached Shu Yu again, hoping to purchase another batch of artwork. He said that it would be great if the quality of those socks could be a little worse.

"He wants them to be of worse quality?" After listening to Shu Yu's report on the phone, Chu Guang said with a strange face, "I've never heard such a strange request."

Shu Yu frowned. "I also find it strange...but he didn't tell me the reason, just asked us to find a way."

"Mhm, we can make that happen. The production of Devil's Silk is limited, and we were planning to develop some substitutes for the open market anyway." After a pause, Chu Guang continued, "By the way, how is the recruitment effort going?"

Shu Yu quickly became a little more serious and explained, "As instructed, I have already recruited employees for various front and back-end roles, 23 in total. Their salary was 40 chips per month during the 2 month internship period, and 100 chips per month after becoming a full-time employee."

So total personnel salary expenditure is now 2,300 chips. Including the monthly rent of 800 and the expenditure budget of 400 chips, the monthly expenditure of this office has increased to 3,500 chips.

It was not a small sum at all. It was enough for him to buy 30 rifles.

Sure enough, I still have to find a way to develop a few more sources of income.

"Have you organized the resumes of the employees?" Chu Guang asked.

Shu Yu replied respectfully, "Yes I have!"

Chu Guang added immediately, "Send them to me."

"Yes sir!"