Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 285 Propeller or Outer Wheel?
"What's this."

The banshees couldn't help but put down the jewels in their hands and surrounded the box containing the girl.

Ash's tail released the iron box, and she hesitated before carefully reaching her hand towards the girl's cheek.

The banshees held their breath.

The fingers touched the girl's face, and the skin turned slightly pale as the fingertips pressed lightly. After the fingers were removed, the blood color returned.

Her skin was still elastic and felt no different from flesh and blood. The boxes around her were padded with soft cushions, and the girl lay there, motionless.

She seemed to have just fallen asleep, as quiet as a painting.

The surrounding banshees looked at each other in bewilderment.

Not long after, in Castel, Zeus listened to the sirens telling about their discoveries in the treasure room in the sea, and looked at the blue-haired girl in front of him with some surprise.

"You found her in a pirate's treasure chest, among the deepest and most precious treasures?"

Ash nodded.

Xius narrowed his eyes as he looked at the girl, stroking his chin and falling into deep thought.

He didn't know what the use of this doll-like girl was, but since the pirates hid her so carefully, she must be very valuable.

Moreover, this girl gave him a strong sense of déjà vu. He planned to ask the people from the Fire Moth later. This might be related to some supernatural power.

"Besides her, what else did you find in Gem Bay?"

Ash nodded and handed over a piece of paper densely written with words.

This is the harvest list compiled by the banshees.

After finding the girl, she and the last batch of supplies were transported back together. At this point, the exploration of Gem Bay has been basically completed. Most of the important supplies that are easy to carry have been brought back. Some large items, such as various materials, coal and the like, require Castel to organize a fleet to transport them.

Ash also brought back a lot of black stones found in the warehouse. Zeus directly handed them over to the researchers of the Fire Moth. They will explore the specific functions of these black stones.

The mortal pirates and the Church of Poseidon, which had lost its inheritance, were able to research the uses of the black stone. There was no reason why these fire-chasing moths chasing knowledge could not discover it.

Years of pursuing knowledge in the sea of ignorance have given the Fire Moths a complete set of research processes, and dealing with materials that may involve the extraordinary is what they are best at.

In addition to these resources, the biggest gain of this exploration was the discovery of four ships.

These ships were found in shipyards on various islands. Some of them were nearly completed, while others had not even completed the lower decks, but the hulls were intact.

Although the Black Sail Fleet vanished along with the inhabitants of Gem Bay, these ships were more than enough to handle the current situation. Construction had already begun on the Hughes shipyard, and with Castel's efficiency, it wouldn't be long before full production began.

What Zeus wanted to build were always ships made of steel. Even if he was given an entire black-sail fleet, it would only be used as a transition.

The ship that was pulled back at the beginning was already equipped with a steam engine. As for the underwater propeller and transmission system, Castel had no experience in shipbuilding. After discussing with the engineers, Hughes decided to build a foreign ship first to gain experience.

The so-called outboard ship uses large waterwheel-like wheels on both sides to push water forward. This is a very ancient type of ship that appeared in ancient Rome. It is only propelled by human power or animals from the inside, and is also supplemented by oars.

This type of ship is very suitable for use with a steam engine, mainly because of its simple and reliable structure, easy installation, and even the outer wheels can be made of wood.

Propellers, however, were technically quite challenging. Wooden propellers were easily corroded by water, while early cast iron blades were brittle and unable to withstand the stress of high rotational speeds. It wasn't until later advances in smelting technology, with the widespread use of brass and manganese steel, that propellers gradually became practical.

The relationship between the propeller's blade shape, pitch angle, rotation speed and thrust all require a lot of experimental verification. Early propellers mostly had straight blades, which were far less efficient than modern curved designs. High-speed rotation also easily caused cavitation effect, that is, the bursting of bubbles led to blade corrosion.

Therefore, although Hughes knew that the propeller was the right direction, he still chose to build a foreign ship. After all, this was the fastest way to complete the transformation.

This can greatly shorten the time, and the installation and debugging can be completed in just a few days. Xius hopes to send people to Blood Harbor as soon as possible to find out what is happening there.

It is said that such a big thing happened in the sea. The sea dried up and then gushed out sea water again, but the nearby forces had no intention of coming to investigate.

According to Ken and Jeremiah, the prince also sent people to explore the sea in the beginning, but after returning from the Rhine, he seemed to have lost interest in the sea and focused on fighting against the empire.

And the empire that was at its peak, and the Candlelight Society behind it, seemed to be selectively blind at this moment, turning a blind eye to the abnormal choice that was clearly not far away.

So much so that after Castel returned to reality, there was no ship from the outside world passing by. You know, before the changes in the sea, although Castel was remote, you could occasionally see some merchant ships.

Not to mention that Gem Bay was destroyed just like that, and the surrounding forces didn't even bother to take a look.

There must be a reason for all this. All Hughes can do is to get a ship as soon as possible and explore the outside world.

In addition, Zeus also asked the airship to be on standby at all times and be prepared so that it could respond quickly if any abnormality occurred again.

After the banshees came back, they also started to join the production. Their abilities were basically above the level of the advanced class, and Castel began construction in full swing.

You must know that at this time, not only external exploration is needed, but Castel Island is also in ruins. The damaged churches need to be repaired and further reinforced, and the lost land that has just been recovered also needs to be counted and checked to see which things have been destroyed by the fishmen and which can still be used.

Although the newly built furnace in the cathedral was now operational, it had not actually been installed and had not even been topped off. People walking through the cathedral were now very careful, fearing that if they fell from the central well, they would fall straight into the furnace.

Therefore, Xiu Si was very busy. After he had tried his best to arrange Castel's delivery, he barely squeezed out some time. He quickly closed the door, sat on the chair and chose to return.

The new ship is about to sail from Blood Harbor, so I have to go and get some information and find out where the Black Pearl is docked.

(End of this chapter)