Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 161 Steel City
Subaru, the steel city.

As an industrial city in the north of the empire, Bisparu is quite famous throughout the continent.

The reason is simple: this is the place where the steam engine and the difference engine were invented.

This is why Bismarck is the most technologically advanced and industrialized city in the entire empire. It is a mecca for countless inventors, and everyone hopes to create the next invention that will impact the world here.

The city itself is also quite impressive.

Stepping off the platform, the first thing you see are several enormous towers. Although they look like mage towers from fantasy novels, they are not actually like that. Those towers are actually giant difference machines. They store data from every area of ​​the steel city, then exchange data, and finally aggregate it into the massive steel tower at the center, which is as tall as a skyscraper.

That tower stores all the data for the entire Bisubaru region, including economic, military, and other aspects. In short, that tower is the brain of Bisubaru.

Olivia told Levi all of this.

“I also want to implement this system in the Delicat region so that I can have a better understanding of the harvest, taxes, and other information in the Delicat region. Besides, I’m fed up with having to rummage through cellars for documents that have been eaten by termites and rats.”

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Levi also recalled the painful experience of researching information at the Baskervilles' house, which was truly unbearable for someone who had lived through the information age.

On the contrary, he remembered that when he checked people's household registrations at the Chongqing police station, as long as he entered the information, the other side would "click, click, click" and spit out a piece of paper with the ID numbers of the person's entire family.

Although it differs from the information interconnection era that Li Wei experienced, it's still usable.

Searching for a piece of A4 paper that you don't know where you put in a room of several hundred square meters is a real nightmare.

Olivia's trip to Bisbaru wasn't just about ordering the latest agricultural machinery; she also wanted to set up an information processing center—something that had already begun to be rolled out in many parts of the Empire. However, this equipment was very expensive and highly specialized, requiring a large workforce.

Speaking of manpower, Li Wei recently saw an interesting piece of news in the newspaper.

That is, various departments that needed the Difference Engine began to hire large numbers of female textile workers whose jobs had been taken over by the steam engine. Their main jobs were reading cards, punching holes in the cards, and sorting them. This was because female textile workers were very good at these delicate tasks, and these jobs did not require high technical skills and were repetitive labor.

This means that the massive unemployment problem that had arisen since the expansion of the steam engine has been somewhat resolved... Well, I must say, this is indeed quite interesting.

The fact that this news appeared before the Steam Machinery Exposition speaks volumes. Any competent leader knows that unemployment in their region is a major headache. The loss of jobs due to the widespread use of steam machinery is particularly problematic and must be addressed.

It now appears that by simply purchasing a difference engine and providing some basic training to unemployed workers, they could be transformed into skilled junior employees.

For female textile workers, this is naturally a good result. Although the job is complicated and tedious, at least it involves sitting in an office, right?

Of course, Olivia couldn't have made such a large purchase by herself. In fact, she had sent a delegation here a week in advance to make preparations. All she had to do was make the final decision.

That delegation apparently did not encounter any forest monsters or murders.

After getting off the train, Anthony hurriedly took his leave, which Levi didn't mind. He and Olivia then began to tour the city by carriage. Incidentally, the maid was responsible for delivering all the luggage to Olivia's hotel.

To be honest, Li Wei's first impression of the city was that it was like an enlarged version of Iron Felt Street, with steam-powered machinery everywhere and even the houses made of cast iron. He even saw some strange buildings that resembled some kind of machine—gears the size of a house slowly turning, driving long metal chains to rise from the ground and then disappear.

The entire city is filled with rhythmic mechanical collisions, resembling a giant, never-ending music box.

"I think this is your first time visiting this city."

In any era and in any world, taxi drivers have one thing in common: they can talk a lot.

"Yes."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Li Wei nodded, and was very pleased to see that the taxi was indeed a product of his own factory—well, it seems that Uncle Hank's efforts have paid off.

"I guess so. After all, the Steam Machinery Exposition is about to begin. Oh my, this time of year is like a celebration, with the streets and alleys bustling with activity."

The driver also started chatting, clearly enjoying the conversation with the generous customer.

"Although the Steam Machinery Exposition is different every year, this year is very different. I heard that various places have brought a lot of interesting new things. Oh, right, there's also the National Research Institute. I heard they're going to exhibit the eighth-generation difference engine. You know what? The gear transmission distance of that thing is calculated in kilometers. It's unimaginable. And there's also a small, home-use difference engine... Well, I don't know how you'd use that at home. After all, I think I could calculate how much money I make every day without a difference engine."

The driver chuckled as he spoke, and Li Wei nodded politely. He could talk about things like memory, motherboard, CPU, and graphics card, but when it came to differential engines, Li Wei was completely baffled.

What exactly is gear transmission distance? And why is it measured in kilometers?

Are there any interesting machines at this expo?

Li Wei changed the subject and asked a question, which immediately excited the driver.

"Oh, of course, like this steam-powered vehicle you're riding in now. To be honest, I've driven quite a few steam-powered vehicles myself, and this feels like what a steam-powered vehicle should be like. It's comfortable and convenient, and you don't have to worry about the steam obscuring your view. Those guys before were really idiots; why didn't they know to put the steam engine in the back of the vehicle..."

"That's right, that's right..."

Li Wei chatted with the driver all the way, and in doing so, he learned a lot of information about the Steam Machinery Exposition. Then the driver took them to the venue of the Steam Machinery Exposition. "Alright, this is it."

The driver pulled the car over to the side of the road and pointed to the crowd not far away. Li Wei looked up and saw a huge crowd of people, packed everywhere.

"You need to be careful of those inventors outside. The ones inside are all legitimate companies. Those guys without fame or money can only stay outside. People like you, sir and this young lady, are easy prey for them to scam. These guys love to spout fancy things and then swindle money from naive people. They call it investment, but even if you invest, if they say it's a failure and you lose everything, there's nothing you can do, right?"

"You're right, thank you for your suggestion."

Li Wei did not refute this, after all, the driver was right. Current steam machinery was still in a crude development stage, and the theory was not yet perfect. Who knew what these guys would create?

The logic is simple. Just like during the early days of the internet boom, any scammer could find a rich person with a poor brain and start talking about venture capital, cryptocurrencies, and interconnectivity. It was all just wild and unfounded hype. As long as they got the money, they could make it sound like they could build the Matrix tomorrow.

As for whether you'll ultimately make a profit? Well, this industry is so complicated, you wouldn't understand. Losing money is normal…

Pyramid schemes all follow the same pattern.

What kind of "cosmic brand" quilt contains meteorites? Sleeping in it allows you to feel cosmic vibrations, making you feel incredibly healthy and giving you a great appetite... So, a quilt set that sells for five or ten thousand isn't considered expensive, is it?

Li Wei got out of the car, opened the back door, and then extended his hand to Olivia. She glanced at Li Wei, shook his hand, and then got out of the car.

The two then headed towards the entrance of the Steam Expo.

The man was handsome, the woman was beautiful, and they were dressed elegantly and fashionably; they were clearly wealthy. Before they even reached the gate, a group of inventors gathered around them.

"Sir, sir! Please take a look at my invention, the Infinite Power Device. It can operate autonomously without consuming any energy and can make you a fortune!"

"Miss, miss, the soul communicator I invented allows you to communicate with the dead. Don't you want to try it?"

"Look at my material converter! It can turn water into milk, beer... It's so convenient, just one button..."

"This is the most effective whitening powder. Just apply one layer and your skin will remain delicate and fair!"

Listening to the inventors' boastful talk, Li Wei was speechless. He didn't stop at all, but just supported Olivia with one hand and used his cane to knock the people blocking their way.

Of course, no one dared to actually stand in their way, because if they angered Li Wei and he called the police, they would have to spend the next few days in jail.

These people were only trying to scam some investment; they didn't really intend to go to jail. Seeing that Levi and Olivia weren't interested, they just stood around and said a few words before turning around and leaving.

The inventors only left reluctantly when they arrived at the entrance of the expo and faced the burly, fully armed police officers.

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief as she watched them leave.

"I never expected there would be so many people..."

"And it's not just the Imperials; it seems there are quite a few people coming here to invent and create."

Li Wei spoke up, having lived in the Fog City for a long time, he had noticed the difference between the accents of the Imperials and foreigners, which was actually quite easy to distinguish…

Unlike ordinary people who had to queue, as VIPs, Olivia and Levi naturally had the privilege of using the VIP channel. After passing through the crowded throng, they were finally led into the venue of the Steam Machinery Exposition by the attentive guards.

"Hmm, this is really... how should I put it, quite interesting."

As he walked through the gate and looked at the venue before him, Li Wei couldn't help but sigh.

If the inventors outside the gate brought out mostly strange and unusual toys, then what was inside the venue were real steam-powered machines.

Upon entering the gate, the first thing you see are two three-meter-tall metal statues flanking the main road. Their exteriors appear to be cast in brass, and they are currently spinning and dancing, like little figures from a music box. Beside these two dancers is a symphony orchestra, also composed of metal figures, continuously playing music.

Although I don't know how good the music is, it certainly looks pretty cool.

"really interesting."

Olivia looked at the steam-powered metal creations with curiosity and excitement. As for Li Wei, he was already used to the concept of robots. In fact, Li Wei had seen similar things in the park when he was a child, such as haunted houses with scary-looking dolls that could turn, move, make sounds, and were dressed up. In his opinion, these metal figures were only slightly higher in level than that.

However... maybe I can actually create a doll using this?

Thinking of this, Li Wei also composed himself and looked at Olivia beside him.

"Then, let's go for a walk together, Miss Olivia."

“Yes, Mr. Li Wei.”

(End of this chapter)