Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 50 The Workers' Strange Behavior (Please read on, it's really important)

"roll!"

The sudden shout in the room almost caught Lu Ran off guard, leaving him speechless.

"I'm from Heijin Transportation Equipment Machinery Manufacturing Plant. I'm here to chat with your two children..."

Before Lu Ran could finish speaking, the door was slammed open, and a middle-aged man in his forties walked out. His cuffs were frayed, and his exposed wrist bones protruded like rusty iron hooks. A scar above his right eyebrow was bluish-purple, making him look more fierce.

"A manufacturing plant? Your plant makes those steam engines?"

"I think so."

Although Lu Ran hasn't visited his own factory yet, judging from the factory name, he feels that it should be within his business scope.

But before he could finish speaking, he saw a fist flying towards him. Lu Ran raised an eyebrow, and the "Lu Ran" in the man's sight simply took a half step back to dodge the punch.

"father!"

The next moment, a boy who looked about the same age as Afra, around seventeen or eighteen years old, emerged from the room and hugged the big man around the waist, stopping the angry guy.

Immediately, another boy rushed out and tried to grab Lu Ran and pull him away, but Lu Ran dodged without hesitation. Under the other boy's puzzled gaze, he simply followed quickly without saying a word.

The man, the dog, and the rat made their way through the area and soon hid in an alley corner.

The boy in front of me was panting, his hands on his knees, but his eyes were still full of questions: "Detective, are you here to invest in us?"

Lu Ran was taken aback: "How did you know I'm a detective?"

The young man looked Lu Ran up and down, noting his trench coat, hat, boots, and pipe.

"Because, sir, you have the most standard detective looks imaginable."

Lu Ran chuckled, but still didn't agree immediately. Instead, he scrutinized the young man in front of him again.

"It's quite different from what I imagined; at least you all look a bit too young."

Lu Ran had to admit that he really didn't want to spend his hard-earned money playing pretend games with two kids.

Faced with Lu Ran's questioning, the boy in front of him seemed to have prepared for this scene countless times. Without any unnecessary words, he quickly outlined the scene on the ground with broken coal pieces.

"Sir, time is precious, so let me explain our advantages to you directly!"
Those idiots in the newspapers who argued with me still think I simply want to fly with a bigger boiler, but actually, my brother and I conceived the idea of ​​flying because we discovered the precise relationship between curvature and lift!

His sketches gradually took shape, and a wing with a streamlined, curved cross-section appeared on the ground, with a few hastily written formula symbols marked next to it.

"Look here!" he pointed to the highest point of the arc. "We tested dozens of combinations of curvature and thickness using a makeshift bellows we built ourselves. We discovered that this optimal solution not only generates 15% more lift than a flat wing, but more importantly, it can generate sufficient force even in low-speed airflow!"

Wright glanced at Lu Ran, who was listening attentively, and seeing that he had no intention of responding, continued somewhat disappointedly.

"This means we might be able to get rid of bulky, super-large steam engines and try lighter propulsion systems! We could even use changes in airflow to control flight attitude!"

After speaking, the boy looked intently at Lu Ran.

"The only thing we lack now is materials and funding to build a larger number of prototype gliders! We believe that once equipped with a suitable lightweight steam engine, humans will definitely be able to fly in the sky just like birds."

"Oh~"

Lu Ran stroked his chin.

Although he didn't quite understand, he still accurately grasped a key point.

"So you're confident you can scale down those large steam engines?"

"Uh." The boy choked for a moment, then explained confidently, "So this is exactly where investment is needed."

"About how many are needed?"

“If I can use any of the machines in your factory, I’ll give you another thousand gold pounds…” Lu Ran watched the boy’s voice grow softer and softer in silence for a long time before finally saying, “Do you think money is easy to make?”

An average person's monthly income is only about £1 to £2, but this guy dared to ask for a thousand pounds the moment he met him.

He only had a little over two thousand gold pounds in total, and he had to keep a portion for enlightenment purposes. No matter how much he trusted them, he dared not use all of it to invest in two underage teenagers. If it turned out to be a bottomless pit, he couldn't afford it with his financial resources.

However, seeing the certainty in his previous statements, Lu Ran hesitated for a moment before offering his own thoughts:

"If it's just about flying, isn't there an easier way? For example, make a huge airbag out of a well-sealed canvas, fill it with a lighter gas, and then, without considering portability or size, use existing large steam engines. Do you think it could fly?"

His correct approach should be to hype up concepts, attract investment, use investors' money to develop the first aircraft, and then continue to attract investment.

It at least looks much more stable than the previous reckless aircraft.

The boy initially thought he was going to fail again after hearing the first half of Lu Ran's sentence, but the next moment his expression suddenly turned thoughtful. He stared blankly at Lu Ran, then drew and calculated on the ground for a while before standing up abruptly.

"three hundred!"

"what?"

Under Lu Ran's surprised gaze, the boy spoke directly.

“You can build one of those things for just three hundred gold pounds, but I hope that once you’ve made the money, you can continue the research on the light steam engine I mentioned earlier.”

……

Their eyes met in mid-air for a moment before Lu Ran said with some surprise.

"Okay! Very good, I promise you."

The loss of three hundred gold pounds was well within Lu Ran's acceptable range; even if it was all wasted, he wouldn't suffer a major financial loss.

Looking at the genius young man in front of him, Lu Ran wanted to shake hands, but then immediately withdrew his hand and introduced him with a smile.

"Sherlock Holmes."

The boy paused for a moment, then said.

“My name is Jacob, Jacob Wright. My brother’s name is Garcia Wright. We were born on the same day and are both 17 years old.”

Lu Ran noted down the two names, then asked, "So when would be a convenient time for you to come to the Black Gold Transportation Equipment Machinery Manufacturing Plant to begin your research?"

Lu Ran was quite anxious about making money.

But when Lu Ran asked him that question, Jacob, who had been quite enthusiastic, immediately looked disappointed.

"It would have been fine before, but it seems a bit difficult now. My dad has changed a lot lately. He's extremely averse to me being involved in anything related to machinery. If my brother and I go to the factory during the day, it's okay once or twice, but he'll definitely find out if it goes on for too long."

Hearing this, Lu Ran frowned slightly: "Extremely disgusted, do you know why? If it's because he lost his job, the three of you can come together."

“No, absolutely not.” Wright’s brother shook his head firmly. “It seems to be related to some General Ludd that’s been circulating lately, saying that…”

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Ran's expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly left with the words, "I'll find you later. Remember to come find me when you see a gray rat."

After saying that, he turned and ran away without hesitation with Bella. As soon as they entered the alley, a mouse suddenly appeared, lying on Bella's back with a thud, its eyes wide with disbelief.

"I feel so dizzy, Bella, keep an eye on me, I'm going to take a nap."

I didn't realize I'd been chatting for too long, and it took a huge toll on my mental energy.

I'm desperate. Is there anything that can raise my mental strength limit?

　Thank you to SleepyDragonCity for the 500 points! Thank you to AzureDragonDayTiger for the 100 reading coins! Thank you to reader 20190719202309552 for the 100 points! Thank you all for your generous donations!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)