The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

Chapter 90 Steam Train from the Steam Institute of the Year Bingzi (Seeking First Subscription)

The next day at noon, sunlight streamed through the lattice windows into the workshop, cutting neat blocks of light on the floor.

Zhang Chang'an sat cross-legged in front of the worktable inside the workshop, the workshop door tightly locked.

Before me lay the Bingzi Jiaolin sword. Its blade lay horizontally on the velvet cloth, long and graceful, its blade pattern flowing like water ripples, gleaming with a cold light in the morning light.

The original Japanese-style hilt lay to the side, its oval cross-section wrapped with old sharkskin and a hilt roll. The tsuba (handguard) was made of simple iron, plain and unadorned, clearly hastily fitted.

Now, the knife has been restored to its original state, with only the blade core remaining. Zhang Chang'an always felt that he could never get enough of looking at this knife, especially the inscription "Bingzi Jiaolin" carved on the hilt. The characters were ancient and the strokes were deep, and the blade itself was made of solid material, forged with exceptional skill.

"Such a fine knife, it would be a shame not to take good care of it." Zhang Chang'an pondered, then turned and took out a small item that he had already made from the drawer.

This is the main thing he's been preparing for the past two days; the blade itself doesn't require much of a treatment from him.

After all, this sword has been preserved in Japan for so long, and here, because the forging technology itself is weak, and they pay great attention to maintenance, there are many professional sword sharpeners.

Therefore, this ancient Sui and Tang dynasty sword has already undergone countless sharpenings here. Even the shape of the blade has changed slightly as a result.

But he has more to do than that. In addition to protecting the blade, this simple ancient sword, now in his hands with many new skills, will inevitably gain some new functions.

In his hand was a small-leaf sandalwood sword with a mechanical structure, featuring a two-pronged handle that was slightly wider at the sides and narrower in the middle, with a small ring at the end and a guard at the front.

Most importantly, it features a locking mechanism modified from a small pressure valve using steam technology, along with a matching scabbard.

The locking mechanism looks like a latch that matches the scabbard, and it is indeed like that. As long as you press the button on the handle, the internal latch will pop out; otherwise, the knife will be locked firmly in the scabbard.

But in terms of specific functions, there are actually more than just these.

On the hilt, there was clearly a more complex linkage structure and a circular hole facing the back of the blade.

This requires looking at the scabbard as well.

Before doing this, Zhang Chang'an carefully installed the device into the end of the handle using tools, connecting the internal spring and latch. Then, holding the handle, he swung it forcefully, and it remained as stable as a mountain.

Zhang Chang'an nodded in satisfaction, picked up the blade, and slowly inserted the tang into the handle. Click.

The mortise and tenon joints fit together perfectly inside, so he held the knife up to his eyes and examined it carefully.

The blade is long and slender, with a smooth, flowing edge. The handle is rounded and smooth, fitting perfectly in the hand. The entire knife doesn't appear antique at all; it possesses a seamless, unified beauty.

Most importantly, he picked up the scabbard that looked like an ordinary katana, which was quite unusual, since Bingzi Jiaolin was a straight-bladed sword with a total blade length of only about 60 centimeters.

But the scabbard was not only slightly curved, but also extended a bit.

Only by opening the structure at the rear of the scabbard can one know its specific purpose.

Zhang Chang'an, of course, did not choose to experiment casually. He simply added some black, extremely dry powder to the structure behind the scabbard and then tested the mechanical structure briefly.

"Boom!" A small flame suddenly burst into the room.

That's enough.

Zhang Chang'an calmly pondered, then sheathed his sword with a crisp click that was particularly clear in the quiet workshop.

He turned and walked to the worktable, pulling out a stack of papers from under a pile of miscellaneous items.

This was not his research result in steam machinery. His energy was limited, and he had not yet fully integrated the new knowledge. In just over a day, he studied the tooling structure of this knife.

These papers are the transportation information he gathered over the past few days by visiting various transportation stations and freight yards in Kyoto, through wholesale purchases and other means, combined with his previous work logs.

To put it simply, it's about various train schedules and such.

He spread out the papers and compared them one by one. Almost all the information contained one place: Yokohama Port.

That's the closest port to Kyoto, about 300 kilometers away. Not too far, not too close.

If you were to ride a steam train in this era, the journey wouldn't be particularly short.

That's the problem; he can't leave.

Or rather, it's not that they can't leave, it's that they're not allowed to leave.

The name "Steam Demon" has already spread. The reaction of Okita and the others on the street yesterday shows that the Shinsengumi are keeping a close eye on them lately.

If he suddenly disappears for a few days at this point, and then returns with news of the Steam Ghost's appearance in Yokohama Port, then he's basically done for.

The key issue is the unique location of Yokohama Port, so any idea that it would lead to conflict after he went there is basically wishful thinking.

That was a key location directly under the control of the shogunate, and its guards and firepower were far superior to those of the ordinary samurai from the rabble in Kyoto.

So he ultimately chose this option: to investigate the train.

After all, no matter how heavily guarded the place is, they will always manage to transport some high-grade oil out themselves.

This was also another major goal that Zhang Chang'an marked on the paper.

Steam Research Institute.

This is the largest oil consumer in Kyoto. High-grade oils are almost exclusively supplied to them.

Zhang Chang'an had investigated these past few days, and if it weren't for this, he probably wouldn't have bothered to make the trip again.

Considering the experiments they've been conducting recently, what these people need is definitely not ordinary stuff: "It's just right that it's not enough; the higher the level, the better the effect."

Thinking this through, Zhang Chang'an was once again certain of the clues he had discovered earlier.

Kyoto's railways are very busy, but given their infrastructure level, the total number of train tracks is pitifully small. Therefore, the lines are naturally very congested during normal times.

However, as Zhang Chang'an's finger traced line by line on the schedule, he could clearly spot a gap.

Every Wednesday at night.

On that day's schedule, there were no freight arrangements for various companies and individuals at the same time.

The key is the previous workshop diary of Tetsushu, which contains a record: "The Kyoto Railway, from dawn to dusk, is bustling with trains, with almost no pause."

Like a woven tapestry, it never stops for a moment. So, if it stops for an entire night, it shouldn't be too obvious.

Zhang Chang'an stood up thoughtfully and lifted the cover of the dark room in the studio.

Aside from the knife that was just placed outside and put away, all the other equipment is here. The Nuo mask is placed on top. The mask has many more patterns than before.

This was something he had casually reworked over the past few days, using quenching and coloring techniques to create patterns of varying depths. The dark red background paired with the jet-black lines gave it an eerie, ancient feel under the light.

After all, if you're going to show off, you have to go all the way. Since they treated him like a ghost, he was happy to oblige: "Tonight, the Steam Ghost is going to go out and chop people up again—"