Ch.32 Steamships, Cranes, and Hydrolytic Systems (Patreon)

[Reminder: My brain goes numb just researching engineering, and I feel like I know that in the overwhelming majority. Therefore, as things get more complex, the descriptions will become increasingly high-level, focusing on how it works, not how it operates.

That said, if I misrepresent something or skip a massive step, please let me know.]

—

Assembling our steamship from scratch using magic, superhuman strength, gravity stone, pulleys, ropes, ladders, and scaffolding was a challenging journey, but ultimately successful—at crushing my idealism.

Let me explain what we're doing right now.

The cove has a spine of square arches made of I-beams extending along the ship's length.

Beneath that, there is another set of square arches. That's where Carter and his crew are standing, using wire pulleys attached to the higher arches to hoist objects into the air using brute strength to pull them.

Once the objects reach a certain height, they maneuver along steel bridges set up along the pathway, providing stability as they assemble the parts. With these methods, Carter has constructed half of the hull—the bottom part of the ship, a large hollow metal shell designed to reduce density and enable floating, despite being made of metal.

Yes, that's all it took. It's a remarkable system—for people with a death wish!

Not only are people hovering 50 feet in the air above a steel boat, but the process of positioning and assembling resembles building a train with the sole intention of crashing into trees, hills, and other natural obstacles, which then escalate until they collide with a reinforced concrete mountain coated in graphene.

It’s a dumpster fire roller coaster moving toward—

“Rodney!” Carter yelled. “You’re gonna fall!”

Rodney, a burly, hairy man with a great sense of humor, a wife and two children, and an evident death wish was attempting to lift a large metal pipe and fit it inside. As he worked, he kept getting pushed closer and closer to the edge.

Now, he was about to fall 50 feet onto a bed of steel, risking his life and jeopardizing our work and morale. His death would be like adding insult to injury and then pouring salt on the wound.

I sighed when the man fell off the edge.

"Ventus impetus," I said wearily, flicking my hand and creating a powerful gust of wind that carried the man past the ship, crashing him into the cove.

Naturally, that wasn't the only consequence. The pipe Rodney was working on, along with the loosely fitted parts and metal, succumbed to the intense pressure and fell apart.

"So much for a vacation," I groaned, nudging Thea awake.

Thea was curled up in the hammock, using my chest as a pillow. She groaned, rubbing her eyes, and asked, "What is it?"

"What do you mean, 'What is it?'" Carter asked, running up. "Couldn't you hear the screaming and crashing?"

She turned to him with disheveled hair and half-closed eyes, still partially stuck together from sleep. "But Ryker's okay. So why does it matter?"

Carter froze at her innocent yet equally horrifying statement before turning to me, clearly unwilling to delve into that line of reasoning. "Boss..."

I looked at the poor man, shirtless, drenched in sweat, sunburned, and bearing minor wounds from dropping propeller blades or burning himself while testing the lower pipe system. I sighed, running my hand through my hair in frustration. "I was hoping to have at least three days of vacation," I grumbled, getting up and walking to the site. "Let's build a crane."

"A crane?" Carter asked, following behind me while Thea clung to my side, her finger wrapped around my belt loop as if accepting that we couldn't hold hands.

"Yeah," I replied pensively, examining the marks on the ship caused by the unstable assembly process. "We're going to construct a machine that can lift items to the required height, move them to the desired location, and hold them in place. We already have the necessary components, which I labeled: top secret."

“That technology would fit our needs so perfectly it’s almost offensive,” Carter laughed heartily, a trace of malice hidden in his outward gratitude. “And you’re sayin’ we already have it?”

Translation: we had this technology this whole time, yet we’ve been risking our lives for nothing?!

I smiled in an eerie manner, turning to him with a hint of insanity in my eyes. "Oh? Does that mean you're eager to develop new, untested technology? I thought that was your least favorite job? Hmmm?"

An icy shiver ran down the man's spine. "I..."

"Look, Carter," I said with a serious tone. "We don't have time for research and development. If this device weren't simple, we wouldn't pursue it. Now take a break and I’ll show you the schematics."

After he nodded and gathered his workers, we enjoyed Thea's delicious cooking while I worked on the crane's designs.

Canes are very simplistic.

Typically, they consist of a wheel connected to a cable. When the steam engine moves, it rotates the wheel, lifting whatever is attached to the cable. Essentially, it's similar to lifting a soap stamp with a waterwheel—the place where it all began.

However, three additional components make it exponentially more challenging in practice. First, a trolley moves along the crane's long arm to position the cable where needed. It's like pulling a toy car along with a string, but the car carries the wire you're lowering.

The trolley is operated by the crane operator using a lever, making it akin to a real-life arcade claw game.

Second, the crane's base must swivel to facilitate movement. Otherwise, it would be quite useless.

Lastly, we need to create a hydraulic cylinder to precisely control the trolley's movement and stabilize the crane.

I explained this to Carter the next day using various analogies and accompanying pictures. "What the hell is a hydraulic system?" he frowned. "It looks like a simpler steam engine, but... there are two of them?"

"Look at this," I said, pulling out two glass syringes connected by a glass worm-like tube. "I had Kaley make this a while back to help illustrate it."

"What is this?" Carter asked, sitting down carefully due to the delicate glassware.

"Just watch," I took it back, removed both plungers, filled the syringes with flaxseed oil, and replaced the plungers.

"When I press this syringe in," I said, pushing the right syringe inward. It transferred all the oil through a small tube into the second syringe, causing the second plunger to extend outward. "Its 'piston' pushes out, providing the linear motion needed to rotate a wheel—up to a certain point."

By pushing in plunger A, plunger B extends, and rotating a wheel with the piston. When plunger B gets pushed in, it extends A. It’s like squeezing a thin balloon; when you squeeze one side, it makes the other side bigger; when you squeeze the bigger side, it makes the other side bigger.

"Then, when we press this plunger back," I said, pushing in the second plunger and sending the oil back through the tube. "It pushes the other one back out," Carter said in amazement.

"Correct," I smiled. "We'll have steam engines connected to each of these. Utilizing steam power, we can move things up or down to a precise level."

His eyes lit up as the gears turned in his head, and he turned to me. "But what if we only need it to go up a little?" he asked, pressing the plunger halfway. "Won't the steam keep pushing it until it's fully retracted?"

"A control valve," I replied. "We'll release steam when it reaches the desired position to prevent further movement."

Carter blinked twice, and then a slow grin spread across his face. "And it's so simple! I can definitely build this in a week."

"Good," I replied, yawning. "Just don't overlook the importance of the counterweight and trolley tracks. Those will be the challenging aspects."

He nodded and left, giving instructions to others.

***

Over the next week, the team assembled the parts I had previously requested from Carter into a functional crane with a hydraulic cylinder. He had already produced one without knowing it before we even showed up. It only required piecing it together.

The structure consisted of interlocking rectangular metal bars supporting each other. That was the basic design. Additionally, cables were connected to steam engines to move the trolley along the boom. While the hydraulic system was new, it employed the same pulley system, flywheel, piston, and framework we had already used, albeit in a modified manner.

Although we lacked advanced controls for a crane operator, one person at the bottom could control the valves while another gave instructions, and a third person could handle the swiveling. In short, we made it work by incorporating some manual operations and avoiding complete automation.

However, as expected, the main challenge was the slew bearings, which proved to be a pain. These large industrial bearings allowed for the smooth swiveling of heavy loads. We needed them to enable the crane to pick up items from the sides and move them above the ship.

Although the concept was straightforward, they were impossible to create correctly. Even normal bearings required complex machinery to manufacture balls of precise size and dimensions. Creating four-foot-diameter bearings magnified the difficulty and made the problems more pronounced. Consequently, each time we managed to get the crane moving, it would grind to a halt within a day due to the metal getting stuck in the air, requiring us to rebuild it.

The crane also toppled over due to our poor understanding of counterweight physics on the opposite end of the massive arm, which keeps things in balance as the crane lifts heavy loads.

Due to these challenges, I issued orders for Carter's Steelworks, now a monopoly in Sundell, to focus exclusively on manufacturing these parts and deliver them as soon as possible.

It was a hard road. However, slowly but surely, everything was coming together.

***

Another month passed, with skywhales transporting massive loads of parts for the mast, large poles for sails and navigation systems, wood for the deck, furniture, and other equipment. As my birthday approached, I became more proactive, assisting wherever I could. We had a functioning crane that moved pieces into place. At the same time, individuals bolted parts according to specifications and fitted pipes before sealing them shut with a paste made of lime, flaxseed oil, and powdered igneous stone, which welded the metal together.

We spent most of our time working on the propeller systems, testing them underwater, and attaching them to the ship. We devised a dangerously unconventional propeller system that was not up to standard but could be easily replaced. Why? In anticipation of it breaking down a dozen times. That’s why.

Whether it was solid or not, a successful propeller system would likely function for a maximum of three months before breaking down—

—but that was okay by me, as I only needed it to work for one month.

And today was the day we would depart.

Within a small, secluded cove stood a massive metal ship floating on its own. It was adorned with red paint and the logo of the Everwood Empire on the hull.

A towering smokestack protruded from the center, while tall masts extended a hundred feet into the air, supporting sales and various navigation equipment. Propellers were poised to be deployed at a moment's notice, allowing us to navigate wherever and whenever we desired.

The deck was smooth and spacious, with fine seating that gave a front-row view of the siege cannons and rapid-fire ballista equipment. Rapid-fire was a loose term, as the torsion springs we had developed weren't good enough to automate the process. However, minimizing recoil and creating a strong tensioning system allowed us to reset a ballista once every thirty seconds—a horrifying number for enemies.

Considering that we could mass-produce ballista arrows and cannonballs, this ship was a moving death fortress.

"I still fail to see how this thing is gonna stop a war," Carter frowned, inspecting the grim layout of the ship, which was 90% devoted to equipment for destruction and slaughter.

"It's about choosing your battles, Carter," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Some battles are guaranteed; other battles, well, they can be avoided by showcasing the results of the guaranteed ones."

With those enigmatic words, I walked away, waving backward. "Don't worry. If people aren't stupid, no one needs to die... That's unlikely, but stupidity is a them problem, not a me problem."

"W-Who's 'them' boss?" Carter stuttered. However, I ignored him, walking away and preparing for our departure. We were just waiting for a message.

The next day, I got it.

"King Everwood!" the blonde-haired pilot yelled. "Ironfall has attacked Sundell!"

"What's the damage, Sam?" I asked.

"T-They killed about 200 people but retreated when we killed half of their wyverns," Sam stammered.

"How many?" I asked.

"213," he replied with a grave expression.

"No, how many wyverns?" I asked.

His eyes widened. "22... I think?"

I suppressed a desire to grin. Rapid-fire ballistas were the main order that I gave to Timothy, anticipating this day. To think that they didn't underestimate us, bringing half of their wyverns and losing a quarter of their population because they still underestimated us.

"I see," I replied, my face grave. "Have the representatives sent word?"

I've kept representatives in Sundell, teaching them things in exchange for them keeping an eye on the place for signs of provocation in my absence.

Sam gulped and nodded. "Yes. They've all reached out to their countries by thunderstag."

I smiled thinly but suppressed it further. "They've left us no choice; we must respond accordingly. Please send word to Zenith to join me."

“Z-Zenith went home on business,” Sam replied. “That means we’re defenseless. You’re not coming back with us?”

I frowned when I heard that Zenith had to go home on business. If it’s happening at this critical junction, it must have to do with the wyvern attack and is preventing a much more serious issue. Either way, her absence made me nervous, as she had serious firepower.

“You slaughtered 22 wyverns and call yourself defenseless?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “That fortress alone can survive a multi-front attack. Don’t defame yourself.”

“T-Then what are you doing?” Sam gulped.

"I'm taking Shiva here on her maiden voyage," I replied, patting the deck with a thin smile. "Don't worry; no one will attack Sundell again."

With those words, I ignored the man and gave the order. "All hands on deck!" I yelled. "While our work has just been completed, we're faced with peril that requires your work be used for heroic means! Now get loaded up; we must meet our threats and protect our people!"

Excitement and energy pulsed throughout the ship, getting all my workers and the various mages and soldiers I employed for this pre-planned trip hyped up to leave.

It's time to show every country in Novena what they're up against.

***

“How far are we takin’ her?” Eris, a ship captain with long, frazzled red hair, asked. Her gruff voice cut through the air, warning any man from approaching her—or any woman, for that matter. The juxtaposition between her tight tank top and extra-large pants added to her strange sight and persona.

"We're taking her all the way to Goldenspire, if not Dragon's Peak," I replied. "We're doing a full lap to show off to everyone."

The Green Sea, Aurelian Empire, Ironfall, Sunset Shore, Goldenspire, and Dragon's Peak would see us before we completed our lap, only leaving Frosthold and Valeria out of the loop, as Valeria was the only non-maritime country, and Frosthold had frigid waters that would destroy our ship.

This was our way of showcasing our might to the world.

"Are ya sure you wanna try to go that far?" Eris asked. "She's gonna break down by the time we pass Goldenspire at the latest."

"I equipped this boat with enough life rafts and avian mounts to get everyone off it when it breaks," I replied. "Let's focus on surviving this stretch of sea."

We were in the middle of Nightshade Forest. Countless mythical sea beasts could crack our boat and make my entire strategy worthless.

My time was up. I only had time for a voyage and a few minor repairs to get through the realm before my birthday. Therefore, if I were to make a stand, it would be here—and that all came down to surviving the Romba Strait. One monster would ruin everything.

Just the thought made my stomach sink. I had no idea what type of beasts roamed in this passage, but it was outside the Nightshade Forest—so it was guaranteed to be terrible.

"There's no sense in worrying about things," I declared. "We're leaving. We'll worry about the ship breaking down once it does."

"Aye!" Eris replied, saluting before barking orders to her sailors, who were busy learning the new mast systems. These sailors were from Ardenthall, the City of Sails that connects Novena to Valencia. I told Seraphin I was making a new ship to sell and needed the best sailors, and Eris was at the top. She was a veteran who had killed Kraken-grade beasts at sea, and everyone respected her.

“Let’s go!” Eris yelled. “We got a date with death, ladies! In three hours, we’re about to hit this straight, and I expect every lady and the very few men here to be manning those ballistas and harpoons!

The few women on board smirked; the vast majority of men who weren’t part of her crew frowned, and we also felt a little better about taking off on the Romba Straight.

“For the first time, we got some fancy shit to kill these beasts,” Eris smirked, eliciting laughs from her people. “So I don’t want to hear any excuses.”

Without further delay, the people in the boiler room started feeding coal to the steam engine, and it began chugging, spinning the propellers and making the ship move forward.

Our people cheered as we left the cove and saw the sea separating Novena from the demon continent Eudoria. With crystal clear water guiding us forward, Eris and the fleet of conventional wooden ships we imported and assembled by skywhale were all astounded. Watching us move against the wind without relying solely on the wind and currents to pass through was a surreal experience for them.

“Now this is what I’m talkin’ about!” Eris yelled, causing more cheering as we moved into the ocean and away from the forest of death that had prevented issues for so long.

Thea hugged me excitedly, basking in the praise that I was getting. I squeezed her back, feeling anxiety pulsing through me. I couldn't wait until Zenith got here. In a world without phones or the internet, it wasn't clear where she was or why she hadn't arrived yet. It was making me nervous.

I gulped. This was my one chance at changing my fate, and it was teetering on a razor's edge.

Still, the water was beautiful outside of the Nightshade Forest, sparkling like mica. It was uncorrupted and trafficked, a reminder of the natural barrier separating us from Eudoria, which was mutually destructive.

***

When the world is silent, devoid of the sound of birds, wind, and speech, the sound of a steam engine is haunting.

It hadn't been 30 minutes into our voyage when we passed the Tetamora Mountains separating Nightshade Forest from the Green Sea, and the weather abruptly turned misty, as if someone had poured water on the coals in a sauna.

A hushed silence befell our group. Since we could no longer see the slick trails that indicated the movement of beasts like sharks and schools of fish, we relied upon our senses and the small fleet of ships with veteran sailors that we paid 10,000 gold a head to sail around Novena. They knew what they were paid to do—be bait—and now they had to prove it.

And so, we listened for signs of danger as we listened to the lightly flapping sails, the chugging engine, and shallow breathing on the deck as mist clung to our skin.

It was excruciating.

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Another twenty passed until we reached the Rigma Forest, the first forest of the Green Sea, and the tension eased up. However, it returned with a vengeance when we heard speaking within the mist.

"Slicks at two!" a gruff sailor yelled through the fog. While I could hear him crystal clear, I couldn't see the man or his other ships. They seemingly disappeared into the deep fog.

"Slicks at six! But, I've never seen slicks look like this!" another yelled.

"Slicks at nine! We're surrounded!" a fourth yelled.

"By what?!" Eris roared. "Speak clearly, you fools!"

"Dorsal fins! There!" the first yelled, clearly a seasoned veteran.

"Tentacles!" another said, nearly in unison.

Eris' eyebrow twitched. "Aliseri or Morinela, speak up!"

I grimaced. Many mythological creatures on Earth existed here in mythology—and history. Aliseri was the name for the Kraken, a massive tentacle monster, and Morinela was the name of the Leviathan, an even larger creature with razor-sharp dorsal fins trailing down its spine. I wasn't sure if sailors communicated through hyperbole, but I didn't want to find out.

“Eye yer eyes peeled!” a man yelled through the fog. “We needa know what we’re up against!”

"Slicks at 11! It's a tentacle!"

"Dorsals at three! There's no mistaking it!"

My heart pounded. 'If there's a massive tentacle creature near sharks, that means there will be a battle underwater soon. If it's a chimera...'

"We need to stop the ship! Prepare for battle!" I commanded, turning to Thea. "Try to make a connection."

Thea nodded decisively. “I won’t let you down.”

"On it, boss!" Carter yelled in the distance, moving down into the area housing the propulsion system to manually shift the rotation into reverse, thereby slowing and stopping the ship. This was yet another limitation of our rush job, and it made my heart race while I waited for news of whether our propulsion system would break down at this critical moment.

'Omnipotent tool, 60 millimeter Henriksen whaling gun with a sentry mount and 50-foot rope,' I thought.

A massive harpoon gun with a rifle handle but a massive mounted body materialized.

'Omnipotent tool,' I added, activating the second omnipotent tool I had. 'Whale Grenade-99.'

A steel harpoon materialized with a red grenade tip on the front of it, looking like a pill.

I checked my system to ensure I wasn't missing something with the omnipotent tool's second usage that could let me down at the last moment. I had gone through it over and over again, but this was a life-or-death situation miles offshore.

—

Omnipotent Tool [Stage 2]

Description: Summon a tool of magic that morphs into tools requiring advanced machining and fuel sources. If the tool has fuel requirements, you must use your second omnipotent tool to fuel them or use the fuel sources you have on hand. The omnipotent tool can be destroyed but will regenerate over time. The more damage, the longer the regeneration time.

Fuel requires an hour to replenish, and the cooldown time on tools is six hours.

Usage: Silent cast by calling Omnipotent Tool and thinking about what you're looking for.

Stage: 2

Requirements for the next stage:

Unique usage combinations: (23/100)

Rewards:

- Create tools with built-in fuel sources and multi-process requirements.

—

'I only have one shot before I need to switch to normal harpoons,' I gulped. 'It's lucky I can even do this much.'

As I set up the harpoon gun at the front of the ship where I could see the water with Thea, the entire ship ground to a halt with a horrifying screeching sound that clearly indicated that something broke—or got smashed in.

"AhHHhHH!" Thea screeched in my ear, dropping to the ground.

"Thea! What's wrong?!" I yelled, picking her up. "Thea!"

Thea gripped her head with a pained expression, her face as pale as a sheet. "R-Ryker...," she gulped, taking a sharp breath. "I tried to make a contract with that thing..."

My heart thumped. "Thing? There's one... and you got... violently rejected..."

An icy wave of anxiety crashed through my body, making me instantly want to give up the ship and flee.

Thea couldn't tame guardians at Zenith's level. However, she could get close, creating a bond and communicating with the beast, even at that level. So if she couldn't...

"We need to run, Ryker," Thea grimaced. "That beast... it's an ancient."

Eris heard us loud and clear. "Listen up, ladies! This thing's the real deal, so take out your flasks and drink to your deaths!" she yelled, removing a flask from her pants, unscrewing it, and drinking from it. Everyone else followed suit.

"We're all gonna die, but if I see even one of you die without scarring our history into an ancient," Eris scoffed in a ridiculing tone. "You don't deserve a single swig at my table in Havenveil!" Explosive cheering came from her veteran sailors and many of my people.

Eris grabbed her harpoon gun and walked to the bow with her harpoon, putting her boot on it. "Now hurry up and show yourself! she demanded. "Even if you run, we're not leaving this place until you shriek and beg for mercy!"

The area eerily fell silent in the fog before we felt a buoyant wave lift our ship and separate it from the others as water dripped from an object protruding from the front of the ship.

GOOOOOOOOOOOORRRN!

A piercing shrill shattered the sound waves, and crimsonwood-sized tentacles sprouted, leaving the water shaking in their wake. There was no doubt about it: we had angered a colossus.

—

[A/N: I hope you're enjoying the story!]