Soon, the current stored in the long cones of "Mary" was exhausted, and the six long cones on the verge of collapse finally stopped, burning into red and making a hissing sound.
Many internal machine springs fell apart the moment they stopped and were completely burned out. And the ethereal and beautiful girl's singing gradually continued intermittently, until finally, it disappeared hoarsely without a trace.
It was as if the spirit inhabiting it had died.
But the ape ghost has no bones left.
Newton got up from the ground, picked through the ashes in his pocket, found an unfinished cigarette, and smiled broadly. Charles, the loser, cleverly came up to light a fire.
He narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath, raised his head and asked, "The demonstration is over, do you have anything else to say?"
There was silence.
No one spoke.
Everything that happened here tonight has impacted their three views, faintly shaken the education and common sense they have received since childhood, and made them both doubt their own eyes.
"what is that?"
Someone asked in a daze: "It's not alchemy equipment, it's not musicians... it's a simple machine that resonates with the ether?"
"That's right, it's like a strange phenomenon in the dark zone."
Newton said calmly: "In a high-concentration ether environment, pure sound changes can cause changes in the ether - the loud noise when thunder strikes, the sound of the ocean's tide, the dark roar from the depths of the earth... Human beings use musical notes to record Those sounds, because all sounds can resonate with the ether. Unless there is absolute 'silence', all sounds will definitely exert an influence on the ether - this is the 'ether effect'. Unfortunately, under the interference of the sect's barrier, The ether reaction in the white area is weakened to the limit, and it can only be observed with the naked eye in the black area."
"You mean... you release the notes mechanically?"
Someone reacted and frowned: "How do you achieve guidance control?"
"Oh, I solved this problem two days ago when I was chatting with my assistant."
Newton picked his nostrils: "When that guy was bragging, he said that one of his junior brothers couldn't sense the ether, so in order to release the notes, he memorized the key data and combination process of each syllable... It sounds stupid. Right? So, I thought: Since people can control the ether without relying on induction, why can't machines? Just make the ether think someone is guiding it..." He paused and laughed strangely: "Maybe , the ether does not need guidance from the beginning, we just choose the one we want among the countless results caused by the ether."
"Why use electricity to drive?" someone asked, "We only started using the energy generated by this magnetic field cutting five years ago."
"This is the simplest and easiest way to make and maintain it. Even a fool can use it after being trained. What I need is the lowest cost and the widest applicability."
Newton said calmly: "I need to ensure that it becomes a benchmark, and that it is above the benchmark... before I can continue to promote subsequent research?"
"Follow-up research!"
Everyone was stunned: What further research is needed? Enhanced effect? Or, in addition to this simplest movement, could he also plan to create something that releases other movements
In response, Newton just smiled, said nothing, and didn't bother to answer. In the crowd, some people's expressions have already changed, from shock to heaviness, until finally, they were thinking solemnly.
"That's it. I won't care about it after the demonstration. Mass production has already started. It will be completed in five days. The Royal Orchestra will quickly pay for it and take it away."
He yawned and was about to turn around and leave.
But behind him, Andre, who was looking down in thought, slowly raised his head, his voice cold.
"Feel sorry."
He said, "This batch of results is unacceptable to the Royal Orchestra."
Newton's footsteps stagnated, and he turned back slowly, his eyes becoming gloomy: "Mr. Andre, it makes no sense to regret after placing an order. If you can't give me a reason that I can accept, then the Royal Musician The regiment should never try to get any equipment from me."
Faced with Newton's faint anger, Andre just said: "It does not meet our requirements."
"'Mary's performance has exceeded all your expectations."
Newton snorted: "The portability and concealment are impeccable. As for the ease of use, just kidding, an etheric waste like me can use it. Don't tell me that a musician can't handle it!"
"What we need is alchemy equipment, not a music box."
"Ha!" Newton laughed strangely, "Its cost is lower than that of alchemy equipment, and it will be even lower after mass production. The stability is impeccable - the same effect, why not use cheaper and better ones? Music boxes are better than what you want. The thing is stronger! Tell me if you are stupid!"
"Mr. Newton, I believe you know very well that what I want is not this kind of 'inferior product'."
On "bad quality", Andre emphasized his voice and spoke every word.
Newton was stunned for a moment, his expression changed, and after a long time he sighed, walked up to him with a smile, patted his shoulder, and said in an uncharacteristically soft voice:
"Be good, don't make trouble. The royal family made a request, the royal family issued an order. Now you say you don't want it, so you don't want it. What do you mean? Mr. Andre, you are already a grown man. Stop acting like a child."
Snapped!
On Andre's shoulder, a string of sparks bounced up without warning, hitting Newton's palm, causing Newton's fingers to twitch. He stood up slowly, looked down at the bad old man, and said in a cold voice:
"Mr. Newton, I have tolerated your arrogance for a long time. Maybe this is a mistake. Since when has the field of musicians allowed people like you to dictate?"
Newton looked up at him and suddenly laughed softly:
"You actually want to say 'trash', right?"
Everyone knows that Newton of the Royal Academy is not a musician at all. He did not even pass the apprenticeship test. He is a waste who cannot even achieve etheric induction.
He was able to reach where he is today thanks to his astonishing mechanical engineering achievements and a genius mind that was unparalleled at the time. Because of this, the Holy City will give him the name of a sage before the Dark Ages.
"There is only one thing I want to tell you, Mr. Andre."
He stared at Andre and slowly raised his palm: "Only one thing."
The black long-cone Mary was slowly raised in his hand and placed in front of Andre's eyes. The sharpness of the long cone reflected the light, glowing like a burning glow.
"-Sooner or later, this kind of 'inferior product' that you look down on will dominate the trend of the times. Regardless of whether you have talent or not, whether you have a teacher or not, whether you have profound attainments or not, whether you have a noble status or not, it will send power into In the hands of everyone who holds it!”
Andre frowned, and Newton put the long cone into its hand, made him hold it firmly, and whispered hoarsely in his ear:
"—Feel the power, you ignorant man!"
The veins in Andre's hand popped out, and the long awl was clenched tightly, almost as if it was about to be twisted.
He stared at Newton silently, then turned and left after a long time.
…
…
With Andre's sudden departure, the representatives who came to participate in the demonstration also left one after another. Until finally, Charles came back with a brand new pack of cigarettes and found that Newton was the only one in the entire underground testing site.
This bad old man just sat on the cracked ground, stroking the burned long awl in ecstasy.
"Andre is gone."
Charles threw the cigarette away: "You have offended people quite a lot today."
Newton was stunned for a moment, and then sneered: "Tsk, I'll give it to you if you don't want others to look down on you. Do you think he is mentally ill?"
"It's human nature. I've spent decades learning something and you've done it in a few days. Why do I still like you?"
Charles pulled out a long awl from the ground, looked at the fine melted gear inside it, and suddenly asked: "But, if we really continue to study this thing... wouldn't it sooner or later replace the musician?"
"Eh?"
Newton was stunned, "Will it?"
Charles was also stunned, "Haven't you ever thought about it?"
"Why should I think about it? Researchers only care about their own research. What does the life and death of musicians have to do with me?"
Newton spread his hands: "If I want to think about everything, why don't I become the pope! Besides...how stupid can someone think that I can really research the follow-up stuff?"
"Uh...huh?" Ciel was petrified.
"Being able to achieve this level is already the limit of the current industry! Although I can come up with theories, theories that cannot be verified are just conjectures. Unless the Holy City unlocks the 'Sixth Seal' and allows countries to obtain new technologies - Including research on materials and forging—otherwise it would be too early, kid.”
Newton lowered his head and thought for a while, and said: "It's at least six hundred years early. This technology is at least six hundred years early. If you think about it, I'm pretty good!"
"But some people are already starting to get scared."
Charles scratched his head: "Some people have a very long-term vision. What if they want to kill you?"
"I'm not afraid." Newton whistled: "Anyway, the royal family protects me. There are not just one or two people who have tried to kill me over the years. What am I afraid of? Aren't you the one who needs to be afraid? You are my personal assistant. .”
“…”
Charles was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but cursed: "Why am I so unlucky to have such a lunatic like you!"
"As my assistant, you have to make sacrifices for research. It's best to dedicate your youth to your descendants. Now it's time for you to dedicate your life. Don't be afraid, Charles."
Newton looked at him with pity in his eyes and comforted: "Who of you didn't come here for real? I think back then, when I was young, I was better than you... Haha, no, when I was young, I was much better than you are now! At that time, Those bad old men from the research institute treat me like a treasure! They greet me every day, for fear that I will be in a bad mood and quit. They simply want people to give people and money to give money. Even if I want to set the research institute on fire, they They would pour grease on me, lay out the lead, put the torch in my hand, and finally get a bunch of people to come and applaud me!”
“…”
"They are all good people. It's a pity that they were unlucky and died relatively early."
Having said this, he was stunned for a moment, looking down at the cigarette ash in his hand, his eyes became lonely: "Seriously, they are the only ones in this world who really treat me as a treasure, right? This research institute is theirs This project was their last unfinished research, and even the pornographic book was a coming-of-age gift they gave me. If I think about it carefully, there are quite a lot of things left by those old guys. But I can keep them. But it’s getting less and less.”
He sighed and stopped talking.
Charles was silent for a long time, and said softly: "You drove away all the alchemists, forcibly delayed the construction period until now, and ensured that they had no room for regret and had to accept your design... That's why, right? People with a long-term vision will Understand what it means, old man. When the time comes, they will send you to the gallows at all costs. You have been a prostitute for so many years, don’t you really want to die? "
Newton couldn't help but laugh, put out his cigarette, and shook his head slowly.
"Char, I've said it before, the reason why I succeed is because I stand on the shoulders of giants."
Newton pulled out the long awl, stared at the dark golden glow, and murmured softly:
"After so many years, those giants who were willing to let me step on their shoulders are dead, but there will always be someone to take their place and walk the unfinished road."