"Joe Butler, why do you look like you have it all figured out?"
After hearing Joe Butran's bold declaration, Old Gary asked in confusion,
“Also, how do you know Aldridge is dead
If you haven’t been there, you can’t possibly know this.”
"Yeah, I haven't been there, but when did I tell you that the murderer's next target is Aldridge, Old Gary?"
Joe Butron suddenly rushed forward and grabbed old Gary's hands.
"Hey! Let me go! I'm not a murderer!"
Old Gary struggled hard and roared loudly.
"Paul! Tie him up."
Joe Butran used his body to pin down old Gary, but old Gary continued to resist.
After hearing this, Paul immediately took the towel beside him, tore it into strips, and tied up old Gary.
"Bullshit! What right do you have to say that I'm the murderer? I have no grudge against the captain and his men!"
Old Gary was tied to a chair and roaring loudly.
"Paul, please keep an eye on him now. I'm going to the restaurant warehouse to take a look. If you have any questions, ask me when I come back."
Joe Butran turned and said something to Paul, then strode out of the room.
Seeing this, Sif followed behind Jobtran and shouted, "Wait for me."
Professor Robert, Paul and old Gary were the only ones left in the room, staring at each other in disbelief. They couldn't keep up with Jobtran's unconventional logic.
"Hey, Joe Butron, wait for me."
Sif shouted as she followed behind Jobtran.
"Aren't you going to the restaurant warehouse? This isn't the right way to go."
Sif muttered.
“I’m not a fool. I rushed in with the key even though I knew there was a trap inside.
Hurry up, time is running out, Aldridge can still be saved."
Jobtran spoke very quickly.
"What? You didn't say Aldridge was dead?"
“If you had used the key to open the warehouse door, I imagine there would have been a massive dust explosion.
And whoever opens the door will be killed in the explosion, and that’s not what I want to see.”
Joe Butran walked towards the security room.
After a series of accidents on the ship, these unprofessional security guards chose to numb themselves with alcohol instead of working properly.
The messy wine bottles and the drunkard lying on the floor in the security room proved this.
"As I expected, the large amount of alcohol left behind made it impossible for them to detect my movements.
Very smart move, old Gary."
Joe Butran said softly.
"Ugh, it stinks."
Sif smelled alcohol coming from the security room and said while pinching her nose.
"Joe Butler, is your nose not working?"
"No, I just expected it. Try breathing through your mouth."
After saying this, Joe Butran went straight to old Gary's bed.
Unlike the other people's beds, there was no sign of mess on old Gary's bed.
The quilt was folded neatly and the pillow was placed on the quilt.
Joe Butron looked under the bed. It was empty, with nothing there except a few empty wine bottles.
"Most people might ignore it, but I won't. You still lose anyway."
Jobtran noticed that there was a spot under the bed near the wall where there was less dust, so he reached out and tapped the wooden board twice.
"Found it. Sif, come and help."
Jobtran said to Sif who was standing nearby.
"What should I do?"
Sif asked.
"There's a wooden board here. I'm going to try to lift it up. I need you to work with me to move old Gary's bed a little bit."
"Okay, I'll go to the back."
"One, two, three, hard. Alright."
The wooden bed made an unpleasant creaking sound, but none of the drunks present paid any attention.
It turned out that there was a small metal ring under the foot of the bed. With a slight pull, the wooden board could be lifted up, and there was a secret compartment underneath.
Jobtran opened the secret compartment under old Gary's bed and took out a few things.
"What is all this? An empty medicine bottle, a diary, and some letters?"
Sif asked.
"These are the evidence of the crime. Next we have to rescue Aldridge."
Jobtran didn't even look at the contents of these things and just threw them to Sif.
Sif took it hurriedly, took a small paper bag from the security room, put these things in it and took it with her.
"Where do we go now?"
Sif asked.
"The steam oven room on the ground floor. That's the only place that has what I need."
The two of them were once again rushing around on the boat, and Sif's mind was now filled with confusion.
The man in front of me seemed more and more mysterious, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to see through him.
Sif even began to suspect that Jobtran's initial claim that he was an exchange student of archaeology was just a lie.
"Joe Butler, you are not some kind of agent or spy, are you?"
Sif asked, following behind Joe Butran, holding a small paper bag.
"Oh, this is a woman's intuition? Unfortunately, you guessed wrong. I am just a good citizen who abides by the law."
A smile appeared on Joe Butron's lips.
You can feel the heat wave coming towards you before you officially step into the steam boiler room. Obviously, this is because the ship is currently using the steam boiler as power.
Along with this came the roar caused by the friction and operation of the machines, and you could feel the slight vibration of the ground before you even entered the door.
"Oh my god, it's hot in here."
Sif pushed open the door and exclaimed.
The steam boiler that supports the operation of the hull is quite large. There is a hole at the bottom for adding coal, and the pipes descending from the ceiling are like a complicated spider web.
The hot steam generated in the steam boiler room will become the power source of the Cyclopes and can also provide hot water for the ship.
The entire steam boiler is three stories high, and there are several protruding settings connected to the power system on the side.
At the entrance where coal is added, there is an old man who is working hard to add fuel to the boiler to keep it running.
His attention was drawn by the sound coming from the door, and he found Sif and Jobtran standing at the door.
"Oh, a delicate girl like you shouldn't be here.
The boiler here has a temperature of over 300 degrees Celsius for a long time, which is why we can run this big ship now."
Said the old man with a full beard and wearing a thin vest.
After he said that, he lifted up his vest and wiped the sweat from his face, then picked up the water bag and took a few big gulps.
"Old man, do you have a portable blower?"
Jobtran asked the man who took the initiative to talk to him.
“There’s only one, in the corner behind the boiler.
If you can get it, take it.
I don’t know which bastard threw it in there.”
The old man took two bottles of water from the table and threw them to Jobtran and Sif.
"If you want to fish that thing out, I suggest you give up.
The portable blower weighed thirty kilograms, but the gap next to the boiler would spray out a stream of steam at a temperature of nearly two hundred degrees every one hundred and twenty seconds.
Do you understand, young man
The old man persuaded Jobtran.
"Thank you, old man. I will bring cumin, chili and salt to make my meat more delicious."
Jobtran drank the water in the bottle and wiped the sweat that was slowly seeping from his forehead.
Before deciding to act, Jobtran wanted to see if the blower was still usable.
"Old man, can this thing go up?"
Jobtran pointed to the iron walkway above the boiler.
"If you can avoid the steam, it's not a problem to get up there, but it's going to be hot.
Your rubber soles will melt in a few minutes, and then you'll be...get it?"
The old man took one look at what Joe Butran was wearing and said.
"Then how did you get up there to do the maintenance work?"
Joe Butran asked, looking around.
"Use the heat-resistant clothing in the cupboard here?"
He asked, pointing to a cupboard not far away.
"No, we don't have any heat-resistant clothing, just guts and vodka."
The old man patted his belly and grinned.
Jobtran frowned. He saw that the shoes on the old man's feet seemed to be just ordinary rubber shoes, but he suddenly realized what was going on.
"A few minutes is enough. Sif, wait here for me."
Jobtran took a pair of gloves from the side and climbed up the iron ladder.
Jobtran could vaguely feel the high temperature coming from the handrail through his gloves. He was very patient. He waited for the boiler to spray before he officially stepped onto the iron walkway.
He looked into the gap inside the boiler where the blower had fallen and found that apart from some scratches, there was not much damage on the blower.
After a quick glance, he immediately fell back to the ground from the aisle.
"Joe Butler, is that blower still usable? Is it not broken?"
Sif asked with concern.
"Thank God, made in Germany!"
Jobtran smiled.
"Don't be too happy, I tried to lasso it, but it was too heavy."
The old man spread his hands and said.
"If I take it out, can I use it?"
asked Joe Butran.
"certainly."
"Then I need to borrow some things, old man, do you mind?"
"Anyway, I don't have anything valuable here. Apart from my life, you can do with the rest as you please."
The old man spoke with a natural sense of black humor, which made Sif laugh.
Jobtrand took out a sturdy rope and some wheels from the tool room.
He put on a pair of gloves and took a flat-head screwdriver from the tool box.
Jobtran lifted off the wheel, leaving only the metal axle.
"What are you doing?"
Sif asked in confusion.
"Simple physics, pulleys.
Just using a few simple pulleys can multiply the mechanical benefits. For a 30-kilogram blower, I only need three pulleys. "
Jobtran explained.
Jobtran waited for the interval between the steam eruptions, counting down silently in his mind.
After a burst of white steam, Jobtran rushed onto the iron walkway, fixed the pulley with long nails, and put a rope around the pulley.
Jobtran grabbed one end of the rope and made a flexible knot with his hand, swinging it in the air like a cowboy in the American West. He found the protruding end of the blower and put it on it, then tightened it with force.
Just as Jobtran was about to lift the blower in one go, the next wave of steam was about to arrive.
"Damn it! Only a dozen seconds left."
Joe Butran cursed in his heart, but he couldn't stay any longer at this moment and could only avoid the attack first.
He ran back as hard as he could, and steam gushed out of the boiler.
He lunged forward and jumped down from the gap in the escalator.
The scalding steam brushed past his body and flew toward the chimney. Without any hesitation, he turned back to the aisle and finished the unfinished work.
Jobutran gritted his teeth and pulled hard, and the blower was pulled up. Seeing this, Sif, who was waiting at the escalator, ran up and took the rope in Jobutran's hand.
"You go catch the blower."
Sif said.
"good."
Jobtran walked forward to the edge of the aisle. Because the blower was placed next to the boiler, it felt unbearably hot when he touched it.
Fortunately, Joe Butran was wearing gloves, otherwise he would have been burned.
He got the blower and signaled Sif to let go.
Seeing this, Sif immediately let go and returned to the ground from the escalator.
This is a race against time.
Jobtran jumped down the escalator holding the blower and put it on the ground.
"I'm sorry, old man, I didn't have time to take the pulley off."
Joe Butran said politely to the old man.
"No, that's not a problem. I can just go up and clean it up when I shut down the boiler at night. It's a piece of cake."
The old man smiled wickedly.
Hearing this, Sif looked at the old man in confusion.
"Old man, why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"You're in a hurry, aren't you
Rather than keeping you waiting till night, I would rather teach you about the laws of steam."
The old man shrugged and said with a wicked smile.
"The old man is right, thank you."
Holding the blower, Jobtran bowed to the old man and took off his gloves.
"Let's go, human lives are at stake."
Jobtran leaned over and whispered in Sif's ear.
Sif waved her fist at the old man angrily, then followed Jobtran and left.
The old man laughed, took a big sip of water, and returned to his job.
"What are you trying to do with this blower?"
Sif took out a handkerchief and handed it to Jobtran, who was sweating profusely from running back and forth.
“Do you know how dust explosions work?”
Joe Butran took the handkerchief, wiped the sweat off his body, and asked.
"Physics is not my strong point, so I don't know much about it."
Sif answered honestly.
“There’s a lot of combustible dust in the air, and it’s all in a tiny, confined space.
As long as there is a spark, the entire space will be ignited, and the speed will reach subsonic speed to spread until the combustible materials are burned out.
Think about it, what's in that warehouse?"
Jobtran explained.
Sif covered her mouth.
"Flour and wine!"