Crime value 84, even higher than Neil’s.
“Another Fake Human…”
Raphael muttered, then looked at the execution reward.
“Three-cylinder steam engine…”
Currently, the Empire’s most advanced steam engine is the two-cylinder compound condensing steam engine.
After the high-temperature steam pushes the piston to do work, cold water is used to rapidly liquefy the steam, creating a vacuum inside the piston, which then pulls the piston back, resulting in a push-and-pull piston motion.
The prison uses an old-fashioned single-cylinder condensing steam engine with only one cylinder, where the steam does work only once.
The excess force acts on the machine itself, causing massive vibration, making it prone to damage and costly to maintain. At the same time, the steam utilization rate is low, consuming a lot of fuel.
Later, imperial engineers improved it by adding another cylinder, allowing the steam engine to do work twice consecutively, extending the machine’s lifespan while saving energy. This is the two-cylinder compound condensing steam engine.
As for the three-cylinder…
‘Theoretically possible, but achieving two-cylinder compound work is already the limit of current industrial levels.’
‘Material precision is limited, and thermodynamics theory can’t even calculate the expansion ratio yet…’
‘The difficulty of developing from two cylinders to three is practically an insurmountable chasm from every angle.’
Raphael vaguely remembered that on Earth, after the two-cylinder condensing steam engine had been popularized for 30 years, the three-cylinder was finally developed, and it took another 40 years to be widely adopted.
However, the three-cylinder was not the end of the steam engine. From the perspective of that era, the progress of human technology still had a long way to go.
Now, a three-cylinder steam engine was right before his eyes!
‘With the three-cylinder steam engine, fuel and maintenance costs will decrease, allowing the price to be further reduced…’
‘According to market prices, all four workshops of the factory can run at full speed using just this one machine. 1,000 old-fashioned looms can produce 10,000 meters of fabric per day, with a daily output value of 300 kroner. Labor costs are negligible. After deducting 200 kroner for raw cotton and coal, the net profit per day is 100 kroner.’
‘After deducting taxes and transportation costs from that 100 kroner, 50 kroner remain… The estimated monthly revenue is 1,500 kroner!’
Raphael had looked over the prison’s revenue records. ‘If it were the original single-cylinder steam engine, the coal costs would be more than double the current amount. The daily output value is 286 kroner, but the costs are as high as 298 kroner. Not only does it make no profit, but it also loses 12 kroner every day.’
In fact, the prison was now selling its previous stock.
Starting next month, there would be nothing left to sell.
‘If we use the three-cylinder steam engine, although it won’t fully cover the prison’s operating costs, at least we can turn a profit…’
“Lanser…” Raphael muttered, “Thank you for your immense sacrifice for the prison and the industrialization of the empire.”
“Hehe… Haha… Hehehehehe!”
Liliya stood at the doorway, slightly bowing her head, but in reality, she had been observing Raphael’s every move.
“Cute… So cute. The way the young master thinks is really so cute!”
“I want to… Ahem. Calm down, calm down, Liliya. It’s not time yet.”
Liliya’s ghost brain was activating…
“Liliya,” Raphael called out softly, pulling Liliya back to reality, “Gather all prison staff, including the soldiers on duty, to the first floor of the administration building for a meeting. I will publicly try Lanser’s crimes.”
“As you command, young master.”
Liliya was a military officer; she might not be good at strategy, but when it came to summoning people…
“As long as I bring them here alive, right?”
“Heh, do whatever you want.”
The maid pulled open the door and then rushed toward the various guard posts like the wind.
‘I originally planned to lie low for a while before dealing with this insubordinate mercenary group, but it seems there’s no need now.’
Liliya was the biggest card in his hand.
A half-blood who had survived the Duke family’s hellish training, a loyal subject with a loyalty of 99, a T1-ranked powerhouse in the original game…
With someone like this by his side, a lieutenant? The army? They could all become expendables!
He would pardon the innocent, but if they were guilty, he couldn’t be blamed for being ruthless.
‘First, let’s see if there’s any direct evidence of a crime…’
The dazzling array of luxury items went without saying; embezzlement certainly counted as one.
‘Let Estina accuse him of sexual harassment… Good, that’s another charge.’
‘And also…’
Raphael began searching through the drawers. Most were filled with irrelevant documents, until he found a notebook:
Half-Blood Appreciation Guide.
‘Pure heresy. Could use burning at the stake…’
‘No, this is…’
Its level of obscenity was comparable to early 21st-century QQ groups!
…
Soon, all seventy-nine soldiers assembled in the hall without exception.
However, some had broken arms, some had bruised faces, and some even had nosebleeds.
The moment they saw Liliya, it was as if they had encountered a plague god, desperate to avoid her.
On the other side of the mercenaries, led by Estina, stood the orderly ranks of guards, dressed in black uniforms, each standing tall with rosy cheeks. Yet now they glared with disgust at the group of thugs opposite them. The chefs, doctors, and even Xiugu, who had just joined the prison, stood beside the guards, forming clear factions and confrontation.
Thump—
Thump—
Thump—
Footsteps accompanied by an eerie pressure swept through the hall in a wave that grew louder as it approached.
The young man walked leisurely at the front, holding a rope. The rope was tied to a man behind him. The man’s face was swollen, and his sunken eyes now seemed even more hollow. He looked extremely unwilling, glaring furiously at the young man despite his eyes being squeezed into slits by the swelling.
“B-Boss?”
“Is that the boss!?”
“Holy shit, how did the boss become a pig-head!”
…
The mercenaries chattered noisily, and the hall quickly became chaotic.
Lanser listened to the various comments—like “Why are both his eyes gone?”, “Is this a bondage play?”, “Damn, the boss turned into a big bottom!”—and trembled with rage.
From the guards’ side came a burst of snickers.
“Serves the pig-head right.”
“A single eye is a man’s romance, what about blind eyes?”
“Blind eyes? That beast only has thug-looks!”
They laughed without restraint.
Indeed, the guards hated Lanser and his useless mercenaries to the core.
They had been hired by the previous warden, and their origins were unclear to begin with.
Their quality was abysmal; they had repeatedly tried to harass the female guards. If it weren’t for Sophia’s prominent family background keeping Lanser in check, who knows what these ruffians would have done.
Of course, what made the girls hate them the most was what happened the night before.
The mercenaries had taken their salaries, but during the prison riot, they chose to stand by and watch, turning a deaf ear to the chaos.
That was a blatant betrayal!
If the warden hadn’t stepped in just in time, who knows what would have happened.