Chapter 1397 - 1312: How Are the Towers Doing

Chapter 1397: Chapter 1312: How Are the Towers Doing

"Not even a single caring word?" Jils craned her neck, sneaking a peek at the contents of the letter.

While reading, Hilov responded, "Do you think he could send any sweet nothings? A person who spent his wedding night droning on about the economic plans of the Holy Alliance, what sweet nothings could he possibly have?"

Jils opened her mouth but didn’t dare to mock His Majesty Saint Sun like Hilov did.

In the Holy Alliance, there’s a crime called ’Slander Against Saint Sun,’ those caught would have to face severe punishment.

Setting the letter down, Hilov picked up the coffee on the table and took a sip, then sighed helplessly.

The content of Horn’s letters is very simple. Although it seems he said a lot, in reality, he’s asking about one thing—how’s the tower?

Letters like these come almost every week, each time it’s about the tower, how the tower is...

Even someone as patient as Hilov (in her personal life) couldn’t help but feel annoyed after reading the same content multiple times. I am your wife, not your research assistant.

Though she complained, Hilov would still report the progress of the two new towers to Horn on time.

The new towers at Xia Lvcheng and Cold Spring Castle each reach about 80 meters high.

If built according to the scale of the Ethereal Tower by the Holy Mechanism Court, it wouldn’t be completed in less than five to six years.

But Horn couldn’t wait five to six years; it must be completed within three years.

Through wide external tendering and the siphoning off of civil engineering talents in the Holy Alliance, a construction plan was successfully developed.

To ensure swift construction, neither tower adopted a brick-and-tile design but instead an extremely avant-garde steel framework design.

The main load-bearing materials are entirely steel beams, while columns, small beams, and braces are made of cast iron.

As for stairs, platforms, railings, and partial protection frameworks, they all use wood, which will be renovated again after the war.

Under normal circumstances, building an 80-meter tower with brick structure in the Empire would generally take over ten years.

Even in the Holy Alliance, it would take five to seven years.

As for these two new towers, thanks to prefabricated components and rivet installation, it took less than two years from start to finish.

After asking Jils for paper and a pen, Hilov leaned in front of the flower beds in the Mechanical Palace garden and began writing a reply to Horn.

"Respected and great Pope’s Holy Grandson Horn, as the President of the Holy Council, it’s truly an honor to receive your rare and precious greetings. Although you didn’t ask, I am doing well..."

"As for the matter of the two new Ethereal Towers, please do not worry; everything is moving in the right direction, all proceeding according to your great plan..."

Hilov’s pen moved swiftly on the paper, writing one line after another of elegant script, forming a sharp contrast to Horn’s letter full of messy scrawl.

Though she teased Horn, Hilov didn’t neglect the main business.

As the letter said, both new towers were indeed on track, progressing as per Horn’s instructions.

Due to its geographic advantage, Cold Spring Castle would become a center for steel smelting to transfer excess steel production from the Holy Mechanism Court.

At that time, the local wind-up water pump can directly replenish moon mercury from Cold Spring Castle or wind-up, allowing for deeper mining.

No need to ship it to the Holy Mechanism Court for smelting, then directly smelting it on-site and sending it for processing at the Holy Mechanism Court.

Currently, Catherine is tasked locally to oversee the operation of the Cold Spring Steel Company and prevent the old aristocracy from causing trouble.

Honestly speaking, there aren’t many old aristocratic forces left there now.

The mountain aristocrats of the past either transformed, fled, were exiled, or executed.

The ones that remained were eventually chipped away by the Saint Father’s Association through the salami tactics.

As for Xia Lvcheng, it fully conducts massive moon mercury production and food processing industries, such as flour mills and bakeries, providing energy munitions and food for the front lines.

This is because Xia Lvcheng is closer to the front line and is the primary grain production center of the Holy Alliance.

The Holy Mechanism Court that moved out these basic productions primarily engaged in high-added-value processing industries, such as metal processing and machinery manufacturing.

After all, the Holy Mechanism Court houses the best mathematics, natural theology, engineering, materials, and mechanical science universities in the entire Holy Alliance or even the Empire.

It also has numerous research institutes and large-scale small mechanical processing plants and alchemy workshops, integrating industry, academia, and research.

This advantage is enormous.

Of course, this doesn’t prevent representatives from both sides and local monks from taking more from the Holy Mechanism Court city hall, leaving other cities only with scraps.

"Apart from that, there’s one thing to seek your advice on; that’s the concentrated explosive fluorspar, known as solar bombs, has been researched and completed, and I’m unsure where the production site should be placed..."

Stopping for a while, Hilov raised her head and glanced toward the experimental shooting range outside the Mechanical Palace walls.

Though she couldn’t directly see it, the dazzling light behind the wall came in waves.

Actually, this concentrated fluorspar is just condensing fluorspar.

Through an alchemy vessel and a high ether environment, it’s condensed into an extremely unstable state.

Wrapped in circulating wood salt liquid, when the valve opens upon contact with an enemy, the circulating wood salt liquid instantly vaporizes, and the concentrated fluorspar emits strong light and creates a shock wave.

Do not ask Hilov what circulating wood salt liquid is, as she doesn’t know; it’s a material rapidly developed by the Holy Alliance’s alchemical industry.

Even Hilov, it’s impossible to be an all-rounder in all aspects; she must rely on the research team.

The power of this solar bomb, although instantaneous, has brightness thousands of times greater than normal sunlight.

Through double-blind tests on vampire war criminals, it was verified that while this concentrated fluorspar cannot directly kill vampires, it would damage their body’s regenerative capabilities.

Even having a certain probability of causing the vampire permanent blindness.

The problem is, it similarly couldn’t penetrate the vampire’s protective clothing and is extremely costly.

Lowering her head in contemplation for a while, Hilov resumed writing, "This solar bomb also produces a significant by-product, which is the less concentrated stable high-bright fluorspar, which can serve as searchlights and light bullets."

Searchlights are self-explanatory, mainly used for suppressing vampires at night.

Although the Holy Alliance didn’t suffer losses in major battles, in smaller battlegrounds, any night offensives or maneuvers usually end with the Holy Alliance retreating.

The reason is simple: vampires have night vision, and mastering enemy movements on the battlefield is crucial.

With this searchlight and solar bomb, it’ll ensure vampires parade in bright daylight.

Light bullets, a concept proposed based on soldier feedback collected by the Exorcism Court.

Simply put, many vampires’ regenerative abilities and physical recovery far exceed those of regular humans.

When a contracted human is hit by a blood pact lead bullet in the torso, they likely lose mobility at once, with the fastest recovery taking up to three days to return to the battlefield.

If a vampire is hit by a lead bullet smeared with Holy Oil in their torso, they also lose mobility but can retreat first, extract the lead bullet, and return to the battlefield the next day.

If not for the royal court’s lack of organization and failure to leverage this trait, the Holy Alliance would have faced its first defeat long ago.

Light bullets are essentially steel-headed fluorspar bullets, which explode upon armor penetration, introducing fragment dust into the vampire’s body.

To regenerate, either remove a large chunk of flesh or patiently wait for the concentrated fluorspar powder to metabolize.

"Now the first batch of experimental light bullets has been manufactured, and various armies are requesting them, as to where to send them, it’s your decision, not mine!"

"Furthermore, send Falan’s Golden Ears Crown quickly, I have use for it."

"Lastly, stay safe and come back soon, Jia Li misses you."

"So do I."

Upon finishing the letter, Hilov tucked it into an envelope and stood up from her chair, "Send it out."

Jils took the letter to the door while Hilov stretched, put on her white lab coat, and prepared to visit the Brass Covenant Bureau.

She had barely reached the doorway when Jils came running back, holding a gift box.

"What’s this?"

"Sent from Dawn Island, especially for you from His Holiness the Pope."

Hilov curiously furrowed her brows, opened the gift box, and inside was a fluffy teddy bear doll, with a crown on its head.

Beside the bear was a small note scrawled by Horn: "It’s not a holiday, but I just wanted to send you a holiday gift; you worked hard."

Hilov picked up the bear and chuckled, "It’s so ugly."