Chapter 510: Let Steam Power Spread Across the Continent and Oceans

Those who could participate in the construction of the North Urals Territory were, in essence, all possessed of a certain amount of labor capacity.

Selecting suitable candidates from among them to form a railway construction team was Omai's primary task going forward.

After seeing Omai off, Ronin checked the achievement panel.

The next tier of the Conquest achievement required five major cities with a population of over one hundred thousand, rewarding fifteen thousand attribute points and thirty thousand energy essences.

Apart from North Urals City, Moonlight City, and Purple Thunder City, none of the remaining territories under Ronin's hand possessed the potential to exceed a population of one hundred thousand within a year or two.

However, if Bruno allocated Watchkeep to Ronin in this reward, then this border city with a population of over eighty thousand would be the next major city in his territory.

That would make four.

Ronin looked at Mist City on the map, "It would be even better if I could take this city into my pocket as well."

Earl Ural's Mist City was a large city, its main city plus the surrounding towns boasted a population far exceeding one hundred thousand.

If Ronin became the master of Mist City, he would only need to allocate twenty thousand of Mist City's population to Watchkeep to quickly complete this achievement.

By then, Purple Thunder's attribute points would have exceeded the requirement for a breakthrough, enabling him to become a legend.

"After Blanche reveals my thoughts to His Majesty the King, the other party will certainly talk to me again. Perhaps I can bring up Mist City as well."

After handling the government affairs, Ronin arrived at North Urals Port.

This port, which had been under construction for nearly two years, was now nearing completion.

Wooden piers extended into the sea, with ships from unknown places moored all around, ranging from single-masted sloops to large sailing ships.

Ronin made some inquiries and learned that some of these ocean-going ships came from the Duchy of Gistana, while others came from the further Duchy of Ferrensburg, basically traveling to the Duchy of Vera for trade.

They had heard rumors of a port being built in the North Urals Territory and stopped to take a look as they passed by.

This also confirmed the view held by Ronin and Viscount Vittorino at the beginning: as long as North Urals Port was built, there would be no shortage of business.

To the north of the pier, the North Urals Territory had built a steam locomotive factory and a shipyard for Simon.

Though it was a bit crude, it would facilitate Simon and Carlos's work.

"Haha, Ronin, you're here!"

It was already autumn, and the temperature by the sea was low, but Simon was bare-chested, working while drinking shaojiu, in a very good mood.

"I heard you returned to the North Urals Territory and knew you would come over. Come on, look at my masterpiece!"

He led Ronin all the way north to a huge, leveled area with tracks four to five hundred meters long laid upon it, including a curved section capable of turning.

Seeing these familiar tracks, Ronin felt a bit dazed, subconsciously thinking he had returned to his original world.

"Beautifully done, Simon, you are the most formidable engineer I have ever seen!"

Simon smiled as he lit the coal in the combustion chamber to start boiling the water, saying, "This is all thanks to you and Sophia. I was only responsible for modifying it."

Although he said so, looking at the big guy before him that came from his own hands, Simon's eyes were filled with absolute satisfaction.

"The power of this thing after starting amazes me, but the downside is also obvious—the startup time is a bit long."

Simon said, "I raised this point with Sophia, and she plans to add a magic array diagram of flame light columns inside the combustion chamber. In this way, the startup time can be greatly shortened."

Ronin nodded.

"That works, but this can be treated as a technological trial. Before the railway is popularized, we don't need to rush to update the steam engine technology."

Ronin had even thought about internal combustion engines, but that thing was too complex and too precise, and he didn't know where to start.

Perhaps he could suggest a concept and leave it to future generations.

For now, being able to popularize the steam locomotive was already enough.

The two talked while waiting for the steam engine to start.

About ten minutes later, Simon saw it was almost ready and released the brakes.

With a sharp hiss, the steam venting from the boiler swirled around the locomotive's front, and the chimney of the locomotive continuously belched rolling black smoke, intertwining with the steam to form a spectacular sight of the industrial age.

The steam train started smoothly!

A sense of achievement naturally rose in Ronin's heart, a feeling not a bit inferior to winning a war.

"This sound is so wonderful!"

Simon couldn't help but say, "When I heard the sound of the steam train starting for the first time, without exaggeration, my scalp almost tingled!"

The steam train was accelerating, but Simon clearly had experience; he applied the brakes before reaching the halfway point and quickly closed the steam valve to release steam, slowing down the train's speed.

After passing through that small curved track, it came to a steady halt.

"How is it?" Simon clapped his hands and asked with a smile.

Ronin gave a thumbs-up, "It's already close to the image of a train in my heart!"

Simon patted the hot body of the locomotive proudly, "Now this engine head is a bit small. When I have time later, I'll build a big one with stronger power!"

Ronin nodded and said, "You just handle these operations. If you need materials and money, write a list for Chahar and let him arrange it for you, but there is one point to note."

He emphasized, "No matter how great the power is, the wheels, tracks, and such things must maintain the same standard. Don't let it happen that when the engine head is built, it cannot run on the already laid railway tracks."

By mastering the power to set standards, no matter where a railway needed to be built in the future, it would have to follow this set of standards, which was actually territory in another sense.

Simon laughed out loud, "Rest assured, I wouldn't be so stupid as to build an engine head that requires you to relay hundreds of miles of railway."

He clearly hadn't realized the importance of standards yet.

"Well, I asked Omai to gather suitable employees two days ago. Our first railway from Swamp Town to North Urals Port is estimated to start construction soon. When the time comes, we will still need you, our Chief Mechanical Engineer, to preside over the work."

Simon did not reject this work at all. Perhaps borrowing the excitement, or perhaps a little tipsy, he said proudly:

"My eyes are the ruler! If there is any non-compliance in the railway specifications, I can spot it at a single glance."

If an ordinary person said such words, it would indeed contain an element of boasting.

But the one who said this was a Silver Moon Knight; his observation skills were very sharp, and his mental power was far higher than that of ordinary people. Relying solely on his eyes, he could indeed distinguish whether the level, slope, and other aspects met the requirements.

"Although I believe you have such ability, you still need to train more apprentices for me."

Ronin smiled and gestured a large circle, "Our railways are to cover the entire Orlant Continent, and even the Crescent Moon Continent. You can't expect one person to complete such a massive project, can you?"

"Hiss!"

Simon sucked in a breath of cold air, and scenes of railways leading to various places couldn't help but float in his mind, making his scalp tingle.

"No wonder Sophia said you have great ambitions. It can be seen just from this point of the railway!"

He couldn't help but take a sip of shaojiu, "I can see that in the future, you will absolutely be the ruler of this land, and you will bring a massive change to this world!"

Ronin teased, "They all say those who know how to manufacture are not very good at speaking, but I see you are quite different."

"I am indeed not very good at speaking boastful words, but I will still speak the truth."

Simon led Ronin toward the next area.

"Come on, my future Lord Ruler, I'll take you to see the steam-powered ship. I believe its future tracks will definitely cover the entire ocean just like the railway!"