Embers of Embers

Chapter 7 The Serpent of the Atrium
Old Dunling is big, very big.
As the capital of Inverg, Old Dunling has been slowly expanding throughout Inlveg's history, and when steam power emerged, this expansion reached its greatest speed.
Its building area has reached an astonishing level, occupying the middle of Inlveg Island, but the first negative effect brought about by such a huge urban area is the huge transportation cost.
A citizen of the Dongcheng District wants to go to work in a factory in the Xicheng District. It takes half a day just to walk. With the income of an ordinary citizen, he can't afford a steam car, let alone a bloody horse, and ride to work.
In order to solve this problem, the Mechanical Institute started a new round of renovation of the old Dunling more than ten years ago. They opened up underground tunnels and built trains that can cross the old Dunling. They call this thing a subway. Look, It looks like a shrunken underground train, and the ground is covered with rails embedded in the ground, on which a steam tram called the Iron Snake runs.
This kind of transportation system used Old Dunling as a test point. After its success, it expanded to the whole country. In recent years, they have tried to add Zeppelin airships to this huge transportation system. There will also be Yin Erweg people in the sky. footprints.
The Serpent of the Atrium.
The mechanics of the Mechanical Institute call this transportation system after the giant snake in Nordic mythology. This beautiful and rich world is the atrium in the myth. At that time, everyone can become a part of this earthly snake by paying a low price. Members, relying on machinery and steam, surround this increasingly smaller world.
Victoria Central Hospital is also a famous stop. The steam tram passes by here every ten minutes, and this time Lorenzo happened to catch it.
"Sorry my friend!"
The car door opened, and Lorenzo carried the extremely dangerous shotgun and went straight to the cab.
After expelling those innocent passengers, the driver was thrown off the steam tram without much resistance, and then the iron snake gradually accelerated and galloped on the rails while swallowing steam.
How had the law-abiding citizens of Old Dunling ever seen such a battle? Even Pres was a little confused.
This is Old Dunling, the heart of Innerweg. At every moment there are at least three Zeppelin airships patrolling and on standby in the sky. On top of them are heavily armed air cavalry wearing red cloaks. They are Old Dunling. A strong line of defense for order and security. When an emergency occurs, you can only see the huge thing covering the sky. Then under its shadow, red-shirted soldiers will grab the zipline and fall from the sky, then shoot you open. head.
First there was a steam pipeline explosion and fire, then a shootout, and then there was the hijacking of a steam tram. Although it was not clear what the situation was at the moment, it was inevitable that these troublemakers would be caught and imprisoned one by one until they died.
This was considered a major event in Price's career. He belatedly picked up a gun and ran in the direction of the steam tram, but then he saw a figure hanging behind the steam tram.
Price's heart immediately beat half a beat slower.
……
"This...is at least a third-class meritorious service!"
Despite the strong wind in her ears, the girl still looked indifferent and kept mumbling.
Eve clung to the handle of the steam tram and finally followed it at the last moment as it started to move.
This unlucky child has not realized how much danger she is in. All she can think about is the next day's "Queen's Daily" newspaper. The headline is that the new police officer Su Yalan solved a major case on his first day in office and was awarded third class merit. Invited to the Platinum Palace to meet the Queen, reached the pinnacle of life and served as the Inspector of Old Dunling, or something like that.
It is really boring to think that I have reached the peak of my life before the age of 30.
Lorenzo, who is above the Iron Snake, does not feel as boring as Eve. He is in excellent condition at the moment.
The siren blared all the way, like a god of death rushing to kill, and pedestrians on the road gave way one after another.
Lorenzo is a very studious person, his room is full of books, and he knows a little bit about everything, even the steam tram.Although he didn't know the specific detailed operation of this steam tram, looking at the simple operating table, he felt that the basic operation was OK.
He must catch up with those people, they are the only clues in this cloud of doubt.
Soon the group of people appeared in Lorenzo's sight. The old Dunling road was crowded, and riding a horse was bound to not be fast, unless you were a mounted policeman blowing the whistle all the way or a life-threatening iron snake like Lorenzo. , under the law and life, no matter how irritable the citizens are, they will be happy to make way for them.
Using something to jam the operating lever, Lorenzo grabbed the edge of the steel and flipped directly onto the roof of the car.
Although the people at the Mechanical Institute are a little crazy, their works are very rigorous.Steam trams have been part of the Atrium Snake system for many years. It has a set of safety emergency measures. They can stop quickly under emergency braking.
His eyes slid across the barrel of the gun and landed on the "suspect" not far away. Lorenzo didn't need to catch everyone, he only needed the slowest one.
Pull the trigger, and thunder suddenly appears.
The bullet pierced the horse's leg, and the poor horse fell to the ground with the suspect and slid several meters away. Lorenzo thought he had succeeded, but another gunshot rang out, and the suspect on the ground was shot and killed. .
Don't stay alive.
At this moment, Lorenzo finally felt the difficulty of the situation. He was not facing a group of simple thugs. Ordinary thugs did not have such a strong will. There must be an insurance person among this group of people, who was responsible for killing All stragglers cling to the secret of the Silver Fish.
This is not something that the gangsters in the lower city can do. Lorenzo is in a deadlock, but the way to break the deadlock is also very simple, kill to the last person.
The human will is strong but also fragile. Lorenzo's bet was that when he caught the person acting as insurance, that person would have the courage to put the muzzle of the gun into his mouth.
One after another, a rare chase took place in Jiudunlingli.
The suspect began to adjust his direction. If he continued to move forward, he would reach the inner city area. There were patrol police everywhere. Their goal was to rush to the lower city area. As long as they reached the mixed city area, even if the Su Yalan Department intervened, they would not be able to catch them. That was If the tumor growing on the old Dun Ling is torn out by force, both sides will be harmed. This is why that bitch Shrike is so arrogant and can live for so long.
They must be stopped before reaching the downtown area, otherwise Lorenzo may not be able to protect himself when he reaches the downtown area.
Use your clever brain. Although your moral behavior is second-rate, your brain is first-rate!
He tried hard to recall everything he could use. Countless lines formed the floor plan of old Dunling. On top of this, the blue line represented by Lorenzo chased the red line, and the red line was about to reach its end point - Lower City. .
The blue line continued to extend, but at the next intersection, the blue line broke into countless lines, crowding every street in Old Dunling. It came from all directions to pursue and block the red line.
Finally, at the moment when the red line was about to reach its end, a blue line stopped him.
Thanks to the old Dunling Steam Tram diagram hanging in the cab, Lorenzo found the only road.
Eve tried her best and finally climbed into the carriage of the steam tram. During the training at the police academy, his instructor said that Eve was a very good detective, but her physical strength was not very good. However, things are no longer the same now. With all kinds of transportation everywhere, detectives no longer have to chase people to their death.
If she can see the instructor next time, Eve will definitely talk to him about this problem. Of course, she must stop the damn steam tram first.
"Stop it!"
Eve raised her pistol and pointed it at Lorenzo in the cab. The distance between the two was not too far. Although the machine roared, the sound still arrived clearly.
But Lorenzo didn't stop, but turned his head with a kind face.
"I'm not your enemy, detective, they are."
Eve knew that Lorenzo was referring to the group of people who escaped, but she was still wary and refused to put down the gun.
"I'm a detective, a private detective."
"A detective with a shotgun?"
"Most of my colleagues carry guns, but the gun I carry is special. You can think of me as a minority."
"Do you know how much trouble you have made? I even have the power to kill you directly now!"
Eve was bluffing in the second half of the sentence. In fact, she didn't know exactly what circumstances to shoot. This kind of thing should be done several times under the leadership of Price.
"Such a big movement? It can only be said to be my personal characteristics. Rather than sitting there pretending to meditate, I am more of an activist."
Lorenzo is very good at labeling himself. Just a small label can make people think of a lot. This is what his cheap teacher taught him when he was at the Royal College of Art.
Without giving Eve time to think, Lorenzo quickly changed the topic.
"You know what, Detective, this thing could have gone faster."
He pointed at the steel creation at his feet, calmly as if he hadn't seen the muzzle of the gun.
"All technologies in human history were first used for military purposes before gradually approaching civilian use. For example, in recent years, the Zeppelin airship is preparing to join the Atrium Snake system. It was originally a military airship, and ground artillery could not attack it at such a height. It would be at a height where Under the cover of clouds, troops and air strikes were delivered.”
"Even at the beginning, the Snake of the Atrium was just a military system. The purpose was that with the Queen's order, we could plunge the continent across the sea into artillery fire. Wherever the railway went, the steam train could destroy Yin Erweg at any time. Soldiers sent to the battlefield. The same is true for the steam tram under our feet, which was born when the law and order in Old Dunling was the worst."
With his hand on the operating rod, Lorenzo stood up slowly, leaving the shotgun on the operating table. In order to prove to Eve that he was not a threat, he also raised his other free hand.
"This thing called an iron snake is really an iron snake. The seats inside are filled with fully armed soldiers, and the outside is covered with strong armor. Even if it is shot, it will only leave a dent. All the people above the sky The Berlin airship is in charge of the command. Wherever there is a riot, the Iron Snake will come there, the armor will rise uniformly, the barrel will extend from the rising gap, and the trigger will be pulled."
At that time, Ying Erweg had just become the world's leader in steam technology, spies from various countries were everywhere, and the old Dunling was in turmoil.
Lorenzo swallowed and then said.
"What I want to say is that the power of this thing is far greater than what is written in its specifications. After all these years, it still uses the Watt Type III steam engine. Decades ago, it could carry a car of soldiers and several tons of armor. It is as fast as flying, but now it can’t run even if it carries a few citizens.”
"It's the mechanics who are being lazy. They have limited the power of this thing. It is actually a blood-stained weapon under the guise of a civilian. But as long as you have a little understanding of mechanics and the structure of a steam trolley, this limitation can be easily overcome. "
Eve felt something bad. It was obvious that the intuition she had always relied on did not abandon her this time. As soon as she finished speaking, Lorenzo pulled down the operating lever forcefully, and Eve instinctively pulled the trigger at the same time.
The bullet came out, and the steam tram swayed violently, as if it was about to fall apart. The huge impact threw Eve up and hit the iron wall heavily, and with the sound of glass shattering, endless The strong wind rushed into it.
why?
Eve raised her head with difficulty and saw the damn detective standing firmly in the cab. Her bullet missed and only shattered the windshield.
She didn't understand where this strange movement came from, but then she felt it. The entire carriage was shaking violently. The steam tram named Iron Snake broke free from its original restrictions. Its speed continued to increase, and finally reached That glorious scene.
As if to answer Eve's question, Lorenzo pointed to her side during the violent jolt. They were several cloth bags hanging on the iron wall.
Steam trams can take a long time to commute, and to keep passengers occupied during the long hours, the space is usually filled with today's newspapers and other boring books.
The mechanic will put the operation manual of the steam tram and some public drawings in it for the convenience of maintenance. This is intended for the popularization of science, but it seems that only Lorenzo will read this boring book every time. Everything works.
(End of this chapter)