Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Ding Dong! Ding Dong!

  Whoop!

  A railroad stretched all the way from Tephis to the horizon until it disappeared at the end of the sky. A steam car that had more than a dozen compartments arrived at the station in Tephis.

  This steam car came from the railway that was the very first railway in Maria’s World. It connected the alchemist city Tephis to the capital Finnlit.

  Steam engines were now being widely used in the Sean City-State Alliance, and after the emergence of magic reinforced the steam engines, metal-activated steam engines especially had brought this new advanced technology to Tephis. Ever since their arrival, they had become wildly popular.

  “The steam car is here! Now, it will only take us two days to get to Finnlit!” A chubby middle-aged woman, who was accompanied by her three children, was pushing forward through the crowd. The station was filled with people, and the steam car, which had proven itself to be a convenient tool for transportation, had already won the support of most of the people in the Sean City-State Alliance.

  “Everyone must check-in on board. Guards, pay attention! They all must have tickets!” A voice came from a speaker.

  Within the busy station, all kinds of people with all sizes of luggage finally got into the steam car. At both sides of the platform, guards in coats with long guns, as well as station staff, were trying to maintain order.

  Lu Zhiyu stood on the platform of the station and looked at the steam car with a complicated expression on his face. The people of Sean City-State Alliance called it a steam car, while Lu Zhiyu was more accustomed to calling it a train.

  For Lu Zhiyu, a steam car had a more special meaning. This steam car reminded him of an old, black and ugly steam train, which Lu Zhiyu had seen for the first time when he followed his parents on a long journey.

  What an old memory! How long has it been now? Hundreds of years? Or……

  Looking at the steam car, Lu Zhiyu remembered that, when he first took a train, he was as excited as the children who were beside him now. He had watched the world going backwards from the window, while his eyes shone.

  The emergence of the steam car, for Lu Zhiyu, was an advancement towards the world that he knew. That world seemed to become more and more familiar in his eyes. But what the future would be like, Lu Zhiyu still was unsure.

  “Please, check in! Everyone! Tickets please!” The station staffer spoke loudly in an attempt to be heard over the buzz of the passengers.

  As the steam car departed, it accelerated slowly and emitted a thick smoke and a harsh whistle. Lu Zhiyu was on the car that was headed for Finnlit.

  Steam cars had first appeared more than a decade ago. At first, they were designed to be mining cars for transporting ore. Later, they were used to transport commodities. It was only when the world’s first railway was opened that steam cars started to become a means of transportation for daily life.

  It doesn’t look like the train that I expected! Is this because of the use of the metal-activated technique?

  Lu Zhiyu observed this steam car and found that its most special feature was that it seemed to have applied the theory of alchemy life to its design. The metal-activated steam engine was a metal heart. After generations of improvements, plus magic reinforcement, the steam engine had developed even beyond what Lu Zhiyu had originally imagined!

  The steam car was now under the control of an alchemist, the internal steam engine being controlled by the alchemist as it it were a living life! As such, the alchemist could control its internal pressure, energy, and steam condensation, as well as the acceleration and deceleration of the steam car.

  This was a prototype of alchemy life that was centered on the metal-activated steam engine. After the alchemists invented the magic reinforced steam engine, they had continued to further explore alchemy life.

  The magic reinforced steam engine was more special than the metal-activated steam engine, as it incorporated extraordinary power and deified cells within its design. Some high-level alchemists had mastered utilizing this design and technique, such as the alchemy doll Archimonde of Marina Bossey and the alchemy submarine of the sahagin alchemist Bobby.

  “Well, isn’t this amazing?” A middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties shook his head in disbelief. He was sitting opposite of Lu Zhiyu.

  Lu Zhiyu nodded, “It is amazing that one could make such a big tin car move.” He realized that this man was a level two alchemist, which was relatively a high status among alchemists.

  The middle-aged alchemist had a smile on his face. “All this can be attributed to Ms. Marina and Mr. Lars Brown. Mr. Brown invented the steam engine and pointed the way for alchemists to follow. Ms. Marina created the metal-activated steam engine and the first magic reinforced steam engine, thus ushering us into a wonderful and bright future.”


  He then added, “In the future, we will use metal-activated steam engines to produce alchemy advancements that will change the world beyond everyone’s imaginations. Can you imagine that? We can mount the magic reinforced steam engine on an airship, thus make airships and even iron warships that can travel really far away! Also, the city of the sky, as mentioned in the artist Lars’ painting, will be possible to create in the future!

  The man continued, “We are miniaturizing the activated steam engines to produce small steam cars that can be used by families and individuals. They will completely replace horse carriages, just as ordinary steam engines replaced human resources.”


  He then smiled and said, “If we can make the metal-activated steam engines smaller, they can be fully automated and even produce all kinds of unimaginable small-scale alchemy props! But, it’s the magic reinforced steam engine that’s the real miracle! Have you heard of Ms. Marina’s friend, Archimonde?”


  Lu Zhiyu listened to him quietly, while sometimes adding some of his opinions and ideas. The middle-aged alchemist was shocked by Lu Zhiyu’s insights. He even wrote down some of his thoughts and opinions right there on the spot!

  “Your insight is really beyond my imagination. Which alchemy college did you graduate from? Was it my alma mater, Akkad Alchemy College?” the middle-aged alchemist asked.

  Lu Zhiyu smiled. “I graduated from Home Squatting College.”


  The middle-aged alchemists was puzzled by his answer, so he asked, “Holmsquetin College? Which College of alchemy is this……”


  Dong! Dong! Dong!

  Whoop!

  At this very moment, two days and two nights of the steam car journey had finally come to an end, and the arrival whistle had interrupted the enthusiastic discussion between the two men.

  “It’s the last stop, Finnlit. Everyone has to get off here,” the man said to Lu Zhiyu, a bit disappointed to have the conversation cut short.

  When he got out of the steam car, the middle-aged man remembered that he hadn’t actually introduced himself formally yet. “It was nice talking to you! My name is Robert Evelyn!”


  Then, Robert shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the steam car. “I’m the one who designed this steam car and the railway.”


  As Finnlit was the capital of the Sean City-State Alliance, it was a real modern metropolis, with tall buildings, numerous carriages, and wide roads. As such, it took a few minutes to walk across the road, and there was a tall artist statue standing at its crossroads.

  The pedestrians who Lu Zhiyu passed mostly wore modern clothes and hats and looked polite. Along the way, he also noticed that many of the people were reading newspapers. This was not surprising, as the literacy rate here was among the highest in the world.

  “Newspaper! Anyone want a newspaper?”


  “Cetisius I, Emperor of the Pusuote Empire, was summoned by the god of death to enter the kingdom of gods and left the living world!”


  “Major changes have taken place in the Pusuote Empire!”


  “The Pusuote Empire will be succeeded by Cetisius II, and the new Emperor will be crowned on Death Day.”


  Newsboys were running through the streets and peddling their newspapers. As soon as Lu Zhiyu came out of the station, he heard the news about Cetisius.

  Immediately after Bernice, the goddess of harvest, came to the throne, Cetisius took over as the deputy ruler of death in the underworld. In fact, due to the fact that Delmedi was not interested in all of the death stuff, everything in that genre was now basically managed by Cetisius. As such, Lu Zhiyu was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of world of death Cetisius would build.