Why it never ends

Chapter 1248 Engine
Several teachers also rushed out, and the small meeting room immediately descended into chaos. It wasn't until Xia Yixue had all the children return to their seats that things calmed down a bit. The children stepped forward to accept the prizes that Qiqi and the others had won. Everyone gathered around curiously to look at them, and a few children held their breath, gently stroking the beautiful leather covers of the notebooks.

"What is this Stirling engine used for?" Hersta asked Victoria.

“Engine,” Victoria replied, “I usually call it ‘Stirling engine.’”

"This thing can convert temperature difference into mechanical work. And because it does not use fuel or a complicated ignition system, it is particularly suitable for ships, especially submarines. It works very quietly and is not easily detected by sonar when installed on a submarine."

“Some remote areas use it to generate electricity. All you need is the mechanical energy output from the Stirling engine to drive the generator. It requires almost no fuel, just a heat source, whether it's solar, geothermal, or even industrial waste heat. If the equipment is set up properly, it can be almost maintenance-free.”

"It must be an outdated technology, right?" Stella asked.

“…Why?” Victoria looked at Stella.

“I just… guessed,” Stella said, looking at her. “I’ve never seen this thing before… If it’s so good and useful, shouldn’t it be everywhere?”

Victoria laughed.

“It’s not obsolete,” Victoria said, hands on her hips, speaking in a tone of explaining science to a child. “The reason it’s everywhere is simply because it’s large and slow to respond. In many situations where a long-term, stable, and predictable heat source is available, Stirling engines are an excellent choice—such as the submarines I mentioned earlier, or deep space exploration.”

Stella's expression did freeze for a moment: "Deep space... Ah, is there anywhere in the world still doing deep space exploration?"

“I’m just giving an example,” Victoria said. “Deep space exploration typically uses radioactive isotope heat sources, which are very compatible with Stirling generators.”

“Anyway, this thing isn’t common, right?” Hersta said.

Upon hearing this, Victoria cast a meaningful glance at Hester. She guessed that the moment Gahodore shouted "Stirling engine," Hester probably thought of the same thing as her.

“Yes,” Victoria nodded, “not common.”

Hershta stopped talking, crossed her arms, and silently looked in the direction where Gahodore had left.

If this thing is not common, and Gahodorei is not a well-read scholar, then there is only one possibility that she could recognize it at a glance.

She has seen it.

……

That evening, everyone parted ways at the exit of the science exhibition. The children would join their teachers on a nighttime walk through the city, traversing the city along Emmanuela's most beautiful main street before returning by bus to the square for their overnight stay. Victoria, Stella, and others accompanied them along the way.

Si Lei and his three companions went to a nearby restaurant for dinner to avoid going hungry again at Mrs. Brownbo's mansion that night.

Hershta had little appetite. She took a walk by herself for a while, then took a city bus to the reserve base in District 12.

Throughout the journey, Hershta continued to search for information on Tiexi. At this moment, apart from the base they were approaching, nothing attracted her more than Tiexi's identity as a political prisoner. What particularly intrigued her was why this seemingly powerful border commune had collapsed so quickly in just two months.

Soon, Hesta found an in-depth report on the topic, which she became so engrossed that she missed her stop. By the time she realized this and boarded a bus going in the opposite direction to return, she had missed her stop again. She simply got off and walked, thus extending her travel time.

According to this in-depth report, the main reason for the rapid decline of the border commune was the internal factional infighting.

The "Joint Council," which initially took control, operated normally for only 12 days before being overthrown by the more radical "72-Hour Self-Government Council." The latter's name comes from the 72-hour self-government that existed in the early days of the Border Commune. These pioneering revolutionaries advocated making the temporary state permanent in order to quickly and continuously export the revolution to neighboring regions.

The rule of the "Joint Council" and the "72-Hour Self-Government Council" changed hands twice within a few weeks, causing extremely serious internal divisions. In addition, the newly established commune lacked a unified financial settlement system, which led to disagreements among the mining areas that had been working together on medical care, food and armed costs. This disagreement, against the backdrop of factional divisions, quickly exacerbated the distrust among commune members.

The final trigger for the downfall was the assassination of the core leaders of the "Self-Government Association" by several members of the "Joint Council." This successful assassination disheartened a large group of followers of the commune. Some fled, some defected... A week later, government troops entered the core area of ​​the border commune, encountering almost no resistance along the way.

The article was very moving; Hesta read several key paragraphs repeatedly. According to the report, Bensusan stayed in the border commune until the very end, and was one of the first key members to be captured by the government forces. When the government troops stormed into the commune's council hall, she was alone in the empty hall, brewing coffee on a small stove.

Those who fled the rebels were captured one after another in the following weeks, and some of them resisted arrest during the pursuit and were killed on the spot by government forces.

Bensusan, a naive idealist and the planner of this short-lived regime, witnessed firsthand the rapid rise and fall of her ideals. She remained silent in the military court, while outside, many—including those deeply hostile to the Border Commune—tried to rescue her.

Ultimately, through the mediation of various parties, Bensusan was sentenced to only six months in prison, but after her release she will be subject to lifelong surveillance and wear an electronic shackle, and will not be allowed to leave the government-designated area.

The report clearly portrays Bensusan as a very tragic character, but Hershta finds it difficult to reconcile the image depicted in the report with the Tessil she knows.

After reading the report, Hesta walked a few steps with his head down, then suddenly remembered something and pulled out the article again.

She noted down the author's name and then searched for more of his articles—Border Commune was clearly not the first time he had written about the rebellion between the wasteland and the habitable land; he had previously written about the rise and fall of several organizations, including the Blacklight Party, the Border Majority Party, and the Autonomous Council.

These stories all share a common similarity: almost all rebellious organizations will collapse from within.