When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1162 The Holy Mechanized Court, the City of Never-Ending Clockwork (Part 1)
The connecting rod moves back and forth continuously, driving the spring-loaded locomotive's wheels to cycle back and forth.

With his arm resting on the car window, Alexei pressed his hat down with his other hand, squinting as he watched the pine and metasequoia trees rushing past on either side of him.

The forest green and the golden sunlight of youth swirled and mixed like turbid water.

He opened the car window, and like seawater from the deep ocean, the golden-green wood and sunlight rushed into his eyes, immediately dyeing Alexei's pupils the same color.

The clockwork hummed and turned, the light and shadow outside the window swirled in his eyes, and time rushed forward.

Alexei grew a beard, grew 12 centimeters taller, and his soft, round cheeks gradually pressed against his cheekbones.

Four years had passed since 1453, and he had grown from a clueless 13-year-old child into an 18-year-old teenager.

In an era where 14 or 5 years old is considered adulthood, 18 years old is already considered the age of a young person.

Six months ago, after graduating as an auditor from St. Tangier Military Academy and St. Arms University, he embarked on his journey to France.

Alexei's whirlwind six-month trip to France undoubtedly showed him a lot, but he couldn't help but compare it with the Holy Alliance.

The more he compared them, the more confused he became.

Prior to this, he always thought that the Holy Alliance was an emerging power, while France was an established power.

So he was full of anticipation before heading to Frankfurt.

But the deeper he went into France, the more doubtful he became, and the more his understanding of the country diminished.

The chaotic fields, the potholed roads, the randomly arranged town streets.

This sense of disillusionment reached its peak, especially after arriving in Flower Hill City.

Leaving aside the filth and prostitutes all over the city, the sight of beggars and hooligans everywhere was an eye-opener for Alexei.

On his first day in Flower Hill City, his purse was stolen; on the second day, his luggage was stolen from the inn; and on the third day, when he went to the guards to report the theft, he was extorted for money.

Let's recall the city of the Holy Alliance: the orderly streets, the clean windows, and the incorruptible night watchmen and military police.

Not to mention the court hearings and judges' rulings he attended in these two countries.

In Frankfurt, cases, big or small, all result in detention or death sentences; a single case can drag on for a month at most.

As for the Holy Alliance, after setting up criminal courts with prisons and civil courts without prisons, the speed of handling cases was surprisingly fast.

A civil case is usually resolved in two or three days, and even a criminal case will not take more than two weeks to enter the trial stage.

Along the way, Alexei had only one question: who is the real old-established superpower?

Even Alexei had a doubt: had he chosen the wrong target, using the Holy Alliance as a reference point and thinking he could catch up with it?
However, Theomir praised it lavishly and wished he could stay there.

The art, fashion, and culture of France are indeed far superior to those of Saint-Baptiste.

But the question is, what use is culture and art to him?
The Norn need guns and clockwork mechanisms, not paintbrushes and ceramics.

As for the wealth that France has accumulated over a thousand years, it is far beyond what the Holy Alliance can compare to. But the problem is that France has wealth but can't use it.

All that wealth is in the hands of nobles and the rich!

It's like Fran is a knight with nine levels of breathing technique, but he has epilepsy, and his limbs are out of control, so he can only exert 30% of his strength.

Although the Holy Alliance only has three breathing techniques, their hands and feet are intact, allowing them to exert their full power.

In conclusion, this trip to France did broaden Alexei's horizons, but it also made him miss the Holy Alliance even more.

Especially after the Holy Alliance's exposition was held, Alexei couldn't wait to fly to the Holy Alliance immediately.

He wanted to see just how far the Holy Alliance had developed and whether there was anything he needed at the expo.

After all, during his years at the Holy Alliance, he had learned the importance of adapting to local conditions.

Many agricultural machines that work in the Holy Alliance cannot be used in Norn's Beefburg, even when replicated one-to-one.

The soil in northern Norn is mostly sticky and damp, making it difficult to cultivate with ordinary seeders or horse-drawn plows.

Therefore, he needed specially made, heavier agricultural machinery that was adapted to the local climate, crops, and farming practices.

In present-day North Norn, the ranged army controlled by the line of Grand Duke Petrov has become a force to be reckoned with in the region.

Once he returns and, with the help of the Holy Alliance, takes control of this new army, he will be able to wrest his position back from those usurpers in five years at most.

At that time, aside from everything else, an agricultural revolution with Norn characteristics will begin.

He will need a batch of these machines. A three-to-five-year development period would be just right, so that once he seizes power, the machines can be put into operation immediately.

He didn't expect Norn to reach the level of the Holy Alliance in his lifetime, but at least to reach the level of Farran in Bearhold.
The thought of leaving the Holy Alliance and heading to the Norn Kingdom, a land of mud and savages, filled him with an indescribable melancholy.

Having left this civilized world of the Holy Alliance, will he one day be able to see the magnificent scene before him again?
Cherish it, it might be the last time.

"Sir Alexei, what are you looking at?" A respectful, hoarse voice boomed in Alexei's ear.

Alexei shoved the pimple-covered head away: "Angerzok, didn't I tell you not to stand so close when you talk?"

The boy who was scolded was not annoyed. He just sat down opposite Alexei with a smile and said, "The Holy Alliance does have some skilled craftsmen. This self-propelled carriage is really well made."

“This isn’t a horse-drawn carriage, it’s a wind-up locomotive.” Alexei couldn’t help but get excited when he mentioned this. “Brock said we wouldn’t see it for twenty years, and I told him he was a liar. But we’ve seen it in the last two years!”

As the foundry director of Ashfurnace, Elder Brok was repeatedly questioned about the locomotive by Alexei and other young Saints.

At the time, Brock confidently assured that the information circulating in the newspapers was not the real first-generation clockwork locomotive.

If their dream clockwork machine is 1, and the publicly released progress is 0.5 generation, then the experimental machine is at most 0.8 generation.

At the time, all the young warriors believed it to be true in disappointment, until the Pact of the Galloping Horse appeared.

That old liar!
Thinking of this, Alexei stuck his head out of the car window and looked at the front of the clockwork locomotive.

A horizontal brass cylinder is attached to the front end with a decorative clock-like spring key, the lower section is a guide wheel guard, and the upper section is a fluorite lamp.

A brass-colored frame secures the mechanical body, consisting of a gearbox, to the seat, with the rear end connected to the operator's cab.

But as everyone knows, the only part that actually works is the rear spring magazine, which is filled with mercury-based damping fluid inside the horizontally placed metal cylinder that forms the main body.

Perhaps because he had received mechanical engineering training from the Holy Alliance, although he hadn't yet reached the point of independently designing machinery, Alexei still felt a surge of excitement.

The power of machinery, the beauty of order!

He must bring this power back to Bearhold, and he must turn Fat Beefhold into a second Holy Mechanism Court!

"Is it really necessary to get so excited, cousin?" Angrok rested his cheek on his hand in boredom. "It's just an ordinary craftsman's creation, isn't it? I don't feel it's that fast."

"You know nothing!" Through the window, Alexei pointed at Angrzok and rolled his eyes. "This is the true power of the Father, using the power of the Father for my own purposes, and everyone can use it."

This is clockwork, this is true divine magic and miracles. All that talk of walking on flat ground and divine blessings is just nonsense...

"Hey, that passenger, this is the third time! I've already told you, you're not allowed to stick your head out of the window!"

Before Alexei could finish speaking, a sharp, angry shout rang out.

Alexei immediately and nimbly withdrew his head, while Angrzok laughed loudly without any mercy.

"No noise allowed inside the vehicle!"

Angrjok's laughter seemed to have been seized by the throat of fate, and stopped instantly.

Looking at his unreliable cousin, Alexei felt no annoyance.

This Angrzök was his uncle's son who studied in France, and was considered one of the regular personnel Petrov left for Alexei.

Don't let his young age fool you; he's a prodigy who graduated from university at 15, and Charlie has heard of him.

After Theomir and the others left, this Angrjok was the second generation of his family that his family left him.

It must be said that the most important asset that Grand Prince Petrov left to Alexei was his reputation.

He is known as the son of Grand Prince Petrov, and he is always successful in recruiting Norns, especially those from the North.

Even his cousin, Angerzok, who had lived in France for a long time and had basically become like France, achieved surprisingly good results.

This person can be considered Alexei's designated chief civil official, and as for the chief military officer, he has already found one.

This is the person who has come to pick him up now.

The clanging of the motorcycle gradually stopped, and Alexei jumped off the motorcycle, whereupon a young man approached.

He was dressed in the uniform of a Holy Alliance officer, his beard shaved, and he strode over quickly.

"Barreri!"

"Alexei!"

(End of this chapter)