Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Standing on the platform, Vishnu's mouth was agape. In his fifty years of life, he had never seen anything like this. The line of carriages moved forward on their own, not a single elephant or bull pulling them. For a moment, he really thought some demon's Maya was at play. He even raised his hand to slap himself, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"How… how can this be!"

A shout from someone beside him pulled him back to his senses.

Once his mind cleared, his eyes started to shine.

'Could this be one of Mr Heyram's inventions?' he thought, his heart beating faster. 'Of course, it has to be! No one but the empire's greatest mechanical genius could create something like this.'

Then his eyes fell on the carriages themselves, all loaded to the brim with ordnance bound for Europe, and his jaw almost dropped again.

'Gods… each of those must weigh at least a dozen tonnes. Just how powerful is this thing His Excellency Heyram has built?'

Around him, other business owners and managers were frozen in shock, their eyes wide, their minds struggling to catch up. But once they did, it was like someone had opened the floodgates; they all rushed forward at once, eager for answers.

The emperor was already leaving, his guards clearing the way, but they were lucky enough to catch sight of the man they really wanted to talk to.

"Sir, what is that machine?"

"Your Excellency, is it powered by steam?"

"Sir, how far can it go? How fast?"

Questions flew one after another, full of wonder and excitement that none of them could hold back.

Heyram rubbed his bald head, unable to make sense of the barrage of questions being thrown at him. Still, after vaguely catching a few of them, he managed to give some answers.

" That's called a locomotive, its name is Giriraja Locomotive, and yes, it is made up of a steam engine, and as for how far it can go, it can go at least 250 KM, and its speed should be around thirty to forty kilometres per hour. "

" The Giriraj locomotive is in its first practical test; after this is successfully completed, more of these locomotives will be produced and put into service all over the empire. "

After he answered the questions, more questions came his way, but feeling impatient, he decisively bade farewell and left in the carriage along with the other researchers.

---

Karthikeyan is a railway officer, the man who stops traffic whenever an elephant pulling a carriage crosses the tracks. Strangely enough, today he received some odd orders. He was told to stop all traffic completely, no matter the reason, and warned that if he failed to follow those instructions, he would not only lose his job but also face punishment. Truth be told, these were not new orders; they were the same rules he always had to follow, but earlier there had been some leeway. In cases of heavy traffic, he could give priority to the carriages on the road and ask the elephant drivers on the tracks to wait for a while until things cleared out.

But now, he was asked to decisively stop the traffic and not let anything cross, no matter how dire the situation becomes; how can it not make him worried and curious?

" Hey brother, please lift up the barricade, so many of us are stuck, please lift it up for a few minutes. "

" Yes, brother, my supervisor will scold me to death if I come late even today. "

The crowd on both sides was starting to get rowdy, but unfortunately, he didn't budge.

" I'm sorry, everyone, I have received strict orders from the superiors not to let any of you pass until the carriages on the track pass by. "

His words received immediate pushback.

" Tsk!! Hey brother, rules are dead, people are alive, isn't it just the elephants coming through? Simply have them wait for a few minutes. What's the big deal? "

" Yes, yes, I have seen you so many times stop the elephants myself. Why are you being so difficult today? "

Hearing these words, Karthikeyan's face immediately turned black. He clenched his fist and took out his latty.

" Just shut up and stay in your places. If I hear any voice, I won't be kind. "

Being lectured by a railway track officer who was not even a police officer and staying under the hot sun for so long, the people were ready to riot, but just when something bad was about to happen.

" Blare! "

A loud, high-pitched screech came from a distance. It was the first time anyone had heard such a sound, unlike anything they had ever experienced before. The only thing even slightly similar was the noise of the new pressure cooker, but no one made that connection. After all, what happened in the kitchen and what was happening on the road felt too far apart for anyone to relate.

" Blare! "

It sounded once again, and this time, people realised that something was not right.

" That's definitely not the sound of an animal! "

Some people declared without a hint of doubt on their faces, and hearing the declarations of these individuals, more people began to look forward to seeing what was happening.

Among all the people on the crossing, the one who was most surprised was actually Karthikeyan, since, unlike the civilians on the two sides of the crossing, he had gotten on top of the watchtower, and he could see more clearly what was approaching.

" God, what is that! "

He exclaimed under his breath as he saw a huge metal monster running towards him at speeds completely impossible for the elephants. Appearing from under the horizon, it was like a giant monster of steel and iron galloping in the wilderness.

Something even more shocking happened when he noticed that this metal monster was not alone; behind it was a long trail of carriages.

The image of the long, snake-like metal beast was so powerful that for the next few days, he began to tell everyone that he had witnessed a giant Nagaraja.

Even though the civilians could not see the visuals of the giant metallic beast galloping forward, none of them uttered a word as they could feel the intense atmosphere around them, and as the sound of the horn got closer and closer, they could even feel the slight tremors in the ground.

People looked at each other with unease. It was as if the tremors in the ground that were continuously increasing triggered something in their hearts, a primal fear that said that if you go against this being, you will absolutely be crushed to death.

The little kids could feel the solemn atmosphere of the adults and quickly huddled in their parents' laps, and some even started to tear up.

" Blare!!! "

Just then, like a gigantic whale leaping over a fishing boat, a behemoth metal monster rushed past the crossing at a speed that none of them could comprehend.

" tak tak tak tak "

While it moved, it created a rhythmic beat as if it were its heart, and it left behind white mist lingering in the air and the dust of wind that tried desperately to catch up with the beast.

Even after the train passed, the crossing was silent for a long time until everyone suddenly broke out in exclamations.

" What the **** was that? "

" Did you see that, uncle, did you see? "

" Oh my lord, it went so fast, my heart couldn't handle it! "

Karthikeyan, coming back to his senses, finally raised the barricades and allowed the people to cross, but when he saw that no one actually crossed, but were talking to each other in loud noises about what they had witnessed, and some were even scared to cross, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.

---

In fact, what happened in Amaravathi was only one of the many incidents that were caused because of the appearance of the steam locomotive for the first time in the eyes of the world.

A farmer who was carrying hay on his back as he went to feed his cows was startled when he suddenly heard a horn from behind, and he saw that it was actually a metal monster that ran on the railway track at a fast speed. The colour on his face changed, he dropped the hay, and ran with all his might.

The old farmer had not run for a long time, but stimulated by fear, he ran so fast that even his kids wouldn't be able to recognise him.

A middle-aged aunt who was cooking in a residential apartment right next to the railway track was so scared after seeing the train that she screamed and ran away, completely forgetting that her stove was on and the milk was still boiling. By the time she came back home from the Tantric she had gone to visit, because she believed that she had seen a ghost, all the milk had been boiled to nothing but a powder and the expensive kerosene was reduced to nothing.

" Jesus Christ, Holy Mary, what is that? "

A European traveller who had come to visit the famous spiritual city of Nashik was so scared out of his wits after seeing the train that he fell on the ground and instinctively prayed to Christ and proceeded to continuously chant the Holy Book's verses.