NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1026: 1686 (5)
" It's a bit chilly today, isn't it? " Edward Fairchild rubbed his hands for some heat.
Newton, feeling the goosebumps all over his skin, nodded, " It is quite unusual, this chill. I should have dressed more adequately. "
" Well, it can't be helped. The morning was quite sunny, and no one could have predicted that the weather would turn out like this by the end of the day. "
" Forget it, Newton, would you like to go out for some tea? "
Newton thought about it and shook his head, " No, you go ahead, I'll stay in the laboratory for tonight. "
" Well, suit yourself. " Fairchild did not push it because he knew what kind of a man Newton was.
Eventually, Fairchild joined with a French scientist, Bram Hendriksen, and left the laboratory perimeter for some tea.
Unfortunately, this decision turned out to be the worst decision Fairchild and Hendriksen had taken, because just as they set foot into the teahouse, a couple of masked men rushed in, put something pointy behind their heads, and that was all they remembered, because the next moment their bodies went cold and they fell down.
Since everything had happened so fast, and since even the gunshots had been muffled, the customers of the teahouse did not fully realise what had happened until the bodies of the two scientists were lying on the teahouse floor. By the time the realisation dawned on them, there was no one around to hold accountable.
Similar things happened in France and the Netherlands as well. Worst cases were when a few nobles were caught in the line of fire, and it happened more frequently, as the security measures in France and the Netherlands were not as strict as in the Kingdom of Britain.
All three monarchs were furious. Left with no other choice, they had to call back all their important scientists and quarantine them in a laboratory protected by a group of soldiers.
As for who was responsible, it was obviously the Bharatiya Empire. As for proof, it was not necessary. At their level of standing, it did not take a genius to understand that what was happening now was retaliation for what they had done in the Bharatiya Empire.
Their losses were insurmountable.
They went out to damage the research capabilities of the Bharatiya Empire, but in the end, it backfired, because not only did they not achieve the objective of taking out Heyram, Vedant, or Agni, instead they also incurred the wrath of the Bharatiya Emperor, Vijay Devaraya.
Though if there was a silver lining, then it was that their plan was barely successful, because for a few days, logistical supplies coming into Israel decreased due to the major bridges being blown up. But unfortunately for the Europeans, they could not fully take advantage of the situation, since the Bharatiya and the Israeli army were able to substitute the ammunition from the Kingdom of Lalishtan to maintain a defensive front for a whole month, until the bridges were rebuilt and the supplies returned to normal.
In the end, even the slight breathing space that had been won had come to an end, because after the logistical channels recovered, the retaliation was swift and merciless. This time, the war was not only about defending the Kingdom of Israel, it was also about pushing even more into the heartland of the Ottoman Empire.
---
In the meantime, Frederick William and Peter Alexandrovitch Romanov continued to advance, conquering one city after another.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
The city wall of Yekaterinburg crumbled under the constant bombardment of the high-calibre artillery. Peter, who stood atop a hill with a telescope, smiled in satisfaction.
The Ural Mountains were not too far away, and on the other side of the Ural Mountains was the heartland of Russia.
"Brother, I'm coming. Are you ready?" Peter had a devious grin on his face.
Prussia
"Father, several nobles have sent their willingness to cooperate and form the new German state with our kingdom. What do you think?"
Philip Williams said as he passed over the letters to his father.
Frederick William read through the letter quickly and threw it into the firepit.
Philip was startled. "Is the offer not good, Father? I think they are being quite sincere."
Frederick sneered. "Don't you understand, Philip? These guys simply want to keep their titles and power intact, and all they did is change their loyalty from the Holy Roman Empire to the Prussian Kingdom."
"Is that not good?"
"Of course, it is good, but we act according to the situation. Since we have the power to defeat the Holy Roman Empire by ourselves, why should we take on the burden?"
"If I had no support from the Bharatiya Empire, perhaps I would join these few kingdoms, form a coalition, and launch an attack. But now, it is not necessary. Also, son, remember this: the Holy Roman Empire, once glorious, the strongest in Europe, has not fallen into its current state because Leopold I is useless. Far from it; I don't believe anyone could have done a better job of holding together this crumbling relic. It is like this because of the pesky parasites that have been constantly draining its vitality."
"So, unless I have no other choice, accepting these people will be the last thing I do."
Philip Williams was stunned. He did not expect that even to accept the benefits provided, so much thought had to go into it. In the end, he nodded in understanding.
---
It was as if the actions of the Europeans aroused the fighting spirit of a lot of people, because the enthusiasm for development became several times more intense. By the end of 1683, Heyram was successful in developing a Balwan B-3 engine, a next-generation engine, which, while maintaining its size, increased the torque and RPM by over 30%.
As for Vedant, he was successful in testing his prototype. He had built a miniaturised dual cylinder engine to verify his theory in practice, and surprisingly enough, the dual cylinder engine worked, and it worked better than he expected, so he had finally decided to build a large dual cylinder Bairavi engine, aimed to output a torque of over 10,000 Khanda meters and a power of over 100 horses.
It was a demanding requirement, but it no longer looked so impossible to meet.
Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became years. In the blink of an eye, it was the end of 1685.
A lot of things have changed over the span of a few years. For one, a tractor had been invented, and in some large-scale farms spanning thousands of acres, a steam machine could be seen pulling the harvester with all its might, with steam spewing out of its chimney. A steam-powered car was also built, but the Ministry of Transportation did not approve of it to be put on the road, stating that it was still not safe and its safety indicators had to be improved.
Additionally, the moving picture machine, after causing a huge wave throughout the frontier, finally reached the mainland, becoming a huge sensation almost immediately.
---
Tejashwi Singhania left for work, but he had the shock of his life when he saw a shop in the city with a board titled Singhania Moving Pictures. And this shop was quite an exquisite establishment as well; it was on the main road of the city, along with all the other posh shops owned by the richest businessman in the city. In fact, there was even a Sri and Sri Mathi boutique shop, the royal family's boutique clothing shop.
For a moment, he thought that he had hallucinated, because although he was rich, he was not rich to such an extent to buy a shop in this area. So in the end, with the decision of checking out what this new thing is that has his surname attached to it, he entered the shop.
Entering the shop, he was taken aback because it was unlike any other shop he had ever been to. Instead of a customer area and a business area, the whole shop was a customer area. The whole shop was covered with chairs, with people sitting around.
What the hell was happening? He was confused.
He silently sat down in one of the empty seats and secretly listened to the conversations.
"I wonder why Singhanya Moving Pictures opened a shop in this location?"
"Yes, I was wondering about that as well. In every other city , it is present in the most popular business district where most of the traffic is, but it is only in this city where it is located in the elite area."
"Who knows, maybe it is because the moving pictures here are special?"
"That's unlikely, because if that was the case, it would be unveiled in the capital instead of here."
Tejashwi did not understand a lot of the words they were speaking about, what moving picture, what moving picture machine. But what he did understand was that the show was special, as it was one of its kind, and in other places throughout the empire, the shop was located in normal business districts.
Time went on, then people began to go into the back of the shop for whatever reason, and they came back with a look of reluctance. This happened several times, and finally it was his turn. When he went into the backroom, he was asked for the payment. It was 200 Varaha. It was a steep price, but thinking about all the people who had paid, he paid for it as well and followed the kind lady.
He was asked to place his eyes on the eyepiece, and he did so, still not understanding what he was there for. Then something magical happened. A picture he was seeing moved, and it moved like in real life.
By the end of the picture, his eyes widened, because the story was about a little dog who had left his home a long time ago and returned with honour. And with the end of the movie, he also caught a glimpse of a scribble, the scribble that was so familiar yet so distant. It was the same scribble he would see in the books of his younger son.
It suddenly hit him: the name of the shop, his younger son's unusual interest in drawing, and this moving picture machine. Was this company built by his younger son?
Tears welled up in his eyes, and they would not stop.
P.S. Who the Fu** says Chamundeshwari Hill is not Hindu land? MF'r DK, that land belonged to Mother Chamundi even before independence, even before Islam, and even before your fking government took control over it. Honestly, I feel like our government is just like the colonial government, Goddamn hypocrites.
P.S. By his logic, no Waqf land is their land. Man, I'm so angry.