"Annie, make sure the people at the construction sites are supplied with enough water. Add a little salt to it, but not enough that it tastes obviously salty."
Turning his head to look at the sun hanging high outside, Lucas instructed, "Around three or four o'clock, boil some thin wheat porridge and send it over to the construction sites. They can't work on an empty stomach."
With the current living standards of the commoners in the territory, they could still afford to eat meat a few times a week. However, many people were saving their copper coins, hoping to buy a house or something similar.
Therefore, they were definitely very frugal when it came to meat. Relying solely on wheat porridge made it very difficult to sustain high-intensity labor, especially in the construction industry.
During the summer afternoons, the weather was at its hottest, people sweated the most, and their energy consumption was, needless to say, enormous. By three or four o'clock, the workers would definitely be so hungry they'd have no strength left. Providing them with a little food was highly necessary and would effectively boost efficiency.
"Understood," Annie noted down seriously. She completely agreed with his approach.
Tap, tap, tap... Nicole walked in carrying a box, sweating profusely. Her hair was plastered to her smooth forehead with sweat.
"The items are here." Nicole set the box down and hurriedly took off her thin coat, revealing a tank top drenched in sweat that left her curves completely exposed.
"..." Lucas blinked his eyes, glancing over Nicole's figure before picking up a cup of herbal tea from the side and handing it to her.
Gulp, gulp... Nicole took the herbal tea and downed it in large gulps.
"Master, what is this?" Annie asked, looking at the cardboard box.
"Open it up and take a look, then you'll know," Lucas said with a smile playing on his lips.
"I'll open it." Mina pulled out her knife, sliced open the sealed cardboard box, and upon opening it, found several strange objects inside.
"What are these?" Annie reached in and picked up an object about the size of two palms. It looked very bizarre, though the color was quite beautiful.
"This is a small electric fan," Lucas smiled faintly, reaching out to take the small fan from the fox-eared girl's hands.
He had bought these silent mini electric fans on amazon, purchasing over a dozen at once just so he could get a good night's sleep. Given the castle's current power supply, it couldn't quite handle high-power electric fans. That was why he hadn't even bothered bringing over a refrigerator or an air conditioner.
Originally, he thought solar power plus a small hydroelectric generator would be enough to cope. He hadn't expected that so many households using electric lights, plus a few printers, would overload the power grid. He had already ordered a large hydroelectric generator, but it had to be disassembled before it could be shipped over. He had also asked some people to help purchase a high-power solar power generation system—one large enough to supply power to a massive factory complex.
"A small electric fan? What's that?" Annie curiously picked up another small fan.
"Watch and you'll see." Lucas grabbed an electrical socket and plugged the small fan in.
Whir! The small fan instantly started spinning, blowing out a gust of wind that gave Mina, Annie, and Nicole a massive jump scare.
"This..." Annie's eyes widened, staring at the small fan in sheer disbelief.
"It's so cool and refreshing." Nicole leaned closer to the small fan, tugging at the damp clothes clinging to her chest.
"Is it magic? It can actually produce wind?" Annie's eyes lit up.
"How could it be magic?" Lucas rolled his eyes. He reached out and pressed the button for the third-gear wind speed, and the breeze blew even fiercer. He explained, "This small electric fan is driven by electricity. These few buttons here control the strength of the wind."
"Wow! This is magic," Annie exclaimed. In her eyes, the fact that the Master could harness electricity, make electric lights shine as bright as day, and make this strange little fan blow cool air—this was undeniably magic.
"Magic? No, I also know witchcraft, don't I?" Lucas said in exasperation. He had explained it several times already, yet Annie stubbornly believed he could use magic.
"Ah? Master, you really know witchcraft?" Annie's eyes sparkled even brighter...
"Of course. I can even seal your appearance onto a piece of paper, you know," Lucas teased.
"Wow, Master, try it right now!" Annie cried out in amazement, her fox tail swishing back and forth.
"Uh..." Lucas was at a loss for words. He was talking about a camera. If he actually brought one out, he was afraid even Mina and Nicole would start believing he knew witchcraft.
"Alright, Annie, stop constantly interrupting the Master's work," Nicole spoke up to bail him out. The look in her eyes as she stared at the small electric fan carried a hint of deep thought.
It was clear that her state of mind was quite similar to the fox-eared girl's; a small part of her actually believed he knew magic and witchcraft.
"Exactly. Annie, hurry up and get to work," Mina said, waving her hand dismissively.
Her mindset was that it didn't matter what he knew how to do, but his secrets absolutely could not be leaked out. It was better to know less; knowing too much would just cost you sleep.
"Oh!" Annie pouted, grabbed a small electric fan, and walked away.
"..." Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. How was he supposed to explain the principle of electromagnetic induction anyway? Even if he did, none of them would understand.
Bang, bang, bang... A knock came at the study door, followed by the crisp voice of the dwarf, Euphy. "Lord Lucas, I have a matter to report."
"Come in," Lucas called out.
Creak...
Euphy's figure strode in. Her clothes were still covered in a layer of dust; it was obvious at a glance that she had just rushed straight back from the Research Department.
"What's the matter?" Lucas asked curiously. The dwarf Euphy and her father, Durin, had been practically living in the Research Department recently to study the steam engine.
"The steam engine ship is complete. We request Lord Lucas to come and offer his guidance." Euphy's eyes looked at Lucas, shining brightly.
"Is it complete?" Lucas abruptly stood up, a delighted smile breaking across his face.
"Yes," Euphy replied in her crisp voice.
"Let's go take a look."
.
.
.
.
You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
200 power stones.
Top 100. All time.