The Director's Odd Behavior

On the deck.

Quan Yi and the others could see that the smoke in the exhaust pipe was getting thicker and thicker, and the hissing sound coming from the deck beneath their feet was getting louder and louder.

Huo Wu, however, looked at the few crew members who remained motionless on the deck with an unusually quick expression.

She asked in a low voice, "Xiao Yi, this ship doesn't have sails. Does it rely on Steam Engine to turn the oars on both sides?"

Quan Yi smiled mysteriously and said, "Don't worry, you'll see soon enough."

Jiang Jun walked to the center of the deck and grasped the round rudder.

After a while, three rapid hissing sounds came from inside the cabin.

Jiang Jun's gaze sharpened, and he shouted, "Set sail!"

He then quickly turned the rudder.

At this moment, the entire wooden boat began to shake slightly, and the boat slowly left the shore under Huo Wu's surprised gaze.

"Wow! What's the underlying principle?"

Huo Wu was completely stunned. She shook Quan Yi's arm repeatedly, wanting Quan Yi to tell her the secrets of the ship.

Unable to resist Huo Wu's coquettishness, Quan Yi led Huo Wu and the others towards the stern of the deck.

He walked directly to the stern, pointed to the water at the stern, and said, "Look closely here, and you'll know how a ship sails."

Huo Wu, Quan Yue, and Quan Li stretched out their bodies and looked at the sea. They saw a rapidly spinning black shadow beneath the clear water, creating ripples.

"Could it be that this is the tiny device that powers the Steam Engine?"

Huo Wu is incredulous.

No wonder Huo Wu was surprised, because a rotating metal blade was connected to the stern of the ship.

Moreover, this device is far too small compared to the entire ship. Based on intuitive perception, it is hard to imagine that such a small device could propel the huge ship forward.

Quan Yi explained, "This thing is called Propeller."

It is a device that can rotate water flow during rotation, thereby propelling the boat forward.

The Steam Engine engine powers the Propeller, which in turn propels the ship forward.

This is the principle behind how steamships move.

Quan Yue didn't seem surprised, but Quan Li looked at the Propeller at the stern with astonishment.

Propelled by the Propeller, the ship quickly burst out of the Shipyard's passageway.

As time went on, the Propeller's rotation speed increased.

At this moment, the weather was clear and there was no wind at sea, but everyone standing on the deck could feel the breeze brought by the speed on their faces.

"So fast!"

Huo Wu had been on a sea voyage before and had her own understanding of the speed of sea voyages.

In calm weather, the speed of a ship at sea is almost zero.

However, the ship they were on was now speeding towards the vast ocean from the moment it set sail.

Quan Yi felt the breeze and calculated the speed of the steamship.

The average speed of a typical sailboat is around ten knots, which is roughly eighteen kilometers per hour.

However, the speed of this steamship was already more than twice that of a sailboat.

It reaches a speed of 20 knots, which is 36 kilometers per hour.

Don't underestimate the difference of just over ten kilometers; when you factor in time...

The gap between the two will continue to widen.

Moreover, sailboats are heavily affected by the weather, and the time they can sail at their optimal speed is very short.

In contrast, steamships need enough fuel to maintain a stable speed for a long time.

In this respect, the two types of ships will create a huge difference.

Moreover, this is not even the limit of the ship.

The boiler inside the cabin had just started to heat up and had not yet reached its maximum speed.

It should be noted that the Steam Engine was forged from Soul Guidance Metal refined by Quan Yi himself.

Because of the addition of the extraordinary factor of Soul Power.

The power of the Steam Engine even surpasses that of the previous generation.

The Soul Guidance Metal forged by Quan Yi possesses extremely high strength and toughness. At the same time, this metal is mixed with the Ultimate Fire attribute, which enhances the power of flames.

This greatly enhanced the performance of the Steam Engine.

The combination of Steam Engine and Propeller was a product that only appeared in the early 19th century of the previous world.

It is a device that appeared after several generations of upgrades.

Its emergence gives it an overwhelming advantage over sailboats at this stage.

Quan Yi and the others returned to Jiang Jun's position.

"Young Master, how is the ship performing?"

Jiang Jun looked at Quan Yi expectantly.

Quan Yi didn't hold back his praise, giving a thumbs up.

"With this ship, our Quan Family's future sailing time will be reduced by at least half."

However, I would like to ask how long it would take to build such a ship?

Jiang Jun said, "It took us about three months to build this ship."

However, more than half of that time is spent on research and design.

The actual time spent on shipbuilding is very short, and the most important power unit can be replicated very quickly on the Production Line controlled by the Blacksmith.

On the contrary, too much time was spent on the Ship Hull construction.

Quan Yi nodded in thought.

He then looked up and casually asked, "If we were to convert the existing Ship Hull into a steamship, how long would it take?"

Jiang Jun did not answer quickly, but paused slightly before replying, "Our Shipyard currently has nearly a hundred seagoing vessels."

Since the overall frame of the ships is similar, the modification is not difficult.

If we wanted to convert all the ships into steamships, it would only take a year.

Quan Yi turned to Quan Yue and said, "Father, it seems we can first convert the sailboat into a steamship."

This will significantly reduce our time.

Quan Yue nodded in agreement and replied, "Okay, I will proceed with the ship's modification."

The time frame Quan Yi is referring to is actually the time frame for the Sea Island's development.

"However, while making modifications, we should not forget the construction of Iron Ship."

Transforming wooden ships is ultimately a transitional measure; in the future, we will still need stronger and larger ocean-going vessels.

Factory Head Jiang, I hope you will remember this.

Quan Yi said this to Jiang Jun.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jun felt a sudden jolt.

He said with a slightly bitter expression, "Yes, I will obey the Young Master's orders."

Seeing Jiang Jun's slightly darkened expression, Quan Yi was also convinced of his own judgment.

He began, "Factory Head Jiang, I think you should also have seen the potential of the Iron Ship from my blueprints."

However, in the past two or three months, you have found a compromise solution by taking a different approach.

That's certainly commendable; however, could I assume that you haven't focused your efforts on the research of Iron Ship?

One clue that supports Quan Yi's viewpoint is that Jiang Jun did not choose to modify the original wooden boat, but instead remade and redesigned Wooden Steamship.

As for why he did such a thing.

Quan Yi also had his own guesses.

That means the manufacture of Iron Ship will require the participation of more Blacksmith.

Workers who originally made a living by building wooden sailboats will lose their livelihood.

Perhaps Jiang Jun represented the interests of this group of shipwrights.

The ship has sailed into uninhabited Sea Area, completely away from land.

However, Jiang Jun felt an extremely heavy atmosphere, which made him break out in a cold sweat.