Train in Trial Operation

Along the way, they encountered several researchers who, upon seeing Victor, stopped what they were doing and bowed to him.

Veronica also complained that Victor was affecting the entire lab's work progress, leaving Victor with a wry smile.

Octavia then introduced the following projects.

Victor discovered that the little girl's IQ was very high, and many projects were directly related to her.

While Octavia led the way, Victor leaned closer to Veronica and whispered, "This child is indeed outstanding; no wonder you think so highly of her!"

Veronica said proudly, "Of course, she's my most outstanding apprentice!"

"Teacher Ronnie, I also have many questions I don't understand. Please tutor me properly tonight."

Victor's voice suddenly tightened, and he even blew air into Veronica's ear.

Veronica's ears turned bright red, and then she elbowed Victor in the chest. "Are you trying to kill me? My students are still ahead."

Victor clutched his chest dramatically.

Veronica was so angry she was about to retaliate when Octavia suddenly turned her head.

"Miss, the projects in the research lab have been introduced. What's next?"

"Oh, so what are we going to do?" Veronica was a little flustered by Octavia's question and tried to change the subject.

Suddenly she looked at Victor, who was already seriously looking at the experimental records.

Veronica immediately had an idea and said, "Let's go straight to Riverside Village. We can check out the diesel engines and paper mill that are being tested!"

"Okay! Then I won't follow..." Octavia was about to leave.

Veronica suddenly interrupted her, "Octavia, you'll come with us. You can introduce the paper project to us."

"Why!"

Victor also looked puzzled.

A few minutes later, in Veronica's carriage, Veronica and Octavia sat together, with Victor sitting opposite them.

At Veronica's insistence, Octavia eventually came along.

However, being so close to her lord made Octavia very uncomfortable.

Victor, on the other hand, looked resentful. He had wanted to spend more time with Veronica, but now his plans were all ruined.

Veronica, on the other hand, looked smug.

Victor was exasperated. He turned his gaze to Octavia, and only now did he have time to observe the girl closely.

The little girl looked quite young, with somewhat rough skin and a rather short stature. She was a head shorter than Veronica, only a little over 1.4 meters tall, and also very thin.

According to Victor's estimation, the girl was probably born into a territory indentured slavery and was sent by her parents to the territory's primary education center, where she stood out and joined Veronica's team.

Octavia, how old are you this year?

Victor's sudden question made Octavia nervous, and she stammered, "Oh, my lord, I am 16 years old."

"16 years old?" Victor was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected the girl to be 16 years old; she looked at most 14 based on her physical characteristics.

Victor's exclamation frightened Octavia, who began to move closer to Veronica.

Veronica glared at Victor again, scolding him for frightening her student, then patted Octavia on the head and whispered words of comfort.

Victor awkwardly touched his nose. Once Octavia felt better, he started asking her questions about Octavia family situation again.

This time it was about the same as his estimate. He was indeed born into a contract slave family. Because he was physically weak and could not do much work, he was abandoned by his parents and later sent to the territory's primary education center as an orphan.

Unexpectedly, Octavia was extremely talented and mastered most of the knowledge points in a very short time, attracting the attention of her teachers.

Later, after Veronica formed a research team, she was recommended by her teachers to join the team.

Then her talent was discovered by Veronica personally taught her. She studied and did research at the same time, which earned her Veronica's favor and appreciation.

"Your outstanding performance has made a great contribution to the territory. Is there anything you wish for?"

Victor plans to make Octavia a model of the Two Rivers Dream, encouraging more young people to study diligently and demonstrating his commitment to education.

"Your Excellency, I wish to redeem my parents and relatives, so that they may become Freemen!"

Octavia said timidly.

"Don't you hate them for abandoning you?"

Octavia shook her head. "I don't hate them. I've always been in poor health, and they raised me until I was 13. They never abandoned me before that."

Victor liked people who were so grateful, and he nodded unconsciously when he heard her words.

"And I don't think I'm anything special. What's remarkable is you, Viscount, and Miss Veronica. You pointed out so many directions, and Miss Veronica developed the plans and details. I only did the smallest part of the work."

Veronica was overjoyed and hugged Octavia, rubbing her face against her.

Victor was delighted to hear this. Octavia was a talented person who also knew how to be grateful, which was exactly the kind of quality he wanted.

"Don't worry, I will release your family from the contract and give them a considerable sum of money to improve their lives. Consider it a reward for nurturing such an excellent and kind person as you for the territory."

"Thank you, sir! Actually, there's no need to give them so much money. Just treat them like any other Freemen. I don't want them to live too poorly, nor do I want them to live too well."

"I'm sorry, Viscount, have I been too unkind and disappointed you?"

Victor smiled and shook his head, "No, these are minor issues, Octavia, I'll handle them."

"Thank you, sir!"

The three then arrived at Riverside Village, where they saw a diesel train carrying ore back to the Steelworks.

Victor walked straight to the train, where the driver and engineer saw him.

After he asked to get in the car to take a look, Veronica asked the driver to open the door, and that's when everyone realized that the person in front of them was their lord.

After Victor entered the cab, he asked the driver and engineer, "How much ore can you haul at a time, how often do you haul it, and how much sunflower oil do you need each time?"

"Your Excellency, we can currently transport 30 tons of ore at a time, twice a day, but we need to rest for two days every five days. So far, we can only transport about 1,300 tons of ore per month."

A round trip requires six barrels of sunflower oil, each barrel being 80 liters.

The engineer pointed to a storage room behind the driver's cab and said, "We can carry up to 20 barrels of oil at a time, but the current track only covers a round trip of 160 kilometers, so we usually only carry 5 barrels of oil as a backup."

"3 liters of fuel per kilometer? That's really fuel-efficient!"

Veronica chimed in, saying, "Currently, due to limitations in processing capacity, our fuel tanks cannot be made too large. At most, they can hold 200 liters of fuel, which is only enough for a single trip of about 60 kilometers."

"That's enough. The next phase could be to build a formal railway connecting Wood Fort Town and Riverside Village, and to extend the track from Riverside Village to the mine, connecting Red Soil Village as well."

"That would require a huge investment. We also need to send troops next year, so we might not have enough manpower to build this project."

"Take it slow. We're still young and have plenty of time. Besides, these things won't be restrictions after the Civil War ends."