Prelude to Steel and Coal
After a long preheating, the modified 89-horsepower steam engine on the locomotive finally sent wisps of white smoke drifting into the air.
The onlookers were no strangers to this—who among those living in Nancy had never seen a steam engine?
However, when that steel behemoth gave its first faint tremor, shaking the insects off the wild grass crowding both sides of the iron rails, the onlookers immediately cried out in waves of alarm and kept backing away.
The locomotive engraved with "Future" trembled again and let out an ear-piercing shriek. Then, dragging eight carriages behind it, it began to move slowly.
That enormous body of steel exuded a terrifying, mighty force that struck straight at every person's soul.
"Almighty Lord!" Father Weyna stared at the sparks spraying from the train's smokestack, his hands tightly clutching the silver cross at his chest as he murmured, "Could this be the fire-breathing Red Horse from the Book of Revelation..."
A young man who worked at the ironworks beside him smiled and waved his hand. "No, no, this is actually a kind of steam-engine..."
A peddler selling fries loudly cut in, "I have a relative in Paris. He says this is a monster with a copper stomach. He's even seen the blueprints."
The lad from the ironworks rolled his eyes. "This is an industrial creation, not alchemy. It's powered by coal. They say it can run 800 kilometers in a day."
Another burst of exclamations rose around them. "800 kilometers! How is that possible?"
"God, even the best carriage isn't that fast!"
"You braggart. Look how slowly it's going. It's not even as good as my family's ox..."
The woman who had spoken suddenly shut her mouth, because the "Future" was still accelerating. After only a minute, it had