Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Longtan and Tiger's Lair

After a few weeks, readers who have been watching the young Alsatian's prosperity and his relationship with Mr. Schulz will probably not be surprised.They were already inseparable.Working, eating, walking in the garden, drinking beer and smoking a pipe, they all acted together.The former professor at the University of Jena had never met a collaborator who was as close to him as Marcel, with whom he understood, and who could use his theoretical data so quickly. Marcel was not only an outstanding person who was proficient in all fields of the industry, but also the most lovable companion, the most industrious worker, the most humble and creative inventor.

Mr. Schultz was very pleased with him.Every day, he repeats these words in his heart many times: Like a treasure!This guy is such a baby! In fact, Marcel read the temper of his terrible boss at a glance.He can see that the main characteristics of the boss are selfishness, insatiable greed, and a great vanity everywhere. Therefore, he always acts cautiously according to these characteristics of the other party. In a few days, the young Alsatian learned to play the special fingerings of Schulz's piano very well, and played him in the palm of his hand.His strategy is actually very simple, which is to show his talent as much as possible, but always leave a chance for the opponent to show that he is better than himself.

For example, he completed a drawing, which was very good, but there was always an error that was easy to find and correct. In this way, the former professor immediately discovered it and corrected it happily. If he had an idea in theory, he managed to show it in conversation with Mr. Schultz so that the latter thought he had discovered it himself.Sometimes Marcel was even more forthcoming, for example, when he said: I've finished that ship with the swashbuckling horn you asked me to draw. I asked you to draw it?Mr. Schultz asked rhetorically that such a thing had never occurred to him.

yes!Can't you forget?A movable bow angle can launch a torpedo, which will directly hit the enemy ship's belly, and it will explode in three minutes! I have no memory at all.I have too many things on my mind! So, Mr. Schultz took this new invention as his own with peace of mind. However, he may not have been completely deceived by Marcel's tricks. In fact, he probably felt that Marcel was better than him.It's just that there are always some weird ideas in people's minds, so Schultz is naturally satisfied with the superior skills shown, especially satisfied with giving his subordinates this illusion.

This guy has a good brain, but he is still an idiot!Sometimes he thought to himself, and smiled silently, revealing the thirty-two dominoes in his mouth. Besides, his vanity was soon compensated in other ways.He thought, only he can realize this kind of industrial dream in the world!These dreams had value only through him and for him!Marcel is in the end just one of the cogs in the mechanism he, Schulz, created, etc. Besides, he didn't open his mind, as everyone said.After Marcel stayed in the Bull Tower for five months, he didn't know much about the inside story of the headquarters.However, his speculation has almost become the truth.He became more and more convinced that Stahlstad was hiding a secret, and that Mr. Schulz must have other motives besides profit.From the nature of his concerns, and from the nature of his industry itself, it is quite possible to suppose that he has invented some new type of weapon.

However, the answer to the mystery is still unknown. Marcel soon realized that he would not be able to solve the mystery without major changes.But he couldn't see any signs of a change, so he decided to stir up trouble. This was after dinner on the evening of September 5th.On this day a year ago, he found the body of his little friend Carl in the Albrecht Mine. In the distance, the whole plain of American Switzerland is still covered with its white mantle of the winter so long and so severe.However, in the garden in Stahlstad, the climate is still as warm as in June, and the snow has melted before it hits the ground, so it is not snowflakes that fall, but raindrops.

This sauerkraut sausage is delicious, isn't it?Mr. Schultz said he remained attached to the dish despite receiving huge sums of money from Indian ladies. Delicious, Marcel replied.Even though he's finally tired of the dish, he still eats it every night without fear. With nausea, he finally decides to try a ruse he's been thinking of. I even wondered, Schultz went on, how those people who didn't have sausage, sauerkraut, and beer could endure such a hard life!He said with a sigh. It would be like a day for them, Marcel replied, and it would be an act of charity to gather them to the German Empire.

Um!Um!There will be such a day, there will be such a day!cried the iron lord, we are stabbed in the heart of america.If we take up an island or two near Japan, you'll see what steps we'll take across the globe! The servant brought two pipes.Mr. Schultz loaded his own pipe and lit it.Marcel deliberately chose this most leisurely hour of the day to try his trick. To tell the truth, after a moment of silence, Marcel said, I don't quite believe in global conquest! Conquer what?Mr. Schultz asked, he hadn't thought about the topic just now. It's up to the Germans to conquer the world.

The former professor thought he had heard wrong. You don't believe that the Germans can conquer the world? Do not believe. ah!What is this called? It's too much!I should like to know what grounds you have for your suspicions! Simple because the French artillery will end up being superior and will overwhelm you.My fellow Swiss, who knew French artillery well, had a fixed notion that a trained Frenchman would make two.1870 was a lesson that will come back to punish those who taught others.Sir, no one in our little country doubts this, and, if I had to tell you all, it is the opinion of the most powerful men in England.

Marcel's tone of voice was calm, crisp, and sharp when he said this, which intensified all the more the effect of the harsh words on the Iron King. Mr. Schultz was stunned, speechless, and extremely angry.Seeing the blood rushing to his face, Marcel worried that he had gone too far.However, when he saw his victim recovering from the faint of breath, he added: Yes, this is a very angry thing to hear, but it is what it is.If our opponents are quiet, they are hard at work.Do you think they have learned nothing since the war broke out?While we are foolishly busy adding weight to our cannons, be sure they are preparing new weapons and we will be the first to bear the brunt!

New weapons!New weapons!Schultz lisps, we're making too, sir! ah!Yeah, let's talk about that!We are just changing our ancestors from copper to steel cannons!We've just doubled the power and range of our guns! Double it!Mr. Schultz retorted, and that tone seemed to be saying: Actually, it is not a question of doubling! In the end, Marcel said again, we were simply plagiarizing.Well, would you like me to be honest with you?We lack geniuses who create inventions.We didn't invent anything, the French, they did, you have to believe that! Mr. Schultz had calmed down a little on the surface.However, his lips were trembling, and his face turned from flushed to pale, which clearly reflected that he was still very excited inside. Is it necessary to endure such a great insult?His name is Schulz, he is the absolute master of the world's largest factory and first-class cannon foundry, even the kings and parliaments of all countries bow down at his feet, but even a little Swiss draftsman said that he Lacking inventions, he is not as good as a French artilleryman!Moreover, this happened at this very moment?Now, right next to him, behind a thick iron wall, there was something that would amaze and silence the big talker, and make his foolish opinions go to hell.No, it is impossible to endure such a torture! Mr. Schultz rose to his feet so suddenly that he broke his pipe.Then, with mocking eyes, he gritted his teeth and said to him, or he squeezed out the following sentence from his teeth: Come with me, sir, and I'll show you whether I, Mr. Schulz, lack invention! Marcel took a dangerous move, but because his words were bold and unexpected, which shocked the other party, and because the former professor Mr. Schulz was more vanity than prudent, he fell into Marcel's aggressive method, so Marcel Sale won.Schultz is impatient to reveal his secret.He walked into his office involuntarily, closed the door behind him, walked straight to his library, and pressed one of the wall panels.Immediately there was a gap in the wall, behind a row of books.It was the entrance of a narrow passage with a staircase leading directly to the bottom of the Bull Tower. There is an oak door under the tower, which is opened with a small key.The key never leaves the owner of the tower.Then there is the second door, which uses a combination lock, similar to a safe.Mr. Schultz turned the combination, unlocked the lock, and pushed the heavy iron door open.The back of the door contained a complex explosive device, which Marcel must have been eager to examine out of professional curiosity.But Schultz didn't let him take a look. At this time, the two came to the third door. There was no lock on the door, and it opened with a slight push. Of course, there must be certain rules. After passing through these three gates, Mr. Schultz and his companions began to climb an iron ladder with 200 steps, and then went up to the top of the bull tower overlooking the entire city of Stalstadt. On this impenetrable granite tower stood a circular bunker with several muzzles and a steel cannon in the centre. look!said the professor.He didn't say a word all the way. It was the largest siege gun Marcel had ever seen.It must weigh at least 300,000 kilograms and be loaded with shells through the bolt.The caliber is one meter fifty.The gun carriage was mounted on a steel gun carriage, which could be turned on the steel plate, and because of the toothed wheels, it was so easy to operate that even a child could play with it.A rectifying spring is installed at the rear of the gun carriage, the purpose of which is to make it recoilless, if not completely eliminate the recoil, at least produce the same reaction force, so that the gun barrel returns to its original position after each firing. How penetrating is this cannon?Marcel couldn't help admiring such a cannon, and couldn't help asking. With a cannonball loaded, we can penetrate a 40-inch thick metal plate 20,000 meters away as easily as cutting a cream cake! So how far is its range? Range!Schultz was overjoyed and exclaimed, ah!You just said that our imitation ability is limited, at most the range of the current guns can be doubled!Well, with this gun I can fire a shot ten leagues with perfect accuracy! Ten miles!exclaimed Marcel, ten leagues!So what new gunpowder are you using? Oh, now I can tell you everything!Mr. Schultz replied in a strange tone.There is no longer any inappropriateness in revealing my secrets to you!Large grains of gunpowder are now obsolete.What I used was thunderbolt gunpowder, the explosive power of which was four times higher than that of ordinary gunpowder, and I added potassium nitrate to it at a ratio of ten to eight, which increased its explosive power by five times! But, Marcel pointed out, no cannon, not even of the best steel, could withstand such an explosion!This cannon of yours, after three, four, five shots, will be damaged and can no longer be used! Even if only one shot is fired, this cannon is enough! That would be too expensive! One million, because that's the cost of the cannon itself! One shot in a million! If it can destroy one billion, what is a million! One billion!cried Marcel. However, he refrained from expressing that mixture of admiration and horror that this marvelous destructive creature produced.Then he added: It is certainly a formidable and wonderful piece of cannon, but, despite its many functions, it fully confirms my statement: only some improvements, some imitations, not inventions! Not an invention!Mr. Schultz shrugged his shoulders and replied, I repeat to you, I have no more secrets from you!you come! So the Iron Lord and his companions left the bunker and returned to the lower level, where the hydraulic lifts lead to the upper platform.There were quite a few long cylindrical objects placed there, and from a distance, they thought they were some other disassembled cannons. This is our shell, Mr. Schultz said. This time, Marcel had to admit that the ammunition bore no resemblance to the ones he knew. These are huge tubes two meters long and 1.10 meters in diameter, with a shell of lead, engraved with spiral patterns that fit into the barrel of the gun, a steel plate bolted to the rear, and a bolted steel plate in the front. The steel pointed arched tip of the utensil. What are the characteristics of these shells?It's not obvious from their appearance.It is just that they can feel that there must be some kind of terrible explosives in their stomachs, and the explosive power exceeds all explosives so far. You can't guess, can you?Seeing that Marcel was silent, Mr. Schulz asked him. No guess, sir!Why is a cannonball so long and so heavy?At least on the surface it is very heavy. Appearances are deceiving, Mr. Schulz replied, its weight is not significantly different from ordinary shells of the same caliber Well, tell you all!It was a glass rocket shell, clad in oak, filled with liquid carbonic acid at seventy-two atmospheres.As soon as the shell hits the ground, the shell case explodes and the carbon dioxide gasifies.The result: the temperature in the entire surrounding area dropped to about minus one hundred degrees, and at the same time, a huge amount of carbon dioxide was mixed into the air.All creatures within a radius of 30 meters from the impact point will be frozen to death and suffocated to death at the same time.The 30-meter radius I mentioned refers to a calculation base. In fact, the range of action is much larger, perhaps reaching a radius of 100 or 200 meters!Another advantage is that because carbon dioxide gas is heavier than air, it will accumulate in the lower layer of the air for a long time, and the poisonous gas in the dangerous area will last for several hours. Will surely die.Therefore, this shot not only has an immediate effect, but also will maintain this effect!Therefore, with such shells, there will be no wounded, only dead! Mr. Schultz was clearly enjoying explaining the various capabilities of his invention.He was in high spirits, triumphant, flushed, and grinning from ear to ear. You see, from here, he added, what would happen if a sufficient number of such cannons of mine were aimed at a besieged city!We assume that the power range of each cannon is one hectare, and a city of 1,000 hectares will need ten cannons to form a team of 100 cannons.Then, assuming that all our cannons are in place, aiming at the target, there is no resistance from the strong wind, and the wind is in a good direction. Finally, the firing order is given by telephone, and ten thousand cannons are fired in a minute. On a thousand hectares of ground, a living Nothing left!The city will be submerged in a sea of ​​carbon dioxide!And this idea came to me last year when I read the doctor's report on the accidental death of a small miner in the Albrecht Mine!I visited the dog cave in Naples [Note: Near Naples, Italy, the air is full of carbon dioxide, dogs and low quadrupeds are often poisoned to death within 6 kilometers around here, and people are not sunk because they stand Carbon dioxide gas suffocates the ground. ], it was already inspired.But the accidental death gave it final shape.Do you understand the principle?An artificial ocean of pure carbonation!And as long as the air contains one-fifth of this gas, it cannot be breathed. Marcel said nothing.He really has nothing to say.Mr. Schultz felt very strongly that he had the upper hand, but he didn't want to bully too much. There's only one detail that bothers me, he said. what details?asked Marcel. It was my unsuccessful attempt to silence the bang.In this way my cannon was indistinguishable from an ordinary cannon.Just imagine what it would be like if I could make the cannonball go off without a sound!On a quiet night, suddenly, one hundred thousand people died at the same time without knowing it! Mr. Schulz was intoxicated by the vision he described, and if Marcel had not interrupted him, he would have indulged in the dream of self-admiration for a long time.Marcel pointed out to him: How wonderful, sir, how wonderful!However, a thousand of these cannons are time-consuming and expensive to build. money?We have it all!time?Time is ours! In fact, the stupid German really believed what he said! Even so, replied Marcel, but your carbonated cannonball is not entirely a new invention, since it is a variation of gas bombs, which have been around for years.However, its destructive ability is huge, I don't deny this, it's just that just what? Its size is large, but its weight is relatively light, if it does not shoot ten miles! When it was built it was only counted as two leagues, Mr. Schultz said with a smile.However, he added, pointing to another shell, that it was a cast iron shell.This cannonball is fully loaded, and there are a hundred small cannon barrels arranged in an orderly manner inside, one nested inside the other like the lens barrel of a telescope. small shells filled with fuel.They are like a battery of artillery. After being fired by me, they fall on the whole city like an inextinguishable sky fire, bringing fire and death to the city!The weight of this shell enables it to be fired as far as I say ten leagues!This experiment will be carried out soon, and those who don't believe will touch the 100,000 corpses lying on the ground with their own hands! The domino in Mr. Schultz's mouth was shining with an unbearable light at the moment, and Marcel really wanted to go up and break it to relieve his hatred.But he still suppressed the anger in his heart.He hasn't finished listening to what he wants to inquire about. Sure enough, Mr. Schultz was saying again: I told you, a decisive experiment is about to take place! How to test?Where?asked Marcel aloud. How to test?With that cannon I have on the platform, fire one of these shells, and it will fly over the Cascades!Where?In a city not more than ten leagues from us, the people of that city could not have expected to be struck by such a lightning strike, and even if they had expected it, it would have been impossible to prevent the catastrophe!Today is September 5th. Well, at 11:45pm on the 13th, the city of France will disappear from the land of America!The fire will be with Sodom [Note: The name of the ancient city of Palestine, located on the south side of the Dead Sea. ] comparable to the fire!It's Professor Schultz's turn to spread the fire! This time, when Marcel heard the unexpected uproar, all the blood in his body boiled suddenly!Fortunately, Mr. Schulz did not see the change in Marcel's mind at all. Here!What we are doing here is the exact opposite of what the creators of the City of France have done, he added, in a free-spirited tone!We are seeking the secret of shortening human life, and they are exploring the secret of extending human life.What they did was doomed to fail, though, and life is reborn only through the death we sow.However, everything in nature has its purpose, and when Dr. Sarrazan built a lonely city, he did not expect that this city would become the best testing ground for me. Marcel could hardly believe what he had just heard was true. However, he trembled unconsciously when he spoke, which seemed to arouse the Iron King's vigilance for a moment. The residents of France City have not offended you, sir!As far as I know, you have no reason to provoke them! My dear, replied Mr. Schultz, your brain is otherwise very good, but you have some Celtic ideas in your bones, which will be very harmful to you if you are going to live long!Power, wealth, and vice are all purely relative, entirely conventional.Only the great laws of nature are absolute.The law of competition for survival is exactly the same as the law of universal gravitation.It would be foolish to try to escape this law.It is wise to obey it and act in the direction it points us.That's why I'm going to destroy Doctor Sarrazan's city.With such cannons as mine, my fifty thousand Germans will easily destroy the hundred thousand fantasists who are gathered there to die. Marcel knew that it was futile to try to reason with Mr. Schulz, so he didn't want to tease him to continue talking. So, the two left the shell room, closed the secret door, and went down to the living room. Mr. Schultz brought his beer glass to his lips with a very natural expression, rang the bell, asked the servant to bring him another pipe to replace the one he broke, and asked the servant road: Where are Arminius and Sigime? There, sir. Tell them to stay where I can get them. Immediately after the servant walked out of the living room, the Iron King turned to Marcel and fixed his eyes on him.Facing the other party's stern gaze, Marcel didn't lower his head. Do you really want to carry out your plan?asked Marcel. Yes.I know the location of the city of France like the back of my hand, and its latitude and longitude can be off by a tenth of a second at most. At 11:45 p.m. on September 13th, it will die. Maybe you should have kept this project a secret! My dear, replied Mr. Schultz, you will never have another chance to speak.As sorry as this is, I am even more sorry to see you die so young. Marcel stood up when he heard the last words. How come you don't understand, Mr. Schultz added coldly, that I only speak of my plans in front of people who will never tell them again? He rang the bell again.Two giants, Arminius and Sigime, appeared before the living room door. You've always wanted to know my secret, said Mr. Schultz, and now you do!You are now dead. Marcel said nothing. You are too clever, continued Mr. Schultz, and now that you know what my plan is, you don't expect me to keep you alive.Otherwise, it would be unforgivably careless, it would be illogical.My purpose is too great to allow me to interfere with its success by considering the life of an insignificant human being.Not even a man like you, my dear, with a flexible mind whose brain I admire so much.So I really regret that, with a little vanity, I went so far that I now have to get rid of you.However, you should understand that there is no emotion in the face of the success or failure of the business I am engaged in.I can honestly tell you that your predecessor Thorne died because he learned my secret, not by a pack of dynamite!The regulations are absolutely not allowed to be broken and must be strictly enforced!On this point I will never change. Marcel looked at Mr. Schulz.From the tone of the other party's voice, he understood that this bald guy was inhuman, and he knew that he was finished.Therefore, he didn't want to bother to argue a few words. When will I die?How to die?he asks. You don't have to worry about such details, Mr. Schultz replied.Although you are doomed, I won't let you suffer.One morning, you won't wake up, and that's it. The Iron King waved his hand, and Marcel was taken to his room and locked up. The door of the room was guarded by the two giants. When he was alone, trembling with sorrow and rage, he thought of Dr. Sarrazan, all his kin, all his countrymen, all whom he loved! It's all right for me to die, he thought, but how can the danger that threatens them be prevented!