Chapter 38 chapter eight

The scale of the steelmaking plant is quite large, and there is a decaying smell in the air. Unless it is completely renovated, it is impossible to get rid of this strange smell.In order to receive the presence of the leader and accompanying officials, all the idlers in the factory were driven away, so it looked extremely deserted. Marlowe was ready to start the demonstration.He first lifted up a steel plate and placed it on two supports, then took hold of the tool Doerr handed him, put his hand into the lead sheath, and tightly grasped the leather handle. "It's dangerous," Marlowe said, "but so is a normal circular saw, as long as you don't put your fingers in front of it, you'll be fine." With a stroke in the middle, the steel plate split in two without a sound.

Everyone present was startled.Marlow laughed, picked up one of them and propped it on his knees, and said, "The cutting thickness of this machine can be fine-tuned to a hundredth of an inch, and a two-inch thick steel plate can be easily cut like this." Two. As long as the thickness is measured accurately, the steel plate can be cut on a wooden table without damaging the table at all.” Every time he said a word, he used the nuclear steel scissors to cut off a piece of the steel plate, and the whole room was immediately covered with fragments of the steel plate. After the demonstration, Marlowe said: "This is the real steel cutting."

Then he handed the steel shears back to Durr, and said: "There is also a steel planer, if you want to make the steel plate a little thinner, or smooth out the unevenness or rust, then please look!" As Marlowe danced, pieces of transparent steel foil fell down, and the surface of the steel plate was planed six inches wide, eight inches wide...twelve inches wide. "Would you like a nuclear steel drill? They both work on the same principle." All the people present gathered around, it seemed like a magic trick or juggling for the purpose of selling goods, and Marlowe was today's street magician.When Marlowe used a steel drill to easily drill flawless round holes in the one-inch-thick steel plate, all the senior officials stood on tiptoe to watch, and exchanged opinions in low voices from time to time.The leader touched the drilled steel layer with his fingers, and fell silent thoughtfully.

"Now I'm going to do my last show, can anyone get me two short poles?" At this time, everyone was watching like crazy, but finally a high-ranking official who seemed to be some kind heard what Marlowe said, and hurriedly found a steel pipe for him as promised.Even if he is a high-ranking official, his hands are always covered with oil. Marlow erected the two steel pipes, cut off a section of the upper end with steel shears, and then connected the two steel pipes together by facing the newly cut ends. As a result, the two steel pipes turned into one!There are not even atomic-scale flaws in the joints, and there is no trace of any joint at all.

Marlowe looked up at his audience, and when he was about to speak, his throat suddenly choked up, and he couldn't make any sound.He felt a strong throbbing in his chest, but his stomach felt cold and prickly. Because he finally came face to face with the leader's bodyguard.They all crowded into the front row to the left and right of the leader, and for the first time Marlowe saw clearly the sidearms they were wearing. That's a nuclear weapon!Marlowe can be sure that it is absolutely right, that the barrel of the gun that uses gunpowder is absolutely impossible to look like that.

That, however, was not the point, and this alone would never have left Marlow speechless with astonishment.The point is that there are gold-plated sheets on the handles of those weapons, and the symbols of the starship and the sun are engraved on the sheets! On the cover of each huge volume of the encyclopedias published successively by the base, the same logo is stamped on them.And for thousands of years, this symbol of starship and sun has also been tattooed on every flag of the Galactic Empire. For a moment, countless thoughts arose in Marlowe's mind, but he still managed to calmly say: "Please try this steel pipe, and make sure that it is absolutely impossible to see that two are connected together. Of course, this is not perfect. Because it should be joined by a machine."

It was all over, Marlowe thought, and there was no need for any more tricks.My goal has been achieved, and I have found what I was looking for.There is only one image in his mind now, and that is a golden ball surrounded by an image-like light, and a leaning cigar-shaped starship is superimposed on it. That is the national emblem of the empire, the symbol of the starship and the sun! empire!These two words kept echoing in Marlowe's mind.A century and a half has passed, and the Empire still exists in the depths of the galaxy.Now it has appeared again, and its power has once again touched the outer edge of the galaxy.

Thinking of this, Marlowe actually smiled.