Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen Ma Sitong Finally Gives a Thrilling Answer

Time is running fast, and maybe Director Barbicane and Captain Nicole's projects are also progressing rapidly. Although their working environment is extremely thrilling, people don't know where they are hiding. How does the project work?It required the construction of a factory of enormous size, the construction of several blast furnaces to cast cannons a million times larger than the naval 27-centimeter cannon, and projectiles weighing 180,000 tons.This requires the employment of thousands of workers, transportation problems, scheduling problems, and many things.How can an action like this escape the eyes and ears of those concerned?Where, in the Old or New World, had the Barbican been installed so mysteriously that the neighboring inhabitants would have been unaware?Are they on deserted islands in the Atlantic or Indian Oceans?Today, however, there are no deserted islands: the British have taken them all.Unless the new company finds a new one specifically for this.Does the new company want to build a factory somewhere in the Arctic or Antarctic?Impossible, that is unconventional!Isn't the Arctic Experiment Association trying to change the location of the polar regions just because they can't enter the high-latitude regions of the Arctic?

It would be a waste of time to search for Director Barbicane and Captain Nicole, either on the mainland or the islands.Wasn't it written in the Gunners' Club secretary's notebook that the launch was to be made at the equator?And there, although they are all uncivilized aborigines, there is no shortage of residential areas?If one camps near the equator line, it will not be in Peru or Brazil in the Americas, nor in the Sunda Islands, Sumatra, or Borneo, nor in the islands of the Celebes Sea, nor in New Guinea.In those places where such an operation is carried out, the residents will surely know.In Central Africa, across the Great Lakes region at the equator, there can be no secrecy either.Perhaps they were in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, Ameralti, Gilbert, Christmas Island, Galapagos in the Pacific, San Pedro in the Atlantic.But the news from these places was also fruitless.In order to allay the public's concerns, we had to make vague guesses and assumptions.What did Algird Pierre think of all this?He was more anxious than ever at the thought of the consequences of the problem.Captain Nicole has invented a powerful explosive: the Merry-Mellorit high explosive, which is three to four thousand times more powerful than the most powerful military explosives and five times stronger than the ancient cannonball powder of our ancestors. More than sixteen hundred times.This is already very surprising, even breaking news.He didn't think it was impossible, people were totally ignorant of what future advances in gunpowder science would hold, which had the potential to destroy enemy troops at any distance.In short, the shifting of the earth's axis by the recoil of a cannon could not but be astonishing to French engineers.So, he had to ask the advocates of the project secretly in his heart: "Director Barbicane, it is obvious that the earth will encounter the impact recoil generated on its surface from time to time. When thousands of people are happily throwing a few kilograms at each other. Thousands or millions of objects weighing a few grams have an effect on our planet when people walk, jump, stretch their arms, and even blood cells hang out in their veins. So , even if your huge device can produce the impact you expected, this impact may not be able to shake the earth. Alas, it cannot be denied that this is deduced from that beastly equation of Ma Sitong!"

The Commission of Inquiry communicated the calculations of the Secretary of the Gunners' Club to scholars who could read it, and Algid Pierre could only admire his precise calculations.He read algebra as one reads newspaper news, and in reading it he got an indescribable pleasure. If the earth is subjected to a great impact, what disasters will be produced on the surface of the earth!The earth's crust changes, landslides and ground cracks, cities collapse, rivers flow, lakes and seas flood, thousands of people die, how terrible it will be! It will be like an earthquake of incomparable magnitude.

Algid Pierre murmured: "If Captain Nicole's gunpowder is not too powerful, one can still hope that the projectile will go around the earth and hit the earth again, either in front of or behind the point of launch. , after a period of time, everything returned to its original position. Of course all disasters will be inevitable. What the hell! The Mery-Melorite explosives caused the projectile to draw half a hyperbola in the sky and greatly disturbed the earth. Fan, it will never apologize to Earth!" Algid Pierre danced and danced, almost everything within two meters was smashed by him.

He also said to himself: "If I know the launch site, I will quickly find a safe area on several spherical great circles without terrain fluctuations and vibrations. At the same time, I can find out the most dangerous areas. People moved in time. But how do you know the launch site?" After that, he made a circular shape of his hand and placed it on the skull dotted with a few thin hairs. "Hey! I think," he added, "the vibrations are more complicated than people think. Why doesn't the volcano take this opportunity to erupt in full force, like a seasick traveler throwing up his guts? The ocean will not pour into the crater? Hell! The machine that blows up the earth may suddenly explode! This damned Ma Sitong is stubborn and refuses to speak. See, he is playing with our earth and carefully playing with the universe billiards!"

So Algid Pierre speculated.Its dire assumptions were discussed in newspapers of both the old and the new continent.What are those uncommon tornadoes, tsunamis, and torrential rains that devastate small parts of the earth compared with the results of Barbican's experiments?Such a disaster can only be partial, and thousands of residents will be missing, and the survivors will have lingering fears!As that dreadful date drew near, so did the bravest of men.The situation is very favorable for those preachers who preach that the end of the world is coming.On the eve of 1000, people also thought that they were about to fall into the underworld. Now that people think of the fear at that time, it is easy to understand.

May people not forget the scene at that time!According to a passage from the Book of Revelation, the end of the world is coming, and people wait for the signal of anger that the Bible speaks of.Son of perdition, the devil is about to appear. "In the last year of the tenth century," said Martin, "everything ceased, entertainment, commerce, interest, even the cultivation of the fields. People wondered: Why strive for a future that does not exist? Or think Let the eternity begin tomorrow! In order to be protected in the kingdom of heaven that is about to enter, people are willing to dedicate the necessities of life, leaving land and castles to the churches they used to frequent.

"Many benefactors begin their church deeds with the words: In view of the end of the world and the imminence of destruction . The seven trumpets of a judging angel sounded from the bottom of the sky." As we all know, on the first day of the year 1000, mankind was safe and sound, and the laws of nature were not disturbed in the slightest.This time, it was not the collapse of the sky described in obscure scriptures, but an impact on the balance of the earth.This is based on unquestionable calculations, and is a test that can be fully realized by ballistic science and mechanics.This time the sea will not bring the dead to shore, but will bury the living by the millions in the abyss.

Due to the influence of modern thinking, people's thinking has undergone considerable changes, but the panic is not the same as it was back then.People have never been more eager to get to a safe and secure place than they are today.Never before have men poured out so many sins from their hearts in confession.It is also unprecedented that so many sins have been granted to those who are dying of kindness.Shouldn't the pope issue a letter of pardon, pardoning all those who have good intentions—or fear in their hearts? Ma Sitong's situation is getting more and more dangerous, and Mrs. Evangelina Scobie is very worried that he will become a victim of social anger.She even wanted to persuade him not to insist on it, and just let it out.But she dare not.It's right not to persuade her, because she will only touch the nose.

Residents of Baltimore are in constant panic.The denunciation of most newspapers in the United States and the telegrams flying from the "four corners and eight poles" of the earth have stimulated the public's emotions beyond control.We used the term "square and eight poles" that St. John used when he declared that the end of the world was coming. At that time, the ruler was the Roman emperor and tyrant Dominion. If Ma Sitong lived under his rule, the problem would have been solved. He has already fed tigers and lions.However, Ma Sitong said: "I'm not the same now?!"

When landslides and ground cracks, Ma Sitong will never waver, and he will never tell the coordinates of X.Because he knew that if the location was revealed, their career would be ruined. This move is too beautiful: one person against the whole world.In the eyes of his colleagues at the Gunners Club, and in the eyes of Mrs. Evangelina Scobie, Ma Sitong's image became taller.These honest men were as obstinate as ex-gunners, faithful to Barbicane's plans.The secretary of the Gunners Club suddenly became a world celebrity, and many people regarded him as a brand-name prisoner. They wrote to him in order to get a few lines from his hand that was about to shake the world! Famousness is great, of course, but it's also getting more and more dangerous.The crowd gathered around the prison in Baltimore day and night, shouting wildly, furious, and demanded that Ma Sitong should be executed on the spot.The police already felt powerless to protect him. In order to meet the demands of the American people and foreign people, the Washington government finally decided to prosecute Ma Sitong and hand him over to the criminal court. The jurors had already had enough of the horror, so "there's probably no delay in his case," said Pierre, despite his personal sympathy for the tenacious calculator. On the morning of September 5, the director of the investigative committee visited the prisoner's cell in person. At the repeated request of Mrs. Evangelina Scobie, it was agreed to let her accompany him.Perhaps the influence of this lovely lady would change his mind.As long as he can tell the answer to the riddle, nothing should be ignored, and any method should be tried.If it doesn't work, think of another way. "Just wait and see!" The quick-thinking man repeated, "Probably we have just sent Ma Sitong to the gallows, and disaster is imminent!" Nearly eleven o'clock, Ma Sitong was already in front of Mrs. Evangelina Scobie and the director of the investigation committee, Prestis. They asked and answered, and the conversation quickly entered the topic.One side is very tough, the other side is very calm.No one would guess: Ma Sitong is the calm one. "One last time, please answer!" Prestis said. "About what?" asked the secretary of the Gunners' Club ironically. "Where is your colleague Barbicane?" "I have told you a hundred times." "It is the one hundred and first time!" "He is where the launch is going to take place." "At Where did it launch?" "Where Barbicane stayed." "Beware, Maston!" "Beware of what?" "Beware of the consequences of your refusal to answer...." "Consequences are things you should not know, you Finally, I still don’t know.” “I don’t think so.” “We’re going to send you to criminal court.” “Go ahead.” “The court will try you!” “That’s its business.” “Once tried, Immediately." "Very well." "My dear Maston!" exclaimed Madame Evangelina Scobie, who was already flustered by the threat. "Ah! Madam." Ma Sitong said.She lowered her head and remained silent. "Do you want to know what the verdict will be like?" Prestis added. "It's up to you to listen." Ma Sitong said again. "You will be sentenced to death, and you deserve it!" "Is it true?" "You are hanged, as two and two make four, sure enough." "Well, sir, I'm still lucky," replied Marston coldly. "If you've got anything to do with mathematics, you won't say, 'It's as sure as two plus two equals four!' Who can prove all the facts?" Isn’t it nonsense that all mathematicians believe that the sum of two numbers is equal to the sum of its parts, that is, two plus two equals exactly four?” "Sir!" The director was in a panic. "Ah!" Ma Sitong said again, "If you say, 'it is as certain as one plus one equals two', you are right! This is clear at a glance, because this is no longer a theorem, but an axiom!" The Director of the Commission of Inquiry had a mathematics lesson and withdrew; and the flame of the Dreaming Calculator that flickered in the eyes of Mrs. Evangelina Scobie was less intense.