The discovery of superparasites gave Todd many new ideas.
If the "keel" parasite is compared to the mechanical skeleton of a combat mecha, then the microbiological phenomenon of "superparasitism" allows Todd to install a variety of combat modules on this "mechanical skeleton".
For example, the "Hive" parasite can be loaded and used as a communication module. The mother body of "Hive" can be buried in the "keel" of the commander; the daughter body of "Hive" can be buried in the "keel" of the legionnaire.
”. Due to the human nervous system and the “keel” parasite
During the battle, the commander of the Knights will no longer rely on messengers, drums or flags to convey combat instructions, but will directly send the instructions in the brain to the "hive" matrix in the "keel", and then
Instructions are sent to the offspring through the sonic vibrations of the mother body.
There are pros and cons to this method of communicating via "hive" parasites.
advantage:
First, the operation difficulty is low, saving a lot of learning costs. Whether it is war communication methods such as messengers, war drums or flags, commanders and soldiers need to learn and reserve a lot of knowledge. Moreover, due to errors in communication instructions on the battlefield
, causing fighter plane delays or even battle failures, are common in history.
Second, ignore the impact of weather, light and other factors on communication. Fighting in rain, snow and at night was basically an unstructured melee in the Middle Ages. Communication through the "hive" can effectively avoid the adverse effects of external factors.
shortcoming:
1. The communication distance is limited. The maximum communication distance of "Honeycomb" sonic vibration is about 50 meters. Beyond this distance, the message effect will gradually deteriorate.
Second, the death of the commander may cause chaos. Since the communication mechanism of the "Hive" parasite is that one mother body corresponds to multiple offspring, if the commander who owns the mother body unfortunately dies in battle, others will not be able to take his place and transmit messages.
But overall, the pros outweigh the cons.
Todd completed the research on parasites and finally breathed a sigh of relief after processing the experimental materials.
When he walked outdoors, he put down what was on his mind and wanted to take a walk around the town on a whim.
Usually, he prefers to stay in churches and laboratories. On the one hand, because the laboratory lacks assistants, he needs to do everything by himself; on the other hand, every time he goes outdoors, he is always "watched and followed" by a bunch of people.
. As time passed, he became too lazy to go out again.
Since it was afternoon, there were fewer residents in the town, so Todd walked along the newly planned street next to the church, looking around, and gradually entered the construction camp of the Knights' headquarters.
Qiao took several monks and a group of craftsmen to the site and began to measure the distance and divide the blocks before construction according to the drawings.
Todd's arrival caused a group of people to put down their affairs and come over to salute.
Todd didn't understand things like construction. After looking at the design drawings in Joe's hand, he discovered something.
With a sense of superiority as a time traveler, Todd asked the monks: "I see that the materials on the drawings are mostly masonry and wood. Why not use cement?"
What made him confused was that Qiao actually replied: "That won't work."
Todd was a little surprised: "Do you know how cement is made?"
Joe gave him a strange look: "Of course I know, in the library of the monastery, there is the cement production technology of the Gutero Empire."
(In the previous life, the ancient Roman Empire not only produced cement, but also produced concrete. The concrete lighthouses they made could even stand for two thousand years. It's a pity that Todd didn't know that.)
Todd asked hurriedly: "Then why not use it?"
Joe handed the drawings to other monks, found a nearby piece of wood to use as a bench, and explained the reason to Todd in detail.
The reason why the cement manufacturing technology of the Gutero Empire cannot be used now is that among the cement materials of Gutero, there is a very important material - volcanic ash, and it is a special kind of volcanic ash. Only by adding this material, cement can
It can be hard and durable, and there is no such volcano near Muxi Town.
After explaining this, Joe mentioned that a few years ago, he tried to use slag from the blacksmith shop to replace volcanic ash. However, the cement after this replacement material was not up to standard in terms of hardness and durability, and could not be used at all, so he gave up on it.
Thoughts came to mind.
After learning this information, Todd left the construction camp of the Knights' headquarters and began to think while walking on the road.
There are three kinds of cement in his mind now.
The first type is cement commonly used in modern industry, commonly known as Portland cement. The main chemical component is calcium silicate (calcium oxide and silicon oxide). When mixed with water, complex physical and chemical reactions will occur.
It is called hydrate. After the cement is mixed with water, it becomes a plastic slurry, and the cement slurry gradually thickens and loses its plasticity but does not yet have strength. This process is called condensation. Then it develops obvious strength and gradually develops.
into hard cement stone, a process called harden.
The second type, the ancient Terro cement from another world, is very similar to the ancient Roman cement from the previous life. Its main ingredients are quicklime and volcanic ash. Quicklime is calcium oxide, and the component of volcanic ash is silicon oxide.
In the third type, monks use homemade cement made from slag instead of volcanic ash.
So, why can modern cement and ancient Roman cement be used in construction, but the cement of the monks cannot?
Todd thought for a while and finally found the reason - temperature.
In modern cement production, small and medium-sized factories generally use kilns, medium-sized cement plants generally use rotary kilns, and small cement plants generally use vertical kilns. The temperature in the kiln can generally reach about 1450 degrees Celsius. Such a high temperature can calcine raw cement materials.
For clinker.
As for ancient Roman cement, the volcano next to the city was a natural kiln. The temperature inside the crater could be as high as 1800 degrees Celsius. The volcanic ash calcined by it was naturally the best cement clinker.
The monks' homemade cement is made from the slag of the blacksmith shop. Although the main component is silicon oxide, due to the limitations of the medieval furnace technology and fuel supply materials, the furnace temperature is generally only about 900 degrees Celsius, so naturally it cannot be fired.
Qualified cement materials.
So how should we increase the furnace temperature?
The kiln used for firing cement in the previous life was not as simple as the "farmer's furnace" used to refine silver. It was assembled from cylinders, wheels, and silos made of special materials. It had extremely strict requirements for sealing. Moreover, it
The fuel used is high-ash pulverized coal, which requires multiple processes. For those without professional knowledge and relevant experience, trying to make it is a fantasy.
But what if you use powers to increase the temperature of the furnace?
This method is indeed feasible. For example, the "Flame Breath" mutant - Leslie, once used his own superpowers to cooperate with Rachel's "idea power" to create some parts of the printing press. But it was only three printing machines.
The construction of the machine had already exhausted Leslie to death, and within a few days, he could no longer use the "Fire Breath" ability.
Therefore, unless the number of mutants reaches a certain scale, it may still be unrealistic to rely on the existing "Flame Breath" mutants in Muxi Town for large-scale cement production.
While thinking about these questions, Todd was planning to return to the church. When passing by the "Sisters Hotel", he suddenly saw Rachel and Karin walking out of the hotel carrying a large basket.
Todd stepped forward and after the two refused, he took the initiative to help them carry the basket to the vegetable patch behind the hotel.
"What's in here?"
Rachel opened the cloth, and the basket was filled with some rotten ingredients. She only heard her say: "The weather has been sultry recently, and a lot of the ingredients in the cellar have spoiled."
Karin stood next to Todd, helped him hold his arm, tilted her head and said: "Some days ago, Uncle Huggins brought us some ice cubes from the north, but they all melted after only a few days.
Already."
Todd sighed when he heard this. He thought of his "superpower library" - those petri dishes loaded with heterogeneous bacteria. He would spend an hour every two days transplanting them. This was a meticulous and meticulous task.
Heavy work. If you have a constant-temperature freezer in your previous laboratory, you can just use the bacterial cryopreservation method, which can save a lot of time and energy.
But how can a constant-temperature cold storage be such an easy-to-manufacture device?
To make a biological laboratory freezer that meets the minimum requirements, it requires at least a digital temperature control device, a finned evaporator, a foam box, anti-corrosion spraying technology, etc. If you want to build such a thing in the Middle Ages,
I guess it can only come true in a dream.
Karin curled her lips and added: "The room has been stuffy and hot these past few nights. If it weren't for Pamela, I might not be able to sleep all night."
Todd glanced at the girl with black hair and black eyes, and asked: "Pamela? Is that the girl who can use the "freeze" power?"
"That's right, at night, her body will emit a slight coolness. It's most comfortable to sleep with her in your arms!"
Todd laughed after hearing this, but the first image in his mind was of two girls hugging each other in disheveled clothes. He transported the basket to the vegetable patch behind the hotel. After saying goodbye to the two nuns, he returned to his room.
Experimental building.
Sitting on the chair, Todd began to sort out today's thoughts in his mind and wrote them down on paper.
The first thing written down was "cement" and a long series of logical formulas: cement - silica - furnace temperature - kiln or "flame breath"
Todd wrote this and said to himself: "If you want to bake cement, you must increase the furnace temperature; if you want to increase the furnace temperature, there are two ways, one is to make a kiln, and the other is to use "fire".
I don’t know how to make a kiln because of my breath ability, so..."
Todd put a cross over the word "kiln."
Looking at the remaining words "Flame Breath", Todd frowned and crossed his arms.
“Although the ‘Fire Breath’ superpower can increase the furnace temperature and obtain silica suitable for cement production, Leslie is the only one with the ‘Fire Breath’ mutant. He has to rest for a period of time every time he uses the superpower.
Large-scale production is completely impossible..." Todd thought of this, put a question mark behind "Flame Breath", and said: "Perhaps I can inject supernatural bacteria into other people's bodies to create a batch of "Flame Breath"
Alien species?"
After thinking for a moment, Todd immediately rejected the idea.
If large-scale xenogeneic transformation is carried out, not only will there be social unrest, but it will also cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. This method is not feasible, at least not now.
After much deliberation, Todd had no choice but to temporarily give up thinking about cement and began to write the second word "Icehouse".
Pamela's super power is "freezing", which is divided into two modes: active release and passive dispersion. When the girl actively releases the super power, it can quickly reduce the temperature around the skin in a short period of time; when she falls into a deep sleep, the skin
It will slowly release cold air and maintain a relatively stable low temperature environment in the surrounding space.
If Pamela could be kept in a deep sleep, theoretically, the cold air around her body could transform the room into a constant-temperature cold storage. However, it is impossible for the girl to stay asleep forever. In that case, within a few days, her brain and
The body will go into hypothermic shock.
Therefore, the method of using "frozen" alien species to create a constant-temperature cold storage does not seem to be feasible.
Todd stood up, walked around the room a few times with his hands behind his back, and finally sighed and said: "If I had received more than fifty doctorate degrees before time travel, I would have known everything from all walks of life.
It would be great if you have an all-round talent; or, you can just ask me to bring an encyclopedia..."
Walking to the back room of the laboratory, Todd found a clean ground and sat down. His eyes unconsciously looked at the white mice wearing "keels" in the iron cage. After looking at them for almost five minutes, he suddenly
Think of something.
It is not possible to transform humans into alien species in large quantities for the time being...
What if it's just about transforming animals into alien species?
What if animals are allowed to carry heterogeneous bacteria with "flame breath" and "freeze"?
Thinking of this, Todd took out two kinds of super bacteria from the "Super Power Library" and began to conduct corresponding research.
First of all, the "Inflammatory Breath" bacterium is a methanogenic bacterium, which is a strictly anaerobic bacterium. Under a microscope, it can be observed that it is a variant of the Methanosarcina bacteria of the same genus. It exists in the human body and
In the digestive cells of animals, H2/CO2, methanol, trimethylamine and other substances can be decomposed and polymerized to produce a large amount of methane. Compared with those methanogens in the previous life, the methane production and speed of this abnormal bacteria are much faster.
People are surprised.
Todd's specific method is to prepare a glass jar (or iron jar), fill it with culture medium and inject "Flame Breath" bacteria, and then bury an animal called a "tube worm". When "Flame Breath"
The bacteria enter the tubeworm's digestive cells, and the tubeworm eats
After the culture medium is added, a large amount of methane will gradually be produced in the tank. After being collected and purified, it can be used to calcine cement at high temperature. (The theoretical combustion temperature of purified methane can reach up to 2860 degrees Celsius, and the actual temperature is about 1700 degrees Celsius)
Regarding the "frozen" bacteria, Todd found a merchant in the town and purchased a batch of "dormouse" (European dormouse, Dryomysnitedula) from him. He injected a small dose of "frozen" bacteria into the bodies of these dormice.
Turn these little guys into a group of mini "frozen" alien species. Then
, divide this batch of dormice into two batches, one batch is fed continuously to ensure the nutrition in the body, and the other batch is induced to hibernate at low temperature. The cold air emitted by bacteria on the body surface of the hibernating batch of dormouse can turn one into
The closed room turns into a constant-temperature cold storage. After a period of time, the two batches of dormice rotate.
Through this method, Todd used microbiological methods to create two extremely special industrial basic "equipment" for the future development of Muxi Town - "Bacterial Fuel Bin" and "Microbial Ice Bank".