Chapter 4

Yang Yuanzhao was immersed in excitement and anticipation when the cold electronic voice of Dangdang suddenly interrupted his reverie: "Engine detected, scan?"

Only then did he notice the engine in his hand. He had a general understanding of the functions of the decomposition pool and the synthesizer, but he had never used the blueprints before. He said, "Scan!"

A faint red light gathered on the engine, scanning it from head to tail. Yang Yuanzhao thought to himself that the decomposition pool was blue, the synthesizer was yellow, and the scanner was red. Red, yellow, and blue—could these be the primary colors? The scanning speed was very fast, and in about a minute, Dangdang's voice sounded again: "Scan complete, 259 blueprints formed!"

One engine, 259 blueprints—was it really that exaggerated? Yang Yuanzhao asked, "Do I have to enter the integrated machine to see the blueprints?"

"No, just give the order to browse, and they will be directly transmitted to your brain!"

What advanced technology! Yang Yuanzhao marveled slightly but quickly steadied his mind and gave the order: "Browse blueprints!"

The blueprints were directly transmitted to his visual field by Dangdang, without needing to enter the subconscious. These blueprints were modified into something he could understand. After reading them, he realized that the blueprints were not just simple drawings. There were only 14 true design blueprints, including the overall design, inline-four cylinders, electronic ignition, turbocharging, and other design blueprints. The rest were material blueprints, over 200 of them, which both shocked and delighted Yang Yuanzhao. He began to understand the true significance of what Dangdang had brought him to 1908. As an engine engineer, he had prepared a lot of materials for modifying a road race car, including some alloys and a large amount of non-metallic materials. These were ordinary materials in 2014, but over a hundred years ago, each one was a groundbreaking material, each one priceless.

No longer caring about the specific blueprints, he quickly looked around. In the icy and snowy landscape, the materials that had been transported with him were clearly visible, scattered in a messy manner over an area of less than 100 square meters. These seemingly ordinary items might be treasures in the future.

In an instant, Yang Yuanzhao turned into a diligent little bee, shuttling among these items. It took him about an hour to sort through everything. Not all the items from his room had been brought over, perhaps because they hadn't been scanned into the space or had been lost. In any case, he inventoried the items in front of him: a high-hardness alloy steel workbench, a lift, a fixer, a set of alloy steel tools, a large number of metal tools, a set of electric tools, a Swiss Army knife, a hydraulic jack, a multimeter, an electronic calculator, a motorcycle shell, brake pads, a computer controller, and some wires and screws for modifying a car. These were all materials he used for his work.

In one corner of the workbench, there was a small bookshelf with some reference books, such as discussions on the differences and advantages of four-stroke and two-stroke engines, the development history of modern engines, the development history of diesel and aviation power, engine material science, and so on. These were reference books that Yang Yuanzhao used for his research. There were also some dictionaries, such as the Xinhua Dictionary, an English-Chinese dictionary, a German-Chinese dictionary, and so on, which were for learning.

In addition to these, there were some daily necessities: a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a set of audio equipment, an LCD TV, a canvas work uniform, a down jacket, a pair of jeans, a set of flame-resistant knit racing suits, a set of pure cotton underwear, a pair of leather shoes, socks, a wallet with some RMB, a bottle of dish soap, a mobile phone (a knockoff I5), several supermarket shopping bags, plastic bags, a box of Dove chocolate, two bottles of mineral water, a magnetized cup, a thermos, a plastic broom, a plastic basin, and a dustpan.

He scanned these materials one by one into the intelligent element integrated machine, obtaining thousands of blueprints. Among them, there were over 2,200 metal material blueprints and 1,500 non-metal material blueprints, with the rest being basic blueprints. These could be considered the foundation for Yang Yuanzhao's survival in 1908. The advancement of technology began with energy, and after World War II, when new energy sources were temporarily not available, changes in materials almost permeated every aspect of life. These items, which were commonplace in the 21st century, would be groundbreaking if brought to the early 20th century, with each one potentially revolutionizing various industrial fields.

After a chaotic scan, especially of items weighing several tons, Yang Yuanzhao found that his physical strength had greatly increased after the穿越 (time travel). Even the heavy alloy workbench, which weighed over 800 kilograms, he could lift. It seemed this was a side effect of the time travel.

These were all good things. The area was vast and sparsely populated, with few people around. Dangdang had mentioned that he was in Baotou, a fur trading hub during the late Qing and early Republic of China periods, with many merchant caravans passing through. These materials were all groundbreaking products. If they were leaked, the consequences would be unimaginable. Destroying them was beyond his current capabilities, and burying them, given his enhanced physical strength, was still a daunting task.

"Dangdang, can you store these things?"

"Yes, do you want to decompose them?"

"Decompose?" Yang Yuanzhao hesitated. After scanning, as long as he had the materials, he could restore them at any time, reducing the importance of the materials themselves. However, these materials had accompanied him from the distant 21st century to the early 20th century, imbued with a mysterious sentiment. He said, "No decomposition, just store them!"

"In the intelligent element integrated machine, there are three storage spaces: the decomposition storage space, the synthesis storage space, and the hall storage space. The first two spaces have a volume a thousand times that of the decomposition pool and synthesizer, while the hall is only as large as you see it."

The hall was not very large, and Yang Yuanzhao remembered it was about 30 to 40 square meters, with a height of about 4 to 5 meters. It was not suitable for storing many items, but it was enough for these things. Since the hall was not particularly important, he nodded and said, "Store them!"

As soon as he spoke, a red light scanned the surroundings. A few seconds later, all the items that had come with him disappeared without a trace. The scene before him was now a vast wilderness. Calming his mind, Yang Yuanzhao had no clear plan. He thought for a moment and asked, "Dangdang, how far am I from Baotou?"

"About 20 kilometers!"

Twenty kilometers was not far in normal circumstances. With a quick drive, it might take only ten minutes, or even less if there were few people around. However, now, with only his two feet, it would be a long walk. Yang Yuanzhao smiled bitterly and was about to take a step forward when Dangdang's voice sounded: "Aren't you going to decompose?"

"Decompose?" Yang Yuanzhao remembered that decomposition was the material for synthesis and also Dangdang's essential energy. He looked around and saw a large rock a few meters away. He pointed to it and asked, "Can that thing be placed in the decomposition area?"

A red light traveled several hundred meters and landed on the rock. Dangdang's voice sounded: "98 cubic meters, enough to accommodate it!"

Yang Yuanzhao remembered that the storage area could hold a thousand times the volume of the decomposer, about 125 cubic meters. He walked to the rock, placed his hand on it, and a red light flashed. The rock disappeared. In the next moment, he recited Dangdang's name and entered the intelligent element integrated machine. Indeed, in the decomposition area, he saw the rock, which almost filled the entire space. The rock, slightly irregular, had been divided into several parts.

"How do I decompose it? Do I need to operate it?"

"No, you can set it up on the decomposition pool!" Dangdang said. A semi-transparent control panel appeared on the decomposition pool, with a series of options. The 98.5 cubic meters of the large rock could be continuously decomposed 788 times, with options for full decomposition, 1 time, 10 times, 100 times, and custom times.

"Dangdang, how long does it take to decompose once?"

"10 minutes!" Dangdang replied, "Each level upgrade reduces the time by 5%!"

Yang Yuanzhao thought for a moment. Baotou was about 20 kilometers away. Even at a speed of 5 kilometers per hour, it would take four hours, and with some rest, it would take about five hours. He marked 30 times on the control panel. A blue light flashed, and the decomposition pool emitted a blue light, precisely cutting a cubic section from the rock and placing it in the decomposition pool, which then began to operate.

The integrated machine could operate automatically, and Yang Yuanzhao had nothing else to do. He left the integrated machine and found himself back in the wilderness. The sun had just risen, and the gentle sunlight in early spring gave a sense of warmth. The cold wind blew, lifting countless ice chips. Yang Yuanzhao laughed heartily, feeling a surge of heroism, and took a step forward.

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