I will be crowned king

There is such a machine that can draw graphics, predict weather, query information, arrange schedules, formulate production processes, and design reservation plans...

But all in all, its essence is to turn all kinds of information into the simplest numbers - or small round holes on paper - and store them in a huge information library, and then call up the numbers when needed, and use them in a certain way. Based on the established goals and requirements, the most basic four arithmetic operations are performed, and finally the answer desired by the designer is obtained.

This kind of machine is called a mechanical general-purpose computer, and is also more vividly called a difference engine.

It is driven by a steam core and consists of mechanical gears weighing several tons or even dozens of tons. It has been iterated repeatedly in the hundreds of years since Saint Isaac successfully produced the first prototype "Babbage", giving birth to countless derivatives. , the performance is also becoming more and more powerful - according to the church, the most advanced models already have certain "prophetic" functions.

Of course, this is not surprising, because the so-called "prophecy" is just the result of inputting enough information. According to this standard, as long as it has a large enough information base, any difference engine can do the same thing. It's just that the time required is different; even after a hundred years of iteration, today's difference engine is still not fundamentally different from the original Saint Isaac's prototype.

But even so, the manufacturing technology of the difference engine is still firmly in the hands of the church, and it has not been successfully acquired by any country or force after hundreds of years.

On the one hand, of course, it is because this technology itself is very difficult to master. Saint Isaac was an epoch-making genius. The "Truth Society" he led also gathered the top researchers of that era, and overcame all difficulties to successfully create the prototype. machine; by the time the second public order meeting in the forty-seventh year of the Saints calendar ended and the sectarian schism war ended, nearly fifty years had passed since the death of Saint Isaac. The generation of talents and technology had already destined that the technology would inevitably be unsustainable. .

On the other hand, it is also because the church knows very well that it has not achieved a breakthrough based on St. Isaac. As long as the technology is leaked, the church's knowledge monopoly will instantly go bankrupt, and the blockade will naturally be the natural result.

However, there is a saying in this world that "the more you don't get, the more you desire"... The more the church blocks research and technology related to the difference engine, the more it arouses the curiosity and desire of exploration of countless scholars, a large number of whom They are all professors under the name of the church college, who use their positions to secretly carry out mechanical computer-related topics.

Of course, most of the results are not ideal. The most successful ones are to create more professional "mechanical calculations", which are far from the concept of computers.

As for those who were more successful...well, they basically had a few Inquisitor friends later on.

Wilhelm Gottfried is also a member of the large group of researchers who is interested in the difference engine. However, unlike many of his fellow mathematicians, the first thing he noticed was not the difference engine itself, but the foundation of its subordinates. Discipline: Semiotics.

Through simple symbols, originally huge information can be compressed and stored in a simpler way. At the same time, as long as the person who possesses the information knows the meaning of the symbols, even if he does not understand what the information before compression looks like. If the form exists, the same content can be obtained after deciphering.

And if ordinary symbols can only "store" the simplest and straightforward information, then the ancient runes successfully deciphered by Saint Isaac can even explain unconventional things that should be completely incomprehensible to humans themselves. information.

This unimaginable leap opened a new door for Wilhelm Gottfried. Of course, it also attracted the attention of the inquisitors in advance - although at that time he had not yet come into contact with the content of the difference engine. .

Because of this, he was forced to leave St. Isaac's College and chose to leave Clovis City to avoid the limelight in the new world. As a result, he bumped into Anson Bach... After going around for a while, he returned to a familiar place. He actually restarted the research on the difference engine that he had originally planned to give up.

"So... things like fate are indeed elusive." In the office on the second floor of the factory, Wilhelm Gottfried suddenly said with emotion: "I have no hope of ambition, but I can To be rekindled; the most unrealistic ideas eventually become the truth.”

This was originally a place where foremen would supervise workers on the production line to see if they were lazy, but now it has been completely transformed into a laboratory and workshop to promote the replication of the differential engine. All the corners of the room are filled with all the paper that can be found. Information, the glass wall that facilitates surveillance has also been completely covered up, and two blackboards are hung to facilitate verification.

"Am I allowed to assume that some people are being sarcastic?"

Elizabeth Lemmon, the former attendant of the Knights of Judgment, had an expressionless face: "The Church of the Ring of Order, which claims to be the enemy of the Old Gods, is actually the organization with the most profound research and understanding of the Three Old Gods. It's ironic, isn't it? ?”

"No, I don't think so at all - the people who know you best are often your enemies. It makes sense when you think about it from this perspective." William shook his head:

"The only unreasonable thing is that after sorting out Saint Isaac's notes, I found that the church doesn't seem to understand the Three Old Gods as well as they thought, or... they are deliberately showing a lack of understanding."

"...Why are you mentioning this all of a sudden? I'm already your prisoner and I don't care at all..."

"It can also be observed from another perspective that the Church of the Ring of Order and the system it advocates can be seen as a brand new variant of the old god system." William Gottfried continued:

"We can completely assume that there is such a group of Old Gods who completely disagree with the majority of their colleagues' ideas on 'magic', so they created a new evolutionary path... Don't you think this is a very interesting idea?"

"Wilhelm Gottfried, I repeat, I don't care at all..."

"Speaking of evolution, do you know that the spell casters of the Old God Sect were originally called...evolvers." William was still talking to himself without paying attention: "They unswervingly believe that what happened to them The mutation is an 'evolution' in which lower life forms jump to higher life forms. Reaching or surpassing the mutation process completed by the Three Old Gods will be regarded as an absolutely successful evolutionary standard."

"This is really an interesting contradiction. On the one hand, I believe that there is no absolute in evolution, and every successful evolver is a unique individual; on the other hand, I regard a certain evolver as a model of absolute success, and strive to be close to it at all costs... To be honest, from a researcher’s perspective, I think the failure of the Old God Sect is almost inevitable.”

"..."

Elizabeth no longer wanted to speak anymore, and stared coldly at William who continued to talk, as if watching a clown performing alone.

"In this case, why can't the Church of the Ring of Order be the one that succeeds or fails in the end?" William spread his hands: "I have never included any subjective color, or absolutely subjective... Angle is really an interesting concept, you Say yes?"

"But now that we've talked about the angle, I think it's quite timely to put those things on you - from the very beginning, you were not prepared to hand over the technology related to the difference engine at all, you just did it just to survive. Lie; but now that we have demonstrated enough strength to reproduce and manufacture the Difference Engine, you seem to have chosen to acquiesce and accept it, and no longer resist."

"This kind of... how to put it, ah... acceptance of fate is very deceptive. On the surface, you are obedient, but in fact, you hide the most important information."

He suddenly turned around and blocked the glass window of the office with his sickly body: "The act of communication is mutual; if you bring out enough important information, you can get equally important information."

"I can't help but ask, what have we revealed to you so far... Anson Bach holds the notebook of Saint Isaac, he is a spellcaster and even... I won't say that term, and has in the city of Clovis With considerable strength and influence, they are one of the forces most likely to bring Clovis to power.”

"If this information is completely integrated, it seems that we can come to the conclusion that 'this person is very dangerous and is the most terrifying enemy of the church and must be eradicated as soon as possible'; and what can you do with this information after you have it?"

"I think...the answer is self-evident." He stared into Elizabeth's empty eyes:

"Revenge, isn't it?"

The moment the words fell, Elizabeth's expression...

Nothing changes.

This is natural - the attendants of the Judgment Knights have experienced the special experience of being defeated and captured, and their minds have long been accustomed to numbness and indifference, to the point where even if there are emotional fluctuations, their bodies have "forgotten" how to express them.

"A qualified Avenger, Elizabeth Lemon." William Gottfried's tone suddenly became much lighter: "From your perspective, why did the church lose the war last time? There are only two points: being far away from the Old World caused the church to be unable to exert its greatest strength, and being too underestimating the enemy led to its ultimate failure."

"Perhaps... mobilizing all the power of the church and completely erasing Anson Bach from this world, including the Kingdom of Clovis, no matter the cost, is the only way to succeed."

"For such a grand goal, the mere difference engine technology is nothing more than fishing bait. Even I can become a sacrifice for revenge. Let the Kingdom of Clovis master the technology of the difference engine, which will give the church a justifiable reason to transfer this technology to the Church." Kingdom eradicated, destroyed.”

"It's a really interesting plan, but you seem to have overlooked a small problem." William raised his right hand and made a gap with his index finger and thumb:

"Assuming that the Church really uses all its strength, can they really destroy Clovis, or...will they be too late before the Difference Engine technology is completely spread?"

At this moment, the numb Elizabeth's pupils finally shrank slightly.

"I guess... you must think that if Anson Bach mastered the difference engine technology, he would never make it public." William nodded seriously: "It is a natural idea for the Church of the Ring of Order - —The knowledge that is enough to form an absolute generation gap must be firmly in one's own hands, and only in one's own hands."

"But let me tell you one of the most basic principles about technology, that is scale... Only with a large enough scale can technology and theory break through the barriers and find new breakthroughs."

"Only with enough mutation samples can we get the truly 'correct' answer to evolution; only with enough control groups can we decipher incomprehensible information." William's expression gradually became more wonderful: "Quantity...is magic. .”

"Two or three hundred people, one or two thousand people... This is the only number of researchers that the church can gather and can absolutely maintain trust in. Working behind closed doors for hundreds of years will not be able to break through the limits reached by Saint Isaac, because when he created this kind of thing We had the support of an entire kingdom, but you... didn't."

"Yes, it's that simple. It's not intelligence, talent, or financial resources...it's quantity. A large enough number is the key to turning things around."

"Why was Saint Isaac born in Clovis and not the Empire, not Hantu, not the Elf Kingdom of Iser... It's very simple. The manpower and material resources that King Clovis and the Emperor of the Empire can mobilize are vastly different in nature. "

"So as long as Anson Bach does not block the technology of the Difference Engine, but discloses it to the world, how long do you think...the Ring of Order Church can maintain its technological advantage?"

"Twenty years, ten years, five years or..."

William smiled and staggered closer to Elizabeth, who was already trembling slightly and completely panicked inside. He deliberately leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"Now please tell me, isn't the concept of angles interesting?"

Elizabeth stopped suddenly, her eyes widening as if being stared at by a ferocious beast.

William said no more, turned around silently, and walked out of the office.

As soon as he went out, Fabian, who had been waiting outside for a long time, immediately came forward to greet him with a complicated expression.

"Okay, I have completed the task you gave me." The moment he saw the other party, the smile on William's face suddenly disappeared: "I personally think that from now on, Miss Elizabeth Lemon will be an absolutely important person to us. honest person."

"Of course." He added: "This is just from my personal point of view."

"Thank you very much." Fabian forced out an ugly smile and clapped subconsciously: "It's really amazing. I didn't expect you to have such methods in interrogation and extorting confessions."

"Interrogation, forced confession...what are you talking about?" William raised his eyebrows with disdain: "I am an ancient runeologist, and interpreting and deciphering information is my job."

"Well, in words you can understand, I'm just an... empathetic scientist."