Myriad Paths

Facing the mysterious leader of the secret sect and listening to his speculations about the universe, Li Qi just watched calmly.

There are actually a considerable number of secret churches that adhere to the principle of "Let's see in heaven."

It's also normal.

Just like normal work and so on, no one will go there with the intention of failure from the beginning, right?

Then, in the process of civilization development, it is natural to want to continue to develop towards the sky.

Li Qi listened to the other party's impassioned speech and nodded from time to time.

Now Li Qi already knows that everything that has happened is real, and these creatures are by no means false, even if they have no reality.

Therefore, Li Qi would not turn a deaf ear to their excited emotions like he did before the fourth grade.

Although, he can also understand that the truth may be a bit too cruel for these creatures.

After listening for a while, Li Qi quietly integrated into the secret sect.

As for the leader of the Esoteric Cult, Carolingian, he was just conducting daily sermons, preaching, and disseminating their research results.

Although even he knew that his research results urgently needed to be verified, it was too difficult to observe the sky, so he could only stay at deductions for the time being.

It was not until the sermon was over that all the believers left with satisfaction. After he sent them off one by one and gave them notes filled with mathematical formulas and strict logical deductions, he closed the door.

However, after closing the door, he discovered that there was still one believer who had not left.

"Sir, do you still have any questions about not leaving?" Caroline asked kindly when she saw this believer with his face covered.

He did not doubt this remaining believer, because although those who could come here were masked, they were all strictly screened, and... this person exuded an aura of 'the same kind'.

He didn't know how to describe it, but he could feel that the other party showed strong curiosity, which was not what those insects from the orthodox religion could do.

"Professor." Li Qi addressed the other party's position in the 'Secret Cult'.

Yes, although it is said to be a esoteric sect, it is actually an academic organization in the name of religion. They honor their leaders by this title.

According to their language, this word actually means "elder", "mentor" and "wise man", so Li Qi directly understood it as professor.

Although he has completely mastered the language of this world, he is still used to understanding it in the language of the world.

"Apprentice, stay here, do you have anything else to say?" Carolin walked to Li Qi's side and asked.

"Professor, you just talked about a machine that flies into the sky. You said that you can use a cannon to launch people up. I want to hear the specific technical details. Maybe... you can try it." Li Qi said.

"Try, are you ready to conduct an experiment!?" Caroline was surprised.

This is a big expense. If there are members who can conduct experiments, that would be great!

"Yes, if possible, I would like to try it and know some technical details." Li Qi said.

"It's a good thing. The church will support you. What do you want to know? Or should we start from the basics?" Carolinian asked.

Although he said it was a question, in fact, he couldn't wait to start his presentation immediately.

He opened some curtains that had not been opened before, and there were some blackboards underneath. They were illuminated by infrared lights. To the indigenous people here, this was a "bright place".

"After my research, I discovered the rules for artillery firing with solid bullets, hollow bullets and other shells, as well as the shooting rules determined through experiments, the known relationships between the flight distance of the shells, the angle of attack and the amount of charge, There are also the effects of the gap between the shell and the chamber wall and other causes of projectile deflection.”

"Although we have calculated that in a vacuum, throwing any heavy object in a non-vertical direction will form a parabola. Although this fact is already the basic principle of artillery, it continues to increase as the speed of the moving object increases. The air resistance has greatly changed the practical application of parabolic theory in artillery. "

As he spoke, he wrote and drew on the blackboard: "For example, according to my calculations on the battlefield and at the shooting range, the trajectory of an artillery shell with a muzzle velocity of 1,400-1,700 feet per second is very different from the theoretical parabola, so that As long as the shooting angle is about 20 degrees, the maximum flying distance can be achieved, but according to the parabolic theory, the shooting angle should be 45 degrees. "

The leader of the cult easily told some scary things, such as battlefields and shooting ranges.

However, Li Qi actually knew that Carolin's secret identity was the leader of a secret cult, in charge of the mission of exploring the sky, but his apparent identity was actually a great scholar, a specially appointed scholar of the national army, and an artillery fire expert. experts.

"According to my experiments and calculations, the results determined this deviation quite accurately, and accordingly determined the shooting angle that each type of artillery should have when firing at a certain distance with a certain charge. However, it affects the flight of the cannonball. There are many other factors. First, there is a gap, that is, there is a difference between the diameter of the projectile and the diameter of the bore, because in order to facilitate loading, the diameter of the projectile should be smaller than the diameter of the bore. This gap first causes the gas that expands when the charge explodes to leak. Dropped, in other words, weakened the force of the explosion."

He kept chattering about his professional knowledge, as if he really wanted the apprentice in front of him to learn how to judge the shooting angle, and then use this knowledge to launch himself.

"There is another point, which can prevent the artillery shell from flying correctly in the given direction, resulting in direction deviation or height deviation. Secondly, the weight of the charge must be different from its condition at the time of launch, and the artillery shell will also be affected by The eccentricity phenomenon caused by the inconsistency between the center of gravity and the center of the circle also causes various deviations. The size of the deviation is determined by the relative position of the center of gravity and the center of the circle when launching. I will write the formula here. In addition, there are many other factors that make the cannonball It seems that they are flying under the same conditions, but the results are different.”

"If you want to send people into the sky through launch, you need strict measurements and calculations. I have a data correspondence table here, which may be able to help you."

"As long as the charge is one-third of the weight of the cannonball, and the length of the barrel is between 16 and 18 times the caliber, if it is fired straight and the barrel is horizontal, the cannonball will be about 300 yards away. If the shooting angle is increased, the range can be increased to 3,000 or 4,000 yards, but at such a distance, the shell loses any possibility of hitting the target, so there is still a trade-off. "

His words were quite trivial and he spoke very fast. His hands were constantly writing formulas on the blackboard, drawing parabolic graphs, telling the performance of various charges, the impact force of the artillery shells, etc.

Obviously, he had been planning for a long time about "putting people in iron balls and launching them into the sky through cannons." Now that Li Qi wanted to conduct an experiment, he caught him immediately.

Li Qi listened to the other party's lecture carefully.

After he was satisfied with what he said, Li Qicai suddenly said: "So... Professor, what do you think about the obstruction of the Orthodox Church?"

"Orthodox? Are you talking about those idiots who are stubborn and have no regard for the development of the times? They just want to be conservative and don't allow anyone to set foot in the sky? We will defeat him sooner or later." Carolin said fiercely.

"But...will defeating them really be beneficial?" Li Qize asked: "I heard...that there are 'gods' in the sky. If the gods are offended..."

"It's ridiculous. If there really is a god, and he's really that powerful, and he doesn't want us to peek into the sky, then why doesn't he just create a wall and completely block the sky?" Carolin asked.

"But, professor, look, there really is a wall." Li Qi pointed out the window.

Outside the window, there are thick clouds and mist.

In the sky, a majestic 'wall' bursts into view with awe-inspiring majesty. It is a behemoth, a thick black shadow abruptly printed on the sky scenery.

The gray towers in the city emit blazing 'infrared rays'. The huge industrial waste dump was filled with stench, and the piercing whistles kept ringing. Even at this time, the thick chimneys were still spewing smoke and dust outwards.

This terrible cloud covered the rough walls of the building like a collision, scraping the paint and concrete on the walls, and scattering dust in all directions.

The smoke is steaming, the clouds are rolling and changing, and the stench of decay lingers year after year.

The thick black fog and smoke in the sky formed this "city of thick fog", completely submerging the sky in haze.

These fogs generated by industrial civilization are like a thick wall, blocking mortals from peering into the sky.

If this is an obstacle set by the gods, there seems to be nothing wrong with it, right?

"Before the industrial age, I heard that there was no such wall. But in the industrial age, we have the ability to observe the sky, and this wall suddenly appeared..." Li Qi said this, and then looked at what was in front of him. Carolingian.

However, Carolin suddenly became furious and roared: "Are you saying this because you want to give up the experiment? Are you afraid of the revenge of the Orthodox Church?!"

"There is no God at all in this world. These fogs are emitted by factories. As long as the factories are shut down, these fogs can disappear. This is not a miracle at all, but our power."

"If this wall is caused by divine power, then this god is not the god in the sky, but the god of civilization himself! In this case, shouldn't we make more use of this divine power!"

Carolin yelled at Li Qi and kept tapping on the blackboard.

Li Qi listened to this and nodded: "I understand, professor."

"As long as you understand." Carolin exhaled and managed to calm down.

"Then, professor, I'll take my leave now. We still need to prepare for the experiment."

Li Qi said this.

"Walk slowly," said Caroline.

Li Qi nodded slightly, and then left here.

Then, the next destination is to find someone from the Orthodox Church.

After chatting, then... we can use this world to confirm the nature of the dead demon's remains, right?

Li Qi thought so as he walked on the dark street.

However, at this moment, on the street, Li Qi suddenly felt an attack.

In the dark corner, a monster was gnawing at the corpse, and Li Qi's arrival made the monster discover new prey, so he rushed towards Li Qi.

This is a baby-like monster. It looks like a baby, with white to transparent skin. Its big black eyes shine with a very clever look, and the huge mouth is completely rotted and damaged.

A terrifying and routine-distorting change in life.

This is a typical manifestation of the 'Desire Realm'. The emotions of a large number of intelligent creatures can distort the Desire Realm. Even ordinary people living in the Desire Realm have this ability. This monster is a typical example.

Li Qi stood there.

And the monster stopped two or three meters away from Li Qi.

He felt an...indescribable power.

"A product of pure demonic thoughts? Take me to the place where you were born, thank you." Li Qi said, and then picked up the baby.

The baby then acted like a real baby, squeaking, and really used his tender fingers to help Li Qi guide the way.

But Li Qi did not leave, but walked to the body.

It was a man. Even the corpse could smell a strong smell of alcohol. There were tattoos and wounds on his body. He should be a local gangster who got drunk and came to this alley. He encountered a monster caused by mental distortion and became a deceased.

Well, leave it to the local sheriffs.

Li Qi followed the baby's guidance and quickly walked to a river.

It's better to say it's a river than a smelly ditch.

There is a stench of feces, and there is even weird steam floating in some places. Because of the excessive filth, the water flow is quite viscous, and the river as a whole becomes sluggish and slow. From time to time, a certain area of ​​the water will rise and smoke. That is the mixing of the river water. The result of an unknown chemical substance.

Chemical sewage, factory wastewater, domestic sewage, corpses, waste from failed experiments, cinders, all kinds of things flowed out from factories, laboratories and sewers, and were randomly mixed into the current black water.

No one even knows what the characteristics of the river water are at this moment.

"Is this where you were born?" Li Qi looked at the river and put the baby in front of him into the water.

The monster instantly dissipated and turned into countless fragments of babies that merged into the river.

"Women who lost their jobs due to the cotton famine have become abandoned by society, and they are still like this now... The number of young prostitutes is unexpectedly high." Li Qi has already deduced the reason.

Therefore, this river that crosses the city is the place where abandoned babies in the entire city are destroyed.

While countless babies died, twisted desires gave birth to the new baby monster.

Everyone says life is priceless, but is life really priceless? When this question appears in the minds of 'all living beings in the world of desire', then the birth of this kind of monster is inevitable.

This is a world where legends will come true if they spread widely enough.

The moment Li Qi 'transcended' the monster, several people surrounded Li Qi.

"Extraordinary, where is your license?" one of them said.