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People were fascinated by the idea of using dots and lines to represent words, and they called it the "Da Vinci Code."
When Hedy heard the news, she simply lowered her head and smiled, a look of nostalgia crossing her face.
Although modern Italian has only 21 letters—lacking j, k, w, x, and y—it closely resembles Latin. Even if this code were tospread to other countries, it could be widely used and passed down.
—In the future, many will sing his praises.
Leonardo was quite enthusiastic about it, but a hint of regret would also show on his face.
“At least in a few years, people can communicate between Florence and Rome,” he sighed. “But I still feel like it’s not enough.”
Hedy laughed, arranging the flowers she had just cut into a glass vase. “Is this about energy?”
“Do you remember the coal mine I mentioned to you?”
They had initially seized La Spezia, known as the city of sin, and the coal reserves there were far beyond anyone's expectations. But mining and extraction by human power alone were insufficient.
“I’ve got something great to show you,” she said, winking playfully, letting him place a daffodil in her hair.
“What is it?”
“The steam engine.”
“Steam?” Leonardo chuckled. “The thing on the boiler?”
“It’s even more powerful than you think,” Hedy said, taking his hand and leading him into the kitchen.
The kitchen staff all stood up in greeting when they saw the two of them, and she casually nodded at them before guiding him to the nearby boiler.
A pot of soup had just come to a boil, and steam, like white mist, rose as large bubbles burst in the air.
Leonardo observed its form and touched the edge of the pot. “It’s hot.”
“The key point,” she said, pointing directly to the most important aspect, “is that it can move things.”
The man furrowed his brow, thinking for a few seconds, and suddenly his expression changed. He quickly ran off to the laboratory.
In the corner, Machiavelli, who had been sneaking a slice of pizza, finally emerged and tried to express his disapproval. “He just left you like that? You’ve only been married for a few days!”
“Isn’t it cute?” Hedy smiled broadly.
The young man, with a confused expression, picked up his food and went off to find some fruit.
Leonardo began testing the power of steam and the fuel it required. Before discovering this, he had spent much time working on designs for the "perpetual motion machine."
This rumor had been circulating in Europe for two hundred years, sparking intense, fanatical thoughts. If it were possible to create a machine that could rotate endlessly, it would change the entire world.
However, at the time, he had drawn many sketches—those sketches that later she referred to as the "ferris wheel," which ultimately became discarded paper. Friction would consume the energy transferred by these mechanical devices, making perpetual motion impossible.
But this new device, although kinetic energy had its price, was much better than those earlier designs. Steam indeed had powerful propulsion, but the distance it could push wasn't very far.
Leonardo thought of a way to push it back into position and then have it push outward again—press, rebound, press, rebound. By repeating this in and out motion, a continuous energy cycle could be created!
With enough fuel and proper control and stabilization of this force, countless new machines could be born from it! He thought of the cars and trains they had discussed, along with the massive machines in factories that ran day and night.
All of this... was completely possible!
Leonardo dove into his lab, spending nearly four or five days at the Florence Academy without even realizing how much time had passed, forgetting that he had only recently gotten married.
