American: Native Empire

The invention of duralumin alloy excited the Golden Lake and the researchers.

“It’s definitely better than regular aluminum, but… it’s still hard to use it as the main material for airplanes.”

However, Golden Lake soon calmed down his excitement. 

The first duralumin he made was beyond his expectations, but that was it.

He needed to obtain an aluminum alloy that was even stronger. 

Therefore, he continued his research on duralumin.

Still, the direction was clear, so the research gained momentum.

In this process, the aging hardening method was established. 

This was a method of heating duralumin to about 500 degrees and then rapidly cooling it in water.

The duralumin made in this way became very soft. 

However, if left at room temperature in this state, it became harder over time.

“The problem is the ratio of additives…”

Golden Lake realized this painfully as he led the research. 

No matter how much aging hardening he did, the quality of duralumin varied greatly depending on what and how much he added.

But over time, he managed to get enough strength to use it for airplanes.

He developed a suitable duralumin, but Golden Lake wanted to create a material that was more suitable for airplanes. However, the head of the Earthbound Group, Blue Leaf, who saw this duralumin, dissuaded Golden Lake.

“Isn’t this enough? You might develop a better material if you continue your research in the future, but I think it’s better to adopt this material for now.”

Blue Leaf was a person who took office after Solid Pillar retired. 

He was the seventh among Solid Pillar’s fifteen children, but he became the head of the group. 

That was because he had the most excellent management skills.

The Earthbound Group was already huge, but after he took over the head office, it grew even bigger.

“…Can’t you wait a little longer?”

However, Golden Lake hesitated with regret. He felt that he could make a better alloy if he had more time.

As an engineer who had built up an enormous reputation, he always felt pressured to present great results.

This time was no different. 

He thought that his current achievement was good enough, but that was it. It wasn’t shocking enough.

“If Golden Lake says so, then of course I have to listen to you. But in my judgment, this level looks fine.”

For the Earthbound Group, Golden Lake’s existence was of immense importance. 

He was the one who made the Earthbound Group grow to this extent after Solid Pillar.

That’s why Blue Leaf couldn’t force him. He couldn’t risk losing big by chasing small gains.

He just whispered his thoughts softly.

“Then… please give me a month. If I can’t develop a better material by then, I agree to adopt the current material.”

“Let’s do that. I hope you get the results you want.”

“Thank you.”

He got a month’s time, but in fact, Golden Lake was somewhat resigned. 

A month was a very short time in material development research.

But he used this time wisely. 

He tried to do as many experiments as possible.

In the meantime.

“…Huh?”

The researcher was exhausted from so many experiments and mechanically measured the strength of the test material when he was startled.

A strength that was incomparable to the existing duralumin appeared on the measuring device.

He checked it and quickly ran towards Golden Lake.

“Huff, huff… Director! Come quickly!”

Golden Lake got up with a start at the sight of the researcher who shouted excitedly without catching his breath.

“What’s going on?”

“A tremendous strength has been recorded!”

“Really? Lead me there right away!”

With that said, Golden Lake followed behind the researcher and ran out.

And he saw it.

The duralumin with tremendous strength.

“This is…”

The existing duralumin and the duralumin in front of him were as different as crude iron and steel.

“Bring me the composition table!”

“Yes, yes!”

At the sound of Golden Lake’s shout, the researcher quickly handed him the composition table of the alloy. Golden Lake scanned the table swiftly.

“Zinc 8%, copper 1.5%, magnesium 1.5%, and the rest is aluminum… Is this all?”

“Yes, sir.”

Golden Lake had a hunch.

He felt that the alloy in front of him was the best possible outcome that could be produced at the moment. That’s why he ordered without hesitation.

“Gather all the researchers right now. We’re going to analyze this material from now on.”

“Yes, sir!”

***

The experiment on duralumin progressed rapidly.

They stopped all the planned experiments on other materials and focused only on this amazing duralumin with great strength.

“It’s definitely much stronger than before…”

The problem was that zinc was mixed in, causing stress corrosion.

But they couldn’t remove zinc either.

It was as much as 8%.

Therefore, they had to find a way to prevent stress corrosion in this state.

Still, it was much easier than before since they had a basic base. 

They just had to add various corrosion inhibitors to the duralumin base.

Eventually, this process took more than two months. But the result of countless trials and errors was sweet.

“Stress corrosion doesn’t occur anymore!”

“We did it!”

“Aaaaaah!”

The researchers went crazy with excitement. 

They had been working on alloy development for a long time, and finally it was over.

They added manganese and chromium by 0.25% each to the basic duralumin base, and no more stress corrosion occurred.

Golden Lake also hugged the researchers and rejoiced with them.

‘Now I can make a decent passenger plane.’

He didn’t know it, but the alloy he made was almost identical to the super-duralumin in the original history.

It was a material that was made in Japan in the late 1930s with relatively few trials and errors. 

The saying that some people are destined to succeed couldn’t fit better.

***

The duralumin that Golden Lake made shocked people as he expected.

It couldn’t be helped.

The duralumin he announced was stronger than the highest strength steel for carbon steel welded structures. 

And its specific gravity was only 2.81.

Considering that the specific gravity of carbon steel was 7.85, it meant that a weight reduction of up to 2.8 times was possible.

The first ones to react were the scientists.

“Crazy… How did he make such a monstrous alloy?”

“Huh. Another innovation will happen in the world.”

“It’s not even his specialty. If he can do alloy development too…”

“He didn’t even major in mechanical engineering when he developed the internal combustion engine.”

“That’s true.”

Scientists from all over the country, no, all over the world, talked about the duralumin that Golden Lake made whenever they gathered.

It was because of the synergy between Golden Lake’s worldwide reputation and the shocking strength and specific gravity of the duralumin he made.

“Aluminum… I heard that aluminum foil was a big hit recently, and now there’s such a great alloy developed.”

“Hmm. I think there are still a lot of things to make with aluminum. Don’t you think?”

“Maybe?”

As a result, interest in aluminum increased even more.

Anyway, with scientists making a fuss like this, it soon became a big topic among ordinary people as well.

“I heard that Golden Lake did another big thing again?”

“What was it, he made an amazing alloy with aluminum.”

“Ha ha. This guy. That’s called duralumin.”

“Is that so? Hmm. Anyway, Golden Lake is really amazing. Didn’t he surpass the achievements of Sharp Fang?”

“What are you talking about? No matter what, he’s not as good as Sharp Fang.”

“Come on. If you ignore the fact that he’s not from the North Continent, what does he lack?”

And from then on, Golden Lake began to be mentioned more often as the best engineer.

The imperial citizens still regarded the North Continent, especially the Imperial University graduates, as the best. 

On the other hand, Golden Lake was from the South Continent and had not even graduated from college.

Despite this disadvantage, he was ranked as the best, which showed how much he had accomplished.

While the whole world was making a fuss about Golden Lake and duralumin, he continued to run tirelessly as usual.

Blue Leaf tried to dissuade him.

“Director, you have achieved results that far exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. So why don’t you take a break this time?”

But Golden Lake shook his head sideways.

“I appreciate your concern, but I have no intention of doing that. If I compare it to cooking, duralumin is just an ingredient. How can I say that cooking is over when I only prepared the ingredients? I want to complete all the delicious dishes.”

He tried to persuade him several times after that, but he could not break Golden Lake’s stubbornness.

He immediately started working on developing an airplane using duralumin.

‘Now I can finally make a real airplane.’

He had a lot of complaints about the airplanes so far.

That’s why Golden Lake had been designing how to complete an airplane without the weight limit.

And duralumin, which was made this time, was a material that far exceeded Golden Lake’s expectations. 

Thanks to that, he had to spend more time modifying the design to make it a more high-performance airplane.

“Huh! When did he make this design?”

“…Is the rumor really true?”

“What rumor?”

“That, you know. There’s an alien tied up in Golden Lake’s house…”

“Heh heh. Maybe that’s true. I want to catch that alien and torture him too. I’m confident I can torture him very well…”

To the eyes of the researchers who did not know these circumstances, it seemed like the design came out of nowhere. 

That’s why more and more people believed in this nonsense rumor.

Of course, as the research on airplanes continued, the design was modified. Theory and reality were different. 

But the overall outline was almost identical.

As time passed, airplanes using duralumin as the main material appeared one after another at the Earth Surface Division Research Institute.

This was mass-produced under the full support of the Earth Surface Division.

And the next year, the first practical passenger plane carrying a hundred people crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Also, the fighter jets he made were delivered to the Imperial Army and opened up a new era of aerial warfare.

Kim Ki-woo, who watched this, immediately gave orders.

“Now we can reach anywhere in the world very quickly with airplanes, not only in the Wakan Tanka Empire but also in other continents. But for this we need not only a lot of airplanes but also enough airports to take off and land them. Directors, build airports in major areas across the country on a large scale.”

As soon as the Emperor’s words fell, an airport construction boom occurred. 

Numerous construction companies worked hard to win airport construction contracts, and more than a hundred airports were built simultaneously across the country.

Golden Lake, who pushed the empire into a wave of change like this, dreamed of his next dream.

‘If I have duralumin, going into space is not a dream.’

That was none other than going into space.

In fact, rocket technology was also progressing considerably.

Golden Lake believed that he could send a spacecraft into space using rockets and duralumin.

Of course, he knew that this was not something he could do alone. 

He needed advanced mathematical calculations to see any possibility.

But he had no intention of giving up on his challenge.

He wanted to be remembered in imperial history as the first person to conquer space.

Perhaps Golden Lake’s challenge would not stop until he died.