Knowledge is love

Part 15: Sweet Treat

It was official. War between the Tsukasa empire and the Kingdom of Science was on its way. To help give themselves the advantage over the Tsukasa empire's brute force, the Kingdom of Science was gonna make cell phones. That way, they can talk to Taiju and Yuzuriha, who were their spies in the Tsukasa empire.

"Now, we'll only have a few months to finish it," Senku said.

"Hm? Why do you say that," Kohaku asked.

"Because that's when Tsukasa's assault is gonna start," Senku said. "That sound about right, mentalist?"

"Let me think," Gen said. "If I put myself in Tsukasa's brain..." Gen concentrated as he assumed the role of Tsukasa and impersonated him to better think like him. "We're in total control of the revival fluid. So as the time passes our manpower grows. Yes. But our main foe is Senku. If we give him too much time, he'll find a way to mass-produce gunpowder."

Chrome and Suika were shocked as Kohaku was ready to fight. Senku said that Gen's imitation was dead on and y/n was impressed.

"I have a question," Chrome said. "So, like, once Tsukasa finds out you're still alive, won't Taiju and Yuzuriha be in danger?"

"A guy like him would kill them, right," Kohaku asked.

"Nah. That won't be an issue," Senku admitted. "They're more useful as potential hostages. So killing them would be a waste."

Chrome was a bit shocked by this answer but as always, Senku wasn't wrong. Taiju and Yuzuriha were skilled, making them valuable to have around. Plus given the situation, if Tsukasa wanted, he could use them as hostages to make a deal or get Senku to forfeit. Not to mention, there is no reason for Tsukasa to suspect them of anything given they're in the stone world. As far as he's aware, there is no way they can communicate without him knowing.

"The rules of the game are pretty simple," Senku said. "And the advantage belongs to the side who can launch the first strike. So we'll create a cell phone to make that happen."

"And it would be illogical to attack when winter is around the corner," y/n said. "So we have until spring."

"We've got a hard spring deadline," Senku said. "Let's go!"

With a deadline in place, they had to get to work. To help the process move quicker, the entire village was put to work to help make it. Plus given that Senku is the village chief, that meant more people were willing to help which was much appreciated since making a cell phone is going to be difficult.

"There's a mountain's worth of hurdles we're gonna need to clear," Senku said.

"Oh, man, I am dying to know how this cell phone thing lets you talk to someone who's crazy far away like that," Chrome exclaimed excitedly. "You gotta tell me how it works, Senku or y/n if you can, I'd appreciate it! Come on you two, stop holding out on me!"

Out of nowhere, Old Man Kaseki popped out straddling y/n and Senku.

"Tell me how the dang thing works," Old man Kaseki said, equally excited. "But don't forget to keep it simple!"

"Back up! Stop crowding us," Senku said. "And try to calm down a little, okay?"

"They look like kids asking Daddy when they are going to an amusement park," y/n joked. She wrapped an arm around Senku. "Come on Senku. Be a good daddy and entertain the kids so we can all continue the task."

Y/n gave him a teasing smile and he chuckled. He usually doesn't fall for those kinds of things but y/n was a special case. Just one of the special perks she had, being the one who had his heart.

"Listen, the sound of your voice is really just a vibration of sir, understand," Senku said. "Now, if you point that air at a diaphragm, it'll produce a super tiny electrical current in rhythm with the vibration. The current is way too small, of course, so you need to blow it up and make it bigger. To do that, we'll use a vacuum tube. Then, we move that current around and around in a circle until we've made it strong enough to travel through the air like a wave. We call that a radio wave. Now the exact opposite process happens on the listening side."