Verdant Velocity: The Nitrogen-Breathing Steampunk Cruiser of the Post-Carbon Age

In the rusted heart of the old exhibition hall, the Verdant Velocity stood gleaming, green as envy, gold as ambition. Its pipes pulsed with promise, drawing nitrogen straight from the air, no fuel tanks, no exhaust, just alchemy and audacity. Jules had built it from scrapyard relics and forgotten patents, dreaming of a world unchained from oil. The car didn’t roar, it whispered, a hiss of purified breath and gearwork grace. Each morning, he’d cruise past the smog-choked skyline, a lone emissary of the future. Children waved. Old mechanics scoffed. But the air grew cleaner behind him, and the silence of his engine spoke louder than any revolution. He called it Ramiroaux, after a mythic beast that thrived on poison and turned it into song.