CHAPTER 113: CHAPTER 111: QIANQIAN HELD THE FUTURE IN HER HANDS

"Creak..."

"Creak..."

In a rare open space amidst the puddles, the continuous creaking of gears meshing filled the air.

On a small earthen platform stood several high-ranking officials from the Pope Country, and behind them on the path, citizens in black coats were walking forward along the road.

Occasionally, someone would stop and curiously look over here, only to be whipped on the buttocks by an elder with a twig, hurrying to catch up with the group.

"What exactly is this?" Qianqian looked at the item in Jeska’s hand, somewhat puzzled.

He had never seen anything like it before.

It was a long object, somewhat like a short spear, but instead of a spearhead, the wooden shaft had a horn-shaped iron tube at the front.

This item was approximately 1.4 meters long, about two-thirds wooden handle, and one-third the iron tube at the front.

At the side where the iron tube met the wooden handle, there was a disc-shaped vessel with a spring key inserted into it.

At this moment, Jeska had the wooden handle tucked under his arm, and the iron tube rested on a Y-shaped wooden stand.

Suspended in front of the iron tube, at roughly 50 meters away on a water cypress, hung a 1.5-millimeter-thick steel plate, similar in thickness to the armor commonly issued to the White Maple Mercenaries.

Jeska enthusiastically reached out, continuously twisting the spring key, and a series of gear-turning sounds emanated from the disc-shaped vessel.

"What exactly is this?" Qianqian leaned in and whispered to Horn, "After two days of work, you came up with this?"

"Of course, this is the most effective weapon for the common folk to deal with the Master Knight," Horn said confidently, "Do you know the secret?"

"What?"

"Mountain copper."

Qianqian was very familiar with what mountain copper was. While for Horn it might be a powerful tool against knights, for the vast number of low-mana minions...

It seemed less effective than spells.

Qianqian frowned, "Your Grace, I must tell you, we wizards have conducted many experiments and uses with mountain copper, and its history has ended."

"Ended?" Horn shrugged, "Why do I feel it has just begun?"

Qianqian still wanted to speak, but Horn put a finger to his lips, "Shh... just watch."

After approximately ten twists, Jeska stopped turning the spring key and turned to look at Horn.

Horn smiled and nodded at him, and in the next second, Jeska pulled out the spring key.

The ensuing scene was unforgettable for Qianqian’s entire life.

At the moment Jeska pulled out the spring key, a piercing sound, as if drilling into the soul, emanated from the pressure equilibrium holes on the sides of the iron tube.

"Buzz—bang!"

The sound of an object sliding inside the iron tube resembled a thunderous roar, and then a dozen or so black shadows shot out from the iron tube.

The shadows pierced through the thin air and struck heavily on the steel plate hanging from the water cypress, causing the towering tree to shake, shedding countless leaves.

The enormous sound startled everyone around, even the villagers nearby stopped in shock.

The horses neighed in fear almost overshadowing Qianqian’s muttering.

"This, this... can’t be, right?"

Seeing Qianqian so flustered, Horn was very pleased, signaling a Black Hat Army soldier to retrieve the steel plate.

The soldier kicked over a blocking Slime, waded to the foot of the water cypress, retrieved the steel plate hanging there, and ran back excitedly.

"20mm caliber, iron sand-and-stone projectile, penetrating 1.5mm ordinary steel plate, with about an inch penetration into the water cypress wood."

Horn handed the steel plate to Qianqian.

In bewilderment, Qianqian took the plate, noticing seven or eight dents on it, two of which penetrated through, creating trumpet-shaped openings.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with this type of breastplate, its chest thickness reaching up to 2mm, while the edges were 1mm or even less.

This breastplate thickness was enough to withstand a direct shot from a light crossbow. Since plate armor became popular over chainmail, the once-thriving Eagle’s Claw Bay mercenaries quickly declined.

The best way to deal with such armor was to first use a halberd to pull the knight off their horse, then use a thrusting sword to stab into the weak seams of the plate armor, or use a two-handed sword or battle axe to force a breach.

But now, just a few twists of a key in a circular box could do it?

"What exactly is this?"

Horn took the spring-powered gun from Jeska’s hand and introduced, "This is called a spring-powered gun, very simple in structure, consisting of a spring box, gun barrel, spring key, gun handle, and firing rod.

The most crucial part is the spring box, made from mountain copper alloy with two cast gears.

The firing rod is one-third inside the barrel and two-thirds inside the handle. When the mountain copper spring is tightened with the spring key, it is then removed.

The spring instantly rotates, driving the gears, which move the firing rod, propelling the iron sand-and-stone projectile."

This is due to the unique nature of the spring, using the firing rod instead of gunpowder’s gas propulsion.

Horn got his inspiration from the spring-powered little frog Jia Li had.

The energy density of spring mechanisms is quite high, and they occupy little space, making them easy to carry, replace, and fire.

Mountain copper alloy spring also has an extremely useful trait.

Normal springs store energy by tightening, releasing it when loosened.

If a mountain copper alloy spring’s mana is not depleted, as long as it is loosened to its limit, it will reverse rotate to tighten again and consume energy, then loosen, cycle repeatedly until mana is exhausted.

When Horn uses the spring-powered gun, he usually tightens it a few extra turns, so the excess mana can pull the firing rod back to its original position.

If craftsmen could be found in the future to utilize this function to create an automatic breech mechanism, Horn would show the knights what a Maxim is.

"What about the firing rate? How many shots per cycle?" Qianqian’s question instantly pulled Horn back from his imagination.

He smiled wryly and said, "Most minions can only fire one shot. A few, like Dass and Madlan, can fire two consecutively."

"And those two?"

"Madlan forced a third shot yesterday and is still unconscious. Dass was using a prototype version. We thought the firing rods were sufficient without a fully enclosed barrel...

The semi-open barrel was cast, with bubbles on the barrel wall; we were too excited and forgot to wrap the iron sand and stone projectiles in paper, but... he’s still alive."

But his forehead and even his skull will have a permanent lightning-shaped scar.

"What about you?" Qianqian took the spring-powered gun from Horn, a look of ambiguous intent in his eyes.

"I can fire about ten to fifteen rounds continuously, and with someone to assist, about five to seven seconds per shot." Horn thought for a moment and added, "Jeanne can fire five or six, and Jia Li tried yesterday and fired seven."

"What about production?"

"Casting the gun barrels involves joining two halves, Jeanne needs to hand-weld them, artisans refine the gun bore, and the firing rod requires high precision forging, and the gears need to be polished post-casting."

Horn touched his chin, "With Jeanne, casting iron is easy. The welding and craftsmanship are more labor-intensive, so about two to three can be made at a time."

"May I try it?"

Horn gestured invitingly, and Qianqian immediately stepped forward, firing a shot under Jeska’s guidance.

But after firing, he suddenly sat on the ground, rested for about three minutes, then got up and fired another shot.

After shooting, he staggered with the spring-powered gun to Horn, saying:

"Your firing efficiency with the spring-powered gun is much higher than mine; you shouldn’t be limited to one shot. You could try two methods: one is meditation to reduce mana waste, the other is calming potions to alleviate mana exhaustion... uh..."

Before Qianqian finished speaking, he vomited on the ground, and Horn quickly came forward to lightly pat his frail back.

"Uh... dizziness..." Qianqian wiped the vomit from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, "What did you name this... uh..."

"It’s named, the gear system and spring system were researched and made by the artisan Ankan, while the firing system and overall gun design were researched and made by the artisan Nick Di."

"So, I named it the Kanni Di Type I Spring-Powered Rifle."

Looking up, Qianqian clutched the spring rifle in his hand, seemingly watching the rise of a new Secret Faction Clan.

"Do you know what you hold in your hand?" Horn’s gaze seemed to pierce through the dense forest, across the distant mountains.

"What?"

"What you hold in your hand, is the future."