The Council's Guns

"We still do not know how the alchemical weapons of the Dragon of Cathay operate continuously."

At the Alchemical Ordnance Center outside Tula Xiaye, in a heavily guarded testing ground, a humanoid target clad in iron armor was completely pierced through. The demonstrator put down his rifle and bowed to the Grand Speaker.

The scorching smell released by the fire element spread out.

"But Your Excellency, it is indeed feasible to replicate this type of projectile weapon."

As he said this, a look of reverence appeared on the alchemist's face.

"This signifies the dawn of a new era... the rules of war will be rewritten." He exclaimed sincerely, "His Highness Kang De is simply Mortal World alchemist."

The Grand Speaker remained expressionless and said calmly, "You say the same thing every time I visit you."

"Your Excellency, that's because every time I solve a problem in the operation of this weapon, I suddenly realize that His Highness Kang De's design was precisely to solve this problem... We are merely stumbling along in his footsteps, far from grasping the full scope of that great wisdom."

This tone is as if they were talking about deities.

Griffin was somewhat displeased, but he calmly said, "Please report your new findings and discoveries."

"Yes, Your Excellency Speaker."

The alchemist held up the rifle he had made. "This new weapon, which His Highness Kang De named a 'firearm,' is actually quite simple in principle. It uses combustible materials burning in a confined space to release expanding gases, which propel projectiles to kill enemies. In other words, such a weapon only needs four parts and is not much more complicated than a bow and arrow—"

"These four parts are: the sealed launch trajectory, the launch medium that can release gas instantaneously, the projectile that kills the target, and the means to make the launch medium work."

"These four parts combined make a weapon."

He set down the exquisitely designed rifle, which pulsated with magical energy, and casually remarked, "But just as a hunting bow made by a local archer can still be drawn and shot, it is far inferior to the yew composite longbow of the Twilight Moon champion archer, although we have deduced the mechanism of this new weapon through the remnants of the Song Moon battlefield and eyewitness accounts, and have replicated it using the Council's workshop skills and alchemical expertise."

"But we have reason to believe that compared to His Highness Kang De's mature and complete military technology, our imitation rifles are crude and inferior. Whether in terms of range, rate of fire, or accuracy, they seem to be far inferior... The gap is very large, very large."

The Grand Speaker almost rolled his eyes.

Yes, the Council is copying Kang De's weapons.

This secret reverse engineering project began during the Goth-Moon War.

The Dusk Moon Dynasty, with its overwhelming military might, was utterly defeated by a single Cathayan, relying not only on Forbidden Spell but also on unimaginable alchemical skills.

The kings of the various countries were not fools. Through the intelligence sent back by their spies on the front lines, they quickly realized that this was probably the beginning of a military revolution. Following their orders, the spies frantically searched for and collected any traces and fragments that might appear on the battlefield. Even a single bullet casing could fetch a fortune on the black market.

The remaining bullets and shell casings, even the shattered flesh and blood of the fallen soldiers, and the marks of bodily destruction, were all secretly collected, packed, and sent to all parts of the world.

With so many talented people under the kings' command, and no celestial engineering advancements on Earth, figuring out the principles of firearms isn't difficult.

The wise men listened to the eyewitness report of "black nozzles shooting out sparks, smoke spreading, and lightning flashing," pondered that "the battlefields of Kang De's battles were always filled with the smell of sulfurous hell," analyzed the residue carefully scraped from the inner wall of the cartridge case, stared at the collected bullets and pondered deeply. They soon realized the essential function of modern firearms and began to try to make them.

The experiments were all highly successful.

After all, Kang De's success was too convincing, and the princes were extremely determined to push forward the research.

Using the best craftsmanship, the finest materials, and the most brilliant researchers, the primitive firearm system was quickly established. The most powerful propellant exploded in the most robust enchanted iron tubes, propelling the projectiles through the air. The facts eloquently proved that this weapon system was feasible.

It wasn't Kang De's invention, nor did it contain any extraordinary or ingenious secrets; it was something that could be made casually and had absolutely no technical content.

It was just that Kang De was the first to think of it.

The Alchemical Ordnance Center of various countries continued their efforts with great enthusiasm, eager to use their strong industrial capabilities and powerful national strength to rapidly advance firearms technology, surpass Kang De, and make this epoch-making military technology the source of their nation's renewed greatness—and then they were dumbfounded.

A variety of technical problems arose one after another.

Cost was the first issue – during the trial and demonstration, the highest quality Flame Crystal Powder was used, resulting in an exceptionally powerful combustion effect and an astonishing muzzle velocity. Furthermore, the iron pipe was cast with refined gold and engraved with Iron Wall Enchantment, eliminating any risk of barrel explosion. It truly was thunderous and lightning-fast, indestructible.

But we can't use this for everything from now on, can we?

Moreover, Kang De's weapon firing was like a storm, roaring incessantly, sending shredded flesh flying and blood splattering everywhere it hit. Our own prototypes, which first poured powder and then loaded the warhead, were so slow it was embarrassing. The principle of this continuous firing could not be easily deduced by looking at the appearance. Countless alchemy masters had racked their brains over it.

One problem after another arose, like a towering mountain looming before them, making the alchemists tremble with fear.

This is also the source of the Grand Speaker's dissatisfaction.

The various Alchemical Ordnance Center directly under the Council undertook, to varying degrees, the task of imitation and reverse engineering. Kang De's firearms, cannons, flying vehicles, chariots... He saw the results increase day by day, and he also saw the State Alchemists gradually distorted into fanatical worshippers of Kang De.

"The casings collected from the battlefield were all the same size, and we named them fixed-load rounds. In my opinion, this is undoubtedly an innovative achievement embodying supreme wisdom—the amount of propellant remains constant, and the size of the projectile also remains constant, which means precision, stability, and controllability."

The alchemist carefully picked up a box, opened it, and inside were four bullet casings and four bullets.

"The specifications are consistent and extremely precise. If I'm not mistaken, the structure of that projectile consists of a cartridge case, propellant, and projectile. However, another colleague of mine believes it should have four parts, a point we demonstrated to you during your last visit."

The alchemist picked up a spent cartridge and showed the Grand Speaker the tail section, where there were obvious impact marks.

The Grand Speaker nodded slightly.

"We speculate that His Highness Kang De's firearms are powered by a precise mechanical transmission that causes a miniature component, similar to a battering ram, to strike the base of the projectile, igniting the propellant and propelling the projectile."

"However, my colleagues and I disagreed on this process. I believed that this miniature battering ram must have an enchantment like Blazing Flame, while my colleagues thought that ordinary metal would also work, but there must be a more unstable fire-based substance inside the projectile and beneath the propellant to ignite the propellant."

Upon hearing this, Griffin said, "I think this argument is pointless, isn't it?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, as per your instructions, we have completely overhauled the activation mechanism."

He skillfully disassembled the firearm, revealing its internal structure, his voice calm and respectful.

"No need for a miniature ram, nor for a more sensitive propellant or Flame enchantment," he said. "Through the grip's conductor, our warriors can directly ignite the propellant with their mental energy."

The Grand Speaker nodded in satisfaction.

Brave warriors can directly ignite the propellant with their mental energy, which eliminates the need for complex transmission mechanisms and stringent manufacturing precision requirements, undoubtedly a good thing.

Using mental energy to ignite propellant to kill someone consumes very little energy, at least much less than guiding a missile spell to kill someone—and the former's power and speed are sometimes even greater than the latter.

The most ingenious part is that warriors must use their mental power to wield this weapon.

Thinking of this, his expression softened. "The Council thanks you for your hard work, Master. May I have the honor of knowing if there are any other achievements or difficulties in your work?"

Upon hearing this, the alchemist looked worried.

He sighed, "We've achieved very little, and the difficulties are increasing. Two problems have consistently plagued us: first, the issue of speed; second, the issue of precision."

"The speed problem, that is, the rate of fire. His Highness Kang De's weapons can fire continuously, like a storm. For the past few months, we have been racking our brains over this problem—given that spent cartridge cases are constantly ejected during firing, we have tentatively assumed that this is part of the automatic firing mechanism."

"Metal cartridge cases, fixed cartridges. After firing, the cartridge cases are ejected. Because it's continuous firing, new cartridges are naturally ready to fire after the cartridge cases are ejected. This should be the mechanism of automatic firing."

The alchemist explained softly, "The key to the problem is how to make the hammer strike continuously, how to keep the bullets entering the chamber, and how to eject the old cartridge cases."

The Speaker listened intently.

"We have put forward many hypotheses, and three of them are relatively reasonable."

"My guess is that the ejection and loading process might utilize the expanding gas during launch. I even drew up a design diagram, but unfortunately, whether it's a manufacturing issue or a design problem, it hasn't been able to be successful consistently."

"A colleague's hypothesis is that the firearm uses an extremely sophisticated mechanical structure inside, a mechanism similar to a transmission arm that continuously ejects spent cartridge cases and advances new rounds—this idea has been forwarded to the engineering department for design and verification, and we have also consulted the opinions of the dwarf master craftsman."

"Another colleague's guess... is to use Telekinesis magic to directly complete this process. Since the effort required is minimal, the pressure should be low."

Upon hearing this, Griffin asked, "So, which one do you think is more feasible?"

The alchemist smiled wryly, "All I know is that if a military weapon is extremely difficult to manufacture or has poor reliability, it is bound to be substandard. My idea is unreliable, the second idea is too complex, and the third idea places very high demands on the user; none of these are feasible for now."

The Speaker was somewhat disappointed.

But as a top figure on the Council for a moment and said, "If Kang De could do it, there's no reason we can't. It's just that sometimes we can't achieve our goals quickly. We can try a different approach—since we can't make a single gun barrel fire quickly, could we make many gun barrels?"

"Yes, the Grand Speaker is wise."

The alchemist smiled. "This is our temporary solution... multiple tubes, or a larger caliber one."

He shook his head and said, "Making cannons is easier than making guns."

Upon hearing this, the Grand Speaker smiled enigmatically and asked, "And what is the second difficulty?"

"It's a matter of accuracy," the alchemist replied. "I've heard that His Highness Kang De's weapons, even with their small caliber, can be accurate and fully effective from hundreds of meters away, while our guns... can only maintain accuracy at close range; at slightly longer distances, they lose their accuracy and fly off in all directions."

Why is this happening? Is it a problem with the propellant?

"I'm afraid it's not... it's probably a problem with the barrel."

"Aren't our gun barrels straight enough?"

"No, our gun barrels are straight, but compared to His Highness Kang De, they're probably missing something."

"What?"

"There should be a wire in His Highness Kang De's gun barrel."

"Wire?"

The alchemist picked up a bullet from the box. The bullet must have missed its target, as the tip was barely deformed... but the bullet body was clearly marked with deep, spiral-like scratches.

"Six lines." He showed them to the Grand Speaker. "Six precise, perfect, and admirable lines. I had someone try it; only a mage with the most delicate and skillful mental power could guide the acid to etch such precise six lines on the inner wall of the cylindrical gun barrel. It took a lot of time, and it couldn't be done every time."

The alchemist paused, then said in a deep voice, "We will begin new experiments and studies tomorrow... If we have learned anything from these past few months of analysis, it is that His Highness Kang De never does anything unnecessary. Therefore, we need to understand the meaning of these lines, what kind of power and properties they will impart to the projectiles, so that we can find alternative methods."

The Grand Speaker remained silent.

Alternative methods.

He didn't know why Kang De had such precise and perfect processing methods and means. The Council also had them, but only to a limited extent, which is why they needed to find alternatives.

It's like replacing the firing mechanism with mental power.

Griffin exhaled and bowed slightly to the alchemists. "Thank you all for your hard work."

The master simply smiled and said, "It is our duty, but if you are grateful to us, I would rather exchange this gratitude for your magnanimity in not pursuing the matter, because I have a few words to say to you."

"... Please speak."

"I think it would be better for us to sincerely seek advice and exchange ideas with His Highness Kang De than to try and fumble around here in vain. Since he was willing to share the secrets of the Civilization of Yilan-Tai'er, he probably wouldn't be stingy with these secrets... Of course, this is just my own opinion."

After the alchemist finished speaking, he bowed to the speaker in apology. "Perhaps you have your own considerations."

Griffin remained silent, gazing at the distant target and the exquisite rifle on the table. The broken and twisted bullets in the box were old and worn, yet they contained a power that instilled fear and dread throughout the world.

Yes, I have my reasons.

He nodded slowly and said, "Please continue your work. Soon, I will be able to deliver the complete weapon that Kang De created to you, so that you can decipher all its design and secrets."

The alchemist exclaimed with delight, "That's wonderful!"

Griffin smiled and nodded, then asked, "Are there any problems with the production process?"

"No problem for now, Your Excellency. The best adamantite golems, after being programmed, can achieve extremely high precision in their manufacturing; at least the specifications for metal-loaded ammunition can be met."

"That's good."

He indicated his intention to leave, so the alchemist saw him off, and they talked a lot on the way out.

"Actually, we are also considering other launch methods—launch methods essentially utilize gas expansion and the expansion of fire-based materials during combustion; it's one method, but not the only one."

"There are also methods for directly pushing gaseous elements, such as storing semi-liquid gaseous elements in a compressed container in a gradually changing state. The pushing force can be adjusted by regulating the valves to control the mode and power..."

As he left the research department, the Grand Speaker waved his hand, signaling his entourage not to follow. He gazed at the distant horizon, lost in thought, his heart filled with both fear and surging emotions.

No one knew his true plans, no one knew his truest thoughts.

But Griffin could say with certainty that he heard the drums of impending war.

Soon, the world will be very different, because war will change everything. Just as the Forbidden Spell that suddenly appeared has made everything difficult, what happens next will also change the course of politics.

Whether it's a crazy scheme or a bold gamble, we'll see this time.

He turned to look at his entourage behind him. Each of them was extremely respectful, some with curious expressions, others seemingly indifferent, all of them, just like him, keeping their inner thoughts tightly hidden.

Imperial spies, elven agents, Brotherhood operatives... the vast network of intelligence systems across nations also reached these servants.

Griffin was well aware that the Brotherhood was secretly probing his strengths, the Elves were frantically trying to find out his reliance and plans, and the Empire, needless to say... war was approaching.

This is the consensus on the mainland.

The nations could not tolerate Kang De, who held the power of Forbidden Spell and was hostile to the aristocratic system. Suppressing the expansion and rise of the Cathayan was an unspoken understanding and consensus. However, the elves wavered, the empire was wary of the threat of Forbidden Spell, and if the Council was willing to take the lead, everyone was willing to wait and see.

Then I'll show you properly.

The Phoenix King will most likely know what I've been doing these past few days, and she'll be eager to tell Kang De about it. They all think I'm using these replica weapons as secret weapons and trump cards, but they won't know what my real purpose is in inspecting these alchemical troops.

--Kang De, I have prepared a big surprise for you, one that you will never forget.

Thinking of this, he smiled slightly.

"Let's go," the Grand Speaker said, "Let's go check on the cannons."