Standing Tall
But he wasn't sure—he'd never tried bringing purely mechanical firearms into another world.
He didn't buy much on the spot, but took two boxes of ammunition each of the Maxim and the 23mm aircraft cannon he had tested, and paid the bill in gold on the spot.
Seeing that he was quick to act, the boss didn't dare to be negligent and immediately ordered his men to weld thickened steel rings onto the cannons, and even welded the Maxim in the appropriate positions. He also thoughtfully provided four thickened canvas straps along with the cannons. He personally sent someone to deliver the goods to the hotel room where the man was staying.
Back at the hotel, he didn't go out. He didn't dare to be careless, so he played on his phone while waiting for the time to pass. Around 11:40 p. m., when it was almost time, he first put the machine gun, cannon, and boxes of ammunition into his spatial storage. With a thought, he directly transmigrated to the west courtyard of the Shen Residence in another world.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, he went outside to retrieve his belongings. The dark cannon barrel, machine gun, and ammunition box landed steadily on the ground.
Shen Jingchuan's heart finally settled down—it seemed that as long as the items weren't electrified or from the electrical age, they could be brought over.
He didn't stay long. He glanced at the time and saw that it was almost midnight. With a change of heart, he went back to that shabby inn.
He didn't sleep after returning. Once it was past midnight, he felt at ease, sat cross-legged on the bed, took out three Mid-Grade Qi Nourishing Pills from his spatial storage, swallowed them, and began to refine the medicinal power using the "Five Elements Qi Refining Instruction." He meditated all night, absorbing all the medicinal power, and his cultivation level steadily advanced another step.
After daybreak, he couldn't get used to the local food, so he took some dry rations he had brought with him from his spatial storage and ate a few bites. He went out and found Jimi, saying he wanted to go to the border market from yesterday. Jimi accepted the bribe and drove off without saying a word.
When he arrived at the market, the shopkeeper from yesterday had just arrived. He saw him immediately and quickly came to greet him. Shen Jingchuan didn't waste any words and went straight to asking:
"How many of those Maxim Heavy Machine Guns and 23mm aircraft cannons do you still have in stock?"
The shopkeeper quickly replied, "There's one Maxim left, and two aircraft cannons. It's just that one of them is quite old, the rifling is badly worn, and it's prone to jamming. I might have just sold it to someone else, but I can't hide it from you; I'll tell you the truth."
Shen Jingchuan's heart stirred— Storage Rings could improve and upgrade items, and perhaps they could also repair and optimize firearms. He immediately asked, "How do you calculate the wear and tear on that door?"
Half price.
"Take them all, and weld the steel rims on them all."
Shen Jingchuan didn't hesitate and asked again:
How many bullets and shells do you have in stock?
The boss said:
"We currently have 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm machine gun ammunition and 2,000 rounds of 23mm artillery shells. If you need more, I'll contact them to arrange for the goods right now, and we can gather them all in half a day."
"Half a day is fine, please hurry, I need it this afternoon."
Shen Jingchuan said:
"Get me at least 10,000 artillery shells, the more the better; and 500,000 machine gun shells, I want them all."
The boss was overjoyed; this order was equivalent to several months of his revenue. He immediately patted his chest and agreed, saying that he could gather at least 20,000 shells by 2 p. m., and the modification of the aircraft cannons and machine guns would be completed at the same time.
Shen Jingchuan didn't urge him, but just stood aside and watched the boss pick up the phone and chatter away while ordering goods.
After the boss hung up the phone, he asked, "Do you have any non-electric trigger bombs? The kind that explode on impact without being ignited."
Without a second thought, the boss turned around and dragged a tin box out of the inner room. He opened the lid and found chunks of grayish-white gelatinous substance inside, which looked like modeling clay.
"C4, plastic explosive." The shopkeeper gestured with his hands, "You can mold this stuff into any shape you want; you can stuff it in door cracks, wall cracks, and stone crevices. It's more powerful than TNT; even a small piece like this can blow a cow to pieces."
As he spoke, he bent down and dragged out a large, full box, patting the lid as he said:
"This stuff is sold by the kilogram. I only have 100 kilograms left in my shop, and it's all here."
Then he brought out a whole box of mechanical firing pin detonators and several bundles of nylon thread so thin they were almost invisible, and put them aside:
"The complete set of detonators and fuses are here; that should be enough for you."
He demonstrated the usage to Shen Jingchuan on the spot:
The detonator has a purely mechanical firing pin structure. The nylon wire is stretched taut at both ends, with one end hooked to the firing pin safety. When the wire is pulled, the firing pin is ejected and directly hits the flash cap to detonate. It explodes instantly without even a spark.
Shen Jingchuan understood it after reading it twice and nodded, saying:
"Okay, I'll take them all. You can combine them with the other goods this afternoon, and we'll settle the accounts together later."
The boss readily agreed, secretly pleased with himself, and quietly increased the price of the explosives by 20%, but didn't dare raise it any further.
He knew perfectly well that this kind of big client, who was both generous and incredibly capable, was someone he needed to work with for the long term. If he raised the price too much and it got noticed, he would end up losing more than he gained, since he wasn't the only one selling this stuff.
Shen Jingchuan, thinking it best not to bother two people, decided to pick out some light weapons as well.
He has many female relatives, so he needs to have some self-defense weapons with low recoil and easy handling; dealing with ordinary people would be too easy.
Shen Jingchuan opened the translation software, wanting a version compatible with both types of ammunition:
Both a small handgun and a mini submachine gun should have low recoil and be suitable for women.
The shopkeeper immediately brought out several items from the back room— Walther PPK Pistol and Vz. 61 Škorpion Machine Pistol, both using 7.65mm caliber bullets, with extremely light recoil, so that a girl could hold it with one hand.
Shen Jingchuan picked out five of each and asked for 500,000 rounds of ammunition. He didn't know when he would come back again, and he wasn't short of money.
The boss had just landed a big order and was eager to curry favor with this ruthless man. He immediately patted his chest and said that all ten guns would be a free gift, and the bullets would only be charged at cost price. He even thoughtfully included a silencer, saying that he would be a good customer in the future and that people should just come to him.
By 2 p. m., all the goods were ready. The three Maxim and three aircraft cannons had all their electronic control components removed and converted to purely mechanical firing mechanisms; 500,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition were packed into 500 wooden crates, and 20,000 rounds of aircraft cannon ammunition were stacked into 200 crates. Along with pistols and submachine guns, the goods were piled up like a small mountain.
The shopkeeper quoted a total price:... (equivalent to eleven kilograms of gold).
Shen Jingchuan took out the gold. The shopkeeper examined it for a long time, muttering that the purity was not quite right. Shen Jingchuan was too lazy to argue with him, so he simply added two more pieces to make it twelve kilograms and put it on the scale. The shopkeeper immediately shut up and smiled broadly.
Twelve kilograms of gold would be worth nearly ten million in modern times, but in another world, it would be equivalent to two hundred and forty taels of gold and two thousand four hundred taels of silver—or twenty-four watches. In a cultivation market, it would be worth two and a half Spirit Stones —or two or three makeup mirrors.
If I told anyone, who would believe me?