Ability of Domination

The craftsmen all wore subtle expressions that said, "Are you trying to make things difficult for me?" when they heard they were supposed to replicate firearms.

"Old Sha, these parts look simple when taken apart, but the actual requirements are very high."

"If the error is even slightly off, the bullet will blow up the barrel!"

"As for producing explosives, even the Empire never figured it out. What makes us think we can?"

Another craftsman pursed his lips and pointed at the spiral patterns inside the barrel. "Let me tell you, these are called rifling. There are formulas involved. You need to learn math!"

"Study hard. Once you learn it, teach us."

The moment Sha Kaner heard the word mathematics, his heart went ice-cold.

He had listened to some lessons on mathematics during his idle moments these past few days.

After all, he was a Level Two expert with a Spirit Attribute as high as 8.8. His mind was quick, and elementary school material was a piece of cake!

But once it involved high school content, things like solid geometry and conic sections, his head began to ache.

Especially when he got to calculus, it felt like...

Life no longer had any meaning.

But difficult as it was, both the craftsmen and the militia had felt the power of knowledge.

Their former neighbor, the Empire, might have been the limit of empiricism.

To go any further, they needed scientific thinking.

As they discussed it,

No one knew what chord had been struck, but everyone suddenly fell silent.

Could they survive?

Survive with entirely new identities.

Not only survive, but... live better!

The militia and craftsmen alike gazed into the distant horizon.

They thought of their dead relatives and peered toward an uncertain future.

Inside another low room, Elder Sha