Barrel Explosion!

After two days of study, she felt that using alchemy to craft bullets was actually a very simple matter.

Albert once said that the three most fundamental steps of alchemy, which remain constant regardless of the complexity, are 'comprehension', 'decomposition', and 'reconstruction'.

'Comprehension' can be thought of as learning—understanding the correlations between things and how the materials in your hands should specifically be utilized.

'Decomposition' is even simpler; whether it is boiling herbs over a high flame in a cauldron or crushing dried snakes, insects, and rodents with a mortar and pestle, it is all a process of decomposition, primarily intended to release the magic or medicinal properties contained within.

'Reconstruction' is the finished alchemical product.

Lan Qingyou tried drawing an Alchemical Array, then placed a piece of Iron Ore on it to 'decompose' it into fragments, before recombining the iron molecules within those fragments into a block of pure iron.

Although it sounds simple, the actual operation was not easy at all.

Lan Qingyou's forehead was already starting to bead with sweat as she pressed both hands onto the glowing Alchemical Array.

Only she knew what was happening inside through the feedback of her magic.

After a few minutes, the light of the Alchemical Array faded, and only then did a smile appear on Lan Qingyou's face.

At this moment, two piles of items were laid out within the Alchemical Array.

One pile formed a circular ring of grey ash on the outer edge, while inside the small circle inscribed in the center of the array lay a silver-white object the size of a thumb.

Lan Qingyou picked it up and examined it with her Appraisal Glasses, which finally brought a smile to her face.

Iron at 90% purity was already at a usable level.

This meant that the Alchemical Array she had drawn was functional.

So, after sweeping away the debris of the stone slab from the floor, she took out the Lead Ore, Copper Ore, and other ores given to her by Shang Chuan and began refining them in batches.

Once the refining was complete, it was time to shape the casings and the bullet heads.

Because the manufacturing standards were different, the casings she made were much thicker than the samples she had received from Shang Chuan, leaving significantly less space inside for gunpowder.

However, that didn't matter; this was something Lan Qingyou had anticipated.

Only after all of this was finished did she begin to research gunpowder.

To be honest, Lan Qingyou had no research on this stuff, and she barely even understood it.

As mentioned before regarding the steps of alchemy.

Without understanding the subject, crafting gunpowder or primers was simply impossible.

But it didn't matter; Lan Qingyou had a backup plan.

She first marked numbers on each casing with ink, then took out her Burst Potion.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

She carefully dripped varying amounts of Burst Potion into the numbered casings, then placed them on the Alchemical Array to fuse the casings and the bullet heads.

The characteristic of the Burst Potion is that it explodes when subjected to intense shaking or impact.

This characteristic was identical to the thrust provided by the combustion and explosion of gunpowder in a bullet.

That was why Lan Qingyou felt it was highly feasible.

[Burst Bullet (E-)]

[Effect: Has a certain chance to create a small-scale explosion after hitting an enemy.]

[Description: A 7.62mm bullet with extra punch at no extra cost; taking out your enemies with this should be a very satisfying experience.]

Did the Appraisal Glasses malfunction?

Seeing the description panel, Lan Qingyou was stunned for a moment, then thought of the Burst Potion inside the bullet casings.

That was probably what caused it?

However, the fact that this other world knew about 7.62mm bullets made Lan Qingyou smile slightly.

The World Will of this Karim world certainly knew quite a bit; it seemed it had been communicating frequently with the World Will of Blue Star.

Never mind, let's make a few more to see the results.

Following that, Lan Qingyou produced ten bullets, each with a larger charge than the last.

Once all ten bullets were finished, she sent them over to Shang Chuan.

Lan Qingyou: "Each bullet is marked. Try them out to see which one has the best effect, then let me know."

Shang Chuan: "No problem."

The moment Shang Chuan received the bullets, he sent them to Ailuaier for test firing.

As for Lan Qingyou, she took out a fair amount of iron ore and refined them into iron plates.

What she wanted to do now was to see if she could craft an Alchemical Array Base out of iron plates.

That way, she wouldn't have to go find Li Huai to make stone slabs in the future, nor would she need to sweep away the fragments of those slabs every time she finished an alchemy session.

Already, a pile of stone slab fragments that Lan Qingyou had tossed out the door had accumulated at the roots of the giant tree beneath her Shelter.

However, Lan Qingyou was left disappointed.

It seemed that an iron Alchemical Array Base was not so easy to make.

However, even with the Appraisal Glasses, she had no idea where the problem lay.

Thus, the matter could only be shelved for the time being.

Yet, the regretful Lan Qingyou did not remain idle; she took out the crossbow she had picked up earlier.

She had always assumed that no matter how great the threat, she would be perfectly safe as long as she remained in the air.

But the firearms on Shang Chuan's side, the crossbow in her own hand, and the longbows and shortbows she had seen when choosing her starter tools all seemed capable of threatening her while she was airborne.

Although they looked quite ordinary for now.

But what about in the future?

These were merely the lowest E-Rank equipment; it was hard to say how far the D-Rank or C-Rank versions would be able to shoot.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

At this moment, a message arrived from Shang Chuan.

Shang Chuan: "The gun barrel exploded."

Lan Qingyou: "...How did that happen? Tell me the specifics."

Shang Chuan: "The chamber suddenly blew up when I tried the No. 9 Bullet."

Lan Qingyou: "What about the other bullets?"

Shang Chuan: "The No. 8 was the best one; it even triggered an explosive effect."

Lan Qingyou: "Uh... you can't blame me for that. They're alchemical bullets with explosive effects. You should have Appraisal Glasses too, right?"

I don't believe a single word of yours.

Shang Chuan was already regretting asking Lan Qingyou to craft bullets.

He had originally thought they were just bullets and that an Alchemist should be able to make them.

But now he realized that if an Alchemist wanted to mess with you, you wouldn't even be able to catch her in the act.

Did Shang Chuan have Appraisal Glasses?

In reality, he did not.

Since he basically never went out, he had no use for such inferior products when he had the Small Screen's appraisal function.

That was why he had sold them to Lan Qingyou in order to maximize his profits.

However, it was also because of the Small Screen's appraisal that he knew what those bullets were, and he had been quite happy at first.

It wasn't until Ailuaier sent him news of the barrel explosion that he realized he had been completely deceived by that person who looked like a little girl.

In his view, Lan Qingyou's goal was to destroy the firearms on his side to ensure her own safety.

So, was that truly what Lan Qingyou was thinking?

Yes.

There was no need to doubt it; just as Shang Chuan suspected, that was exactly what Lan Qingyou was thinking.

Because she could never tolerate such things appearing in her vicinity.