Then Xu Mochen explained to everyone in a calm, unhurried manner, "These specialized armor-piercing rounds are made from much better materials than ordinary bullets. The casings of regular rifle rounds are made from alloys of metals like specially treated brass, mild steel, and Mo-Zinc, and the bullets are filled with nothing more than ordinary Soul Guidance explosives. The casings of these specialized armor-piercing rounds, on the other hand, also contain Black Tungsten steel, Starfall steel, and Red Gold, while their cores are filled with low-enriched Soul Guidance explosives!"
"These armor-piercing rounds cost nearly ten times as much to make as ordinary bullets, so they can't replace them on a large scale. A soldier carrying a Silver Star 332-Type Rifle can be issued 108 ordinary rounds, but only 12 of these specialized armor-piercing rounds."
"Everyone, there's no need to be surprised so soon. Next, I'll demonstrate another type of firearm carried by an ordinary soldier." Xu Mochen pointed to the two round metal balls hanging from the left side of the soldier's Soul Guidance Armor and showed them to the crowd. "These are T232-Type Egg Grenades. They're defensive grenades that kill enemies by scattering metal fragments when they explode. Their effective range is greater."
He then pointed to the two metal cylinders attached to wooden handles on the right side of the soldier's Soul Guidance Armor. "These are T132-Type Stick Grenades. They're offensive grenades that kill enemies with the shock wave from their explosives. Their destructive power is greater."
Lastly, Xu Mochen had the soldier turn around and pointed to a strangely shaped metal object hanging from the back of his military belt. "This is a T333-Type High-Explosive Grenade, a combat grenade designed specifically for dealing with Soul Masters. It's the most terrifyingly destructive of them all."
After that, our dear "live target," Bone Douluo, naturally became the target once again.
The first T232-Type Egg Grenade was thrown and exploded. The blast knocked Bone Douluo off balance once again. He didn't retreat, but his expression darkened considerably. He had never imagined that such an inconspicuous little thing could nearly make him suffer a second small setback!
But when the following T132-Type Stick Grenade flew in front of him and exploded, it forced him back another step! This was because Bone Douluo hadn't used any Soul Skills, of course. But with his formidable defensive top-tier Martial Soul and his level-95 cultivation, even without using any Soul Skills, his defensive power surpassed that of most Spirit Saints at full defensive strength!
Being forced back a step by two tiny projectiles was one thing. But now he'd been shoved back another step by two little pieces of metal! Where did that leave the dignity of a defensive Titled Douluo?
"Be careful with this last High-Explosive Grenade, senior," Xu Mochen kindly reminded him. Gu Rong then saw the oddly shaped metal object flying toward him in an arc!
For some reason, an uneasy feeling stirred in him. Without thinking, he immediately said solemnly, "First Soul Skill: Bone Armor!" His first Soul Ring flashed, and four pale bone shields tinged with red appeared around his body. The next instant, the grenade exploded!
With a tremendous BOOM!, a powerful shock wave swept up the dust on the ground and scattered it in every direction! Under the force of the blast, Bone Douluo's body shuddered again, but he didn't retreat at all. The High-Explosive Grenade was certainly powerful, but against a defensive Titled Douluo using his first Soul Skill, it still wasn't enough.
As the dust settled, Bone Douluo's slightly grim expression came into view. He seemed unharmed, and even his clothes were undisturbed, but he knew very well that he had already lost.
Remembering how he'd confidently insisted that he wouldn't need to use a Soul Skill, he blushed slightly. Fortunately, no one else noticed his expression just then. They were all staring wide-eyed at the destruction caused by the High-Explosive Grenade. If someone had once told them that an ordinary person's attack could force a Titled Douluo to use a Soul Skill, they would have thought that person was insane!
A Titled Douluo only had to deliberately release a bit of his powerful aura to pin an ordinary person to the ground—or even crush them to death! But now? The Titled Douluo hadn't suffered a single injury, yet the fact that the attack had reached this point was enough to leave everyone stunned!
Still, Bone Douluo hadn't forgotten his duty. He reported in a grave voice, "The first metal ball had roughly the same power as a level-35 Soul Elder self-destructing after compressing all the Soul Power in his body to its limit. The next one, the metal piece with a wooden handle, had roughly the same power as a level-40 Quasi-Soul Ancestor doing the same."
"But the former has an effective radius of about three meters, while the latter's is only about two. Soul Masters below level 40 should dodge immediately when they see this kind of weapon coming. They can hardly defend against it otherwise! Soul Masters in the level-40 range should also dodge if they don't want to be seriously injured!"
Bone Douluo took a light breath, then continued in a lower voice, "That last, strangely shaped metal object was the most terrifying. Its effective radius also reached three meters, but even more frighteningly, its power was equivalent to a level-47 or 48 Soul Ancestor—or nearly a level-50 Quasi-Soul King—self-destructing after compressing all the Soul Power in his body to its limit!"
"If this weapon hits you head-on, the vast majority of Soul Masters below level 70 will certainly be injured! Almost all Soul Masters below level 60 would die! Even a Spirit Saint would be wounded if he failed to defend carefully! If too many of these weapons come flying at you, then unless you're a Soul Douluo, you'd best focus on dodging! Otherwise, you're on your own!"
Well, after hearing all that, the Heaven Dou Empire's representatives were left speechless. Faced with weapons of this power, if the Sun Moon Empire had an army equipped with twenty or thirty thousand of them—or even two or three hundred thousand—what could the armies on Douluo Continent possibly do to stop them on the battlefield? Wouldn't they collapse on their own after just a few waves of attacks? How were they supposed to fight this?
Xu Mochen didn't seem satisfied yet. First, he sent the soldier back to his place, then called forward a level-34 member of the Sea Demon Special Forces. The semi-automatic rifle in this soldier's hands looked much like the one carried by the earlier ordinary soldier, but on closer inspection, its construction was clearly more intricate, and its materials were of far higher quality!
Xu Mochen continued introducing the weapon in his hands. "This rifle is called the Silver Star 333-Type Semi-automatic Rifle. It's a Type Three standard Soul Guidance Weapon. Compared to the previous rifle, it's more powerful and has a longer range, but it requires a certain amount of Soul Power to fire!"
"Of course, the rifle consumes very little Soul Power. A powerful level-34 Soul Elder like this soldier of mine can fire it more than 500 times with a full reserve of Soul Power."
Then Xu Mochen had his subordinate demonstrate the weapon again, and Gu Rong once more became the target! This time, the soldier didn't fire a single rifle round at a time like the ordinary soldier had before. Instead, he pulled the trigger repeatedly!
With a succession of BANG! BANG! BANG! gunshots, Bone Douluo once again held up the Bone Armor shields formed by his first Soul Skill. A series of teeth-grating CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! rang out as all 12 rifle rounds slammed into the Bone Armor!
Bone Douluo could clearly feel that although these attacks were weaker than the so-called High-Explosive Grenade, their power was absolutely on par with the rifle that had fired the armor-piercing rounds. The volley continued, and although Bone Douluo didn't retreat, he still felt the immense force of one impact after another.
"Good! Load the armor-piercing rounds!" Xu Mochen clearly had no intention of letting Bone Douluo off the hook. As the corner of Bone Douluo's eye twitched, the Soul Elder soldier in front of him changed the magazine in just one second, then fired another burst.
These bullets were clearly close in power to the earlier High-Explosive Grenade! After a barrage of attacks, Bone Douluo trembled all over, but in the end, he still withstood them. Bone Douluo then gave the Heaven Dou Empire's representatives his assessment of the attacks, emphasizing that this Soul-Power-dependent semi-automatic rifle, when loaded with armor-piercing rounds, could punch through the full defenses of the vast majority of Soul Masters below level 60!
Xu Mochen paid no mind to the crowd's reaction and pressed on, testing the power of the three upgraded grenades: the T233-Type Egg Grenade, the T133-Type Stick Grenade, and the T334-Type High-Explosive Grenade!
These three grenades were far more powerful than the previous batch! Their only drawback was that a Soul Master had to use Soul Power to trigger them! Bone Douluo inwardly groaned, but still withstood the attacks. The more he felt their power, the more alarmed he became—especially when the final upgraded High-Explosive Grenade sent even him, while using his first Soul Skill, stumbling back a step!
"The upgraded metal ball has roughly the same power as a level-45 Soul Ancestor self-destructing after compressing all the Soul Power in his body to its limit, with its effective radius increased to four meters. The upgraded metal cylinder with a wooden handle comes close to the power of a level-50 Quasi-Soul King doing the same, with its effective radius increased to three meters."
"The last, oddly shaped metal object—the upgraded metal ball—has roughly the same power as a level-60 Quasi-Soul Emperor self-destructing after compressing all the Soul Power in his body to its limit, with its effective radius increased to four meters."
Bone Douluo shook his head as he finished speaking, then fell silent. Even he was still struggling to accept that a level-34 Soul Master, whom he'd once regarded as no more than an ant, had managed to push him this far. The soldier still hadn't injured him, but what he'd done was enough to shock Bone Douluo once more.
What about Xue Qinghe, Ning Fengzhi, and the others? Sorry, but they were practically numb by now. The only things on their minds were how to obtain these weapons at any cost—and how to make absolutely sure they never became enemies of the Sun Moon Empire!
What, you say they should unite with the other nations on Douluo Continent to resist the Sun Moon Empire? Don't make me laugh! That would only be possible if the Sun Moon Empire truly sent its armies to invade and made it look as though they meant to conquer the whole continent. Only then might they force all the factions on Douluo Continent to unite against a common enemy at the moment of life and death!
Otherwise, if the Sun Moon Empire didn't attack but instead deliberately stirred up conflicts between the factions and offered high prices, then it was easy to predict what would happen. The factions had been at odds for thousands of years and feared the Sun Moon Empire like a tiger. They would only urge someone else to take the lead, then stab them in the back and swear loyalty to the Sun Moon Empire in exchange for military weapons!
In short, they understood perfectly well that everything shown so far was standard military equipment for Sun Moon Empire soldiers. So far, the Sun Moon Empire hadn't revealed any of its true strategic weapons! And just look at those steel behemoths standing motionless on the sea! If even these standard weapons were so astonishingly powerful, it was impossible to imagine what kind of terrifying force those machines could unleash!
Before you continue