A large crowd of villagers was eating when they saw a strange sheet of white paper suddenly descend from the sky. They hurriedly scattered with their bowls in hand, laughing as they ran. "What strange thing has the Heavenly Deity sent us this time? It doesn't look edible."
The A5 sheet lay flat on the ground, covered in strange diagrams. Viewed at an angle, one of them seemed to be a firearm.
Gao Yiye pointed at the paper. "Li Da, the things on that sheet are what you're supposed to make. Go take a look."
Li Da was utterly dumbstruck by the huge sheet of paper dropping out of an empty sky. He failed to react for quite a while, only snapping out of it when San Shier grabbed his shoulders and shook him twice.
The paper was as large as a pond. Standing on level ground and looking at it from an angle, Li Da could only make out what seemed to be a firearm and a collection of parts. Unable to see the whole thing, he climbed the nearby wall, twenty feet high, and looked down at the paper.
"Huh? The thing in the middle seems to be some novel kind of firearm. The diagrams around it are detailed illustrations of its individual parts."
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "Exactly! The Sharps Rifle, an excellent example of an early breech-loading rifle. These are its design drawings."
As it turned out, Li Daoxuan had not been idle these past few days. He had been considering what kinds of weapons Ming dynasty craftsmen could actually make if he supplied the materials.
He had even posted anonymously on the History and Military Forum he frequented, asking, "Experts, if you traveled back to the Ming dynasty, what's the most advanced weapon you could make with Ming blacksmithing skills and modern raw materials?"
Reply 1: A Star Destroyer.
Reply 2: Bury the first commenter alive before we do anything else! Obviously, an AK-47. Any little home workshop can make one these days. You could hammer one out in the Ming dynasty, too.
Reply 3: Don't be stupid. What damn use is hammering out the casing? Without sufficient precision, the gun would blow up every time you fired it. Besides, you couldn't solve the ammunition problem. Rifled guns are still the safest bet. All the big-shot transmigrators use them.
Reply 4: The person above seems to have forgotten that the original poster said "modern raw materials." If you have modern materials, you have rubber, which solves the gas-sealing problem. Why not skip rifled muzzle-loaders and go straight to breech-loading rifles? The Sharps Rifle is a good choice. It doesn't require the precision of an automatic rifle, and a Ming blacksmith could absolutely hammer one out by hand.
Reply 5: Aren't you all missing the point? If you traveled back to the Ming dynasty, obviously you'd buy a few maids, lift their skirts, and peep at them bathing. Bought maids can't defy their master anyway. I could put them through all eighteen arts.
Li Daoxuan: What the hell, you again!
Every reply joined in the abuse: Get out of the History and Military Forum!
Once the commotion was over, Li Daoxuan noted down the Sharps Rifle. With help from the guys on the forum, he actually managed to obtain photographs of the rifle, design drawings, and real photographs of its various parts. He printed them on an A5 sheet and waited for the blacksmith to arrive before bringing it out.
Standing on the wall, Li Da studied the A5 sheet below with great care.
He looked left, looked right, and turned around to examine it from different angles. When he finished, sweat poured off him. "Th-this firearm... I... I dare not promise that I can make it."
Li Daoxuan said, "Don't put pressure on yourself. Give it your best effort and try to make it work. I can give you plenty of time. Even a few years wouldn't matter. If you really succeed, I'll make your dream come true."
For Li Da, that dream was to become an ordinary Commoner Status.
That was no simple matter. Hearing the promise through Gao Yiye's mouth left him feeling rather uncertain.
He could not help calling out, "Miss, Third Secretary, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just that what I'm being asked to do is no ordinary job. I... I don't even know who the master is, so I feel a little..."
"A huge sheet of paper just fell from the sky, and you still haven't figured it out?" Gao Yiye called. "Try jumping off the wall. You'll find out who the master is right away."
Li Da jumped in fright. "Jump off?"
San Shier laughed as well. "Go on, give it a try."
Li Da looked down.
This wall was twenty feet high!
What do they mean, asking me to jump off this? Am I supposed to prove my courage?
Years of blacksmithing had given him a sturdy physique. If he jumped from this height and took care when landing, he might not necessarily get hurt. Even if he did, it would be no worse than a broken leg. If doing this would persuade the master to free him from the Artisan Registry, then perhaps... it was worth taking the gamble.
Li Da gritted his teeth. I'll just pretend this wall beneath my feet is the Artisan Registry. Escaping that registry was always going to mean risking my life. To hell with it, I'm going for it! Clenching his teeth, he jumped.
The instant he leaped, he was already preparing to crouch upon landing and roll to absorb the impact.
But he had barely left the wall and had not even begun to fall when he felt something supporting him. Had his feet landed on something? Caught completely off guard, he failed to keep his balance and fell forward. His hands braced against an invisible "ground," yet what he felt was just like touching someone else's palm.
"Huh? Huhhh?"
Li Da was terrified, too frightened to move a muscle.
Gao Yiye called out, "You're on the Heavenly Deity's palm now."
Li Da: "!!!"
Li Daoxuan deliberately moved his hand, carrying Li Da slowly through the air.
Li Da felt as though he were flying through the sky, except that his posture was far too undignified. No matter how you looked at it, this Orz pose hardly qualified as a proper flying posture.
Before entering the village, San Shier had told him that the master here was the Heavenly Deity. At the time, his head had been full of question marks, and he had not understood a word of what San Shier meant. Now, though, he seemed to be starting to understand.
Li Daoxuan slowly lowered his hand to the ground, then tilted it slightly. Li Da slid off and sat on the yellow earth, his face filled with shock and panic-and just a tiny hint of joy.
That joy, of course, came from knowing that his dream was now assured!
Once his head cleared, he rolled over, changing from sitting on the ground to prostrating himself on his knees. He called out, "I... I promise to spare no effort in making the firearm you've entrusted to me. It's just that this thing looks rather complicated. I may need a very long time. As you said, perhaps a year or two."
If Li Da could swing his hammer and produce a Sharps Rifle in a few days, he would surely be a transmigrator with a system. Naturally, Li Daoxuan knew that was impossible. "Mm, take your time. There's no rush. Teach Gao Yiyi to forge iron armor while you work on studying this firearm. If you need any materials, have Gao Yiye report them to me. In short, whenever you finish making it, that's when I'll make your dream come true."
At that point, he changed the subject. "Gao Yiye, are there any empty houses left in the village?"
Looking a little embarrassed, Gao Yiye said, "No. The only vacant house fit to live in was assigned to Third Secretary and his family."
Li Daoxuan said, "Oh! Wait a moment, then."
He took a can of Pepsi-Cola from the refrigerator and gulped it down in a few swallows. He belched. That hit the spot. Next, he used scissors to cut the can in half, turning it into a small cylindrical cup. He cut a little door and two little windows into it, then placed the half-can upside down on an empty patch of ground in the village...
Bang!
The villagers heard a tremendous crash, and the earth seemed to shake. Then a little round house with an unusual shape and a vivid blue color appeared in a corner of the village. The four simplified Chinese characters spelling Pepsi-Cola on it were upside down, making it look rather comical.
Li Daoxuan said, "Li Da, live in this temporary little house for now. After a while, I'll arrange better houses for everyone."
Although the villagers had already been stunned by "miracles" several times, today they were once again so startled that they nearly dropped their bowls. The Heavenly Deity's way of building houses truly filled them with indescribable admiration.
Third Madam, who had been secretly watching from the side all along, kowtowed as relentlessly as a pestle pounding garlic, unable to stop.
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