Sheltering from the Storm on an Island

The young mechanic was covered in oil stains, staring blankly up at the huge gun barrel overhead. A wound several centimeters long on her forehead was bleeding continuously.

"What a precise structure!" Seemingly oblivious to her new injury, Beianqi murmured in amazement, "Even more incredible, the barrel is actually one solid piece!"

"Alloy electroslag remelting," Su Ming said, walking over. "Metal scraps are melted and formed in a single process."

"Then why is there inward prestress?" Beianqi asked.

"Barrel autofrettage." Su Ming came over and crouched down. "During manufacturing, liquid at extremely high pressure is injected inside, creating residual compressive stress on the inner wall and residual tensile stress on the outer wall. That lets it withstand higher chamber pressure,

"greatly increasing its strength and service life."

Imagining the ingenious process, Beianqi's eyes filled with longing. "What incredible technology! Your world must be an alchemist's paradise!"

Su Ming checked the girl and found that she had only hit her head. She was uninjured everywhere else.

"Can you get up?" Su Ming asked.

Beianqi held out her hand, and Su Ming pulled her to her feet.

"If your materials meet the requirements," Su Ming told her, "there's a gun barrel technique you can use that I can teach you. Of course, that'll have to wait a little."

"I'll work hard to finish the job!" Beianqi said excitedly.

Su Ming took her back to the workshop, deftly laid out his trauma care supplies, and cleaned the young mechanic's forehead wound. He rinsed the contaminating oil and debris out of the wound and sealed it shut.

At the rate he was improving, Su Ming felt he would soon be able to change classes and become a surgeon-there was no standardized residency training system in the other world anyway.

Next, the girl cast the