Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 732 - 630: The Art of Guns!
Phaletis Royal Colony, Thoms Town.
Glory Church.
Although the name of this church sounds grand, it is a very small church. It was established by the first batch of pioneer believers who landed in Thoms Town, as the first church belonging to the "Queen and Goddess of Navigation".
The church, combining the "Dark Millennium" style with Gothic style, has a rectangular main body, with the highest point of the ten-meter spire being less than twenty meters.
With its sloping roof, small windows, and gables covered with seaside shells, it hardly differs from ordinary residences except for its church structure.
In the evening, the sky gradually blushed with a red glow.
An elderly man with silver hair, full of spirit and wearing a plain black robe, sat on a stone at the church entrance, holding a small wicker basket, and watched with a smile as seven or eight children in front of him happily jumped and sang after receiving the cookies he gave them.
The innocent children sang hymns in praise of the Goddess's blessings, without any impurity.
Suddenly.
"Ah!"
A little girl, only about five or six years old, accidentally dropped her cookie on the ground. After exclaiming, her eyes immediately turned red, with crystal-like tears continuously welling up in her eyes.
The old man did not scold her but bent down to pick up the cookie from the ground, blew on it and put it in his mouth, then gently comforted the little girl:
"It's fine, if food falls on the ground and you pick it up within three seconds, it's still edible. Here, Liz, grandpa will give you a bigger one."
The little girl instantly broke into a smile, took another cookie from the basket with a sweet thank you:
"Thank you, Grandpa Ralph!"
The group of children played here for a while longer, until it got darker, then bid the old man farewell and left together.
At this moment.
The elderly man, smiling as he watched them leave, did not return to the church but slowly turned around to look behind him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
There, a group of "Iron Wall Knights", clad in heavy armor like human tanks, slowly approached from the other side of the church, stopping and saluting from afar.
"Sir Ralph, may the Goddess be with you."
The old man casually returned a salute to them and waved his hand, treating even a Tier 3 Great Knight no differently from the young children just now:
"Kids, you can stay here for now. There's no need to report to me whatever you want to do. Ralph is now just a retired old man waiting to return to the Goddess Realm."
Thud!
Ambrose struck his chest with his fist, the iron gauntlet hitting the steel armor with a dull thud, and respectfully lowered his head:
"Yes, we won't disturb your peace for long. Regardless of whether this mission is completed or not, there will be a result within three to six months."
...
Georgia Territory.
On the eastern side of the Cumberland Mountains, at the outdoor shooting range of Vulcan Metals Company.
"200 meters target!"
Commander Johnson of the newly formed [Gunman] unit under Aiven, holding a brand-new, peculiar rifle, fired casually without even using the accompanying sight.
Bang——
A line of fire shot forth, a small hole appearing in the center of the target paper.
[Gunman] acquires the core abilities [Gun Sense] and [Vital Insight] at Tier 1, with keen senses to discern enemy vulnerabilities for a lethal strike.
Precision shooting is just a trivial matter.
Up to this point, everything seemed normal, but what happened next left Anthony and Delis, who were watching from the sidelines, gradually numb from shock.
"300 meters, 10 points."
"500 meters, 10 points."
"....."
"900 meters...10 points!"
In full uniform, Johnson completed the shooting demonstration at a speed of one shot every 20 seconds, stored away his newly issued rifle, and stood straight in front of Aiven, saluting:
"Report, sir, mission accomplished, please instruct."
"Very well, rejoin the team."
Aiven turned and looked at Anthony and Delis, who seemed a bit dazed, and smiled as he asked:
"So, how do you find the Georgia Rifle we produced?"
Upon hearing Aiven's words, the two gradually came back to their senses.
"I always knew you were an undisputed genius! Mass-producing sniper firearms is just incredible."
Anthony's expression was somewhat complex; five years ago, when he first met Aiven, he was just starting his apprenticeship, but now he is a veritable Upper-Rank Wizard, a Marquis, and even a Tier 4 Extraordinary had fallen under his blade in the "Rebellion War".
War implements emerged endlessly in recent years, invented by him, evidently set to deeply change the way of future combat.
Before.
Having come from a family of great nobility, Anthony knew that if he treated Aiven with detachment and respectful titles after their meeting, it would genuinely distance them. Adopting a normal stance and handling it with discernment would yield a better effect.
But after witnessing once more the boundless wisdom of the other party as vast as mountains and seas, he couldn't help but switch back to respectful language. The slaughter of cities and nations, the battlefield execution of Tier 4, seemed too distant from himself; only those things seen with his own eyes were truly relevant to his interests.
"Hahaha, the cost of the Georgia Firearm is actually not low."
Under Aiven's guidance, the arsenal successfully developed the first refined rifle exclusively belonging to the "Vulcan Metals Company." Following the naming conventions of Kentucky, since it was born in Georgia, Aiven named it the "Georgia Rifle."
Revolutionary use of percussion caps for ignition, eliminating flint which had only about a 70% ignition rate.
The explosive compound Thunder Mercury (Hg(CNO)2) is the main component of caps and detonators, with high sensitivity to flames, pricking, and impact, essential for break the mountains and rocks.
This "Georgia Rifle" is the first true sniper rifle in the mundane world; its design has surpassed the original category of high-precision rifles like the Kentucky Rifle, crafted specifically for accurately hitting distant targets—a pinnacle creation.
Most uniquely, while this rifle belongs to the rifled gun category, its barrel doesn't have conventional rifling, but rather a peculiar hexagonal bore.
Considering the ease of processing and precision, firearms with hexagonal bores can achieve a good balance in all aspects.
However, this rifle is still a single-shot muzzle-loader with a total length of 1200 millimeters, a barrel of 840 millimeters, using .45 caliber hexagonal bullets, firing rate of 2–3 shots, an effective range of 730 to 910 meters, and a maximum range of 1200 meters.
It's already very close to the effective range of Alchemy Firearms.
In this era, Divine Archers commonly use the Kentucky rifled gun, with an effective range of only around 300 meters.
Moreover, after creating reliable percussion caps, Aiven was just a step away from developing fixed ammunition. As long as he could solve the problem of gas tightness in the breech lock structure, a truly modern rifle was beckoning to him from afar.
However.
Even if he could solve all technical problems, Aiven had no plans to create this thing for use on the battlefield, at least not before "Truth Embodiment."
Because this thing, like the steam engine which had deeply changed the world, no, its power even exceeds that of the steam engine.
It's enough to completely overturn the ruling order of the continent's various nations, sweeping away over ninety-nine percent of Tier 2 Transcendentals into history's trash heap; even Tier 3 Great Knights could no longer overlook ordinary soldiers as worthless.
Indeed, not many would be needed; just getting pinned down by a few hundred soldiers' concentrated fire would be enough to kneel.
This isn't merely about breaching Martial Virtue; it's outright cheating.
Such an act of opposing the entire world—only a madman would undertake it; even the "Queen and Goddess of Navigation," who views herself as a Saint, would smack down and snatch away one's life first.
Because the significance is akin to handing knives to capitalists...
Aiven had even used existing technology to craft two large-caliber black gunpowder fixed paper cartridge revolvers. However, these are merely toys to him now.
Furthermore.
Since such rifles can be produced, the streamlined low-end trade rifles naturally need no further elaboration, fully achieving self-sufficiency.
"Vulcan's weapons and equipment aren't that simple; what's below is the real highlight."
Aiven gestured.
On the other side, soldiers briskly pulled aside the canvas, revealing a uniquely styled multi-rail cannon.
It had no conventional cannon barrel, yet possessed 8 launch rails, interspersed up and down, loaded with 16 conical shells of 132 mm caliber, complete with stabilizing fins.
"Is this some sort of cannon?"
Anthony, as an Official Wizard of "Alchemy Tools and Enchantment Project," was most intrigued by this new type of weapon, yet could see no trace of alchemical processing on it.
After refining the high-energy explosive "Black Gold's" alchemy formula, even apprentices could mass-produce it under good protection, hence Aiven had ample stock at hand.
At this time.
Searching for a way to swiftly and simply pour the maximum yield of Black Gold onto targets' heads naturally fell into Aiven's plans.
Thus, the structurally simple and economically viable "Rocket Cannon," acclaimed as firepower tech poverty relief, naturally entered his sight.
"Target directly ahead, 8 kilometers, firing range 1, launch!"
Aiven swung his arm forcefully.
The cannon-men responded by igniting the rocket cannon.
In an instant, orange-red flames formed a continuous sheet, almost re-illuminating the gradually darkening dusk sky, with each rocket projectile soaring like spears thrown by Vulcan.
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!....
A minute and a half later.
Boom——!!!
Accompanied by consecutive terrifying blasts, thick dust surged to the sky; in the distance, a small hill vanished in a storm of flames, reduced to ash.
Even under Aiven's feet a strong shockwave could be felt.
The rockets had an initial velocity of 80 meters per second, weighing 42.5 kilograms; maximum range was 8.5 kilometers, a salvo took only 7-10 seconds—it was the epitome of field-clearing bombardments. It could also be called [Pai Daxing's Ultimate Curtain Call 2.0], but Aiven renamed it [Black Gold's Justice Iron Fist]!
Walking next to the two already from numbness to daze, Aiven's voice undisturbed as an ancient well:
"On future battlefields, we must unleash steel and flames, not soldiers.
We need to leave countless craters on enemy positions, with a density allowing one to leap from crater to crater; I'm serious about this.
In other terms, it can be called 'oversaturation bombing,' the great art of using artillery to alter geography!
Adequate logistics combined with unrestrained firepower coverage, no need for words, just one, bomb! That's my Shinobi way... cough cough, tactical concept!"
In fact, when warfare truly evolves to this stage, it loses all past centuries of artistry, devolving into a direct confrontation between nations' comprehensive national strengths.
Arriving at the era of golden cannon-shot, warfare is fought with money.
