Fantastic Ideas

The adjustment dial on the magic stone had already been marked with scales.

There were ten levels in total.

The power of each level varied slightly.

At the lowest setting, there was essentially no offensive power; even within ten meters, the bullet would only slightly embed its tip into wood.

At the highest setting, it was the shot that could shatter standard-issue armor.

Such immense power was already enough to qualify an ordinary person for the battlefield.

'Clack-clack!'

Luo Li pulled back the bolt, exposing the magazine.

She lifted the gun and carefully inspected the interior.

Every part had been meticulously polished, and there were no visible burrs at any contact point.

It was clear how much effort Anton had put into this weapon.

Before Anton left earlier, he had already submitted a cost breakdown for the rifle.

The total value was fifty silver coins.

That was equivalent to five thousand per gun.

Strictly speaking, this cost was still a bit high.

The most expensive components were the magic stone firing mechanism and the barrel.

The cost of the barrel was mainly due to the manufacturing process.

Actually, the manufacturing techniques of this era were quite interesting.

Although the technology wasn't advanced, the mineral resources were very special, and the forging capabilities were extremely strong.

It wasn't that technology couldn't be developed; it was simply that no human had ever ventured into this field before.

Furthermore, the Holy Church had controlled human society for a thousand years.

As a result, scientific progress had been stifled.

The barrel cost about ten silver coins, roughly one-fifth of the total production cost.

Another fifth went toward the manufacturing and polishing of other small components.

Finally, there was the magic stone firing mechanism.

One had to admit that Camilla, the alchemist, was quite resourceful.

She had separated the magic stone from the magic stone energy storage area.

They were partitioned by a small magic array.

Pulling the bolt would trigger the small array and open the pathway.

After loading a bullet, the firing path of the magic stone would connect with the trigger mechanism.

The moment the trigger was pulled, the energy inside the magic stone would surge in.

At that point, a second magic array would activate, and all the energy would be forcibly propelled forward to compress.

With high pressure combined with instantaneous ignition, an explosive combustion would occur at the end of the barrel, launching the bullet.

Since the bullets didn't require gunpowder, their production cost was very low.

The mechanism itself wasn't worth much; the most valuable parts were the carving of the magic arrays and the polishing of the magic stone.

The selection and polishing of the magic stone alone cost at least twenty silver coins.

The carving of the magic array and the mechanism itself were worth about ten silver coins.

In a world with magic, the underlying logic was different from her original world.

Consequently, the focus had shifted entirely.

In her old world, the most important parts were the barrel and the ammunition.

In this world, the firing mechanism had become the priority.

The strength of the barrel was not an issue here.

After all, in an era of cold weapons, skilled blacksmiths were everywhere.

Forging a barrel that could be used for a long time was very simple.

Moreover, this world possessed minerals similar to memory metals and self-repairing metals.

Most of the metal weapons and armor in the display room contained similar properties.

And this was only for use by ordinary people.

If they took it a step further and let mages use these firearms, they could completely abandon the polished magic stones and use their own elemental mana for ignition.

Alternatively, they could use magic stones and recharge them at any time.

However, this gun had more than just one problem.

Aside from the cost, there was the issue of the magic stone's energy storage.

While magic stones could naturally absorb ambient elements from the air, the process was far too slow.

Even with a magic array to accelerate the recovery, it would still take twenty-four hours to fully charge the energy required for one stone.

Unless a mage directly infused energy into the magic stone, which would fill it in an instant.

However, that created an even bigger problem.

It meant the army would need to keep mages on standby permanently.

And they would need a lot of them.

Essentially, one level ten mage would be needed for every ten soldiers.

Furthermore, the firing mechanism needed to be made detachable.

Each soldier would need to carry at least three firing mechanisms.

Looking at it from a squad perspective, a ten-man squad would need one mage.

That made it an eleven-person squad.

A level ten mage could recharge thirty magic stones at once.

To recharge again, they would have to wait until the next day.

At maximum power, one magic stone could only fire three shots.

At the lowest power, it could fire over a hundred.

To achieve sufficient lethality, at least level six power was required.

At that level, one magic stone could only fire about thirty rounds.

Assuming a soldier carried three magic stones, that would be ninety rounds in total.

Counting the mage's recharge, it would be a total of one hundred and eighty rounds.

In other words, the overall combat capability of this army had a limit.

One hundred and eighty rounds was the ceiling, and a short rest would be required in between.

All of this had to be factored into the tactics and strategy.

One hundred and eighty rounds might not seem like much, but it wasn't exactly a small amount either.

Few soldiers could carry more than one hundred and eighty rounds of ammunition at a time.

"Looking at it this way, there still seem to be certain flaws."

Luo Li murmured to herself, analyzing a mountain of data in her mind, leading to one conclusion.

A firearm unit could be formed, but the environments they could handle would have limits.

They wouldn't have the same high-pressure resistance as a knight regiment.

But that was enough.

This was a magic world, after all.

For ordinary people to reach this level was already sufficient for the current situation.

Wasn't the original goal just to give these soldiers a certain level of combat power?

However...

Luo Li looked down at the gun in her hands.

A different thought suddenly occurred to her.

The forging capabilities of this world were immense, and there were many special metal minerals.

If!

If the firing mechanism were scaled up to the width of a water bucket, and instead of using bullets, it functioned solely as a propulsion source, could she develop jet engines?

Luo Li blinked, suddenly feeling a surge of excitement.

Though she knew that reaching for the stars in one leap was unscientific and impossible.

Suppose she made it the width of an arm and used an exoskeleton to mount it on legs with a control system; could she create jet-powered power armor?

Wait!

What if she mounted this on a skysoar dragon?

A jet-powered skysoar dragon?

Holy crap, what a sight that would be!

A sky full of jet dragons; if she could develop bombs too, they could completely abandon cold weapons on the battlefield!

And when she thought about it, wouldn't it be even simpler?

Mount a jet engine on the dragon's back and let the skysoar dragon decide when to use the switch.

Letting the skysoar dragon control the flight angle would save its strength on one hand and drastically increase its speed on the other.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the skysoar dragon could withstand it.

On the other hand, how to mount it on a living creature was also an issue.

For a moment, Luo Li stood there in a daze, her eyes slightly glazed as she became lost in thought.

Seeing this, Nara didn't say anything and simply waited for her mistress to finish her contemplations.

Whenever Her Highness thought of something, she would space out like this for a while.

Nara had grown used to it.

After all this time, she had become familiar with Luo Li's habits.

Sometimes, a single look was enough for her to understand what Her Highness wanted.

Perhaps this was what people called chemistry?

Nara looked at the object in the girl's hands.

A gun.

This was a possibility she had never imagined before.

With this thing, even she might have the ability to kill someone of a higher level.

Nara had experienced the battlefield; although she hadn't followed Luo Li to conquer the demon island, she had witnessed the war in Brilliant City with her own eyes.

If they had possessed such weapons back then, the knights wouldn't have even needed to close the distance; they could have thinned out the enemy first.

When they finally charged, the casualties would have been significantly reduced.

She looked at the sky and saw that it was getting dark.

However, Nara wasn't in a hurry; Her Highness had eaten a good lunch.

Even though she still looked at her with that strange expression while eating, Nara now understood that Her Highness wasn't angry during those moments; she was just a bit irritable.

"Nara!"

While Nara was still lost in thought, Luo Li suddenly called out, snapping her out of her daze.

"Your Highness?"

"Prepare paper and pen."

"Yes."

Nara nodded and quickly pulled paper and pen from her bag.

Her Highness had this habit; as soon as she thought of something, she would immediately write or draw it down.

Therefore, Nara always carried these items with her.

After all, many of the things Her Highness sketched were state secrets that could not be leaked.

Luo Li found a stone table and chair, sat down, and began to draw.

Nara stood by her side, watching the surroundings to prevent anyone from peeking, while occasionally stealing a glance herself.

'Her Highness's thoughts are truly hard to fathom.'

'What is this iron bird?'

'What is that stuff spraying out of its wings?'

Nara was completely confused but didn't ask a single question.

Even if she did, Her Highness wouldn't give a straight answer; she would only say something like, "You'll find out later."

Regardless, she had essentially given up on trying to understand.

Her Highness's whimsical way of thinking was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Just like this gun; she had seen Her Highness draw it before, but back then, she didn't know what it was.

Now she knew, and she understood that this object would likely cause a massive shock to the hierarchy of the entire continent.

That alone was enough for Nara to realize that these sketches were the key to the Kingdom of the Moon's future.

Soon, Luo Li finished several drawings and put down the pen.

Nara immediately took over, labeling them with numbers, carefully checking the notes, and then cautiously tucking them into her bag.

It was Her Highness's habit to name every drawing.

Although the names were bizarre, it made it easier for Nara to remember them.

After noting down the name "Jet Plane — Magic Modified Version," she memorized the numbers.

She quickly pulled out her own notebook and recorded everything.

By marking the numbers and types in her notebook, she could later place these blueprints into the highly classified file Her Highness valued most.

This way, the moment Her Highness mentioned something, she could find the blueprint number in her own notebook and retrieve the corresponding drawing.

She locked the clasp on her bag to ensure nothing would fall out during transit.

Nara looked at Luo Li with a smile.

"Your Highness, it is getting late. Why don't you have some dinner and then rest? You've been thinking all day."

Luo Li rubbed her forehead.

Indeed, she had been obsessing over this gun from noon until evening.

It was getting late.

"Yeah, prepare dinner. I want meat."

"Of course, Your Highness."

Nara nodded with a grin and went to prepare the meal.

Nara already knew Her Highness loved meat.

Furthermore, Her Highness was very fond of sweets, though she never admitted it.

However, Nara could always see her joy from the way her eyes crinkled.

'I'll prepare a bit more sweets for Her Highness tonight.'

After all, she always said that using one's brain required eating sweet things.

Watching Nara's departing figure, Luo Li smiled.

This girl had fully embraced her role and position.

She meticulously arranged every detail of her life.

"Why do I feel like I'm turning into a useless person?"

She looked down at the firearm in her hand, turned, loaded a bullet, and pushed the bolt.

She aimed and pulled the trigger!

'Bang!'

With a muffled crack, a circular hole appeared in the wooden dummy and armor in the distance.

Slowly lowering the gun, the girl's gaze involuntarily turned toward the northwest of the Temple.

"I wonder how things are going over there... has Lina found that guy yet?"

...

"Achoo!!"

The girl standing on the dragon's back sneezed loudly, making the knight beside her jump.

"Lady Lina, are you alright? Is it because we're too high up? Is it too cold?"

The knight, dressed in heavy armor and a cotton robe, looked at the Saintess of War, who was wearing thin clothes, with great concern.

"It's fine. This bit of cold is nothing to me."

Lina took out a handkerchief and wiped her nose.

Her eyes continued to scan the ground.

"Someone is probably talking about me. Keep flying."

"Yes, Lady Lina."

The knight nodded and said no more, continuing to urge the skysoar dragon forward.

Three days was enough for the Dragon Knight Corps to travel from High Ridge City in the northwest of the Kingdom of the Moon.

By now, the surrounding terrain had begun to shift from lush greenery to barren desert.

In these three days, they had crossed more than half of the Kingdom of the Moon.

Now, High Ridge City in the northwest was not far off.

However, Lina didn't seem to plan on stopping there.

Based on the distance, it would only take half a day at full speed on a skysoar dragon to reach Xilin Town.

From here on, it was almost entirely rocky desert.

"Um, Lady Lina, aren't we going to stop and reorganize the troops?"

The knight riding the skysoar dragon was from a humble family.

To say humble was an understatement; he was of purely commoner origin.

Brave Knight Vide.