Chapter 552 - 352: Spiritual Technology Explosion (Part 2)

Chapter 552: Chapter 352: Spiritual Technology Explosion (Part 2)

"Heh heh, the massive changes here are all thanks to His Highness Prince Bobo Man and his team of Spiritual Array masters!"

A smile played on Dean Wu’s lips, a clear sign of his high praise for Bobo Man.

"I figured you’d ask, so I’ve already brought over the major breakthroughs we’ve researched over the years."

Bobo Man, receiving the praise, held his head high with a look of proud reserve, not denying Dean Wu’s words.

"You’ve been gone for about two years and three months, right? Two years... not that long, but not that short either. For us people of Xia Country, who are experts at infrastructure, two years is enough time to build rows of straight highways, a crisscrossing railway network, and magnificent power stations..."

Dean Wu’s old habit of reminiscing hadn’t changed. He rambled on for a few minutes before finally getting back to the point.

"Ahem, I’ve gotten sidetracked. Do you remember? Before you left, you mentioned a plan to us: building production lines for firearms to be used by Low Level Beastmasters and selling our human-made firearms in the Otherworld."

"Of course!"

’Come to think of it, this was related to Irena. Back in the Secret Realm, I’d even mentioned to her how the backward combat methods of the Witch Spirit Race’s Beast Masters left a deep impression on me.’

"Theoretically, building such a firearms production line isn’t difficult. The real challenge lies in having a powerful industrial system."

"Steel mills, power plants... all the supporting upstream and downstream supply chains. With a team of less than ten thousand people, it’s incredibly difficult for us to establish a complete industrial system."

"One day, when I was struggling with how to formulate a special steel specifically for forging firearms, something Academician Zhou Mingkai said gave me an idea."

"’Why not use the Spiritual Array technology of the Otherworld to replace the complex industrial supply chains from our past lives on Blue Star? That would reduce the difficulty of having to gather all sorts of different raw materials.’"

"As soon as I thought of that, I immediately contacted Academician Zhou Mingkai’s team."

"However... because the databases of our three races lacked knowledge about basic Spiritual Arrays, the project had to be shelved. That is, until His Highness Prince Bobo Man came to me, curious about how a mobile phone’s operating system worked. That’s when we finally found a solution."

"His Highness Prince Bobo Man was curious about our human science and technology, and we were eager to learn about the Otherworld’s fundamental Spiritual Array knowledge. We hit it off immediately and established a knowledge-sharing plan. We humans would provide his team with all our knowledge across various scientific fields. In exchange, His Highness Prince Bobo Man would categorize and share with us, free of charge, all the Spiritual Array knowledge the Wangchao Family has collected over nearly ten thousand years."

"And just like that... our technology... had its own big bang!"

As he said this, Dean Wu’s face grew exceptionally red with excitement.

With a flourish, he took out a uniquely styled, jet-black sniper rifle, about 1.5 meters long, from the storage Soul Artifact he carried.

"This sniper rifle is called the Boka Model III. It’s a weapon that combines human technology and Spiritual Energy."

Dean Wu spoke as he pulled back the rifle’s bolt.

WHIRR~CLICK!

In an instant, azure-blue Spiritual Energy Circuits lit up across the rifle’s black-coated surface. The number "16" appeared on its side.

"It still retains the fundamentals of a kinetic weapon; the ammunition it fires is still primarily gunpowder-based. But it has been optimized with a Spiritual Array, allowing it to automatically adjust firing modes, reload, and calibrate its targeting lock. Of course, taking into account certain races that are sensitive to Spiritual Energy, it also has both a Spiritual Energy mode and a traditional mechanical mode."

"Spiritual Power Weapons aren’t unheard of in this world. On the contrary, there are a great many of them. His Highness Prince Bobo Man’s Wangchao Family alone has developed over 3,000 different types."

"Spiritual Power Weapons have a major drawback. Against intelligent races sensitive to Spiritual Energy, like the Witch Spirit Race, or against Pure Elemental Soul Beasts, if they drain the Spiritual Energy from a given area, then... the weapon’s power is drastically weakened, or even completely nullified."

"Kinetic weapons, however, don’t have that problem. They are driven purely by the most fundamental laws of physics. In fact, many Low Level Beastmasters and Soul Beasts can’t even perceive the trajectory of a projectile fired from a kinetic weapon with their Spiritual Power."

"This rifle holds 16 rounds. In fully automatic mode, it can fire all 16 rounds in one second. The internal Buffer Array reduces the effects of recoil. It requires no Spiritual Energy input and no exertion of Spiritual Power. A regular human, with just a few hours of training, can gain the ability to kill a War General Level Soul Beast."

Dean Wu raised the rifle’s muzzle toward the sky and looked at Han Ning with a smile. "Want to summon your Soul Beast and test its power?"

Han Ning knew full well how fanatically passionate Dean Wu, with his background in military factories, was about machinery. Now that he’d found a way to realize his dream, the joy overflowing on his face was impossible to hide.

He smiled back and shook his head. "No need for a Soul Beast. Just shoot me. I’ll test its power myself."

"Isn’t that too dangerous?" Dean Wu frowned.

"Eh, Old Wu, don’t worry about it," Bobo Man said, waving a tentacle dismissively. "With his current physique, even a Lord Soul Beast might not be able to hurt him, let alone this sniper rifle."

"Alright then."

With Bobo Man’s assurance, Dean Wu relaxed. He lowered the rifle, aimed at Han Ning’s left hand, and pulled the trigger.

BANG!!

A tongue of orange flame burst from the muzzle.

The roar of the gunshot thundered through the conference room.

Through his Spiritual Power, Han Ning felt like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. To his eyes, the slender, brass-colored projectile moved at a speed barely faster than a crawling snail.

He made no move to dodge, simply reaching out his right hand and pinching forward.

BOOM!

The bullet struck his fingers, releasing a burst of powerful kinetic energy.

With a slight movement of his right hand, Han Ning precisely caught the bullet—a round with a caliber over 25 millimeters, practically a small cannon shell.

"TSSS~~"

Wisps of white smoke rose from his fingers. He stared at the slightly scorched marks in surprise. "The power is at least at the Upper War General level. Can you mass-produce these?"

If he was surprised, the crowd of onlookers was even more astonished.

In all their time since crossing over, they had never seen a Beast Master capable of stopping a sniper bullet with their bare hands.

"Holy... crap! Han Ning, are you even human anymore? You can block a sniper bullet! In a few more years... I don’t even dare to imagine!" Lin Tianhe exclaimed, his face a mask of astonishment.

"You’re exaggerating! No matter how tough a Beast Master’s body gets, it’s nothing compared to a Soul Beast’s," Han Ning said, setting the bullet down and waving his hand dismissively.

"We don’t have any orders for firearms at the moment, so all the weapons we’ve produced are still in the experimental phase. But if an intelligent race wanted to place a pre-order, I estimate we could set up a production line capable of making 1,000 of these sniper rifles a month in just over ten days."

"That fast?"

"And that’s just for rifles... To be honest, we’ve already begun research in areas related to strategic nuclear missiles. We just lack the relevant theoretical knowledge and need to keep reverse-engineering from what we currently know."

"Nukes..." Han Ning gulped.

’The power of a nuclear bomb isn’t something a War General Level Soul Beast could possibly withstand... Even a Monarch would be seriously injured if hit by a nuke of a certain yield.’

’Then again... theoretically, there’s a 99% chance a Monarch Soul Beast would never be hit by one. With their powerful Spiritual Power, they could sense the danger from tens, or even hundreds, of kilometers away.’

’The advent of nukes, however, would be perfect for hitting stationary targets, like Energy Shields or key cities.’

"Besides firearms for fending off enemies, we’ve also made significant progress in other areas." Dean Wu put the sniper rifle away and turned on the large projection screen behind him.