Chapter 582 - 367: Metal, Rare Earth? We Have Plenty

Chapter 582: Chapter 367: Metal, Rare Earth? We Have Plenty

"Not well. A large number of our tribesmen have been injured or killed. The Steel Elephant Race was already smaller than the Flame Boars in number. If this continues, the consequences will be hard to predict." Chief Gang Long rubbed the bridge of his nose, his tone filled with helplessness.

While he was powerful, the Flame Boars were by no means inferior. The high-tier combatants on both sides served as a deterrent and couldn’t be deployed lightly. The lives being lost now were mostly those of our mid- and low-level tribesmen.

’The war between the Steel Elephants and the Flame Boars,’ Han Ning figured, ’is really a conflict fought by the low and mid-level Beast Masters. If one side’s Beast Masters gain the upper hand and annihilate the other, the weaker party will eventually be forced to the negotiating table.’

This was because if the high-tier combatants from both tribes were to clash, the entire Purple Crystal World would suffer a massive catastrophe. Most wars in the Main World are fought as proxy battles by low- and mid-level Beast Masters.

Only when a situation escalated into a war of annihilation, with entire races participating like the Witch Spirits and Alatak, would it devolve into a full-scale conflict where both sides deployed combatants of every level, hell-bent on wiping out the enemy’s entire lineage.

Even then, the main battlefield for the two races’ high-tier combatants was still not within the Purple Crystal World.

With the Mad Lion watching over the Steel Elephants and the Flame Boars, things hadn’t yet degenerated to that extent.

Han Ning continued, "Chief Gang Long, forgive me for being blunt, but aside from commanding their Soul Beasts in battle, how do the low and mid-level Beast Masters of the Steel Elephant Tribe defend themselves?"

"With Spiritual Power Weapons, of course." Gang Long gave Han Ning an odd look, then waved a hand at Gang Sasi.

The latter understood. He took a crossbow-like device from his storage Soul Artifact, handed it to Han Ning, and explained, "The Silver Steel Crossbow. Tier One to Tier Three Beast Masters generally use this for self-defense. It can unleash destructive power roughly equivalent to the War General Level."

"It’s charged using Soul Crystals of various Attributes. A single Soul Crystal from a War General Level Soul Beast provides enough energy for 300 shots. Each shot requires a tiny amount of Spiritual Power to activate."

As he spoke, Gang Sasi raised the shimmering silver crossbow and fired it at one of the Guardian Soul Beasts by the door.

VMM! 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

A silvery-white Energy Crossbow Arrow shot out with astonishing speed, heading straight for the Guardian Soul Beast’s abdomen.

"GRAH!"

The Soul Beast guarding the door swatted it casually, and the Energy Crossbow Arrow instantly burst into a shower of light.

"The power isn’t bad."

The destructive power of this crossbow was more refined than what Han Ning had seen among the Wind Spirit Race. ’It’s possible Irena and her people have been through so many battles that they’ve lost most of their quality weapons, leaving them with only primitive Elemental Flying Blades.’

"Priest, why don’t you try this?"

Han Ning gave a mysterious smile and pulled something that looked like an RPG rocket launcher out of his personal storage Soul Artifact.

"Wh... what is that?"

The members of the Steel Elephant Race and the two from the Holy Crystal Race stared in confusion at the large tube on Han Ning’s shoulder.

Only Bobo Man, Lin Tianhe, and the others wore knowing smiles.

"A type of Spiritual Power Weapon developed by our Xia Country. It has many advantages... It’s convenient, cheap, powerful, and so on."

Han Ning turned his gaze to the Steel Armored Elephant guarding the door and asked it, "Mind if we use you for another test?"

This particular Steel Armored Elephant only had the strength of a Lower Lord. After all, the more powerful Soul Beasts had all been dispatched to the front lines.

"Hmphh!" The Steel Armored Elephant swished its tail, signaling for him to bring it on.

"Alright, everyone, watch closely." Han Ning flipped a switch on the rocket launcher to activate it, then aimed at the Steel Armored Elephant and pulled the trigger.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Amidst a blast of thick white smoke, a full ten shells tore through the air with a sharp screech and slammed into the Steel Armored Elephant.

KABLAM!

The ground at the entrance of the residence collapsed, and acrid smoke filled the air.

The great elephant, clad head to toe in silvery-white armor, stumbled back more than a dozen steps before collapsing onto its rear.

Its once-pristine, silvery-white armor was now covered in black scorch marks.

Although the 10-rocket barrage still hadn’t caused any substantial damage to the Steel Armored Elephant, it was dozens of times more powerful than the Spiritual Crossbow Gang Sasi had used!

This was another achievement of Dean Wu and his team, born from modifying human firearms with Spiritual Energy.

An original RPG could only be loaded with a single shell at a time. This modified version, however, could be loaded with ten smaller-caliber, yet more powerful, shells. Accelerated by Spiritual Energy, they could unleash astonishing destructive power.

"Oh?"

After witnessing the RPG’s power, everyone present showed expressions of great interest.

"Can an ordinary Beast Master use it?" Gang Sasi’s eyebrow twitched, and he looked eager to try it himself.

"Here." Han Ning handed the rocket launcher to him. He then took out ten shells, each about as thick as three fingers, and loaded them into the ammunition chamber at the rear of the launcher. "

"A Beast Master? Even a newborn child with no strength to speak of could use it, as long as they know how."

"Load the ammunition, flip the activation switch, select the mode, and then pull the trigger."

Following Han Ning’s instructions, Gang Sasi once again aimed the launcher at the poor Steel Armored Elephant and pulled the trigger.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ceaseless booming echoed throughout the tribal encampment.

A few more craters appeared on the ground.

"This thing packs a real punch! It really doesn’t use any Spiritual Power or Spiritual Energy. It’s as simple as drinking from a cup!"

"And... its power is nearly on par with an Upper War General! It can even affect a Lord Soul Beast." Gang Sasi’s expression was ecstatic. In just a few short seconds, he had fallen in love with the rocket launcher.

Just then, the young girl, Steel Ka’er, who had been watching wide-eyed from a corner, saw the RPG’s power and ran over to Gang Long. She hugged his leg tightly and yelled, "I wanna play, I wanna play too! Grandpa, I wanna play!"

"Alright, alright, let her try it." Annoyed by her racket, Gang Long shot Gang Sasi a meaningful look.

"This..."

Han Ning looked at the little girl, who was about as tall as the rocket launcher itself, and felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

’Isn’t this like that thing from my past life...’

He shook his head to dispel the odd feeling and continued his explanation.

"Its Spiritual Energy signature is minimal. As you all could feel, there was almost no fluctuation when it fired. In certain tactical situations, a weapon with such a low energy signature can be incredibly useful."

"Furthermore, it has an auto-tracking function. It can automatically lock onto an enemy, much like using Spiritual Power to lock on. It also doesn’t need Soul Crystals for power; you just have to load it with ammunition."

"It also has an encryption feature. If an enemy were to get their hands on one, they wouldn’t be able to unlock the firing mechanism without a special command. In enemy hands, these are just piles of useless junk."

Her face alight with excitement, Steel Ka’er mimicked the adults, pressing the button and pulling the trigger.

But all that came from the rocket launcher was a series of piercing alarm beeps.

"Why didn’t it fire?" Steel Ka’er blinked, looking curiously at the muzzle.

"Because I didn’t load it with ammunition."

Han Ning smiled and patted her head, adding a word of caution, "This weapon is quite lethal. Low Level Beastmasters must be extremely careful when using it to avoid injuring their allies."

"If it doesn’t need Soul Crystals and doesn’t consume Spiritual Power, then what does it use for fuel?" Gang Sasi asked, his face a mask of astonishment.

"The ammunition. It consumes the ammunition."

Han Ning took out a few more shells and held them up for everyone to see.

"Each shell is made from metal and a few other inexpensive materials, like a special type of earth. The average cost is extremely low."

"Metal... and a special type of earth?"

Gang Long’s expression turned peculiar when he heard this.

If there was one thing they had in abundance, it was mineral veins and rare earth resources!

"What’s the cost for one launcher and ten shells?" Gang Long could no longer sit still.

"The weapon itself costs one War General Level Soul Crystal. The value of ten shells is less than a single Awakened Soul Crystal."

’In reality, the cost of an RPG rocket launcher wasn’t even worth a single Awakened Soul Crystal. At most, it was just some special-grade steel and electronic circuits.’

’Of course, the knowledge was the most expensive part!’

"What?!"

Hearing the cost of the rocket launcher, the crowd was instantly thrown into an uproar.

Even Leiya of the Holy Crystal Race showed immense interest.