N-A-A Chapter 545 Artillery
Chapter 545 Artillery
Chapter 545 Artillery
Leo pushed out the cover of the pocket watch and then closed it again.
He fell into deep thought as he gazed at the latest nautical chart drawn by the navigator.
Ocean.
There was nothing but ocean; not a single island could be found.
At this moment, Leo cannot even be sure where the Silk Veil has arrived.
Every day, they need to spend nearly an hour discussing how far they have come that day.
Only in this way can we avoid getting lost in the vast ocean.
Perhaps he had already lost his way—Leo thought.
No one can accurately estimate the distance a ship has traveled, not even the Crimson Prince or the Navigator.
Moreover, the marker image he received was extremely blurry.
A rough location and distance are not enough to serve as an accurate reference.
At this rate, they will never be able to find the so-called Feathered Island.
Perhaps this voyage is destined to be fruitless.
Two-thirds of the fresh water and food on the ship have been used up.
Thanks to the fact that it is a large ship and there are not many sailors on board, there has been no food or fresh water crisis so far.
However, at this rate, no amount of food can sustain them.
Now Leo has ordered a reduction in food rations for each meal and has asked the crew to take turns fishing at sea.
This would further reduce the net consumption of food on board.
But there's always an end to it.
Therefore, Leo had to make a decision.
Should we continue searching, or take this opportunity to turn around?
Returning now might offer a glimmer of hope.
Continuing—would have unpredictable consequences.
Of course, this also means that Leo wasted several months of his life.
However, no one can know which choice is the right one.
However, if this ocean is really that large and so empty.
The Crimson Prince did indeed find Featherfall Island and send information about the island to his descendants.
If this is true, Leo doesn't believe that the Crimson Prince found the island through navigation skills, experience, or luck.
The possibility of this is extremely small.
Leo preferred to believe that there was some kind of trick to getting to that island.
Upon careful recollection of Lord John's words, it seems that it was his wife, Gaia, who brought back the chart and the stone egg.
So, Gaia also found Featherfall Island on her own.
Even if the Scarlet Prince is a chosen one among millions, could his wife be one as well?
No! Leo thought, that's absolutely impossible.
This means that there must be some method that led them to Fallen Feather Island.
But what exactly is it?
Leo pondered for a long time, but couldn't come up with an answer.
However, he did gain a new perspective.
Right now, the Silk Veil cannot continue its blind voyage; they must find the key!
A person's thinking can easily fall into inertia.
However, this trap can be avoided by pooling collective wisdom.
On this ship, there happened to be two scholars, both of whom could be considered wise men.
With that in mind, Leo immediately went to the cabin.
Soon, he arrived at Mahan and Shirley's room.
Now, he has developed the habit of knocking on doors.
"Knock knock knock!"
Soon, the door opened from the inside.
Mahan opened the door: "Oh! Mr. Leo, you've come at the perfect time!"
With that, Mahan pulled Rio toward his worktable.
On the table, there is a design drawing covered with densely packed data.
At the very top of the design drawing, there is a word: "pipe".
Leo asked, "What's the use of this pipe?"
"This is what you requested, a ship-grade machine gun," Mahan said.
However, what was on the blueprints had absolutely nothing to do with machine guns.
"What's the use of this?"
"I referenced the design of the giant crossbow, with a movable giant wheel and a two-way rotating axle to ensure that it can strike enemies that come from all directions."
Leo nodded: "So, this is the combination of a giant crossbow and a mechanical gun?"
"No, no, no, such unimaginative ideas are certainly not what I want to design," Mahan smiled mysteriously. "Look, I also added a clockwork design; this is a real clockwork."
"What's the use of this design?"
"Powered by a spring, this weapon can be operated and fine-tuned," Mahan said. "The giant crossbow has been around for decades, but its widespread adoption faced significant obstacles before the Navigator used it to severely damage the Kingdom's Allied Fleet. Mr. Leo, do you know why?"
Leo shook his head.
"The giant crossbow is indeed an extremely precise instrument, but the Federation has no shortage of qualified craftsmen, and besides, the Federation has factories," This allows them to break down the complex production process into simple steps, standardizing and streamlining each step, reducing errors and increasing efficiency. Therefore, as long as there is an order, the Federation can produce as many giant crossbows as needed.
"What's the reason?" Leo asked. "Didn't people outside the Federation realize the power of the giant crossbow?"
"That is indeed a major reason, which is why I mentioned the Navigator earlier. But there is an even more important reason: since the production of giant crossbows is not a problem, then any weapon produced is just an inanimate object; it only has value when it is used. However, such a huge weapon is difficult for a single person to operate, which means that the accuracy of giant crossbows is always very low."
Leo understood: "You mean, there's a shortage of skilled personnel to operate giant crossbows?"
“That’s right,” Mahan nodded. “Great crossbowmen are not only difficult to train, but their profits are also always uncertain. Therefore, for many lords, buying great crossbows is a losing proposition. If it weren’t for the strength of the Navigators, which forced them to upgrade their equipment, great crossbows would still be unsaleable.”
Leo nodded: "But does that mean your clockwork design could also be used to improve the giant crossbow?"
“That’s true,” Mahan said, “but for the Commonwealth, the giant crossbow is already outdated technology, so no one has designed it before. Perhaps someone did design it, but couldn’t find investors to produce it.”
"So, this is the only improvement you've made to your pipe?"
"No, no, no, ammunition design is also very sophisticated," Mahan said. "Ammunition needs to control costs while also possessing good lethality. Achieving both at the same time is not easy. However, I have already overcome this challenge."
"What is it?"
"Spice is only used as the power source for the ammunition, which is just a regular hollow metal sphere."
"Why does it have to be hollow?"
"Reducing weight allows for greater range in ammunition. Also, the hollowed-out interior can be reused, since there's enough ammunition. Imagine what it would be like to fill metal ammunition with explosives, pyrotechnic agents, and so on?"
"Brilliant fireworks!" Leo laughed.
Just as I imagined.
"But if that's the case, then the name you chose is far too ordinary."
"Sir, do you have any suggestions?"
"artillery!"