Chapter 116: Energy Cannon

Chapter 116: Energy Cannon

As the floating island ascended, New Hong City faced fewer and fewer attacks from the Slocrows. Especially after Li Zhong issued the order to repel them, the warriors began deliberately targeting the front line of the fierce birds, effectively slowing their momentum.

As for the ordinary arrows that fell outside the floating island’s range and disappeared due to long distance, Li Zhong felt no regret over their loss.

Clearly, after several rounds of testing, both Li Zhong at the front and Li Hongshen, Zhao Yun, and others watching from behind understood that ordinary arrows were essentially useless within the inner domain.

Even as training arrows for the settlers, Li Hongshen felt they were no match for the iron bamboo arrows. So this batch was merely clearing out old stock.

...

After about half an hour, the Slocrow flock, having launched several assaults only to be repelled each time, finally quieted down. A few remaining third-rank mutated birds in the group gave a few cries before the flock slowly withdrew from the floating island’s perimeter.

Eventually, they turned and vanished from the warriors’ sight. Seeing this, Li Hongshen smiled and turned to those behind him.

“Li Zhong did well this time. Everyone saw the battle just now, right? Let’s call him over later and review it. This was our first contact with a beast flock since entering the inner domain—quite a milestone.”

Zhao Yun chuckled, shaking the binoculars in his hand in response.

“This time Li Zhong really stole the spotlight. Who would’ve thought he drew first pick in the rotation lottery? He was pretty down at first, worried we wouldn’t encounter any beast flocks. Then, not long after parting from the guide city, we got attacked. Luckily, our drills paid off. It’s a shame we didn’t get to test the energy cannon.”

“Not having the chance to fire the energy cannon isn’t so bad. At least we tested the power of our bows and arrows. From now on, our reserves should focus on iron bamboo arrows, supplemented by Wuwen arrows. Ke, make a note of that. Once Mawu arrives, have him organize the team to speed up production of Wuwen arrows. Ideally, we can upgrade the workshop assembly line to mechanized operations.

Also, have logistics take care of those fierce birds. Save the feathers for making tail fletchings. Recover as many arrows as possible—damn, it pains me to see so many lost.

Those damn kids don’t even adjust their shooting angles—they just shoot straight out. I saw several crossbow bolts fly right out of the territory; there’s no way to retrieve them.”

Hearing Li Hongshen’s complaints, Zhao Yun and Li Li exchanged a glance and shrugged.

It was clear that with the territory’s development and population growth, even with resource-rich talents aiding them, Li Hongshen felt growing pressure related to resource coordination and consumption.

Especially when a single wave of fierce bird attacks could deplete numerous arrows, all of which were valuable resources.

Not all fired arrows could be recovered; some flew off the floating island and disappeared, others stuck in the birds as decorations. Only a fraction of the volley could be collected afterward.

Still, Li Hongshen’s remarks were merely light complaints vented to his subordinates. The slight upward curve of his lips showed he was quite satisfied with the battle’s outcome.

Soon, the warriors atop the city walls began clearing the battlefield, retrieving supplies from the ground. The protective panels atop the corner towers were restored, and the archers began orderly withdrawal to rest.

Li Hongshen and the others waited in the conference room for Li Zhong and Mawu’s arrival to summarize the operation.

At that moment, a piercing air raid siren once again echoed throughout the city, tightening the nerves of those who had just relaxed.

“Report: A flock of Fire Hunt Birds is approaching from the north. Estimated over one hundred third-rank mutated specimens in the group. Contact expected in ten minutes.”

“Send Li Zhong and Mawu directly. Northern forces, deploy defensive formations and instruct them to fire several rounds from the energy cannon immediately.”

“Yes.”

Following Li Hongshen’s orders, the energy cannon atop the northern corner tower fired first. Each electrically charged projectile roared through the sky, carving sharp gaps through the flock.

Though called an energy cannon, Li Hongshen’s artillery resembled more an electromagnetic cannon, with its firing principle inspired by such technology. At its core was a third-rank Thunder Wuwen talisman and a miniature energy-concentrating array.

The cannon barrel featured rails made of spirit metal, renowned for their superb conductivity. The ammunition was crafted from spirit metal alloyed with spirit copper, shaped flat and embedded with accelerating, razor-sharp Wuwen scripts.

Li Hongshen could honestly say, every time the electromagnetic cannon fired, it cost him hundreds of blood crystals. To him, the real cost was not the shells but the blood crystals spent in bulk.

During initial development, Li Hongshen gained much knowledge from Teacher Wang without cost. He pursued three paths: the first was akin to a laser cannon, though it fired an energy torrent instead of light.

This was rejected outright by Teacher Wang, who pointed out that the current territory could not supply sufficient energy. One or two such cannons would be manageable, but a volley from many would quickly drain the city’s energy reserves and potentially degrade the energy core’s rank.

The second path was a plasma cannon, which naturally suited Mawu’s expertise with electricity. Plasma cannons could store energy slowly and release it in combat, unlike the instantaneous consumption of the first type.

With the territory’s advancements in electrical technology and many skilled artisans, this path held promise.

However, after much effort, the experimental plasma cannon was scrapped after a single firing. The problem was insurmountable: materials. Both plasma storage and barrel materials required extreme heat resistance, but current technology couldn’t produce suitable components to withstand the near-million-degree temperatures generated during plasma ejection.

Ultimately, Li Hongshen chose the electromagnetic cannon, a physical weapon using a short electromagnetic rail to accelerate and launch spirit metal shells.

Its advantages included ease of manufacture: four spirit metal rails, a storage core, and a thunder Wuwen talisman. Once Mawu configured the energy circuit, the cannon was ready to fire.

The intense heat generated at firing could escape through large gaps on either side of the barrel rails, preventing barrel bursts like those seen in plasma cannons or energy torrent weapons due to insufficient materials.

Though this cannon had drawbacks—ammunition was unrecoverable, rails needed replacement after about ten shots, among others—Li Hongshen ultimately deployed it in the city.

No matter what, this was a genuine energy cannon and one of the most formidable weapons at this stage, capable of inflicting mass devastation.

You can consider this energy cannon a bit of my imagination; I don’t fully grasp its detailed construction. If any experts want to fill in the gaps, I’d gladly take notes for the review.

(End of chapter)