Release that Witch

Danny took the gun and instantly noticed that the center of the gravity had changed. The gun was, overall, heavier than a regular rifle. Apart from the second tube installed to the barrel, this new gun looked no different than an ordinary bolt rifle used by most of the soldiers in the Gun Battalion, although it was not as well-made as his own high-precision rifle. The biggest change was that this additional metal tube ran all the way to the bottom of the barrel and was connected to the bolt.

This must be the reason that the gun could keep up a steady fire.

Danny took the aim and pulled the triggered. However, instead of locking his eyes on the muzzle, he gazed at the iron tube on one side of the barrel.

As the gun trembled when the bullet escaped from the muzzle, something extraordinary happened. It was just a split second, but Danny noticed the change in the bolt. The rod in the iron tube was pushed forward and then retracted along with the metal shard attached to its end.

This metal shard was normally fixed to the bolt. If someone tried to forcibly pull it, it would get jammed and break the rod. However, the groove in the middle of the shard enabled the bolt to retract and thereby unlock it.

Then, the whole process reversed. The rod retracted to the tube and the bolt returned to its original spot. The metal shard slid back to the bottom and locked the bore again.

This was such an ingenious design!

This additional part was quite self-explanatory. Even a lay man like Danny could immediately understand the mechanism behind it. Basically, the rod in the second iron tube replaced manual labor. What was clever about this design was that the rod completed four steps at a time, namely, pushing, pulling, lifting and pressing. Without any external force, the gun was automatically restored.

Danny fired all the bullets, mesmerized by the pungent smell of gunpowder and that familiar voice that always visited him on the battlefield.

”You missed one shot out of 20,” Malt said. ”Not used to the new weapon?”

”I haven’t got used to it yet. See if I miss any in the next round.”

”See what?” a surprised voice said to him.

Danny pulled himself back to the present. He suddenly realized that this was not a battlefield, and a group of onlookers were watching him in the shooting range. Danny looked toward the confused Artillery Battalion commander as he rose and said while shaking his head, ”No... I’m just mumbling.”

”You’re really an excellent sniper. 19 out of 20. That’s really something, and you’re still not satisfied,” Van’er said while patting Danny on the shoulder. He then asked hopefully, ”So... what do you think of this gun?”

Danny knew about the competition between the Artillery Battalion and the Gun Battalion. Nevertheless, both of the two battalions served the king. He thus said honestly, ”It’s perfect, except it’s a little unstable and heavy. I wish the sniper team could also have an upgraded weapon like this, if possible.”

If truth be told, the gun was as accurate as regular rifles when shooting targets were at 50 and 100 meters. Although it was a lot heavier than a rifle, the sniper team and the Artillery Battalion were not required to fire on standby or carry the weapon on the go.”

The greatest strength of this upgraded gun was that it enabled soldiers to keep up a steady fire. Since the current gun could not fire steadily, soldiers had to readjust their position and took the aim again after they missed their target. The repositioning normally took a few seconds, and more often than not, they lost track of the target. Therefore, they fired less frequently than ordinary soldiers. However, the upgraded gun minimized the readjustment and enabled soldiers to fire again immediately. This weapon would thus be very helpful for a massive warfare.

Van’er was pleased to hear that his work received some kind of acknowledgment. He grinned, ”It’s just a preliminary design. If you could help us further improve the weapon, I would feel more comfortable when I talk to Sir Iron Axe.”

Van’er believed if the sniper team used the gun designed by the Artillery Battalion, then surely he outperformed Brian.

Danny, on the other hand, agreed to help Van’er purely out of his person affection toward firearms that could efficiently kill demons, the smell of gunpowder, and the voice of his ghost friend, Malt. Danny thus said, ”I’m happy to be of service, Mr. Commander.”

The two of them smiled at each other and reached an agreement.

...

Roland learned about this new weapon a few days later.

As an increasing number of soldiers from the Artillery Battalion visited the Second Mechanic Plant, the superintendent of the plant reported the incident to the Administrative Office, who later forwarded the news to the Minister of Engineering, Anna.

Roland was greatly amused by the duplicate sample created by Anna. The design was crude. Although the gun could fire steadily, it would easily break down since the additional metal tube was exposed in the air. The gun thus required extensive maintenance.

Having said that, the artillery, after all, did not need to fire very frequently.

”What do you think?” Anna asked smilingly.

”Well... there’s a lot that can be done, but it’s a good sign,” Roland said casually. ”At least, it shows that soldiers start to think independently and know what kind of weapon they really need. The strengths of this gun are also very obvious, which are minimal costs and simple alteration.”

There would certainly be a huge increase in the consumption of bullets if the whole army started to use this new weapon. Fortunately, frontline soldiers who mainly relied on HMGs did not necessarily need to fire successively.

Well, in that case, let’s help them,” Anna said, nodding.

The design of the weapon was soon finalized with Anna’s assistance. The bolt and piston were replaced by a more flexible latch structure. Its joint was encased in a shell to stablize the weapon, so the gun would not get easily jammed. After a part of the air duct was cut off, the weapon was officially upgraded. Roland advised that the new rifle should be named after Van’er.

Soon after the news was announced, the Ministry of Engineering suddenly received tons of recommendations and feedback.

Roland was pleased with the turn of the event.

He finally saw the result of universal education.

The success of his education plan excited Roland even more than the new weapon itself.

Also, there was another piece of good news.

Celine told him that there was a breakthrough in the research of the Magic Ceremony Cube.

She found a way to significantly reduce the consumption of uranium when she was making the sixth batch of cube replicates.