Sword of Dawn

Hetty hurriedly recorded the number, and then Amber started aiming at the second target...

"The effective range is only between 200 meters and 300 meters, which is lower than the standard scorching rays, and also lower than the theoretical value of the array substrate." After some tests, Hetty brought the record to Gawain, " The reason may be that the adjustment of the quartz pillar is not in place, or the efficiency of the magic conduction between the scorching ray rune substrate and the magic capacitor is not good, these can be improved from the process; another problem is the accuracy, the accuracy within 50 meters can not be See, but after 50 meters the accuracy drops off drastically, and after 100 meters, even someone like Kohaku who is half-elf and has practiced the sleeve arrow has a three-quarters miss rate, this statistic if you put it in the normal It's definitely worse on the soldiers."

Rebecca scratched her hair, and said frankly: "But you are still more accurate than your aunt... It hurts!"

Watching the silly roe deer being pulled by Hetty's ears, Gawain's expression remained unchanged: "Accuracy is actually a matter of processing technology - the assembly of Nicholas' eggs is very precise, but the scorching ray board is handmade by Rebecca and the others, because I just want to verify whether the newly designed rune group can be used, so I didn’t put too much effort into choosing the quartz pillar.”

Then, he glanced at the gauntlet on Huber's hand again: "And it still lacks a sight. A simple aiming structure can be installed between the ray launch port and the middle of the gauntlet, which should greatly improve the accuracy."

Gao Wen explained the concept of the so-called sight, and Amber's eyes lit up immediately: "Oh! This is a good thing! This will make it easier for soldiers to train this!"

Although the issue of accuracy was being discussed, in fact the accuracy of the thermal energy ray gun had exceeded Gao Wen's expectations.

Originally, in his opinion, such a long-range weapon with a shape that is not easy to aim and does not even have a basic sight can have an accurate distance of more than ten meters is quite good, but the reality is beyond his expectations.

On the one hand, this is because the thermal energy ray gun is not a live ammunition weapon, and its working process hardly involves mechanical movement, so it has almost no recoil force, and there is no need to worry about problems affecting accuracy such as barrel shake and receiver instability. Accuracy only needs a steady hand. On the other hand, people in this world are different from people on earth in terms of physical fitness and talent.

Amber's half-elven blood allows her to use various long-range weapons more proficiently by nature, and even ordinary people without elf blood are better than earthlings in terms of physical parameters (think about those nobles The average lifespan of more than 100 years, and the group of "ordinary soldiers" who can charge with heavy armor and giant swords), these advantages may still exist when using long-range weapons-of course, this last point requires ordinary soldiers Can only be determined after testing.

On the other side, Rebecca had already started to grin her teeth at Hetty's hands: "Are you really not coming to save me?!"

Gawain looked at the girl who was being taught a lesson for being upright, dumbfounded, and rescued her, then nodded to Amber: "Continue to test, this time to see the impact of continuous shooting on performance."

Continuous shooting is a relatively long test process, Gawain did not continue to stare, but walked towards the two knights Philip and Byron standing aside.

The two Mr. Cavaliers looked at the testing field intently, and the expressions on their faces were obviously a bit complicated.

"What are you thinking about?" Gao Wen came to them and asked calmly.

"This is really an incredible weapon," Byron's tone was full of admiration, "It's incredible... that magic can be released in this way, whether it is the source of magic power or the control of magic power, it is done by the weapon itself, and it has nothing to do with the user. It has nothing to do with the talent, the person who manipulates it only needs to be able to pull the rune trigger..."

"It's not just admiration, is it?" Gao Wen glanced at him with a half-smile.

"...Indeed." Byron looked at Gao Wen and finally nodded as if admitting, "I'm still a little bit lost."

"Oh?"

"Back then, it took me two years to learn breath protection, and then another three years to learn danger perception, and that was just a two-level knight skill," Byron shook his head, "Now, a man who has been training for a few days Recruits can easily release a searing ray."

Philip also sighed softly, and said with emotion: "I am faster than you. I have used these two skills for half a year."

Byron: "...can you express something else?"

"As I said, times are about to change," Gao Wen interrupted the crosstalk duo, "This change is inevitable, and you must accept it."

Byron was stunned, and looked towards the testing ground with a wry smile: "One day, will that thing release a finger of death?"

Gao Wen was silent for a moment: "Maybe."

"...Then it seems that the day when the city of a thousand towers will collapse is not far away."

On the other side, Amber moved her arm that was a little tired from lifting it for a long time, then raised the heat ray gun again, and pulled the rune trigger.

There seemed to be a slight heat generation at the front of the ray gun, but this time no beam was emitted.

"Old Zongzi! This thing can't be used anymore!"

Chapter 0153 Combat Backpack and Modularization

Amber, a perennial wild half-elf, avoids light, loves darkness, has the habit of stealing, is omnivorous and eats a lot, likes to play around, and will enter a state of dementia after playing around to a certain extent, and then be chased and beaten.

Like now.

As soon as the three words "old rice dumpling" came out, Gawain hadn't realized what was going on, but Hetty had already reacted first. The butler led by Cecil stared at him and waved his staff, and a strong murderous aura permeated the air. .

Amber herself also reacted in a jerk at this time, but she took a look at Heidi and began to hold on: "Who are you scaring, if you have the ability, you shoot a frost arrow in my face..."

Then Hetty swung the staff round and knocked it out seven or eight meters...

Who said that mages can only rub ice arrows and big fireballs——Which mage from Cecil's family can't master the 36-way sabbatical stick technique?Amber still doesn't have much dealings with the Cecil family. If she knows that Hetty and Rebecca have blood grooves on their staffs, she must not dare to jump like this...

"You've insulted my spells, and you've insulted my ancestors!" Hetty was really anxious this time, and swung her staff wildly with her eyes wide open—since her younger brother passed away, she had to help her brain as an elder Rebecca has rarely been so free-handed since she took care of the family, but anyone who understands Cecil's family traditions and ancestral training should know that the elegant Ms. Hetty is really urgent You can also use the wand as a warhammer, "Don't think that if you can't hit you with magic, I will be fine, look at me..."

Amber was immediately chased and yelled, but fortunately, Gao Wen had already reacted at this time, and hurried to interrupt the farce: "Stop, stop, stop, stop, Hetty, you don't know This guy has no mouth, and so do you, Amber—take off the heat ray gun before being beaten, what if the sample you finally got is damaged?"

amber:"……"

Hetty glared at Amber, and then lowered her head to Gao Wen: "Ancestor, you really should discipline this guy, she doesn't respect you very much now."

"Oh, I shouldn't have taught you the word 'old rice dumpling'," Gao Wen sighed, and turned to look at the gauntlet equipped on Hu Po's hand. "Let's take a look at this thing first. used?"

Amber fiddled with the thermal energy ray gun in her hand, aimed at a distant target and pulled the trigger again. As a result, this time, another scorching beam shot out from the gauntlet and hit the distant target.

Amber frowned: "It seems to work again?"

But then she fired a few more shots, and the beam failed again after the third shot.

"I probably understand what's going on," Gawain nodded, and raised his hand to greet the huge silver-white funnyman who was standing by at the edge of the field, "Nicholas egg, come and help open this part of the shell."

The reason was soon discovered.

It is because the recharging speed of the magic power capacitor cannot keep up with the consumption of continuous shooting, and the magic power in the magic storage crystal is exhausted.

The "magic capacitor" designed by Gao Wen is essentially an energy device that is constantly and automatically charged, but the charging speed is stable and slow. Its recharging speed is constant, and the upper limit of capacity is also constant. The honeycomb magic net unit can temporarily store the magic power in the crystal, so that it can supply energy for the magic circle with high energy consumption, but as long as these magic circles with high energy consumption continue to operate, the energy consumption speed will inevitably exceed the crystal's charge. can speed.

When the thermal energy ray gun shoots continuously, the capacitor must be exhausted, and it needs to wait for slow recharging before it can be used again.

"So that's what happened." Looking at the gray-white magic storage crystal on the magic power capacitor slot, Hetty nodded, "It's true, normal magic props are like this, the continuous release of magic is limited, and the magic power is limited. It needs to be replenished after use, and it seems that the thermal energy ray gun is also the same."

"But absolutely not!" Gawain shook his head seriously.

Rebecca looked blank: "Why not? Aren't all magic props like this?"

"Those are traditional magic props, such as a ring that can only hold six fireballs a day, and a shield symbol that can only be used three times a day, but I want to say that those things must be eliminated." Gawain shook his head, "The battlefield In fact, whoever's weapon is damaged first will die, and the magic power reserve of the thermal energy ray gun is the same, so we must find a way to make them fight continuously for a longer period of time."

Knight Byron who came over to check the situation also nodded in agreement: "The enemy on the battlefield will not give you a few hours to slowly charge your magic power capacitor."

"We have found the first place that can be modified." Gawain opened his mind and found his familiar rhythm again. He looked at Hetty, Rebecca, and Jenny standing behind them, "You know What is the biggest difference between this brand new 'magic weapon' and traditional magic props?"

Jenny: "Cheap?"

Hetty: "Easy to use?"

Rebecca: "That's a cool name!"

"The difference is that once the magic power of a traditional magic item is exhausted, you either have to wait for it to recover on its own, or you have to find a mage to infuse it, but the thing we created..." Gawain casually Pull out the crystal on the magic power capacitor slot, and take out another magic storage crystal that is usually used as a walnut to play with, and plug it in, "In an emergency, you can refresh the number of spells at any time... eh, why can't it be plugged in?" ?”

Rebecca explained seriously: "...Master Zu, you didn't say that the crystals on the magic capacitor can be replaced, so Eggy made the slots disposable when combining them, just now you pulled out the crystals The base has been deformed by the time."

Hetty next to him hurriedly took the second half of the sentence: "Of course, the slot can be adjusted. This is completely a small problem. The idea proposed by you, ancestor, is more important!"

Gao Wen: "..."

He couldn't remember the last time he pretended to be aggressive.

But he quickly ignored this embarrassment, and just got back to the topic with a stern face: "Hetty, record the revised opinion: There is a hole in the position of the magic power capacitor that can be opened and closed easily, so that soldiers can quickly replace it on the battlefield. Depleted crystals. In this way, in low-intensity or short-term battles, the magic power capacitor that comes with the thermal energy ray gun can complete the battle, and in emergency situations, you can rely on external energy to continue fighting."

Hetty recorded it, but then frowned: "Ancestor, the reason why you designed the structure of the magic capacitor was to solve the two problems of the low output of the magic grid unit and the short storage period of the inferior crystal, but If soldiers are to change crystals on the battlefield, how should the magic power in the 'spare crystals' they carry be maintained? Should they use expensive high-quality magic storage crystals as spare crystals?"

"That's putting the cart before the horse." Gao Wen shook his head with a smile, "The low-quality magic storage crystals produced in huge quantities are the magic weapons of the armed army. The low-quality crystals you mentioned will dissipate energy by themselves when soldiers carry them. Let’s design a carrying method that can avoid escape, shall we?”

Gao Wen just reminded it a little bit, and Rebecca's brain was already running quickly, and after a few seconds of running, "ding" suddenly came up with an idea: "We can design a large-scale capacitor similar to a magic capacitor. 'Capacitor', for example, a box composed of many magic mesh units, the function is to store crystals and slowly charge the crystals, and put ten or eight spare crystals in it, as long as the substrates are made thinner, the weight It will not exceed the spare swords that soldiers usually carry-reduce one or two spare swords, and you can carry a storage box like this."

Knight Byron, who was originally not very interested in thermal energy ray guns, was also attracted by this discussion, and involuntarily followed Rebecca's words: "In this way, the magic storage crystals carried by the soldiers will not slowly dissipate energy, Instead, they kept recharging. They stuffed the replaced depleted crystals back into the container, and maybe they could refill one during the battle——in a battle that lasted longer, this extra crystal might be able to save them. Their lives!"

"The combat backpack that matches the thermal energy ray gun..." Gawain smiled, and looked at Rebecca, "The principle of this thing is very simple, but the magic mesh unit must be lightweight, and the charging efficiency must be guaranteed. change, and its design will be handed over to you.”

Rebecca proudly threw her staff on the ground and raised her face: "Don't worry, my lord ancestor! I'm really good at this! It can be done in a few days!"

This momentum seems to be planning to rush out of the city with a sledgehammer and kill seven in and seven out...

"In addition, we have to enhance the 'versus' and 'extensibility' of the thermal energy ray gun," Gawain nodded, let Heidi continue to record, and at the same time told Nicholas Dan, "Let the mechanical manufacturing The thermal energy ray gun is disassembled into components that can be mass-produced. My requirement is: most of its components should be easily disassembled and replaced. The processing difficulty of each part should be low and durable, especially hot Radiation substrate - if possible, we should design this substrate and the magic material connected to the substrate into a standard structure that can be combined at will. It can also be plugged into other general-purpose substrates, turned into other weapons, or even turned into other armor and tools——I call this modularity.”

Hetty's pen stopped involuntarily, and she opened her eyes slightly: she heard the word modularization from Gao Wen more than once, but until this time, she seemed to finally realize what it could achieve.

While heat ray guns and combat backpacks were gradually being discussed and matured, an outsider set foot on this land in the west of New Cecil Territory.

Here is a strong man with a great presence:

He had short, light brown hair, unkempt and messy on the top of his head, and his beard seemed to have been shaved, but it was so carelessly shaved that stubble of varying lengths still remained on his chin. Weathered, it has lost its luster, but it has a kind of perseverance, and in his deep eye sockets, those eyes have a brilliance that ordinary people of this era do not have.

Compared with this appearance, what is more noticeable is the state and clothing of this man:

He is dusty, but full of energy. He is wearing the priestly costume of the Church of Holy Light, but the robe that should be gorgeous looks shabby. He has a Bible on his waist and a holy emblem on his chest. He looks like a priest— —but tall and strong like a samurai.

The priest of Holy Light, who was so strong that he seemed to be able to punch a cultist to death, was walking on the gravel road in Cecil's collar. His shoes were worn out from the long journey. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked down. The document that has been opened in the hand:

I hereby appoint the faithful servant of the Lord, priest of the Holy Light, Wright Aviken, to go to the southern border to preach the teachings of the Lord and spread the way of the Holy Light.

Chapter 0154 Construction of Territory

After completing the testing of the heat ray gun, Gawain left the proving ground, along with Hetty and Amber——Rebecca and Jenny were going to continue optimizing the rune group, and Nicholas was going to Returning to the Machinery Research Institute to design a new production line, the two knights had their own tasks, so they did not go with Gawain.

The success of a new weapon inspired Gao Wen's spirit, and he couldn't help but feel happy. In a happy mood, he saw that everything in the territory was much more optimistic than before.

Half of the frost month has passed, and the temperature is dropping day by day. It won't be long before this southern land will enter the cold winter, but the first batch of crops have already been harvested, and the food supplies promised by the king have arrived one after another. The non-staple food purchased by Sang Town is also continuously filling the warehouse, and the territory will not have to worry about hunger at all this winter.

The Cecil family may be the most generous nobles in terms of food - in other noble lands, commoners often have to hand over [-]% to [-]% of the harvest as taxes, and serfs even need to hand over nearly [-]% of the grain. With the assistance of druid spells or fertility spells, the poor people at the bottom are always living on the verge of famine. As long as the year is a little bad, it is common for people to starve to death, and all kinds of wild vegetables, bark Even the grassroots are frequent visitors to most of the poor's pot, but in Cecil's collar, Gawain directly set the grain tax to half.

The citizens were grateful to Dade, but Gao Wen felt that the tax rate was still too high.

Other nobles charge extremely high taxes. On the one hand, they often don't really care about farming on their territories, and they don't know how to improve farming techniques or conduct effective labor management. As a result, the income from their land itself is not high. On the other hand, their extravagance and extravagance have reached a sensational level. A small baron has to build a castle and support a butler, a personal servant or maid, Four first-class servants and four first-class maids, as well as a large number of handymen, laundry maids, kitchen maids, grooms, etc., and endless banquets and hunting activities, if you have faith The nobles will also donate a large amount of wealth to the local church every year-and these will be transformed into taxes and pressure on the poor who have not had a high harvest.

But Cecil doesn't need these.

And Gao Wen is also very clear about one thing: when the magic energy industry has started, the economic output of agricultural society will eventually be surpassed and replaced by industry. Farmland used to be the main source of income in this world, but soon Gold coins will flow out of the chain of factories and commerce, and he doesn't intend to continue the development model of absorbing nutrients from farmers—it's just that the magic industry is still just a seed, so he has to maintain this situation for the time being.

The gold and silver stored in the treasury in the mountain will be used up sooner or later, but Gao Wen is very confident that before the wealth is used up, the territory will shift from net expenditure to balance of payments - when the industrial output of the territory meets its own needs, there will be When there is a surplus, it is time to send out a caravan...

When passing by the bank of the White Water River, Gao Wen saw a large ship docked at the pier. Many people in rags were disembarking from the ship to undergo routine registration and inspection. Those in charge of these affairs were from hundreds of people. The clerks drawn from the aid and construction team and the literate soldiers on the territory: After a period of adaptation and learning, these people are now able to undertake this kind of work.

The population of the territory is still increasing. After confirming this year's harvest, Gao Wen boldly made way for the "Population Introduction Office" in Tanzan Town to add a new batch of serf orders and increase the propaganda of recruiting refugees Now almost every three or four days, a boat full of people will be transported here from the upper reaches of the White Water River to become new residents of Cecil Territory, and what is even more gratifying is that more and more people are appearing among these people. More refugees.

This shows that those homeless people who are wandering outside have finally heard and believed the news about Cecil's pioneering land, and as long as there is a start for such things, there will be a steady stream of population immigration.

In a place where there is no shortage of population, the refugees are indeed a major hidden danger for the sheriff's headache, but in the Cecil Territory where Hetty and Gawain lose their hair together due to the lack of people, the refugees are simply gold flowing into the territory—— If you can afford it, you can't have too much.

Compared to slaves with a clearly marked price and a fixed cost, these refugees who will continue to flow in are the most stable source of population for the Cecil Territory in the future.

"How's the housing security situation?" Gao Wen asked casually, looking towards the direction of the pier, "The weather is getting colder every day."

"The wooden house is enough. According to the new method you stipulated, the serfs or refugees who arrive in the territory do not need to participate in agriculture and factory labor at the beginning, but build their own houses first, and learn the labor system here and carry out common sense in the process. Education, this method is surprisingly good-they work extremely hard, and they all praise the kindness of the Cecil family, and after they finish these tasks, the basic labor system and common sense of life have been firmly imprinted in their minds inside."

"Everyone will do their best to build a home for themselves. It's a simple truth," Gao Wen smiled. deeply rooted in people's hearts."

As he said that, he frowned slightly: "But after all, a wooden house is no match for a brick house, especially in winter... Even if we prepare enough hay and paste the walls with mud, the house will still be cold .”

"Your kindness is indeed touching, but the output of the brick and tile factory can't keep up," Hetty shook his head regretfully, "the new population is too large, and it is impossible to build brick and tile houses for everyone. In fact, if It’s not that the lumberyards and sawmills have stockpiled a large amount of wood in advance, and the efficiency of the sawmill driven by the magic energy engine is extremely high, I’m afraid it’s difficult for us to ensure enough wooden houses..."

"Then at least ensure the supply of charcoal, let them survive the first winter," Gawain nodded, "Have the new construction areas been laid with honeycomb magic nets?"

"Yes, according to your request, magic nets are being laid in all areas - even if it can't be laid in the entire area, it can at least ensure that the honeycomb structure is connected into a line, and every building area is connected. There is an exposed magic net interface."

The so-called magic net interface is actually a small piece of magic guide material rod extending from the magic net unit. They are made of iron rods coated with a thin layer of mithril or cheaper black stone rods. One end is connected to the underground The other end of the magic net extends out of the ground, which can be regarded as the foundation laid by Gao Wen for the future development of the territory.

Although the magic net can carry out "wireless energy supply", as long as the magic power can be transmitted within a short distance directly above the magic net, the efficiency is not high. If many "magic net interfaces" are reserved, it can be used for future Prepare for the urbanization development of the city, such as connecting street lights or giving magic power to every household.

"Now there is one more question," Hetty hesitated, but decided to speak out, "it's about your night school education."

Gao Wen frowned suddenly: "Evening school? Those general education courses? What's wrong?"

"You require everyone in the territory to receive education, but now there is a large influx of people, and basically all of them are poor people who can't read or write. The number of teachers is completely insufficient," Hetty said awkwardly, "We Learning places have been added in the central area of ​​the territory, as well as in the west and south areas, and all soldiers, craftsmen, and department heads who can read and write take turns to teach after finishing their work, but they are still too busy. Each 'classroom' can only accommodate a limited number of people , Those newcomers lack discipline, once there are too many people, the chaos of the scene is simply a disaster, and if there are fewer people... we need to add more classrooms."

"Adding more classrooms means adding more teachers," Gao Wen frowned, "Didn't Tanzan Town send some secretary apprentices?"

"It has been sent to teach classes, but it is still not enough."

"Then recruit from the 'Hundred People Aid and Construction Group'," Gao Wen decided. "In addition to the 'high-end talents' like Jenny, there are also some ordinary craftsmen or apprentices who are literate. In addition, you have to start publicizing the recruitment news of steel factories, mechanical research institutes, etc., and tell the locals that both free men and serfs can work in factories, but they must be able to read and write before they can sign up. Working in a factory can be like craftsmen, with additional food subsidies, so that they will be motivated to learn - and it will be easier to maintain discipline."

Hetty nodded slightly: "Yes, I understand."

Gao Wen thought for a while and asked, "Is there anything else that needs to be reported?"

Hetty looked at Amber next to her: "She is really good at walking and sleeping."

Gawain was taken aback, turned his head to take a look, and was surprised to see that the half-elf was really following him with his eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep for a long time.

"When did this guy fall asleep?!"

Hetty looked helpless: "When we first started discussing building a house."

Gao Wen was stunned: "...In a way, she is really talented."

As soon as he finished sighing, he saw Amber waking up leisurely. The half-elf lady rubbed her eyes, looked at Gawain and Hetty, and asked curiously, "Are you two finally finished talking?"