Pirate Kingship-Chapter 573 - 417: Fourth-Order Gunsmith: Death Roulette Bet!_2
Byron’s path led him to another laboratory, a structure more robustly built of pure rock, dedicated to the Third Order Gunsmith, Violet.
Seeing the shining Brass Nameplate under the sunlight, Byron felt a sense of comfort mixed with a tinge of regret:
Violet is an Artisan, a ’[Witch of Calamity],’ she is water, and she is also the Leviathan Whale Girl.
The Whale Oil Steam Engine happens to integrate all her abilities, knowledge, and characteristics. It’s a chosen creation tailored just for her.
If she had a year and a half to focus on research, advancing to Fourth Order wouldn’t be a problem, let alone to Fifth Order.
Unfortunately, time waits for no one.
And at heart, my dear Gunpowder Artist is simply an Artisan driven by interest.
In her bones, she’s an even more fanatical ’fear of insufficient firepower’ sufferer than I am, firmly believing that the greatest Art is...
BOOM——!!!
With a thunderous explosion and blinding flashes of light, the ground shook, and a cloud of dust rose from the stone laboratory, followed by a thick smell of gunpowder smoke.
Even though Byron knew that a low dose of regular gunpowder couldn’t kill a non-human Witch, he still rushed over in anxious concern.
Before he could enter the laboratory, a glorious beam of golden light suddenly descended from the sky, turning his worries into ecstasy:
"It worked!?"
The next second, Violet appeared, holding a brass bullet the size of a finger, her face covered in soot yet her Sapphire-like eyes sparkling with excitement,
"Byron, look, this is the first Second-Class Relic to be fired from a gun barrel: the first metallic-cased projectile.
My idea really worked!
The large creatures of the Southern Continent are no longer a hindrance to the Pioneer Guiding Colonial Trading Company’s expansion efforts."
Byron was equally elated, joyfully swinging her around in celebration.
The simple Fulminate of Mercury primer was too sensitive and could accidentally detonate in places with severe Source Tide fluctuations.
Violet had been experimenting with a new gunpowder formula by mixing the inert residue left from repeatedly distilling and purifying Whale Oil with Fulminate of Mercury in a certain ratio.
Today, she finally succeeded in developing a qualified primer, and even the first Copper-Shell Fixed Ammunition.
From its appearance, it no longer had any major differences from modern ammunition, except it was significantly larger due to the use of black powder.
Its creation was of extraordinary significance.
Since coming to the New Continent, they had seen the insects’ sizes and the constant emergence of large Extraordinary Creatures. It quickly became clear that ordinary Flintlock Guns and lead bullets were useless against these monsters.
The danger of the Hundred Beasts Paradise was evident given that even the mighty Sun Empire could only settle in a corner of it.
This invention of a new type of weapon could pave the way for humanity to delve into the Wilderness.
After all, how many Transcendents could there be? The strength of countless ordinary people is the most powerful.
If only we could equip our troops with primer-capped fixed ammunition with tungsten steel bullets, and combine it with six gun barrels to create a Gatling gun with a rate of fire of a thousand rounds per minute.
This should be the standard issue for every Southern Continent Colonizer and Hunter.
Byron gently set his great achiever back on the ground, not immediately concerning himself with the Sacred Relic but instead focusing his attention on Violet.
As her research succeeded, she simultaneously completed her advancement to Fourth Order, becoming the first member of Byron’s core team to achieve the promotion to The King’s Right Hand.
Violet had no defenses against Byron’s Spirituality, and even with the Class suppression, the *Nautical Logbook* could see her clearly:
"The invention of the Copper-Shell Fixed Ammunition represents the pinnacle of physics, chemistry, material science, aerodynamics, and craftsmanship.
It is a product of civilization, yet also a weapon that can destroy civilization; it is the horn of calamity, as well as a harbinger of War.
With this invention comes the exclusive skill of a Fourth-Order Gunsmith—’Mental Magazine’!
Mind for ’bullets,’ body for ’firearms,’ capable of simulating any known gun, cannon, or Bomb out of thin air, with magical bullets whose power equals that of real firearms.
Ability one, ’Firearms Mastery’:
’Turning one’s Spirituality into a variety of magical bullets, achieving a terrifying attack strength that equates to a naval cannon salvo right from the start.
Can freely impart enchantments on bullets and shells such as ’Surefire,’ ’Piercing,’ ’Acceleration,’ ’Power Amplification,’ ’Size Amplification,’ ’Charged Strike,’ ’Death Mark’... and more.’
This skill’s effect is similar to that of a Musketeer, effectively allowing a Gunsmith to take on an additional profession.
Violet also mastered various types of Calamity Curses. This made it entirely possible for her to add an enchantment to a bullet, within a tolerable range, powerful enough to pierce Dragon Scale.
Just this ability alone was worth it.
Second ability, ’Guardsmen: Gun Demon Spirit’:
’Nurturing six Gun Demon Spirits in the six spiritual ammunition slots.
They can possess bullets, firearms, cannons, and all other forms of thermal weapons, achieving an incredible level of manipulation. They can even turn the corresponding weapon into a Demon Monster to become your most loyal Guardsmen!’
Violet raised her hand and snapped her fingers, and six cone-shaped little yellow chicks wearing military caps and holding small firearms formed a neat line in front of her.
"COCK-A-DOODLE-DO!"
"CLUCK, CLUCK-CLUCK, CLUCK-CLUCK-CLUCK..."
After counting off in chicken language and saluting together by flapping their wings, Violet returned the salute, dumbfounded, and quickly understood their capabilities.
Take a revolver that holds six bullets as an example.
If they possess it, a single shot allows you to repeatedly strike the target until they turn to dust, as long as your internal Spirituality doesn’t run out.
In Byron’s view, this was the bullet version of swordsmanship.
For example, a large-caliber revolver like ’Thorn Rose’ could take down a brown bear with just one shot, and even a Fourth Order would have difficulty withstanding a few minutes of continuous fire.
If it possessed heavy artillery, it wouldn’t be much different from a Mechanical construct.
But he couldn’t help being a bit greedy:
It’s a shame it can only possess guns. If it could possess Warships, that would be akin to having six Ship Spirits.
However, Sail Battleships won’t work, but perhaps we can try when we build Steel Battleships in the future.
A Steel Battleship as a whole should count as a thermal weapon, right?
Third ability, the ultimate move ’Death Roulette Bet’:
’Russian Roulette is a bloody game of death. Normally, only one bullet is placed in one of the six chambers of a revolver. After the cylinder is spun at random, participants take turns pointing the gun at their own head and pulling the trigger.
The one who gets shot drops out automatically, and those who chicken out also lose; the last one standing is the winner. Bets are placed by the audience for the thrill of the game.
This derivative ability works similarly, with the user’s spiritual perception blocked, and the six-chamber cylinder randomly spins while they point the gun at their own head.
Consequence one: Blow your own head off on the spot, and the game ends.
Consequence two: If your head isn’t blown off, then you can now choose to continue shooting at your own head or launch an attack on the enemy. At this moment, any attack you make will have double the power.
If you continue shooting at your head and don’t die, the power will increase by 2 to the Nth power, where N is the number of times you’ve cheated death before.
If you survive five consecutive shots without killing yourself, the last bullet can unleash a terrifying power 32 times greater.
This could turn an ordinary Battle Axe missile into the most powerful non-nuclear Bomb—the ’Father of All Bombs’.
Even the ordinary bombardment of this era would easily breach the walls of a citadel, and even the walls of an Edge Fortress would struggle to resist such Might.
Note: Even with an explosion of luck, the 32-times power can only be used once a day. More likely, it’s a skill you can only use once in your lifetime.’
After reading the ability descriptions, Byron and Violet were exhilarated.
Aside from the last roulette effect being somewhat problematic, the other two abilities had already placed Violet on par with veteran Fourth Orders in terms of destructive power, if not surpassing them.
Then, the two of them looked at each other and nodded:
"We can start now."
「Soon.」
The ’Succubus Princess’, who had long been eager, received an invitation from her prospective marriage partner and was mysteriously given several requests, mentioning that they wanted to give her a surprise.
She looked at the mountain climbing gear list, at things like "Golden Rope that Even Transcendents Cannot Escape From," and her body couldn’t help but tremble slightly:
This... this... Do people from the Northern Bantaan Archipelago really play this big?
Gradually, her cheeks flushed red, a watery hue shone in her eyes, and a moan almost like a whisper squeezed from her throat,
What to do? I find myself... even more excited!
