Steel & Sovereignty

Chapter 3: Secret weapons

Bunas is a small seaside town with a pier where many fishermen from the surrounding area come to exchange their day's catch for cash. Therefore, the town is usually bustling with people and appears quite prosperous.

Tang Mo's weapons workshop was located on the edge of this small town, using coal mined from the nearby mountains and iron purchased to produce all sorts of products.

Longswords have always been the best-selling weapon. Most of the mercenaries and city guards in the kingdom actually use cold weapons, and longswords are their best choice.

Secondly, it wasn't military products; hoes, farm tools, iron pots, and kitchen knives—these things might not seem to have much profit, but they were another major source of income for this weapons workshop.

This is the current situation, a fact that Tang Mo is unwilling to admit but must face—it's more like a blacksmith shop than an arms factory!

Normally, a blacksmith shop like this could barely survive and continue to live a peaceful life. But recently, relations between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Susas on the northern border have become tense, causing the price of steel to skyrocket.

The shadow of war loomed over the land, and people began to feel tense. Orders started to decrease, and people began to cautiously observe the changing situation—all of which made it difficult for Tang's Weapon Shop to operate.

Having stayed up all night without rest, Tang Mo dragged his exhausted body back to his territory, too tired to speak any further.

It wasn't that he didn't want to stay in the city for a night before returning, but rather that he simply couldn't afford the lodging. So he and Roger traveled through the night and returned to the workshop at dawn.

"Ha..." Tang Mo yawned, his mouth agape, and slumped into his chair. The ledger on the table was open, still on the page he had turned to when he left.

An ink bottle and a somewhat worn-out dip pen sat forlornly in one corner of the table, while a gas lamp sat in another corner.

This thing requires opening a window to use indoors, which is dangerous, but it's very cheap. At least until Tang Mo invents the tungsten filament light bulb, this thing will definitely not be obsolete.

He wasn't like those aristocratic gentlemen who could afford expensive candles. Perhaps he could later, but right now he was definitely among the poorest and most destitute.

This office is actually Tang Mo's bedroom, containing a single bed and a large wardrobe filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items.

Unable to pay wages and facing bankruptcy, Tang Mo chose to sell the house over the workshop. He kept the workshop but sold the beautiful house where a happy family of three had once lived.

Things were already at their worst before he arrived; the entire workshop had very little working capital left. But thankfully, thankfully he came!

“Sit idly by and wait to die is not my style, Roger! We should try again. If we go to the capital, is there any way we can see the king?”

“Impossible. How could the king receive a commoner without a reason?” Roger said to Tang Mo, shaking his head as he rubbed his stiff calves.

Tang Mo was taken aback, then looked at the new rifle he had leaned against the corner of the wall, and asked in surprise, "Isn't there a reason for this?"

“The people of Cyrek will not let us see the king. In fact, I can say with certainty that once they find out about our technology, they will not hesitate to immediately copy it and then easily crush us with price,” Roger continued, shaking his head.

"Alright! You haven't slept all night, go and get some rest." Tang Mo saw Old Roger out of his room, then cracked his neck a couple of times and waved to the young apprentice peeking out from a short distance away: "Have you finished the things I arranged before I left?"

"Yes, sir." Upon hearing Tang Mo's question, the young apprentice ran over and handed Tang Mo a part as if presenting a treasure.

It was a cylindrical part, slightly smaller than a fist. Anyone familiar with it could tell at a glance that it was the cylinder of a revolver.

Tang Mo looked at the smooth magazine with an excited smile on his face. His secret weapon, the last part, was finally complete!

He returned to his room, sat back down at the table, opened a drawer, took out a package of oiled paper, and opened it to reveal a jumble of parts.

Fighting off his sleepiness, he began assembling the parts, piecing together seemingly unrelated items. Sometimes, he even had to use a small hammer to tap the rivets to securely connect the moving parts.

Things were not as easy as he had imagined. By the time the revolver was nearly finished, it was already noon.

When he picked up the revolver from the table again, it was now a truly complete product.

Tang Mo held the pistol level, peered through the gap in the rear sight, and aimed the muzzle at the door.

Whether it's a needle-shot gun or the revolver in his hand that has never appeared in this world before, they are both the result of the joint progress of guns and bullets.

In his simple laboratory, Tang Mo developed mercury fulminate and produced a small number of these more advanced and stable ignition devices.

With this, the firing mechanism of the flintlock pistol became too cumbersome, because mercury fulminate could be easily processed into a completely new firing device: a "percussion cap".

The reason Tang Mo was able to control all of this was because he traveled to this world with a computer in his arms. After arriving in this world, he inexplicably gained a supercomputer in his mind that could search for any information online.

With the help of this "golden touch," Tang Mo improved the weapon based on the existing technology—thus the needle-fire gun was created, and thus the revolver in his hand that almost revolutionized the entire era came into being.

Modern firearms can only fire one shot at close range, which severely limits their tactical use in complex situations.

Therefore, like many old movies, most armed forces in this era were equipped with both firearms and cold weapons such as longswords.

Who could have imagined that a weapon to break through these constraints had already appeared and was already in Tang Mo's hands?

The terrifying firepower of being able to fire six shots in a row, as Tang Mo's secret weapon, is enough to give him a certain degree of self-defense ability when facing any enemy.

This weapon uses paper-loaded ammunition, and its rate of fire and reloading are faster and easier than any existing weapon. When facing a flintlock musket, the time it takes for the opponent to fire three shots is enough for Tang Mo's pistol to fire twelve shots—such firepower density can only be described as terrifying.

Just as Tang Mo was about to load the bullets he had prepared into the pistol and test it, a little boy stood in the doorway, wiping his greasy hands with his apron and peering into the room: "Boss! Someone's looking for you! He says he's here to buy a gun."

Although Tang's Weapons Workshop is called a workshop, it is actually larger than a small factory. As the saying goes, "Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs," which perfectly describes this small enterprise.

There is a smelting and metallurgical workshop here, which can produce suitable steel on its own. There is also a production workshop for forging and grinding.

Of course, since they had repaired muskets before, there were also some woodworking equipment and machinery, as well as operators, and a few women who cooked for these workers and apprentices, so there were quite a few people in total.

Apart from the apprentices, everyone else relies on Tang Mo for their livelihood. Of course, these people are all very skilled, and many of them are independent craftsmen in their respective positions. This is the main reason why Tang Mo decided to continue working with them.

What's the most valuable thing these days? Talented people! After more than ten days of contact and work, Tang Mo felt that these workers were definitely the cream of the crop!

It was thanks to these skilled workers that Tang Mo was able to complete the design and manufacture of that needle-fire gun, and dare to challenge the arms behemoth, Sirrick, who stood in his way!

After passing through the manufacturing workshop, Tang Mo met the travel-worn man by the furnace in the scorching smelting workshop.

Tang Mo recognized one of them at a glance; it was the guard who had stood next to Baron Stella when he was testing the gun.

"Sir!" Tang Mo, recognizing the other person, extended his hand and shook hands symbolically: "Welcome to Tang's Weapon Shop."

“My name is Wes! We met before at Baron Stella’s place.” Wes introduced himself. “I’ve been chasing you all this way, but I didn’t expect you to have rushed back here overnight.”

Tang Mo gestured for the workers who were watching to continue working, then turned to Wes with a smile and asked, "So, what exactly did you come all this way for?"

“I’m here to buy weapons,” Wes replied immediately upon hearing Tang Mo’s question. “I’m interested in that…”

"K1 quick-firing rifle," Tang Mo reminded him.

“I’m very interested in that K1 quick-draw rifle.” Wes took off his gloves. “Or rather, one of my old customers… would definitely be very interested in the K1 quick-draw rifle.”

Tang Mo nodded slightly: "This is good news for us. Would it be convenient to talk about your regular customer? I need to know who to contact to collect the final payment, don't I?"

“Hahaha!” Wes laughed loudly, then nodded: “I used to work for Count Ronning Fisherloo, and later for Baron Stella… but I still prefer Count Fisherloo to that playboy.”

He paused, then continued, "As you know, relations between our kingdom and the Kingdom of Susas have become increasingly tense recently... Count Fischerlo's territory, situated on the northern border, is in grave danger. The pressure of war forces him to prepare, but the benevolent Count does not wish to conscript civilians to their deaths."

“Unfortunately, relying solely on a well-trained standing army, His Excellency is facing a shortage of troops. Therefore, he urgently needs a solution to the current predicament,” Wes said. “I think the K1 rifle in your hand might be the answer.”

"Then you've really come to the right person!" Tang Mo snapped his fingers, then pointed at Tang Mo: "Believe me, the K1 quick-firing gun has a rate of fire three times that of the Shirek flintlock rifle! Those who invade the Earl's territory will learn what it means to be met with a steel storm!"

“I have no doubt about that, which is why I quit my job and came here to find you… I hope you can come with me to North Ridge. Bring your new weapon! The Earl’s bounty is quite high, 500 gold coins… I’ll take 30%.” After Wes finished speaking, he looked at Tang Mo, waiting for his decision.

"Twenty percent." Tang Mo thought for about ten seconds, but finally couldn't resist such a big temptation and prepared to take the risk.