Chapter 108: This Exchange Isn’t Appropriate

“It was just a prototype.” Zheng Yichen glanced at Dan Marina. He did not think her praise was fake, but instinctively, he did not want praise from this woman who was frivolous yet restrained, nor did he want to attract her attention any further.

The blueprint was perfected by Zheng Yichen in his Dream. Even with correct parameters, a Dream was still a Dream. It was largely influenced by his own subjective will. For example, if he created a Nuclear Bomb in the Dream… and wanted a test production to succeed, then there was a very high chance it actually would succeed!

Even if Zheng Yichen did not know how to make a Nuclear Bomb, and only knew how to make regular explosives! Even if he made a ‘Nuclear Bomb’ out of explosives, it could still produce a mushroom cloud… In the Dream, there was no problem with that. He did not know how to make a Nuclear Bomb, but he had seen the process of a Nuclear Bomb explosion!

Just knowing that was enough to fulfill the conditions for ‘Nuclear Bomb’ success in the Dream. Combined with his subjective desire for success, then it would succeed!

Things in the Dream could be complicated, but they could also be that simple.

So, no matter how successful a test production was in the Dream, it had to be truly practiced in reality. Zheng Yichen only treated the Dream as a simulator. As for the name of this gun?

It was the Barrett, which appeared extremely frequently in novels and movies, even to the point of being overused… It was precisely because of its frequency that Zheng Yichen, back on Earth, had taken the time to study it in detail when he had nothing else to do.

The structure of the Firearm could be reproduced in the Otherworld. However, when it came to gunpowder, probably due to differences in world rules, the original formula was basically unusable. The gunpowder in this world was essentially a refined product from a type of ore. Not being suitable did not mean there were no alternatives. In fact, due to the supernatural factors in this world, some things that could replace gunpowder might even produce greater power!

As for bullets… Zheng Yichen did not plan to make them one by one. With the materials he collected, making a small machine tool specifically for producing bullet casings and bullet tips was easy. As for filling the gunpowder, he could let the Alchemical Puppets handle that. Naturally, Zheng Yichen would personally handle the modification of the bullets. This modified part belonged to Special Ammunition.

The reason for creating Firearms was purely because Zheng Yichen had no time to develop his own forces. What he could do was mass-produce Alchemical Puppets. The combat ability of Alchemical Puppets, aided by their special bodies, meant that within the same rank, it would require several people to defeat one. However, all of Zheng Yichen’s Alchemical Puppets were in Human Form.

Their flexibility and convenience far exceeded ordinary Alchemical Puppets, but their combat effectiveness was much weaker. Although Zheng Yichen would not mind using them as cannon fodder, they were still money. He should not waste them if possible. Therefore, his first choice for suitable weapons for them was Firearms!

Admittedly, Magic power was great, but for ordinary or even Mages who had just reached Reaching the Tier, hitting a target a few hundred meters away was considered super long-range. The flintlocks of this world, due to their structure, had an even shorter range than that. Sniper Rifles from Earth were different; they often had an ultra-long sniping range exceeding a kilometer. In the Otherworld, with Magic enhancement, as long as one could aim and shoot accurately, the range could even be doubled!

With such a huge advantage, Zheng Yichen was determined not to miss out on developing this aspect. He even planned to create weapons like cannons. As for the carrier, not to mention using a Mechanical Dragon, creating something like a mechanical Magical Beast and then applying Magical Modification to equip it with such weapons was also possible!

He took out a bullet and loaded it into the magazine. Zheng Yichen shouldered the weapon and walked outside to a shooting range. He aimed at the bullseye and began testing. As expected, compared to the super high accuracy displayed in the Dream, the real-world test revealed many flaws that needed subsequent modification…

Zheng Yichen spent the morning adjusting and modifying the flaws. In the afternoon, after making a batch of Alchemical Puppet blanks as usual, he began his research on Magic, completely acting as if Dan Marina did not exist. Surprisingly, she, for once, did not say much and stayed like a quiet observer. It was not until Zheng Yichen started researching Magic that she came closer.

“This Magic, although you can barely use it now, it seems a bit impractical, doesn’t it?” Dan Marina looked at the extremely complex Magic Rune Array Zheng Yichen had drawn. She glanced at Zheng Yichen and said his current strength was just right for Mid-Rank Magic. High-tier Magic was still a struggle for him!

Low-Rank, Mid-Rank, and High-Rank. It seemed like just a one-rank difference, but if strictly divided, the difference between each rank was three to tenfold. Light Tide belonged to the category of High-Level Magic within High-tier Magic, known for its wide range and great power, so its difficulty was also ranked high. “You still want to adjust it?”

“Can’t I?” Hearing Dan Marina’s tone, Zheng Yichen instinctively wanted to shoo her away. But then he remembered that the woman before him was also a Witch. Her attainments in Magic should not be low, and she might offer some useful advice. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Ideas? I’m not interested in this kind of Magic~” Dan Marina waved her hand dismissively, as if it was none of her business. “What I can see is that you simply cannot master this Magic right now.”

This woman…

“I haven’t even asked you for rent yet!”

“Heh~ I’ve been taking care of your Contract holder for so long, and I haven’t asked you for payment yet.”

Petty blinked her eyes in confusion. How did this involve her again? Since this morning, she realized she completely could not understand what Zheng Yichen was doing, nor did she have any chance to interject. Whether it was his making of the Firearm, his use of Alchemy to create items, or his current research on Magic, it all exceeded the level she could handle.

Alchemy? She had read about it in books, but this discipline was too expensive, so she would not choose it. Engineering… same reason! As for Magic, she simply could not understand this complex Magic Rune Array. Staring at it for too long even gave her a strong dizzy feeling. This was a negative reaction because the level of the Magic Rune Array was too high, and her Spiritual Power could not bear it.

“Tsk, if you can’t do it, then continue being a quiet observer. Don’t disturb me.” Zheng Yichen’s schedule was very tight. The necessary research still had to be done. For his research on this Magic, he gave himself two to three hours. If there was no breakthrough inspiration by then, he would stop and move on to other things, not stubbornly fixating on this one difficult problem.

“Aiyo~ why are you such an unlikable little fellow? If you want my help, you should tell me your adjustment requirements, right?” Dan Marina smiled, propping her cheek with her hand, watching Zheng Yichen as he stared at the Magic Rune Array again. “Let’s discuss something. I’ll help you solve this problem, and you let me see your true form. How about that?”

“…I don’t think that’s a good exchange.” Zheng Yichen looked at Dan Marina warily. Loris could detect something unusual about his identity through his true form. This Witch before him was even more skilled at Tracing… Even if he were cautious, if his true form were seen, there would probably be problems!