Chapter 258: Blasting Fish Joy

Da Wang blinked, seeing others gathered around the crossbow launcher, and whispered: "Tonight, bring out the attack ship, then summon the other few NPCs; help me unload the small cannons, then also dismantle the gunpowder crossbow and the crossbow launcher—I'll set up defenses on the city walls. War has erupted inland."

That Ke Tu nodded, and only then did Da Wang relax.

The Canglang slowly backed away from the dock, and Da Wang suddenly grew excited; he wanted to find a target to properly test this cannon.

He pulled out a telescope, stood on the deck looking around, wanting to find a reef to blast!

Wei Shen had watched enough and felt awkward letting the oddly named Ke Qie teach him, so he turned and began looking for Da Wang, intending to let Da Wang go up.

After turning around, he discovered Da Wang striking a pose elsewhere.

He hung his whole body over the gunwale, elbows propped on it, half his body sticking out, holding a telescope and scanning the sea, his leg dangling in midair…

Wei Shen twitched the corner of his mouth.

He came over, hearing Da Wang busy with his hands and mouth not idle; he was busy complaining to the leisurely Zhe Tian standing by the gunwale: "…Why did they deliberately build the gunwale so high? Wouldn't better lighting be nice!"

Wei Shen walked over and asked him, "What are you looking for? Using a warship to fish?"

Da Wang boldly said: "Blast fish!"

Soon the target became clear: not far from the shore they found a small reef; they didn't know how big it was underneath, but the stone part visible above water was about three or four square meters.

Da Wang quickly asked Ke Qie, "How far can we hit that reef? The distance now is only about two or three li."

He replied that they could do it right now.

Da Wang laughed, "This distance is great!"

What a good thing—after this blast, nobody will die at my doorstep.

The Canglang soon stopped; Ke Tu and Ke Qie began busily loading the shells, hearing that the ship had five test shells, and after firing them they'd need Da Wang to dip into the stores.

Wei Shen and the two leaders were still puzzled, wondering, "Wasn't the target supposed to be a reef? Is this thing as formidable as Da Wang's Sun‑Shooting Bow?"

It didn't confuse them for long, because the two acted with great skill.

The Canglang Realm's shells are three‑in‑one, not the troublesome separate warhead and powder bag. Ke Qie directly loaded the shell, closed the breech, and set the direction.

When Da Wang grandly waved his hand, he said, "Fire!"

Ke Qie pulled the lanyard; the firing pin struck the primer at the shell's base. With a boom, the shell shot out of the barrel; before Wei Shen could react, a huge explosion sounded ahead—the reef was leveled.

Wei Shen: ……

Zhang Tu: ……

Zhao Chuan: …… "What happened?"

What the heck? If you push this thing to besiege a city, the gate would blow open in one hit!

Da Wang had already grabbed the nearby Zhe Tian and shook him excitedly: "Zhe Tian, Zhe Tian, Zhe Tian, did you see that? The reef is flattened! I'll also send craftsmen to the Imperial Academy to study gewu, so they can build this cannon for me exclusively! Zhe Tian, do you agree or not?!"

Zhe Tian couldn't break free at all—"Can you let go of my neck? How am I supposed to voice my opinion like this?!"

Finally, it was Wei Shen, whom it disliked, who rescued it; Wei Shen grabbed Da Wang, eyes red, and said, "Quick, fire again! I didn't see it clearly!"

Upon hearing this, Da Wang became wary and covered his money pouch: "No! One shell costs three hundred taels—just a test is enough; there's no way it's defective!" He had faith in Meng Meng's products; trying more would be wasteful.

Wei Shen wouldn't have it: "It's just three hundred taels—I'll pay; let him try again!"

Da Wang eyed his cousin suspiciously, his gaze saying: "You've got three hundred taels? I don't believe it!"

That little look was easy to read—it gave Wei Shen enough fuel to be smug.

"Put it on the tab! Let my father chip in too—are you afraid your dear uncle will default on the debt?!"

Da Wang, half‑believing, said, "All right then. Ke Qie, let's try the medium‑sized one."

No need to look for a target with the medium shell—let's just check its range, since it's getting dark.

The medium shell is noticeably smaller than the large one; Ke Qie casually picked a direction facing the deep sea and fired one.

With a tremendous boom, a huge wave erupted over two li ahead.

Da Wang stood with his mouth open for a while, "This medium shell can really reach that far?"

Ke Qie answered: "The theoretical range of the large shell is three kilometers, the medium's is 1.2 km, and the small's is at least 800 meters. In practice it might go a bit farther."

Upon hearing that the small shell could reach 800 meters, Da Wang's mouth stretched open and wouldn't close.

Enough, enough! 800 meters is plenty. Otherwise, if it were too far, the enemy wouldn't even know who was hitting them—that would be wasteful.

Da Wang's main goal is deterrence; shells are expensive, so before we make our own, we'll save wherever we can.

Who would have thought the huge wave he kicked up hadn't even subsided when the sea surface rolled again, followed by a long whale cry…

Da Wang: "Oh no, did I blast my friend?"

Wei Shen laughed heartily.

Soon after, Da Wang's humpback whale really appeared on the surface; Da Wang jumped on the deck to wave, and the whale, upon seeing him, called out and rushed over, enthusiastically greeting him.

Da Wang breathed a sigh of relief; as long as he didn't hurt it, it was fine.

And the humpback whale's companion, the 'Dragon' that never leaves Meng Meng, soon also showed its form beside the ship.

"Looks like we can't just blast away at sea with this cannon anymore—though there aren't many big ships, we still have these guys."

He called them to the ship's side to play, and Da Wang, eager, had them try the gunpowder crossbow and the bolt‑shooting crossbow again.

As the names suggest, you can tell what they are just from the names.

The gunpowder crossbow fires a rocket tipped with powder; it extinguishes instantly in water, but its flaming tail lets several people see a new world. The bolt‑shooting crossbow launches an arrow with an iron head, and the crossbow mechanism delivers far greater power than a hand‑drawn shot—longer range and tremendous force.

That tearing‑through‑the‑air sound made Da Wang grin widely.

He instructed Ke Tu, "Take down the gunpowder crossbow and the bolt‑shooting crossbow tonight; I want to mount them on the walls of Youzhou."

Wei Shen, Zhang Tu, and Zhao Chuan were completely numb.

On the way back to shore, Wei Shen asked Da Wang, "If we can already make this kind of weapon out there, what if they land from the coast and attack the Great Jin?"

Da Wang thought it over, then summoned Zhang Tu and Zhao Chuan to begin peddling the great law.

"……'So we must study gewu, learn shushu, and develop ourselves. Only then can we have the strength to oppose the unknown enemies overseas. Do you know? Under heaven there are many continents; we are in the east, while in the west there are peoples with different skin and hair. Those not of our kind must have different hearts—just as the Xiongnu and Xianbei are, and even more so the western continent; we must stay vigilant!' At the very least, judging from Bai Ze's tone, once other continents develop they will have invaded this land."

Just me rolling alone won't cut it—roll, roll, roll!