Chapter 749: Electric Light Cannon

"Rune cannon!"

Kestajin let out a surprised shout, then hesitated, his face full of curiosity.

He is one of the few rune lords among dwarves, with top‑tier forging skill and rune knowledge, and his insight and erudition are hardly inferior to those of a Holy Soul Wizard.

Dwarves developed cannon technology in the Third Epoch; over the past centuries, many dwarf artisans learned soul‑gun techniques from humans, advancing the ancient dwarf blunderbuss, and the similarly‑principled cannon technology has been revitalized and is maturing day by day.

Kestajin excels at forging rune cannons; at the start of building the city wall, he proposed to Lei En that a rune cannon be mounted on the wall, but Lei En rejected it.

He thought Lei En disliked rune cannons because they were too expensive and wanted to save money; now he knows that Lei En actually possesses a substitute for cannons.

But upon closer inspection, he found that this thing only resembled a rune cannon in appearance; in reality it has a fundamentally different nature.

The most noticeable difference is the barrel.

A rune cannon's barrel is extremely thick—large enough to fit a person—and less than three meters long, looking exceedingly bulky.

The weapon Lei En produced has a barrel nearly five meters long, only slightly thicker than an arm, jet‑black and straight, with a smooth surface; its diameter is not uniform—the muzzle is narrowest, widening toward the rear, the rear half encased in a solid square metal shell, mounted within a rotatable hemispherical shield.

The hemispherical shield is forged from gray metal, about two meters in diameter; Kestajin cannot see its interior, but can tell that the barrel can rotate fully on the horizontal plane and also elevate with a steep angle, almost able to fire straight upward.

Dense runes and etched lines are carved on the spherical shield, flowing with obscure blue energy.

Kestajin, well‑versed, identified them as Titan runes!

The barrel and shield are mounted on a massive base; the cubic base is so tall that even dwarves on tiptoe cannot reach its upper edge. Kestajin touched it and instantly recognized it was forged from some magical alloy, seamless throughout, clearly hiding the weapon's most crucial secret inside.

"Such superb forging craftsmanship..."

Kestajin ran his hand over it, examined it closely, and immediately exclaimed in admiration: "What a unique forging style—I've never seen anything like it before!"

His first impression of the weapon was its stark, fierce simplicity, devoid of any ornamentation; it looks nothing like a creation born from a forge, bearing no trace of hammer blows, yet every detail reveals masterful design and a deep crystallization of wisdom.

Kestajin sensed a cold, icy beauty; every detail is meant to achieve maximum effect and inflict maximum damage.

The sole purpose of this thing is to kill!

He was almost intoxicated by it.

Even without having witnessed its power, the mere fact that its design is so distinct from those of any Ai Lun E Si race already offers him great insight; its power is surely no inferior.

Bulestein's forging skill is not as good as Kestajin's, but his eye is sharp, and he reached the same judgment.

The two dwarves stared eagerly at Lei En, hoping he would answer.

Lei En smiled smugly.

"It is indeed a cannon, but unlike a rune cannon, I'll name it..." His words trailed off; he had intended to say "laser cannon," but neither the Empire language nor the dwarf tongue has a word for "laser," and the concept is cumbersome to explain.

"Electric Light Cannon."

Lei En chose a name that was easier to understand.

It is the result of more than half a month of joint development by him and over twenty Thundercast Celestial Soldiers; the prototype is the "laser cannon" concept from his past life, a directed‑energy weapon that only existed in sci‑fi movies!

The laser cannons on Diqiu are merely prototypes, with average firepower and many flaws.

But in Ai Lun E Si, a world saturated with extraordinary power and wondrous materials, Lei En easily overcame the many difficulties of making a laser cannon.

Often, a new invention lacks not ideas but the conditions for realization.

Using magic, runes, alchemical materials, and combined with neural crystal cores, he fashioned this magical version of a laser cannon in just over half a month, tested it, and although its power may not match the laser cannons on interstellar warships, in the world of Ai Lun E Si it is undeniably a unprecedented new weapon.

"Electric Light Cannon..."

The two dwarves' eyes lit up, pondering the deeper meaning of the name.

"First, install it," Lei En said, selecting a spot on the wall, waving for a few dwarf artisans to come, and swiftly erected a brand‑new turret on that section of the wall.

The turret rose about ten meters above the wall, its base as wide as the wall, with a spacious passage in the middle that does not impede traffic on the wall. Inside, the turret is solid; the walls taper upward, eventually forming a square platform five meters on a side, recessed in the center, just large enough to receive the Electric Light Cannon's base.

The dwarf artisans etched rune sigils onto the turret's surface, integrating it with the entire wall, making it as hard as steel and able to withstand the barrage of magical energy.

Lei En stored the Electric Light Cannon in a Nebula Ring, lifted it, and placed it into the recessed pit on the platform, the two fitting together perfectly.

He then brought out dozens of tons of steel, softened it with activated metal, covering the cannon's base and the platform beneath, and wrapped the upper half of the turret in metal, making it even more stable.

Kestajin looked up at the towering turret, his face showing puzzlement.

"Lei En, why didn't you carve steps into the wall to let the gunner climb up?" He didn't quite understand, asking, "There's nowhere around it to stand; where does the gunner stand?"

"The Electric Light Cannon needs no gunner," Lei En replied, shaking his head.

Kestajin's eyes widened. "No gunner, then how do you fire?"

"It's fully automatic."

As soon as Lei En finished speaking, the Electric Light Cannon activated.

The turret's wall quivered slightly, emitting a low rumble; the dwarves saw hundreds of runes light up on the Electric Light Cannon's shield, a protective barrier expanding outward, then vanishing in an instant.

At the same time, blue light surged along the jet‑black barrel.

A sizzling crackle of electricity rang through the air.

The dwarves' armor, tools, and weapons all tingled with an electric‑shock numbness; their hair stood on end, faint lightning flickered within their thick beards, and an indescribable sensation enveloped the surroundings.

The hemispherical shield suddenly rotated, and the barrel's direction turned along with it for several revolutions.

Despite weighing tens of thousands of pounds, the metal barrel felt surprisingly light and agile, rotating swiftly—sometimes raising to its maximum elevation, sometimes lowering, or making slight angle adjustments, then abruptly pausing to aim at a distant target.

Kestajin watched the turret adjust, experiencing an illusion.

It seemed not a cannon but a living being, with a highly intelligent soul hidden within its massive metal structure.

The six red crystals set around the shield form its eyes.

The energy source installed in the gun's base is its heart!

"Sir, fire a test shot."

Bulestein voiced the thoughts of all the dwarves present; Lei En glanced at them, a smile curling his lips, deciding to satisfy their curiosity.

"Alright."

Lei En gave a gentle nod.

Immediately, the dwarves heard a sharp, roaring blast.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh……

They had never heard such a sound, so dense that it overlapped, like thunder, yet it could not be described precisely.

The muzzle spewed out streams of eerie blue beams like a gale of rain, faster than lightning, even the eye could not follow.

In the blink of an eye, several beams shot into the twisted, dark forest across the strait, then a series of explosions erupted.

Amid the booming, a swath of trees fell, revealing charred ground.

"Sss…"

"Mo Lading on high!"

"Mother God…"

The dwarves all inhaled sharply; some screamed hoarsely, some stared dumbfounded, and some were so shocked they could not speak.

Kestajin eyeballed the bombed forest and, incredulously, said, "The range exceeds four thousand blades!"

"Blade" is the dwarves' unit of distance; one blade is roughly half a meter.

Lei En nodded; Kestajin's estimate was accurate—the Electric Light Cannon's effective range can reach two kilometers, but that is only for one firing mode. The Electric Light Cannon has three firing modes, each with a different range.

A thought crossed his mind, and the recently silent Electric Light Cannon roared to life again.

Thunder cracked loudly.

Beams shot from the muzzle at a frequency of ten times per second, firing continuously.

The muzzle slowly pivoted, and the line of fire formed by the beams moved accordingly; each beam's impact point remained under control. Yet in just a few dozen seconds, the opposite forest fell like a harvested field, leaving a black trench hundreds of meters long.

The overwhelming majority of dwarves could not discern how many beams were fired in those few dozen seconds; it was impossible to count.

But judging by the damage, each beam was at least equivalent to a Three-ring Technique!

The dwarves were dumbfounded, unable even to shout in amazement.

To unleash hundreds of Three-ring Techniques in such a short span, with that range and precision… Not to mention ordinary dwarf warriors; even a legendary steel shield guard would be torn to pieces in an instant under the Electric Light Cannon's muzzle.

Lei En glanced at the dwarves who were as dumb as wooden chickens, smiled to himself, and switched the Electric Light Cannon to its second firing mode.

A hemispherical shield emitted a low, howling energy, and the massive energy flow turned the barrel blue.

Three seconds later, an eerie blue ray shot out.

This time the fire was no longer a high‑frequency gale, but a continuous ray, like a pillar of light, its diameter thicker than a dwarf's thigh, constantly spawning twisting bolts of lightning.

The ray pierced the air, slanting downward, striking the ground a kilometer away.

There, a fire quickly ignited; surrounding trees burned, the soil and rock melted, and within seconds it became a pool of magma.

The muzzle rotated, and the ray, like a kilometer‑long sword, swept across earth and sky.

Where it passed, trees were cut cleanly in rows.

The ray lasted eight seconds before ceasing; the barrel returned to black, and even from dozens of meters away one could feel the terrifying heat emanating from the muzzle.

"Electric Light Beam!"

The dwarves fell silent until Kestajin let out a sound, his face lit with sudden realization.

He had already recognized the spell released by the Electric Light Cannon.

It was the Electric Light Beam.

The earlier high‑frequency fire also launched Electric Light Beams, but the speed was so great that the lowest Three-ring Electric Light Beam was compressed, releasing it dozens of times per second, achieving the same powerful effect as a cannon barrage.

The second sustained sweep was the Electric Light Beam in its original form; its power was comparable to a Seven-ring Technique.

However, the Electric Light Cannon's range exceeded tenfold!

Kestajin could not understand how Lei En did it?

He could also produce Electric Light Beams; if limited to Three-ring, they could fire instantly, but he could never fire dozens in a second, not even three. This far exceeded ordinary mental speed limits, and the range was unimaginable.

Where does the Electric Light Cannon's energy come from? What is its operating principle?

Kestajin's mind was filled with countless questions.

Yet this was not the end.

The Electric Light Cannon fell silent for half a minute, seemingly waiting for the barrel to cool, then suddenly roared back to life.

A cluster of blue, jagged electric light appeared at the muzzle but did not fire, quickly coalescing into a larger orb; countless energies poured in madly, the orb grew larger, the electric light grew ever more blinding, like a small sun impossible to stare at.

The dwarves all held their breath.

Finally, after twelve seconds, a booming crack like a sudden thunderbolt exploded beside their ears, causing the dwarves to instinctively cover their ears, yet they could not help tracking the orb's landing point.

Half a second later, a fierce beam burst into view.

Everyone closed their eyes.

A deafening explosion rang out at once, followed by a powerful shockwave; the under‑construction wall shuddered, but, being farther away, it sustained no damage.

When the explosion subsided, the dwarves saw a vast clearing appear in the forest three kilometers away.

Everything within a hundred meters of the blast point was destroyed.

In the middle of the clearing lay a deep pit; the forest a hundred meters away fell outward radially, as if bombarded by meteors.

"This…"

All the dwarves who saw the scene were terrified, their lips trembling, and they halted their work.

"This already has the power of the Nine-ring Technique!"

Kestajin could hardly believe his own eyes.

No wonder Lei En said it differed from the Rune Cannon; the Rune Cannon was nowhere near this strong.

Such a terrifying shot, clearly still a variation of the Electric Light Beam, yet it reached the power of the Nine-ring Technique!

He snapped his head toward Lei En, his eyes blazing with fervor.

"Lei En, the Electric Light Cannon is the most powerful artillery in the world! No, it is the most powerful weapon in the world!" Kestajin's voice trembled, almost reverent, as he shouted, "If you can give me the manufacturing method and principle of the Electric Light Cannon, I will swear to you in the name of the gods, and become your lifelong follower!"

It wasn't only Kestajin; many other dwarves, eyes alight with desire, gathered around.

Clearly, they share the same idea as Kestajin.

Ka wen… I feel I've slipped back into a slump, mentally exhausted…

(End of chapter)