Chapter 205 Self Destructing Bats (1/2)

Perhaps even the Gnome elder did not understand just how important the black gunpowder was, but as a modern man, Yang Ling understood.

The reason for the rapid rise of modern Europe, being able to occupy a country with merely a few hundred, or even just a few dozen soldiers, was not because of the bravery of their soldiers, but their advanced weapons.

With the black gunpowder, he might one day be able to develop hot weapons, establishing a unique army on land and sea, or even an air force with immense power on the continent. Then, in front of his army, neither the Banto Empire or the Rossi Empire would be able to stand up to him no matter how much of a numbers advantage they had!

With the black gunpowder, he might be able to set off the Steam Age, building a steam-powered ship to explore the vast ocean. From then on, this foreign world might enter an age of sea exploration, and the development of his territory would be tremendous.

With the black gunpowder, he might be able to develop weapons of immense powder, giving him unparalleled might on the continent. He would then be able to quickly find the relics left behind by the Ancient Wizards as well as the secrets to their disappearance, and from there, a path back to Earth.

Hope was always promising, but the reality was often harsh!

In his elation, Yang Ling personally researched the black gunpowder along with the Gnome elder, alchemists, mountain dwarves and human craftsmen, but the outcome was depressing. Without intricate tools and machines, as well as a specific method, there was no way they could move from traditional weapons to an era of hot weapons.

After multiple failed attempts, the Gnome elder spoke as he looked nervously at Yang Ling beside him. ”Sir, are we going to test it any further?” His face was charred in many areas, his clothes blasted apart by the black gunpowder. He looked even more pitiful than the beggars on the street. In order to build the so-called gun that Yang Ling had spoken of, he had nearly lost his life.

At the start, the dwarf Rumi had created a cylinder about the thickness of a thumb. In the end, the amount of powder that they could stuff into the cylinder was too little, and they were unable to ignite it no matter what they tried. Even after half a day of tests, it would not create so much as a sound.

Later, the dwarf Rumi led his clansmen and created a cylinder the thickness of an arm. In the end, they put too much of the powder into the cylinder, and the impact blasted the contraption to pieces.

Yang Ling had given his orders from far away, and thus was not harmed in any way. But the Gnome elder's head was nearly sliced open by the shrapnel. Even though it was cold outside, he became covered in cold sweat out of shock. If he knew that this would happen, he would not have anxiously presented this treasure to Yang Ling.

Yang Ling clenched his teeth. ”Let's try it one more time. Compress this pile of powder into the cylinder!”

Since their tools were limited, rendering them unable to create intricate weapons, they could only focus their attention on creating a landmine. Even though the Gnomes had created a few landmines in the past, they were all made by hand, and just like the drawing of the Magical Spell Formation, they could not make even one in two weeks. There was no way that the mines they made previously could meet the demand.

Looking at the shiny, dark metal ball, then looking at the large pile of black powder, the Gnome elder felt his scalp go numb. He swallowed before speaking, ”Sir, if we pile on this much powder, it would be easy to injure one of our allies. Can we split the gunpowder into several hundred portions and create a few hundred landmines that you spoke of?”

Having suffered all this while, the Gnome elder was filled with fear for Yang Ling's so-called landmine. After having his head nearly chopped off, he no longer had the guts to give it another try!

Miniature bombs?

Inspiration struck Yang Ling. Those words meant more to him than they did the Gnome elder! The Gnome elder had just uttered those words when Yang Ling had a stroke of inspiration, coming up with an idea.

The main reason he had been unable to create guns and claymores was because of the lack of intricate tools to manufacture and process steel outer shells. The craftsmanship of the dwarf Rumi and the rest were decent, and they might be able to create one or two suitable steel shells in one or two months. But the efficiency of the process was too low, and there was no way that they could produce them in batches. The cost of producing one in the end wasn't worth it.

But miniature bombs were different. Since they did not carry an extreme amount of power, they could be created merely by using the black gunpowder and black clay. Even if any accidents occurred, they would not easily injure his own men.

Without hesitation, after deciding on the idea, Yang Ling immediately instructed the group to take action. They combined black gunpowder and black clay in a certain ratio, creating a dozen miniature bombs, a little bigger than a lychee each.

After taking a deep breath, he personally tested them, throwing a miniature bomb at his target with force. In the end, even though the edge of a porcelain bowl not far away had crumbled on impact, the miniature bomb did not explode like he had expected.

Could it be that the proportions of the formulation are wrong?