Chapter 114: Paying Visits Everywhere

Once the tour of visits began, it became impossible to stop. Opportunities like these were rare, and Kevin was not about to miss out. In reality, this was merely an expanded version of his "I have a question" approach. Initially, Kevin could only question his own platoon leader, then other platoon leaders, then other officers within his legion; now, he had begun roaming across the country, inspecting and questioning every important department.

Kevin had also handed his blueprints to craftsmen for reproduction. The rapid-fire crossbow was a purely mechanical structure, and as long as there were blueprints, it was generally not difficult to replicate. Though the specific materials for the bow were unknown, that was not a major issue; Kevin could simply use standard crossbow materials for his initial attempts.

After paying the craftsmen and handing over the designs, the visits continued. For the next entire week, Kevin dragged Sain along with him. They first went to Landon City to visit the nation's largest arrow production facility.

One could hardly see any slaves there; more than half of the workers were mages. The mages summoned low-level elemental puppets, which stood in neat rows. These elemental puppets were originally designed for combat, but here they had been simplified, with their combat-oriented defense and attack capabilities stripped away, leaving them with only two or three basic movements. Such simplified puppets were undoubtedly more mana-efficient, allowing for higher numbers and easier operation.

Each elemental puppet had a specific task, and the entire assembly line was divided into three main segments: one for cutting and polishing wood to make arrow shafts, one for forging iron arrowheads, and the final one for assembling the two and attaching the fletching. The connection between these stages relied on flowing water; the entire factory was equipped with complex waterways, with every puppet stationed in front of a channel to perform its work.

For instance, once an arrowhead was forged and needed to be sent to the assembly line, the puppet would simply place it on a palm-sized boat and give it a push. The boat would automatically travel along the water to the assembly station. The assembly puppet would take the arrowhead and push the boat back along a separate waterway. These were all one-way channels, preventing any collisions.

As for the arrow shafts, it was even more convenient; since they were made of wood, they floated naturally and could simply be pushed into the water. The entire process was orderly and required almost no human intervention. Once the mages finished summoning the puppets, they had little to do other than watch for any minor flaws, such as occasionally picking out and discarding wood damaged by insects.

It was truly an assembly line, flowing with actual water.

There was a vast variety of arrows and arrowheads here. Some were simple castings for low-end ammunition, while others required repeated hammering to create higher-quality tips. Even here, there were no traces of manual labor; everything was handled by elemental puppets.

The forging hammers were also mechanized, powered by a waterwheel outside the facility. The wheel drove the heavy hammers to strike continuously, while the elemental puppets automatically positioned the workpieces beneath them. Humans only needed to supervise to ensure nothing went wrong.

The factory was directly under the jurisdiction of the City Lord and was the most magically automated plant in the country. Kevin expressed curiosity, noting that waterwheels were not eternal; they could suffer from water shortages due to seasonal rainfall or even freeze in winter. How did they handle that?

The mages simply replied that in those times, they would work a little harder and summon more powerful puppets to handle the forging. If the waterways froze, it didn't matter; the small boats were equipped with blades underneath, allowing them to glide over the ice even faster.

Although arrows were common items, they were a key national project. From hunters and mercenaries to the regular army, arrows were indispensable, and daily consumption was immense. One could even say it was a standard for measuring a nation's strength, which was why the City Lord attached such great importance to it.

The factory produced over ten thousand arrows of various types daily, selling them throughout the country and even exporting them abroad. Kevin found it an eye-opening experience.

However, the working mages remained dissatisfied. The high demand for wood for arrow shafts made them long for a cheaper, stronger alternative. At the same time, they felt that there were too few mages engaged in this work. Although the City Lord had prioritized the relocation of local mages to the arrow factory, this resulted in other weapon industries in the city remaining at a low-end level of manual cutting and forging.

If possible, they hoped to develop a magic array that would allow ordinary people to simply insert a crystal into a pattern, which would then automatically operate and summon magic puppets. This would liberate the mages and open up job opportunities to a much broader population of ordinary citizens.

Kevin gained a great deal from the visit, which lasted until evening.

The following day, Kevin originally planned to visit the giant staff army barracks, as those were the nation's most high-end weapons. Unexpectedly, after inquiring in many places, no one knew where the giant staff army was stationed, or if they did, they refused to tell him.

Helpless, Kevin turned to the borderlands instead, visiting the border walls of Mosie City. This area bordered the Lebozier Kingdom. Kevin had been here a few times before, but he had never been able to access certain core areas; only by bringing the Commander's son along was he able to see further.

The border commander naturally did not recognize Kevin, and Kevin had no memory of the guards here—perhaps the veterans had retired or been transferred. He had intended to ask about the pile of equipment he had once dragged here, for which he was promised a reward that never materialized, but thinking about how much time had passed, he decided to let it go.

The commander here showed Kevin a heavy anti-air crossbow. It was a large weapon aimed at the sky, firing arrows as thick as spears, balanced by four triangular tail fins. The arrows were engraved with wind-element arrays to significantly increase their range.

With a purely mechanical structure, it was difficult to pose a threat to high-altitude targets; they simply couldn't reach them. Therefore, adding magic arrays to boost range was a necessity, though this inevitably increased the cost of each arrow. Even so, the weapon could only just reach high altitudes, and its hit rate was far from ideal.

High-altitude targets moved at great speeds with rapid maneuvers. Trying to threaten them from the ground with arrows made calculating the lead extremely difficult. It basically relied on the advantage of numbers—a full volley might hit one or two arrows by luck. But the cost of that single volley was heartbreaking.

The price of the arrows was completely disproportionate to their value, leaving this weapon in a very awkward position, yet it was impossible to do without it. In truth, attacking high-altitude targets from the ground was inherently difficult; generally, anti-air defense was the responsibility of one’s own air force.

Kevin suggested why not use parrots for guidance? He proposed that a parrot could be launched with the arrow, tracking the target and adjusting the direction.

The garrison commander did not deny the feasibility of such a plan, but he noted that it would only be used as a last resort. Parrots were currently in short supply and were primarily used for communication. Launching them with an arrow was essentially a suicide mission; even if they hit the target, it was difficult for the parrot to return. Because it was rarely possible to kill an enemy with a single arrow, the target would likely retaliate before dying, and a parrot could hardly defend itself.

Asking communication soldiers to perform suicide attacks was clearly inappropriate unless absolutely necessary. Kevin understood this; he only used his crows during military exercises. In actual combat, even if they accurately struck a commander, the guards would retaliate with arrows, and the crows would likely not return.

Of course, stone projectiles were slightly different from arrows; it was easier to kill, knock away, or stun someone with a stone. Even if an arrow was as thick as a spear, if it pierced through a chest, the target could still strike back with a blade before dying. Besides, Kevin's crows were much stronger than ordinary parrots.

However, Kevin's logic was absolutely correct: using avian familiars for guidance could significantly increase precision. While using parrots might not be ideal, they could train others, such as owls. Simply locking onto a target did not require high intelligence. Research was currently underway.

This visit also lasted until evening. Kevin had a very productive conversation with the garrison commanders, as there were many similarities between catapults and these weapons, and they exchanged a great deal of experience.

On the third day, Kevin went to see the navy. The Lebozier Kingdom’s navy was relatively inferior—a point the King himself had acknowledged during a speech. What Kevin saw were only a few warships docked in the harbor.

They were still wooden sailing ships, loaded with a few crossbows and catapults, and powered by sails and oars. Compared to the space-jet engines Kevin had once mentioned, the gap was a century wide. Kevin didn't know much about the state of foreign navies, but he knew that the Ryan Empire had ironclad warships; the difference in level was immense.

The naval officer stated that once a naval battle began, it mainly depended on personal strength. They relied on individual mages and warriors to rush onto the enemy ship and take them out.

Kevin bluntly said that continuing like this would lead to falling behind the times. The officers could only shrug: "No money."

Indeed, this was a major problem. Naval construction was even more expensive than land forces. Trying to build ironclads or magic water-jet engines cost a fortune. Kevin had spent so much money just to build one catapult, and the cost of a single warship was likely a hundred or a thousand times more.

With regret, Kevin ended the day’s visit. The country was still developing, and development had its priorities; there was no helping that.

On the fourth day, he went to the Royal Academy to see the latest research. Here, Sain’s identity was actually less useful, but because Kevin knew the Vice Principal, they were allowed in without obstruction.

Passing by the laboratory, he saw several old mages arguing about high-level magic theories. Unfortunately, it was too profound for even Kevin to understand. He wandered around instead and discovered the mechanical department operating a strange machine.

The base of the machine was a wooden horse, similar to the rapid-fire crossbow, but instead of a bow at the horse's head, there was a battle blade. Stepping on the pedals caused the blade to move in coordination, swinging wildly up and down.

Kevin was surprised. He walked over, introduced himself, and asked what it was.

The researchers were happy to introduce new weapons to military personnel, immediately stating that it was called a "Battle-Qi Blade Repeater." As the name implied, riding this machine allowed one to fire continuous Battle-Qi slashes at a frequency far exceeding what one could achieve on their own.

The principle was this: a Battle-Qi slash involved gathering energy on the blade and releasing it through a rapid swing. If they used mechanical force to increase the speed of that swing several times over and keep it continuous, would the slashes not also be continuous?

Kevin immediately asked to try it, and they were happy to oblige. He mounted the wooden horse, stomped on the pedals, gripped the handle of the blade, channeled his Battle-Qi, and delivered a fierce slash. A blade of energy shot out.

Then, the blade swung wildly up and down, but no further energy slashes were produced. The researchers were puzzled and asked what was wrong.

Kevin blushed slightly: "I forgot, I can only fire one Battle-Qi slash in a short time."

The researchers did not mock Kevin; instead, they discussed the matter seriously. They explained that such machines were built for grassroots officers, and if those officers couldn't utilize them, they needed to consider whether there was a point to manufacturing them or how they might be improved.

Seeing their earnestness, Kevin expressed his admiration and said he looked forward to their latest research results.

On the fifth day, Kevin visited the Pegasus breeding base. The Pegasus Knight Order was nearby, making this a vital national site.

Pegasus had a long gestation and breeding period, which was one of the reasons why the number of Pegasus troops was so hard to increase. To solve this, research here never ceased. In addition to purebred mating between Pegasus, they also experimented with crossbreeding with horses or donkeys.

However, Pegasus were proud creatures and had no interest in horses or donkeys. To this end, the researchers came up with a plan: today, they painted a donkey white, attached realistic wings, gave it a stylish haircut, tied its mouth shut to prevent it from braying, and used wind magic to forcibly lift it into the sky for a flight before landing it, all to attract the Pegasus.

Surprisingly, a Pegasus was actually attracted and successfully mated with it. The researchers hid in the distance, watching with anticipation: "I hope it produces a Pegasus-mule."

Kevin witnessed the whole process and once again admired the researchers' dedication.

Through this series of visits, not only did Kevin broaden his horizons, but Sain also benefited immensely. Throughout the process, Sain was able to observe and inspect with a relatively serious attitude; although he still spoke very little, he had at least begun to think, rather than maintaining an indifferent demeanor. What Kevin taught him was not just knowledge, but also the methodology of how to learn. If he could continue in his current state, he should become an excellent officer.

Sain’s attitude toward Kevin had also changed. When someone truly discovers that a person they had always looked down upon is actually so much better than them, the feeling is complex. This "better" did not refer to brute strength, but a combination of wisdom, temperament, and attitude that left one speechless.

On the weekend, the General called Sain in again, wanting to know what he had been doing all week, as the guards reported he went out with Kevin every day.

Sain reported truthfully and affirmed Kevin's visiting process: "I feel like I've learned more this week than I did in the past ten years. Even though I still don't like Kevin, I have to admit that he has some talent."

The General was slightly surprised; he knew that getting his son to say this was no small feat. But at the same time, Sain’s newfound perspective differed from his own expectations: "I still have to remind you that things like research and technology are fine to understand a little, but personal strength remains the most critical thing. Do you understand?"

Sain was startled; the General’s words seemed to contradict Kevin’s theory of the era. Kevin had spent the whole week instilling the idea of the development of the era into Sain, and through the visits, Sain had become a firm believer. Now, the General’s words left him feeling lost, yet he dared not argue.

"What's wrong?" The General could see his expression. "Let me tell you, no matter how advanced the equipment is, the outcome of a war is decided by people. Weapons and equipment can change owners, they can be seized, but personal strength is something that grows within you. If you don't practice your own skills well and instead busy yourself with a pile of weapons and equipment, isn't that ridiculous?"

Sain was at a loss for how to answer.

"Usually, only those whose strength is hard to improve have to go and study other things," the General sneered. "Or it's those Sword Saints and Archmages who have long passed their prime and are just tinkering with toys out of boredom. If you remain a red-ranked battle-qi user for your whole life, you will be a failure."

Sain lowered his head, silent.

"Go, call Kevin here. I will speak to him myself." The General's face was cold as he waved his hand.