Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 658 The Witcher's Salt Bullets

Zhou Yi watched from a distance.

There's a crossroads ahead, and shuttle buses stop at the interchange platform; there's a lot of pedestrian traffic.

There were many people setting up stalls there, making it look like a small market.

now.

The witch and a customer got into an argument.

The other party was an enhanced human, carrying an exquisitely crafted weapon case on his back. He gestured and said in a Western Continent language, "...Miss, you're selling these bullets too expensively. The manufacturing process is still immature, and they've severely damaged my gun barrel."

"For something this expensive, you should at least ensure after-sales service and repair."

The Witcher responded: "I already said that these bullets are a new model, there are risks involved, and there are no returns after they are sold."

"I didn't say I wanted a refund."

The other party opened his weapon case, took out a heavy, black sniper rifle, pointed at the muzzle, and said, "My A-grade sniper rifle is severely worn. Who else should I turn to if not you?"

"The bullet quality issue caused direct damage to my gun's barrel. I have already had an appraiser from the Archery Academy assess the damage, and the repair bill has reached 14000 light-years."

That customer was clearly a skilled marksman.

At this moment, he simply said, "Either we settle this privately, and you compensate me for half of the 7000 Light Seeds I lost, and we'll call it quits. Or we go to court and have it assessed at the Star Hub District Tribunal, so that Star Hub can give me justice."

The witch was immediately flustered, her face turning visibly red: "How could you do this? We had an agreement..."

The witch is ruthless and decisive in battle, but she is clearly inexperienced in disputes and wrangling, appearing flustered and anxious.

Zhou Yi asked the man on his shoulder, "Aren't we in the right in this matter?"

"The outcome of this transaction dispute is uncertain, but such an incident could lead to a downgrade in the Witcher's credit rating, a temporary ban on setting up a stall, or even the cancellation of her stall eligibility. Currently, the base has lax transaction controls, but if something goes wrong or someone requests the tribunal's intervention, it will be dealt with strictly."

“Once you lose your stall, you have to wait in line to apply for another one. Not only do you lose this good location, but it’s also difficult to pass the review due to credit issues.”

Zhou Yi stepped forward and intervened directly: "Friend, this is 7000 light seeds. How about we drop this matter?"

The other party took the light storage box, tapped the numbers inside, and immediately nodded and left.

The witch was still in a red-temperature state.

She sat at the stall, head down, seemingly sulking.

Zhou Yi sat down next to her: "That's how business is. There are gains and losses, and there are risks."

"I clearly stated beforehand that there would be no returns, as there was a risk involved..."

The witch looked dejected, her shoulders drooping: "Why is it so hard to do a little business?"

"It's okay, you'll learn from your mistakes."

Zhou Yi joked, "You're actually selling bullets? You didn't take them from the bullets I gave you and resell them for money, did you?"

"No, I wouldn't do that kind of thing!"

The witch's eyes were red: "I'll eat the bullets you gave me myself, I won't sell them."

"So, did you... hand-make your own bullets?"

"yes……"

Zhou Yi was taken aback.

The witch who only likes eating bullets and shooting guns has actually started making her own bullets to make money.

It seems there's nothing we can do about being poor for our children.

Why don't you come to me if you need money?

“I’ve already spent too much money.”

The witch's voice was low: "Since I came to the Mars base and started hunting the Killer Rats, I've died many times. Fortunately, everyone in the Mars Affairs Department helped save my body and then got that old man... to fix me up."

"The damage is real, and the Lord of War won't repair it for free. I've seen the repair bills alone; they've accumulated to 390 million light seeds, all paid for by the Mars Affairs Department. That number is already too much; I'm too embarrassed to die any longer..."

"I just want to pay this money back."

That's what happened.

The man standing next to him said, "Chairman, there are two parts to the core cost."

"Besides sending it to the Warlord for repairs, there's also the issue of equipment retrieval. We need to use the Sky Survey Telescope at Star Hub to pinpoint the location of the Witcher's accident and the rescue route. That equipment is charged by the second and is extremely expensive. However, its precision and accuracy are also top-notch; you get what you pay for."

Zhou Yi nodded.

Don't be stingy or stingy when it's time to spend money.

Fortunately, the Mars base is currently generating considerable revenue; otherwise, the Witcher's expenses would indeed be terrifying.

"However, the bullets I manufacture are not ordinary things."

The witch picked up a box from the stall and handed it to Zhou Yi: "Master, look, this is definitely worth the price. It can be used to deal with the Martian Killer Rat and is a life-saving item."

Zhou Yi examined the plastic box in his hand. Inside were neatly arranged copper bullet casings, but no metal bullets. Instead, there were highly compressed white granules inside. "Salt?"

Zhou Yi tentatively asked.

"Ah."

The witch shook off her dejection and picked up one of the bullets with a hint of pride: "This is the salt bullet I made."

"On Mars, ordinary bullets are useless against killer rats. Their strength is at least that of a light core, and ordinary Class A weapons will only tickle them."

"I've been using the bullets that the old man Bingzhu gave me, but the bullets can't hit the killer rat at all."

"Mars has a very high energy density. The killer rats have a high-energy reactive force field on their bodies, so when a bullet hits the high-energy field, it will be repelled and bounce off and fall to the ground, without any killing power."

"I died many times during this attempt. Although I always fired when it hit the dust storm, even the attacks from the dying light core were beyond my tolerance..."

She ran her fingers over the copper-cased bullet: "Later, after a long period of observation and experimentation, I found a solution. I discovered that the killer rats couldn't get close to each other; they maintained a certain safe distance. But dust storms would destroy this balance."

"When medium or large dust storms occur, the killer rats become frantic and attack the dust storms. During the attack, they collide with each other and make force contact."

The witch made a fist-clapping gesture: "When the killer rats collide with each other, a lot of salt from their bodies falls off and splatters out; that's their blood."

“They do not resist salt; force fields are ineffective against salt. Or rather, they do not perceive salt as a threat, but rather as part of their body.”

"So I made bullets from local Martian salt. I've tested it, and Earth salt won't work. It has to be salt from local Martian mineral deposits—ideally, salt from the remains of killer rats before they come back to life. I collect some of that salt and press it into salt bullets."

The witch raised her right hand, squinted her right eye, focused her left eye, and made a shooting motion towards the distance.

"Bang!"

"That's how I developed the salt bullet, which can finish off killer rats and provides powerful feedback."

She spoke animatedly about weapons and bullets, her face beaming with excitement: "Then I added my [Forbidden Altar] ability to the salt bullets, so that after the salt bullets are fired, they can directly hit the killer rat. Its instant-death characteristic will also be suppressed, greatly reducing its danger level."

"The Killer Rat is still a beast in a chaotic state. It has only reached the Light Core level. It is very poor in terms of power technique and variation. It still charges around recklessly and attacks with the purest speed and power."

"After that, I was finally able to finish them off. I searched everywhere for killer rats and shot them when they attacked the dust storm."

"My power is also constantly growing."

“I could feel that I was very close to the light core. So I made salt my element, which not only makes it easier to make salt bullets, but also ensures that there is no shortage of materials since there is a large amount of salt available in the universe.”

At this point, the witch seemed to remember something, and her smile gradually faded: "But the good times didn't last long, and the numbers on the bills kept increasing. I wanted to pay back as much as I could, so I started selling salt bullets."

"Many people who want to buy them are basically powerful marksmen. Although their own level may not be high, ranging from C to B, they can use A-level firearms. Marksmen are the group that is best at attacking, so it is not uncommon for them to kill enemies of higher levels."

“They had already been practicing shooting with the Killer Rats... Using my bullets, you can even hurt a Light Core-level Killer Rats. Although this group always revives, it still excites the shooters.”

"It's salt bullets, which wear down the barrel and cause jamming. I always emphasize this point. Most people are reasonable, but there are also those who argue like the one just now... I have no choice but to pay them off."

Zhou Yi examined the box of salt bullets in his hand: "How much do you sell it for?"

"2 light seeds, 1 piece."

Not expensive.

The bullets of the Soldier Lord are all 1 light seed/piece.

Zhou Yi said, "How about this: you transfer the patent for the salt bullet technology to the company, and the company sells it to the public. You get 5% of the profits, how about that?"

The witch's face lit up with joy: "Really? That's great! I'm actually not good at selling things... It's much harder than fighting."

"Professionals should do professional things. The company has specialists for selling products."

Zhou Yi smiled and said to the giant monster on his shoulder, "If we can sell the salt bullets, we will. If not, we will develop them ourselves. Salt is an information carrier on Mars, so we will develop it eventually. The killer rats are also an unavoidable group for mining on the ground, so having dedicated weapons to deal with them is a good thing."

"Yes."

The Duke of Mieding remained cautious: "However, Chairman, I need to conduct a detailed investigation and verification before I can confirm the specific development and use of the salt bullets."

I won't interfere with the specifics.

At this moment, the witch next to her began to pack up her stall. She seemed to be in a good mood, folding up her stall and quickly turning it into a large suitcase.

"Master, it's alright, I'll go with you."

She suddenly said, "Ah, I almost forgot something. Salt actually has another function; it carries many fragments of consciousness. I only learned this from the archers. So, shooting the killer rats will cause them to freeze and become dazed. It's actually a kind of consciousness attack..."

"To be honest, I feel that killer rats actually enjoy being hit by salt bullets. They don't resist or dodge; they seem to enjoy the process. When they're shot, they actually become quite stable instead of going berserk, just like when they've eaten all the seeds. Their eyes also become much clearer, and they seem happy to die..."

"What a bunch of weirdos."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but think that the Earth Killer Rats could be temporarily restored to a stable state of consciousness by feeding them large amounts of Light Seeds, and even awaken the memories of the old humans.

So, could we try using salt and light to kill the Martian killer mouse?
If possible.

These killer rats are all light cores, guardians of the Salt Library, and have the ability to directly use and read salt... their value is immeasurable.

Zhou Yi immediately said to Mieding Gong, "We can try to push things in this direction."

"Yes, Chairman. I'll arrange it right away."

(End of this chapter)