Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 204: The killing range is longer than the shooting range?

There are three sets of copper pressure storage chambers in parallel under the barrel. Each chamber is equipped with a brass pressure gauge with a dial engraved with three warning zones of green, yellow and red.

Following the pipe all the way up from the pressure relief valve, Hughes discovered that there was a metal barrel connected to the other end. After estimating the weight, he took a breath.

"This must weigh several dozen kilograms, right?"

"More than that. The steam barrels haven't been filled with mercury yet. When they're full they weigh nearly three hundred pounds."

"Ah?" Zeus was dumbfounded. It was so heavy that even a slightly weaker person couldn't lift it, let alone move it on the battlefield.

"Do you think this thing is for ordinary people? It's something only mechanical priests use. They might not even be able to scrape a pound of flesh and blood. They've already used metal prosthetics. Forget 300 pounds. Even those with a high-powered power reactor can easily carry 3,000 pounds."

Zeus fell silent. What kind of Zenith technology is this? The robots on Blue Planet need a rope to turn a handkerchief, but in this world, they can easily carry a car.

Thinking of the mechanical priest who killed him last time, his speed was so fast that it was difficult to see with the naked eye. It was indeed beyond the range of mortals. Extraordinary people were probably no more than that.

"They already have this technology, so why haven't they unified the world yet? With this kind of equipment, the Imperial Army's smoothbore rifles are nothing but a joke compared to it."

Zeus was really finding it hard to believe. He had been feeling smug about the technological superiority of the rifle, but he hadn't expected that the Mechanical Templar had even developed this individual artillery. Judging from Chloe's tone, this thing couldn't be less powerful.

The most infuriating thing is that this was dug out in his manor. The rifle was wrapped in oil paper and it might be many years old. His hard work in research and development is not as good as others' archaeology. This is too outrageous.

"Oh, do you think they can still make this thing?" Chloe sneered. "Such a new steam rifle would definitely be treated as a holy relic if it were taken to the Mechanical Temple. Forget about using it in battle. Even applying gun oil would require someone to sing hymns."

“They can’t make it?”

"It's been impossible to build it for a long time. The powerful one was the Mechanics Society a thousand years ago. The current Mechanics Templar is just a group of gravekeepers clutching a rotting corpse. It's just that they hold on tight enough that they still resemble what they once were."

Chloe shook her head, her tone slightly regretful.

Hughes tried to pick up the steam rifle, put the strap on his shoulder, and struggled to lift it. "Let's find a place to try?"

The two of them soon arrived at the eastern test site. Only some banshees were left here. All the previous experimenters had withdrawn. Several banshees helped Zeus set up the target, and then looked over here curiously, obviously very interested in the steam rifle.

“Will you use this?”

"It's not difficult." Chloe picked up the rifle and put the steam barrel on her back. She brought a box of compressed steam bullets. After opening the box, she stuffed the cylindrical compressed bullets into the cylinder of the steam barrel.

"This thing uses mercury vapor, or quicksilver. No one knows the specifics of how it's compressed and heated. Even the Mechanical Templar can only operate it partially. Anyway, there must be some supernatural power involved. Even with my nymph vision, I can't see through the structure of this steam barrel."

"In other words, this is a disposable consumable?"

"It's a very powerful disposable consumable."

Chloe closed the steam barrel, fastened the pin, and then opened the valve of the steam pipe. After seeing from the observation window that the barrel was filled with mercury vapor, she nodded with satisfaction.

"By the way, you'd better stay away. Mercury vapor is poisonous if inhaled."

"Are you okay?"

"No problem, I don't need to breathe." Zeus nodded, and retreated to the upwind side with the banshees, watching Chloe point the rifle at the target leaning against the stone mountain.

"This rifle has a long-range precision aiming mode and a blasting mode. I'm using the blasting mode now."

Chloe raised her rifle, holding it in that position and closing her eyes.

After a while, her expression became dull, like a puppet, and then her finger pulled the trigger.

"boom!!!"

Zeus was already far enough away from that place, but a lot of rubble still flew around him. When the smoke and dust cleared, only a pile of rubble was left on the ground. A big hole was blasted out of the stone mountain, and the target had completely flown away.

Chloe? Just a bunch of broken pieces.

"I knew it!" Xius turned around and saw Chloe walking towards him from behind. She looked a little scared. "Luckily I didn't use the original body to test it. It really is something made by those crazy people in the Mechanical Temple. The explosion range is even farther than the range of a gun."

It seems that the fragments on the ground should be the clones she created using her extraordinary abilities, so she was cautious at this time.

but
"The explosion range is farther than the shooting range? Does the Mechanical Temple often do this kind of thing?" Zeus looked at the stone mountain that was blown through with a twitching eye. Although strictly speaking, this was just a larger earth slope, the power was still exaggerated.

"Heh, their bodies made of steel are much stronger than flesh and blood. Why do you think they are called lunatics? This group of people loves to make explosions that don't distinguish between friend and foe. Not only are the enemies afraid of them, but their teammates are even more afraid of them!"

Chloe sneered.

Zeus frowned and looked at the big hole on the ground, lost in thought.

This weapon is indeed quite powerful, but it is quite troublesome to use.

Mercury vapor is poisonous, and considering its weight, the soldiers basically have no way of using it. If it's a suicide attack, it would be better to let Nini summon a sea snake to carry the bomb over. It's useless no matter how you look at it.

Wait, think about it carefully, there seems to be another option
Zeus turned his head and looked at several banshees that were eager to try.

"Do you breathe through your gills or your lungs?"

The banshees opened their eyes wide.

It turns out that the banshees' respiratory system is very complicated. After a simple test, Seuss found that they seemed to be able to breathe normally both in water and on land, and did not need water like crabs. Seuss tried to seek help from Chloe without performing an autopsy.

Unfortunately, the nymph's extraordinary perspective could not penetrate the banshee's body, so she could not see directly. However, Zeus soon found that he did not need to worry about this problem.

Banshees can easily hold their breath for more than half an hour, by which time the mercury vapor will have long dissipated. Although mercury is poisonous, it is only threatening if inhaled, and skin contact is not a big problem.

What's more, there is a symbiotic contract.

The banshees excitedly picked up their steam rifles.

(End of this chapter)