Douluo Continent: The Peerless Tang Sect, Angels and Rakshasa Return

Chapter 271 272273—You may have made a small profit, but I definitely haven't lost out. We, your subjects, are ready to fight to the death, why has Your Majesty surrendered first?

"This is the way you're talking about making money?!" Qian Lingyun asked subtly via telepathy, "Why do I get the feeling you're trying to sell me out?!"

"Tch, sell you? Even if your mommy is poor, I wouldn't sell you! Besides, who am I? Rumor has it I'm the emperor's secret lover!" The Fourth Master chuckled, mischievously ruffling Qian Lingyun's hard-won hair into a mess, and whispered:

"Most of the guys in this room went through thick and thin with me; we're really close!"

"Joining in the rebellion? Good heavens, so you've been a scapegoat for the emperor, carrying his sword and handing him the gun?! No wonder you're so rich!" Qian Lingyun sighed softly, seemingly quite concerned about the Fourth Elder concealing his identity.

The fourth elder gave Qian Lingyun a karate chop and styled her hair into a middle part, saying slyly, "Alright, alright! Let's get down to business! I heard from Lao Lin that their Southern Army Group is planning to purchase a batch of heavy firepower and standard soul tools from Mingde Hall. If you can come up with something good to attract their attention, that's a good order."

"I'm confident I can get these orders for you... From now on, whenever they have orders, they'll think of you first because of me."

"Wow! You're really my mom! You even managed to connect me with such a big business... I'm so happy, I'm going to cry!" Qian Lingyun swallowed hard and took a step forward, feeling a bit lost.

At this moment, in her eyes, these generals and marshals of the Sun and Moon Empire were no longer human.

Instead, a bunch of glittering gold soul coins, gems, soul bones, and rare metals danced and waved at her.

"Your Majesty Bloodwing, you've been forcibly suppressing our order from Mingde Hall for almost a month now. You keep saying you have new soul tools for us to evaluate, but..."

The one who spoke was the most senior and highest-ranking among all the generals and commanders in the room. He was the only one who dared to speak to the Fourth Preceptor in such a manner.

In fact, this marshal was already very old, over seventy years old. He was a Soul Douluo-level expert named Lin Hai. Although his cultivation level was not high, his family had been military men for generations and he had inherited the title of duke, so his influence in the Sun Moon Army was still enormous.

"Marshal Lin, I've brought the new soul tool. If it's convenient, we can inspect it now!"

With the reminder from the four elders, Qian Lingyun learned the names and positions of these Sun and Moon Generals, so she stepped forward without hesitation.

"Alright, since we've brought the items, let's show them off in my tent! How about it?" Lin Hai nodded slightly and took several steps back with the others until their backs were pressed against the edge of the tent before they were finally done.

The entire soul tool occupies an area of ​​approximately ten square meters. Below it is a huge metal base, presented in a square shape, which is the area it occupies.

Beneath the metal base are a pair of tracks, suggesting it can move. Even just by looking at it, you can sense its considerable weight.

On a silver metal base is a large cylinder located in the center of the base. The cylinder serves as a link between the base and a rectangular metal block above it, connecting the two.

The rectangular metal object on top is about 2.5 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, and is flat. On one side, there are sixteen dark holes. This is all there is to this soul tool. The whole thing looks like a large metal box, giving it a very strange appearance.

"What is this thing? Something's a bit strange..." a general asked tentatively, frowning. "Is this... a new type of soul tool?"

"Yes, this is a level four soul tool produced by our Rheinmetall Armory, the Holy Spirit Crossbow."

Qian Lingyun nodded and said, "To be precise, it should be called a fixed-position soul tool. In terms of level, it can only be considered a level four soul tool. But if it is used on the battlefield, then the effect it can play is incomparable to that of an ordinary level four soul tool. Because it is a fixed-position soul tool."

Several knowledgeable Soul Guidance Masters nodded in agreement, saying, "That's natural. The power of a fixed-position Soul Guidance Device mainly relies on the shells. The turret itself can only determine the firing distance and accuracy of the shells. Can your Soul Guidance Device really fire sixteen shells at once?"

"Of course," Qian Lingyun replied with a smile. "Our Holy Spirit Crossbows can fire in volleys, in rapid succession, and in single shots."

"It has several advantages, which I would like to briefly introduce to you. First of all, although it is a level four fixed-position soul tool, it can fire level six fixed-position soul-guided shells, and it can also fire level four soul-power shells using soul power."

"..."

They were already assessing the value of this weapon in their minds: a fixed-mount soul-guided cannon that fired in rapid succession, with the firing range of a level six soul-guided device despite being only at the level of a level four soul-guided device.

The biggest difference between a fixed-mount soul-guided cannon and a regular soul-guided cannon is their firing range. Regular soul-guided cannons have very limited range because their power comes entirely from the conversion of soul power into projectiles. But fixed-mount soul-guided cannons are different! They only require a fixed-mount soul tool to provide propulsion; their power is generated from the projectile itself.

A level 4 fixed-mount soul-guided cannon has a firing range of approximately two kilometers. A level 5 fixed-mount soul-guided device can reach five kilometers.

The attack range of a level 6 fixed-position soul tool can reach more than eight kilometers.

The price of a level 4 fixed-equipment soul tool is about one percent of that of a level 6 fixed-equipment soul tool.

Even with price fluctuations, buying these new gadgets from Rheinmetall's armory is still much cheaper than sourcing them from Mingdetang...

Qian Lingyun continued, "Currently, our Rheinmetall Armory has already acquired three levels of the Holy Spirit Crossbow, namely Level 4, Level 5, and Level 6, which are most suitable for deployment."

"To cope with objective factors such as terrain, we also installed different configurations on them."

"The Level 4 Holy Spirit Ballista is more suitable for mounting on city walls to defend the city, or for installation in fortresses."

"If it is to be deployed in offensive armies, the wheeled mount of the Level 5 self-propelled Holy Spirit Ballista can maintain a speed of 90 kilometers per hour."

"The Tier VI heavy firepower Holy Spirit Ballista's wide tracks can give it half the speed of a Tier 5 ballista."

"By the way, we also accept separate purchases of the base and tracks. As long as you buy more accessories, you can replace the base yourself!"

"hiss…"

After taking a deep breath, Lin Hai immediately asked the question they were most concerned about, "So, young master, what is the price of these weapons? How much do they cost?"

Qian Lingyun smiled slightly and said, "The price of a level four crossbow is ten times that of a soul tool of the same level, and the same goes for level five. We have a discount on level six heavy cannons, which are only five times the price."

"And for each cannon, we will give away its tracks and wheeled mounts free of charge."

"what?"

Lin Hai was stunned for a moment, then looked at the four elders with a hint of helplessness, shook his head and laughed out loud: "Madam Yuma, I really didn't expect your daughter to be such a good businesswoman! The price of a soul tool of several times that of the same level is just a free gift of tracks and wheels."

"Hehe, Marshal, why don't you let my daughter finish speaking? Although... she is a bit greedy, she is definitely not the type to ask for prices recklessly."

The fourth offering—no, Yuma—waved her hand casually and said, "We don't know much about how other families do business, but I can guarantee in my name that these things from my daughter are absolutely worth more than their price."

"Yes, I must remind the Marshal that when using this soul tool, you can put a baby bottle inside for ordinary soldiers to use. Any baby bottle of level four or above will work."

"If there are many people... a Soul Master can operate it. The place to inject Soul Power is next to the drive lever. Also, for technical secrecy, this thing has a self-destruct mechanism inside, don't disassemble it!"

"Wait, what did you just say after putting it into the bottle?" Lin Hai pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Qian Lingyun, his eager gaze making Qian Lingyun's back tingle.

"I've made myself perfectly clear! It means that after using the baby bottle, the Holy Spirit Crossbows designed and manufactured by our Rhinegold Armory won't need Soul Masters to operate them anymore; ordinary soldiers can use them too!"

Immediately, the nearby generals crowded around, eagerly asking Qian Lingyun, "Is what you're saying true? Even non-Soul Master warriors can operate this kind of Soul Guidance Cannon?"

"Of course, the things made by our Rheinmetall Armory have no other special features, they are just sturdy and durable!" Qian Lingyun smiled slightly and took out a Gatling gun that could shoot blue flames, oops, I mean, a six-barreled soul-guided ray.

"This is the Rhine 01 Soul Guidance Machine Gun! It's a level four Soul Guidance Device. It's a Soul Guidance Device that can be fired by an ordinary person just by attaching a milk bottle. The grip on the side can be used to inject Soul Power, or you can pull open the receiver to put in the milk bottle to charge and fire."

"hiss…"

Another collective gasp rippled through the room. Lin Hai took the soul-guided machine gun from Qian Lingyun, played with it gently for a moment, and couldn't help but ask, "I wonder if your Rheinmetall Armory Factory has any other novelties? The more of these good things, the better!"

"Currently, we only have these few finished products, but we are already researching a simplified version of Mingdetang's all-terrain self-propelled machine. I will contact you when we have the results."

"Okay, okay!"

Lin Hai nodded repeatedly, pointed to the soul-guided machine gun in his hand, and asked for five hundred of them.

Although 500 guns seems like a lot, if each person were to have one, it would barely be enough to arm an ordinary Soul Master Corps.

It's clear that Lin Hai intends to arm one division first to test the power and effectiveness of the weapons. Only after confirming their usability will the military make large-scale purchases.

"Don't you want this crossbow?" Qian Lingyun asked.

"Hehehe..." Lin Hai stroked his beard and chuckled, "There's no rush. Let our people test its power first, then we can place the order."

"Alright," Qian Lingyun said, pushing out the four, five, and six Holy Spirit Crossbows all at once and leaning them against their massive metal casings.

"Marshal, I have a question. Are you going to use these cannons to fight those idiots from Xingluo?"

"I guess so!" Lin Hai replied, unable to suppress a laugh, while the generals around him made no attempt to hide their amused smiles.

It's clear that they agree with Qian Lingyun's view of the Star Luo Legion as idiots.

"Based on my judgment and observation, even with the terrain advantage and that damned War God, the so-called Star Luo Legion couldn't possibly defeat our Soul Master Division on the front lines!"

In front of this veteran marshal who had been on the front lines for decades, Qian Lingyun boldly asked for her thoughts.

The original book states that Dai Hao fought over a thousand battles, large and small, over a period of thirty years. Isn't that an excessively high frequency of warfare? ①

More than a thousand times in thirty years, more than thirty times a year, averaging one every ten days or so. Even a picnic wouldn't be that frequent!

So, Xingluo's so-called impregnable fortress is just fooling those who don't know any better. If they really had the ability, could the Sun and Moon have fought you for more than ten days?

The actions of the Sun and Moon clearly show that they don't take the Star Luo seriously and are just treating it as a live-fire exercise for fun!

The overwhelming power of industrialized nations over agricultural nations is not an exaggeration. In the original book, the first wave of attacks by Orange destroyed the Mingdou Mountains. Two divisions, a large number of supply troops, and a Death Tower easily held off the so-called hundreds of thousands of troops.

From this, we can see a truth: after a round of bombardment by the soul-guided cannons, all strategies, tricks, and loving soldiers like children are bullshit, because the truth lies within the range of the cannon's muzzle.

As for Orange's so-called Emperor and Empress God of War, her skill level isn't necessarily that high; she just earned her reputation through absolute superiority in equipment.

If you give any person who has read the Thirty-Six Stratagems a World War II tank division to fight against ancient generals leading a large army of swordsmen, they can easily win.

No matter how cunning your schemes, my strength will overwhelm you, and I'll simply sweep you aside...

"We don't really care whether Xingluo wins or loses, because we won't lose!"

"But for certain reasons, we've never really played seriously with them."

"After all... watching those guys from Xingluo ecstatic over a small victory, looking like frogs in a well, is quite amusing, isn't it?" Lin Hai waved his hand dismissively, saying with disdain.

"We joined Your Majesty in seizing the throne because the previous emperor was too cowardly and incompetent, completely forgetting the shame that has etched upon us for a thousand years!"

"That's right, that's right. They actually used the resources of my sun and moon to win the favor of the Star Luo Heavenly Soul. It's such a disgrace to our ancestors. Just thinking about it makes me feel aggrieved."

The speaker was another veteran, who recounted some old stories in a rambling manner, leaving Qian Lingyun somewhat incredulous.

For example, He Caitou's dead father... promoted Shrek Academy to the Sun Moon Imperial Family? Because he didn't want war, he gave away some of the Sun Moon Empire's soul-guided technology to Xingluo and his allies for free? Even after winning the war, he was still very kind and gave Xingluo compensation?

What kind of operation is this?

So, it's Empress Dowager Cixi, isn't it?

Upon hearing this, the faces of the nearby generals and officers revealed a hint of resentment, clearly feeling deep shame for the old emperor's actions at that time.

(①Original text: Dai Yueheng once said: In the thirty years of commanding the army, there have been more than a thousand battles, big and small. You know how powerful the Sun Moon Empire is, but the western border of my Star Luo Empire has always been as solid as a rock, precisely because my father is stationed here.)

The so-called impregnable fortress was equivalent to having several army groups annihilated at the start of the war. The enemy's Death God Tower and some reserves held off hundreds of thousands of people. If Huo Zhongxian hadn't used Di Tian to block the attack, all those titled Douluo would have been fed into the Death God Tower.

②Original text: After my father ascended the throne, he governed the country diligently. Every day, he devoted all his energy to state affairs. Under his rule, our country became increasingly prosperous, and he gained the loyalty of the vast majority of his ministers.

It's interesting that if you really gain the loyalty of most of your ministers and the country is at peace and the people are happy, you can be easily rebelled against.

The Crown Prince lived like a stray dog; why didn't any of the late emperor's loyal followers go to find him all these years?

(End of this chapter)