The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 817 Firearms? An Era of Line-Up Executions?

In the morning, when Roland lazily opened his eyes, his hand instinctively reached out to the side, only to touch the cold sheets. The coldness instantly jolted Roland awake.

"Sigh..." Roland smacked his lips listlessly. In the days when Nyx was not around, Roland returned to the carefree days when he first arrived in Stream City, living a carefree and mindless life.

"I've fallen into depravity... I need to become more disciplined!" Roland silently encouraged himself.

“You’re just giving up, you can’t even be a little bit self-disciplined…” Before two seconds had passed, Roland had already crawled back into bed.

"System check-in!" Roland lay there for a while before starting his daily perfunctory check-in. After all, given the system's nature, it was unlikely to deliver anything on a day like this when there was nothing to do. At most, it would give Roland some small trinkets to comfort him. In the past, there were often Sharma, but now there weren't even any Sharma!

"Check-in successful! Congratulations, host, on successfully obtaining the Equipment Upgrade Card - Swift Infantry!"

"Huh? I got a shipment?" Roland suddenly sat up in bed. This kind of thing is rare! Roland has only seen it a few times in a long time. The last one was a universal equipment card - a one-handed sword. Roland would get a fine steel sword with every soldier he acquired. This time, the equipment card is for a specific type of soldier.

"Let me see what this is?" Roland opened the system panel and found a covered card with a golden six-pointed star array of dragons on the back!

"Whoosh!" As Roland unveiled the equipment card in the void, the entire card instantly shone with golden light, then turned into light fragments and dissipated in the air.

"Congratulations, host, you have obtained the advanced weapon for the Swift Infantry: Chariot Spear → Fire Spear! (Your current unit is automatically equipped with this weapon)"

"What the heck? A fire lance?" Roland raised an eyelid. Had he woken up in a daze? Had Middle-earth evolved into Middle-earth Warhammer? Had he gone from wielding blades to being shot in a line?

"So we've already entered the age of firearms?" Roland was utterly shocked. Middle-earth, a world dominated by magic, could actually produce firearms? This was simply impossible! After all, Middle-earth had no environment conducive to the development of firearms!

"Oh no..." Roland was alarmed. This could easily turn into a global conflict! When an old farmer with a pitchfork could shoot down a knight who had been training for ten years with a single spear after only ten days of training, the feudal era would come to an end... not to mention the deadly group of mages...

So what Roland couldn't understand was why some protagonists in transmigration novels, after transmigrating to a magical world, could somehow unlock the firearms technology tree without any problems. Not only could they unlock it, but they could even climb the ranks? Firearms, after all, threatened the survival of nobles and professional lords! Did they really think all the nobles were fools? The advent of firearms greatly suppressed the nobles' control over force, which was why Roland had never considered unlocking it since his transmigration—firearms were like a death warrant in the feudal era! As a beneficiary of the existing system, how could Roland possibly overturn his own destiny?

"This could be a disaster!" Roland was frantic, pulling up the Swift Infantry's page and examining it closely. He needed to figure out how to salvage the situation. ...

"I... damn it! You call this a fire lance?!" Roland's eyes widened, and he was so angry at the system that he laughed. Look at this! A five-meter-long chevaux-de-frise! It's just that the shaft has turned crimson red. This thing... haha!
"Oh my god! I underestimated the heroes of the world!" Roland regretted his sarcasm as soon as he finished speaking. After clicking on it, he realized why this thing was called the Fire Spear. It turned out that it had a simple fire magic circle drawn on it, which had three simple spells: Ignite, Explode, and Energy Gathering!
The Energy Gathering spell can absorb wandering magic from the air and store it in a magic circle without the need for magic crystals. Ignite ignites enemies upon impact, while Burst detonates the flames on an enemy's body! This gun can store enough magic for three explosive attacks!
"The system is incredibly generous! They've directly allocated 9000 basic magic weapons! This is a massive expenditure!" Roland exclaimed in shock, giving the system a thumbs up! It's true that basic magic weapons aren't valuable, but the quantity matters! This quantity goes beyond mere monetary value. Even if Yun Feng worked himself to death, it would take him half a year to manufacture these. If Yun Feng really did this, Roland would probably be hanging from a lamppost by tomorrow. It's not easy for the entire Central Plains to gather these things; other countries have built them up little by little through their accumulated resources! How could Roland equip his entire army overnight like this?! The most outrageous thing is that from now on, the Swift Infantry Roland recruits will have their barricades replaced with fire lances!

"So, queuing up and firing them is also an option..." Roland's expression suddenly turned strange. To be honest, the original flintlock musket might not even be as powerful as this thing! Roland could already imagine the scene of the Rapid Infantry forming ranks and grinding orcs together, the orcs being wiped out at least three layers instantly... Isn't this thing more powerful than queuing up and firing them? After all, the closer you are, the more accurate you are!

Regardless, Roland was very pleased with the reward. After the Swift Infantry, a basic unit, had been marginalized and weakened countless times, this army could finally step into the limelight again! Previously, they lacked both offensive and defensive capabilities (compared to other professional units), and were forced to become "filler troops" on the second line of battle. Now, at least they had the ability to briefly take the lead. Regardless of their defense, their instantaneous attack power was enough for them to be the main force on a battlefield.

……

"Hold your gun steady! If it's like this on flat ground, how will you use it to attack from a dragon's back?" Maple Forest Orchid was training the three little ones. After all, Caslo needed to go out on patrol, especially since the construction of Dragon Cliff Fortress had begun. Caslo needed to go there frequently to inspect, so the important task of teaching the three little dragon riders was handed over to Maple Forest Orchid, who was also a dragon rider commander. Although most of his dragons were ruined, he was still a proper dragon rider commander. He couldn't teach many dragon riding aerial techniques, but the basic knowledge was still fine.

At this moment, Fenglin Youlan's mind went blank as she watched Fenglin Xilan and Fenglin Shulan's frustratingly awkward gun-holding postures! Their grimacing, crooked mouths and slanted eyes made one think they'd had a stroke… In reality, the heavy dragon spears were making it difficult for the two girls to handle, resulting in unpredictable and erratic gunplay. Even Weiss, a fellow novice dragon rider, felt his eyelids twitch at the sight. While Weiss was also a novice dragon rider, his basic skills, honed under Caslo's tutelage for five years, were quite solid. His only shortcomings lay in aerial combat adaptability and techniques. But these two girls couldn't even hold their guns steadily, making Weiss wonder if they might accidentally hit their own people from the air…

"Sigh..." Zhui Guang squatted down beside the dozing Long Xi and sighed softly. Xi Lan was originally a noble young lady and was not cut out to be a dragon knight at all. No one knew this better than Zhui Guang, who had a contract with her. Compared to Xi Lan fighting on the battlefield, Zhui Guang would rather his little girl be a carefree young lady.

“What’s there to sigh about? Didn’t you choose this path?” Long Xi said calmly.

"It's just that I feel sorry for her," Zhui Guang said silently.

"It's just the fate of the Dragon Rider family. You call yourself the guardian dragon of the McDougal family? You don't even understand such a simple principle?" Long Xi mocked.

When the "firearms" arrive, just say whether they are firearms or not.

(End of this chapter)