Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 289: Heartless Cannon?

Following the webway, Zeus soon arrived at the eastern testing ground.

Now that the entire island of Castel has been recaptured, it is no longer necessary to use the Webway, but most people are still more accustomed to traveling via it.

Firstly, it was a matter of habit. In previous battles, almost all troop movements were completed through the webway, including the distribution of resources and the evacuation of the wounded. Both the Crusaders and the islanders were accustomed to traveling through the webway.

Secondly, online travel is really convenient.

Elevators have been installed at several important nodes. The Paternoster Elevator has a simple structure and is highly reliable. The islanders are not weak beasts of burden who sit in offices all year round. It is quite easy for them to find opportunities to take the elevator with quick eyes and hands. There have been no problems since its establishment.

In addition to being efficient, another advantage of online travel is that you don't have to worry about the weather.

After all, Castel is located on the Ocean of Storms, and the weather here is changeable. It is often sunny just now, and then it starts to rain in a short while.

When traveling in the webway, you don't have to worry about these things at all. Although Castel is an island, most areas are not low-lying. Not to mention the volcano in the southwest, the Castel Cathedral is at risk of sinking only after the sea level has risen for so long.

The high terrain makes drainage relatively convenient, and the intricate network of channels is designed with many drainage outlets, so there is no need to worry about being flooded even when a storm hits.

When the subway project is completed in the future, Castres' transportation may really be moved underground.

If someone visited this island at that time, they would probably be surprised that there were not many people on the ground.

Soon Zeus arrived at the eastern test site. After Chloe's death, Richard took over the research in this area. As for the new chief, the Fire Moths were not in a hurry to elect one.

Although the Fire Moth is a cult, it is actually closer to a research organization. Although it also summons evil gods and causes all kinds of trouble, most of these are to help research.

Unlike other cultists, research is just a side job, and summoning evil gods is their main job.

Of course, it is hard to say which is more dangerous, the research conducted by the Fire Moth or the evil god he summoned.

"Where's Richard?" Hughes asked a random researcher.

"Over there," he pointed to the factory building in the distance. "You're here to ask about the artillery, right? They're conducting test firings right now. I'll take you there."

"Test firing? Already done?"

“I did manage to do it, but…”

The man's eyes twitched and he seemed to be about to speak but stopped.

Zeus' heart skipped a beat. These fire-chasing moths must have come up with something new.

The two men quickly arrived at the test site, carefully avoided the direction of the artillery, and found Richard.

He was looking at the huge cannon in front of him with a frown.

Yes, huge.

The size of this cannon completely exceeded Hughes's expectations. He didn't even remember any weapon that could match it. Put simply, this cannon was a bit too big for a three-meter-tall Banshee. Hughes swallowed his saliva and looked at Richard with a complicated expression. "Mr. Richard, I didn't expect your equivalent worship syndrome to be so severe."

Richard's face darkened.

"Well, Lord, I didn't intend to build it so big. I just had no choice."

He pointed to a few piles of scrap metal nearby. "We initially tried to manufacture it according to the design and ideas you gave us, but we couldn't complete it. No matter how we adjusted it, the shells couldn't achieve the effect you described of exploding as soon as they landed. Either they wouldn't detonate, or they would explode directly."

Hughes took a closer look at the pile of metal. It did resemble a small-caliber cannon. The structure of the cannon was not difficult, and could even be considered simple. If it was as Richard said, there was only one possibility - the ratio of explosives was wrong.

This is a bit mysterious. Xiusi doesn't know much about the charging ratio of artillery shells. Even if he can remember all the ratios, it can only provide a reference - Castel's chemical foundation is still a bit weak, and the impurity content in the various raw materials used in manufacturing will affect the ratio.

What is most needed at this time is an experience ratio, but I haven’t tried it out yet.

One could be bad luck, the other could be a technology lock.

If you are unlucky, you may not get any results by trying repeatedly, but the technology is locked. Then there is nothing you can do.

This world always seems to reject pure technological progress. When Zeus tries to climb the technological ladder, he always fails inexplicably at some stage. This is the technological lock.

According to experience, technological locks are difficult to break head-on. Simply piling up manpower and money is not very effective. The most effective way is to find a way to circumvent it.

This world rejects pure technological progress, so let's make technology less pure.
When technology is stuck, it can be bypassed by combining it with extraordinary powers. For example, if the airship's skin is made of extraordinary materials, it can avoid being stuck by the technological lock.

But how can this explosive be combined with supernatural powers? Let a priest recite scriptures while preparing the explosives?
Forget it, the scriptures of other churches might be useful, but the scriptures of the Imperial Truth can be used as teaching materials for advanced classes.

The Crusaders needed to maintain their firearms. In order to prevent cognitive interference, Alexi stuffed a lot of mechanical principles and physics knowledge into the holy text.

Now the Skitarii may not be able to explain the logic, but they can definitely explain the physics.

Explosive artillery
If Chloe and Monica were still here, well, and Gaia, the three of them would definitely be very interested in these.
Hughes shook his head, collected his thoughts, and fixed his gaze on the massive cannon. "Since the shells aren't very reliable, there's no point in enlarging the cannon, right?"

"This...isn't just a simple magnification." Richard pushed his monocle. "I found some inspiration in the way the Banshees threw their explosive packs. If the shells don't explode on impact, then we can just throw the ignited explosive packs directly."

He pointed at the massive cannon and said, "This is the result. Strictly speaking, it's not the cannon you described before, but more like a dynamite launcher."

Launch the ignited explosive pack?
Hughes blinked.

Heartless Cannon! ?
If you can't make artillery shells, just launch the ignited explosive packs directly. Wow, Richard really has a broad mind and can even think of this.

The conscienceless cannon did play a big role in history. It was a simple weapon that had been tested in actual combat, but its reliability was actually very low. If you wanted higher reliability, you could only create a big one like the one in front of you.

If the explosive pack is miniaturized, its power will be very low, and it will be difficult to install a fuse, so the size cannot be small. In order to fit it in, the caliber of the barrel must also be ridiculously large. Put together, they form this huge cannon.

(End of this chapter)