Technological advancement begins with devouring.

"Mr. Jiang, we've arrived."

The hovercar stopped outside a military camp. The middle-aged driver immediately opened the door, respectfully invited Jiang Chen to get out, and offered to help Jiang Chen carry two large boxes.

"War God Lu, you don't need to be so polite with me, just call me by my name," Jiang Chen said with a smile.

This bodyguard and driver was assigned to Jiang Chen by the military after the first cooperation was established. He was none other than Lu Gang, the God of War who would die from the beast tide not long after in the original work.

Although he didn't have many scenes in the original work, there were subtle hints that the God of War Lu Gang was trapped in the beast tide and died from exhaustion while covering the retreat of other martial arts teams.

Jiang Chen still held a degree of respect for such a person in his heart.

Lu Gang simply smiled at Jiang Chen's words and did not respond.

Similar conversations have happened many times, but Lu Gang's respect for Jiang Chen has never changed.

Every single technology Jiang Chen presented could enable thousands of martial artists and soldiers to survive on the battlefield against monsters. For this reason alone, Lu Gang had no objection to being Jiang Chen's bodyguard and driver.

Although there were internal conflicts among people in this era, they were generally quite united in their struggle for a common living space.

The two did not dwell on the topic and went directly into the military camp.

Hearing that Jiang Chen had a new product to test, Li Dawei arrived early and personally accompanied Jiang Chen to the testing site.

"Is the special target I requested ready?" Jiang Chen asked as he opened the box and took out a giant, futuristic-looking rifle.

Li Dawei pointed to the rows of targets in front of him and explained, "As per your requirements, the defensive power of these targets is equivalent to that of monsters of different levels. From left to right, the lowest is a metal target with defensive power comparable to a low-level Beast General-level monster, while the highest is a target comparable to the 'Dragon Turtle King,' a king-level monster known for its defense and one of the super monsters in the ocean."

“A King-level monster is a bit of an exaggeration, especially the ‘Dragon Turtle King’ which is known for its defense. This gun is a single-soldier weapon and definitely won’t pose a threat to it.” Jiang Chen shook his head and looked at Lu Gang beside him, saying, “War God Lu, why don’t you try this gun? Start with the leftmost target.”

As the system level increases, Jiang Chen's attributes, or rather his physical attributes, also improve.

However, at present, Jiang Chen's strength and physical fitness are only equivalent to that of a high-level warrior, far from being a general. Using this weapon is still a bit too much of a stretch.

Lu Gang readily agreed, immediately opening the box, taking out the rifle, and immediately showing surprise: "The weight of this gun..."

Jiang Chen nodded and said, "The bare gun weighs 223KG, and it will be even more astonishing with the magazine. Considering the physical exertion caused by carrying such a heavy load for a long time, I think only martial artists at the Battle General level or above can use it."

Li Dawei looked puzzled and asked, "223KG? Why is it so heavy?"

As an officer who rose through the ranks from the lowest ranks, Li Dawei was extremely knowledgeable about the data of various weapons.

Traditional firearms have relatively simple structures, and even the super-powerful models designed to target monsters weigh at most around ten kilograms.

Of course, heavy machine guns are heavier, but they are still far from reaching the terrifying figure of over 200 kilograms.

Many martial arts squads are unwilling to equip themselves with gunmen, not because of the weight of the guns themselves, but because of the weight and cost of the ammunition boxes.

The gun is so heavy that it would probably deter most martial arts squads, and even large military units with logistics transport vehicles could not equip many of them.

"This isn't a traditional gunpowder weapon, but an electromagnetic kinetic energy rifle. The bullets have greater kinetic energy when fired from the barrel, and it's equipped with a special bullet, making its destructive effect even more astonishing. Although it has a burst-fire capability, I think it's more suitable as a high-powered single-shot rifle to pick off those powerful high-level monsters," Jiang Chen explained, then looked at Lu Gang and said, "War God Lu, try out its power."

Lu Gang nodded, loaded the magazine as Jiang Chen instructed, raised the gun and aimed it at the target in the distance. After a brief aiming, he quickly pulled the trigger.

Bang~!

A not-too-loud sonic boom was heard, and hundreds of meters away, a huge, visible hole appeared in the thick steel target.

This is a full ten centimeters thick high-strength alloy, and in terms of defense, it is comparable to those beast general-level monsters known for their strong defense.

It is foreseeable that if this shot were to hit a beast general-level monster, it would be instantly killed and would have no chance of surviving.

"This power..."

Li Dawei and Lu Gang both stared wide-eyed, looking utterly astonished.

"How are you feeling?" Li Dawei quickly looked at Lu Gang.

Lu Gang did not rush to answer, but fired a few more shots.

Although it was still single-shot bursts, the firing rate was much faster, firing more than a dozen shots in less than five seconds.

On the monitoring screen next to them, the damage to each target was clearly displayed.

Targets one through four couldn't withstand a single shot.

Target number five, representing a 'mid-level lord-class monster,' and target number six, representing a 'high-level lord-class monster,' were both penetrated within three to five shots.

Only the seventh target, whose hardness and defense are comparable to the King-level monster 'Dragon Turtle King', was not completely penetrated despite being hit by seven or eight shots. It only had a crater about 20 or 30 centimeters in diameter.

"Hiss..." Li Dawei looked incredulous, and even Jiang Chen, who had already seen the relevant parameter descriptions in the blueprints, was slightly surprised.

Such power is more than enough to hunt lord-level monsters, or even king-level monsters with weaker defenses.

Of course, one gun alone is not enough, but a squad of warriors equipped with this electromagnetic rifle, plus a war god-level warrior with enough strength to restrain high-level monsters, is fully capable of hunting down any lord-level monster.

"The recoil is very low; even advanced warriors can withstand it. However, considering the weight, it's best suited for warriors at the intermediate level or above," Lu Gang casually remarked as he handed the rifle to Li Dawei.

Li Dawei also tried firing a few shots and immediately agreed with Lu Gang's assessment.

"What is the cost of this rifle?" Li Dawei realized the value of this new weapon model, but still wanted to know more details.

“This is the enhanced model. The most expensive part is the electromagnetic catapult module and the chip that controls it. The cost of this gun, excluding my own labor costs, is over a billion just for the materials. I personally recommend mass-producing a weakened, standard version, which would keep the cost under two hundred million and be sufficient for hunting Beast General-level monsters,” Jiang Chen replied. After thinking for a moment, he added, “If we mass-produce it, the cost can be reduced somewhat, but not by much. It will still be at least over one hundred million. And this price does not include my patent licensing and technical support fees.”

Although the purpose of bringing out this weapon was to give humanity an advantage in the fight against monsters, Jiang Chen would not give up the benefits he was entitled to.

"The cost is negotiable; we can discuss it in detail later. But have you come up with a name for this weapon?" Knowing he wasn't good at bargaining, Li Dawei naturally changed the subject.

Jiang Chen said the name on the blueprint without hesitation: "[The Ripper]".

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Name: 'Ripper' C-14 Electromagnetic Nail Gun

Category: Assault Rifle/Electromagnetic Rifle

Rating: Tier 0 Level 6 to Tier 0 Level 9

Note: Standard equipment of the Third Legion of the Galactic Federation of the Terran Federation; private imitation is prohibited.