Chapter Ninety-Two: The Heartless Cannon Is Not the Best Choice, but It Is Cheap!

Colin had never intended to shoulder something like this alone. What if he engraved it into his own skin and then forgot anyway?

Only by sharing the pain could they truly usher in a safer future...

So, of course, they had to carve it together.

Before long, every one of them had the warning etched into their arms with sterilized, razor-sharp metal: kill one doppelganger every hour.

With their arms burning constantly, Colin decided to lead the team back toward the town once more.

But he did not plan to enter it. Instead, he chose to camp about half a mile outside the settlement.

That way, if the forest turned dangerous, they could flee into town; if the town proved dangerous, they could run into the forest.

And if both were dangerous...

Then they would have to improvise.

As for the giant rat’s corpse, they would deal with that tomorrow.

They had already been through two incidents today. Exhausted in body and mind, they needed a proper rest.

...

Night was falling quickly.

After finding a place to make camp on level ground outside the city gate, Colin bought some stone and threw together a simple temporary fortification.

Then he led the others to gather wood and build several campfires.

Blood was splashed over the timber as kindling, and with a spit from Li Chou, a great blaze surged up.

In the firelight came the favorite part of dinner for the gluttons once again.

Some went on watch while others took turns resting, keeping everyone in peak condition...

Amid the noise, Colin found a quieter patch of ground and took out his beloved table and chair.

Leaning back in the seat, he placed the storm lantern on one corner of the table and swept his gaze across the people around the fire, drawing a deep breath.

On this journey, danger had been everywhere, and yet not a single person had died...

"Almost miraculous."

Colin let out a sigh, hoping that things could continue this way in the future, with no one at his side dying...

Not until the final curtain of the game.

Beside him, Sana stood in silence, keeping him safe.

Without lingering too long on that momentary stroke of luck, Colin took out the parchment scroll and entered the private channel.

The moment he got in, he saw a flood of reports and messages.

"...Today we established contact with a total of thirty-seven lords. Seventeen have fully pledged themselves. The scouting patrols, four chariots strong, discovered two vacant wooden cabins..."

"...The number of territories under your command has risen to forty: one tier-three territory, eleven tier-two territories, twelve chariots, and the rest are tier-one cabin territories..."

"...The Lampbearer squads have increased to thirty-eight in total, with a population of more than seventeen hundred. Current supplies can sustain five days of rations. Further expansion is not recommended at this time..."

"The road between the church, the tier-three territory, and the three main sites of the mining district has basically been 'cleaned'..."

"It may be worth purchasing another scouting chariot formation..."

"...Today, while exploring the fog, the scouting formation found Silvermoon Bay and was attacked by a large number of aberrants. They also came under intense mental interference, likely from a lord-tier aberration..."

"...To ensure the chariots could escape the danger, one Lampbearer squad chose to remain behind with a large quantity of explosives. They were the Sixteenth Squad. They were all heroes..."

"...Today's fatalities: twenty-three. Sixteen died while covering the retreat, and the other seven were killed by the mental shockwaves of the lord-tier aberration..."

"...This was my fault. A day of safe exploration made me let down my guard. I am willing to accept punishment...."

"...Li Hang, signing off...."

Sigh... Colin exhaled softly, and the thought flickering through his mind brought no reproach.

He understood perfectly well that this was the limit for ordinary people facing a lord-tier aberration...

Especially in such a sudden encounter.

Losing only one squad was already a remarkably good result...

Even if Colin had gone himself, he might not have done any better.

If this kind of record were posted in the chat channel, people would probably blow it up to the heavens.

Still, in the end, they had only been ordinary office workers not long ago, not trained professionals.

In a sudden encounter like that, while trying to lead this one and coordinate that one, merely keeping the basic situation from collapsing was no easy feat.

"Write up a full summary. Organize every issue carefully. Don't let their sacrifice be meaningless..."

Colin replied briefly.

If nothing unexpected had happened, the lord-tier aberration at Silvermoon Bay should have been the "Witch’s Head" hidden within the wrecked ship.

An even stronger lord-tier aberration than the Mourning Watcher.

At present, its attack methods were unknown.

Unless Colin personally led the expedition, then without a hint to guide them, simply figuring out its abilities would cost a great many lives.

Ordinary people could only trade lives for intelligence. There was no shortcut.

...

To make sure no important information was missed, the parchment scroll outside was left open even when the lord was not using it, with a servant watching it at all times so that key messages, especially Colin’s, would not be overlooked.

When the message was sent over, someone replied almost immediately.

"...We will make a proper summary. Thank you for your trust. — Li Hang..."

The subject did not continue for long. Colin did not dwell on it either, and after approving a few requests, such as expanding the chariot force, he returned to the matter at hand:

"Any ideas for weapon designs? Keep it simple and practical. I can't make sense of too much data..."

If there was a good choice, Colin would not hesitate to use it...

Right now, he urgently needed some transitional weapons to help him reap greater gains in the fog.

"...Yes. There's a kind of barrel called the Heartless Cannon..."

"...The Heartless Cannon?"

Colin blinked. What in the world was that?

He had asked for plain language, but this was a little too plain...

So plain that he honestly did not understand it.

"...More or less like this..."

The corresponding data was soon transmitted over.

The Flying Thunder Cannon, commonly known as the Heartless Cannon, was cheap, simple to make, rugged in structure, and reliable in performance.

It could fire in a short direct shot, or hurl bundled explosive charges, which was why it was also called the Flying Thunder Cannon.

Most importantly, it did not demand much from the quality of its propellant, making it well suited for mass deployment at present.

Of course, compared with the version that had once appeared in history, this one had undergone many adjustments, and its caliber was not nearly so outrageous...

After all, the original Heartless Cannon was little more than a gasoline drum with a crude barrel attached—extremely primitive.

They might be strapped for resources, but not that strapped.

At first glance, this barrel seemed very much like a mortar, or perhaps it had simply been modified from some kind of mortar design.

And because its structure was so damn simple, there was even spare processing power left to equip it with a shell casing system...

"Fine. This is the one."

After reviewing a few other designs, Colin ultimately chose this weapon.

It had plenty of flaws, of course. It was not suitable for fighting in confined spaces. Its accuracy was pitiable. Due to material limitations, it might blow the barrel apart. Its method of combat was relatively single-purpose.

But... it was cheap.

And that made it very hard to refuse.