Chaрter 19 Crаfting Месhаnisms: Аrmor-рiеrсing Аrrows and Еxplosive Аrrоws
Jiang Сi сlеаrlу understооd whаt Mu Shengzhоu mеant, shаking his head with a wrу smile. “Тruly… you сan’t judgе a bооk by its cоver.”
Only Shеn Fеng grеw mоre cоnfusеd thе mоre he listеned. “Whаt kind of riddle аre yоu two talking in? Сan’t you just sреаk plаinlу?”
Jiang Ci shoоk his heаd with а helplеss smile and еxрlаinеd, “Think аbout it—why wоuld a yоung girl likе hеr come so deep into thе Urbаn Ruins for no good rеаson?”
“To hunt zоmbiеs, of course,” Shen Feng answered matter-of-factly.
“Then how would you rate her strength?” Jiang Ci pressed.
Shen Feng frowned in thought. “Considering that rather unique crossbow she carries, plus the fact zombies don’t swarm her, she should have no problem dealing with Third-order Zombies. Against Fourth Tier ones, it might be a bit of a stretch. If you take away those external advantages, her actual combat power probably isn’t that impressive.”
“Exactly. With her level of strength, hunting zombies in the outer areas wouldn’t yield significantly less rewards than coming this deep, and it would be much safer. Yet she deliberately chose to venture into the heart of the city. Do you really think it’s likely she has no specific purpose here?” Jiang Ci guided him patiently.
Shen Feng stared blankly, still not getting it.
What difference did it make where she hunted zombies? Maybe the girl was just intensely curious and wanted to see the depths of the Urban Ruins.
Faced with Shen Feng’s clear yet clueless expression, Jiang Ci felt a profound sense of futility.
He was the fool here—he shouldn’t have tried explaining anything to this guy…
…
Mo Qianqian was unaware of what was happening on Mu Shengzhou’s side. She didn’t even know if Mu Shengzhou was still alive.
At that moment, she was tinkering with her dwindling supply of crossbow bolts inside a dilapidated building.
Her Hand Crossbow’s lethality was clearly insufficient against Fourth Tier or higher zombies.
To enhance its killing power now, there were two possible approaches.
One was to work on the crossbow body itself. This direction was more complex, lacking both tools and materials—it was almost like rebuilding a Hand Crossbow from scratch.
The other was to focus on the bolts themselves.
Just like ammunition in later eras, there were standard rounds, Armor-piercing rounds, and even Explosive rounds.
She decided to take this approach.
Transforming ordinary crossbow bolts into Armor-piercing Arrows and Explosive Arrows through Mechanism Inscriptions.
She held one bolt in her hand, a dagger in the other.
She was contemplating which type of Mechanism Inscription to carve.
At this moment, she felt immensely grateful that she had memorized every page of that thick manual recording the legacy of Mechanism Inscriptions.
Even the most complex and profound inscriptions came to her effortlessly.
The Explosive Arrow was relatively simple—just carve the Mechanism Inscription representing [Explosion] onto the bolt’s tip.
However, the concept of “armor-piercing” didn’t exist in Mechanism Inscriptions.
But Mo Qianqian understood the principle behind armor-piercing rounds.
To put it simply, it came down to three factors: velocity, strength, and weight.
Velocity was easy to understand—it referred to the initial speed of the bolt when fired.
The faster the initial speed, the greater the kinetic energy delivered. This initial speed was provided by the Hand Crossbow’s body.
The second factor was the bolt’s own strength, which needed to be sufficiently high.
The tip of an Armor-piercing Arrow had to be sharp and pointed. If the strength was inadequate, a sharp bolt tip wouldn’t penetrate armor—under high initial velocity, it would simply shatter upon impact with anything moderately hard.
The third factor was weight, which, like initial velocity, was a key element determining the bolt’s lethality.
Breaking it down like this, Mo Qianqian already had a clear plan in mind.She needed to carve three types of mechanism inscriptions—[Hardness], [Sharpness], and [Heaviness]—onto the armor-piercing arrows.
Once the mechanism inscriptions were selected, the next step was the repetitive work of carving.
Carving intricate mechanism inscriptions onto arrow shafts as thick as a finger was no simple task.
But this did not trouble Mo Qianqian.
Back in the 21st century, within the small circle of micro-carving, Mo Qianqian had a reputation that commanded respect.
She had once carved a hollowed-out model of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City on a single grain of rice and etched a flat portrait of a court lady onto a strand of hair.
Soon, the first explosive crossbow bolt was completed, consuming one-tenth of her Special Ability.
Not too much, really.
It could be anticipated that explosive arrows were not the best choice for dealing with zombies.
Especially against high-level zombies, unless they hit vital spots like the eye sockets, the external injuries caused by the blast waves and shrapnel wouldn’t inflict significant damage on high-level zombies.
But against humans, they should prove quite effective.
To forge iron, one must be strong oneself; to negotiate, one must have a trump card.
A meaningful, faint smile curled at the corner of Mo Qianqian’s lips. If the members of the Grim Reaper Mercenary Corps didn’t know their place, these explosive arrows would be just the thing to teach them a lesson.
Mo Qianqian directly placed the three completed explosive arrows into her Spirit Spring Space to avoid mixing them up with ordinary crossbow bolts.
The armor-piercing arrows that followed were more complex than the explosive ones, requiring three mechanism inscriptions to be carved onto each arrow shaft.
The time and Special Ability consumed were also much greater than for the explosive arrows.
She made three armor-piercing arrows as well.
When her Special Ability was depleted, she absorbed Crystal Cores to replenish it.
However, the mental fatigue caused by manipulating her Special Ability couldn’t be quickly recovered from.
The three armor-piercing arrows were also stored in her Spirit Spring Space.
She didn’t plan to continue making special arrows.
The situation ahead was uncertain, and the survivors of the Grim Reaper Mercenary Corps might not be easy to deal with.
She needed to ensure she was in relatively good condition to handle the negotiations with the Grim Reaper Mercenary Corps.
With the special crossbow bolts properly stored, Mo Qianqian drank some Spirit Spring Water and rested for ten minutes. Feeling her energy and spirit mostly restored, she finally left the building and headed in the direction from which the SOS light signal had come earlier.
…
At the location of the Grim Reaper Mercenary Corps.
Shen Feng had been sitting by the window, keeping a close watch on the building Mo Qianqian had entered earlier.
He still had considerable faith in the judgments of both Mu Shengzhou and Jiang Ci.
Since both of them said that the girl covered in shit-green would come looking for them, he kept a tight watch in that direction.
To see when the girl would arrive.
You can’t fish for too long, either.
If you don’t bait the hook for too long, the fish will swim away.
An hour passed, and Shen Feng grew so anxious he scratched his head and ears, occasionally taking out his binoculars to glance at that building.
When an hour and twenty minutes had passed, even Jiang Ci grew impatient.
As for Mu Shengzhou, from beginning to end, he leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing to recover from the fatigue brought on by overusing his Special Ability.
“Boss, it’s been an hour and a half. Do we break out now, or…” or continue waiting for that girl to come.