Chарtеr 3: Rерliсating Месhаnism Inscriptiоns, Crafting a Mесhaniсаl Наnd Сrossbоw
In thе nоvel’s plоt, thе malе lead’s hunting eхpеdition this time was fаr from рeасeful.
It was still еarly now, аnd bеfоrе the malе lеаd’s hunting tеam set оut, she still hаd time to mаke somе preрarations.
Мо Qiаnqian’s gаzе swept aсross thе shаck. Pеrhaps bеcаusе shе now hаd a clеar goаl tо strivе for, she was no longer as dejесted as beforе, hеr spirits visibly lifted.
Sооn, her eyes fell upon the pile of firewood stacked beside the stove.
Among the firewood were many thick wooden logs.
A faint smile touched Mo Qianqian’s lips. She was a mechanist, an expert in working with wood!
She could use these readily available logs to craft some simple self-defense weapons.
Having just arrived in this world, she couldn’t afford to go into battle unprepared.
She rummaged through the firewood pile, selecting several logs of appropriate length, thickness, and density.
Then, from beneath the dilapidated wooden bed, she pulled out a dusty black toolbox.
This was something left behind by the original body’s father. The female lead had always kept this set of tools as a memento to remember him by.
The tools inside the toolbox were quite comprehensive, but later, the female lead had not maintained them properly.
Now, many of the tools were stained with rust, appearing somewhat worn.
But in this environment, she had no other choice. Having a set of tools at all was already quite fortunate.
She opened the toolbox, took out a rust-stained handsaw, tested its weight in her hand, and then began processing the logs on the ground.
Marking lines, cutting, carving, crafting tenons…
Every movement was executed with a practiced ease, as if she had performed them thousands of times before.
And indeed, that was the case. Others praised her as a genius in the Mechanical Arts, a grandmaster of contemporary mechanical techniques.
But the path of the Mechanical Arts had never offered shortcuts.
Every achievement, every bit of honor she had earned in this field was the result of tenfold, a hundredfold effort, and tens of thousands of hours of practice.
She planned to craft a hand crossbow.
In the 21st century, crossbows were classified as controlled weapons and were simply unavailable on the market.
She had secretly taken on some private commissions for custom hand crossbows, and the structures of various models were deeply ingrained in her mind.
She had even practiced shooting with hand crossbows and had developed quite good accuracy.
For a hunting trip, carrying a hand crossbow for self-defense was more than suitable.
However, the power of weapons like crossbows is directly proportional to their size.
The larger the crossbow, the greater its power.
Take the ancient bed crossbow, for example.
The most famous triple-bow bed crossbow was a heavy siege weapon, hailed as the missile of the cold weapon era.
For a hand crossbow meant to be carried on one’s person, considering the physical capabilities of her current body, the crossbow body couldn’t be made too large or cumbersome.
But according to the female lead’s memories, the mutant beasts outside either had armored shells or thick fur, and their defenses were not weak at all.
Even the mindless zombies had remarkably sturdy skulls.
To achieve a one-shot head explosion, the hand crossbow’s power needed to meet significant requirements.
She needed to maximize the hand crossbow’s power within a limited size.
The materials she had on hand were only the most ordinary wood, offering no room for optimization in terms of material.
That left only the structure to work with, to enhance the hand crossbow’s power.
Various hand crossbow structures flashed through her mind, only to be rejected one by one.
Some were too large and bulky, others had insufficient power, and still others had overly cumbersome processes for loading the bolt and firing.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration ignited in her mind.
This was no longer the 21st century, that era of declining arts.
Even superpowered individuals, mutant beasts, and zombies—things that defied scientific explanation—had appeared here.Within the Mechanical Arts, could those long-lost Mechanism Inscriptions, inexplicable by science and possessing unfathomable, mysterious powers, also have the possibility of being replicated?
Mo Qianqian lowered her eyes slightly. As she focused her will, she could clearly sense a flow of energy circulating within her body.
It was the energy of her newly awakened Healing-type Special Ability.
She decided to give it a try. If it succeeded, she would have a foundation to rely on in this perilous Wasteland world.
She raised her hand, took the smallest engraving knife from her toolbox, and began carving a Mechanism Inscription onto the main body of the hand crossbow—one that resembled both a totem and a script.
It was a Mechanism Inscription designed to amplify the kinetic energy of bow and crossbow-type weapons.
She had carved it many times before, following the patterns in the inherited texts. Every detail of the inscription’s totem was etched clearly in her memory.
Ten minutes later, the final stroke of the intricate Mechanism Inscription was completed. Most of the surface area on the hand crossbow’s main body was now covered by the totemic inscription.
Now, only the final step remained.
Back in the 21st century, the reason Mechanism Inscriptions had been lost was precisely because they were stuck at this final step.
After carving a Mechanism Inscription, a mechanical artisan needed to channel their own spiritual energy into it, activating the rule-based power contained within the inscription.
But where would people in the 21st century have had spiritual energy within them…
Forget spiritual energy—even the internal energy described in martial arts novels had been cultivated by very few.
Mo Qianqian pressed her lips together tightly, her expression visibly tense.
Now, there was a flow of energy circulating within her, but it wasn’t spiritual energy—it was the energy of her Healing-type Special Ability.
Whether this special ability energy could activate the Mechanism Inscription, she wasn’t entirely confident.
But she had to try regardless.
She extended a finger and pressed it against a node of the Mechanism Inscription.
The Healing Ability energy within her body converged at her fingertip as she willed it, transforming into a shimmering green light that flowed into the engraved grooves of the inscription.
Gradually, fine beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
When the Healing-type energy within her had been depleted by more than half, the Mechanism Inscription was finally filled with the glowing green energy!
Under Mo Qianqian’s anxious gaze, something incredible happened.
The shimmering green light instantly receded, and the carved Mechanism Inscription on the hand crossbow’s body seemed to come alive.
A mysterious, arcane force enveloped the entire hand crossbow in an instant.
The transformation lasted only a moment. By the time Mo Qianqian blinked and tried to examine it closely, the Mechanism Inscription had strangely vanished.
Even the carving marks she had made earlier disappeared completely.
It was as if she had never carved a Mechanism Inscription at all.
Yet, the once ordinary hand crossbow seemed to have undergone some profound, mystical change.
Ancient elegance, weightiness, understatement, and restraint.
It no longer resembled a brand-new hand crossbow, freshly made and yet to see bloodshed. Instead, it felt like a mysterious weapon that had been sealed away for ages in some ancient relic, exuding an aura of solemnity and lethal intent.
At that moment, Mo Qianqian’s eyes shone brilliantly.
She had succeeded!
She had successfully replicated a long-lost legacy within the Mechanical Arts!
Carried by this excitement, she skillfully proceeded to craft the other components of the hand crossbow.
Once the hand crossbow was completed, making the arrows was relatively simple—all she needed to do was sharpen wooden rods of suitable thickness.
Mo Qianqian sharpened over fifty crossbow bolts in one go.
If she had enough time, she even wanted to carve corresponding Mechanism Inscriptions onto the arrows as well.For instance, inscriptions that grant armor-piercing effects, or those that provide explosive effects.
Unfortunately, not only was time not permitting, but the remaining Special Ability within her body also did not allow it.
Everything was ready—all that remained was to test the power of the Hand Crossbow.
She raised her wrist and glanced at the time.
There were twenty minutes left before the male lead’s hunting team went out on their hunt, and it would take her ten minutes to run to the departure point.
She had ten minutes to test-fire and adjust the Hand Crossbow.