Munitions Empire

Chapter 24: 24 What is this?

Tang Mo was stunned, then, disbelieving, pointed at himself, then at Tagg and Roger, and began to speak, "Me, you, old Roger... We all can spare some time to educate these children! Don't worry, I've got it all planned out!"

"Furthermore, if possible, I'll still go look for a few real teachers to educate the children, after all, I don't have to pay them immediately, right? Soon, my next batch of supplies and another part of the profit will arrive, and I think I can afford to pay a few teachers' salaries," then he continued with a laugh.

"..." Tagg really wanted to give a good punch to this young man who kept smiling, and then remind him sternly to remember how much he owed Lord Earl!

Now he was even counting the money that hadn't arrived yet! And still, he was spending recklessly, simply a classic case of a spendthrift!

At that thought, anger finally surged in Tagg, and he glared at Tang Mo, grinding his teeth as he reminded, "What's the use of doing all these things? The Earl only wants to buy the Quick Gun! Now that you've created that... that steam engine, and you can deliver on time, why are you still messing with these odds and ends?"

Because of his unprecedentedly grim tone, Tagg's anger was apparent to Roger, Mathews, and the others.

Wes and Parker might have heard it too, but Wes had no common cause with Tagg, so he didn't care about Tagg's mood, and Parker, another firm supporter of Tang Mo in the room, certainly didn't think Tang Mo was wrong.

In any case, everyone fell silent, looking at Tang Mo, waiting for Tang Mo's response.

Tang Mo also knew that with just his smooth talking, he had diverted thousands in Gold Coin payments, yet to this day not a single rifle had been produced. It seemed he could no longer keep Tagg at bay.

So he sighed lightly and said to Tagg, "It seems, I must convince you with something tangible."

As he spoke, he went back behind his desk, opened the drawer, and pulled out the revolver that had accompanied him in the Vicious Forest, claiming the lives of several people.

Tagg, not knowing what he was talking about, saw Tang Mo pulling out an unfamiliar firearm from the drawer, frowned and subconsciously asked, "What?"

"Wes! Would you explain to our new friend, Tagg?" Tang Mo asked with a smile, waving the revolver that Wes had seen before in front of Wes.

"I think, if you're really willing to tell him about that thing, why not go to the firing range and let him witness it himself..." Wes's face showed a mischievous smile as he shook his head.

"I think you're right," Mathews had also seen the device and was very interested in it. Still smiling, he agreed with Wes.

Without any hesitation, Tang Mo said to everyone, "Let's go! To the shooting range, it is soon to become a factory, so let's use it one last time, and let it witness the changing times."

With that, he was the first to leave the room. Wes couldn't wait and followed Tang Mo out. Mathews, pushing a confused Tagg, and with Roger's laughter lingering behind, followed suit. Parker, also curious, followed suit and then turned back to close the door.

Suddenly, the noisy room became exceedingly quiet, leaving only the wind blowing in through the window, lifting a corner of the blueprints on the table.

Standing at the firing range, Tang Mo began to fiddle with his revolver. He calmly loaded the bullets one by one, the others remained silent.

Wes, Roger, and Mathews knew about this thing, so they weren't in a hurry, standing aside. Parker, who knew nothing, was just like a temp worker counting numbers in a corner.

Only Tagg, quietly watching Tang Mo play with his revolver. Being a soldier, he was all too familiar with such things.

He could tell, it was a weapon, and Tang Mo was loading ammunition into it. And from Tang Mo's repetitive actions, it seemed like this was a weapon that could fire continuously!

Even though he had guessed everything, he couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes! He simply couldn't believe that there could be a handgun that fired continuously in this world!

So, even though he had guessed it, he still couldn't trust his own conjecture, he could only stand there foolishly waiting, waiting for everything to truly appear before his eyes.

But his hands had already started to tremble slightly, even the handle of the flintlock at his waist couldn't stop trembling.

He really couldn't stay calm anymore, standing here, he was even more nervous than when he was on the battlefield. He didn't even notice that sweat had unknowingly broken out on his forehead.

As if a century had passed, he finally saw Tang Mo raise his arm, lifting the oddly-shaped revolver that didn't show a flintlock mechanism.

Then, he saw Tang Mo pull the trigger, a puff of white smoke came out of the barrel, and the sound of the gunshot echoed in his ears.

Almost in the next second, Tang Mo pulled the trigger again, firing the revolver for the second time, another puff of white smoke dissipated the smoke in front of him, and another bullet flew out of the barrel.

Tagg's eyes widened for he saw Tang Mo's coherent action—this young man simply pulled the trigger continuously, and the handgun fired a second shot!

Of course, in this world, there were flintlocks that could fire two shots in succession, but those complex, expensive, and cumbersome weapons couldn't compare to the handgun in Tang Mo's hand!

As a military officer, Tagg had, of course, seen flintlock pistols with two barrels before. These kinds of handguns were not just cumbersome, but they also lacked significant practical value in actual combat—far inferior to single-barrel flintlock pistols.

Yet the handgun before his eyes was clearly single-barreled, and it was a single-barreled handgun capable of firing two shots in succession! This left him utterly shocked.

Unfortunately, before he could complete his short-lived astonishment in his mind, Tang Mo had already pulled the trigger for the third time.

"Bang!" Another gunshot echoed across the drilling ground, and in that moment, Tagg felt completely undone.

His understanding was overturned, his experience was erased—all his prior knowledge seemed meaningless in an instant.

The impact of this third gunshot, compared to the second, was more than tenfold. Tagg just stood there, forgetting what he was supposed to do next.

Parker, who had spent his life rifling barrels, was also stunned in place. He had never seen such a weapon that could fire repeatedly.

However, having never been to battle, his amazement at seeing such a weapon was mere novelty, without the profound shock that engulfed Tagg.

Tagg truly was shocked, his mind filled with questions—chaotic questions that he didn't even know where to begin asking.

So, when Tagg saw Tang Mo continue firing, hitting the fourth shot, he had already become numb.

At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind—whether the handgun in Tang Mo's hand was a weapon of the gods, whether it had infinite bullets, whether it could keep firing like this without end.

In fact, when Tang Mo fired again, shooting the fifth round, Tagg truly thought he was encountering a deity, a weapon belonging to the gods.

He truly believed that the weapon in Tang Mo's hand contained endless bullets, capable of ceaseless fire, continuing indefinitely.

At that moment, he seemed to understand many things. No wonder Tang Mo could bring out a powerful weapon like the needle gun, no wonder Tang Mo could create marvelous steam engines.

In any case, he felt he had found all the explanations, he felt as if he was touching the truth. Therefore, he felt his knees go weak, and inexplicably felt an urge to worship the War God.

And there stood Tang Mo, still holding the pistol aimed at the distant target, pulling the trigger once more.

"Bang!" The sixth shot was fired, and in front of Tang Mo, a white fog had shrouded his view. In fact, by the fourth shot, he could hardly see the distant target. The two shots that followed were completely unaimed.

If you looked closely at the target, you would find only a scattered four bullet holes, because Tang Mo had missed the target with two shots.

On one hand, he truly couldn't aim properly, and on the other, the accuracy of this handgun was indeed limited.

The distance of the shooting range targets was set with long guns in mind, making it somewhat far for a handgun, and therefore, the accuracy of the pistol Tang Mo was using seemed lacking.

But at this time, who would care about such details? Tagg was utterly astounded by this novel weapon, he was even clenching his fists tightly, unable to utter a word even after Tang Mo stopped firing.

Six shots! There actually existed a weapon in this world that could fire six consecutive shots without any need to reload in between!

Tagg swallowed, his eyes fixed on the revolver in Tang Mo's hand, and subconsciously, he took a small step forward.

He really wanted to reach out his hand, take the gun, then inspect it closely, study it carefully, and without hesitation, try it for himself.

As a soldier, a military officer, he really wanted to know what it felt like to fire continuously.

He even began to fantasize—fantasize that with such a weapon, the enemies before him would turn into nothing more than sitting ducks.

If two armies were arrayed in battle, when the opponent's volley of fire had spent its bullets, what would meet them would be a storm of six consecutive volleys.

No one could withstand such rapid fire, any powerful military would collapse instantly. Victory would become easily achievable, and war would turn into an outright slaughter!

He liked it... liked the ease of victory, liked the one-sided slaughter...

So, he raised his head, looking directly into Tang Mo's eyes, his gaze becoming fervent, his bloodshot whites turning slightly red: "What... is... this?"