Chapter 84 - Falling Star Model X

Although the Shooting Sun Research Institute was called a research institute, it was in fact a private research facility. It specialized in developing exotic beast materials for use with bows and arrows.

Over nearly thirty years, the Shooting Sun Research Institute had developed a few series of neo-material bows and arrows. The best of them were already capable of killing three-star silver-quality exotic beasts.

Although they were ineffective against mid-tier exotic beasts and above, they were still favored and popular among many beastmasters.

After all, to a low-tier beastmaster, the effectiveness of a reliable and strong bow was higher than most subdued beasts when it came to hunting exotic beasts.

That was especially true for a Tier One or Tier Two beastmaster without a good subdued beast. If they wanted to have any gains in the beast world, a good bow definitely had a better price-to-value ratio than beast cards that could easily reach tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Of course, not everyone would choose to use bows and arrows, because there was a problem associated with it… whether the person in question had the talent for archery!

If you couldn’t hit a target even after shooting a few arrows, your target would have pounced on you and shredded you. What use was there then, even if you had the best bow in hand?

Moreover, even if your bow and arrows were made with the latest materials, it still required a certain strength to draw the bowstring fully. Perhaps there would be no problem in doing so once or twice for an ordinary person, but if they wished to maintain stability and accuracy, they had to go through a long period of training to achieve that.

Therefore, although there were many advantages with using a bow, there were obviously as many disadvantages. Whether it was better or worse than a subdued beast would depend on the person themselves and their preferences.

Zhang Che, for example, understood that he had no talent for archery. If he wanted to hunt exotic beasts, it was much simpler and more convenient to use subdued beasts.

He was making this trip here to Ci Zhou City to buy a strong bow only because he discovered the Gluttony Monkey’s unusual talent for archery!

——

The Shooting Sun Research Institute ran their own weapon shop. It was very famous within Ci Zhou City. Zhang Che only needed to make a casual inquiry about it, and he found the place shortly thereafter.

It was a huge building, over ten stories tall. The top of the building was adorned with a gigantic bow statue. Anyone who saw it would know what place it was.

The three lowest stories of the building sold all kinds of weapons, while the three stories above that specialized in the sale of bow and arrows. The stories above that weren’t open to public; they were the place where the Shooting Sun Research Institute manufactured their bows and arrows. The security was heavy, and nobody could sneak in there.

Zhang Che was naturally uninterested in the weapons being sold in the first three stories and directly took the lift to the fourth story.

After exiting the elevator, the first things Zhang Che saw were the different kinds of bows hanging on the walls. There were classical longbows, the threatening recurve bows, and various exquisite compound bows among them.

The lobby was filled with people, many of them beastmasters who came here looking to buy a bow.

Zhang Che didn’t go look at the compound bows and traditional longbows. The former had too low of a firing rate, and wasn’t practical, while the latter had too long of a body. It was impractical for the frisky monkey to use given his short stature.

Thus, the recurve bows naturally became the best choice.

“Hello sir, welcome to the Shooting Sun Research Institute! Are you looking for recurve bows? We have eight major categories of recurve bows here, with a total of over forty models to choose from…” An attendant came up wearing a faint smile and started filling in Zhang Che on the unique characteristics of the recurve bow models here.

However, before she could finish her introduction, Zhang Che raised his hand to stop her, asking her directly, “Of the recurve bows here, which model is the strongest here?”

The female attendant swept her gaze over Zhang Che’s skinny figure. Although she really wanted to tell him that it was impossible for him to draw the strongest recurve bow here, she maintained her smile and nodded, saying, “Please come with me to the sixth story, sir,” and led the way to the elevator.

-Indeed, the best stuff is kept at the higher levels. I should have gone directly to the sixth story if I had known earlier,- Zhang Che cursed inwardly. He could only follow the female attendant into the lift.

—

After arriving at the sixth story, Zhang Che discovered that the area here was much smaller than its lower counterparts, with fewer bow and arrow types on display on the wall and counters. However, they gave off an extraordinary feeling.

The female attendant brought Zhang Che directly to the left of the sixth story lobby. She pointed to a pure purple-black recurve bow hanging on the wall and said, “Please take a look at this, sir. This bow is named the Falling Star Model Three. The handle was made with an uncommon wood found in the beast world, known as the Seven-Star Iron Pear Wood. Its toughness is comparable to metal alloy, but lighter. The limbs, on the other hand, were crafted with the horn of a four-star bronze-quality exotic beast known as the Golden Halberd Beetle, which possesses high elasticity.

“As the bow was basically made with non-metallic materials, the Falling Star Model Three weighs only three point two kilograms. It is highly portable and easy to use. The strength required to fully draw its bowstring is two hundred and ten kilograms, and its effective range can reach five hundred meters when used with the M-type armor-piercing arrows. Within two hundred meters, it is able to penetrate the scales of a three-star bronze-quality defensive-type beast,” the female attendant rambled on in detail. However, Zhang Che couldn’t help but frowned slightly, asking, “Two hundred and ten kilograms draw weight? That’s too light; is there anything heavier?”

“Ah? Even heavier ones?” The female attendant was stunned by Zhang Che and blurted out in surprise. She continued, “Please pardon my directness, sir, but the Falling Star Model Three is already not something ordinary people can draw easily. You must know this too, that to effectively use a bow, it’s not only that you have to ensure you’re able to draw it fully. You still have to consider whether your arms can stay still, or you’ll lose your aim.”

He was definitely unable to draw the bow. Let alone a two hundred and ten kilogram draw weight bow, even if that number was divided by four, Zhang Che would struggle to draw it!

-But the freaking problem is that I’m not that one who is going to be using the bow.

-Compared to the herculean strength of that frisky monkey, two hundred and ten kilograms might not even break a sweat for him.-

“Don’t mind whether I can use it or not. Just tell me please, are there any heavier recurve bows here?”

-What a weirdo. Are you going to buy a strong bow to hang on your walls to ward off evil?,- the female attendant quipped inwardly. Understanding the principle that customers were always right, she nodded slightly and answered, “We do. Our lead designer once produced a Falling Star Model X recurve bow, crafted using thousand-year Seven-Star Iron Pear Wood and the horn of a five-star silver-quality Golden Halberd Beetle. Its draw weight was five hundred kilograms. However, as there was no one who was able to fully draw this bow, we no longer have it on display. Are you sure you want to have a look at it?”

-Five hundred kilograms draw weight!- Zhang Che’s eyes immediately lit up at the sound of it.

“Oh? Please bring it out for me to take a look at, then!”

“Alright, sir, please wait a moment in the lounge,” the attendant nodded, pointing Zhang Che in that direction, before walking over to the elevator for the inner area. The Falling Star Model X recurve bow was not held in the commercial area, but in storage at a higher story.

So what if there was an incredibly powerful bow, if there was no one who could wield it?

It still had to stay in the storage, passing its days silently…