Book 2: Chapter 27: Modern Weapons

Book 2: Chapter 27: Modern Weapons

I watched the Lord pick up the book I’d handed him, as he flipped through the pages quickly. “This is not in a language we are aware of. Though one of them appears to be quite similar to the Azure-Jade script,” he said, before looking up at me.

I nodded. “It’s written in the languages from earth. It protects the information.”

The Lord glanced past me, at my reply, his eyes turning towards Yin. “Did you know of your grandfather’s origins?”

Yin froze, standing dumbly for a moment, before I saw her give a stiff nod.

“A different world. We had been aware that there had been souls drifting into our realms from somewhere beyond,” the Lord said, before looking down at the book. “Are there any others you know of? People from your world?”

“None so far, my lord,” I replied.

The Lord stood silently, yet I could feel his presence growing heavier and stronger by the minute. There was a palpable weight to the air around me, as the Lord inspected the tools and weapons in front of him.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

“Tell us more, Lu Jie. What was your world like? Did it have demons that were conquered by these tools? What foe led to the creation of weapons that even mortals would be able to wield to such a degree?”

I smiled. “There were no demons in my world, my lord. Neither were there any spirit beasts, monsters, or cultivators for that matter. It is a world without magic, a world full of mortals, with nothing to threaten humanity.”

“Then... why did you create these weapons?” the Lord asked, perhaps looking surprised for the first time ever.

“To kill each other,” I replied, feeling a tense silence fill the chamber.

“In our world, with nothing left to conquer as civilisation grew, and humanity thrived, we turned against each other. Kingdoms fighting kingdoms for land, resources, power, grudges, religion, a difference in ideologies, any and all reasons you could think of. These weapons I presented... they look like toys compared to what modern earth had. We had weapons that would fill poisonous gasses in the air, which would drown men on land, as their lungs filled with liquid, killing them. We had missiles that could destroy enemies from across the sea, flying crafts that could drop nuclear bombs capable of wiping out cities in moments, leaving the land poisonous and uninhabitable forever,” I said, glancing around the room.

“That is... difficult for us to understand. Why would people fight each other to such an extent? There is infighting, and conflicts, but not to the extent you describe.”

“It’s a lot easier for conflict to arise among people that look a bit different, speak a different language, and come from different cultures and countries. With how uniform the empire is, it likely helps tie it together as one entity. Having the demons as an enemy likely helps keep the conflict focused outwards,” I said.

A tug pulled at me, but I didn’t resist. With a blink, I found myself in a massive chamber brimming with Qi, enough to almost be suffocating in its intensity. The walls were carved of stone and full of Qi, with talismans and wards layered endlessly upon them. I glanced around, and saw Yin staring wide eyed at having been teleported so abruptly alongside with us.

“This is a special chamber we have created, you can feel free to use your weapon here,” the Lord said.

“Please, step aside to a corner of the chamber, and create another ward over the center of the chamber,” I said.

Within moments, I felt the ward rise as everyone stepped to one corner of the chamber. Keenly aware of the power of the Gu-nuke, I moved to the corner with them, before taking a breath.

Taking the Gu-nuke, I sent a pulse of Qi, letting the trigger dissolve. A moment later, I tossed the weapon with all my strength across the chamber, and into the ward, before shouting. “Enforce the ward now!”

Qi pulsed, a fraction of a second before the Gu-Nuke exploded.

The flash was blinding, as the shockwave tore through the ward, pushing back on me. The stone floor rattled beneath my feet. The shielding wards cracked, as I stepped back, standing protectively in front of Yin.

I sensed the Lord stepping ahead, as another pulse of Qi cancelled the pulsing shockwaves rising from the weapon, nullifying them.

I opened my eyes, looking in front. A void existed where the weapon had detonated, the reaction of Qi and Gu having eaten through all the energy present in the atmosphere around it completely and igniting it.

The ground was charred, the stone covering the floor nearly gone, revealing the underlying formation that lay fractured.

I heard Yin intake her breath sharply, her eyes burning against my back. I turned to face the lord, who stood watching the destruction, contemplating. Silently, he glanced back to me.

“If we give you all the money, and resources we have. How many of these can you make?” he asked.

I pushed down my smile, looking at the Lord, before bowing my head.

“Enough for a small army.”