Chapter 147: Crisis
Although many firearm blueprints were created today, most of them were essentially useless. Due to the constraints of the era and available technology, designs like the Springfield rifle or the M1 Garand—products of 1930s technology—could technically be built, but the cost was higher than simply obtaining them through the lottery. Each one cost around 12 to 13 Vectas, making them rather impractical.
Fortunately, crafting a single gun granted between 2,000 and 3,000 experience points, and his skill proficiency in Precision Machinery Crafting was gradually increasing. At worst, he was exchanging money for experience.
Interestingly, old-style revolvers like those used by the Sunwatchers were more cost-effective. Factoring in material loss, each one only cost about 1.6 Vectas to make, though the experience gained was limited. Zhou Ning retrieved the three mechanical arms sealed in card form, reconfigured the alchemy array using his newly acquired knowledge of Puppet Alchemy, and ran a test. To his surprise, the mechanical arms were now capable of independently crafting firearms—with remarkable stability and efficiency.
…
The next morning, Zhou Ning was jolted awake by the cold. Even with the fireplace running, the indoor temperature was clearly below ten degrees Celsius. He quickly dressed, drew back the curtains, and saw that it was still snowing. A thick layer of snow had already built up outside.
Having grown used to the unpredictable, chaotic weather of the Apocalypse World, this kind of single-season climate actually felt unfamiliar. The cold was bone-deep.
Not long after, a knock came at the door. Zhou Ning, who was reading on the sofa, stood up, puzzled.
He had scheduled a meeting with the Urban Fair Housing Association at noon, and it wasn't even 8 a.m. yet. Who could be knocking at this hour?
When he opened the door, he saw two men in black uniforms with matching soft hats. From the sapling insignia on their chests, Zhou Ning recognized them as corpse collectors—a specialized profession in the Kingdom of Bryston.
The one on the left coughed lightly and said, "Good morning, sir. We found a corpse near your residence. As per procedure, we ask that you identify whether it's someone you know."
A corpse?
Zhou Ning followed them to the front gate, where just outside the iron fence lay a figure slumped against it—dressed in tattered black linen.
As he got closer, he saw that it was a gaunt, elderly homeless man with graying hair and haggard features. His skin had gone pale and stiff, and half his body was buried in snow—clearly frozen to death.
"I don't know him," Zhou Ning said calmly.
"Alright," one of the corpse collectors nodded, then spat bitterly, "These lazy vagrants… They've got two working arms and legs but would rather freeze to death than labor at the poorhouse. Pathetic."
Muttering complaints, the two men secured the corpse with ropes, dragging it across the ground and leaving a long streak in the snow as they hauled it to a distant carriage.
As they walked away, Zhou Ning overheard them talking: "That's the twenty-third one this morning."
Watching them load the old man's body onto the carriage, Zhou Ning took a deep breath, once again struck by the absurdity of this world.
Sometimes, a person's entire life was nothing more than fodder for others' ridicule.
Back in the house, he took a few seconds to collect himself, then headed to the integrated lab to resume the previous day's work.
After a night's production, Zhou Ning had gained over 12,000 experience points from the three mechanical arms and produced around 300 old-style revolvers—with stunning efficiency.
Now well-rested, he found it much easier to generate new blueprints.
This time, Zhou Ning aimed directly for sniper rifles. The earliest one he could recall was the SAD sniper rifle from 1965, followed by the legendary AWP in 1982.
[Original Design Failed]
[Original Design Failed]
He kept trying, refining every detail with each attempt. After numerous failures, Zhou Ning finally let out a sigh of relief.
Before him sat a long-barreled, orange-colored rifle. A 4x scope was mounted on the top rail of the receiver.
[Original Design Successful. Matching blueprint...]
[Match complete… You've acquired the firearm blueprint: Mauser Kar98k Rifle]
[Mauser Kar98k Rifle]
[Type: Rifle]
[Quality: Common (White)]
[Base Stats: Attack 146–225, Magazine Capacity 5 Rounds, Range 900m]
[Usage Requirement: Agility 65, Basic Shooting Mastery (Advanced)]
[Ammo Type: 7.92mm rounds]
Not bad!
Though he was still somewhat shaken emotionally, Zhou Ning couldn't help but be pleased. While not a true sniper rifle in the strictest sense, it did feature sniper capabilities and helped address his previous lack of ultra-long-range firepower.
After finishing the sniper rifle, Zhou Ning checked the time—just past 10:15 a.m. He took out the Phoenix Battle Suit from his inventory and started adjusting its color scheme.
He'd never quite managed to pull off Tony's signature red-and-gold palette, so now that he had the opportunity, Zhou Ning opted for a more low-key and mature black tone.
He also made a few tweaks to the suit's features—installing a small mechanism in the arm armor that could deploy bombs and cutters. Other functions would have to be refined over time.
By the time all this was done, it was almost noon. At 12:00 sharp, Caspar from the Urban Fair Housing Association arrived as scheduled, bringing along three maids for Zhou Ning to choose from.
Faced with three maids whose average age was an impressive 43, Zhou Ning—who'd hoped for the busty and beautiful type—could only shake his head slightly and make a reluctant choice. After some hesitation, he picked the one with the best resume.
Jacqueline, 38 years old, was a follower of the Temple of Earth. She had a stern, old-fashioned appearance and hailed from South Noll County. Formerly the head maid for the "Snowy" Turner family, she specialized in seaside cuisine. The Turner family had relocated north, which was why she had left. She applied for the position of housekeeper.
Her annual salary was around 100 Vectas—not particularly expensive. After a brief chat, Zhou Ning felt reasonably satisfied.
With a capable housekeeper, he could delegate a lot of tasks. She could also handle materials procurement in the future.
After signing the contract, Zhou Ning paid her annual salary upfront—100 Vectas—and gave her another 500 in cash to purchase a four-wheeled carriage, hire a coachman, and buy necessary supplies.
Once Jacqueline left to handle those errands, Zhou Ning grabbed an umbrella from the stand and headed back to the steam train station to catch the train to West Lin Town.
Upon arrival, he saw that the station was packed with students from Vick University—many of them from the alchemy department. Quite a few greeted Zhou Ning, suggesting that multiple student groups were heading to West Lin Town in waves.
To Zhou Ning's surprise, several students on the train were playing Yu-Gi-Oh!. It seemed John's promotional efforts had really paid off.
However, the students seated near Zhou Ning were all flailing amateurs—worse than even Molly. After watching their blunders for a bit, Zhou Ning couldn't help but yawn and turn to gaze out at the snowy landscape through the train window.
Suddenly, his body tensed, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
An overwhelming sense of danger surged through him!
Out the window, he saw a billowing cloud of snow mist rising into the air—and in the next instant, the entire steam train began to shake violently!
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