Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence - Chapter 426 - 275: Winter Preparations and the War Machine (Part 3)

Chapter 426: Chapter 275: Winter Preparations and the War Machine (Part 3)

On the demonstration field, Louis squinted his eyes, watching intently.

“Begin the field test!” Mike commanded sharply.

Three Knights immediately rushed out from the side door, holding shields and forming an array, initiating a short-distance charge toward the Steel Beast.

“Target locked—”

“Adjusting advancement angle by 2.4—”

“Thrust!”

With these three voice commands echoing almost simultaneously within the Steel Beast, the first hook spear on the left instantly shot out, precisely biting the edge of the shield of the foremost Knight, and the cable tightened immediately.

The Knight staggered, pulled forward, and his shield cracked audibly. The hook claw quickly retracted, carrying shattered wooden pieces into the cabin.

The two Knights behind instinctively halted to adjust, yet the hook spear, like a chain of claws, was already upon them; the second sharp thrust violently skewing the middle shield’s edge, disrupting the shield rhythm.

In merely a few breaths, the simulated enemy’s charge formation crumbled instantly, the array falling apart.

“The angle for shield ripping is well designed.” Louis commented slowly from the high platform, his tone calm with a hint of approval. “Combined with the follow-up of the bull rush… it can disrupt the array, piercing directly through the middle.”

Mike’s eyes shone brightly hearing this comment. “We’ve been repeatedly testing the force and angle. Indeed, you noticed it.”

He glanced at the hook spear arm in the distance, adding quietly, “This current system can basically launch and retract the hooks stably even while in motion… Just keep improving, and it can be installed in the next batch of production models.”

The beast stood silently on the rails, its massive metallic silhouette seemingly awaiting the next command.

Following that was the remote attack test.

“Fire control position ready!” a craftsman reported quietly.

Hillco stood next to Louis, dark circles heavy beneath his eyes as if he hadn’t slept all night, his collar askew, sleeves messy, who knows what explosion experiment he had been up to overnight.

But his eyes were exceptionally bright, his entire demeanor seemingly ready to spring forth with excitement.

“Magic Explosion Bullet Arrow, prototype one—fire!”

A crisp “bang” echoed, exploding within the lower cabin, the sliding rail controlling the crossbow jolting, and the arrow burst through the air.

“Target hit!”

At the end of the testing arena, the heavy iron target responded by shattering, a roaring explosion sending sparks flying, the iron surface scorched and curled, a bowl-sized dent seemingly punched through with fury.

Beside it, ordinary arrows barely penetrated the wooden shields, failing to pierce even the second layer, providing a stark contrast.

Even before the blast had dissipated, Hillco was already shaking his sleeve excitedly, like a mad alchemist hawking his own explosive toys, retrieving three differently inscribed arrowheads from his pocket to show Louis.

“Close detonation, timed detonation, delayed detonation, all calibrated! Precision testing all passed!”

He spoke with an unmistakable pride, “We’ve optimized the detonation patterns through three rounds, improving trigger stability by 40%. Now, whether you want to blast one person or a group, all is achievable.”

“Controllability of the explosion radius?”

“Tested from two fingers wide to thirty-six inches!” Hillco grinned, “If you need a five-in-a-row blast, it’s no problem; explosion is our alchemy group’s specialty, path overlay, progressive ignition, we’ve nailed it all down.”

Louis nodded gently, his gaze falling on the explosion-scarred blackened iron target. “Excellent, true explosions… are for creating tactical space.”

Finally came the comprehensive experiment, the test field was reconfigured, one side erecting over a dozen iron men shield arrays, mingled with iron magical beast targets simulating the barbarian formation.

On the other side, the iron wild bull stood ready, the Steel Beast calmly poised, several craftsmen and Knights entered the cabin and control positions in succession.

“Comprehensive test—begin!” Mike ordered.

First came the explosive arrow test shot.

From the distant platform, the magical crossbow bolt precisely struck the enemy array’s rear echelon, several iron men shield bearers exploded “boom” into the air, scorched explosion scars pulling an opening in the grass.

Then the wild bull roared, four armored iron wild bulls dragged the Steel Beast into motion, the roller on the tracks murmuring like war drums struck heavily.

They broke open the path, charging into the formation.

Hook spear mechanisms deployed—”click—boom!” accompanied by the sharp metallic tearing, the front iron men shield formation was violently hooked and torn apart, splintered wood and iron shards flying.

The Steel Beast subsequently unfolded its side wing armor, internal slides swirling, heavy armor structure sealing both sides like a shutting gate, successfully entrapping the simulated enemy remnants.

Cold explosive bullets released from the terminal launch chamber, magical beast targets fragmented in the icy blue impact, freezing marks ravaged upon them like a snowfield storm.

In a mere forty seconds, the simulated enemy array was thoroughly crushed.

After a brief silence, thunderous cheers erupted within the test field.

“It succeeded!”

“Full procedure! Complete process coordination success!”

Many craftsmen were so excited they nearly jumped up, some grabbing a companion’s collar to roar, “We actually managed to create this war machine! It was us who did it!”

The young alchemy apprentice’s eyes reddened, “This level of integrated combat system… something only those alchemy maniacs in the Jade Federation could manage to pull off; we can make it too!”

Louis standing quietly on the high platform, gazing at the drill field, then he turned to look at Bradley: “All direct participants in the manufacture, merit recognition.”

With these words, thunderous cheers erupted once more, even Hillco couldn’t hide his smile, yawning while chucklingly speaking to the craftsman beside him, “Don’t forget me tonight when you’re drinking.”

In the corner, a figure stood quietly, her gaze dark.

It was Visa, who followed Sif to see the entire process; the scene sent shivers down her spine.

Visa gazed at the distant Steel Beast halting gently like a mountain, something she had never seen on the northern battlefield.

It was unfeeling, steady, advancing with no emotion, like a true embodiment of war.

She once was a barbarian scout familiar with the barbarian army’s battle formations and the Knights’ charge rhythm, yet such a thing before her…

If such a weapon truly proliferated, she couldn’t fathom how the future barbarian race would withstand it?