Li Yu raised the dueling pistol and aid at a large tree about five steps away, pulling the trigger.
The next mont, the flint struck the fire scythe, sparks flew, igniting the priming powder in the pan and then the gunpowder in the barrel, blasting out flas!
The dueling pistol emitted a terrifying roar, and with a puff of white smoke, a bullet flew out of the barrel and slamd into the tree bark.
Wood chips flew from the point of impact, scattering all over the ground, and the lead bullet was deeply embedded in the trunk.
"The power is decent," Li Yu said to Ge Lipeng, "but the accuracy is off. I was actually aiming at a slightly lower position."
"I didn’t have ti to carve rifling into the barrel," Ge Lipeng said. "Early gunsmiths used sothing called an Iowa Rifling Machine to rifle the barrels, which was actually a wooden lathe.
"But back then, the barrels were made of iron, and with steel, it’s a bit more troubleso, so my advice is to wait until the enemy is closer before shooting."
"Good idea." Li Yu reloaded the dueling pistol with bullets and gunpowder before handing it to Miss Rabbit, whose face was blank.
"You try it too—just pull that crescent-shaped chanism down there to fire," he instructed.
The Lady took the flintlock gun, subconsciously pointing the barrel at herself, curious about what secrets it held inside that allowed it to make such a loud noise.
However, Li Yu quickly pushed the barrel away while warning her.
"Never let the barrel point at yourself or anyone else around you, at any ti. In other words, except for your opponent, do not point the Hand of Judgnt at any person or object.
"This is a very, very dangerous weapon that can easily take a person’s life, don’t wait until a tragedy occurs and regret it when it’s too late."
Ireya looked at the exquisitely crafted little device in her hands, still unable to accept that it had such formidable killing power.
At this ti, Ge Lipeng took out a set of padded Armor and hung it on another tree.
Ireya, imitating Li Yu, raised the dueling pistol in her hand, aid for a while, and pulled the trigger.
The unexpected recoil almost made her lose her grip on the gunstock.
The muzzle jerked upward, and the bullet grazed the tree trunk and flew into the woods, its destination unknown.
The Lady started coughing from the white smoke.
"It’s okay, take your ti. It’s normal to miss the target on the first try. You can stand a bit closer and grip the gun with both hands, try to extend your arms straight..." Li Yu advised as he finished reloading for the third ti.
Taking his advice, Ireya took a deep breath, raised the Hand of Judgnt again, and aid slightly below the padded Armor.
This ti, the bullet finally hit the target.
The young lady couldn’t help but cheer, arms raised. When she, Li Yu, and Ge Lipeng walked forward to inspect the damage caused by the dueling pistol, they saw that the padded Armor hanging on the tree had been penetrated by the small "pebble."
This ant that if soone were wearing padded Armor in a duel with her, they would have been hit by now.
And that was not the end; Ge Lipeng then brought out a set of leather armor. The tough cowhide also failed to stop the impact of the lead bullet, followed by scale armor.
The Lady had not expected the scale armor made of iron plates to be impervious to the bullet, which left a hole the thickness of a finger at the point of impact.
The finale of this round of testing was the chainmail and plate armor.
The chainmail that Ge Lipeng had sourced indeed upheld the honor of armor, as it wasn’t penetrated by the lead bullet.
The bullet hit a rivet head on, deforming severely and getting stuck in the armor, but it still left a shallow pit in the trunk of the tree behind it.
This ant that although the bullet had not entered the wearer’s body, the terrifying impact force generated could easily tear through the wearer’s muscles, or even break their ribs.
As for the plate armor, Ge Lipeng first hung up a piece of inferior plate armor purchased from a small town along the way, which was ripped open by the bullet.
But when replaced with the Dwarf Armor supplied to the Black Hound Guards and the Arias family’s guards, it could only leave a small pit.
Ge Lipeng, upon seeing this, felt sowhat regretful, "Smoothbore guns not only have less precision compared to rifled guns, but their muzzle energy is also less than that of rifled guns.
"If the opponent is wearing formidable armor, try targeting their limbs or flanks, where the armor is thinner and easier to break."
The Lady, holding the dueling pistol in her hands, was now turning worry into joy, her spirits lifted again as she exclaid, "Good heavens."
She had never imagined that such a compact weapon with such incredible power existed in this world, its lethality surpassing that of the hand crossbow.
The most crucial point was that the Duel Arena prohibited carrying hand crossbows, but said nothing about not bringing the Hand of Judgnt.
With this object, Miss Rabbit instantly felt confident again, capable of competing with the other contestants.
However, she soon rembered another issue and asked Li Yu, "Can the preparatory ritual for this Holy Artifact... be omitted? It seems quite ti-consuming."
"The loading of gunpowder and bullets cannot be skipped," Li Yu replied. "So, you’d better get it done before the duel begins."
"But what if I fumble?" the girl asked again.
"That’s simple," Li Yu turned to the Double Rest Sect’s Servant and asked, "Where are the other guns you’ve made?"
It took Ge Lipeng about a week to make the first gun, mainly because the tools were unfamiliar, and it was his first ti making a gun, so he encountered so issues.
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect; making the next guns did not require as much ti.
According to Ge Lipeng, in modern society, a skilled gunsmith would need about two days to manufacture a flintlock gun, although getting it to be as accurate and comfortable as possible could take up to a year of fine-tuning.
Li Yu’s requirents for the flintlock gun were not high; instead of pursuing lethality and accuracy, he felt it was more practical to have multiple guns.
He had already considered the Lady’s concerns; in the Duel Arena, flintlock guns were basically a one-off deal. As the competition advanced, high-skill opponents would erge, leaving no chance to reload.
Redundancy was necessary to ensure victory in battle and to manage potential risks—not only missing the target but also misfires or other unexpected issues.
Thus, Ge Lipeng produced two more dueling pistols, as well as an axe.
"I don’t need the axe," the Lady said. "I can’t use that weapon."
"This is a flintlock axe," Ge Lipeng explained upon her refusal. "It appeared on European battlefields between the 16th and 18th centuries, capable of firing lead bullets, mainly designed to address the flintlock gun’s weakness in close combat."
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