"Urgent Report!"
The sound of knuckles banging against the door resonated with relentless urgency. From the other side, the voice of the patriarch's secretary carried an unusual weight, a barely concealed edge of fear.
"Come in."
Xuan Fei didn't hesitate to give the order.
The door swung open. Xuan Liang, his secretary, entered with a tense expression, and behind him, Xuan Tao, the leader of the Xuan family's cultivators.
Both bowed deeply.
"Greetings, Patriarch."
But Xuan Fei had already noticed something. Something he didn't like at all.
Xuan Liang, always impeccable in his bearing, seemed unsettled. A faint sweat beaded on his forehead. However, it was Xuan Tao who truly alarmed him.
Something had happened.
"Speak."
Xuan Tao closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and with a trembling voice, dropped the first bomb:
"Patriarch, it's a disaster... We encountered an enemy group. All the others are dead."
The air in the room grew thick, suffocating.
Xuan Fei leaned on his elbows and interlaced his fingers.
"Explain."
Xuan Tao swallowed hard and nodded slowly.
"We were exploring the area. We found no traces, so we decided to extend the search. That's when we saw them."
His voice took on a dull tone, as if reliving that moment drained his energy.
"A group of mortals dressed in gray. At first, we didn't pay them much attention. They were just mortals, nothing more. We only wanted to interrogate them... but then..."
He stopped. His hands were trembling. His lips pressed tightly together.
Xuan Fei stared at him intently.
"Continue."
Xuan Tao took a trembling breath and clenched his fists.
"They didn't seem afraid. They showed no submission, no respect. They just said we had to leave. That we were in a 'restricted zone.'"
The patriarch frowned.
"Restricted zone?"
Xuan Tao nodded slowly.
"We tried to demand an explanation, but they didn't say anything more. Xuan Rong... couldn't stand and attacked."
A cold silence settled in.
"The moment he moved... one of them raised a black tube."
Xuan Tao swallowed with difficulty.
"There was no Qi buildup. No energy fluctuations. Nothing."
Xuan Fei felt a chill run down his spine.
"Only... a thunder."
Xuan Tao's voice cracked.
"A dry explosion. A roar."
He squeezed his eyes shut, as if trying to push the image from his mind.
"Xuan Rong stopped dead in his tracks. A trace of blood spurted from his chest. Then... he fell."
Absolute silence.
Xuan Fei remained motionless.
"Did he die on the spot?"
Xuan Tao nodded, his gaze distant.
"There was no battle. No duel. Just... thunder and death."
The patriarch felt a cold pressure on his chest.
Xuan Liang swallowed hard.
Xuan Tao continued, his voice barely a whisper.
"We attacked. We raised our defenses, reinforced our bodies with Qi... but it was useless."
Xuan Fei narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean 'useless'?"
Xuan Tao looked at him with desperation.
"It didn't matter how much we reinforced our defenses… Patriarch, those things… those weapons… they can pierce us!"
The air seemed to freeze.
Xuan Liang turned pale.
"How is that possible...?"
Xuan Tao shook his head, the shadow of fear still on his face.
"Our techniques barely withstood one or two hits before collapsing. We tried dodging with our movement techniques, but... they were too fast!"
His breathing quickened.
"There's no aura. No Qi we can sense. We can't even anticipate their attacks!"
Xuan Fei felt a chill run down his spine.
"How many were they?"
Xuan Tao exhaled slowly and shook his head.
"No more than twenty."
Xuan Liang gasped.
"Twenty mortals? And still...?"
Xuan Tao nodded.
"In minutes, I was left alone."
His voice sounded hollow. Like someone who still couldn't process the horror they had lived through.
"Every time one of ours tried to attack, they fell before even taking three steps. No matter how fast we moved, their attacks were instantaneous. They massacred us like we were mere prey."
The silence became unbearable.
Xuan Fei fixed his gaze on Xuan Tao.
"How did you escape?"
Xuan Tao let out a bitter laugh.
"My defensive treasure barely withstood a few more hits… and I ran. I ran into the forest. I used everything I had. And I lost them."
The room fell into absolute silence.
Xuan Fei closed his eyes for a moment, trying to process the words he had just heard. His men, cultivators with years of combat experience, had fallen.
A sound. A flash. And blood staining the earth.
Xuan Fei felt a chill run down his back. It wasn't just simple worry or uncertainty, but a deeper, more instinctive feeling. As if a storm was brewing on the horizon, one that threatened to sweep away everything he knew.
It was an omen.
An omen that something big was about to happen…
Days passed quickly, and the underground workshop was taking shape. Although the basic structure was already built, Ethan knew that the real challenge was just beginning. To produce the weapons he had in mind, he needed reliable mechanical energy, and his focus was on the water wheel.
The underground river had a constant flow, but it wasn't especially fast or turbulent. This meant that a water current wheel, instead of a drop wheel, was the best option. Ethan decided to build a wooden paddle wheel reinforced with metal, about 4 meters in diameter, to capture the energy of the moving water.
For installation, a small dam and a diversion channel were first dug to redirect part of the flow towards the wheel without altering the natural course too much. The support structure was made with thick wooden beams and metal reinforcements to ensure stability and strength. The wheel itself had treated wooden paddles coated with a thin layer of metal to improve durability.
The next step was energy transmission. For this, Ethan designed a system of gears and belts that would transfer the rotation of the wheel to a central axle. A large gear made of wood and metal was fixed to the wheel's axle, coupled with a series of smaller gears that increased the rotational speed and directed it towards a secondary axle. This axle would be responsible for powering the workshop's machinery.
With the water wheel in operation, the next challenge was to build and connect the machinery needed to produce the Mauser rifles. For this, Ethan needed precise tools capable of working steel with the required accuracy.
The lathe was crucial for manufacturing the barrels and other cylindrical parts of the rifle. Using the rotary motion generated by the water wheel, Ethan designed a lathe that allowed a steel bar to be fixed and shaped with interchangeable cutting tools. This lathe would also be useful for making adjustment parts, such as screws and bolts.
The rifling machine was one of the most crucial pieces in the process, as it allowed the rifling to be created inside the barrel, giving the projectile a spinning motion and improving its accuracy. For this, he designed a drive mechanism that moved a cutting tool through the interior of the barrel while applying constant pressure. This process had to be meticulous and required several passes to achieve a uniform finish.
To drill precise holes and machine parts such as the bolt and the mechanism box, Ethan designed bench drills powered by belts connected to his hydraulic system. In addition, he built a rudimentary milling machine that allowed him to cut and shape more complex pieces.
Once all the machines were operational, Ethan began producing the first parts. He focused on manufacturing the barrels with the necessary quality, ensuring that the rifling was uniform and the alignment was perfect. At the same time, he made the bolts and other moving parts, adjusting each component until achieving a functional assembly.
The first tests revealed some inconveniences: the lathe didn't have enough stability to work with precision on harder metals, and the rifling machine needed a better lubrication system to prevent premature wear on the cutting tool. Ethan solved these issues by reinforcing the lathe's structure with more metal supports and adding an automatic lubrication system to the rifling machine.
With the adjustments made, the workshop began producing Mauser rifles consistently. Although industrial volumes were still not reached, production was progressing quickly.
Days continued as the underground workshop took shape. The Hu brothers and Shen Bao brought more people with them. This new workforce allowed the workshop to grow faster.
The cave, once empty and dark, now resonated with the constant noise of hammers, saws, and the buzzing of the few rudimentary machines that Ethan had managed to create. The activity was relentless, and although the workshop was becoming a production center, the challenge Ethan faced was even greater: manufacturing suitable ammunition for the weapons he had created.
The production of bullets required not only precision but also a considerable amount of manual labor, as resources and technology were limited.
The first step in ammunition production was creating the capsules for the primers. For this, Ethan built a hydraulic press powered by the water wheel he had installed earlier, taking advantage of the underground river's flow to generate the necessary pressure.
Once the capsules were made, the next step was creating the projectiles. For this, Ethan designed a process that depended on manual lathes, operated by workers to shape the projectile tips. The workers used files and manual cutting tools to perfect each bullet.
Then, the gunpowder had to be placed into the capsules. Although he didn't have advanced machinery for this process, Ethan devised a rudimentary manual feeding system. The workers used a metering device, a precise tool to pour the gunpowder into each capsule. Carefully, they used spoons and funnels to avoid spills or mistakes. They knew that the slightest negligence could result in defective ammunition, so they followed strict procedures to ensure uniformity in each capsule.
In the end, the bullets were stored on shelves and in boxes, ready to be distributed and used.