But what Stone really wants now is not a top-grade weapon, but an ordinary one, even worse than the rocket launcher Huo Xiaoxiao has.
After thinking for a while, Shi Tou changed the ingredient recipe with Bao Zi's suggestion.
10 kg of iron ore and 1 kg of refined iron ore.
Although Baozi said that this material ratio would easily result in defective products, Shitou didn't care. Keep in mind, she's still a beginner; it would be strange if she didn't produce defective, failed, or substandard products.
There wasn't much iron ore in the space, so Stone left and went to the Huo family's forge to collect all the iron and copper ore there into his space. Although the ores had undergone preliminary refining, in Stone's opinion, this level of refining was practically the same as not refining at all.
After gathering all the materials, Shi Tou followed Bao Zi's instructions, placing the sample rocket launcher that was already in the space into the specific scanning position. Then, he put the prepared materials into the inlet, pressed the button, and in about ten minutes, a piping hot explosive rocket launcher was produced.
Picking up the newly-made Explosive Rocket Launcher, Stone stared at it in disbelief. The smooth lines and perfect welding, though he didn't know its power, filled Stone with deep admiration.
While such assembly line work might not have been anything special in Stone's past life, where was this? This was a technologically backward otherworld! In this almost primitive world, in an era before industry had even begun, to be able to independently design and manufacture such perfect mechanical equipment—that required absolute genius!
"I wonder how powerful this rocket launcher is?" After hesitating for a moment, Stone began to look around at the environment. "Baozi, what would happen if I fired a shot here?"
Baozi was happily bouncing around at Shitou's feet, but as soon as she heard what Shitou said, she lost her balance and fell to the ground, then rolled away.
Stone broke out in a cold sweat and looked at it helplessly: "I was just saying, I didn't really intend to blow this place up."
"Gaga, Master! You can't do something like this!" Baozi came to his senses and immediately burst into tears: "Although Baozi doesn't know how powerful this thing is, the explosive rocket launcher you forged for the Imperial City Guards can blast Master's current cheap father into dust!"
Shi Tou was immediately speechless. The cheap dad Bao Zi mentioned was Huo Xiaoxiao's father, Huo Yuntian, who was a seven-star mage. Was he really that fragile? After hesitating for a while, Shi Tou threw the question at Bao Zi.
Baozi didn't know that Shi Tou had given up on the idea of setting off cannons in the space, so it was still a little scared: "Hehe, magicians are fragile by nature! A seven-star magician will definitely be blasted into dust by the explosive rocket launcher if he is not prepared!"
Stone really wanted to say that she never intended to use that rocket launcher to commit violence, but seeing Baozi trembling with fear, Stone decided against it. Tsk tsk, Baozi can be incredibly brave sometimes; scaring it is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
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First update!
Chapter 142 Failed Products and Consumables
Holding the newly forged Explosive Rocket Launcher, Stone was about to go out to check if Huo Xiaoxiao had come home from school. Suddenly, he remembered something very important.
"Baozi, what do you think Huo Xiaoxiao will think if I give this to her?" Looking at this explosive rocket launcher, which looked far superior to the replica Huo Xiaoxiao had, Shi Tou suddenly hesitated: "Will she think I'm a monster?"
"Gah? A monster? But what's a monster?" Baozi stared at the stone, puzzled. "Baozi only knows what a fairy is!"
Shi Tou couldn't help but twitch his lips: "What I mean is, if I show up with this, will Huo Xiaoxiao not believe that I forged it?"
"Hehe, that's for sure! The master looks so stupid and clumsy, that arrogant little girl definitely won't believe it!" Baozi said smugly, saying things that could make Shitou furious.
Shi Tou glared at Baozi and said, "Say that again!"
Baozi surrendered decisively: "Hehe, Master, you are incredibly smart and unparalleled in the world. If that little girl doesn't believe that you forged this, then she's a complete idiot!"
There's absolutely no sense of accomplishment in bullying this kind of cowardly guy.
Stone rolled his eyes, casually put the finished rocket launcher in his hand aside, and began to study other ores.
Baozi watched in horror as Shi Tou casually placed iron ore, copper ore, and refined iron ore into the entrance of the mechanical equipment without considering the weight. "Hehe, Master, are you having another bad day? You're definitely going to make a bunch of failed products by doing this!"
That's not nonsense, we just want you to produce a failure!
Stone calmly watched as a twisted, mangled rocket launcher bounced out of the finished product outlet, feeling extremely satisfied: "Hmm. Consider this my first failed attempt."
Of course, one failure is far from enough. Forging a success is difficult. But deliberately forging a failure is exceptionally easy.
So, after successfully forging one piece, Stone went on to forge a dozen or so failed pieces using haphazard material ratios. Some of these failed pieces were distorted in shape, some had chaotic internal structures, and some were even simply mixtures of several metals.
"Hmm, that's not bad." Stone looked at the pile of failed attempts with considerable satisfaction. She knew her current strength wasn't enough; she couldn't be too arrogant. It wouldn't be good if she caused trouble.
What? You're saying she's the second young lady of the Huo family?
Shi Tou never truly cared about her status as the second young lady of the Huo family. Firstly, she knew perfectly well that she was merely a substitute. Secondly, apart from Huo Xiaoxiao, no one in the Huo family had shown her any respect in recent days. Of course, she wasn't referring to the servants; as long as she held the title of the second young lady of the Huo family, the servants wouldn't dare to neglect her.
"Giggle, Master's brain is definitely beyond the comprehension of a normal magical creature like Baozi!" Baozi stared blankly at the stone grinning at the pile of failed attempts. A thought crossed its mind: Had Master accidentally damaged his brain while searching for a new body?
Shi Tou rolled his eyes at Bao Zi: "Come on, failure is the mother of success. Don't you think it would be too conspicuous if I presented a successful product all at once? Besides, something that succeeds on the first try seems worthless no matter how you look at it."
Now that he had a complete set of forging equipment, Shi Tou no longer intended to hide anything. He threw all the failed products into his yard and took the only successful one to find Huo Xiaoxiao.
"Ouch! Who did this?! My flowers! Who had the audacity to do this?!"
To her surprise, as soon as she reached the entrance of Red Maple Garden, Stone was startled by the angry roar from inside. Only then did she belatedly realize that she seemed to have let Little Yellow Duck gnaw on all the potted plants in Red Maple Garden before?
"Gaga, Master, why aren't you going in yet?" At this moment, the bun, which had turned into the shape of a diamond, was sitting in the stone's pocket, gloating.
Stone freed one hand, patted his pocket, and whispered warningly, "Shut up, or I'll stew the duck!"
Although Baozi knew that Shi Tou's words were not to be taken seriously, it was still frightened and immediately quieted down.
"Xiaoxiao, what's wrong with you again?" Shi Tou paused for a moment at the entrance of Red Maple Garden, composed himself, and then went inside. "Oh dear, what happened?"
Huo Xiaoxiao was standing in the middle of the yard, fuming. She looked like she had just come home from school and hadn't even changed out of her school uniform yet: "Xiaoyi, have you been staying next door all day?"
Stone quickly shook his head: "No, I've been busy in the forging room all day."
Huo Xiaoxiao looked a little disappointed, but perhaps because Shi Tou was there, she didn't get angry: "Hehua, have someone replace all those flowers." Hehua, who was standing to the side, obediently retreated.
Shi Tou suppressed a laugh and walked to Huo Xiaoxiao's side: "Xiaoxiao, I have something to show you."
"Okay, but I need to change my clothes first." Huo Xiaoxiao waved weakly at Shi Tou: "Wait a minute."
Stone nodded.
Not long after, Huo Xiaoxiao came out after changing her clothes.
Actually, when it comes to these things, Shi Tou thinks the atmosphere here is better than that of the ancient nobles in his previous life. Take the Huo family, for example. They are a large and wealthy family, but Huo Xiaoxiao only has a few servants. Moreover, those servants have things to do, unlike the maids in novels like Dream of the Red Chamber who have nothing to do.
Even though she and Huo Xiaoxiao had personal maids, they still had to do some small things like changing clothes themselves. At most, they would just ask the servants to prepare hot water. But this also had a downside. For example, like today, Shi Tou sneaked in to let the little yellow duck eat the flowers while the servants had finished cleaning the Red Maple Garden.
"Xiao Yi, I'm so angry today! I don't know which naughty kid ran into my yard and ruined all my flowers." Huo Xiaoxiao changed her clothes and complained, pointing at the damaged flowers with Shi Tou.
Shi Tou felt a little embarrassed. It wasn't that she was really ashamed, but rather that she was depressed by Huo Xiaoxiao's "naughty girl" comment: "Maybe it was some stray cat that did it?"
"I guess so. You know, the guards of the Huo family are all very skilled; outsiders can't get in. Besides, this doesn't seem like a premeditated act. Nothing in my room is missing; it's more like a child being mischievous." Huo Xiaoxiao frowned, then her gaze suddenly fell on Shi Tou's arms: "Huh? What's this?"
Following Huo Xiaoxiao's gaze, Shi Tou looked down and then remembered the purpose of his visit: "Oh, right, that's why I came to see you today. Last time I saw you use the Explosive Flame Rocket Launcher to blast that show-off Milk black in the Crimson Forest, I was thinking that maybe I could replicate it."
Huo Xiaoxiao looked at the stone as if it were a monster: "You copied the Explosive Flame Rocket Launcher based on just one glance back then?"
"Yes!" Stone answered, but a little uneasy inside. Um, was what she did okay? There shouldn't be any intellectual property protection in this other world, right?
Huo Xiaoxiao took the only successful piece of stone and weighed it up and down: "The weight is wrong, but the shape is quite similar, it's just the color that's wrong."
Honey, this weapon isn't something you can just grab for a pittance!
Quantity? Color? You might as well just say it's not fresh!
Shi Tou resisted the urge to roll his eyes and grabbed Huo Xiaoxiao, pulling her towards the courtyard gate: "I forged quite a few today, come with me to take a look."
Huo Xiaoxiao was focused on the rocket launcher in her hand when she was suddenly pulled by the stone and almost fell over: "Hey, slow down!"
"Look, out of all these, isn't the one in your hand the prettiest?" Stone asked, pointing to the junk that was carelessly discarded in the yard like trash.
Huo Xiaoxiao stared in disbelief: "My God! You forged all of this? Is this all the result of a single day's work?"
Just as Stone was about to say that it wasn't a day but half a day, he suddenly remembered the question he couldn't reveal: "No, it's been several days. In fact, ever since your fierce attack in the Crimson Forest, I've been thinking about this issue. I've been planning for several months before I started experimenting. Just a few days ago, with the complete set of forging equipment you had someone deliver, I finally started forging."
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Huo Xiaoxiao squatted down, reaching out incredulously to touch the rocket launchers on the ground that Shi Tou considered scrap.
Stone touched her nose a little guiltily. She suddenly felt that it was a bit inappropriate to take the things out so abruptly: "Weren't you busy with school matters the past few days? You were also unhappy about Nana being accepted as a disciple by a nine-star magician. Plus, I didn't succeed at that time either, so I didn't tell you."
Huo Xiaoxiao was still young, and when she heard Shi Tou mention Nana Ke, she immediately got angry: "Don't mention that girl, she's so smug now! This afternoon, Teacher Qin Mu came to teach us, and what happened? She actually followed behind Teacher Qin Mu the whole time, it made me so angry!"
Shi Tou breathed a sigh of relief; she was really afraid that Huo Xiaoxiao would ask all sorts of questions!
"Hey, Master! Baozi forgot to tell you something!" Just as Stone was regretting taking out the rocket launcher so early, Baozi suddenly spoke in Stone's mind: "It seems that the rocket launcher you gave that girl is a disposable consumable! Because you said before, Master, that mithril ore is used to enhance the durability and stability of weapons, but you didn't add any this time, so that rocket launcher will be scrapped after one use!"
Shi Tou was deep in thought. She was going to open a steamed bun shop tomorrow, specializing in milk and soup dumplings!
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It's time for the second watch!
Chapter 143: Testing the Explosive Rocket Launcher
Consumables and such are really disappointing.
However, thinking of the mithril ore in the ring space, Stone calmed down again. So what if it's a little less stable? It's okay, we'll just use mithril next time!
"Stone, does this really work?" Huo Xiaoxiao was already bursting with excitement. Stone had only been the second young lady of the Huo family for a few days, so naturally she didn't know the status of the Blazing Rocket Launcher in the Huo family. Back then, the Huo family was a small clan of only about ten people, but they started their rise to prominence with just one of these amazing weapons, the Blazing Rocket Launcher.
However, while the divine artifacts were powerful, there was only one set available. Moreover, even the most powerful artifact consumed a significant amount of power. Furthermore, what Huo Xiaoxiao didn't know was that of the original set of ten explosive rocket launchers, only three remained.
Moreover, they are the three least powerful.
This is also why the Huo family doesn't readily reveal their divine artifacts. In fact, not only the Huo family, but also the divine artifacts of several other families are mostly missing or damaged. It is precisely for this reason that Madam Nika was able to marry into the Huo family despite not being a descendant of one of the six great Eastern families, and even become the wife of the Huo family's head at the time.
"Stone, tell me quickly, this is also very powerful, isn't it?" Huo Xiaoxiao looked at Stone with great excitement. Although she didn't know that most of her family's artifacts were missing, she knew very well how important the artifacts left behind by Lady Nika were.
But Stone knew nothing of this: "Xiaoxiao, what's wrong? This explosive rocket launcher is a replica I made; it certainly won't be very powerful. Are you alright?"
Huo Xiaoxiao's initially excited expression instantly turned sour: "That's true. You're only eight years old this year, how could you possibly forge a divine artifact?"
Shi Tou looked up at the sky. She really didn't have the ability to forge divine artifacts, but it seemed that those mechanical devices could be mass-produced.
"But it's okay, you're still so young! I believe you'll get better and better in the future!" Huo Xiaoxiao patted Shi Tou's shoulder to comfort him.
Stone was almost in tears. How had she fallen so low as to need a nine-year-old child to comfort her?
"Xiaoxiao, how about we try out this explosive rocket launcher?" Looking at Huo Xiaoxiao's still somewhat excited expression, Shi Tou felt she was being too hasty this time. You see, in this era of declining forging techniques, for an eight-year-old child to be able to replicate a divine weapon was an absolutely remarkable achievement.
"Give it a try? Sure!" Huo Xiaoxiao readily agreed.
Shi Tou breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Huo Xiaoxiao agree. Baozi had just said that her so-called "successful sample" was actually a one-time consumable. As long as they tried it, regardless of its effectiveness, they could successfully destroy the evidence.
“I have a fire crystal on me. Is this also for installing fire crystals?” Huo Xiaoxiao took out an oval red stone from her bracelet and asked the stone.