Chapter 20 - 17: The Phantom Crossbow Cannon in the Nautical Journal
Da Fei continued to flip through the diary, and finally found some content.
——February 8, year 150, cloudy, we've been out at sea for over two months, and haven't seen a single pirate. We're cooped up in the hold every day and it's driving us insane! Our ship is too fast, so we can't even fish for fun. Life is really boring and tedious. Roberts suggested we all play cards together. I thought about it; the sailing regulations don't prohibit card games, so we might as well play a few rounds. After all, we're in this stinky and stuffy hold, and the captain and first officer rarely come down to inspect. But even if they do come down, their boot sounds will warn us.
——February 9, year 150, sunny, Roberts owes me 14 gold coins, Eric owes me 10 gold coins.
——February 10, year 150, sunny, Roberts won today, but still owes me 4 gold coins. Eric lost again, owing me a total of 15 gold coins.
——February 11, year 150, cloudy, dammit! Eric was on a winning streak today, and now I owe him 5 gold coins!
Dang! Finally, I've restored the good habit of writing daily diaries, but can you be any more boring? What about your wife? Your daughter? Keep reading!
——February 14, year 150, while we were playing cards, someone suddenly came down from above! It was Count Makar! He kindly greeted us gunners and brought us some fun little magical trinkets to stave off boredom! Who would have thought such an esteemed mage like Count Makar would come to our stinky and stuffy hold and be so approachable? His demeanor truly impressed us!
Da Fei's spirits lifted! Makar! Keep flipping! A large amount of gambling debts recorded, skip!
——March 16, year 150, torrential rain! At 9 p.m., the lookout sounded the alarm! We've encountered pirates! I was thrilled! Finally, it's my turn to act! All of us gunners were excited and ready! At 11 p.m., our ship escaped the pirates, and we got excited for nothing!
Middle section of gambling debts, skip.
——April 2, year 150, sunny, at 10 p.m., we encountered pirates and then evaded them. I wondered, our ship is so fast, and our crew is the Empire's elite with such excellent captains, officers, and sailors, will we gunners ever have the chance to take action?
——April 11, year 150, rain! Hello, pirates! Goodbye, pirates!
——April 17, year 150, rain! Days of continuous rain led our sailors to develop rheumatism, causing knee pain when walking; this feeling is truly miserable.
——April 18, year 150, rain, today Count Makar came down to the hold again and brought us a barrel of rheumatism-curing wine. It had a peculiar color and was bitter but worked wonders; after one glass, our limbs were healed, and our legs were filled with power! Count Makar is truly admirable!
Legs filled with power? Did they turn into hopping zombies? Skip the gambling debts and keep flipping! Oh, there's content! This page is full of words!
——June 3, year 150, sunny! This unexpected day has finally arrived, we've entered the waters where the Naga reside, and combat is now unavoidable! Having been at sea for nearly six months, we finally get to take action! In a fierce chase, I took down six Nagas, Roberts four, Eric three, Robbin five, Joey five, Hawke three. Unfortunately, the Naga leader escaped on an injured Sea Dragon! If only our crossbow cannons had a longer range and greater power, we could have hunted the Sea Dragon for unimaginable rewards. I could have earned notable merit! I missed this rare opportunity to establish great credit in half a year; I couldn't feel happy during tonight's commendation ceremony. This battle exposed significant accuracy issues!
We're accustomed to fighting pirates, where our crossbow cannon targets are usually large-sized ships or surfaced sea monsters, and there's no worry about missing. But facing the high-speed, underwater Nagas chasing us, we were powerless.
Firstly, it's because the ship is constantly rocking.
Then there's the issue of light refraction in the water, making aiming difficult. Fishermen skew their aim when harpooning fish, which now seems like an important skill. Unfortunately, I underestimated fishermen and didn't master this skill. But the Nagas are naturally proficient, able to hide underwater and fire accurate bone arrows at us, while we struggle to hit them precisely.
Moreover, the water significantly reduces the crossbow arrows' power; this is unbelievable! But my calculations confirm it, decreasing the power by one-third to one-half when entering the water! Equivalent to 20 points of armor defense! How can water, such a weak presence, provide such solid armor protection? I suspect it's akin to skipping flat stones on the water; it's the principle of the stone skipping across the surface.
How do we solve this problem? I'm too tired today; I need to gather everyone to discuss it tomorrow.
...
Da Fei was thrilled! There's potential! Hitting a moving target with a crossbow cannon is indeed a problem; after Juan discovered the Pirate King's unique skill, he began researching divine skills. So, after this gunner captain discovered the problem, he must also research a divine skill! The mystery is indeed in this diary!
Da Fei hurriedly turned to the next page!
——June 4, year 150, to celebrate our gunners' achievements yesterday, we played a larger game...
Good grief! Where's your research project! Da Fei flipped rapidly!
——August 9, year 150, fog! At 9 p.m., the sea was shrouded in thick, dark fog. In this terrible environment, we were attacked by unknown sea monsters, and we were completely powerless! I could only make random, futile attacks based on the sounds of the waves. Suddenly, a gust of wind dispersed the fog; it was Count Makar's miraculous spell! We finally saw a massive monster, like a small island, chasing us while spewing mist! My God, I've never seen such a giant monster! But worse, we couldn't attack enemies directly behind the ship from our angle! Just then, a huge fireball descended from the sky, scaring off the monster; it was Count Makar's miraculous spell again! Truly powerful! I should learn something from him!
Makar reappeared! This gambler finally had an epiphany. Da Fei hurriedly turned the page.
——August 10, year 150, sunny, today, with reverence and anxiety, I actively visited Count Makar. The Count warmly received me in his study, though Count Makar has always been kind to us, witnessing his strength firsthand made his kindness particularly thrilling. Count Makar's study had many books, with tables full of bottles and jars—a mysterious and wise scholar indeed! I asked about the sea monster from yesterday; Count Makar suggested it might be the mythical Sea Monster Leviathan, capable of creating fog, but wasn't entirely sure. My heavens, if it really was Leviathan, then Count Makar is a formidable entity that defeated Leviathan...
Reading this, Da Fei was suddenly shocked!
Leviathan! In official records, an eighth-level ocean creature with unknown attributes, surpassing seventh-level beings like angels, demons, and giant dragons! It's said that God spent seven days creating the world, forming all things and space-time laws in the first six days. On the seventh, God created two god-level beasts—the male Bimong, known as the Land Dominator, and the female Leviathan, known as the Ocean Dominator!
And Makar can repel Leviathan; just how powerful is he? My Sailing Captain's Epic Quest is to oppose such a heaven-defying strongman? By the way, Makar's study? Generally speaking, high-ranking officials would live on the upper deck of the ship. So, the BOSS room in Blood Sea Wave is likely his study? Would the yield of defeating a strong mage who repelled Leviathan be just a Magic Book?
Now I know how to operate crossbow cannons; dealing with that Evil Spirit surely won't be an issue. However, the crossbow is too large to fight in such a small space! That's a problem. Stick to the original plan, backstab. It's been half a day, yet there are no footsteps overhead—it doesn't worry me that he's level 5, at level 8 I'm even less worried. Let's keep reading the diary:
...Of course, the Count's time is extremely valuable, so I asked him for advice on solving the crossbow cannon accuracy problem. Count Makar pondered deeply, then said he would find me once he figured it out. Before leaving, he gave me a bottle of very expensive wine, and I was thrilled!
As expected! Relying on this gambler for research is unrealistic; the Grand Mage is more reliable, as after all, the Sailing Captain's God-level skill was devised by Makar! Keep flipping.
——January 17, year 151, sunny, today was an exhilarating and inspiring day, Count Makar came again, not only bringing fine wine but also a solution for the crossbow cannon's accuracy! It's so unexpected how much he values this! So much time had passed, I thought he had forgotten!
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This was a shockingly innovative solution! It's a new type of magic crossbow cannon design; the cannon's wood must be crafted using wood for creating high-level magic wands, and its steel bow and protective armor must be replaced with Mithril Alloy with good magic conduction properties. The cannon must be inlaid with 12 charged magic stones and accompanied by 12 advanced magic arrays, even the crossbow arrows must be specially enchanted! The effect of this incredibly expensive crossbow cannon is that an ordinary gunner, with no magic, can fire a powerful shot that ignores obstacles and fog! It doesn't even require precise aiming; the magic crossbow arrow will automatically seek enemies under the array's guidance! Even creatures hiding in other planes can hardly escape a hit! Leviathan, Nagas, and the rocking ship—all are non-issues!
Such an existence is akin to the Elf Kingdom's Divine Artifact, the Phantom Divine Bow, so the Count named this new crossbow Phantom Crossbow Cannon!
This is a remarkable, magical, and magnificent innovation! Regrettably, our ship lacks equipment, tools, and materials, making implementation impossible. But I've resolved, once we complete this expedition, I'll follow Count Makar and devote myself to realizing his magnificent vision!
....
——System Prompt: You've obtained information on the new crossbow cannon "Phantom Crossbow Cannon"!
——Beginner's Tip: After acquiring weapon information, players trigger the weapon's development storyline, which can be pursued through independent research or learned from relevant NPCs.
Finally, the goods came through! This BOSS's distinctiveness is in providing information on a new crossbow cannon! This world's hardest-to-obtain Skill Book is certainly worth it; though the goal seems unattainable, it's still more promising than having no goal.
Plenty of time has been spent reading, Da Fei turned directly to the last two pages.
——April 19, year 156, storm!
——April 20, year 156, an unknown fleet appeared amid the storm.
The diary ends here, leaving an unrecorded day, was he killed?
Da Fei sighed lightly, this poor fellow likely had no wife or daughter left, and most tragically didn't even know how he died, not even leaving any last words. And yet, between these lines of the diary, there was endless praise and admiration for Makar.
Wait, since this Phantom Crossbow is Makar's design, he is the related NPC. If I give this notebook to Makar, what will happen? He'd surely be delighted, wouldn't he? After all, this diary is full of records of his greatness, concrete evidence of Makar's shining glory, safeguarding against an empty claim from the sole survivor! If he's happy, he might just give me the Phantom Crossbow? Probably not impossible?
However, I've already accepted the Sailing Captain's Epic Quest to confront Makar, would going to him with this task cause trouble for me?
Never mind, these aren't matters to consider right now; get the crossbow repaired and check out the next cabin.