Two workers lifted a wooden box onto the stage. One of the workers opened the wooden box to reveal eight artillery shells inside. The eight artillery shells seemed like firearm bullets that had been enlarged tenfold, and not the artillery shells of a mortar. Just from the cannonballs, the possibility that Xia Lei’s cannon was a mortar could be eliminated. Those eight artillery shells already gave an impression to the audience — Even though I’m small, I’m a real cannon and not a mortar!
Liu Zhengnan held a microphone and stood next to Xia Lei.
Xia Lei’s voice transmitted from the microphone to the amplification equipment so that everyone within range heard. “I believe everyone has seen it. This is Thunder Horse Military Factory’s first cannon. Its name is Hellhound!”
Hellhound was the name of Thunder Horse Military Factory’s first cannon. Even though its design was completely different, its strangeness and the cold aura it emitted gave one the impression of an invisible pressure!
“Hellhound? What kind of a name is this?” Under the stage, Ye Kun scoffed. “Are people who built themselves up from a construction background only this cultured?”
“I bet if Xia Lei dared to personally operate it, he’d become handicapped,” said a cannon expert disdainfully. “And he even named it Hellhound. The name sure is fierce but it definitely only looks good, and is without substance or usefulness.”
“Hellhound? Why would it be named something like that? Godly Dragon Cannon or something of the sort would sound better than this name.”
Even though it was only a name, it had already led to a bunch of discussion. Many of the people who had come were Thunder Horse Military Factory’s competitors, plus, since the first impression was the strongest, they were naturally generous with their words of ridicule.
“Everyone, please quiet down. Even if you were to mock me, shouldn’t you wait for me to humiliate myself before mocking me?” came Xia Lei’s voice.
The crowd immediately quieted down at these words.
“Some of you are probably very curious as to why I named Thunder Horse Military Factory’s first cannon this, so I’ll tell you. The hellhound came from Romanian myths, birthed from the hundred-handed giant Typhon and Echidna, and was Hecate’s pet. It guarded the gates to hell, preventing dead souls from escaping hell. Thunder Horse Military Factory’s first cannon plays a role similar to the hellhound, but it doesn’t prevent dead souls from escaping hell. Instead, it prevents enemies from entering, and sends enemies to hell,” said Xia Lei.
“What’s the point of saying all this? Even if you made the name more fierce and boast about its performance, it has to actually work.” Someone tried to stir up trouble.
Xia Lei ignored him. He continued, "I trust everyone has already seen it. It's a one-soldier cannon and weighs a total of 35 kilograms. With the artillery loaded, it weighs 40 kilograms. Given its weight, any soldier can operate it and carry it through complicated jungles and mountainous regions. More importantly, it utilizes special artillery that Thunder Horse Military Factory developed. Its range is 2,500 meters, with just a 5 meter error and its power is comparable to a 120mm calibre smoothbore cannon. This is a rifle-bore cannon. On the battlefield, a soldier can become a tank killer with one Hellhound cannon and a round of the special armor piercing projectiles we make."
Stupefied expressions were on all the faces under the stage.
Such a small cannon that was to be fired from one's shoulder had power comparable to that of the 120mm calibre smoothbore cannon?! The 120mm calibre smoothbore cannon was currently the cannon that war tanks used; one could only imagine its might! But the most shocking thing was that it was actually a rifle-bore cannon. In the cannon universe, the smoothbore cannon's might was the greatest but it had a very low precision. The rifled bore cannon had a very high precision but its might was on the low end. However, Thunder Horse Military Factory had managed to provide the might of the smoothbore cannon and the precision of the rifle-bore cannon at the same time!
Was this even possible?
No one in the world had yet to accomplish this!
"What are you bragging about?!" A cannon expert from China Industrial Group finally couldn't hold it in. With a loud voice, he said, "You say that the Hellhound's power is comparable to the 120mm rifle-bore cannon, so that's equivalent to carrying a tank on your shoulder! Do you know how big the recoil is after a tank fires a cannonball? Fire it once and let me see it!"
When a tank shot a cannon ball, the entire tank would shake and one tank weighed several tons. How could one person stand such a big recoil?
This was impossible!
Xia Lei took it in his stride and laughed. "You'll see. Otherwise, do you think I gathered you all here to watch me get blasted up into the sky?"
Laughter sounded from below the stage.
Xia Lei took out an artillery shell. A small mortar artillery shell actually weighed five kilograms — it was very different indeed.
After grabbing the cannon, Xia Lei pressed something on the stand behind the cannon and a small hatch in the stand unit immediately opened. He put the artillery shell inside and the hatch automatically closed. Some mechanical whirring sounds came from the support frame system, clearly from loading the artillery shells.
Xia Lei opened the infrared ray aiming mechanism in front of the cannon and a line of infrared light shot at a little hill at the opposite end. The target made of soil and a steel plate stood upright and tall on that small hill, about 2,500 meters away.
Everyone was completely silent as they waited and watched for the result.
Some people were waiting to witness a miracle while others were waiting to witness a tragedy.
Before Xia Lei could fire it, Shi Boren briskly walked onto the stage and pressed a big hand onto Xia Lei's other shoulder. "Xia Lei, let someone else fire instead."
"There won't be a problem, Boss Shi. Would I not know the capabilities of something I built?" said Xia Lei laughingly.
"Boy, you aren't even thinking about the consequences. If something unfortunate happens, what'll happen to Thunder Horse Military Factory? What about that matter?" whispered Shi Boren.
Xia Lei knew that Shi Boren was talking about the Alloy X Project. "Really, everything will be fine. Boss Shi, back up a bit. I'm going to fire it," said Xia Lei.
"You rascal…" Shi Boren glared at Xia Lei but he couldn't do anything about him.
At this moment, Tang Yuyan quickly walked over.
"Zhengnan, put on my earmuffs for me," said Xia Lei hurriedly.
Liu Zhengnan put the special earmuffs that had been prepared beforehand onto Xia Lei's head, covering his ears.
"Xia Lei, wait!" Tang Yuyan walked even faster, looking anxious and worried.
Xia Lei didn't wait for her to get onstage. He aimed the infrared ray at the target and pressed the button.
Boom—
An artillery shell shot furiously out of the muzzle of the Hellhound with a boom. In the blink of an eye, the hill on the opposite side suddenly burst into flames and smoke. The sound and vibrations really seemed like a tank had fired there!
The target was blown up.
Even though the target was 2,500 meters away, a camera captured the scene of it getting hit and blown into pieces, and these images were transmitted to the many displays at the shooting range. These images replayed nonstop but no one spoke. The entire shooting range was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone wasn't just shocked at the Hellhound Cannon's terrifying power but also its recoil. With its range and power, Xia Lei should have flown back at least ten meters but he was still standing on the stage; he had only backed up a little. His shoulder hadn't gotten smashed, and not an inch of skin got scraped!
Chins fell everywhere.
"This… This is out of this world!" blurted a cannon expert from China Industrial Group after blanking out for a long time. He seemed to have been in a sleepwalking state up until this moment.
Mu Jianfeng and Ye Kun had already snapped out of it, and were now completely blank.
The debut of just this one Hellhound One-soldier Cannon enough to let Thunder Horse Military Factory's cannon technology become the best in the world!
A few displays suddenly changed to Xia Lei firing the cannon. This was played in slow motion and clearly showed that a metal tube had shot out of Hellhound’s support frame mechanism when Xia Lei fired. It fell to the ground along with the shell case. The metal tube was squeezed until it changed shape, like an iron wire that had been twisted many times.
No one knew what it was.
"Did you see it, everyone? This is Thunder Horse Military Factory's Hellhound One-soldier Cannon, adapted from the Gust assault rifle's shock absorption system, but more powerful and advanced. Every time it fires, it must consume a shock absorption stick. This shock absorption stick absorbs most of the recoil and is also why I'm completely fine. It doesn't cost much; one stick is only 500. With an artillery shell and a shock absorption stick, our soldiers can snipe a tank from two kilometres away. And it should be clear to you how expensive anti-tank missiles on the market currently are, right?" Xia Lei's voice rang through the entire venue again.
Still no one spoke.
"All right, today's demonstration will end here. I invite all honored guests to Thunder Horse Military Factory's dining hall where I have prepared a banquet. Today, everyone can celebrate the birth of the Hellhound One-soldier Cannon."
Who cared about business meals?
To Mu Jianfeng and Ye Kun, they wouldn't find it good even if they ate dragon meat! Not to mention that this was a feast meant to celebrate the birth of the Hellhound One-soldier Cannon!
The audience dispersed, discussing what they’d witnessed with each other as they left.
Without a doubt, the news of the Hellhound One-soldier Cannon would spread from this place, and take the world by storm!
Thunder Horse Military Factory's tanks and defensive systems' workshops hadn't started operating yet, but their cannon technology already sent a strong message to the entire world — the wolf was here!
Xia Lei walked towards Long Bing.
Long Bing smiled at him.
When he arrived at Long Bing's side, Xia Lei whispered, "Get inside me. Thanks for inspiring me."
Long Bing blushed immediately. She rolled her eyes at Xia Lei. "I won’t let you enter me again if you keep talking about it."
Her shy expression, and those words sent a ripple through Xia Lei’s heart.
"Boss Shi is coming," whispered Long Bing suddenly.
Xia Lei turned around and saw Shi Boren walking towards him.
Long Bing got out of the way before he got to Xia Lei.
"You're pretty good, Boy!" Shi Boren reached out and patted Xia Lei's shoulder. "You lived up to your words and accomplished another great service. What would you like as a reward?"
"How about giving me a reward of 10,000,000?"
Shi Boren immediately frowned. "You still have the gall to ask me for money? Are you short of money? You're worth billions. You could easily spend that on a woman, but I will never make that much throughout my lifetime, and you can still find it in yourself to ask ME for money?"
"All right, all right, Boss Shi, pretend I didn't say anything." Xia Lei felt he had just smashed his own foot with a rock.
"That's all?"' Shi Boren glared at Xia Lei like a tiger staring at his prey.
Xia Lei smiled wryly. "Then what about this? I still have a rare Château Lafite-Rothschild red wine in my office. It's now yours."
"Now we're talking." Shi Boren smiled.
Xia Lei was a little speechless. He had just lost a Château Lafite-Rothschild bottle worth a hundred thousand for no reason. However, for someone like Shi Boren to ask for a bottle of wine was actually an honor. If it was someone else, he wouldn’t even ask for money from them, not to mention a bottle of red wine.
“Boy, what’re you planning to do next?”
“I plan to mass produce the Hellhound One-soldier Cannon and finish building the tank and defensive systems workshops. I want to make Thunder Horse Military Factory into the strongest military factory in the world, step by step,” said Xia Lei.
“I’ll hold you to what you said, Boy. I’ll give you whatever support you need in the future!”
Only then did Xia Lei realize why Shi Boren had inexplicably asked for a bottle of red wine. This was a sign of goodwill, and the first time Shi Boren had been friendly to him. And yes, why would someone as upright and plainspoken as Shi Boren covet his red wine?
But he understood too, that if he hadn’t sidestepped the trap the last time, or had today’s success with the Hellhound, Shi Boren wouldn’t be this friendly. Everyone had their own schemes.
This was good too. If he established a better relationship with Shi Boren, he could better care for and protect Long Bing, as well as Liang Siyao.
“Let’s go, Boss Shi. We’ll have to have a few drinks together later,” said Xia Lei laughingly.
“Haha, good!” Shi Boren’s laugh was ugly.