Chapter 50 The Ravager

Hax took the explosive ball. It fit perfectly in his hand. It weighed around 2 Kg and there were carved words on the ball that said: Made by Ratha.

He looked at the creator. She had twinkles in her eyes, expecting to be praised. Well, her work wasn't bad for someone her age, but Hax expected better. The explosive ball was a crudely made hand-grenade. They need to ignite the fuse with a torch before throwing it toward the enemy. There was one problem. The fuse is too short. Before the bomb could land, it would explode in the air, rendering it ineffective.

"It's…"

Ratha stared intently. Her eyes became brighter.

Hax sighed. "It's good."

Ratha widened her eyes and jumped around as she punched the air. "I win! Gorre, remember your promise."

Gorre sighed. "So unfair. My bullets are definitely better."

Hax didn't know what bet they made with each other. Not that he cared.

"Let's test both of these," Hax said. "If it is any good, there will be more resources for you. Remember, what I want and what we need is result."

Hax, Gorre, Adam, and Ratha went out of the workshop. As usual, manufacturing bots buzzed around, printing out rifles after rifles. Muscled men with Weler-150 lifted a huge box containing various materials for the production. They smiled and nodded toward Hax as they continued their work. There was a pair gate. It led to the 3D printer that produced the Power Suit. No one really entered from inside the Forge Hall since there was another bigger entrance for the army to transport the armor.

The 3D printer was never turned off. It consumed a tremendous amount of resources: Materials and energy. Hax had dozens of manufacturing bots near the 3D printer just to maintain it.

Raising and sustaining an army was not cheap. He had to take over Boiling Volcano quickly. Only with a huge amount of money could he expand further.

Hax pushed open the door and exited the Forge Hall. They went to the shooting field. The grasses here were broken. Small craters patched the field. There were bits of iron too. It turned ugly real quick from all the testing.

"Look at all this mess. Even the grass seemed down from all the battering," Gorre said.

"Ignore the mess. Let's test your bullet first." Hax approached the nearby supply crate. There was a table too. On top of it were the guns that he created. Any soldiers could come here and practice their shooting. Though all of them already had a barrack with its own shooting field.

Hax wore the Weler-150. The machine wrapped around his arms, back, and shoulders. It was quite rigid and stiff. Unlike the power suit that provides extra mobility and flexibility, the Weler-150 didn't even let the user scratch their back.

Clenching his fist, Hax rotated his arms a few times. After he felt ready, he grabbed the BC-79 and took out its clip. He removed all the ammunition and put the bullet that Gorre created.

"We need a target," Hax said.

"What do you mean by a target?" Gorre said. "We need more than one. Are you doubting the power of my creation?"

Hax raised one eyebrow. It was weird to see Gorre this smug and confident. How powerful was this bullet?

"Fine. Let's have ten statues as the target."

Gorre turned silent and worried a bit. Now he doubted himself?

The muscled men lifted the statues with their Weler-150. They seemed to enjoy their job. What was their motto again? Lift weight for life?

Whatever it was, Hax only cared that they do their job properly. Their reasoning or motivation could be thrown in the pit for all he cared.

"Thank you," Hax said to the muscled men. They smiled and bowed their head slightly. The metal statue stood tall. It wasn't detailed at all. It didn't even have a face. It was about to be destroyed anyway, so the artist didn't bother to show their artistic skills.

Hax aimed and fired.

Immediately like a flash of lightning, and the boom of thunder, the bullet shot forward with a trail of flame behind it. For a split second there, Hax saw the bullet spin, penetrate the air, and went through the metal statue like it was never there.

The bullet when through the statue, but only when it goes through the back did the air clap and expanded the hole. One after another, the statues got a huge holes in their chest. The hole was enough for two crates.

But the bullets didn't stop there. It pierced the last statue and shot forward towards a small hill with a tree on top of it. The bullet touch the hill and it exploded.

Blaring with flame and red particle dust. It expanded like a blossoming red rose covered in violent flame. Raging, weaving, it consumed the hill whole and burned the tree into dust. A gust of hot air drifted into them.

Burned smells permeated. And the sound of crackling flame filled the silence in the field.

Adam and Ratha had their jaws drop. Even Hax couldn't believe how much power a single bullet could produce.

"Gorre, you said that you use used starbark, and flamedust? I never heard of these before. Is this the cause of the explosion?"

Gorre seemed speechless. Hax guessed the man didn't even know the power of this bullet would be this immense.

"Yes—yes. The starbark and the flamedust are the main materials for this explosion. I experimented with the materials before but it wasn't this powerful."

"What does the starbark do?" Hax asked.

"The starbark is plucked from the Glittering Trees in the magical forest. The Man Hunter took it as a souvenir and it seemed interesting to me so I asked one. When I burned one side of the bark, it let out a straight flame and flew away. It was so fast too, so I thought it would help propel the bullets even faster."

Hax nodded. "And the flamedust?"

"That is the cause of the explosion. If the flamedust touched any fire, then it would bloom like a flower, sparkling, and dancing with fire. But like I said, it wasn't this powerful when I tested it."

"Did you test it in open space?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then it's possible that the containment strengthens the explosion. The pressure inside the bullets affected its power."

"Which mean, the tighter the space, the stronger the explosion?" Gorre asked with widened eyes.

"It is possible."