Chapter 441
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Chapter 441: Sleeve Arrows
Luo Ji focused his attention on the sleeve arrow in his hand.
To be honest, it was a bit larger than he had imagined.
The main body was cylindrical, approximately 17 centimeters long, and about as thick as an adult’s finger.
The casing was made of bronze, so it had a bit of weight in his hand.
For easy fastening, two pieces of soft leather, similar to arm guards, were sewn onto both sides of the main body.
“Come, let’s find a place to test its power.”
Hearing this, He Liang quickly fetched the animal fur coat hanging nearby and draped it over Luo Ji.
The weather was getting colder and colder now.
Paying attention to their Emperor’s physical wellbeing, to prevent him from catching a cold and falling ill, had become one of the guards’ important duties.
The group didn’t go far.
They simply found an open space outside, set up a wooden stake, and that was that.
“Zhao Lei, how do you use this sleeve arrow?”
Binding it to his forearm was something Luo Ji understood instinctively.
But how the sleeve arrow was fired, he truly wasn’t sure.
He had seen it in movies and TV shows before.
Assassins would often just raise their hand, and the sleeve arrow hidden in their sleeve would shoot out with a ‘whoosh.’
Luo Ji had never understood the principle behind this mysterious operation.
Some said there was a mechanism on the sleeve arrow that would trigger when the forearm exerted force, but Luo Ji thought that was nonsense.
If so, wouldn’t it be easy to accidentally injure oneself or miss?
Hearing Luo Ji’s question, Zhao Lei immediately cupped his hands.
“Please forgive my presumption.”
“Come, come on.”
After receiving Luo Ji’s permission, Zhao Lei quickly trotted forward.
He then picked up a slender arrow from the wooden tray holding the sleeve arrows and carefully helped Luo Ji load it.
At this point, Luo Ji saw it exceptionally clearly: as the arrow was loaded, he heard a ‘click,’ and a bronze flick-tab popped out from one side of the sleeve arrow’s main body.
At this, he immediately understood.
To launch an attack, one only needed to flick this bronze tab, and the arrow inside would fire.
“What’s the approximate range of this?”
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the extreme range is around 20 meters, but we cannot guarantee its power, and the accuracy will have some deviation. Within 15 meters should be the most reliable, and within 10 meters, its power should be the strongest.”
Zhao Lei respectfully replied.
Luo Ji nodded, visually estimated the distance between himself and the wooden stake, then retreated a few more steps.
Settling into position, Luo Ji wasn’t in a hurry.
Taking his time to aim, he heard a subtle click.
In the blink of an eye, the slender arrow was already stuck in the distant wooden stake.
Luo Ji’s movements didn’t stop.
As he walked forward, he tried to reload the sleeve arrow.
The reloading operation was actually very simple; after seeing Zhao Lei do it once, he understood.
Luo Ji fired a total of three arrows, from far to near: 20 meter range, 15 meter range, and 10 meter range.
These distances were estimated visually, so they couldn’t be said to be entirely precise.
However, this was more in line with actual combat situations.
After all, in real combat, the enemy wouldn’t give you time to measure distance, and it was all done by eye.
Walking closer, Luo Ji could clearly distinguish the three arrows stuck in the wooden stake.
The arrow fired from 20 meters was indeed off target, and its power was clearly insufficient; only a tiny part of the arrowhead had penetrated the wooden stake, and he could easily pull it out with a casual tug.
The arrow fired from 15 meters had no problem with accuracy, and more than half of the arrowhead had penetrated the wooden stake, clearly demonstrating its power.
As for the 10 meter position, without a doubt, the power was stronger than the previous one, with the entire arrowhead fully embedded in the wooden stake.
Based on this power, within 10 meters, even against an enemy wearing leather armor, this sleeve arrow could inflict a fatal blow!
At this point, it wasn’t just Luo Ji; even He Liang and the others from the guard unit had shining eyes as they looked at the sleeve arrow.
As a self-defense weapon, this sleeve arrow was undoubtedly qualified.
Under the element of surprise, it could absolutely take an enemy’s life with ease.
Luo Ji was very satisfied with this.
He also further felt the brilliance of Ye Xuan, the Grandmaster of Armaments.
After all, for this weapon, he had basically only proposed a concept.
He never thought that with just a little inspiration, Ye Xuan would create this self-defense weapon.
But the key point was…
“Zhao Lei, can this sleeve arrow be mass-produced? And what’s the production efficiency like?”
Indeed, this was what Luo Ji was concerned about.
For the supreme ruler of a civilization, if the sleeve arrow couldn’t be mass-produced, then no matter how powerful it was, its value would be limited.
Zhao Lei was undoubtedly well-prepared for this question and answered quite straightforwardly.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the internal components of this sleeve arrow are extremely complex. The efficiency of mass production will likely be slower than that of hand crossbows.”
“No matter, as long as it can be mass-produced!”
A little slower is fine.
As long as the production difficulty isn’t so high that only top Grandmasters of Armament like Ye Xuan can make them.
Luo Ji, feeling slightly relieved in his heart, was even in a much better mood.
He generously rewarded Zhao Lei and Ye Xuan with some items, and under the pretext of ‘making up for past mistakes,’ conveniently lifted Ye Xuan’s confinement.
Luo Ji hummed a tune all the way to the Mirror City Opera Troupe’s practice venue.
Since he was already out, he might as well go see how the opera rehearsal was progressing.
Meanwhile, on the other side, in White River City…
Days of light snow had painted the entire northern mountain forest white, and subtly created pressure for the northern barbarian tribes.
“Among the members of the various tribes, there are already quite a few voices saying ‘we shouldn’t have migrated south.’ This cannot continue.”
Harold said unhurriedly, sitting by the campfire.
Earlier, they had migrated south, and their food supplies were already almost 9/10 depleted.
The food crisis, coupled with their previous defeat, clearly triggered internal problems.
Hearing this, Hill scoffed with disdain.
“Shouldn’t have migrated south? If they had stayed there, by now, their bodies would probably have become one with the wind and snow!”
Harold fell silent, implicitly agreeing with Hill’s statement.
“Prepare yourselves. Before this weather turns completely cold, we must launch a third attack. If we still cannot take that stone wall this time, then we will likely need to change our original plan.”
