Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 405 - 243: Die, Dog Emperor! (8000 words, soliciting monthly votes)

Chapter 405: Chapter 243: Die, Dog Emperor! (8000 words, soliciting monthly votes)

In the residence of the Imperial Censor Minister.

Li Hongyun was eating a meal delivered from a nearby restaurant while pouring out his woes to Chu Ge.

"You have no idea what my night was like!

At Cen Bridge Inn, ah, that place is simply unfit for human habitation! At first, I was thinking about assassinating Wanyan Sheng, but I didn’t even catch a glimpse of him!

Later I thought about lowering my sights a bit, maybe assassinating a mid-level officer. But even they were impossible to get to!

The few times I did run into one, they were always surrounded by battle-hardened personal guards and clad in layers of armor. My poor bow was completely useless!

I shot an arrow, and even though it hit, it was like I did nothing to them! Then I was chased by his guards...

After that, I thought, perhaps I could just kill a few low-ranking officers, but that was tough and didn’t meet the conditions to clear the level...

I regret it; I really should have chosen to be a scholar. At least I could have enjoyed good food and drink in the comfort of my home, instead of butting heads with the Jin people..."

Chu Ge also vented his bitterness: "Who told you this position of Imperial Censor Minister was easy to hold?

And how would you know what I’ve been through during this time!

Honestly, although your assassin path is hard, at least you confront the Jin people head-on. If you die, you just restart, and at least it’s not suffocating.

But do you have any idea how suffocating the scholar path is!

I just wanted to organize the city defenses with the Left Minister Li Boxi, but what happened?

Every day at court, the civil officials are just sniping at each other. One emperor in the capital, another one outside; they take turns being tricky! If you accidentally displease the emperor, you get demoted!

Outside, the Jin soldiers are pressing step by step, but inside the palace, the emperor and all the civil and military officials don’t seriously think about how to resist the Jin—just playing all kinds of mind games every day...

The most infuriating thing is, the emperor even thinks about running away! Can you believe that?

I have to sleep with one eye open at night, ready to catch him if he tries to flee, otherwise this instance is directly doomed!"

After each had shared his grievances, they both found the other’s situation difficult.

Thus, they drowned their sorrows in liquor.

Li Hongyun sighed, "What do I do now? I reckon the first day’s time is almost up, just quit the game? I really can’t accept this!

Not passing even the first phase, if word gets out, we can’t afford to lose that face!"

Despite saying that, Li Hongyun clearly did not have a good solution.

As an assassin player, he was already inside the city, not at Cen Bridge Inn. Now, if he wanted to score some points, he could only wait for the Bianliang defense battle to start, then kill a few Jin soldiers on the city walls.

But no matter what, the Jin people he could kill weren’t of high enough importance, and it still wouldn’t be enough to clear the level.

No matter how you looked at it, there seemed to be no hope today.

But hearing Li Hongyun speak, Chu Ge held his wine cup, deep in thought.

"I suddenly have an idea, maybe we can try it. The game’s time for today is coming to a close anyway, why not take a risk, what do you say?"

Li Hongyun nodded, "Of course, that’s great! But how do we take that risk?"

He was somewhat guessing what Chu Ge might have in mind.

"Wait here, I’ll be back in a moment."

A short while later, Chu Ge came back. This time, he was holding something bizarre in his hand.

At first glance, it seemed to be a thick bamboo tube, with a chamber for gunpowder and a small hole in the middle, and a wooden handle at the back.

Li Hongyun looked closely, somewhat unsure, and said, "Is this... a matchlock gun?"

The matchlock gun was a very primitive firearm already existing in the Qi Dynasty.

It had many disadvantages and was difficult to use on a large scale in actual combat, but it was the progenitor of later firearms.

Chu Ge nodded, "Yes, it took some effort, but I finally got it from the Ministry of War’s storeroom.

As the Imperial Censor Minister, I still have some influence and connections after all."

Li Hongyun took it and examined it closely.

Indeed, even compared to the firearms of the Great Sheng Dynasty, it was far inferior, let alone when compared to the much more advanced flintlock firearms.

The gap was significant.

The biggest problem was that the barrel was made of bamboo, which, while reasonably hard and airtight, couldn’t withstand fire. It might only be useful a few times before becoming brittle due to the heat and then there was the risk of it bursting or exploding; it simply couldn’t be used long-term.

Moreover, bamboo doesn’t grow as straight as iron barrels, so the accuracy and range of this thing weren’t dependable.

But nonetheless, with black gunpowder, if you stuffed some pebbles or iron pieces inside and ensured airtightness and the proper amount of gunpowder...

Then, firing one shot wasn’t a problem.

Its effective range might only be ten to twenty meters, but within that distance, its lethality certainly far exceeded that of bows and crossbows.

Because the bow can only shoot an arrow, but firing this weapon sends out a hail of pebbles and iron pieces, propelled at high speed by the gunpowder, almost equivalent to the power of a shotgun.

And in the close-range blast, there would also be a lot of flames generated. Even if the stones and iron pieces didn’t kill, the fire would burn them, and if that still didn’t kill them, the ensuing infection would certainly be fatal.

Primitive as it was, Li Hongyun still cherished it.

After all, he had a natural love for firearms. Even though those from the Qi Dynasty were crude and unsophisticated, they had their own unique charm.

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