Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 122: One hundred and two: Night fighting

Chapter 122: One hundred and two: Night fighting

"Congratulations, Mr. Malin," the Divine Envoy looked at the third wounded soldier who had been saved by medical officers of the infirmary using Malin’s method and finally signed his name on the emergency manual.

Malin also signed his name—in the column for the discoverer of the emergency technique: "The only difficulty with this emergency method is controlling the strength of the electric claw. If the strength is too low, it can’t activate a stopped heart, and if it’s too high, it will not only be ineffective, but it will also harm the patient. We still need to standardize the strength."

"That’s not a problem, Mr. Malin, how about we rest here today and have a detailed discussion tomorrow, is that okay?"

"...I personally don’t have a problem," Malin knew that traveling directly from the North to Carterburg required a considerable amount of casting materials. Before, when deities created portals, it was not necessary, but the God of Goodness’s descent taxed the Divine Envoy’s health to its limits. This Divine Envoy wouldn’t be thinking about another descent for the next year, unless he wanted to risk his life: "However, I do have a problem, my friends are waiting for me to go back and have dinner."

"Do you mean Miss Faye?" The Divine Envoy obviously had heard something...but Malin believed that, given his status, the small gossip about him and Faye must have reached his ears long ago.

So, Malin smiled and nodded: "Yes."

"No worries, I’ll notify Lady Anna to tell your Miss Faye. Is that okay?" the Divine Envoy’s words were full of appreciation: "I have high hopes for you two children."

"Thank you." Malin smiled and then gladly agreed to the Divine Envoy’s request.

..........

"What, Malin is spending the night in the North?" When Faye got the news from her Head Maid, she had already prepared dinner with Maya, and there was a moment of silence at the dinner table after hearing the message from her Head Maid, creating a rather cold atmosphere. Maya sat silently to the side, Clovis’s hands were quickly flipping a spell formation model, Lillim listlessly played with Milani, and Jessica shook her head looking at the table of dispirited sisters: "This isn’t like you."

"I don’t know why you seem so happy about it. Malin can’t even come back today, and you know very well how dangerous the North is," Faye said displeased.

"The North is very dangerous, but with that Excellency present, what’s there to fear?" Jessica looked at the girls around the table: "Malin must be confirming the correctness of the emergency technique with the God of Misery. If it really can save the wounded, then Malin will be the discoverer of a whole new emergency technique. He could advance the world’s emergency techniques, and many people who were thought to be dead might be saved. My sisters, Mr. Malin could make history, and as his companions standing united beside him, shouldn’t we be proud?"

"That’s true, but Malin..." Faye pouted: "I know, men always have to go out and make a mark."

"Isn’t that what our fathers all did?" Jessica looked at her sisters: "Maya, Malin’s foster father has been away for almost a year; Lillim, your father is a military officer and spends only a few months at home each year; Clovis, your foster father is a Mage, and he often travels far as well; Faye, you and your parents are also often apart; as for me..." Jessica sighed: "I’m lucky, my father retired due to a severe injury, and of his company in service, only about one in ten survived to return home."

"Then let’s just eat tonight," Maya said, picking up her knife and fork: "My brother in the North definitely doesn’t want me to go hungry, and he wouldn’t want you to either," she said and forked a piece of sausage: "I’ll start!"

And so, the girls at the table began to eat, and although the atmosphere was still somewhat somber, their faces no longer carried shadows.

..........

Malin’s dinner was beans cooked with luncheon meat, which was said to be quite a luxurious food on this battlefield. Malin had asked soldiers from the Sydney Union, including the Captain, who all agreed that this invention was the most meaningful one in the last thirty years, as it allowed soldiers on the battlefield to eat meat that hadn’t spoiled.

Before that, the soldiers could only eat beans.

After trying it, Malin could only say it was very salty, but at least the meat was firm—Sarlo beasts give birth once every three months, with more than ten offspring each time. The Sydney Union also had seafood. Strictly speaking, they were not short of meat. According to the soldiers, the luncheon meat produced by Sydney was a hard currency on the Northern front, something that could be traded for real gold and silver with soldiers from the other forces.

A common soldier has a can of rations each day, and while you could eat it or save it, considering the situation on the battlefield, hardly anyone saves their canned food. They usually eat it or exchange it for cigarettes.

Speaking of cigarettes, the Karam Kingdom produces the famous Radack Rolls, and the Sydney soldiers often exchange canned food for cigarettes, a trade accepted by both sides’ soldiers.

As for the common soldiers from the Free Land of Ingrum, Malin had seen some, their food is mere beans and very bitter, yet nobody complains. Instead, every soldier holds a sense of devotion. Malin inquired and found out that most soldiers from the Free Land of Ingrum worship the God of Misery, a lesser deity of the God of Justice, who almost dominates unchallenged within the Free Land of Ingrum.

Accordingly, there are quite a few Paladins among them, who can often eliminate the Chaos with less cost when confronted.

After dinner, Malin sat in the second line of defense. It was said that the Chaos would also attack at night, hence the illumination flares filled with holy spiritual energy were shot up into the sky from time to time.

Colin went to bed early in a foxhole, and in Malin’s view, the guy was still a bit nervous.

Indeed, if it’s one’s first time on the battlefield, wouldn’t anyone be nervous?

Malin was the same, only he had more professional training compared to Colin.

Just as he thought of this, Malin heard the sharp whistle nearby, and then the silent trench immediately swarmed with activity as the soldiers, who had been resting in their clothes, quickly picked up their firearms and took their combat positions.

Packing away his notebook containing first-aid notes, Malin ducked down and then turned over into his combat position—on a small hill. He had asked Lady Anna to get a set of firearm modification kits from the workshop for the Sydney military bolt-action rifles. This new type of bolt-action rifle would probably become the trend in the future as it was much more reliable than lever-action rifles and its cost could be controlled, while lever-action rifles would gradually be made available to civilians.

Malin had previously designed a modification kit for these bolt-action rifles, including a bipod, a four-times scope, and a tactical fishbone that fixed the scope and bipod in place.

So, having been modified, Malin loaded a bullet after pulling back the bolt of the rifle then mounted the gun and made some adjustments, waiting for the Chaos to appear.

The nearby battlefront soon heated up, yet here it was quiet. Malin waited a moment and unexpectedly saw a distortion of light through the scope.

Instinctively, Malin pulled out a flash suppressor, screwed it onto the muzzle, and fired at the distorted area.

A Chaos creature fell out of the air, landing on the ground as a scream sounded across the front line. Emerging from invisibility, they began their charge and were then taken down by a volley of fire.

Malin saw muzzle flashes in the dark distance through his scope and without hesitation pulled the trigger.

The Chaos surely had firearms, but they weren’t yet equipped with one per creature. Or it could be said that when the Ingrum Empire was occupied by the Chaos, firearms were still a novelty; but as technology advanced and firearms underwent changes, the Chaos lost their advantage of thick skin—they had some resistance against ordinary blades, but against pointed bullet, rear-loading firearms, their previously effective thickness fell short.

Working the bolt to eject the spent cartridge, Malin kept an eye out for possible muzzle flashes but didn’t see the opposite archer. Instead, a Magician caught his attention as the cunning creature advanced cautiously within the group, not realizing that a gunner on top of a small hill three hundred yards away was watching him.

Thus, when Malin pulled the trigger, the bullet traversed the long distance and finally hit the Chaos creature’s forehead.

It was like hitting a target, thinking this, Malin worked the bolt and waited for a new target to present itself again.