Game Invasion: 100x Evolution, From Weak to God

Torran let out a huge sigh of relief and dropped to his knees in delight.

"Thank you, my lord. Ask whatever you wish. I will tell you everything I know without holding anything back."

Caelum nodded.

"You are a traveling merchant who has crossed many lands and seen much of the world. Tell me, have you ever heard of something called gunpowder?"

"Gunpowder?"

Torran frowned and thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"I have traveled as a merchant since childhood and spent years moving throughout the Grand Concord Dynasty. I have even visited Thalric and the various vassal states of Grand Concord, yet I have never heard of anything called gunpowder."

"Are there any peerless martial arts in this world that allow one person to defeat a hundred?"

"Absolutely not."

Caelum turned to Edrick. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Edrick, what military equipment does the Grand Concord Dynasty use?"

Edrick replied, "Swords, spears, bows, crossbows, armor, shields, siege engines, catapults, and other such weapons."

In other words, before the players arrived, this era had been a pure age of cold weapons.

Forget firearms. Black powder had not even been invented yet, much less applied to warfare.

Still, being able to produce black powder did not mean Caelum could immediately challenge a regular army in open battle.

Without a large enough gap in weapon quality, flintlock muskets alone were not enough to crush an army from the age of cold weapons. Their effective range was only around one hundred meters, and their maximum range barely reached two hundred.

At that distance, crossbow bolts were still deadly.

The greatest advantage early firearms held over archers lay in training time.

A competent archer required at least several years of practice.

A musketeer only needed a few days to learn how to load, aim, and fire.

The difference in time and resources required to train them was enormous.

Learning that black powder had not yet appeared naturally pleased Caelum.

It meant he was already starting ahead of the entire era.

The formula for black powder was simple. Other players could undoubtedly produce it as well.

But Caelum had the technology tree.

Their development speeds were not even remotely comparable.

He waved a hand.

Torran and Edrick understood at once.

"This commoner shall take his leave."

"This subordinate shall withdraw."

After the two left, Caelum laid out the materials they had brought.

Iron, hardwood, and flint were needed to make flintlock muskets.

Saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal were needed to make black powder.

He closed the door.

Then he activated the technology tree.

[Black Powder Accelerated Production]

[Flintlock Musket Accelerated Production]

At once, the raw materials on the floor began mixing, shaping, and assembling under an invisible force.

In only a few breaths, five flintlock muskets and a jar of finished black powder appeared before Caelum.

The process had been almost instantaneous.

[Black Powder Production Complete]

[Flintlock Musket Production Complete]

The moment both items were completed, the next branch technologies unlocked.

[Advanced Black Powder and Sugar Refining Unlocked]

[Flintlock Musket and Iron Ball Ammunition Unlocked]

As the saying went, one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal, then add sugar and you had something far more dangerous.

Sugar seemed unrelated to black powder, but mixing the two in the proper ratio could greatly increase the explosive power while reducing the amount of black powder required.

More importantly, sugar was extremely rare in this era.

Only wealthy households could afford it, and demand was never a problem.

If Caelum wanted to develop his forces, he could refine sugar for profit, use that money to build the economy, purchase raw materials, manufacture equipment, and climb the technology tree.

It was a highly practical path.

Refining sugar was not especially difficult.

Sugarcane syrup could be filtered using muddy water or lime, making it easy to obtain refined white sugar.

It could serve both as a valuable luxury and as a strategic resource.

Without the acceleration of the technology tree, however, the process would take a long time.

Caelum activated the technology tree again.

[Iron Ball Ammunition Accelerated Production]

The remaining iron reshaped itself under the invisible force.

In the blink of an eye, it became several hundred smooth round bullets, each one sized perfectly for the barrels of the flintlock muskets.

[Iron Ball Ammunition Production Complete]

The next day.

Edrick arrived outside Caelum’s door holding a packet of arsenic.

"My lord, the arsenic you requested."

"Come in."

Edrick pushed open the door and saw Caelum standing to one side, watching him calmly.

Caelum asked, "Edrick, can I trust you?"

"My lord, my loyalty to you is absolute."

Edrick immediately dropped to one knee and lowered his head.

"If I harbored disloyal thoughts, I would never have risked my life to escort you here. Whatever you command, I will carry it out even if it costs me ten thousand deaths."

"Good."

Caelum said, "Then eat the arsenic in your hand."

The moment the words left his mouth, Edrick swallowed the entire packet without hesitation.

He had brought it with his own hands.

He knew without doubt that it was arsenic.

"My lord, this subordinate..."

Before he could finish, Edrick collapsed to the floor.

In truth, it was only a heavily diluted sleeping drug.

Caelum had never intended to poison him.

But if Edrick had not dared to swallow it, Caelum would never have trusted him again.

In the modern world, loyalty like this was almost impossible to find.

Tell someone to die, and they might decide to kill you first.

But in a feudal age, people raised to place loyalty, hierarchy, and duty above life itself could truly choose death without hesitation at a single command from their lord.

Caelum had been holding a gun the entire time.

Had Edrick made any dangerous move, Caelum would have shot him on the spot.

Right now, Caelum urgently needed a trusted subordinate whose loyalty was beyond question.

Edrick was an excellent candidate.

Still, without testing him first, Caelum could not bring himself to rely on the man.

No one could see into another person’s heart.

Call him suspicious or overly cautious, but he had no intention of lowering his guard.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Edrick finally rose from the floor, clutching his head.

Only then did he realize that what he had swallowed was not arsenic.

Otherwise, he could not possibly have woken up.

Caelum helped him to his feet.

"Edrick, from today onward, you will serve as my personal guard. I am placing my life and safety in your hands."

"This subordinate accepts the order."

Edrick’s expression turned solemn and deeply respectful.

"Choose the members of the personal guard carefully. It would be best to select people without parents or family ties. I want their loyalty to me to be as absolute as possible."

"Yes, my lord."

As they spoke, Caelum led Edrick to an open area outside the mountain stronghold.

A suit of iron armor hung from a tree five paces away.

In front of Edrick, Caelum raised the flintlock musket and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The sound exploded like thunder.

A cloud of white smoke rose into the air.

Even Edrick, who had remained stern and composed all this time, flinched hard.

He stared at the weapon and said, "My lord, how can this fire stick make such a thunderous sound?"

Caelum tossed the flintlock musket to him.

Edrick hurriedly caught it.

Caelum walked over to the iron armor and tapped it.

A small hole had been punched clean through both the front and back.

"This weapon is called a musket. Within thirty yards, a single small ball can pierce metal and stone. Its power is immense. More importantly, even a child can use it with ease."

Edrick’s expression changed even further.

"Would that not mean anyone could rival an archer trained for years?"

"Exactly."