Chapter 286 — Where They Came From

If the mutants were "chaos creatures," life forms akin to some product of the elements, then their endless spontaneous proliferation in a tide environment would be explicable. But if they were "ordinary life" mutated from humans, how did they manage to "appear out of thin air" like elemental beings whenever conditions were right?

Even Camille could not answer that; it lay beyond the ancient mage's knowledge. He could only hazard a bold conjecture: "Perhaps the power of the god from whom the godspawn derives is at work? The godspawn made use only of the giant stag Amon's genetic factor, but to a god, stealing its flesh and blood is the same as stealing its power. Divine power is hard for humans to comprehend. Perhaps that power gives the mutants certain traits... that do not belong to ordinary living things."

"Whatever the case, the 'appearing out of thin air' part is far too hard to explain," Gao Yang said, shaking his head with a sigh. "Everything in the wasteland is uncertain. No one can guess what changes have truly overtaken those monsters."

With the subject of the mutants set aside, Camille finally recalled the original reason Gao Yang had summoned him. He asked with curiosity, "My lord, I hear you've designed something?"

"A weapons manufacturing proposal, though I'm not sure it's feasible yet," Gao Yang nodded and picked up the drawings from the desk, handing them to Camille. "Energy weapons have obvious advantages, but they also have clear drawbacks against things like anti-magic shields. We still need projectile weapons—ideally both kinds, so that we can hold the advantage on any complicated battlefield."

This lord seemed approachable and open-natured, but in truth he was cautious, meticulous in his planning, and a man who on the battlefield never left an enemy a single route to survival. Camille had come to realize this once he learned what Gao Yang had been doing, so he was not at all surprised that Gao Yang would keep a projectile weapon in the plan—and he himself leaned toward meeting the challenge with a diversified arsenal. He took the drawings and was soon absorbed in them.

"Still a repulsion mechanism... using a continuous repulsion array to form the acceleration rails, you mentioned that before..." Camille studied the detailed notes on the drawings, muttering under his breath. "But this time you mean to add hurricane runes to the projectiles?"

"It's not just the projectiles—the acceleration rails have a special design as well," Gao Yang explained, pointing at the drawings. "I borrowed Rebecca's 'amplifier' concept. At the rear end of both acceleration rails I added a magic-field receiver and a load balancer, and used an extra set of runes to channel that energy into the repulsion array. That way, when the cannon fires, all the repulsion mechanisms effectively overcharge, and their thrust is greatly increased. With the reinforced rails, plus the auxiliary thrust of the projectile itself, the range and power will fully meet my requirements—in fact, considerably exceed them."

Camille could not help raising an objection: "Sustained overcharge? That would likely cut the service life of the magic arrays by more than half..."

Gao Yang had expected the question. He smiled slightly. "I think... many people in the field of industrialized magic apparatus have fallen into a misconception—and you, a master of magic, are no exception."

"What misconception?"

"Industrial products aren't afraid of being consumed. A traditional magic ring, finely crafted, can be handed down like an heirloom for generations—used for centuries, even a thousand years, until it becomes an ancestral treasure trailing a whole train of legends. But things made by industry... from the very beginning, they were never meant to be handed down.

"They are consumables. As long as their service life meets or exceeds practical need, they are acceptable industrial products. A longer life is nice too, but that's merely icing on the cake—never something indispensable.

"If it lasts until it has fulfilled its purpose, that is acceptable. If it lasts until the technology is superseded, that is an excellent piece of work. And if it lasts to the end of the world, handed down through generations of a family... then it has held back the course of industry; it has held back the advance and replacement of technology.

"Want to know why? The reason is simple. Industrial products are not only mass-produced, they are also mass-replaced. As long as the industrial chain itself holds up, that replacement will come far faster than with traditional magic and alchemical devices. New technologies and new products will constantly displace the old—and be more usable, more practical. The sort of thing where a magic ring from several centuries ago still wields boundless power several centuries later—that does not exist in the new order I intend to build. If we truly make something, and it remains a mainstream product, the backbone of society, for dozens or hundreds of years, then you may safely conclude... that the magic industry of the Cecil Territory is finished."