As an important industrial city and transportation hub, City X had more garrisons nearby than other cities, and military exhibitions were sometimes more frequent than comic conventions.
"Why do you like to show off your weapons so much? Your country doesn't seem to be at war, does it?"
"War is never far; it's just that some people are carrying the burden for us. You've heard the phrase 'be prepared for danger in times of peace,' right?"
Theresa nodded, "I also tried to create a peaceful environment for our children as much as possible."
"And then you were gone," Xing Chen said, and Theresa smiled and gently tapped him on the head.
"Oh, right, Xing Chen, I just checked, and this train doesn't seem to be taking the shortest route."
"Because we're taking a detour. The shortest route passes through another comic convention, and the people there might not be very friendly to you."
Theresa was stunned for a moment. Hadn't Xing Chen said before that his country's people didn't discriminate against Sarkaz and Oripathy patients? Why would there be people unfriendly to her?
Xing Chen just gave an awkward smile and didn't answer her question.
Soon, the two arrived at the exhibition venue.
Outside the hall, a long line had already formed in the plaza, with visitors of all ages and genders.
Theresa looked at the crowd and couldn't help but ask Xing Chen if his people were particularly warlike.
Xing Chen's reply was, "We are a peace-loving nation; it's just that enemies always appear on our country's borders, so we have no choice but to arm ourselves."
"Begging won't earn respect; only strength brings peace."
"No wonder you supported my brother's actions in Londinium."
"Actually, if there's a need in the future, we might even have to help him out."
"Understood. I will stand by your side and act according to your orders."
After security checks, the two entered the main hall.
Following the order, they first went to the light weapons exhibition room.
"Is this your gun?" Theresa came to the glass case, looking at the bolt-action rifle inside. "It's very similar to the weapons we have. But why does it have something that looks like a crossbow trigger?"
"Have you forgotten that we don't have Originium Arts here?"
The firearms of Terra, or rather 'Chong,' are actually wands that look like guns, with internal structures primarily based on Originium circuits. Their crossbows, however, are like human firearms, with a large number of mechanical structures.
"I really hadn't noticed that. I usually just use my Originium Arts directly," Theresa scratched her head and stuck out her tongue. "Xing Chen, are you saying this is a weapon that doesn't rely on Originium?"
"That's right. Do you remember what I told you back in Tara? I will find a weapon for them that doesn't rely on military Caster units."
Xing Chen said that, but the issues to consider in between were not as simple as just bringing a gun over.
For example, how to choose the caliber, substitutes for gunpowder, and the production and manufacturing of bullets.
"Xing Chen, how powerful are these guns?" Theresa asked, pointing to a bolt-action rifle captured during World War II.
"Do you know the concepts of joules and muzzle energy?" Xing Chen guessed Theresa would shake her head, so he opened his phone and searched for test examples to show her. "This model of gun can leave a pit about that deep in a brick wall."
Theresa looked at the pictures on the phone, thought for a long time, and then slowly said to Xing Chen, "Is this a toy? I can do that with just one finger."
"Our physiques are different. Besides, these are weapons from almost a hundred years ago."
That being said, the bolt-action rifle bullets from this period were full-power cartridges, and their actual lethality was greater than the reduced-power cartridges that came later, which were designed to balance rate of fire and recoil.
Of course, Xing Chen knew there were some weapons that could meet Theresa's needs, but he looked around and couldn't find any anti-tank rifles.
Perhaps in other exhibition halls.
Leaving the old rifle exhibition hall, the next hall featured semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons.
The power of the rifles had basically not improved compared to the previous hall, and had even regressed. As for submachine guns using pistol cartridges, there was even less to say.
Theresa was also unenthusiastic about these weapons, as the physical strength of Terra people was much greater than that of humans. As long as they could hit an unarmored body, even an old flintlock or even a matchlock could deliver a fatal blow to a human.
However, the weapons of the Terra people had a strict requirement for armor penetration, equivalent to having basic armor themselves. Even if they hit an unprotected area, the damage effect would be greatly reduced.
Stacking rate of fire could indeed kill, but in a real battlefield, firing opportunities were limited, so high single-shot armor penetration was much more popular than high DPM.
"However, among this batch of weapons, there's one that you'll definitely be interested in," Xing Chen led Theresa to a green weapon. Its main body was cylindrical, placed on a wheeled stand.
"What is this?" Theresa asked curiously. She had seen towed Originium cannons in Terra, but this was the first time she had seen a gun that needed wheels.
"This is called a Maxim. It's the most excellent water-cooled machine gun in human history. From its first appearance in the First World War over a hundred years ago, it can still be seen on battlefields today."
"A weapon from over a hundred years ago, still in use today? Xing Chen, if I may ask, is your technological progress very slow?"
"You'll have to ask the people of the Northern Country about that."
"Northern Country? Ursus?"
"More or less."
Next to the Maxim, there were brick walls shattered into pieces and tree trunks broken in half.
Theresa swung her fists a few times in the air, and quickly concluded that this weapon could penetrate armor.
"What's its rate of fire? And its range?"
"Several hundred rounds per minute is certainly possible. As for the range... I'm not very clear, but I heard that four hundred meters is a common engagement distance, and it can definitely achieve that."
"Wow!" Theresa's mouth dropped open, making a very surprised expression.
Although ordinary Sarkaz archers could also achieve similar destructive power, their range was much shorter, and the difference in rate of fire was even greater.
Of course, she also knew some elite Sarkaz who could produce such effects, but these valuable soldiers required a lot of time and effort to train their skills and Originium Arts.
But this was just an ordinary weapon that contained no Originium whatsoever.
"Xing Chen, what's the production volume of this weapon?" Theresa asked cautiously.
"I'm not sure, but tens of thousands per month could certainly be achieved decades ago."
Theresa clutched her heart. If this weapon were brought to Terra, it would definitely influence the form of warfare in certain areas.
Although its current demonstrated power seemed useless against heavily armored units and elite units, it was extremely lethal against ordinary lightly armored units.