n

n

n

nSirius' eyes darted back and forth, deep in thought, as he looked at the design mechanism again.

nHe felt like bashing his head in the wall for his stupidity.

nMaybe he was too busy with official matters and never had time to think of this?

nNo! That wasn't the case.

nLandon here, even though he was so busy, still managed to always think of something new.

nAs expected of someone he looked up to.

nSirius was about to look up to the projection again, when a thought struck him.

nEh?

nHe quickly gripped the doc.u.ment hard before doing some inner calculations in his mind.

nAnd right on cue, Landon finished his brief presentation.

n

"Any questions or suggestions?

"

nHeheheheh.

nSirius ousted back his glasses excitedly.

n(*□^□)

n

"Just now, I think we can also cause more havoc by placing large quantities of black powder and shooting at the enemies.

"

nEveryone's eyes lit up excitedly.

nYes! Presently, they already shot black powder on these small arrows while targeting their enemies.

nSo imagine the effect it would cause when larger amounts got shot alongside the massive arrows?

"

nWilliam could already see it now:

"I think we should start creating them and placing them around the coastal cities, towns and villages, all around the empires. We need to install them fast!

"

nLandon agreed as well:

"Hmm. To make this go faster, I'll send out some soldiers, alongside the Navy, to assist you all in sailing around the shores fast and securing the place. Of Course, the goal is to get things done before the end of Summer next year. First, you all need to create massive supplies of these Ballistas. And when you've created your first batch, we will assist you.

"

nPenelope nodded in agreement:

"I agree. If possible, can we also find a way to mount these devices on the lower floors of our sh.i.p.s? Just shooting an arrow of black powder at any pirate ship would bore a hole at its wooden walls.

"

nDamn!

nAnother brilliant idea.

nAnd Minister Marcus, who was appointed to take down the meeting minutes, was hurriedly jotting down as many points as possible.

nBrilliant! Just brilliant.

nAs expected of Queen Penelope.

nAstar, who was sticking on his third lollipop, innocently stretched his head:

"Why don't we try shooting ourselves?

"

n

"_

"

nEveryone's eyes lit up in agreement.

n

"Yes! Prince Astar does raise a good point. We can try shooting other things. Not just an arrow.

"

n

"Yes! The entire mechanism works like a slingshot. So if we can make a few adjustments, why not shoot other things down too?

"

nPenelope, Henry and everyone else added more ideas to the matter.

nMinute-taker Minister Marcus was now very impressed with Astar.

nWhat a guy!

nLandon: (-_-)

nSo, they were just going to translate his words from dumb to brilliant?

nHe couldn't be the only one noticing this, right?

nOr could it be that his ears always picked up the wrong words when it came to Astar?

nHow come everyone always heard some genius idea while he heard another?

nLooking at everyone, he was flabbergasted.

nEven Henry and Raul looked at Astar in awe while Carmelo kept telling Micheal that he had a good kid.

nOf course, Micheal was very proud and laughed loudly while saying his son was Manly.

nAnd everyone else was impressed as well.

nForget it. It looks like he was the only one sane here.

nWell, provided they were happy.

n.

nAs for the matter of throwing things other than arrows, it was indeed a good idea... Even though that wasn't what Astar meant.

nThe thing was, there were different kinds of Ballistas. Some great for sniping people, harassing the enemy, destroying armoured targets and so on.

n

n

nEverything depended on weights, adjustments and other things depending on their uses.

nAnd what surprised Landon was how these people had actually started making changes to his basic design.

nEveryone showed their brain power here.

nYes... He was willing to give that last credit to Astar.

n~Scribble, Scribble, Scribble

nWilliam used his pencil to draw on the side of the doc.u.ment while thinking of another idea.

n

"Astar just said that we could shoot other things.

nSo why don't we shoot hand-sized stones?

"

nLandon heard him and was shocked.

nOne should know that back on earth, the Romans used Ballistas to shoot moderately sized stones, pots of flashing tar and other horrible things.

nThe ballista was basically a very controlled slingshot that ensured that it met its target.

nSo with just a few adjustments, they would widen the thin area meant to hold the arrows, opening it up for moderate-sized stones and so on.

nLandon couldn't help giving two thumbs up to William. He even drew a small diagram indicating that the space there should be opened up.

nSigh... The sons and daughters of heaven were truly formidable.

n.

nSirius, on hearing about stones, thought of another idea:

"I think we might be able to throw giant stones at the enemy in future. But not with this Ballista. We will have to come up with something else. I think I'll study this mechanism first and see what I can do.

"

nMicheal:

"Hmhm. I think this design gives us a general idea of what we can do in future.

"

nEveryone else nodded in agreement.

nTheir minds were filled with so many bright ideas.

nAnd to be honest, they couldn't wait to start doing things and testing their theories.

nLucius smiled:

"The brat knew that you would get pumped up. So he particularly had some wood and other things sent to the barracks. If you all want, you can spend your next 4 days making a single Ballista. Just to get the feel of things.

"

n

"Yes!

" Everyone answered excitedly.

nLandon chuckled at their enthusiasm.

n~Ding.

nCongratulations on connecting the first U.N meeting, as well as Sharing the designs for the Ballista.

nLandon's smile broadened even more.

nGood.

nNow that this was down and over with, it was time to prepare and set off.

nIt was time to leave the Pyno Continent!

nThis was already the last week of November.

nAnd all he wanted now was to have an uneventful December before leaving January 5th.

nCould the heavens just do that tiny favour for him?

nNope!

nRight now, unbeknownst to him, a few of his men were in a very, very, bad situation.

n

n