Chapter 256 This ugly thing can really work?! "And then?" Gao Kai was stunned.

"Then, shouldn't Instructor Lei report to the military region command?" Su Tang's tone was calm, as if she were stating a very simple fact.

"Will the command center hold a meeting to discuss this? Will they invite so-called 'experts' to evaluate my blueprint, which they consider far-fetched? How long do you think this whole process will take?"

Gao Kai opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

When he was in the police force, he knew this process all too well. If things went smoothly, it would take half a month; if things didn't go smoothly, it could take several months.

"By the time they come up with a proper explanation, the grass on the graves of our Third Battalion will be three feet tall."

Su Tang's words were like a bucket of ice water, making the two of them shiver.

“Moreover,” Su Tang’s gaze fell on the exquisite blueprint on the workbench, her eyes carrying a knowing calm, “what conclusions do you think some old experts and authorities can reach regarding this design? They’ll just think it’s nonsense, a fantasy, a pipe dream. The best outcome will be to lock the blueprint in a filing cabinet, label it ‘to be verified,’ and then let it disappear without a trace. We can’t change anything.”

"There is an even more important reason."

Su Tang lowered her voice, making it exceptionally clear in the workshop where only the residual heat of the machines remained.

"This is a gamble on the future of the three of us, a gamble on the survival of Battalion No. 3. If we win, the credit will go to everyone, and it will be thanks to Instructor Lei's excellent leadership."

"What if we lose the bet? If I report it, this is a project approved by Instructor Lei. If something goes wrong during the exercise, even a minor accident like a barrel explosion, who will take the responsibility? Instructor Lei will still be responsible. Do you think you can convince Lei Kuan to take this risk in a short time?"

"But it's different when we do it ourselves."

"If we do it ourselves and succeed, we'll slam a gun that can win battles, a tremendous achievement, right there on the table in front of him. That's much more time-saving and effortless than wasting breath trying to persuade him. If we fail, it's just a matter between the three of us—heaven, earth, you, and me. Understand?"

This Su An! He's incredibly audacious!

Gao Kai was completely stunned.

Old Sun stood there, his mouth half-open, as if he were seeing this female soldier who looked even younger than his granddaughter for the first time.

All he could think about was how to fix the gun and how to avoid being punished.

What Gao Kai was thinking about was how to keep his title as a "firearms expert" and how to protect his promising future.

But Su Tang was thinking about the survival of the entire Third Battalion, Instructor Lei's career, and all the risks and games behind this matter!

This is no soldier!

What courage, what vision! This is clearly the work of a strategist who plans and wins battles from afar.

Gao Kai's entire worldview was completely overturned at this moment.

He looked at Su Tang's back, and she was no longer just a female soldier; she seemed like a mountain he could never reach.

a long time.

He took a deep breath, his chest filled with bitterness and awe.

"Teacher Su... I understand."

At this moment, not a single distracting thought remained in his mind. Genius, future prospects, humiliation—all were cast to the winds. Only absolute faith and fervent devotion remained.

This thrilling little episode acted like a shot in the arm, reigniting the atmosphere in the workshop that had become somewhat relaxed due to fatigue, making it even more intense and urgent.

Time is really running out.

They sped up, racing against time in the darkest, most desolate hour before dawn.

No one spoke anymore; only the roar of machines, the clanging of metal, and the heavy, suppressed breathing of three people filled the workshop.

Finally, as the first hint of dawn appeared on the horizon and the lights of the distant barracks dimmed, the first prototype of the muzzle brake, with its ugly appearance and rough welds, was completed as the last blinding white spark from Su Tang's welding torch went out.

It lay quietly on a workbench covered in grease.

It wasn't nearly as exquisite as depicted on the blueprints; even "rough" would be an exaggeration. It looked more like a lump of iron haphazardly cobbled together from scrap metal scraps, dug out of a heap.

The entire piece was blackened by the welding torch, and covered with slag from the cooled weld. The weld was crooked and twisted, resembling an ugly centipede crawling on the surface, completely unremarkable.

Looking at this "iron lump" that embodied their hard work all night and carried the hopes of the entire Third Battalion to turn the tide, Gao Kai couldn't muster any excitement in his heart.

The exhaustion from a sleepless night and the immense sense of loss he felt at that moment intertwined, overwhelming him like a tidal wave.

Will this thing really work?

The image of the muzzle brake he had seen during the day—a sleek, one-piece design with a gleaming metallic sheen—on the extended barrel of the No. 2 Battalion's gun.

The two are worlds apart, one is heaven and the other is earth.

One is a handicraft from a regular military factory, while theirs... is like a failed product casually discarded by an apprentice in a rural blacksmith's shop.

He couldn't help but speak, his voice hoarse and dry from not having slept all night: "Teacher Su...this...this...it doesn't even look as thick as the barrel of the gun from Battalion Two..."

His tone was full of uncertainty. He was afraid that his words would hurt Su Tang, but he was even more afraid that what they had risked everything for was just a joke.

A joke that would make the guys in Battalion Two laugh their heads off.

Old Sun also came over, supporting his aching back, squinting his dim old eyes to carefully examine the lump of iron. After a while, he smacked his lips and said hesitantly, "It's...it's a bit rough...but, given our limited resources, it's quite good that it only took a few hours to make..."

He didn't seem very confident when he said that.

As a veteran craftsman, he knew better than anyone that such poor welding would inevitably contain a large number of air bubbles and stress concentration points inside. Let alone withstanding the huge impact force when a bullet leaves the barrel, it might explode before firing even two shots.

...