Iron thorns.

This is a special transmutation circle for bullets that Edward painstakingly created over several days.

Alice, the alchemist, saw it as valuable enough that if the soldiers could be equipped with it, it would greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the lower-level troops.

"Our old flintlock muskets could penetrate the armor of low-ranking warriors and the spell cloaks of low-ranking wizards, but they weren't lethal enough."

Without sufficient firepower to focus fire on the same target, it is extremely difficult to kill it unless you hit a vital spot.

Now, Your Highness, with your invention, things will be different; a small wound can become the Grim Reaper's scythe.

Holding the Iron Thorn Bullet restored by Edward, Alice felt that she had underestimated the talent of this man.

In the past, warriors from enemy countries relied on leather armor or chainmail, imbued with fighting spirit for defense.

It takes at least ten flintlock pistols to guarantee the killing of a low-level warrior from a distance.

However, whether it's fighting spirit or magic, before the user achieves true transcendence, it's difficult to completely protect internal organs.

The second senior brother, who remained motionless on the test site, would become the fate of those enemies.

"Yes, it's pretty much what you said, it can give us more advantages on the ground."

So, although it's a passable piece, it's not one I'm satisfied with.

Mass production is not a problem for Edward, since the transmutation circles on them are not hand-drawn.

His mental power is highly precise. Give him a ton of iron, and with the help of a transmutation array, he can convert all of that metal into bullets, each bearing the inscription of Iron Thorns.

However, the biggest prerequisite for this thing to cause damage is to break through the opponent's defenses.

"Without breaking through the defenses, it's very difficult for the wire to penetrate the outer defenses, and the alchemy array can't reach the blood inside."

Our current gunpowder propellant is still insufficient, resulting in too short an effective killing range.

This was a headache for Edward. Although the El Empire had been doing its best to research and optimize gunpowder, the progress was not particularly ideal.

If it's about optimizing the strength of metal materials, alchemy can accomplish this very easily. They only need to put different proportions of metal into the alchemy array, experimentally create alloys, and test the data.

There's no need to worry about any unexpected impurities getting mixed in, or about problems with the alloy mixing; it's an absolutely perfect alloy.

However, in the field of chemistry, many compounds are born by chance. At least for now, the El Empire still uses gunpowder, and nitroglycerin and the like have not been discovered at all.

"Gunpowder, how can we make it more effective?"

At just eight years old, you've already started thinking about how to enhance your weapons.

[You've tried to research a completely new gunpowder formula and have reviewed the experimental records of other alchemists, but progress hasn't been particularly ideal.]

You didn't give up; you still believed you had a chance to find the answer you were looking for.

That year, you were nine years old. Your father summoned you to his study, as if he had something important to tell you.

"Father."

"Yes, Edward, you've arrived."

They met in the emperor's study, and when Edward arrived, his father, Charles Mars, was holding a cup of tea.

It seems we've been waiting for quite some time.