"This repeating crossbow can hold ten bolts at once, allowing for continuous firing. However, its drawback is that it greatly increases the weight, and firing only two bolts at a time is obviously wasteful..." McClane looked at Yun Zhe and recited the sentences Yun Zhe had taught him fluently.

"You want to change it to single-shot?" Although Blake didn't understand these technologies very well, he had experienced battles and understood the significance of this crossbow.

“It’s fine as it is now. If we could quickly replace it with this box containing the crossbow bolts, it wouldn’t feel any worse than converting it to a single-shot mode,” Andrew said after taking the crossbow and examining it carefully.

McClane was a little embarrassed. "It would be easier to switch to a single shot..." Actually, this wasn't just a casual remark; he genuinely had some ideas, which is why he said it.

"Is it complicated to manufacture? How long does it take to make one of these crossbows?" Philby asked with unusual excitement.

“Speed ​​is not a problem at all, but if I'm alone, I probably won't be much faster,” McClane replied in a low voice.

All eyes turned to Blake, who quickly understood their thoughts—they were waiting for his decision. So Blake coughed a few times and said, "Gentlemen, let's do it this way for now. As for the idea of ​​turning it into a single shot, there's no rush."

"By the way, I suggest making some larger crossbows, the kind that can shoot three-foot-long arrows. Two or three people can operate them, but they must be big enough, and the arrows must be hard and powerful enough." Seeing that everyone was about to leave, Yun Zhe quickly said.

"This...can we do it?" Blake looked at McClane. The other two were puzzled by Yun Zhe's suggestion. What were they going to shoot with such a large crossbow? Shooting people was obviously going too far, but shooting at the city wall?

"This is used to shoot horses, heavily armored cavalry," Yun Zhe explained.

“Making it bigger is no problem, but whether it can have that much power still needs to be tested…” After hearing Yun Zhe’s description, McClane understood what Yun Zhe meant, but he had never done this before. Although doing this was much more reliable than modifying any repeating crossbow, he still didn’t want to make any unrealistic statements.

"So... how many of these large crossbow bolts do we need?" Blake asked.

The group looked at each other, clearly thinking that the more the better, but obviously Blake wouldn't accept that answer.

"Let's make one first and see. If it's okay, we'll continue making more." Seeing everyone's expressions, even though he couldn't read minds, Blake knew what they were thinking. He shook his head with a wry smile and could only try to smooth things over.

Everyone nodded in agreement, which was considered a consensus.

Yun Zhe looked at Blake, who was thinking to himself that the crossbowman's status had been elevated to such a high level for the first time, which made him feel somewhat uncomfortable. In his opinion, the truly cheap and effective unit should be the spearman, but it seemed to have been completely ignored.

Yun Zhe's eyes lit up. It turned out that there were still sensible people in this world, so he simply made his point clear.

“Crossbows are indeed necessary, but cheap and effective pikemen are also something we must consider. Their weapons are inexpensive to produce, and their attacks can be trained quickly. They are a very good force that can be formed rapidly.” Yun Zhe’s words surprised Blake, but this was exactly what he wanted to say, so he expressed his opinion.

“If, and I mean if, a major war is truly unavoidable, then I think pikemen are indeed a very suitable choice. The amount of iron used in one sword can be exchanged for three to four spearheads, making them a very suitable type of soldier for us. Moreover, as Yun Zhe said, pikemen can be trained quickly and can be easily formed into an army.”

None of them spoke again. Andrew, who was most skilled with pikemen, naturally felt there was no problem.

"That's settled then. Hopefully, war won't break out." With that closing remark, Blake was the first to leave the cabin, followed closely by Andrew. Philby hesitated for a moment, fiddling with the repeating crossbow, before finally leaving.

Yun Zhe carefully put away the repeating crossbow. He understood the meaning of Blake's last words. To put it bluntly, he didn't want to turn Donic into a war machine, but the current situation was indeed very bad, and he had no choice but to temporarily agree with Yun Zhe's views.

If things improve on Donic's side, then Black will become Yun Zhe's biggest strategic obstacle. This is beyond doubt.

Yun Zhe slumped weakly in his chair. Clearly, Blake was a realist and wouldn't easily change his stance unless there was a real threat.

However, Donic might not be able to withstand such a threat.

Yun Zhe didn't dwell on it further. Instead, he went straight to Serena and explained his idea of ​​transferring all the profits from his mithril mine to Philby so he could build his own army. Unexpectedly, Serena refused.

"I heard you have a large mercenary force under your command?" Serena asked Yun Zhe solemnly.

"Indeed, there are some, mainly unemployed people from the capital. We're afraid they'll cause trouble..." Yun Zhe explained.

Serena nodded. "Approximately how many people are there now?"

This problem stumped Yun Zhe, as he wasn't entirely sure of the number. After all, Jerok had mentioned expanding and streamlining recruitment many times. "Around a thousand?" Yun Zhe said uncertainly. "I've left Jerok in charge of everything; I'm not going to worry about the specifics anymore."

Serena frowned slightly, making the young woman appear much more mature. "You'd better keep an eye on things," Yun Zhe said, his heart tightening. Had something happened?

"I do need a mercenary force like this, and the more the better, the more professional the better."

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