Chapter 499, Right Before My Eyes

Translator: Silavin

 

*Creak!* Co Co heard the unfamiliar term and immediately opened the door and walked out, looking at the two of them with curiosity.

 

She blinked her golden eyes repeatedly and asked, “Shaman, what is gunpowder(火药)?”

 

She recognized both the character for fire(火) and the character for medicine(药) in this word, but didn’t understand the combination.

 

“It’s a type of explosive weapon that’s quite powerful and can be used against frenzied Ferocious Beasts,” Su Bai explained simply.

 

In fact, gunpowder had many uses, not just for weapons, but also for fireworks and other things, as long as the amount used each time was properly controlled with the right ratio.

 

“Really? Shaman, how is this gunpowder made? Can I help?” Co Co immediately became curious.

 

Upon hearing that this thing could be useful for the Tribe, she immediately became energetic and wanted to help.

 

“Making this gunpowder might be rather complicated and requires many materials. Let me think about what needs to be prepared before I tell you,” Su Bai said seriously.

 

Although he knew gunpowder would be very useful for the Tribe, it would take some time to recall exactly how to make it.

 

Moreover, gunpowder required very strict conditions to produce; it was not as simple as moulding clay.

 

“All right, this time I’ll definitely be of help,” Co Co said very earnestly.

 

Since Co Co had returned from the seaside, her determination to protect the Tribe had grown stronger. Though she was not a Totem Warrior, she still wanted to contribute to the Tribe as well.

 

If she could not contribute to warfare, then she could only help with things that would aid the Tribe’s development.

 

“Yes, making this gunpowder might indeed require your assistance,” Su Bai said.

 

Co Co enjoyed researching and tinkering with various things, and most of her research proved quite useful. Naturally, this task would be entrusted to her.

 

“I’ll definitely work hard,” Co Co said immediately.

 

Su Bai lowered his head, took out Wolf Tail Grass Paper and a quill pen, and began recalling how to make gunpowder.

 

After all, gunpowder was one of the four great inventions of ancient China from Earth, so he knew a bit about it.

 

On Earth, gunpowder’s destructive and deterrent power brought Humans war cessation and defensive security, making it an important invention in Human civilisation.

 

In many novels or films, gunpowder often served as the transmigrator’s ultimate trump card. It was an essential element for any transmigrated person; such a miraculous tool could help transmigrators achieve tremendous success.

 

[The materials we need should be widely available, without needing extensive tools for extractions. So, we would be able to make gunpowder once the raw materials are collected.]

 

[I remember reading in a book that it’s made from… charcoal, sulphur, and saltpetre.] Su Bai frowned and continued to think, [The proportions seem to be about 1:1:7.5. This golden ratio can produce gunpowder, and there doesn’t seem to be a significant technical threshold.]

 

Before he had remembered, he thought making gunpowder would be quite difficult, but after recalling, he discovered it did not require great technical skills.

 

[But, gunpowder made in this era probably won’t be of very high quality. Besides charcoal, sulphur, and saltpetre, occasionally we’ll need to add some other ingredients.] Su Bai gently tapped the pen tip and continued thinking to himself. [We’ll need to add some peculiar things to it as well.]

 

The peculiar things he mentioned were mercury, butter, and honey, which were inferior ingredients for gunpowder.

 

Gunpowder made this way would burn slowly, release less gas, and completely fail to display gunpowder’s proper capabilities.

 

In Earth’s history, it took a long time after the invention of gunpowder for it to completely replace cold weapons.

 

The main reason was the proportion problem; without achieving the golden ratio, the gunpowder often produced poor results. Therefore, all gunpowder had to undergo continuous experimentation to find the most suitable proportions.

 

Of course, once gunpowder was developed, even if firearms could not be made before the eternal night, the gunpowder itself could still be very useful.

 

Co Co and Yu Ying had been curiously watching Su Bai, observing the writing without understanding what it was about. Those terms used were completely incomprehensible to them, all fresh vocabulary they were seeing for the first time.

 

“Shaman, is gunpowder so difficult to make?” Yu Ying asked curiously.

 

“It’s not that hard. As long as we find the right materials, gunpowder isn’t difficult to make.” Su Bai calmly said.

 

Yu Ying tilted her head, looking at the densely written characters on the paper, and asked, “Shaman, will these materials be difficult to find?”

 

She could not recognise most of the characters after looking for a long time, so she wondered if they might be difficult to locate.

 

“Fortunately, these materials aren’t hard to find. Can you help me look for them? Once we find them, we can start making gunpowder.” Su Bai said.

 

He picked up the paper and explained the terms to Yu Ying. Some might not have direct names in this era, so he roughly described their appearance and features.

 

“Alright, I’ll go look for them right away,” Yu Ying said immediately.

 

Su Bai frowned and continued thinking. “But, saltpetre might be difficult to find.”

 

He was not sure if finding saltpetre in this era would be easy, as people did not understand minerals.

 

“Shaman, what does this saltpetre look like? I’ll also go look for it,” Co Co said, becoming a bit impatient.

 

“Saltpetre…” Su Bai started to say, but his black eyes suddenly lit up.

 

He sat up straight and said, “No, I think I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

 

“Where?” Co Co asked curiously.

 

Su Bai immediately stood up and went into the room, rummaging through two large boxes. He remembered that when he first inherited the position of the Tribe’s Shaman, he had seen it in the two large boxes left by the Old Shaman.

 

And he seemed to have seen it again when he was organizing things, but he hadn’t used it at the time, so he momentarily couldn’t recall.

 

“Found it, this is it,” Su Bai took out two stones with a bit of white on them.

 

“Shaman, is this saltpetre?” Co Co looked at the white stones with curiosity.

 

“Yes, this is saltpetre. Once Xiao Yu finds those other things, we can start making gunpowder,” Su Bai smiled.

 

He had thought it would be difficult to find saltpetre in this era, but unexpectedly it was right before his eyes.

 

“That’s great! Once the gunpowder is made, the Tribe will be saved!” Co Co happily exclaimed.

 

“Indeed,” Su Bai smiled.