The protagonist did not expect such a situation, and a ballista was lost during the experiment, which caused the protagonist some pain.
Fortunately, after inspection, it was found that it was not as serious as it seemed on the surface. Repairing and replacing the crossbow arm parts could also be used, but after all, it would take some work and the crossbow would not be able to participate in the battle in a short period of time. This made his mind go dark.
However, the protagonist did not give up, and he continued to improve the Firebolt.
Since the oil mixture can easily cause the ballista to ignite, and is highly fluid and difficult to preserve, the protagonist experimented with another method.
First soak the crossbow arrows in the oil mixture, then immediately put them into the unsolidified ant glue just collected, and then take them out to dry.
When the ant glue forms a film on the surface of the crossbow, the oil mixture is sealed in the crossbow shaft soaked in the oil mixture, cutting off the air and making it less likely to spontaneously ignite.
This time the experiment was successful.
When the crossbow arrow was fired, the friction with the crossbow arm groove caused part of the ant glue film to tear. When the crossbow arrow flew at high speed in the air, it quickly ignited the oil mixture exposed to the air from the gap, and the entire crossbow arrow flashed in the blink of an eye. It became a long flame, sparks flying when it hit the target, and it was still burning.
The most important thing is that there is only a small amount of ant glue film left in the crossbow arm groove, and there is no spontaneous combustion. You can continue shooting after a little cleaning.
The protagonist is very satisfied. In this way, the crossbow has more than two types of ammunition: solid wooden crossbow arrows and stone bullets. The former only has pure physical penetration damage, while the latter is slightly less accurate and less powerful. Both have shortcomings.
Now the ballistae can add the mysterious ball crossbow, which has the characteristics of explosion and area damage, while the firebolt has additional fire damage. The combination of different ammunition can better adapt to the battlefield environment.
Of course, two new types of ammunition can be produced in batches in an emergency, but there is still room for improvement. The protagonist also asked Xiao Mi II to lead the scientific research team to continue research.
With the research results of the mysterious liquid, in addition to new weapons for ballistae and city defense, the protagonist also wants to improve individual weapons.
For example, the sling is slightly weaker when facing other ants, but it can still kill and have a restraining effect. It is an indispensable long-range attack method for the Divine Envoy King's army.
But when facing the Destroyer, the slings thrown by the big-headed ant warriors were unable to break through the defense. Even hitting the tentacles would not cause damage, and hitting the compound eyes might not be able to penetrate.
And even if the ant silk rope of the sling entangles the huge Destroyer, they can only get rid of it with a hard effort.
Sling has been reduced to the point of being useless in the face of the Destroyer.
Therefore, when facing the Destroyer, some of the Angel King legions no longer use slings in vain, but rely on the long-range firepower provided by the ballistae to suppress and support, focusing on close combat.
However, the number of crossbows in the Divine Envoy Army is now very limited. They are mainly used in city defense battles in important places and are rarely used in field battles.
The newly established "tank troops" can also provide certain fire support, but the firepower is too poor, and there are too few "tanks" that have been renovated.
Therefore, the Angel King's army still needs a long-range weapon for individual soldiers, and the protagonist decides to improve the sling.
In the past, the ammunition used in the sling was natural stone bullets or fired pottery bullets, which were wrapped in a net bag woven with ant silk and left with a long ant silk rope for throwing.
Whether it is stone bullets or clay bullets, they are not powerful enough to face the Destroyer. The protagonist is wondering if the ammunition of the sling can also be turned into fire bombs.
With the experimental results of the scientific research team and the successful experience of the Firebolt, the protagonist quickly had an idea.
He quickly asked the worker ants to prepare an experimental fire bomb. The ammunition was a liquid rather than a solid. It was a small drop of oil mixture sealed by a thick ant film, connected to a throwing rope.
But during the throwing experiment, an accident occurred. When the liquid fire bomb was rotating, it broke from the weak point of the rope connection before it was thrown. The oil mixture was thrown out, burning several ants nearby.
Although fortunately the oil mixture was very small and no deaths or very serious injuries were caused, the protagonist also saw two major shortcomings of the experimental fire bomb.
One is that liquid fire bombs have no fixed shape and are easy to break, and they are also difficult to store, carry and transport.
The second is that the oil mixture is too small, and the "bah" goes out in a flash, and cannot burn for too long, so it has little lethality. It even goes out while it is still flying without being thrown to the enemy.
The protagonist was thinking hard about how to improve it, and soon he got inspiration from the experimental report of the scientific research team.
The scientific research team once tried using charcoal to absorb a mysterious liquid and found that small charcoal can absorb a large amount of liquid and has a long self-ignition time.
The protagonist asked the worker ants to find some small grains of charcoal, which were about the same size as the stone bullets and clay bullets used in the sling.
Although a large amount of charcoal in [Qingqiu City] was consumed in the failed first river opening operation, the fire was producing new charcoal every day, and the worker ants quickly found suitable and sufficient charcoal particles.
These charcoal particles are soaked in the oil mixture and fully absorbed, then immediately thrown into a clay pot filled with liquid ant glue, then taken out, covered with a net bag, and the fire bomb is ready.
During the experimental throwing, such solid fire bombs did not cause accidents. The ant glue film on the surface well protected the self-igniting charcoal ammunition inside.
But therein lies the problem. This ammunition did not burn during flight. After impacting the target, it may be due to insufficient impact force and the fact that the ant glue film is very tough and elastic. After being bounced several times, it still did not rupture and spontaneously ignite...
The protagonist also wanted to reduce the thickness of the ant glue film, but without the aid of tools, it was too difficult for the worker ants to accurately control the time of soaking the ant glue to form an ant glue film of appropriate thickness, so he had to give up.
In the end, the protagonist came up with a simple solution and finally solved the problem of the fire bomb not burning.
The throwing hand uses his jaws to make two small holes in the fire bomb before shooting. Because the internal ammunition is solid, the large jaw of the throwing hand will not be contaminated with the oil and liquid mixture, so there is no danger. Even if there is a small amount of liquid, it will be wiped clean by the ant glue film during the process of pulling it out.
After piercing the ant glue film, the throwers immediately started throwing. Only a small part of the charcoal in contact with the air would start to spontaneously ignite after a few seconds, which was enough time for the ants to throw the fire bombs.
A fireball streaked across the sky and hit a rock with a bang. The sparks flew out along with the charcoal secretion flying after the collision. It was truly spectacular.
The splashing sparks did not go out, but continued to burn for a while, leaving a burn mark even on the hard rock.
Fire bomb sling, experiment successful!
