Others try to survive on an island, I try to survive on a raft?

Chapter 103 The Origin of Gunpowder

Chapter 103 The Origin of Gunpowder

"Yes, gunpowder!"

Su Jin slapped his forehead, realizing he had been so excited that he had forgotten about this.

As the saying goes, "When the cannons roar, gold pours in."

Without a complete industrial base, manufacturing gunpowder would be extremely difficult.

The excitement on the other people's faces was also dampened by this cold water, and they all looked miserable, naturally unable to think of a solution.

Su Jin knew he couldn't make gunpowder himself, so he turned to Lin Xuan. Now he could only try to rely on this high-achieving student.

Seeing Su Jin looking at her, Lin Xuan said somewhat helplessly, "Although I'm a chemistry major and know that the formula for gunpowder is saltpeter + sulfur + charcoal, charcoal is easy to get, but where do we get sulfur and saltpeter?"

"Without gunpowder, these tubes are just a bunch of sturdy fire sticks at best. We might as well listen to Qiaoqiao and make them into weapons and armor."

According to her, it seems they still have a long way to go before they can enter the era of firearms; at the very least, they have to conquer the mountain of gunpowder first.

At this moment, Shen Qiaoqiao added insult to injury, her face contorted in pain as she shrugged and said, "Oh right, I got too excited and forgot to mention."

"It's precisely because the shells of these Burning Shell Jet Beasts are of such high quality that if I didn't have that special forging hammer, the efficiency of slowly grinding them would be incredibly slow."

She looked at the spoils scattered on the ground and sighed, "I guess this is the trouble of happiness."

"The materials are right in front of us, but we have neither gunpowder nor a hammer. It feels like we're guarding a treasure trove of gold bricks, only to find that we didn't bring any sacks. It's driving us crazy."

Su Jin's smile froze for a moment, but he wasn't too discouraged.

He stroked his chin, his gaze lingering on the pile of red shells for a long time before finally chuckling, "Alright, don't be discouraged. Now that we have the most difficult piece of hardware—the cannon barrel—the rest, the gunpowder and tools, are just a matter of putting in a little more effort to find them."

He then thought for a moment, looked at the rocky island next to him, and his eyes lit up: "Didn't we just say we were short of saltpeter and sulfur? Now there's a good place to get sulfur."

He was implying something, and Lin Xuan seemed to have guessed what Su Jin was thinking.

"Brother Su, are you referring to that island over there? I heard there's some black coal scattered there, and coal mines—often come with sulfur!"

As she spoke, a knowing smile appeared on her face.

"Now we can get sulfur too. As for saltpeter, well, I've thought of a good place."

.

Upon hearing this, everyone perked up, and Su Jin excitedly grabbed her shoulder.

In the past, she definitely wouldn't have liked men touching her like that, but after doing even more outrageous things, she's now a little more at ease.

She didn't mind, but smiled and explained, "If Sister Ying and the others haven't been to the archipelago, Brother Su, you should know, right? There's an island on the archipelago where birds circle around, and they defecate on a pile of rocks next to the beach every day."

Lin Xuan stretched out her finger and drew a circle in the air: "That place has been undisturbed for many years, so the accumulated bird droppings must be quite substantial."

"Bird droppings are rich in nitrogenous organic matter. After weathering and bacterial action, we can easily extract nitrates, which are essential for making gunpowder, simply by shoveling them back."

"As long as the quantity is large enough, our cannons will not lack gunpowder."

This is due to her university chemistry knowledge coming into play, and with the help of her alchemist talent, the production of these nitric acids will be greatly increased.

If they can shovel away all that bird droppings, it should last them for a while, as long as they don't misuse the cannons like fireworks.

These words made Su Jin's eyes light up with envy; it was as if the top student from the chemistry department had given them a cheat code!

"Not only that," Lin Xuan added, as if remembering something, "If we can get some sugar in the future, combined with these materials, the power of the shells can be doubled."

"White sugar?" Su Jin was taken aback for a moment, then waved his hand with a wry smile and said, "Let's forget about that stuff. You need sugarcane fields to get it. In ancient times, white sugar was a strategic resource. We can't even gather enough iron right now, so how can we have the time to look for sugarcane?"

He sorted out his thoughts and began to set the tone for today: "Now that we have a clear idea, our task for today is clear. First, let's go back to Forest Island."

"I had a guess earlier. Since these Burning Shell Jet Beasts like geothermal and high-temperature environments, they definitely won't be able to stay in those cold and damp places in the forest now that the cold wave is coming soon."

"I reckon most of the monsters on the island have retreated to the sun-baked beaches; there's not much that would hide inside."

Su Jin turned to Shen Ruying, seeking the opinion of this somewhat knowledgeable person about the ocean: "Tell me, if we clean up all these red-shelled razor clams on the beach, wouldn't this island be our backyard?"

Shen Ruying tilted her head and pondered for a moment, then nodded in deep agreement: "Very likely. This kind of creature is extremely dependent on heat energy. If there are no volcanoes or geothermal activity in the center of the island, then the beaches with plenty of sunshine are their only habitat."

"Once they are cleared away, the island should be a relatively safe place for the time being."

"All done!" Su Jin waved his hand and jumped onto the helm, his expression becoming somewhat excited.

"Let's go to Forest Island first and clear it out, collect all the free materials that can be used to make cannon barrels, and then go to Stone Island this afternoon to collect some sulfur."

At this moment, Shen Qiaoqiao chimed in, "Also, let's get back the results of our hard work yesterday; we can't let them go to waste."

Li Yuanyuan and Shen Ruying both nodded. The former had chopped a lot of firewood and picked a lot of wild vegetables and fruits, while the latter had collected a pile of coal but hadn't had time to take it yet.

"No problem, let's go!"

As the sails were hoisted, the ship slowly sailed around the forest island and soon reached the other side of the island.

There is another beach here, and the sea area here is not a coral reef area, but rather a medium-deep sea area, where the color of the seawater has turned azure.

According to Su Jin's experience, the water depth here should be at least 50 meters.

That makes sense, since the Burning Shell Jet Beasts like to live near geothermal fissures, and this depth must have such terrain.

However, this also indicates that this sea area may be quite dangerous, and caution should be exercised.

It's daytime now, so there's nothing to worry about. Soon, Su Jin focused back on his goals for the day.

As the sailboat approached the beach, Su Jin and the others finally saw what was happening on the beach.

"What... what's going on?"

Everyone who was ready to go all out was stunned when they saw the scene on the beach.

This isn't a gathering of sea creatures; it's practically a giant meat grinder.

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