Novels online

Chapter 45: The Plastic Catapults

The toy store showcased a dazzling array of toy weapons.

Yet, as Li Daoxuan scanned row after row, he found almost nothing usable.

Children's toy guns were out of the question; once magnified inside the Diorama Box, they'd stretch for hundreds of meters. Even a rubber band gun, which was ten centimeters long, would become twenty meters in the box—far too large for the villagers to wield.

If he couldn't find any suitable "modern weapons," his only recourse would be to split toothpicks, break them into one-centimeter segments, and place them in the box for the villagers to use as spears.

However, the villagers had no martial arts training, no knowledge of formations; even armed with spears, they would still be poor fighters.

They desperately needed "projectile" weapons to safely engage the enemy.

Projectile... projectile...

Suddenly, Li Daoxuan’s eyes lit up!

In the most inconspicuous corner of the toy store, on an overlooked shelf, sat a box of miniature Plastic Catapults! (Please see the image in the section comments)

Each was only three centimeters long, crudely made entirely of plastic. Its mechanism was incredibly simple, relying solely on the plastic's flexibility. A child would press down the "throwing arm" with a finger, release it, and the plastic's recoil would send the arm springing up.

Li Daoxuan chuckled, "How fun! How could I have missed such an interesting little toy when I was a kid?" He picked up the entire box and walked to the cashier. "Excuse me, boss, how much are these catapults?"

The owner glanced over. "One yuan each."

Li Daoxuan couldn't help but grumble, "Just this little bit of plastic, with this workmanship, and you're selling them for a yuan?"

The owner replied, "Then take the whole box. Fifty of them, I'll only charge you 25 yuan."

Li Daoxuan took out his phone, scanned the code, and paid.

Back home, as he sat before the Diorama Box, he saw Gao Family Village was a scene of bustling activity, with all the villagers working tirelessly.

The women were split into two groups: one cooked a hearty meal for the men before they went to battle, while the other heated oil, with rapeseed oil bubbling vigorously in tiny cauldrons, barely two millimeters across.

The men, meanwhile, were engaged in strenuous labor. They moved surplus stones and timber from the construction of the Dao Xuan Tian Zun Cave to the village walls, intending to use them as rolling logs and massive stones against attackers.

On the village walls, a group of villagers listened intently to Bai Yuan speak.

Li Daoxuan perked up his ears. "Hold your spear like this... steady your palm... if bandits climb up from below... you just... thrust it down..."

How amusing!

Another group of elders and children knelt before the sacred statue in the newly constructed Dao Xuan Tian Zun Cave, offering heartfelt prayers, begging Dao Xuan Tian Zun to protect everyone and keep them safe from harm.

Such vibrant activity within the box was precisely what Li Daoxuan loved to see.

He secretly congratulated himself for not simply wiping out all the bandits with a single swipe; otherwise, there wouldn't be such amusing scenes to watch.

Alright!

It was time to give them a little help.

Li Daoxuan spoke aloud, "Gao Yiye, tell everyone to get ready. I'm sending down weapons."

Gao Yiye, startled, was overcome with joy. She quickly announced loudly, "Everyone listen! Dao Xuan Tian Zun is about to bestow weapons upon us!"

At her words, the more than one hundred original residents of Gao Family Village immediately grew solemn. The young men who had been listening to Bai Yuan explain defensive tactics instantly stopped, lifting their heads with expressions of reverence.

Bai Yuan was utterly exasperated. "I'm teaching these fellows how to fight, and they should be respectful to me. Yet they listen for a moment and then suddenly turn their heads to stare at the sky. Outrageous!

That cultist woman even claims Dao Xuan Tian Zun will bestow weapons. What a lie! Soon she'll put on some theatrics, dance a shamanistic jig, then pull out a pile of rusty old knives and swords from the storage, distribute them, and claim they are gifts from an evil deity.

Bai Yuan had heard such tricks countless times, his ears practically calloused from them.

Just as he thought this, he heard Gao Chuwu beside him exclaim loudly, "They're here! Look!"

"It's coming down!"

"Greetings, Dao Xuan Tian Zun!"

The native villagers of Gao Family Village dropped to their knees one after another. But the group Bai Yuan had brought with him stood dumbfounded, completely bewildered.

Bai Yuan focused his gaze skyward, and finally saw it.

A low-hanging cloud, only about seventy zhang above the ground, had appeared overhead at some unknown point. Within the cloud, a colossal object was slowly descending.

It was green!

Perfectly square!

And it had a gigantic scoop!

For a moment, Bai Yuan couldn't quite place what this thing was.

No, what it was no longer mattered; the crucial question was, how was it slowly descending from the clouds? How was this possible?

Could it be... truly a gift from a celestial being?

He was utterly mesmerized.

Once the colossal object gently touched down and stabilized, Bai Yuan finally got a clear view. Its main body was two zhang long and two zhang wide, perfectly square, and the scoop was mounted on a long arm, held in place by a mechanism.

"A cata... catapult!" Bai Yuan exclaimed in astonishment. "It's a strange-looking catapult!"

He could recognize a catapult at a glance, but others couldn't. The villagers of Gao Family Village and the tenants from Bai Family Fortress were still gaping blankly, completely baffled by what Dao Xuan Tian Zun had bestowed upon them.

Gao Yiye raised her voice and declared, "Everyone listen carefully! This thing Dao Xuan Tian Zun has given us is called a catapult. First, place a stone into the scoop on the throwing arm, then activate the mechanism beside it, and it will hurl the stone forward."

Everyone looked bewildered. "???"

Gao Yiye instructed loudly, "Li Da, Dao Xuan Tian Zun commands you to bring your iron hammer and stand beside that mechanism. When I tell you, swing your hammer and strike the mechanism with all your might."

Li Da quickly assented, gripping his large iron hammer, and took his position beside the catapult.

Li Daoxuan gently picked up a stone and placed it into the catapult's scoop.

To him, the stone was adorably tiny, like a medicinal pellet, but what the villagers saw was a massive stone, floating into existence and settling into the scoop.

The villagers cried, "Wow!"

Bai Yuan was utterly stunned. "!!!"

His mind, which had just been filled with disdain for what he considered a cult, now felt utterly overwhelmed.

Gao Yiye commanded, "Strike!"

Li Da used all his strength, swinging his large iron hammer, and struck the mechanism with a resounding thud.

The catapult's mechanism disengaged, and the colossal throwing arm snapped up with a whoosh. The massive stone in the scoop flew, cutting through the sky with terrifying force, soaring from one end of the village to the other. It crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, sending dust and pebbles flying, a truly breathtaking sight.

After a moment of stunned silence, the villagers erupted in cheers. "How amazing! A celestial artifact! A divine weapon!"

Bai Yuan could only sigh in exasperation. "A bunch of ignorant fools. That's the power of a battlefield catapult."

Though he said this, he cast a glance at the sky, a sense of awe growing within him. Indeed, there seemed to be celestial beings within that cloud. This strange-looking catapult, perhaps it truly was a celestial artifact.

.