Little Lisa stared at the sniper rifle in front of her, which was a tiny bit longer than she was tall, and was instantly lost in thought.
Unlike on Earth.
On Earth, firearms are widespread, to the point that even an illiterate child can name guns like the M4, AK-47, AWM, and Barrett from playing games.
But Terra is different.
Firearms on Terra are very rare.
The vast majority of firearms and their technology are monopolized by Laterano. As these weapons are the absolute foundation of Laterano's nationhood, it is naturally impossible for them to be leaked. Even though the various nations of Terra have tried many times over the years to obtain Laterano's firearm designs, all attempts have come to nothing.
Although companies like Raythean Industries have tried to replicate Laterano's designs based on some theories and models.
The resulting imitation firearms are much less powerful than their Laterano counterparts.
And based on Exusiai's personal firearm.
Lucas Reeve could roughly guess.
When using ordinary bullets, Terra's firearms are generally less powerful than those on Earth. This is why crossbows are far more common than firearms. On Terra, the power of a personal repeating crossbow within a hundred meters is comparable to that of an ordinary personal handgun from Earth.
Also due to their rarity.
Lisa had basically never seen a firearm.
Even in the war movies shown on television, the mainstream combat weapons were crossbows, not guns.
Faced with this long, pitch-black tube.
Lisa turned it over and over, having never seen anything like it.
"A sniper firearm?"
After hearing Lucas Reeve's description, Lisa was stunned for a moment, then seemed to remember something and quickly put it down.
"Teacher Reeve! This gift is far too precious."
Lisa waved her hands in a bit of a panic. Although she had never seen a firearm, she had heard of them. To her, firearms represented great expense.
"And... I want to become a Caster. Firearms are for marksmen... it's too difficult... I don't think I can handle such a weapon..."
Lucas Reeve shook his head and said, "This is a staff-style sniper rifle. In theory, it's also a staff, and only Casters with Originium Arts can wield it. So, this gun is perfect for you, Lisa. With your talent in Originium Arts, you should be able to handle this gun with ease."
"And... this thing is much better to use than a traditional staff, believe me!!"
Lucas Reeve gave Lisa a thumbs-up, his smile incredibly bright.
Lisa seemed to have made up her mind.
She swore she would protect her mother, she would fulfill the wishes her mother wanted to accomplish. Only then could their family of three return to a normal life and live happily together.
On Lisa's cute little face, her gaze gradually became resolute, as if she had made a decision.
She picked up the heavy sniper firearm again.
It wasn't light; it felt heavy in her hands. If it were the old Lisa, she probably would have struggled just to lift it, let alone use it.
"This batch of bullets is for you. They were all meticulously forged by me, your teacher. A total of thirty Originium Rounds specialized for sniper firearms. Each one has a miniature casting unit on it, and they're very powerful."
The petite Lisa took the Originium Rounds from Lucas Reeve.
They were heavy, but for some reason.
Holding this firearm and these bullets.
It inexplicably filled Lisa with a sense of security.
Afterward, Lucas Reeve taught Lisa some simple usage tips.
However.
Terra's firearms are different from Earth's guns.
On Earth, anyone can use a gun; you just pull the trigger. Whether you can hit anything is another matter for later.
But Terra's firearms are different, especially with Originium Rounds.
Originium Rounds cannot be mass-produced. They require specialized artisans to embed miniature casting units, which means each bullet can be understood as a disposable staff. The user ignites the internal casting unit with their Originium Arts, thereby producing immense power, no less than that of an equivalent caliber gun from Earth. In fact, due to the subsequent explosion, the total lethality might even be a little higher.
And if a mistake is made, the gun can misfire and explode.
This process...
Is not something an ordinary person can afford to play with.
The price of this box of Originium Rounds is comparable to a normal person's monthly salary.
Lucas Reeve didn't have Lisa practice directly with the sniper rifle. Instead, he gave her a regular pistol he had scrounged from Jessica, along with Originium Rounds, for practice.
It had to be said.
Lisa's talent for Arts was truly high.
As expected of someone with Nine-Tailed Fox blood.
Although Lisa's Originium Arts talent was rated as Good and not Excellent, it was probably at the highest end of the Good tier, just shy of Excellent. After all, anyone with an Excellent rating is a future top-tier powerhouse.
After just one night of practice.
Lisa had actually mastered activating the Originium Rounds and could even fire continuously. This kind of talent, Lucas Reeve didn't know how to rate it, but it was much higher than Jessica's. Back then, for Jessica to become proficient with firearms, who knows how many rounds she fired and how many guns she broke from misfires.
After all, Jessica's Arts talent was just Normal.
Although her physical fitness was Good.
It felt like...
With Jessica's physical fitness, she was perfectly suited to be a Guard. Back then, she chose firearms because she was too timid for a direct 1v1. Now she's finally given up the gun and chosen to draw her sword.
After a night, Lisa was also exhausted. She returned to the basement, and not wanting to disturb her mother's rest, she decided to sleep on the small sofa in the living room.
This secret room seemed very well hidden.
At least, after a whole night, no one had found them. Moreover, Lisa's mother had probably thought of this long ago, as the secret room was stocked with various canned foods with extra-long shelf lives, so there was no need to go out for supplies in the short term.
Seeing little Lisa fall asleep shortly after lying down, her nine fluffy little tails instinctively moved from between her thighs to the front of her body, turning into a pillow for her to hug.
Her cute little face breathed gently, her chest rising and falling.
Lucas Reeve gently ruffled her hair, then prepared to go out for a walk.
Onmyōji have a special summoning method; no matter where their Shikigami is, they can immediately summon it back to their side, so Lucas Reeve didn't need to worry about safety. Besides, he had finally obtained a 'special body' that could wander around, so he had to enjoy the lifestyle of an ordinary person.
Ever since he became a spirit body.
It seemed that strolling through the streets and wandering the roads had become a luxury, like the dog from his old home in his previous life, chained to a small plot of land. Although it was much better than being in the divine statue, it could still be unpleasant after a while.
Now that he finally had the chance.
Lucas Reeve naturally walked out of the house and began to wander aimlessly in the pre-dawn hours.
There were very few people on the streets.
It was around 4 AM, the sun had not yet risen, and the night's chill had not yet dissipated. There were not many tall buildings around; even those that existed were only a few stories high.
This city in Siracusa, outside of the city center, was basically at the level of a fourth or fifth-tier small county from his previous life.
Enjoying the tranquility of the moment.
Lucas Reeve also began to slowly calculate new mechanical principles in his mind.
To be honest, the forging talent was indeed very useful.
It was one of the most cost-effective abilities Lucas Reeve had used so far.
However.
This talent also had its limits.
After all, Lucas Reeve was just one person.
The amount he could forge each day was not much. Besides the Titan, in the two months since returning from Siracusa after rescuing Franka, he had only forged a barely usable 'little gadget'—the Funnels used earlier, the alloy shield for protection, and the three staff-style sniper rifles in Lisa's hands.
Lucas Reeve had also learned.
Sniper rifles also existed in Laterano.
Long-range sniper firearms.
However, these firearms were similar to revolvers; even in Laterano, they were considered absolute strategic-level secret weapons. It was naturally impossible for them to leak out of Laterano, and without any items to use as a reference, although Raythean Industries had tried to imitate them, the results were not satisfactory.
And...
According to what Jessica knew.
Terra's firearms were not conventional weapons; they were divided into three types.
Ordinary firearms, Laterano firearms, and excavated firearms from the previous civilization.
Ordinary firearms were invented by companies outside of Laterano. Their power was extremely low, probably equivalent to the crude muskets of his previous life. Although crude muskets could kill people in his past life, this was Terra, a Terra where everyone was a superhuman. The power of such crude firearms was inferior to cold weapons.
The second type was the Laterano firearm.
These were firearms forged by Laterano itself, using technology excavated from the ruins of the previous civilization when the nation was founded.
For example, Exusiai's personal firearm. Its power was slightly less than that of guns from his previous life. Although polished, it could still pose some threat to the people of Terra. And if paired with expensive Originium Rounds, its power was comparable to that of guns from Earth.
And the third type, the firearms of the previous civilization.
Their power was immense.
For example, the rare sniper firearms and the Sankta Popes' revolvers.
At the very least.
From what Jessica had heard, the revolvers of the Laterano Sankta Pope could truly achieve the feat of firing six hundred rounds per second. Even in past wars, the Sankta Pope, as Laterano's ultimate weapon, had given the once-mighty Ursus a hard time.
Unfortunately...
They were ultimately defeated by Ursus's bug-level troops.
Even the fastest Gatling-style rotary gun on Earth could only fire over a thousand rounds per minute, with a theoretical maximum rate of fire of 6000 rounds per minute.
This point made even Lucas Reeve click his tongue in amazement.
One could only say that it was worthy of being a product of the previous civilization.
If nothing unexpected happened, the technology of Terra's previous civilization was definitely many years ahead of Earth's.
And the revolvers Lucas Reeve had forged, including the one used by the Titan, could barely manage 5000 rounds per minute, slightly higher than the standard of a normal Gatling gun from his previous life. After all, the ability granted him was a forging master's talent, not that of a forging god. It seemed that 5000 rounds per minute was his current limit.
But bullets were a big problem.
Lucas Reeve had recently been considering the feasibility of Originium energy weapons and electromagnetic weapons.
Walking and thinking on the deserted streets.
This was a very pleasant moment.
Even the Lucas Reeve of his past life had thoroughly enjoyed this time, as it was quiet enough.
As winter was approaching.
The slightly cool evening breeze blew against Lucas Reeve's body, and a unique sense of comfort welled up in his heart. In his spirit state, Lucas Reeve had no senses, and even when materialized, he had no senses. This sensory experience, unique to normal humans, was something the current Lucas Reeve greatly enjoyed.
He slowly walked to a remote corner.
Suddenly—
His keen senses made Lucas Reeve feel that something was falling. If he wasn't mistaken, it might land directly on his head. He took a slight step back.
*Bang!!*
A black shadow fell from the sky and landed on the ground.
Lucas Reeve was slightly stunned.
Was it a person?
He had initially thought it was something thrown from a high place.
A fluffy orange fox tail, cute orange hair, and soft fox ears on both sides.
This Vulpo girl?
She seemed familiar.
However.
The girl's current state was quite bad. She had been pierced by crossbow bolts, and her legs had various scrapes. However, the girl did not have the same constitution as Lisa's mother. These injuries would have been nothing to Lisa's mother, but they would be fatal to this girl.
The girl seemed to feel someone in front of her.
Almost instinctively, she grabbed the ankle of the person in front, her body extremely weak, even speaking was a problem, like a drowning person clutching at the only life-saving straw.
The girl slowly raised her head.
Her slightly dim eyes met Lucas Reeve's.
"It's you?!"
The girl hadn't forgotten this handsome young man with black hair and black eyes so quickly; this hair and eye color were somewhat rare.
"Well, well, Ange... Ange... Ange, Miss Ange, you seem to be in need of some help."
Lucas Reeve smiled slightly, unhurried and composed.
After all, although Angelina's injuries were serious, she wouldn't die in the short term.
"Quick... you should run...."
Angelina quickly let go of Lucas Reeve's ankle, as if she didn't want to get him involved.
Ever since she became a special courier.
Angelina had long anticipated this fate.
Rather than die a humiliating death from an Oripathy outbreak, it was better to die doing something meaningful....
However.
She didn't want to involve an ordinary person before she died.
"Run?"
Just as Lucas Reeve was about to say more.
A cocky voice suddenly came from behind.
"Finally found you! You filthy Infected!!! The Infected don't deserve to live in this world. You know so many of our secrets? And you still think you can live?"
Lucas Reeve turned around at the words.
Behind him, the not-so-spacious dead-end alley was blocked by twenty or so Mafia members, most of them holding crossbows. On Terra, crossbows were standard-issue weapons, equivalent to handguns in his previous life.
"She's just an ordinary courier. Why the need to kill her?"
Contrary to what Angelina expected, Lucas Reeve didn't leave. Instead, he turned around, his tall figure shielding her.
"If special couriers like her are all killed, who will transport things for you? It's like killing the well-digger after you've drunk the water."
The group of Mafia members scoffed.
"We, the 'Wolf Pack', kill whoever we want! You think you can live after knowing so many of our secrets? Besides, this woman is a damn Infected."
"'Wolf Pack'?"
Lucas Reeve was stunned.
What a small world.
Besides, he remembered this place being the territory of Lisa's mother's Mafia family, didn't he? Why were the 'Wolf Pack' people here.
"Scared? Too late to leave? By not leaving immediately, you've basically been sentenced to death."
Angelina was desperate now, not for herself, but for having implicated this innocent person.
Looking at the menacing crowd opposite him.
Lucas Reeve smiled faintly.
He drew the staff-sword from his waist, its surface covered in black and crimson patterns.
"What a coincidence. It seems I have a personal grudge with you 'Wolf Pack' as well. So... none of you should think about leaving either."
"Haha! That's hilarious, you alone...."
Before he could finish.
Lucas Reeve transformed into a bolt of lightning and appeared behind the leader. A cut slowly appeared on the man's neck, and the next second, with a thud, his head hit the ground.
[Thunder Breathing, Third Form: Thunder Swarm!]
Lightning danced on Lucas Reeve's wrist as he gripped his sword. The next second.
With a casual wave.
Countless flashes of lightning sword-light spread out instantly from Lucas Reeve as the center. In just a moment, the dozen or so men were all lying on the ground.
One versus twenty...
It was all over in less than three seconds.
Angelina, lying on the ground, was dumbfounded.
Lucas Reeve's posture just now was overly elegant and dashing. Under the moonlight, his handsome body stood tall, deeply imprinted in her heart.
"All done. Miss Ange, do you need help? You seem to be in a pretty bad state."
Angelina said in a small voice: "Sorry to trouble you..."
"It's nothing."
On the other side.
Lisa, who had just fallen asleep on the bed, suddenly woke up with a start. For some reason, even though she was sleeping, she felt more and more tired. Why?
This left Lisa a little bewildered, and she subconsciously thought it was because her training had been too tiring.