Spire underground laboratory, Black Knights training grounds.

Chen Chen stood at the shooting range, silently admiring the pistol in his hands.

Presentation wise, the pistol appeared rather ordinary. It was not much different from a regular pistol except its sleeves appeared thicker than ordinary pistols, giving it a stocky, st.u.r.dy impression.

However, this was not the finalized product but merely a prototype. Should it yield convincing results, Chen Chen could make it the standard weapon to fit the Black Knights with.

A piece of the Galaxy pendant only weighed twenty grams. Since the nuclear power station had been completed, the USB drive could acc.u.mulate enough energy each day to instantiate 2,000 pieces of Galaxy. Even if the output was cut in half, it still made for a good 1,000 pieces.

Therefore, there was little need for Chen Chen to hold back.

If he were to directly instantiate weaponry from science fiction movies, he may be able to do it in moderation, but to issue them as standard weapons for the Black Knights was not worth the energy it was going to cost him.

With this in mind, Chen Chen gently pressed the hammer of the gun which caused a sealed air chamber at the end of its body to pop up. He put the Galaxy pendant inside it.

With a proper energy source, the gun in his hands was finally complete.

Chen Chen's gun operated on a similar principle as regular guns by producing an explosive pressure inside the chamber. It propelled the bullet from the chamber.

In the case of regular firearms, the hammer hit the firing pin which caused the firing pin to hit the tail of the bullet. This chain effect triggered an explosion of gunpowder in the eggsh.e.l.l which launched the bullet. In the case of Chen Chen's firearm, the firing pin hit the Galaxy pendant which triggered the appropriate amount of energy used to launch the bullet.

With the pistol gleaming in front of him, a flash appeared in Chen Chen's eyes as he abruptly raised it and aimed it at a target a hundred meters out!

With a “bang”, the target a hundred meters away shattered into pieces!

“Initial velocity 800m/s. Kinetic energy 1200J. Effective range of 150 meters.”

The corresponding data was immediately reflected in the test detector beside him.

Such destruction…

Chen Chen lit up. Bullets shot from regular pistols only reached an initial velocity of up to 370 meters per second with kinetic energy hovering around 500J, the effective range was usually 50 meters at best. With the Galaxy pendant serving as a power source, its power instantly reached a level equivalent to a rifle.

Furthermore, this power could still be further improvised. By hitting the Galaxy pendant with a greater force, it should be able to unleash power at a greater velocity.

As for the topic of ammunition loading, since the installation of a cartridge case was not a requirement for the bullets, the magazine was able to load more bullets. The pistol used oval bullets with a diameter of 5 millimeters and was able to load up to 50 bullets at capacity.

If this was a rifle, it should be able to hold far more bullets.

Apart from that, there was also a biometric authentication device installed into the gun. In the hands of anyone else other than the owner, it was merely a piece of junk metal.

It was also able to rotate between semi-automatic and full-automatic modules. Chen Chen put the firearm into full-automatic mode and pulled the trigger again. With a violent gatling motion followed by a round of deafening explosions, the pistol emptied out its magazine in just six seconds!

“Hm, it's alright in the speed department.”

Chen Chen inspected the target sitting in the distance again. The target had already been smashed into smithereens. Even the concrete wall behind the target was punctured with countless concave pits.

After concluding the test, Chen Chen extracted the Galaxy pendant and refitted it into a larger rifle.

Compared to the previous pistol, the rifle was far more aesthetically pleasing. It was a variation of an unsupported rifle, holding a slight resemblance to an AUG rifle. Since it used the same bullet model as the previous pistol, it was able to hold up to 200 bullets at a time.

However, the structure of the rifle was st.u.r.dier. As a result, it could generate a stronger impact into the Galaxy pendant which in turn kindled a greater kinetic force.

With this, Chen Chen raised the rifle and switched to another steel target. He took aim and fired!

“Bang, bang, bang, bang…”

There was a huge recoil. It took everything in Chen Chen to hold down the raised muzzle.

After ten seconds, the magazine along with its 200 bullets was completely emptied out. The rate of fire reached as much as 1,200 bullets per minute.

The steel target had long been obliterated.

“Initial velocity 1500m/s. Kinetic energy 3400J. Effective range of 1013 meters.”

Chen Chen was struck dumb by the newly reflected readings. It had blown all of the manufactured rifles in the world out of the water. The only question that remained was regarding its durability and stability.

Which was to say that with the Galaxy pendant as an energy source, pistols were escalated to the level of rifles and rifles were brought to the level of sniper rifles. In that case, what about sniper rifles?

Chen Chen turned to the third gun.

It was a sniper rifle with a design closely resembling the AWP.

To optimize the power of the sniper rifle, it did not use the 5 millimeter bullet models used in the pistol and rifle. Instead, it used an enlarged version of bullet measuring at a diameter of 10 millimeters.

Chen Chen extracted the Galaxy pendant. After a momentary pause, he suddenly tossed it to Cheng Cao beside him. “Want to give it a shot?”

Cheng Cao caught the Galaxy pendant and briefly inspected it before responding with a nod. He took the sniper rifle and inserted the Galaxy pendant into it.

“Be careful, the recoil might be a bit powerful.”

Chen Chen gave him a word of caution. Immediately, a 100 millimeters thick steel plate was erected on the shooting range, slanted at an angle of 170 degrees.

The purpose of this inclined angle was to emulate the rear armor of a tank.

Thanks to the Galaxy pendant, the sniper rifle did not have to implement a bolt-action structure, it was able to fire in continuous motion. Cheng Cao knelt on the ground. With the end of the rifle propped against his shoulder, he aimed at the steel plate a hundred meters away.

There was a thunderous rumble. A look appeared on Cheng Cao's face as his entire body stumbled half a meter backward. Instead of finding time to look at the results, he began rubbing his shoulders. It would appear that the recoil did a number on his shoulders.

Chen Chen heaved a slight breath of relief when he saw what happened to Cheng Cao. “That's some destruction, good thing it wasn't me testing it…”

Cheng Cao, “…”

“Initial velocity 3400m/s. Kinetic energy 14400J. Effective range of 3100 meters.”

Upon noticing the reflected readings in the detector, Chen Chen and Cheng Cao were both visibly impressed. Such power had surpa.s.sed what was the realm of a regular sniper rifle, it was practically an anti-material rifle.

More importantly, the size of the sniper rifle was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just slightly larger than a rifle and nowhere near an anti-material rifle in terms of size.

On the other end, the steel plate was completely punched through. A large hole with a diameter of ten centimeters was formed at its center.

“Not bad at all.”

Chen Chen nodded. His brows curled up in a frown as he turned to Cheng Cao. “Cao, what do you think?”

“Its destruction power speaks for itself. Still, firearms aren't measured by pure destruction alone.”

Cheng Cao thought for a moment before continuing. “I think that when it comes to firearms, as opposed to its destructiveness, what's more important should be its stability and consistency of output. For example, the lifespan of the barrel, the rate at which the rifling wears out, and whether the weapon can maintain its performance in complicated terrains such as a desert, plateaus, rivers, and oceans. These are all factors to consider when manufacturing firearms.”

“I understand.”

Chen Chen nodded in response. It was true that power alone did not mean anything. Its power had to be complemented by other features before it could be safely considered a qualified firearm.

Why was the AK47 an indestructible staple? That was because it was able to survive both extreme cold and heat alike as well as maintain its performance in all sorts of intricate situations.

Simply put, the reliability and ease of control of firearms should come before its pure measure of power.

After that, Chen Chen had the Black Knights test the three firearms and their respective performance. These weapons would still have to be modified several more times before they could become a standard issue.