"That's ancient warfare thinking," I chuckled, pointing to the sky. "Our enemies today can come from above; this is already three-dimensional warfare."
Yao Yao looked at the gaps in the surrounding mountains, scratching her head. "That makes sense. In that case, I won't study formations anymore. It's more practical to make some weapons."
We went down the mountain the same way and returned to Xijiangyue. The demons carefully wrapped the remaining prey in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. As I mentioned before, to maintain their spiritual power as demons, they can only eat live prey. Freshly deceased prey is fine, but if it's been frozen for a long time, the spiritual energy would have long since dissipated, making it inedible. Their meat was saved for the next morning, allowing them to sleep in without having to hunt on the mountain.
Yao Yao, Zheng Bingbing, Lao Da, and I gathered in the conference room to discuss weapons.
I initially assumed Yao Yao meant firearms, which are difficult to obtain but not impossible, merely requiring more effort and capital. However, Yao Yao was referring to cold weapons.
"Why use something that's been phased out by the times when there are better options?" Zheng Bingbing asked, confused, then whispered, "Didn't the Qing Dynasty fall because of this very reason..."
Lao Da, speaking for the first time in a while, said, "There are only two criteria for evaluating a weapon: first, offensive power, including attack speed and destructive force; second, defensive capability, including sturdiness and durability. I have some understanding of the firearms you mentioned; their offensive power is adequate, but their defensive capability is severely lacking."
That's true. Firearms were never designed with defense in mind from their inception.
"If they have guns, is defensive power that important for weapons?" I still wasn't entirely convinced. "If the opponent shoots at you, are you going to block bullets with a sword?"
"Of course," Yao Yao replied.
I raised an eyebrow, a bewildered look on my face, and couldn't help but laugh. "You've watched too many TV shows! How could a sword possibly block a bullet? It would just go right through!"
"That's why you need superior weapons to block bullets. I've seen Shen Xingyue's sword; it's purely a piece of craftsmanship, not a weapon," Yao Yao scoffed.
"What I mean is, if they shoot bullets at you, are you sure you can precisely block them with a sword?" I pressed.
Yao Yao nodded. "Of course. No matter how fast a bullet is, it travels in a straight line. As long as you accurately gauge the angle at the moment of firing, you can block it—we've been doing that for four hundred years."
"That's your magic, isn't it?" Bingbing asked.
Yao Yao shook her head. "That's eye speed, not magical power. Eye speed can be cultivated. It's not just me; all eight of my sisters possess this ability. And it's not only us; many people in Shabia can do this. This is called 'martial arts.'"
It felt as though a new door had opened in my understanding. So, the martial arts masters from novels and movies were real!
Lao Da nodded and took out the small snake from her waist. "It's only four hundred years old, and its defensive power isn't great. It can't withstand firearms."
"So, where can we forge weapons that meet your requirements?" I asked.
Yao Yao shook her head. "I don't know. You'll have to find out. SBA must have their own weapon workshops, but they certainly can't forge weapons for demons."
I leaned back in my chair and sighed deeply. This was a tough problem. In ancient times, there might have been more weapon workshops, given the abundance of blacksmiths. But now, the steel industry was a highly advanced industrial sector with fully automated production. You could design something on a computer, and the car would be manufactured automatically. However, the quality of such steel products would undoubtedly fail to meet their requirements. I knew a bit about ancient weapon forging; it involved refining steel through a hundredfold process, then hammering it layer by layer to ensure it wouldn't bend or chip.
"I'll check Bilibili," Wang Bingbing said. "There are quite a few upvoters who are cold weapon enthusiasts. Maybe they can make them."
I nodded. It was the only option for now.
"What kind of weapon do you want?" I asked Yao Yao.
"Have cold weapons evolved?" Yao Yao countered, referring to the last four hundred years, roughly since the Qing Dynasty.
"Not really," I replied. "In your era, cold weapons had probably reached their peak. You can try looking."
"How do I look?" Yao Yao asked.
"...I'll help you look," I said. Bingbing's words had reminded me that nowadays, besides Baidu, Bilibili was also a good resource. There were all sorts of upvoters there who researched everything.
I entered Bilibili and searched for keywords like "peak of cold weapons." Many videos appeared, mostly compilations of movie clips.
Yao Yao clicked on several videos, shaking her head as she watched, indicating her disapproval of the content. However, when she saw a video introducing the movie "Ip Man," she was immediately captivated by the scene where Ip Man spars with various masters in an alley. She kept exclaiming, "Good weapons, good techniques!"
When she saw the cripple appear on a bicycle, she suddenly paused the playback and turned to me, asking, "What weapon is that? I've never seen it before!"