Chapter 36 - Cole's Experimental Propellant
Del reloaded the bullet one by one using the reloading kit and a table. The thin paste was easily pourable into the bullet casing. After he felt that there was enough liquid inside of the bullet, he used a tool to put the bullet into the casing. Del would test the bullet using his Kar98 from a safe distance.
He would tie a string to the trigger of his rifle. A stone would be holding the rifle. Del didn't care whether it would hit a target or not. He was more concerned whether the rifle would explode or not. After all, he was testing prototype ammunition which power was unknown.
"What's so special about that one thing that you held Del?" Cole asked. He called a bullet a thing since he didn't know it was called a bullet.
"Oh, this?" Del showed Cole the loaded bullet, "This thing is called a bullet. It's a 7.92x57mm bullet to be exact. This thing is loaded with your mixture and I hope it will be doing rather well."
"I hope so, it's rather untested and unstable. Be careful, ok?" Cole asked.
Hearing Cole said that, Del just sighed. To be entirely honest, Del wanted an EOD suit just to test Cole's bullet because the risk of the rifle blowing up was very real. The fragment could kill Del easily. Del believed that his health point should help him resist some fragmentations, but he doubted it would protect him from rifle malfunction.
Del put those ten bullets into two separate stripper clips. He walked out of Cole's makeshift lab, into the living room. He picked up his Kar98 and extracted all of the regular FMJ bullets from the rifle itself. He put the five rounds of prototype ammunition into the rifle.
Now, Del had to find a string. The quickest solution was the string on his boots. It might be long enough for the test. Theoretically, Del would put his rifle below a heavy stone and tied his shoelaces to the trigger of the rifle. He would put the trigger from a distance safe enough for him.
If it didn't blow up, Del would load another bullet. He would try to fire it again. If the rifle didn't blow up, he would try the same thing until the magazine ran out. If there was no single heavy malfunction on that rifle, Del would try to use the rifle himself.
Del carried his rifle on his back, "Let's go outside, Cole. Let's test this propellant of yours."
Del walked to the back of the house. Behind the house was a grassland, they wouldn't kill anyone by shooting at the grassland.
Del put his rifle on the ground and he searched for a rock that could hold his rifle in the ground. He found one rock and he put that rock on top of that rifle. He took off his shoes and his socks. He took the laces out of those two shoes and tied them together. He then tied it to the rifle.
"Wolfie, Cole, stand back! This could get messy," Del walked backward while holding the end of the shoelaces in his hand.
He laid down on the ground and then he pulled the shoelaces.
BOOM!
An explosion could be heard, but there wasn't any fragmentation coming from the rifle. Del walked to the rifle and it seemed that the rifle hadn't been broken yet. He loaded another bullet into the chamber of the rifle.
"Alright, one more bullet," Del laid down on the ground again.
He pulled his shoelaces and the rifle fired another bullet. An explosion came out again, but the rifle wasn't broken. Del wondered then he remembered that he was shooting a high explosive round.
Del was confident that the rifle wouldn't blow upon his face so he picked up the rifle from the ground. Del would try to shoot the rifle by himself now. He aimed at the empty grassland and he pulled the trigger.
"HOLY!!!" The recoil of the rifle was very strong, way stronger than it used to be. Del could feel the power of the rifle as the impulse from the recoil hit his shoulder.
[Analyzing… Ballistic performance is 250% of regular 7.92 Mauser]
Basically, Cole just made a bullet that increased the power of the bullet itself at the cost of higher recoil. It was great. It basically enhanced the power of his ammunition. Del was impressed that the propellant was able to more than double the power of his ammunition.
"DAMN!!!" Del pulled the bolt of his rifle and he fired the rifle once again, "Cole, you're a genius."
"Thanks," Cole smiled.
"Anyway, what kind of chemical thing that you can create besides this?" Del asked.
"Well, I can create an alternative of lantern fluid, but it's too violent to be used as a lantern fluid so I don't use it," Cole said.
"Oh, basically petroleum?" Del asked.
"Yeah, petroleum, to be precise, refined petroleum," Cole said.
It created another question on Del's mind. How Cole was able to know about petroleum? Was the demon continent that advanced or was it because of his background as a chemical engineer? He really wondered.
"Petroleum? The demon has access to petroleum?" Del asked.
"Yeah, but only to a limited amount of it. It's not like we are using it that often anyway," Cole said.
"Oh, I see. Well, to be honest, you never cease to amaze me, Cole," Del said.
Del wanted to visit the demon continent later. Maybe it would give him new knowledge or something similar. Still, the demon continent must be a dangerous place for humans like Del. If humans treated demons like a thing, why would the demon not treat humans the same way? It was the basis of war after all.
"Cole, you know?" Del looked at him, "I think for a while and I think it's a good idea to give you a magical tool like the one I have."
Cole jumped in excitement, "Really? Are you going to give me that overpowered magical tool of yours?"
"Yup."