Andreas found it quite difficult to explain the formula for buoyancy to this group of people who had never received a systematic education in physics. Having been raised on magical education since childhood, they likely found it hard to comprehend how a steel warship could possibly float on water.
Leaving behind a group of subordinates whose heads were filled with question marks, Andreas dived headfirst into the laboratories of the weapons research institute. To personally oversee the manufacturing of the brand-new gunpowder weapons, he would be sleeping on the floor there for a long time to come.
Several months later, Shandris finally sent the latest update.
Although the Satyrs' main lair had not yet been found, after multiple rounds of investigation and tracking, the Sentinels had confirmed that the Satyrs had moved their primary base to the windswept Winterspring. The small number of Satyrs remaining in Felwood were merely there to distract them.
Being thoroughly played by these demonic crossbreeds left both Shandris and Lunara in a very foul mood. Under the urging of the two leaders, the Sentinels and the Dryads accelerated their pace, recently beginning a thorough "scorched earth" investigation across Winterspring, vowing to find the cowering Satyrs and wipe them out entirely.
Andreas, who was supervising the new weapons, took a moment to send a message to Leticia, telling her to speed up her handover and return to Moonshadow's Rest as soon as possible.
Leticia, having grown accustomed to the freedom of the outside world, had become a bit of a "wild child." She procrastinated for over a month before reluctantly taking a ship from Auberdine back to Feathermoon Port.
"...Why do I feel like you're more of a Druid than I am?"
Andreas looked at the Aku'mai beast Leticia was riding, then turned to eye the fat Moonkin following beside her. He couldn't help but feel his brow twitch.
"Ahaha~" Leticia scratched her head with a smile, intentionally playing dumb. "Maybe I just have a natural affinity for animals."
I'll believe that when pigs fly. You clearly snatched that Moonkin by force. Andreas rolled his eyes, too lazy to expose his apprentice's lie.
"You're back just in time. I'm going outside the town to test a new weapon. Aren't you always interested in new things? Come with me."
"Ohh!"
Leticia didn't care about the exhaustion from her journey. After stuffing her luggage into the hands of a miserable-looking Feron, she huddled close to Andreas like a cheerful Husky. If she were capable of growing one, Andreas suspected she would be wagging her tail frantically.
Casting aside the bizarre fantasy in his mind, Andreas gave the pained young Druid an apologetic look. "Cough~ Well, we're off. Feron, thanks for your hard work."
"Yes..."
...
Bang!
A crisp sound echoed from the dense Ashenvale forest, causing many birds to flap their wings in panic and flee the source of the noise.
"Andreas, what is this?!"
Leticia looked at the steel pipe in her mentor's hand with glowing eyes. At this moment, blue smoke was still wafting from the muzzle, and a deep little hole had appeared on a small earthen slope in the distance.
Ignoring Leticia's question, Andreas walked to the hole in the slope and smacked his lips with dissatisfaction.
"Tch! As expected, black powder is still quite lacking in power. But for now, I'll just have to make do."
Seeing that Andreas was ignoring her, Leticia grabbed his arm and resorted to her tried-and-true "spoiled brat" tactic, pestering him relentlessly to explain the new weapon.
"Tell me, what exactly is this steel pipe? Why can it fire a projectile with such high penetration?"
Andreas helplessly tapped the barrel lightly against Leticia's head. "Stop shaking me; you're making me dizzy."
Chuckling, he rubbed the head of the aggrieved Leticia—who was clutching her head—and patiently explained, "This new weapon is called a musket. It's a precursor to the high-powered cannons I truly want."
Although the power of black powder was nowhere near that of TNT, as a transmigrator with a basic understanding of firearm history, Andreas had enhanced the practical combat capability of this early experimental musket through rifling and integrated cartridges.
In his memory, the original gunpowder weapons in Azeroth were developed by Dwarves—and those were smoothbore muzzle-loaders that took ages to reload and had pathetic power.
While he hadn't researched high explosives yet, by using rifling to stabilize the trajectory and integrated cartridges to speed up loading, the musket in Andreas's hand already possessed combat power far exceeding the Dwarven muskets of early history.
However, researching muskets was only a transition toward Andreas's true goal: high-powered cannons that could be mounted on warships. Currently, the ships of Moonshadow's Rest were still in the era of wooden sailing vessels. Andreas couldn't realistically expect his craftsmen to jump straight to building modern battleships made of all-steel materials, with centerline layouts and multi-barrel turreted cannons.
As the saying goes: "If you take too big a step, you'll trip yourself." One must eat one's meal bite by bite and walk the path step by step.
In climbing the technology tree, the biggest mistake is stacking too many immature technologies at once. That would only leave the craftsmen confused, eventually leading to failed construction, damaged morale, and a blow to Andreas's prestige.
For this field test, Andreas brought a single-shot manual rifle and only ten rounds of ammunition. He completed the first six tests himself, and the final four were handed to a certain pestering "Husky" to satisfy her curiosity.
Seeing Leticia's lingering expression after firing the last bullet, Andreas smiled and patted her head. "Don't be in such a hurry. Once the testing is complete, this weapon will eventually be officially commissioned into our army. You'll have plenty of chances to play with it then."
"Alright..."
...
On the way back to the Lord's Manor, Leticia—who had been away from Moonshadow's Rest for a century—saw the nearly completed statue of Elune in the temple plaza and sighed in amazement.
"Is this statue that took an absurdly long time to build finally finishing? But what about the face?"
"About that..." Andreas said with some internal conflict. "I plan to try contacting Elune recently to ask her what kind of appearance she wants. For now, the face will stay blank."
"But didn't you say Elune can't return to the material world for the time being?"
Andreas shrugged. "How many years ago did I say that? So much time has passed; the timing should be about right."
Calling Leticia back was, on one hand, because development in Darkshore had entered a stable phase and no longer required her long-term presence. On the other hand, it was to prepare for the Satyr War that could break out at any moment.
Although this girl still acted boisterously despite being over 300 years old, her combat power and leadership had been tempered through many trials and were now quite impressive. Once the opportunity to enter the fray arose, Andreas intended for Leticia to lead the vanguard.
After settling the somewhat over-excited Leticia, Andreas walked alone to the lounge chair on his private balcony and sat down.
Looking up at the bright moon in the sky, Andreas slowly flattened his body and lay back, letting his spirit descend deep into the sea of consciousness. Maintaining a state of deep meditation, he silently chanted the divine name.
After an unknown amount of time, Andreas, whose mind was completely ethereal, finally heard a familiar, gentle response.
"Hehe~ You've finally decided to come see me? I thought that after all those self-scaring thoughts you had, you wouldn't dare communicate with me again."