"Lord Xia Yu, shall we continue the experiment?"
In a dilapidated clearing marked by scorched craters, an armored man stood beside a young man wearing a haori and inquired softly.
"Experiment. I must find out exactly what went wrong!"
Xia Yu's expression was grim. This was already his countless attempt, yet he still couldn't produce a stable cannon.
The Interior Ministry's Red Guard could clearly produce stable handheld cannons, yet here he was, unable to even make a stationary cannon that could be ignited on the ground.
If he couldn't get it to work, then the nation of Ashina was truly doomed to fall.
Following Xia Yu's command, the roaring sounds echoed once more. After a long while, the stockpile of cannonballs was exhausted.
"Alright, let's leave it at that for now."
This experiment still hadn't identified the problem. Xia Yu waved his hand tiredly.
He had clearly produced stable gunpowder far beyond this era's level, but the cannon's design remained a failure; every time, it resulted in either a barrel explosion or a dud.
If he couldn't manufacture this battlefield weapon in the few remaining years, he would have no choice but to try improving matchlock guns.
Sigh. He had successfully recreated everything from soap to high-proof liquor, so why was it that in the realm of weaponry, he just couldn't succeed no matter what?
Dejected, Xia Yu walked toward his workshop. His hand-drawn blueprints were there, and he needed to search for the flaw once more.
But before he could enter the workshop, a woman in a kimono suddenly blocked his path and said worriedly,
"Lord Xia Yu, you really need to rest. If you keep going like this, your body won't be able to take it."
Looking at the woman before him with her hair pinned up, wearing a red undergarment and a black kimono, Xia Yu raised his weary eyes and waved her off.
"It's fine, Emma. I know my own body. Don't worry."
Hearing Xia Yu say this, the worry in Emma's eyes only intensified. She could hear the deep exhaustion in his voice.
As a physician, she knew very well that if this continued, he would surely collapse from chronic fatigue.
"No, Lord Xia Yu, you must go rest!"
With that, Emma didn't wait for Xia Yu to object. She reached out, took his arm, and led him toward his room.
Xia Yu tried to pull his arm away but found he was completely unable to resist Emma's strength, so he could only give up with a bitter smile.
As expected of someone who studied the sword; her strength was much greater than his, despite his own efforts to exercise.
A moment later, after being forced into his room, Xia Yu watched the door close and had no choice but to lie helplessly on his bedding. However, in his anxiety, he couldn't fall asleep.
It had been over a decade since he came to this world, but this was the first time he felt so anxious. If he had known, he would have started researching weapons earlier.
Procrastination really is a curse.
He knew this world. After all, it was Ashina, a fictional country that only existed in that game. Moreover, he had even met the invincible founder of the Ashina Style, Isshin Ashina.
Not only that, he was also an adopted grandson of Isshin Ashina, just like Genichiro Ashina.
Come to think of it, that'Scum-ichiro' was actually his older brother, even though none of the three shared a blood relation.
Actually, according to custom, he should have been named Natsujiro Ashina, but at his strong insistence, he kept his original name.
Seeing how firm he was, and not being a stubborn old man himself, Isshin Ashina agreed to his request.
That was how he was able to live in Ashina under the name Xia Yu.
He and Genichiro served Ashina in civil and military capacities respectively. Genichiro studied various sword techniques and went to the battlefield to earn merit.
He, on the other hand, was responsible for paperwork and making policy decisions. However, among the martial-oriented Ashina upper echelon, he was never looked down upon.
This wasn't just because he was Isshin Ashina's adopted grandson, but because his experiments with distillation had successfully produced high-proof liquor, which happened to strike a chord with all the Ashina high-ranking officials.
From Isshin Ashina at the top to the physician Dogen at the bottom, there wasn't a single one who didn't love drinking. The liquor he brewed immediately became one of the favorites of the entire Ashina leadership.
Later, he gradually produced other things that could be invented using ordinary methods, such as scented soaps, primitive cement, and refined salt.
If conditions had allowed, he would have even wanted to produce glass.
Because of his inventions, life in Ashina had become more comfortable.
But he knew that this comfortable life wouldn't last long, because later on, the Interior Ministry's army would attack Ashina until the nation was destroyed.
It all started with the Interior Ministry's invasion of the Hirata Estate, after which the older generation of Ashina's elite either died in battle or fell ill.
Three years later, the Divine Heir Kuro's shinobi would escape from the moonlit reservoir and kill all the Ashina masters in just a few days. Simultaneously, the Interior Ministry's Red Guard would invade Ashina with unstoppable momentum.
Xia Yu knew about this later stage, but he hadn't been nervous. Because of his previous successes, he had conceitfully thought that mere cannons were nothing special.
As long as he invented stable gunpowder, he could smoothly develop cannons. And with cannons, the mere Red Guard wouldn't be a problem at all.
Therefore, Xia Yu had spent these years quite happily, occasionally manufacturing things whenever he remembered how they were made.
This life continued until Isshin Ashina grew old and the situation became increasingly dangerous. Only then did he snap out of his previous complacency.
From then on, he began researching gunpowder. Unsurprisingly, through trial and error, he successfully formulated stable gunpowder. Next came the cannons.
But what he found hard to accept was that he couldn't make them. Even though the gunpowder was a success, the cannons just wouldn't work.
This made him start to panic, but panic doesn't make experiments succeed. He was paying the price for his own arrogance.
Consequently, Xia Yu began to draw blueprints day and night, personally designing every part of the cannon. Even if it meant pushing his body to the limit, he wanted to create a stable cannon capable of defending against the Red Guard.
Genichiro was already on the battlefield killing enemies. Xia Yu lacked that combat power, so he could only research weapons in the rear while analyzing the current situation and issuing minor policy decisions.
"Sigh, I hope there's still enough time." Looking at the ceiling above, Xia Yu returned from his thoughts.
No matter what, it was Isshin Ashina who had adopted him when he was young, and Genichiro Ashina had never failed in his responsibility as an older brother.
He wasn't a cold-blooded person; otherwise, he would have fled long ago. How could he possibly still be here?
Just as Xia Yu was staring blankly at the ceiling, his eyelids growing heavier as he prepared to drift off, a notification sound suddenly startled him awake.
[Xia Yu has joined the Chat Group!]
Huh? What was that sound?
Xia Yu opened his eyes, and a glowing Chat Group interface appeared in his vision.
Before he could say anything, the Chat Group automatically jumped to the group announcement. He patiently read through the explanation in the announcement.
"There's even this kind of transmigration?"