A 3D model rotated continuously before Chuck's eyes.
His finger tapped the air repeatedly until late at night, when the rudimentary outline of a ballista bed and three bow bodies appeared.
Chuck stood up, stretching his stiff body, and walked to the forging table by the firelight. He retrieved prepared materials from his inventory: hardwood branches for the bows, metal nails for fixing, and most importantly, animal sinews for the bowstrings.
Only the leopard and bear limb sinews were suitable. Similar length (over a meter), but the former was thinner and more elastic, while the latter was thicker and stronger but less elastic.
Both were excellent materials. The ballista required three strings, so Chuck could experiment to see which fit best.
But first, the bow bodies and bed.
The DIY function shone here. After designing, Chuck placed materials into the workbench and waited.
Hardwood for both bed and bows vanished into light orbs under steel wedges, starting an eight-hour countdown.
Chuck checked his phone. It was past midnight.
Silence reigned in the house; the women were asleep.
With queues set, Chuck returned to his room, set an alarm for four hours later, and fell asleep holding Julia's soft body.
The human body is a pragmatic machine. A dull life numbs the mind and body, but pressure and pursuit unlock potential.
Jiang Qi's [Eternal Love] bonus was stronger than expected.
Chuck slept briefly, waking half an hour before his alarm. It was still pitch black outside.
Opening the workbench, he found the stored time exceeded the remaining countdown. Without hesitation, he accelerated the process.
Light flashed. A large ballista bed, one meter wide and two meters long, appeared.
The design was simple—a sturdy wooden frame with mounting points for bows and a central groove for the bolt, based on javelin dimensions.
Chuck placed it on the platform and tested the weight. About 100kg.
This accuracy wasn't just perception; he had intentionally controlled the weight during design.
Since the plan was "hit and run," he couldn't leave this weapon behind to be smashed by an enraged tiger.
His inventory capacity was 150kg. Currently holding perishable food, he planned to move everything to the cave on the day of the challenge, carrying only the ballista. As long as the three bows didn't exceed 50kg, he could carry the whole 150kg weapon and run, truly achieving "hit and run."
Bed done. Next, the bows.
Material was crucial. Chuck used his best redwood branches.
Spending the morning, he used DIY to carve three identical wooden bows. Following the remembered design (two forward, one reversed), he fixed them to the bed with metal nails.
Finally, attaching sinews to the bow ends...
The Triple-Bow Ballista was complete.
Morning glow rose from the sea. Chuck wiped sweat from his forehead, looking at the impressive weapon, stroking his chin.
Reliability unknown, but it was built.
Power could only be tested in practice.
Chuck moved inventory items to the cave bed, grabbed some steel javelins, stored the ballista, and walked to the southern beach under the golden sunrise.
He reached the reef area near Kaoru's pier. He wasn't shooting into the sea—bolts were precious.
The beach was perfect for measuring distance and retrieval.
Deploying the ballista, Chuck placed a coconut shell about 100 meters away. Returning, he loaded a javelin and cranked the winch.
As he turned the wooden lever, the javelin retracted, three sinew strings tightened, and the hardwood bows bent.
Chuck felt the energy storing up.
Click. Loaded.
Chuck adjusted the aim. The simple structure lacked precise controls; aiming required manually padding the base with wood or rotating the frame.
He aligned it horizontally, squinted for elevation, and wedged wood blocks underneath.
Unlike FPS games, he had to account for drop. More Gunbound than CS:GO.
Ready. Chuck leaned forward, eyes fixed ahead, hands on the release.
Fire!
Three strings and bows snapped back, releasing stored energy. The javelin shot out with a whistle, arcing perfectly...
And landed less than twenty meters away.
Stuck at a 45-degree angle, butt to the sun, mocking him.
Chuck stood straight, calm. His gaze focused on the strings.
High mental stats allowed him to track the trajectory perfectly. He knew why it failed.
Upon release, the javelin didn't fly straight but tilted sideways, drastically increasing air resistance and bleeding kinetic energy.
Why the tilt?
Chuck loaded another javelin but didn't fire, observing the strings.
Comparison revealed the issue.
The sinews.
The instability came from using thick bear sinews for the front two bows (power) and elastic leopard sinews for the rear bow (stability). He had it backward.
Elasticity for power storage, thickness for stability.
Finding the cause, Chuck disassembled and adjusted on the spot.
He swapped the strings. Reassembling, reloading, and cranking.
This time, the resistance felt smoother and more stable.
Aim, fire.
Whoosh—
The steel javelin flew straight and true, arcing smoothly and landing much further!
Chuck was pleased, but seeing the landing spot, he frowned.
Further, but still short of the coconut shell. Less than ninety meters.
Ninety meters was the length of a soccer field straightaway. The kill zone was three to four hundred meters.
Far from enough.
Maybe the angle wasn't perfect. Adjusting might get it over 100 meters. But to snipe the tiger undetected...
He needed at least 200 meters.
Chuck finally felt a headache.
What magic tech did the ancient 1500-meter ballista use?
The structure was practical, but even 300 meters seemed hopeless now.
After thinking, Chuck sighed and shook his head.
Not a genius, so back to the "clumsy method."
Adding more bows wasn't feasible due to weight and complexity.
But he could beef up the strings.
He had four tendons each from the leopard and bear—eight total. He used less than half.
Twisting two tendons together for each string would increase energy storage.
And range!
Sunlight strengthened. Breakfast time, theoretically.
Chuck drank a bowl of Yitong's caramel milk from his inventory and dove back into work.
Unstringing, twisting tendons into thicker spirals, fixing them to the bows. The shortening required trimming the bows slightly.
Reload, crank.
Resistance doubled. Even Chuck used 90% strength to load it.
Aim, fire. Swish!
The javelin flew much faster, sailing past the 100m coconut shell and landing further down the beach.
Chuck ran over.
140 meters.
Better, but...
Still short of the 200m minimum.
And minimum meant minimum. The further, the better the success rate.
Retrieving the bolt, Chuck sat by the ballista, exhausted.
What else could improve range?
Bows and strings were maxed out. Ballista size hit the inventory limit.
The only thing left to improve...
Chuck had an epiphany, looking at the javelin in the groove.
He had assumed using existing javelins was convenient. But now...
Chuck slapped his forehead.
Why am I so stupid?
Javelins are for throwing.
How can they serve as ballista bolts?