"This… is incredible!" Hange stroked the weapon with enthusiasm. "The craftsmanship of the barrel and the trigger is truly complex… Even with my experience manufacturing the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, it still took me a great deal of effort to make these parts."
"But the prototype is already finished, so mass production will soon be possible." Gale picked up the cartridge casing that had fallen to the ground.
"It's a shame… Such a good product gets worn out so quickly when used." Hange sighed as she looked at the bullet casing on the floor. "Our technology is still very crude; we can only manufacture this kind of inferior-quality product, which still doesn't fully meet the design you have."
What Gale held in his hands was not the weapon from his memories, but a completely different version from what he had wanted to make. This was because the concepts and knowledge Mikhail Kalashnikov had taught him could not be applied with certainty in this world, so the weapon had been modified.
The rifle Gale held no longer looked like a weapon from the old world, but something born for this era of monsters. It was heavy, dark, and brutal, made of aged metal and hard wood, with marks and scratches that showed the rough treatment it had endured during its creation.
The solid wooden stock fit against the shoulder exactly as it should. The thick barrel was covered by perforated metal. Every rivet, every reinforced plate warned everyone that this was a new weapon, created to kill.
"If we build more factories, we can optimize the weapons." For Gale, this was a major achievement, because he understood better than anyone that creating this version of a weapon he knew brought him hope.
An endless hope—that he could build, manufacture, and integrate whatever he wanted into this world with the necessary manpower.
"Even this model is perfectly suited to dealing with the Military Police."
"Yes… we have to hurry." Hange lowered the weapon and whispered, "I wonder how Erwin is doing… These past few days have been very stressful. Transporting such large quantities of supplies here—there's a chance they've already discovered it…"
To use the influence of the Scout Regiment, Gale knew they had sacrificed something extremely important: their safety.
Now that the harvests were becoming productive and the famine was being brought under control, the central government was concerned about something even more important to them—controlling what the outside world knew.
If the central government remained strong, external enemies would not discover that they had lost the power of the Founding Titan.
That would give them stability…
However, if a commander were to suddenly learn what had happened, silencing him would be their response.
When Gale decided to use the Scout Regiment and its influence to create this new weapon, he never imagined things would spiral out of control so quickly.
But that was fine. What he needed now was a trigger to move against the central government.
With these weapons, they would win any fight.
"It's time to move on to the next phase, Captain Hange…" Gale had no time to feel happy, because they were now in a critical phase of history.
"Let's start building the weapons factory. The list of people dissatisfied with the government has been compiled over the past few days. Let's tell them the truth and create an organization."
Hange clenched her fist with excitement. "Then let's begin! To create confusion, most of the Scout Regiment has gone to the capital. We must rescue our comrades!"
Knock, knock, knock…
Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door—it was Petra, running in from outside.
"What's wrong, Petra? Why are you in such a hurry?" Hange asked, looking at Petra, who was lightly panting.
"They've found the illegitimate daughter of the Reiss family." Petra sighed in relief. "The girl is in the southern region, and her current name is Krista Lenz. She lives at the Church of the Wall Cult."
"They didn't discover you, did they?"
"No. The Elder and some others are hiding there. If anything happens, they'll abduct Krista and bring her here."
"Good!" Hange smiled and picked up the weapon from the table. "Look, Petra—the prototype is finished!"
"But… Captain Hange…" Petra clenched her teeth. "Commander Erwin has been imprisoned."
"What? Has the central government already taken action?" Hange exclaimed in shock.
"No… they only locked up the commander." Petra pressed her lips together and said, "But the Military Police are investigating everyone in the capital. Commander Erwin's secret letter said that the reason the Military Police haven't taken action yet is because Captain Levi and most of the Scout Regiment's combat power are in the capital."
"Even though they think we're not a threat, they have no idea…"
"That's even better." Gale smiled as he showed the weapon to Hange, who nodded angrily.
"Let's keep working, Captain Hange." Gale remained calm and said, "There's no turning back now. We can only speed up the process."
Hange pressed her fists to her temples, her face full of worry. "How did it come to this?"