Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I was more interested in what the rest would say to obtain the first prototype I failed to notice the actual crime scene. It wasn’t an actual crime scene per se but it involved something really peculiar.

Aside from the Headhunter’s Axe-Sword successfully piercing through the kevlar, ceramic plates, and the watermelon itself, there was something small that caught my eye.

A few feet away from the place it was used was a watermelon seed that probably flew away from the impact.

And as soon as I trailed it with the rest of the chunks and the seeds that flew out, a wicked smile slowly formed on my face.

It made me walk forward to pick up the weapon that was due for a more thorough examination. Well, I could already guess the secret it had and I examined each part of it. 𝐧𝒪𝔳𝓔𝗅𝑵𝞮xt.𝗰𝑂𝓂

‘Well, it is still fucking heavy… But–’

The Headhunter’s Axe-Sword was obviously on the same scale as Mikhail’s Axe-Hammer but it was longer by a few inches. Furthermore, the spine of the blade was a few centimeters thicker than most swords that we had available and it was one of the reasons for its weight.

However, the main reason for its weight was the Axe Head itself.

It was uncomfortable to hold it with one hand for too long but a regular person would be able to swing it a few times before feeling tired. Well, the extra-long handle could somehow mitigate part of it but wielding this weapon had a strict strength requirement.

The requirement wasn’t as high compared to Mikhail’s King’s Weapon but any other person would easily opt for a regular machete instead of a hunk of metal that was also top-heavy.

Looking at it even closer, I finally found a small hole a few centimeters away from the tip of the spike at the back, but I noticed that it was possible for it to retract a few centimeters given enough pressure. It was wiggling a bit but all I could do was wiggle it a bit more compared to testing its limits.

‘I can’t even push it back on my own while holding it up… Probably need to swing it with full power… But where’s the– Wait– Where’s the–’

I then heard a familiar voice from behind me, “Looking for something?”

When I turned around, Unc Zeidrick was looking at me with a cheeky smile, and all I could do was ask the question.

“This spike is also the release, right?”

“Yup. Who pushes a button in the middle of the fight? This thing is not for sharks anymore– not this one.”

“You’re fucking right about that…”

“Well, the question is… Will it be enough?”

“I dunno, I gave you that piece of its skull. Can ceramic plates and kevlar patches be enough to imitate it?”

“It got through that but I might add a flap of ballistics gel to kinda make it thicker. A .308 might be enough to crack its skull but you’re doing it from a distance. Once this thing doesn’t work, you gotta dip, dive, and dodge before it’s over. Also, it’s one-use before you have to take cover and refill the gas canister.”

“One use?”

“Yep, one use. I learned some shit from your friend but to make it offer more uses, I need to find a way to make a larger canister and to fit it in that Axe Head.”

“It’s in the Axe Head? Not the handle?”

“Of course, it is. How far do you think– It’s a bitch to remove too. Well–”

“That’s why it wiggles…”

“Yep.”

Unc and I were still deep in conversation when Kaley tapped my back. We didn’t even notice that everyone was looking at us with confusion, wondering what the fuck we were talking about.

Kaley shook her head as she chuckled, “Care to share with everyone?”

I turned to Unc Zeidrick, “Did you have it with you right now?”

Unc Zeidrick nodded as he pointed at the other table, “Yep, I also have a couple of canisters in that case.”

Olivia also interjected, “What are you two talking about?”

“WASP knives.” Unc Zeidrick and I said at the same time.

“What knives?”

Unc Zeidrick walked to his table first to retrieve his WASP knife before showing it to Kaley and Olivia.

“WASP knives. W-A-S-P knives. Essentially a knife that has an injector that could deliver any type of gas to a target– In this case, carbon dioxide, enlarging the wound and even partially freezing it.”

“So… the gas is responsible for doing that?”

“Not just the gas per se but how it’s delivered.”

“What?”

“If you haven’t seen how it works, it essentially delivers everything inside this canister at 800 psi. It’s like placing a basketball inside of the wound cavity this knife just stabbed them in. They’re usually used for sharks but some outdoorsmen use them for boars and the like too. It works on land as much as it works on water.”

“So… something like how hollow points work?”

“Kinda~ but not at the same scale. This is more like a one-hit kill type of thing and it just expands stuff with the gas, not the projectile itself. It’s not an almighty weapon as you might think but the reason I made that thing and incorporated the injecting system to it was to try and provide more force to punch through a Hulker’s skull. It’ll be difficult to do that with just a knife no matter how strong you are, right?”

Unc Zeidrick and the others were still in conversation when Ibarra walked up to us.

“Wait, c-can you make me a spear head that does the same thing?”

I answered before Unc could reply, “It’s possible. Right, Unc?”

Unc Zeidrick nodded as he shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah, might be easier too. I could easily fit one in your spear because of its tubing system. Well, it’ll be still one use as the rest–”

Ibarra’s eyes lit up, “That’s not a problem! I’ll patiently–”

Before he could say more, Bogdan loomed over him before Artem, Katya, and Mikhail followed.

Artem never looked so intimidating, “Are you forgetting about us? Who’s gonna–”

Ibarra interjected still, “But I’m–”

Katya cut him off, “You said you’ll wait patiently, right?! Then wait patiently! We still got a problem on our hands.”

Mikhail added, “I love what you made for me but I think it’s time–”

Bogdan interjected as well, “You already got custom shit! Let everyone else have something first! Hey man, I’m willing to teach you about demolition shit if you want to–”

Unc Zeidrick never looked so helpless because of all of his new customers, “W-Well–”

“Bogdan! No bribing!”

“It’s bartering! I give him shit, he gives me shit! It’s not my fault you have nothing much to offe–”

“THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME?!”

“My spear…”

“Enough about your spear! I need to have this now–”

Unc Zeidrick started to scratch the side of his cheek, “It’s still a prototype… I still need to make a few changes with it…”

“WHAT?!”

“W-Well… that was my first work but I fucked up a little bit on the measurements when I put it on the mill. The spike needs to be fitted a little more tighter or it’ll fall off eventually… The spring might be an issue too if it gets used over and over, even without using the injector system, the spring I fitted in there needs to be a little more stronger… We haven’t even tested how strong the blade is…”

“The blade?”

“Yeah, even if I tried to heat treat it and quenched it in oil, I’m not sure if I did the steps correctly. I’m not an actual blacksmith… We’d need to test it on something hard until it breaks–”

“Breaks?! Wha– That thing b-breaks?! W-Why?!”

“That’s the way we’ll know. I’m gonna make a few more of them too and we’ll see how each one fares with each other. If we’re happy with one of them, that’s when I’ll try to make more.”

I interjected, “So you didn’t forge it, Unc?”

“Hah! Forge? Me? I ran it all in the mill–”

“But it looks–”

“Crude? Grinding process, kid.”

“Ah… That’s why–”

“Oi, I’m not great at finesse, you are. If you want to make my work shiny and pretty, help me on your day-offs.”

“What? You guys’ workshop doesn’t have enough engineers?”

“Working with this shit? No. Didn’t you send most of them to reinforce several checkpoints? Some of them are still not done, and the ones that are, are doing other shit. If you could spare me some–”

“Unc, you know I can’t–”

“Why? Because it wouldn’t be perfect? We don’t need perfect right now, right? We just need something that works.”

“Hmm… Fine, but I’m gonna tweak that design even more. And I’m gonna handle the grinding.”

“Sure– Wait, what? The design? It’s not even–”

“Ready? It works already but it needs to ‘work’ even more.”

“What are you talking about now?”

I just let out a cryptic and devilish smile as I turned around, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Unc.”

“Ah–”

Unc and the rest never looked so puzzled but I just took Kaley’s hand and we walked back to our place.

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