"The first item of the assessment is to travel through a forest with a depth of 25 kilometers, with a time limit of 48 hours. The assessment location is located in the Silver Pine Coniferous Forest west of Linfeng Castle. The average snow thickness of this forest will be about 30 cm in the next season. The terrain is rugged. In addition, there are also beasts and various traps specially placed in the forest. Not only combat capabilities, but also to test the participants' comprehensive abilities and teamwork capabilities." Yuri said.

“Teamwork capability?”

"Yes, it is undoubtedly bad news for you to come here - this assessment allows participants to select companions by themselves and form a team of no more than five people to challenge, but now it has been so long since the assessment date. Others either passed the assessment or have been eliminated, so you can only participate in the assessment alone." Yuri pulled the corner of his mouth, and a look of regret appeared on his face.

“…”

"But, although this is bad news, it is also good news." Yuri stood up, and he got into a pile of mechanical "trash" next to the workbench and started rummaging hard.

"Every candidate participating in the assessment is not allowed to carry any personal belongings. All supplies are provided by the assessor, but—" Yuri suddenly spoke in a long tone, "The supplies are provided in teams, not individuals. Even if a group is not full, the amount of supplies that can be allocated will be calculated based on full staff."

"In other words, I can get five supplies alone, right?" Ashes quickly understood what Yuri meant.

"Yes! These supplies not only include food and equipment, but the most important thing is the material - the material for making weapons!"

"Will the assessor directly distribute weapons and equipment? Do candidates need to make it themselves?"

"I can send it, but I only have a multi-functional survival dagger and a set of the most basic cold-proof clothes. In addition, each person will also get 500 material points, and a team of 2,500 points."

"What's the material point?" asked Ash.

"It is tokens used to exchange for corresponding materials. Each candidate has different abilities. They will also choose different equipment according to their abilities. At that time, they will give you a list, and all the things on it can be exchanged directly with material points. The prices of different materials are also different. For example, a fine iron ingot of one piece requires 200 material points, while a copper alloy ingot of one piece requires 450 material points... In addition, there is also a big gap between the prices of parts and raw materials. A finished carbon steel barrel costs about 800 points, and the exchange price of a finished flint gun is even more than 2,000 points."

"What about the processing conditions? If there is no suitable tool, even if you have the ability to turn cheap raw materials into high-priced parts, you will not be able to melt metal ingots with your bare hands, right?"

"Your question is very critical... I know why Soya wants to absorb you into the underworld. Well, a good mentality, calm personality, and brain... It is indeed a craftable material... As for the processing conditions, you don't have to worry about this. Since the assessment party has provided you with these things, you will definitely not let you carry the iron ingots as a brick. Before the formal start of the assessment, you will have another forty-eight hours to make plans and equipment--I finally found it!"

Yuri finally raised his head from the pile of garbage, holding a drawing that looked ragged and covered with oil.

"What's this?"

"The prototype design drawing of the 'Zero Zero' steam gun - although from the current perspective, it still has many things to improve, and it is not even as good as some top flint guns, but this thing has laid the foundation for the development of the steam gun and can definitely be regarded as one of the most important milestones in the history of weapon evolution!"

"Is it a trial type?" Ash remembered the "Type Zero Four" steam gun he used in the isolation area before. According to the naming rules of the weapons by the Imperial Team, the number numbers of officially implemented weapons are generally calculated from "One". Weapons marked with "Zero" will not appear in the hands of ordinary soldiers. They will only appear in the Weapon Research Institute and the test field.

"It's a trial model... but this is the closest perfect trial model before mass production. I roughly calculated that 2,500 material points are just enough to make a 'zero-zero', and there are still some points left to exchange for projectiles and compressed steam."

According to previous assessment data, it is generally very powerful to be able to piece together two flint guns for a team. Until now, no one has been able to enter the assessment site with a complete steam gun.

"I have a question. Since the materials are distributed according to the specifications of the team, will no candidate choose to participate in the assessment in the form of a single team?"

"No, this is just the first assessment. It is not difficult to have teammates. No one will be bored and make it more difficult for themselves... Moreover, they do not have detailed steam gun design drawings." Yuri said, stuffing the thing that could barely be considered a design drawing into the hands of the ashes.

Although it is only a trial model, the precision of the "Zero" steam gun has reached a very exaggerated level. The bolt valve alone is composed of more than 60 detachable parts, the smallest part is even similar to a sesame seed.

This weapon is indeed not suitable for the army. Ashes came to this conclusion just by just a glance at the design drawing - not to mention the cost issue, nor to consider the difficulty of mass production... First of all, if a weapon wants to be mastered by every soldier, the structure must not be too complicated. The number of mechanics in the army is limited, and the daily maintenance and simple maintenance of firearms must be completed by the soldiers themselves. The development route of standard firearms has always been towards "simplification" and "modularization". For example, the "Executor Type 3" flintstone, after the entire gun is completely dismantled, there are only thirteen parts, and a skilled veteran does not even take more than five minutes to carry out daily maintenance of it.

In terms of its complexity, even an intermediate mechanic may not be able to serve it well. The steam gun has very high requirements for airtightness. A large number of sealing rubber rings are installed in the piston of the Zero bolt. These rubber rings must be removed and installed without any errors - otherwise, even a gap as big as a hair may cause a blow-off during shooting.
Chapter completed!