36: Chapter 36: A Nationwide Shooting Frenzy!

"The road to Chicago isn't too far, and there's a month and a half until June 1st. I must seize the time to practice shooting!"

Otto calculated this in his heart and set his sights on the New York registration point—the Shapiro Clothing Store in Uptown.

For fifty thousand dollars, he rushed over immediately.

When he arrived, the street was already packed with people; it was a sea of humanity.

The advertising was too aggressive, and the title of "Miracle Boy" was simply too famous.

Everyone in New York knew about this shooting competition where one could gain both fame and fortune.

Anyone who had ever touched a gun came to join in the fun.

After waiting in line for a full hour, Otto finally squeezed to the front of the table.

"I'm here to sign up!"

"Write your name, address, and occupation on this form." The plump woman in charge of registration handed him a piece of paper.

Otto filled in the information and handed the form back.

"You are number 1032. Remember, you must arrive in Chicago for on-site confirmation before June 1st; if you are late, it will be considered void!" the plump woman reminded him loudly.

Otto nodded, indicating he remembered.

After finishing the paperwork, Otto hurried back to his dilapidated house in Brooklyn and dug out the old Civil War-era rifle from the bottom of a trunk.

He planned to come clean to his wife tonight, confessing about losing his job and signing up for the competition.

Over the next month, he would practice shooting desperately; he had to win the championship.

At this time, in major cities like New York, Washington, and Boston, there were countless people with the same thoughts as Otto.

Everyone had their eyes set on the huge sum of fifty thousand dollars.

A shooting craze swept across the USA.

In just a few days, bullet sales in major cities skyrocketed.

Night fell.

Otto confessed to his wife, admitting he had lost his job and mentioning his plan to sign up for the national rifle competition.

His wife was initially worried, but seeing the confidence in her husband's eyes, it felt as if he had instantly returned to twenty years ago.

Back then, Otto was wearing a crisp Union uniform, looking heroic and spirited.

In the end, she decided to fully support her husband.

However, just one week after the competition ads were posted, the front pages of major newspapers changed their tune.

"Still training day and night with outdated muskets and black powder bullets? Wake up! You can't win any honor or prize money with that junk!"

"Come and see the firearms personally designed by the 'Miracle Boy'—the model 1882 lin rifle, a divine gun that truly belongs to the next century!"

"Adopting the latest Mauser patent, rotary bolt-action, 7.62mm caliber! Paired with exclusive Smokeless Powder bullets, it shoots more steadily and has a longer range!"

"Imagine, while others are holding a divine gun from the next century, you are holding a fire poker that is behind the times. Do you want to end up with the same miserable defeat as the African natives?"

"The model 1882 lin rifle, exported to the German Empire, even Kaiser Wilhelm I himself had nothing but praise for it! What are you still hesitating for?"

"Believe in the Miracle Boy, and the next miracle will happen to you!"

Otto, who had finally managed to practice hard for seven days and regained his old feel, looked at the black-and-white image printed in the newspaper.

The body of the model 1882 lin rifle had very smooth lines.

Looking down at the old black powder antique in his hand, a deep sense of frustration welled up in Otto's heart instantly.

He ran to a gun shop on the streets of New York to ask, and the new model 1882 lin rifle was priced at a full thirty dollars.

Having just lost his job and with several mouths to feed at home, Otto's family simply couldn't afford this huge sum.

Otto was very confident in his marksmanship, but he knew in his heart that holding an old black powder gun that should have been thrown into the trash long ago, he could never win against new firearms using Smokeless Powder bullets.

The effective range alone was a hard metric that made him completely despair.

The effective range of the model 1882 lin rifle was as high as 800 meters, while his antique could only reach 300 meters at most.

Added to the fact that its accuracy and stability were comprehensively inferior, this competition was simply impossible to fight.

Otto instantly became a deflated ball. The thought that his efforts were destined to be in vain made him hide in his room for several days in a row, anesthetizing himself with cheap, inferior liquor.

His wife watched all this silently.

She knew in her heart that if she didn't pull her husband up, the pillar of their family would surely rot completely and become a brawling drunkard often seen on the streets.

His wife hardened her heart, turned and walked out the door, sold her beautiful, soft black hair to a hair merchant, and exchanged it for ten dollars.

Then, gritting her teeth, she emptied all the remaining savings in the house, managed to scrape together thirty dollars, and ran to the gun shop to buy a brand-new model 1882 lin rifle.

When his wife stood before Otto holding the new gun, looking at his wife's short hair, this forty-something tough man actually had red eyes and burst into tears on the spot.

He pulled his wife into his arms tightly and silently swore a poison oath in his heart: he must bring back the championship trophy of the national competition to repay his wife's kindness!

From this day on, there was one less alcoholic wretch on the streets, and one more madman desperately practicing shooting at the shooting range.

At the same time.

In the newly built Lin-Browning Arms Company on the outskirts of San Francisco, machines were roaring, and production was in full swing.

Piles of parts were manufactured like a running stream, and under the skilled assembly of the workers, they turned into brand-new rifles polished with bright oil.

Inside the factory manager's office on the second floor.

John Browning looked at his boss with full admiration.

"Boss, you are simply prescient! Do you know how many model 1882 lin rifles we have sold recently? Excluding the orders from the German Empire, we have sold twenty thousand on the market alone, netting a profit of one hundred thousand dollars!"

Browning became more excited as he spoke: "The national rifle competition hasn't even officially started yet, and we have not only earned back our initial investment, but also made a huge profit!"

"Right now, among all the gun shops in the USA, our goods are selling the craziest! Even the military's largest supplier, the Winchester Company, can't compare to us. Just like the newspapers say, their old muskets are already outdated!"

Listening to Browning's flattery, Lin Tian just smiled slightly:

"It is indeed glorious right now. Once Smokeless Powder is born, black powder bullets have become waste metal."

"However, this is only taking advantage of the fact that the arms giants haven't come to their senses yet. Once they react, Smokeless Powder absolutely cannot be monopolized by us alone!"

"Yes, the big arms dealers all have far-reaching connections. Although the boss holds the patent, if we really offend them to death, I'm afraid..." Browning didn't dare to continue.

Both of them knew very well in their hearts.

These arms companies might not be the most profitable businesses in the country, but in terms of the hidden power behind them, they were definitely the number one behemoths in the country.

Because standing behind the arms dealers were the USA military and countless big capitalists.

If Lin Tian thought about eating alone and guarding the patent without letting go, he would sooner or later be swallowed whole by this group of bloodthirsty crocodiles.

The current size of the Lin family simply couldn't withstand the biting of these crocodiles.

So Lin Tian had already set the pace: first find a way to join the ranks of the giants, become one of them, and then wait for an opportunity to act.

"Let's not talk about this for now."

Lin Tian changed the subject, "John, have you found the way with the new pistol I asked you to ponder recently?"

"Boss, regarding the magazine feed design you mentioned, I am trying to develop a new structure called 'blowback'. As long as it is done, I will definitely be able to build the new pistol you want!"

Once the topic of firearm research and development came up, Browning's face was full of excitement.

"Okay, you go ahead and do the R&D, and leave the production line matters to your brother to manage. With you two brothers sitting in the Arms Company, I am one hundred percent at ease!"

Hearing Lin Tian's unreserved trust, Browning was very moved and promised loudly: "Boss, don't worry, I will definitely build the new pistol as soon as possible!"