23: Master Xi, please stop using your supernatural powers!

Chen Xi put away that colorful "Large Water Gun."

He stood up from behind the parapet wall on the roof and clapped the dust off his hands, his movements as relaxed as if he were in his own backyard, having just used a high-pressure hose to wash away two unsightly clumps of bird droppings.

Then, he turned around and walked down the makeshift stairs leading into the building.

He reached the top of the stairs and saw a row of faces that looked as if they had been collectively swept by Medusa's gaze, completely petrified.

Company Commander Shangguan, this iron-blooded commander who wouldn't even blink in a hail of bullets, was now standing with his mouth agape and eyes wide as copper bells. His expression was a twisted mixture of extreme horror, bewilderment, and fanatical worship.

Behind him were several Soldiers, all equally dumbstruck.

A little further away, the young Soldier named Chen Shusheng was looking at him with a face full of adoration. The light shimmering in those clear eyes was brighter than the stars in the sky.

Chen Xi felt a bit creeped out by their stares.

He grinned, walked up to Chen Shusheng, raised a hand to ruffle the boy's hair, and said in a relaxed tone,

"That was quite a blast; stay further away next time."

This understated remark was like a pebble tossed into a deadly silent lake.

The stiff atmosphere was instantly shattered.

"Mr... Mr. Chen!"

Company Commander Shangguan suddenly jolted as if waking from his petrified state. He rushed toward Chen Xi in a few quick strides, nearly stumbling because he moved so fast.

He steadied himself and looked at Chen Xi, his lips trembling for a long time as if he wanted to say something complimentary, but after struggling for a while, he only managed to squeeze out a few words.

"Your... Your... divine power... is invincible!"

Looking at his frustrated expression as he struggled to find the right words to praise him, Chen Xi almost burst out laughing.

The bullet chat in the livestream, after a full minute of dead silence, finally exploded at this dramatic scene.

[Hahaha! Company Commander Shangguan, you really regret having such a limited vocabulary now, don't you!]

[Master Xi, put away your divine powers! If you keep showing off, these brothers are going to build a temple for you!]

["That was quite a blast; stay further away next time." — TOP 1 entry in the 2024 'Xi-isms' Cool Quotes, bar none!]

[This NPC's AI is too incredible! He's actually worshipping him on the spot? Look at that gaze; he's just one step away from shouting 'Immortal Master above, please accept your disciple's bow'!]

Just as Chen Xi was about to tease Company Commander Shangguan, Xie Jinyuan walked over from behind.

His face was still pale, but his eyes had regained their habitual depth and calm.

He simply watched Chen Xi quietly, not excited like Company Commander Shangguan, nor adoring like the others.

He remained silent for a full ten seconds.

Just when Chen Xi thought he was going to ask about the principles behind the device,

Xie Jinyuan asked a question that Chen Xi completely didn't expect, in an extremely solemn, even slightly hoarse voice.

"Mr. Chen, this divine object..."

He paused, seemingly weighing his words.

"...can it be mass-produced?"

For a moment, Chen Xi was stunned.

He thought the man would ask "What sorcery is this?" or "Who exactly are you?"

But he never imagined that after experiencing such a massive shock to his worldview, the first thing the man thought of was this.

Mass production?

Equipping the entire army with this thing?

A whole division of men, each with a water gun, spraying down the Japanese positions?

The image was so beautiful Chen Xi didn't dare imagine it.

But he also understood in an instant.

This man before him—his scope, his vision—had never been confined to this small warehouse from the very beginning.

What he was thinking about was the entire war, the entire country.

"Ahem..." Chen Xi cleared his throat, trying to make his expression look more serious. "This... the materials are quite special, and the process is very complex. In the short term, I'm afraid it might be difficult."

It was a universal, unfalsifiable excuse.

An imperceptible flash of disappointment crossed Xie Jinyuan's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

He nodded and stopped asking, simply saying, "Thank you for your hard work."

Then, he turned and threw himself back into the deployment and command of the defensive line.

It was as if that earth-shattering scene just now was, to him, merely a new battlefield variable that needed to be assessed and utilized... Meanwhile.

2026, Dragon Kingdom.

Chen Xi's livestream had completely descended into a carnival.

The number of online viewers had, without suspense, shattered every historical record since the platform's creation and was still growing at a terrifying speed, heading straight for the 100 million mark.

#Water Gun Melts Tank#

This seemingly absurd topic occupied the top spot on every global social media trending list, followed by a bright red "HOT" tag.

The game company's phones were being rung off the hook by media, players, and arms dealers from all over the world.

The company's CEO, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, was screaming hoarsely at a group of technical executives.

"Who can tell me! What exactly is going on?! Why did something like this appear in our game?! What about our physics engine? What about our code? Were they all eaten by dogs?!"

No one could answer him.

The entire technical department had practically scoured every line of the server's code, but they couldn't find any models or data related to the "Water Gun."

It was as if the thing had appeared out of thin air.

Major television stations also broke in with urgent special programs.

Countless military experts and physicists were pulled in front of cameras to analyze the recorded video of the "Water Gun Melting the Tank" repeatedly, frame by frame.

A white-haired Academician, highly respected in the field of particle physics, after watching the video over a dozen times, adjusted his reading glasses and spoke to the camera in a dreamlike tone.

"From the perspective of energy conversion, to melt a tank weighing over a dozen tons into molten iron within seconds, the instantaneous power required would be at least equivalent to the peak output of a small nuclear power plant. And that... that 'water gun' has no visible external energy input."

"This does not conform to any laws of physics currently known to us."

The host followed up: "So you mean the video is fake? Special effects?"

The Academician shook his head, his eyes filled with confusion and obsession.

"No, I cannot judge its authenticity. I can only say that if it is real, then what it represents may not be 'technology' as we understand it."

"It is a kind of... power that can directly disintegrate material structures and reorganize them at the atomic level, a power we cannot yet imagine."

The Academician's statement was quickly interpreted as: if this thing is real, it's not science; it's theology.

On the internet, discussions about Chen Xi and his mysterious game had risen to an unprecedented height.

Chen Xi didn't know that a prop he had casually redeemed had already caused such a terrifying storm in the world eighty-nine years later.

The joy of victory permeated the warehouse for a brief moment, but it was soon replaced by the tense atmosphere of preparing for battle.

Although the Japanese Army had temporarily retreated, everyone knew they would be back soon.

Chen Xi watched the Soldiers who had returned to their posts, wiping their weapons and carrying ammunition, and then looked at Xie Jinyuan in the distance, who looked expectant as if he still wanted to ask something.

He looked again at his livestream, which only he could see, where the screen was still frantically scrolling with comments about "melting the tank."

An unprecedented, massive sense of disconnection overwhelmed him.

In his world, the audience was celebrating, making memes, and discussing special effects and cheats.

But in this world, a group of vivid, warm lives were viewing him as a god, as their only hope, and were staking their future destinies on him.

His so-called "divine power" was redeemed with "emotion points" gained from the even more cruel sacrifices and pain these people were about to face.

How ironic.

How cruel.

The smile on Chen Xi's face vanished without him even realizing it.

He silently walked to a deserted corner, leaned against the cold wall, and sat down.

He didn't want to look at those celebratory bullet chats anymore, nor did he want to face those eyes full of hope and adoration.

He just needed to be alone for a while.