1: Chapter 1: Back in the Village for Chinese New Year, I Used Cutting-Edge Technology as Firecrackers!

(A note before the book: Purely handmade original content by a science and engineering guy. The subsequent plot is very exciting, so please feel free to read! Help me out by adding it to your bookshelf!)

The thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, ten days until the Little New Year.

In Su Family Village in the south of the Dragon Kingdom, the air was filled with the salty fragrance of cured meat.

Under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village, Village Chief Wang Fugui held up a megaphone: "Attention, every household! Environmental protection checks are strict this year; setting off fireworks and firecrackers is prohibited! Whoever dares to set them off will be fined five hundred and publicly criticized in the village!"

Su Che squatted in the corner of his courtyard, turning a deaf ear to the megaphone.

He had just been expelled from National Defense University, and his suitcase was still tossed in the corner.

The reason for his expulsion sounded quite intimidating— "Unauthorized modification of a supersonic drone, severely endangering campus safety."

To put it bluntly, he felt the school's drones were as slow as snails. His hands itched, so he dismantled the engine and replaced it with a homemade turbojet. As a result, he nearly blew the roof off the teaching building during the test flight.

His father, Su Pingan, was so angry he hadn't spoken to him for two days. Every time he saw him, he would grab a broom: "You prodigal son! You were a perfectly good National Defense student, yet you come home to mess around with this junk!"

Su Che felt a fire burning in his heart; wasn't technology meant to break conventions?

Just as Su Che was feeling annoyed, a mechanical voice sounded in his mind— [Ding! Detected strong desire for modification, Super Magic Modification System bound successfully!]

[Novice task triggered: The village chief won't let you set off firecrackers? Then build a big one! Please create an eco-friendly, smokeless firework to let the whole village feel the shock of technology!]

[Task reward: 100 skill points, unlock exchange permission for "High-Energy Reactive Agent".]

A system? Expelled from school, and the heavens gave him a new cheat code?

A novice task? It came just in time!

Su Che's gaze swept over the pile of "treasures" he had previously salvaged from the scrap yard—old mobile phone batteries, rusted metal pipes, and discarded circuit boards.

"Eco-friendly, smokeless, and needs to be shocking..."

[System prompt: You can use the metal shell recovered from the scrap yard + system-exchanged high-energy reactive agent to create an "Electromagnetic Pulse Bang Snap". Newbie benefit: 0 skill points to exchange. Do you want to exchange?]

Electromagnetic pulse? Does this thing have anything to do with fireworks? Forget it, products from the system are always high quality!

"Exchange!"

With a thought, a blue reagent bottle the size of a fingernail appeared out of thin air in his palm.

At the same time, a complex yet clear blueprint appeared in Su Che's mind.

Without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed a palm-sized rusted metal shell, quickly poured the reactive agent in, welded the seal shut, and then nimbly removed a miniature vibration sensor from an old toy and connected the wires.

In less than half an hour, several gray, clunky-looking "bang snaps" were finished.

He casually opened the mobile live stream, the title of which was simple and crude: "After Being Expelled, Tinkering with Small Inventions in the Village."

His live stream was called "Brother Che's Craft Workshop," and there were a few dozen people scattered in the stream, all his old fans.

[Holy crap, Brother Che is live! What are you dismantling today? An aircraft carrier or a Gundam?]

[Did you hear? Brother Che was expelled from National Defense University, what a pity.]

[Last time that bicycle could hit 80 mph; this time, are you going to hand-craft a nuke?]

Su Che shook the iron lump in his hand at the camera.

"Family, the village doesn't allow fireworks, so today I'm bringing you something eco-friendly: a smokeless bang snap. It goes off as soon as you throw it, guaranteed to be lively."

The comments instantly went off-topic.

[Bang snaps? I stopped playing with those when I was three. Brother Che, if you have no content, you can bite a lighter.]

[This thing looks like a homemade grenade; is it special effects?]

[Screen recorded, waiting for Brother Che to perform exploding cow dung!]

Su Che couldn't be bothered to explain and walked to the open space outside the courtyard with the bang snap.

The old sow from Auntie Wang's house next door was grunting and rooting at the fence, curiously eyeing him.

"This spot will do."

Su Che casually tossed the iron lump onto the ground and quickly retreated a dozen meters to a safe distance.

The number of people in the live stream slowly climbed to over three hundred, and the comments flooded with "High energy ahead" and "Waiting for the fail."

He grinned at the camera, raised his foot, and stomped hard at the air in the direction of the iron lump!

"Bang—!!!"

It wasn't the crisp "pop" of a bang snap, but a dull, deafening roar that could tear through eardrums!

A terrifying blast wave exploded from the center of the "bang snap," kicking up dust and forming a visible white shockwave!

Su Che's feet went numb from the vibrating concrete, and his brain was stunned by the explosion; his ears were left with only a sharp, buzzing ringing.

The live stream screen shook violently, the signal crackled, and it went black for a full three seconds before recovering!

When the smoke and dust cleared slightly, a shallow, charred pit half a meter in diameter had appeared on the previously flat ground!

And that two-hundred-plus-pound old sow from next door had actually been sent flying two meters into the air by the blast wave, landing belly-up in the pigsty, unable to even grunt, foaming at the mouth on the spot.

The worst part was the newly built fence at Auntie Wang's house, which had been knocked down halfway, with the cured meat and sausages hanging on it falling all over the ground.

"Holy crap!"

Su Che was stunned himself. "Is this power... a bit excessive?"

Before he could recover, a roar came from the house.

"Su Che! You little bastard, what are you up to again!"

Su Pingan rushed out holding a worn broom. When he saw the collapsed fence, the sow rolling its eyes, and the charred pit on the ground, his blood pressure instantly soared to 280.

"Did you secretly set off firecrackers again! The village chief just announced a five-hundred fine! I'm going to break your legs today!"

"Dad! It wasn't firecrackers, it was an eco-friendly bang snap!" Su Che took off running.

"You still dare to talk back!" Su Pingan was trembling with rage, swinging the broom as he chased after him.

The father and son, one running and one chasing, put on a martial arts show around the old locust tree in the courtyard.

The comments in the live stream went completely crazy.

[??? This is a bang snap? Isn't this called a small fuel-air explosive?]

[That pig... it flew! The pig really flew!]

[The live stream signal cut out for three seconds! This is definitely not a normal explosion; there's electromagnetic interference!]

[Holy crap! The guy above is a professional! This isn't an eco-friendly firework; this is clearly an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) bomb!]

[It's over, it's over, Brother Che is in big trouble now! This thing is military-grade! Forget a five-hundred fine; you're looking at at least five years in prison!]

[Run! Stop streaming! The police are going to be at your door any second!]

Relying on his youth and strength, Su Che shook off his father in a few moves, dove into his room, and locked the door with a "bang."

Listening to Su Pingan's roaring and the sound of the broom hitting the door outside, he leaned against the door panel, panting heavily, and picked up his phone to check the situation in the live stream.

Just then, the phone screen suddenly lit up, and a call from an "Unknown Number" forcibly cut off the live stream signal.

Su Che frowned and casually pressed answer.

On the other end of the line, without any pleasantries, a cold, steady, and undeniably authoritative male voice spoke directly: "This is the Xiang Province Military Region Joint Command Center. Just one minute ago, we detected a strong, abnormal electromagnetic pulse signal at the coordinates of your village, with a peak strong enough to paralyze a standard radar station."

"State your identity and explain the source of the signal. You have only ten seconds."

Su Che broke out in a cold sweat instantly.

He turned his head, his gaze piercing through the window, staring at the small pit in the courtyard that was still emitting wisps of blue smoke.

Xiang Province Military Region... Joint Command Center?

He just wanted to complete a system task and put on a show for the villagers... how did he end up alerting the military?