102: Chapter 102 Shennong on the Balcony, A Grain in a Handful of Soil Goes Nuclear Explosion!

The next day, 7:00 AM.

Military Science Commission Compound, Expert Apartment.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds, cutting bright streaks across the wooden floor.

In the kitchen, the range hood hummed. Lin Waner, wearing an apron, was skillfully frying eggs.

The air was filled with the aroma of food.

Su Che walked out of the bedroom, yawning. His hair was as messy as a bird's nest, and he was still wearing that faded gray hoodie.

He shuffled in his slippers, followed the scent to the kitchen entrance, and leaned against the doorframe.

"Wife, what delicious thing are you making?"

"Millet porridge, and your favorite scallion pancakes."

Lin Waner didn't look back, flipping the eggs with a spatula. "Hurry up and wash up. After breakfast, wash the clothes you changed out of yesterday."

"Yes, ma'am."

Su Che responded lazily and turned toward the bathroom.

This feeling was quite magical.

Yesterday, he was still in the factory, using atomic stacking to personally usher in a new industrial era.

But now, he was just an ordinary man waiting for breakfast, being urged by his girlfriend to do the laundry.

He liked this feeling.

This was what he wanted to protect.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

The urgent and forceful knocking interrupted the tranquility of the kitchen.

Lin Waner turned off the stove and untied her apron. "Who is it, so early?"

She walked over to open the door. Standing outside was Lieutenant General Peng, followed by two stern-faced guards.

Lieutenant General Peng was wearing a crisp military uniform, his shoulder boards gleaming in the morning light.

When he saw Lin Waner, his expression softened slightly.

"Miss Lin, good morning. I'm looking for Su Che; there's an emergency."

Su Che stuck his head out from the bathroom with toothpaste foam in his mouth.

"General, come in and sit. You're just in time for breakfast."

Lieutenant General Peng stepped into the room but didn't sit down. He scanned the cozy little apartment, then his gaze landed on Su Che, his expression extremely grave.

"No time to eat."

He took a document out of his briefcase and handed it over.

"Five minutes ago, the Eagle Nation, uniting with the 'Big Four Global Grain Giants,' announced the suspension of all agricultural product exports to the Dragon Nation, citing 'maintaining global food market stability' as the reason."

"At the same time, all grain transport ships bound for the Dragon Nation on the sea have stopped sailing or are turning back outside our exclusive economic zone."

"Our strategic grain reserves are only enough for the whole country to consume... for three months."

Lieutenant General Peng's voice was low, but every word was like a rivet, nailed into the room.

Lin Waner subconsciously covered her mouth. Although she didn't understand strategy, she knew what three months without food meant.

Su Che spat out the foam, rinsed his mouth, and took the document.

He didn't look at the text; he just flipped it over, placed it on the dining table as a mat, and then picked up his bowl of millet porridge, slurping it down.

Lieutenant General Peng watched him, his eyes twitching.

"Kid, do you understand? This isn't an industrial embargo; this is trying to cut off our roots!"

"Mm, I understand."

Su Che finished the last of the porridge, picked up a scallion pancake, took a big bite, and said indistinctly.

"General, wait ten minutes for me."

He finished the pancake, wiped his mouth, and turned to walk onto the balcony.

Lieutenant General Peng and Lin Waner followed.

The apartment balcony wasn't big. Besides some drying clothes, there was only an empty plant stand.

From the corner of the balcony, Su Che took out an unused plastic storage box, grabbed a handful of cracked soil from an old flowerpot, and threw it inside.

Then, he walked to the kitchen, scraped a bit of black grease from the range hood's oil collection tray, and picked a bit of rust off the rusty iron pot with his fingernail.

Finally, he plucked a few withered yellow leaves from a potted plant.

He threw all these things into the plastic box.

Lieutenant General Peng watched the whole process, his brows furrowed into a knot.

This kid... was the shock too great? Did he have a mental breakdown?

"Su Che, what are you doing?" Lin Waner couldn't help but ask.

"Cooking."

Su Che answered as if it were obvious.

He took a few things out of his backpack.

A palm-sized white box that looked like a router, a few thin metal probes, and a glass bottle filled with a light green liquid.

He placed the white box next to the storage box and plugged it in.

Then he inserted the metal probes into the soil in the box and poured the light green liquid into it.

After doing all this, he tapped a few times on the white box's touchscreen.

[Soil In-Situ Utilization Module, activated.]

[Photosynthesis Amplification Module, activated.]

[Target Crop: Super Rice.]

[Estimated Maturity Time: 10 minutes.]

Su Che clapped his hands and said to Lieutenant General Peng, "General, you can start the timer."

Lieutenant General Peng looked at the plastic box, then at Su Che. He was now seriously wondering if he was still dreaming.

Grow rice in ten minutes with a handful of dirt, some oil grease, rust, and a few rotten leaves?

Even if Shennong were alive, he wouldn't dare brag like this!

But the next second.

In the box, a scene occurred that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

The cracked soil, under the infiltration of the light green liquid, quickly became loose and fertile.

A few seeds, almost invisible to the naked eye, condensed and formed on the surface of the soil out of thin air.

Immediately after, tender green seedlings broke through the soil at a speed that violated the laws of nature!

One centimeter.

Five centimeters.

Ten centimeters.

They were like a movie scene with the fast-forward button pressed, growing upward, tillering, and jointing crazily.

The whole balcony was terrifyingly quiet.

Lin Waner's eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open.

Lieutenant General Peng's face, which had experienced countless storms, was now filled with blankness.

Three minutes later, the seedlings were already half a meter high and began to head.

Five minutes later, the light green rice ears began to turn yellow, becoming plump and heavy.

Eight minutes later, the rice ears in the box had turned golden yellow, and the fragrance of rice filled the entire balcony.

Ten minutes exactly.

The white box made a soft sound, and the screen displayed the words [Crop Matured].

A box of golden, plump rice grains stood quietly in front of the three of them.

Su Che stepped forward, casually picked an ear of rice, rubbed it in his palm, blew away the husk, revealing the crystal-clear rice grain inside.

He handed the grain to Lieutenant General Peng.

"General, how many pounds of rice do you think this box can produce?"