103: Chapter 103 General, your vision is too narrow; this is a strategic weapon!

Military Science Commission Compound, Expert Apartment, balcony.

Lieutenant General Peng stood frozen in place, like a weathered stone statue.

Those eyes, which had faced artillery fire on the battlefield, were now nailed to that unremarkable plastic storage box, motionless.

Inside the box, golden rice ears hung heavy, bending their stalks. A few dewdrops, condensed from rapid growth, still clung to the leaves, refracting tiny specks of light in the morning sun.

In the air, the fresh scent of rice mixed with the smell of earth, so real it made his scalp tingle.

"General, General? How many catties of rice can this box produce?"

Su Che's repeated question pulled him back to his senses.

Lieutenant General Peng did not answer.

He reached out his hand—the hand that was steady as a rock when holding a gun—now trembling uncontrollably.

He did not try to take the rice grains, but instead, cautiously, as if touching a peerless treasure, he lightly brushed against an ear of rice in the box.

It was warm.

Carrying the warmth of life.

"Little Su... you... tell me, this isn't magic."

"Of course not." Su Che tossed a rice grain into his mouth and chewed—crunchy. "This is science."

Lin Waner, standing to the side, finally recovered from her shock.

Her focus was clearly completely different from Lieutenant General Peng's.

She leaned forward, curiously examining the rice, then turned to ask Su Che: "Can this... be eaten? Is it good?"

This question was like a key, instantly unlocking the door in Lieutenant General Peng's mind labeled "Common Sense."

He suddenly straightened his back, no longer looking at the box of rice, but instead staring at Su Che with the gaze one might use to examine a monster.

"Yield per mu!!"

He practically roared it, spitting out saliva.

"What is the yield per mu of this thing?!"

"I haven't calculated it." Su Che shrugged nonchalantly. "The box is too small to convert accurately. But theoretically, as long as there is enough energy, if you covered the entire Sahara Desert, it would be ripe in a day."

Lieutenant General Peng's breathing became rapid; he felt as if his heart had been gripped by an invisible giant hand, making even oxygen supply difficult.

Covering the entire Sahara Desert...

Ripe in a day...

In his mind, this was no longer the childish concept of a ten-thousand-catty yield per mu.

What he thought of was that from now on, the Dragon Country would no longer need to worry about the red line for arable land.

Saline-alkali land, Gobi deserts, vast deserts—any piece of land touched by sunlight could be transformed into vast, fertile fields!

What he thought of even more was that the food embargo just issued by Eagle Sauce, which was enough to make any country submit, had become nothing more than toilet paper in the face of this box of rice!

Toilet paper so coarse it would be unpleasant to use!

"Let's go! Back inside!"

Lieutenant General Peng grabbed Su Che's arm with enough force to crush his bones, turning and dragging him toward the living room.

Lin Waner was startled by his appearance of facing a formidable enemy and quickly followed.

In the living room.

Lieutenant General Peng pressed Su Che onto the sofa and paced back and forth in the room, his military boots making dull "thud" sounds on the floor, like beating war drums.

"The principle! I need to know its principle!" He stopped, staring at Su Che with bloodshot eyes.

"Simply put, there are two core modules." Su Che pointed to the small white box on the balcony. "One is called 'In-Situ Soil Utilization,' which can break down soil, rust, and oil stains into various trace elements needed for plant growth."

He paused, then added, "The other is called 'Photosynthesis Amplification,' which can increase light energy conversion efficiency by hundreds of times, and then use a special bio-electric field to accelerate cell division. That is why it grows fast."

Lieutenant General Peng listened, understanding only half of it.

But he didn't need to understand.

He only needed to know the result.

"What about the input-output ratio?" He pressed. "How much energy does it take to grow a box like this?"

"That white box, I call it the 'Earth Mother Box,' consumes about as much electricity as a home router." Su Che replied.

Lieutenant General Peng's body swayed, and he had to steady himself against the dining table behind him to keep from falling.

The same as a router...

This is not food.

This is a strategic weapon!

It is more terrifying than nuclear weapons, an ultimate weapon that can change the world order from its roots!

He suddenly pulled the red encrypted phone from his pocket; his fingers were a bit uncooperative due to excitement, and it took him several tries to dial the number.

The moment the call connected, his entire aura changed. "Chief! It's me, Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang!"

His voice was loud, filled with irrepressible excitement.

"...Yes, I am currently in Su Che's apartment."

"Chief, regarding Eagle Sauce's food embargo... we have a countermeasure."

"No, it's not a countermeasure... we... we are flipping their table!"

There seemed to be a moment of silence on the other end of the line.

Lieutenant General Peng adjusted his breathing rhythm, trying hard to steady his voice.

"Chief, let me report it to you like this."

"Su Che, just now, on the balcony, used a plastic box, a handful of soil, a bit of rust..."

"Spent ten minutes and grew a box of... mature rice."

On the other end of the line, an aged but dignified voice slowly came through. Lieutenant General Peng moved the receiver away slightly, but the voice still clearly filled the entire living room.

"Comrade Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang, are you... not awake yet?"

Lieutenant General Peng's face flushed red instantly.

"Chief! I swear on my military career and my Party spirit! Every word I say is absolutely true!"

"I will transmit the live footage to you right now!"

He hung up the phone and dialed back using the video call function on his mobile phone.

He held up the phone, walked onto the balcony step by step, and aimed the camera at the golden box of rice.

In the frame, the rice ears were full, the grains crystalline, and full of vitality.

This time, the silence on the other end of the line lasted even longer.

So long that Lieutenant General Peng even thought the signal had cut out.

Finally, that voice sounded again, "Give the phone... to Su Che."

Lieutenant General Peng handed the phone to Su Che.

Su Che took the phone and said "Hello" very casually.

"Comrade Little Su, it's me."

"Mm, hello, Chief."

"I want to know, what is the upper limit of this technology?"

Su Che thought for a moment and looked out the window.

"Upper limit?"

"As long as you equip my 'Earth Mother Box' with a sufficiently strong energy core, such as Controlled Nuclear Fusion, and give me a large enough area."

"Theoretically, I could turn the Moon into a rice granary as well."

"..."

Su Che heard a burst of heavy breathing from the receiver.

After a long while.

The old man's voice sounded again, enunciating every word, carrying a decisiveness as firm as stone.

"I am giving you two things now."

"First, the highest authority. You can unconditionally mobilize any land and any resources within the entire country."

"Second, a goal."

The old man paused, his voice suddenly rising.

"I want you to make the Taklamakan Desert bloom with golden waves of rice within one month!"

"I want the whole world to see how the Dragon Country grows food in the sand!"