129: Making gunpowder

The two sat around the dining table. An Lan looked at Lu Fan and said, "It's not easy to have such a hot meal in this wilderness."

Lu Fan took a bite of venison, chewing contentedly, and responded indistinctly, "Yeah, just wait until the day I grow rice. That'll be truly wonderful."

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Lu Fan sprang out of bed like a wound-up alarm clock.

He had been dreaming about tinkering with gunpowder all night. The crackling sounds in his dream made him so excited he almost couldn't sleep soundly.

"An Lan, get up! Today is the big day for the birth of gunpowder!"

Lu Fan shouted at the top of his lungs while getting dressed. His voice echoed through the Shelter, nearly blowing the roof off.

An Lan climbed up groggily, muttering with sleepy eyes, "It's so early, can't you let a person sleep a bit longer..."

Before she could finish, she was jolted awake by Lu Fan's whirlwind-like movements.

The livestream room.

"Great God Lu Fan is so excited."

"Gunpowder is about to be made. I'd be excited too if it were me."

"Gunpowder is a major weapon capable of changing the course of history."

"If Great God Lu Fan transmigrated to ancient times, with gunpowder, he'd surely end up as a Prince of a Different Surname."

"Speaking of transmigration, how do you know Great God Lu Fan didn't transmigrate here to save us?"

"This livestream is getting more 'illegal' the more I watch."

Lu Fan had already moved the sulfur collected yesterday, the saltpeter stored previously, and the carefully selected charcoal onto the table all at once.

"Achoo!"

Lu Fan couldn't help but sneeze. "Who's talking about me?"

"An Lan, don't underestimate these three things. When put together, they make powerful Black Powder!"

Lu Fan's eyes sparkled with excitement, like a magician about to perform an amazing trick.

He first picked up a piece of saltpeter and tossed it in his hand.

"This saltpeter is the key to Black Powder. It provides oxygen, making the gunpowder burn more fiercely."

"It's like how we need a staple food for a meal. We can't do without it!"

As he spoke, he used a small hammer to carefully crush the saltpeter into powder. His focused expression looked as if he were carving a rare treasure.

Next, it was the sulfur's turn. Lu Fan picked up a piece of sulfur, sniffed it, and frowned.

"This smell is quite pungent, but it acts as a combustion aid in gunpowder, like giving the flames a boost to make them burn brighter!"

He ground the sulfur into a fine powder, his movements as skilled as a professional pharmacist.

Finally, it was the charcoal. Lu Fan picked up a piece of charcoal and gestured with it. "This charcoal is like the 'fuel' in gunpowder. Without it, the gunpowder would have no kick!"

He put the charcoal into a Stone Mortar and pounded it hard with a Pestle, chanting as he worked, "Pound, pound, pound out the best gunpowder!"

An Lan watched Lu Fan's frantic yet serious manner from the side and couldn't help but laugh. "You look like you're preparing some kind of super feast."

"This is exactly a super feast! To me, gunpowder is more important than any delicacy!"

Lu Fan didn't even look up, continuing to tinker with his treasure.

Once the powders were ready, the next step was the critical mixing phase.

An Lan watched Lu Fan's movements with wide eyes. Suddenly, Lu Fan froze.

"What was the ratio for the gunpowder recipe...?"

[The mass ratio of Potassium Nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur is approximately 75:15:10]

Just as Lu Fan was racking his brain, the heavenly dao prompt sound came to the rescue.

After hearing it, Lu Fan couldn't help but inwardly praise it for being so helpful.

Then he took out a large bowl and poured in the saltpeter powder, sulfur powder, and charcoal powder according to the specific ratio.

As he poured, he muttered, "The ratio is just right. If it's off by even a little, this gunpowder won't have the 'flavor' I want."

An Lan watched from the side and couldn't help but remind him, "Be careful, don't cause any accidents."

"Don't worry，I know what I'm doing.." Lu Fan promised, patting his chest, though his hands trembled slightly with excitement.

He picked up a small wooden stick and began to slowly stir the powder in the bowl.

The movement was like stirring a cup of rich coffee, except if something went wrong with this "coffee," it would be no laughing matter.

After stirring evenly, Lu Fan looked at the dark powder in the bowl and nodded with satisfaction. "Look, this is the prototype of Black Powder! But it still needs a bit more processing to make it perfect."

He added some water to the bowl and began to gently rub the mixture with his hands, rolling the powder into small lumps.

As he rubbed, he said proudly, "Look at my craftsmanship. These gunpowder granules I'm rolling are even more uniform than those made by machines!"

An Lan watched from the side and couldn't help but tease, "Keep bragging. But once you've made this gunpowder, how do you plan to use it?"

"It has so many uses!" Lu Fan's eyes lit up.

"If we encounter danger in the future, we can set off some gunpowder to scare those beasts. They'll definitely run away in terror."

"It can also be used for hunting. Just put the gunpowder into a Bamboo Tube, add some pebbles, and throw it near the prey. With a 'bang,' the prey is ours! Or use it for mining—it'll be a breeze."

Or use it for mining, light work.

As he spoke, he even mimicked a hunting scene, gesticulating so wildly he almost spilled the freshly made gunpowder.

"Don't just think about hunting. You still need to use gunpowder carefully. It wouldn't be good if you hurt yourself." An Lan still looked worried.

"I know, I'm not a child."

Lu Fan said this, but he was still feeling a bit smug. After all, he had made gunpowder with his own hands; it was a major "secret weapon" in the wilderness.

Once the gunpowder granules were ready, Lu Fan carefully put them into an earthenware jar.

He held the earthenware jar like he was holding a priceless treasure, a proud smile spreading across his face. "Now, we just need to let it dry!"

An Lan looked curiously at the black lumps in the earthenware jar, a bit skeptical. "Is the gunpowder really made just like that?"

Lu Fan couldn't help but laugh at An Lan's skepticism. "Does it seem too simple? Not the earth-shattering process you imagined?"

"Yeah." An Lan nodded.

Lu Fan explained with a smile, "Many great discoveries in history come from the ordinary. Besides, I'm just recreating Black Powder according to a recipe. I'm nothing compared to those predecessors. They created it from nothing, making gunpowder through repeated experiments. They are the truly remarkable ones."

The livestream room.

"Black Powder is made just like that? Great God Lu Fan is awesome."

"Hehe, now I know the recipe too."

"What's Black Powder? I have even more powerful technology."

"The person above, I'll provide the materials, you provide the tech, let's do something big."

"?? You two, this is a public livestream room, right?"

Lu Fan placed the Black Powder in a well-ventilated area to wait for it to dry.

Then he began to pick out some Bamboo Tubes of moderate thickness and started to study them.

Watching him busy himself, An Lan finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Lu Fan, we need to talk."