novelraw Chapter 9 Bouncing Grenade
Chapter 9 Bouncing Grenade
Lin Chi carefully took out two grenades that looked almost identical in appearance and weight, each containing one-tenth of the capacity of Sunshine Grass.
This was prepared by him for the final comparative verification.
One of them was exactly the same as the standard type he had spent the whole night testing it with. The other, however, was the culmination of all his ingenuity and hard work during that time, with a hidden compartment inside.
Lin Chi's choice of one-tenth of the capacity was a well-considered one. This amount of light was just enough to stably illuminate the area of an ordinary bedroom, which was sufficient for dealing with unexpected encounters and controlling local battlefields in actual combat.
The internal structure of this special grenade was the result of countless nights of design by Lin Chi.
It is an ingenious "matryoshka doll"—the outer shell is a standard hallucinogenic grenade containing one-tenth the volume of a blade of grass, but inside, at its center, is carefully fixed and embedded another miniature grenade core, also containing one-tenth the volume of a blade of sungrass.
The most crucial and ingenious part was that he coated the inner wall of the outer shell of the grenade with a special, semi-transparent, viscous sap.
Lin Chi discovered this peculiar sap by chance during a routine collection mission.
It comes from the same type of white ironwood used to make "tree shells". When the trunk is cut open, this viscous liquid will slowly seep out, carrying a faint, bitter herbal smell.
If you just touch it lightly with your hand, you will only feel a stubborn stickiness that is not easy to shake off.
However, if it is struck at a sufficiently high speed and with a certain force, the sap will generate an elastic force in the opposite direction at the moment of contact, and at the same time, it will turn into a wisp of slightly burnt-smelling smoke, instantly evaporating without leaving any trace.
This accidental discovery sparked a flash of inspiration in Lin Chi!
While the hallucinogenic light that bursts out instantly is powerful and can interfere with the enemy's senses, its duration is too short, often lasting only one or two breaths, making it difficult to create a sufficiently lethal or long-lasting control effect.
The key to turning this prop into a practical weapon lies in cleverly "extending" the duration of the hallucinogenic light.
If you use an impact force to trigger that layer of sap, the sap will instantly generate elasticity and vaporize. If this elasticity can detonate the inner mini grenade within a very short delay, then it is possible to form two closely connected, almost seamless hallucinogenic light bursts!
In this way, the "exposure" time of the hallucinogenic light is effectively extended. Perhaps, it can simulate a more continuous exposure effect similar to "hallucinogenic sunlight" during the day, trapping unfortunate targets within its influence in a longer and more inescapable deadly hallucination!
At this moment, the "matryoshka doll" grenade, which embodies all his ingenuity, patience and adventurous spirit, lies quietly in his slightly sweaty palm.
He took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the dark valley below that seemed capable of swallowing everything. His eyes hardened and sharpened as he prepared to take the final and most crucial step of practical testing.
He aimed at the familiar area below and threw the special grenade with force.
"Bang!"
The first burst of light bloomed as expected in the deep darkness, the mesmerizing light instantly expanding a small, distorted area.
Lin Chi immediately held his breath, leaned forward, and stared intently at the expanding ball of light, his heart pounding slightly with intense anticipation.
His full attention was focused on waiting for the inner mini grenade to be activated by the sap's elasticity, followed by the release of a second halo, forming a perfect, almost seamless "double explosion."
However, reality often deviates from the carefully conceived blueprint in a frustrating way.
The first burst of light quickly reached its peak, dazzlingly bright, and then, just like all the previous tests, it began to irreversibly contract and dim inward, like a rapidly deflated balloon.
In the very last moment before that light was about to completely fade and darkness was about to close in again—
"Zzzzt!"
The inner mini grenade was finally triggered, and the second halo of light barely and hastily lit up.
The anticipated seamless transition and sustained hallucination did not occur. The second burst of light was more like a belated "ember" after the first burst had ended.
The gleam of anticipation on Lin Chi's face froze instantly, then slowly faded, returning him to his usual calm, though a barely perceptible ripple flickered in his eyes.
He pursed his lips slightly downwards, revealing an expression that was a mixture of understanding and slight disappointment, but more so, focused concentration when engrossed in a technical problem.
"As expected... it's not that simple."
He muttered to himself, his voice unusually clear in the silence after the experiment, as if he were speaking a conclusion to himself.
He wasn't discouraged or frustrated; instead, he had a "just as I expected" mindset and quickly focused on analyzing the problem.
He raised his hand and, using the steady, soft light of the soul-suppressing lamp at his waist, carefully examined his palm and fingertips, as if he could see through his skin the changes in viscosity and elasticity of that peculiar tree sap under different conditions.
"The elasticity and timing of the sap's production must be perfectly matched with the impact force and timing on the shell... It seems that the thickness of the application, the ambient temperature, and even the freshness of the sap may all affect its reaction."
"But no matter what, we still gained a lot today."
As he reflected on his actions, he began to act decisively. The thoughtful expression on his face was replaced by a more urgent, time-based focus.
He glanced up at the still thick, inky night, where no change in the light of day was visible, and estimated the time he had arrived, relying on his faint sense of time.
"I need to go back quickly, I can't keep my mother waiting too long."
Thinking of his mother, whose eyes held undisguised worry, Lin Chi felt a slight pang in his heart, along with a surge of warmth and guilt.
Without further delay, he tightly wrapped the notebook containing valuable data in an oilcloth and tucked it back into the innermost compartment of his backpack. His movements were swift yet methodical, each step revealing his habitual caution and efficiency, ensuring absolute safety.
After tidying up, he gave the Soul-Suppressing Lamp at his waist one last check, making sure the leaf curtain covering the lamp was properly blocking the light and that the light was stable and did not leak out. Then, he gripped the handle and tilted the lamp slightly forward, illuminating the rugged woodland path a few steps ahead.
"I'm gone."
He whispered something, as if saying goodbye, or perhaps giving himself an instruction.
He no longer lingered on the edge of the valley where secret experiments had been conducted late into the night, a place filled with the unknown and eerie roars. He turned around, started walking cautiously, gradually quickening his pace until it became a steady, light jog, heading back the way he came.
The pale golden, warm halo leaped and swayed around his waist with the rhythm of his running, casting a constantly changing, small circle of safety light in front of him, striving to drive away the darkness that followed closely behind, which seemed to possess a life of its own and surged greedily.
His figure quickly disappeared into the shadows of the trees, only that single, steadfast, swaying golden halo stubbornly flickered amidst the layers of tree trunks and the gradually spreading night mist, appearing and disappearing, moving relentlessly towards "home," towards that warm longing.