Chapter 5: This Show Belongs on the Crime Channel!

The amplified command was deafening. Everyone at the scene froze in fear, raised their hands, and hardly dared breathe.

The bomb squad captain strode forward in a heavy tactical vest, his face grim. “Who’s in charge here? What’s the situation? We received an emergency call from the public saying someone here is illegally developing explosives!”

The director’s legs shook. With his hands raised high, he hurried forward. “I’m in charge! I’m the director! Officer, we’re filming a major reality show. Here are our permits! There are absolutely no explosives here. It’s all for the livestream. It’s fake!”

The captain glanced at the paperwork without comment and headed straight for the battered table inside the caution tape.

As head of the bomb squad, he’d spent years dealing with dangerous explosives. He’d seen plenty. But when he got a clear look at the detonator-shaped object—a thick, sealed plastic pipe with a length of fuse protruding—his expression changed instantly.

Years of professional instinct screamed a warning. It looked dangerous, and it was every bit as unsafe as it looked!

He whirled around and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Everyone! Back away! Back away!”

The crowd promptly retreated more than ten meters. Jiang Chen pressed a hand to his forehead. They’d certainly attracted viewers, but judging by the response, he might be going to jail.

Several officers advanced with specialized detection equipment. The onlookers held their breath. Surely it was fake? How could they possibly have made a real explosive?

The director shook Jiang Chen by the shoulders. “Tell me! Is it real or fake? Is it a model you made?” If it was real, his show might be taken off the air!

Jiang Chen’s head spun from the shaking. He didn’t know either. He’d followed the formula in the system’s instructions. Shouldn’t they be asking the system?

Then a red light lit up on the captain’s detector. The director and the others felt their hopes collapse.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Explosive material confirmed. The instrument’s rapid alarm indicated explosive components had been detected!

“Fall back! Evacuate everyone a hundred meters! Establish a secondary exclusion perimeter!” The captain spun around, nearly roaring his orders. “Quick! Bring the full bomb-disposal protective gear! Get the gas chromatograph for trace detection and identify the components!”

Sensing mortal danger, the officers swiftly donned heavy bomb suits and approached the table again with precision equipment. A trace-sampling probe inched toward the container. As soon as it came within range, the instrument shrieked and its red warning lights flashed wildly.

“Captain! The concentration of volatile energetic components has reached the instrument’s upper limit! Preliminary trace analysis indicates a black-powder-based mixture with extremely high combustion and detonation potential!”

The captain’s nerves tightened. He turned sharply and pointed at Jiang Chen. “Secure the suspect immediately!”

Two officers stepped forward and gripped Jiang Chen by both shoulders.

At that moment, the officer analyzing the readings stared in horror at a newly refreshed molecular spectrum. “Captain! New finding! Mass spectrometry detected molecular fragments characteristic of nitroaromatics! It isn’t just black powder. The sample contains a high explosive nitro compound in a mixed charge. The detonation speed and blast force are magnified exponentially! If it sympathetically detonates, the lethal radius will be enormous!”

A chill shot up the captain’s spine. He sprang up and shouted with all his strength, “Evacuate! Everyone out! At least five hundred meters away! Execute the highest alert plan! Notify the municipal emergency management and civil defense offices! Now!”

He grabbed his radio, switched to the public safety emergency channel, and called out, “Command, command! Bomb squad reporting! High explosives confirmed! Fuse status unknown! Extremely unstable! Request immediate activation of the highest emergency response level! Seal off a three-kilometer area and evacuate everyone! Immediately!”

After reporting, he turned to the director. “Notify everyone! Get them all out!”

The livestream viewers were stunned.

【Popularity】+1 +1 +1 +1…

【Holy shit! Is this a stunt or is it real?!】

【Are they going to prison on the first day of the show?!】

【This variety show is going to end up on the crime channel!】

【Looks dangerous, and it’s every bit as unsafe as it looks!】

Everyone at the scene fled. The other contestants were dumbstruck and ran too. They’d been nearby trying to figure out how to attract viewers, and another team had made explosives? How were they supposed to compete with that?

“Run! A contestant made explosives! Stop grilling those skewers! Your grill’s going to be blown away!”

Jiang Chen and his teammates were promptly restrained, put in the armored vehicle, and fitted with gleaming handcuffs. The vehicle sped off to a distant safe area.

Zhou Fei sat inside, frightened and bewildered. “Brother Chen, is it really that serious? Didn’t you say we were making a firework?”

Jiang Chen spread his hands helplessly. “I followed the proportions for a firework. Maybe it’s all a misunderstanding?”

But inwardly he wondered. He’d only intended to make fireworks; at most, it should have been pyrotechnic composition. This response was far beyond what he’d expect for illegal fireworks. Had the system secretly set him up?

The officer driving the escort vehicle overheard them, turned sharply, and snapped, his face livid. “A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? That wasn’t civilian fireworks composition! The test confirmed a mixed charge of black powder and high explosive nitro compounds! It’s extremely sensitive. Friction, impact, or heat could trigger detonation!

“That isn’t a firecracker. It’s a homemade mixed explosive capable of massive destruction! A sympathetic detonation could send shock waves and fragments over a huge area, causing catastrophic casualties. This is a major explosives case!

“I want to know how the three of you managed to make such a powerful energetic mixture by hand!”

The officer had expected the seriousness of it to reduce them to tears and make them confess. Instead, Jiang Chen and his teammates looked at one another in astonishment.

Zhou Fei pointed at himself in disbelief. “Really? The three of us… are that incredible?”