Chapter 9: Art Is an Explosion!

“Prepare for countdown!

“Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Detonate!”

At the captain’s shout, he pressed the red button without hesitation.

Boom!

A deep, terrifying report tore through the air. Even hundreds of meters away in the safe zone, everyone could feel the ground shudder beneath their feet.

A dazzling flash shot skyward. Amid billowing smoke, a small mushroom cloud rose over what had been the farmhouse courtyard. The enormous shock wave hurled sand, earth, and broken bricks and tiles against the outermost protective barrier.

Stream 952 exploded in popularity. The comments came so thick and fast that the video briefly froze.

【Popularity】+1 +1 +1 +1

【Popularity】+1 +1 +1 +1

【HOLY SHIT!!!】

【It really blew! A mushroom cloud!】

【That destruction! That spectacle! Even Hollywood effects aren’t this real!】

【The production crew sets off firecrackers to start filming. Jiang Chen celebrates with a bomb!】

【If they hadn’t evacuated, we’d be smelling roast meat through the screen by now!】

【So much for breaking down barriers between strangers.】

【Give him a minute and he’ll blow everyone into close friends!】

【Jiang Chen’s outdone himself. If he doesn’t spend a few years inside, I’ll livestream washing my hair upside down.】

【True. Nobody was hurt, but what a waste of public resources.】

Minutes later, the smoke and dust began to settle. Officers approached the center cautiously with shields raised. The courtyard rented by the show had been reduced to rubble, with a large crater blasted into its foundations. Fortunately, the protective measures had worked, and nearby buildings had suffered little damage.

The danger was over. Everyone breathed a long sigh of relief.

In the safe zone, Jiang Chen, Zhou Fei, and Wang Zhen looked at one another. Zhou Fei swallowed. “Brother Chen, are we really going to prison this time?”

Just as everyone expected the three outlaws to be led away in a police car, the captain’s radio crackled. He stepped aside to listen, his expression changing several times. When the conversation ended, he walked straight up to the trio and waved a hand.

“All right. You three are free to go.”

Everyone stared, confused. The captain strode over to the director, who had just been revived, and issued a stern warning.

“Our superiors considered that this is a legitimate show, nobody suffered actual injury, and Jiang Chen acted unintentionally. For now, no criminal charges will be pursued. But listen carefully! You can do whatever you like on your reality show, except anything illegal that endangers public safety or causes panic. Understood?”

The director nodded furiously, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. “Understood! There absolutely won’t be a next time!”

After the police withdrew, Zhou Fei and Wang Zhen threw their arms around Jiang Chen. Zhou Fei’s cheeks shook as he grinned. “Brother Chen! We’re all right! We don’t have to sew uniforms in prison!”

Wang Zhen smiled his guileless smile. “The captain’s amazing. He even got us through that.”

Their celebration had barely begun when a furious roar came from behind them.

“Jiang Chen!”

The director stormed over, face crimson, followed by several planning and operations staff. His finger shook as he pointed at Jiang Chen’s nose.

“You three! Disband! Right now! You’re being reassigned!”

He turned and bellowed at the planners. “Publish a new rule everywhere immediately! All contestants are strictly forbidden from researching or making any dangerous, illegal items! If anyone dares make another bomb, we’ll sue you and spend every last penny we have to put you behind bars!”

With that, he stormed away. He couldn’t bear to look at Jiang Chen’s face for another second.

Before Zhou Fei and Wang Zhen could react, several burly staff members hauled them away. Zhou Fei clung to the car door and shouted back reluctantly, “Brother Chen! You have to remember us! Three Zhuge Liangs, with the brains of one lousy cobbler! Brother Chen!”

Wang Zhen was dragged farther and farther away too. Viewers lamented in the comments.

【The golden team is breaking up just like that?】

【Alas! Heaven is jealous of talent!】

【The Idea Guy, the Action Guy, and the Easygoing Guy. What a lineup.】

【The director’s really scared. If he doesn’t split them up, tomorrow the production crew will be blowing up a building.】

Jiang Chen sighed. He’d only just built up their popularity, and now his teammates were gone.

As he considered how to attract viewers next, a staff member brought over two men. One wore black-framed glasses, held a globe, and looked mild-mannered. The other wore a long robe and fortune-teller glasses, clutching a tortoise shell with an air of mystery.

The staff member introduced them curtly. “Jiang Chen, these are your newly assigned teammates: Chen Ming, a senior-year high-school geography teacher, and Liu San, a fortune-teller.”

Before Jiang Chen could greet them, the familiar mechanical voice rang out in his head.

【Ding!】

【New teammates detected!】

【Three’s a Team System reanalyzing…】

【Chen Ming: Geography teacher, skilled in geological prospecting and the course of feng shui dragon veins.】

【Liu San: Fortune-teller, skilled in dragon-seeking methods and the principles of yin, yang, and the eight trigrams.】

【Combining these with the host’s ability to act, a brilliant new idea has been generated:】

【Seek the dragon and fix the compass bearing among winding mountains; each winding ridge is another gate!】

【Project selected: Tomb robbing!】

Jiang Chen froze at the virtual panel. He looked up sharply, his gaze moving between the geography teacher and the fortune-teller.

What the hell? He’d barely escaped a trip to the police station, and now he was supposed to dig up somebody’s ancestors?!