Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 252 Nuclear Rocket Launcher
Lu Mingfei doesn't know much about dragon alchemy yet, only having read some basic information.

But that was enough for him to understand some of the most basic "common sense" principles, such as—the quality of materials is indispensable if you want the final product of alchemy to be effective!

The essence of alchemy is to "kill" matter and then "bring it back to life." In this process, the elements are transformed and regenerated, thus possessing completely different properties than before.

The fewer impurities a substance has before it is transformed, the easier the transformation will be; the better the quality of the substance itself, the more elemental energy it can carry.

The enormous alchemical matrix carved into the floor of the underground cave in Nibelungen is a prime example. That entire massive alchemical matrix was made entirely of pure, recycled metal! If it were just ordinary rock, it would never have been able to exist and function perfectly for so many years; it would have completely collapsed after just one elemental surge.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, if Lu Mingfei wants the power of "Putting the pen to life" to be strong enough and to be preserved for a long enough time... he also needs a medium of relatively high quality.

But he still chose an ordinary napkin.

This is just meant to be used as a test to verify the mechanism of action, not to actually blow up Deadpool! They're still in the car; what if the blast is too powerful and blows them up along with the car? Afterwards, Teacher Zhang might suspect someone planted a time bomb, right?

Speaking of which, if this were to actually happen, the prime suspect would seem to be Genjiro...

Lu Mingfei shook his head slightly. Yuan Zhisheng's crime was not so serious... It was not worth it to pull such a stunt to deal with Yuan Zhisheng, as it would only cause him to suffer heavy losses himself.

While his thoughts wandered off course as usual, his hands didn't falter in the slightest. Holding the Montblanc Meisterstück 149 that Chu Zihang handed him, Lu Mingfei quickly wrote on the ordinary napkin.

[The pen becomes reality!]
With flowing strokes and simple outlines, without any overly fancy techniques, Lu Mingfei could clearly feel that his physical strength and energy were like a small opening in a reservoir. What flowed out with the tip of the pen was not only ink, but also the accumulation of elements after he paid such a price.

Subconsciously, he activated [Elemental Synesthesia].

The world before him had completely changed, as if a filter had been applied, with different colors representing different elements swirling and churning. Only the fire element obeyed his call, obediently remaining within the channels he had drawn.

His initial strokes were restrained, like sparks flickering, but by the last stroke, they had become a raging inferno. The ink he wrote shimmered with dark gold and crimson hues in the elemental landscape, as if lava were flowing across the paper, yet without harming the surface in the slightest!
The cost was only a small amount of physical strength and energy. Lu Mingfei didn't even feel tired or sleepy. His heart rate increased slightly, but returned to normal after a short second.

"I can infuse even more into it, as long as I want... The power of writing to become reality and the power of words to become law are the same; the specific power depends only on how much physical strength and energy I have!"

Lu Mingfei stared at the napkin that had become completely different from before in the elemental synesthesia, and thought to himself.

But now is not the time.

After placing the valuable Montblanc Meisterstück 149 back in its original position, Lu Mingfei turned to look at Chu Zihang, who had been driving but was also keeping an eye on him out of the corner of his eye, and waved a napkin.

"All done, senior brother!"

"Ah."

Chu Zihang carefully examined the napkin. The character "焚" (burn) written on it was quite beautiful, but apart from that, he couldn't discern any other useful information.

But Lu Mingfei would never make baseless accusations; he wouldn't play pranks in this kind of situation.

Chu Zihang vaguely guessed the purpose of the paper, although it seemed absurd... But when this guess was applied to Lu Mingfei, it no longer mattered whether it was absurd or not, because this person himself was synonymous with "absurd"!
Even the most impossible things seem possible when it comes to him. From their first encounter until now, Lu Mingfei has shocked Chu Zihang far more often than usual. The saying "a scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of separation" seems too simplistic when applied to him.

Is there anything he can't do?

"How do I use it?" Chu Zihang asked.

"Essentially, there's... a little something inside this thing right now."

Lu Mingfei waved the napkin again; if the car windows hadn't been closed, the fragile paper might have even torn in the howling wind.

"So, if you want to release this, you just need to destroy the carrier."

"The words written on it, are they what happens after the carrier is destroyed?" Chu Zihang asked.

"Yes, that's what happened!"

Lu Mingfei nodded repeatedly.

"Can……"

Chu Zihang paused, then asked hesitantly, "When releasing, is it released indiscriminately with the carrier itself as the center, or in a certain direction?"

"Forehead……"

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. "Currently speaking... let's put it this way, senior brother, have you heard of the American M388 nuclear artillery shell?"

As someone who would secretly read other books when he was really bored while doing serious work in the literary society (referring to studying those seemingly cold and sad but actually idle European and American literary works), Lu Mingfei had read all kinds of leisure books, but he hadn't learned anything useful.

But this behavior actually greatly enriched his rambling literature, always managing to come up with something that seemed completely unrelated but actually had some connection when you thought about it carefully, even while spouting a bunch of rubbish.

The M388 nuclear artillery shell is a tactical nuclear weapon developed by the U.S. Army. It is 780 mm long and 280 mm in diameter at its thickest point. It is equipped with a W54 nuclear warhead designed by Los Alamosk scientists, weighs 23 kg, and has a nuclear yield of 10-250 tons. It was the smallest nuclear weapon deployed in actual combat during the Cold War.

Lu Mingfei certainly wouldn't remember these data. He wasn't a fanatical military enthusiast. He only remembered this weapon because it was the kind of thing that "a weapon designer could only design after his parents died suddenly, his wife cheated on him, and his children died young, so he drank vodka for three days and three nights and took illegal drugs."

Simply put, it has another name: "M388 nuclear rocket launcher".

The weapon's theoretical maximum range is only 4 kilometers, but its accuracy is extremely poor, while its lethal radiation radius is already around 500 meters. The problem lies here—theory and practice often have a huge gap, sometimes even being completely different. In actual combat, due to limitations in terrain, visibility, and mobility, the weapon's effective range is essentially limited to one to two kilometers.

Although this is still far beyond the lethal radiation range of 500 meters, radiation decays gradually and does not disappear once it exceeds that range. Therefore, if it were actually used in actual combat, the launching party would inevitably suffer radiation attacks as well.

Therefore, this weapon, which was developed and actually deployed but never experienced combat, has been hailed as the "most foolish weapon" because it is essentially equivalent to "launching a nuclear warhead with a bow and arrow," resulting in a kill radius greater than its range!
“…I understand.” Even Chu Zihang was silent for a moment after hearing this before replying. “Eh, Senior Brother, you actually know?” Lu Mingfei was taken aback. He had thought he would need to explain to Chu Zihang.

“Similar weapons exist at Kassel College. The Equipment Department has developed a briefcase-sized miniature nuclear warhead…” Chu Zihang explained, “so I know a little about it.”

"I've always known that the Equipment Department is a gathering place for a bunch of explosion fanatics, but isn't their desire for explosions a bit too strong?" Lu Mingfei's eyes twitched slightly.

"Don't tell me that the entire Kassel College is actually buried beneath nuclear missiles with a yield of tens of millions of tons, just waiting for the Dragon King to invade and become powerless to stop it before they detonate and destroy each other!"

The information he had also included a brief introduction to the Equipment Department of Kassel College.

"Equipment Department" is just an abbreviation; its full name is "Institute of Alchemy and Scientific Engineering Applications." They do not engage in theoretical research; their work involves translating scientific and alchemical theories into practical applications. They named their base Vata Alheim.

Vataalheim is a transliteration of the "Land of Dwarves" in Norse mythology, where the world's most skilled dwarf craftsmen lived. They were the ones who forged the weapons of the gods. The fact that the Equipment Department named their base after this clearly shows that they were very proud of their work.

However, in reality, 90% of the final products of their "practical application of the combination of science and alchemy" were explosives. Therefore, all non-equipment department members on the Night Watchers forum unanimously agreed that they should be renamed "Bomb Maniac Concentration Camp".

"Whether there are nuclear warheads buried underground in the academy is unknown, but the equipment department's protection is the best in the entire academy."

Chu Zihang replied.

"Their drinking water must be distilled and filtered through 13 stages of purification; the air they breathe must be dust-removed, ionized, purified, and humidified; the food they eat... they only eat junk food, but they are trying to prove that hamburgers, fries, and cola are healthy foods."

"These alone shouldn't be considered top-tier protection, right?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"Their base, Vata Alheim, has nine different isolation layers, including three-meter-thick concrete walls, 50-centimeter-thick high-strength armor plates, lead alloy plates to withstand nuclear weapons attacks, and large amounts of graphite powder filling the spaces between the isolation layers..."

According to their calculations, even the most advanced bunker-buster missiles couldn't penetrate their isolation layer. Biological weapons, nuclear weapons, and electronic attacks would be completely blocked. They also planned to deploy a complete, independent ecological operating system and a large amount of supplies inside, so even if a nuclear bomb were detonated in the school, it shouldn't affect them in the slightest.

"It sounds like a 'fortress that never falls' version."

Lu Mingfei commented, "But often when a story features a 'fortress that will never fall,' it means it's about to fall, right?"

"That's right, so the principal vetoed their proposal to deploy an independent ecosystem and a large amount of survival supplies."

Chu Zihang becomes noticeably more talkative when it comes to gossip.

"However, according to rumors, this is because the principal joked with the Minister of Equipment that since Vata Alheim is so safe, he should go there to take refuge after the end of the world, but was refused."

"hiss……"

Lu Mingfei gasped. "The principal approves the funding, right? If he disagrees with this, what kind of lunatic is he? What reason did he give?"

"It is said that they believe it is enough for them to carry on the great cause of humankind, and that the principal, as the leader, should live and die with all of humanity..."

Chu Zihang added at the end, "It is said that the principal gave us face and refused on the grounds that 'the equipment department is all men and there are no women, so even if the world ends, it will be useless.'"

"I don't think they'll just give up like that, right?"

“That’s right, just when the principal had almost forgotten about it, the Minister of Equipment, Akadullah, resubmitted the funding application, and this time, a new underground escape tunnel from Wata Alheim directly to the girls’ dormitory was added…”

"The thought that such a lunatic is the Minister of Equipment makes it really hard to feel at ease about the equipment they produce."

Lu Mingfei's eye twitched slightly. "No wonder ninety percent of them have explosive capabilities!"

"Even so, from a practical point of view, the equipment provided by the Equipment Department still has a very good positive effect, as long as... it is used properly."

Chu Zihang changed the subject and returned to Lu Mingfei, "So your new methods still have a lot of room for development, as long as you are careful about the methods and approaches when using them."

Finally, he added, "If it's an attack method that uses fire element as the sole means of attack, it's practically the same as having no side effects for me."

Now that things had come to this, Lu Mingfei finally understood why Chu Zihang was cooperating so well with him going off-topic, even to the point of no return in this regard.

Knowing him as Chu Zihang did, he could easily bring the conversation back on track if it went off-topic, and if he didn't, he would just continue the conversation... which was obviously effective.

This time, the intention behind going off-topic was simple—to comfort Lu Mingfei.

Perhaps in his senior's eyes, he had finally come up with such a novel method, but it turned out to be similar in effect to the "M388 nuclear rocket launcher," which might have made him feel frustrated. So he needed comforting, which is why he indirectly used the Equipment Department as a prelude.
Who said Senior Brother is made of stone? All of you come out and apologize! Was it because he didn't know how? Clearly, all those previous romantic entanglements weren't worth it! He still cares about his brothers, okay?

"Don't worry, senior brother. I already said it's only 'for now'. Things will be different later."

Lu Mingfei smiled confidently.

"The pen brings reality" is not such an inconvenient thing.
It doesn't say that only one word can be written on a piece of paper. Why not just add more words, along with the usage conditions and release method?

Moreover, this entry is not limited to this one form of use. He just found paper and pen specifically for the convenience of demonstration. If you really want to use it immediately, you can make it work immediately by gesturing with the Overlord Spear in the air!

"Yes, it's good to be prepared."

Chu Zihang spoke calmly as the vehicle steadily and slowly slowed down until it came to a stop.

"The concert starts at 7 p.m., I'll come pick you up then."

(End of this chapter)