I worked myself to the bone to become a saint, and survived on a deserted island with a stunning pri

After washing his face, Chu Nan went to the living room.

There was a bowl and chopsticks on the table, along with a bowl of rice. Xiao Zhuzi came up from behind carrying the dishes.

"Boss, dinner's ready," said Little Bamboo.

"Okay, thank you. You should go and get some rest," Chu Nan said.

"Yes." Xiao Zhuzi then returned to her small room in the adjacent courtyard.

After having breakfast, Chu Nan went to the front hall.

The hall was empty at the moment; there was no one there.

Chu Nan went outside and looked around the courtyard.

The location here is secluded, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only one narrow exit.

"It's okay to stay here temporarily, but it's definitely not suitable for long-term stays." Chu Nan kept shaking his head. This place was like a gourd lid, or, to use an idiom, a perfect trap.

"How about we see if we can take over other mountain strongholds?" Chu Nan pondered as he went outside.

"Bring Zhang San here!" Chu Nan beckoned to a passing bandit.

"Yes, Boss." The bandit's expression was somewhat respectful, after all, he had personally witnessed Zhang San being defeated by Chu Nan yesterday, not even lasting a single round.

Zhang San stood with his hands behind his back at the entrance of the courtyard. After a short while, he jogged over.

"Boss, what can I do for you?" Zhang San asked with a fawning smile.

"Tell me about the specifics of Qinglong Village," Chu Nan said.

Upon hearing this, Zhang San thought for a moment and said, "There are more than 100 people in Qinglong Village, so it should be around 120. However, I don't know the exact number."

"The leader of Qinglong Village is called Wang Cai. I heard that his father used to be a bandit, and he had about 50 brothers under his command."

"Later, when it came to him, Wang Cai, that son of a bitch, was quite capable. In less than three years, he developed dozens more brothers, bringing the total to about 100 people now."

At this point, Zhang San said somewhat indignantly, "Wang Cai takes advantage of his good location. There's a three-way intersection not far down the mountain, and he usually robs out any good stuff first."

Chu Nan frowned slightly: "So, you're saying you ate all his leftovers?"

Zhang San nodded, his face flushed.

"I didn't want to, but he's just relying on his numbers, and I can't beat him."

Upon hearing this, Chu Nan raised his hand and patted Zhang San on the shoulder: "With me here, we'll be able to beat him from now on."

"With the leader's martial arts skills, dealing with this kid wouldn't be difficult."

"But this kid has about 100 men, we brothers might not be able to handle it..." Zhang San scratched his head.

Chu Nan chuckled softly.

The numerical advantage is indeed significant; if Chu Nan had 120 men, dealing with Qinglong Village would be extremely easy.

But now that we are outnumbered, it's not as easy as it used to be.

However, Chu Nan would not be foolish enough to go and fight with knives and guns; that would be idiotic.

"How much money does the village have now?"

Zhang San thought for a moment: "It seems there are still forty or fifty taels of silver and about 2000 copper coins."

"We haven't made enough money over the years; we've been living hand to mouth, so this is all we have left."

"That should be enough!"

Chu Nan paced back and forth twice with his hands behind his back, then looked up and said, "Immediately send someone with silver to the nearby county to purchase a batch of sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal!"

Upon hearing Chu Nan's order, Zhang San looked somewhat bewildered: "Boss, what are we buying all this for?"

"If it's for starting a fire, just have the brothers burn some charcoal themselves, it'll definitely work."

Chu Nan waved his hand: "It's too much trouble to burn it ourselves, and we also need to use sulfur and saltpeter, so we need to speed things up."

Find a few more brothers to cut bamboo for me; I need at least 100 bamboo stalks.

"Yes, sir, I'll arrange it right away." Zhang San replied and hurriedly left.

The only advantage of being in the mountains is the ease of obtaining materials like bamboo and trees. Not far from the mountain village, there's a bamboo grove. Zhang San arranged for nearly 30 people to cut down the bamboo. They only needed one trip to bring back 100 stalks.

Chu Nan left 10 people to work for him.

"When cutting bamboo, you must cut every other section, leaving the middle section intact."

As Chu Nan spoke, he also joined in the work.

In just one afternoon, Chu Nan and his team made nearly 1000 bamboo tubes.

"Unfortunately, we don't have any other materials, so we'll have to make do with this for now."

Chu Nan sighed helplessly.

Using bamboo to make bombs would probably not be very powerful.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Nan instructed a few people to go to the nearby riverbank and collect some very small pebbles.

When filling the explosives, place sand and gravel around the perimeter. When the bamboo explodes, the sand and gravel will be ejected and cause considerable damage.

Unfortunately, the village was still too poor. If there were enough silver, they could have made iron grenades, which would have been much more powerful.

It wasn't until noon the next day that the person Zhang San had sent to the county town to buy materials returned with an oxcart.

He waved and called over a dozen brothers to carry all the sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal from the oxcart into Chu Nan's courtyard, and then they all left.

Chu Nan rubbed his hands together and immediately began grinding the three materials—sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal—and storing them separately.

They then put the three materials into a bamboo tube, made a fuse, and began the experiment.

After experimenting for a whole afternoon, Chu Nan finally found the perfect ratio.

This ratio allows the gunpowder inside to burn at its maximum potential, resulting in the strongest explosion.

Having mastered the proportions of gunpowder, Chu Nan mixed all three ingredients together. Then he made about ten of them himself.

These dozen or so bombs, made from bamboo tubes, each had a fuse attached to the outside. However, making the fuse was a bit tricky. If it was too thin, the gunpowder would sometimes stop burning. If it was too thick, it would burn very slowly.

So Chu Nan continued experimenting, continuing until it was almost dark, before finally creating a fuse of suitable length and burning speed. After lighting it, he would let it linger for two or three seconds, then throw it out, ensuring it would explode upon landing.

The next morning, Chu Nan summoned Zhang San and the others.

Nearly 70 people in the mountain village gathered together, while Chu Nan stood in the middle explaining things to them.

"This substance is called explosive. Simply ignite it, let it sit for a moment, and then throw it out."

As he spoke, Chu Nan personally tested it out, and the bandits were stunned when the bomb landed on the ground some distance away and made a loud explosion.

"Heavenly lightning! This is heavenly lightning!"

"The Boss's incredible prowess has allowed him to create heavenly lightning! This is the will of Heaven!"

"Long live the Boss!" someone shouted.

Chu Nan's lips twitched; he couldn't just shout those words.

If my future father-in-law heard this, it would be hard to explain.

"Get ready, we're attacking Qinglong Village tomorrow night!"

After driving Zhang San and his men away, Chu Nan left his own men behind.

"I'll teach you how to make bombs. You must make 1000 bombs today!" Chu Nan said in a deep voice.