Steel torrents pioneering a different world

Chapter 76 Gold!!! (Bonus chapter for monthly votes)

My goodness, I've got over a hundred monthly votes! I'm writing more and more, and I'll be adding at least three more chapters tonight!
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Twenty kilometers away, the advance team's operational command post.

Su Mingjin had just returned from checking on the research progress of the scientific research team when she saw Commander Man and a few others staring intently at the real-time footage transmitted back by the drone.

"Brigadier, what happened?"

Commander Man pointed to the screen, "That kid Zhao Chong just gave that hill a good blast with artillery shells, and now there's a problem there. The magic detector is malfunctioning, and the engineering team is digging things up right now. They're on alert!"

After listening to the brigade commander's quick report, Su Mingjin nodded.

The detector was off the charts but no enemy was seen. We first used artillery fire to eliminate any ambushes.

This tactic, though extravagant, is absolutely correct. Dongda University is now a large and powerful nation; a few dozen shells are nothing compared to the safety of the soldiers.

Under their watchful eyes, in the video, the giant arm of an excavator carefully reached towards the charred pile of ore.

Just then, a startled cry, distorted in tone, came through the walkie-talkie from the front lines.

"Fuck!"

The voice of a young worker was somewhat shrill due to his excitement.

"Captain! Here! There's something here! It's golden! Is it gold?"

"Wow, these really are gold nuggets! So many, one after another!"

"We've struck gold!"

Listening to the chaotic shouts on the channel, Su Mingjin and Brigade Commander Man in the command room exchanged a glance, both seeing the same confusion in each other's eyes.

Gold nugget?
How could the gold nugget cause such a commotion that it caused an anomaly in the detector specially developed by the Science Department?

……

A modern world, an alien chemical analysis and research laboratory.

The thick leaded glass blocked out all noise, leaving only the low hum of the instrument running.

Zhang Zhongxiao focused intently as he used a robotic arm to drip the last drop of otherworldly concentrated sulfuric acid into a specially designed container.

This 500-gram liquid is the essence extracted from pyrite transported back from that other world, a process that took countless efforts.

It looks no different from concentrated sulfuric acid on Earth, but everyone knows that this stuff has a much worse temper.

Its chemical properties have become extremely active, or rather... unpredictable, due to long-term exposure to magical elements.

Last time, Professor Zhang tried to make TNT using fusion materials, but the laboratory exploded. Fortunately, Professor Zhang had taken some precautions beforehand, and the special laboratory absorbed a lot of the explosive pressure, which prevented Professor Zhang from becoming a martyr on the spot.

Since then, all experiments involving the synthesis of otherworldly materials have been classified as the highest-risk experiments.

Although this is the modern world and many materials made up of chemicals are quite normal, precautions must still be taken.

"Group B reports: 500 grams of extraterrestrial concentrated sulfuric acid has been extracted."

"receive."

Team leader Hou Shuheng's voice came through the communicator, carrying a hint of barely perceptible fatigue.

"First, seal it up, and then proceed to the next step of synthesis after the benzene extraction team completes its task."

"clear."

No one dared to relax in the slightest.

The goal this time is to synthesize TNT entirely using materials obtained from another world and through modern chemical processes in an Earth-like environment.

This is not only to create a more powerful explosive, but also to verify a core hypothesis—what the true potential of these materials can be achieved when stripped of the magical environment of the other world.

Less than ten minutes later, another group of researchers pushed in a temperature-controlled transport box. They had dark circles under their eyes and a faint smell of wood tar on their bodies.

Coal had not yet been discovered in the other world. In order to extract enough benzene, they used the most primitive wood distillation method, cutting down a lot of trees in the other world. They deserve praise for their hard work.

All the preliminary materials were ready. Inside the laboratory, the atmosphere instantly became extremely tense.

"Let's begin." At Hou Shuheng's command, the members of each group immediately became alert and began working cautiously.

The first step is the nitration reaction.

Benzene and mixed acids are mixed at a low temperature of 50-60℃ to produce nitrobenzene.

Pour as instructed, stir...

Everyone's eyes were glued to the monitoring screen of the reactor. The data stream was moving steadily, but the temperature curve was like a naughty child, occasionally surging upwards before being forcibly pushed back down by the cooling system.

Zhang Zhongxiao felt his heartbeat synchronize with that curve.

"Stay calm! Don't panic!" Hou Shuheng's voice was steady and powerful. "The data fluctuations are within the preset safety range, continue!"

Fifteen minutes later...

puff~
The thick smoke, accompanied by wildly fluctuating data, made everyone's hearts leap into their throats.

Hou Shuheng, with his square face, looked bewildered. He only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the intense chemical reaction had not caused any casualties.

After the erroneous experiment was sorted out and archived, he continued, "Record the synthesis data for this experiment, and lower the temperature by five points."

First time, failure; second time, third time...

Seven hours later...

Although problems arose during the step-by-step, fluctuating chemical synthesis process, it was generally proceeding stably!

The most crucial step has arrived.

Dinitrobenzene reacts with toluene in concentrated nitric acid and sulfuric acid to eventually produce trinitrotoluene.

"Om-"

The reactor suddenly emitted a slight tremor, and the energy reading on the monitoring screen instantly soared to red!

A young researcher's hand trembled, and he almost pressed the emergency stop button.

"Don't move!" Zhang Zhongxiao shouted in a low voice, "Check the temperature! The temperature isn't out of control!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soaring energy reading slowly dropped back down, eventually stabilizing at a value that was significantly higher than that of conventional synthesis, yet remarkably stable.

Purification, crystallization... no further abnormalities occurred in the subsequent steps.

"call……"

Someone let out a long breath, and the tense atmosphere in the entire laboratory seemed to be instantly sucked out, leaving everyone feeling exhausted.

"Success..."

"Damn it, just now I thought I was going to fly to the sky again."

Hou Shuheng breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, patting the table.

"This thing is even more powerful than we thought! The previous explosion and various shockwaves probably exploded directly in the other world. We've recorded all of this so the chemistry team can test it over there. We've also organized all the synthesis we've done here."

"Yes, Team Leader Hou!"

"Ha, Team Leader Hou, the performance of these synthesized materials seems pretty good! I have a feeling there will be a pleasant surprise when the test results come out!"

"Team Leader Hou, can we finally get a good night's sleep tonight?" one researcher joked.

"Dream on!" Hou Shuheng laughed and scolded. "Repeat the successful experimental data three more times, study more controls, and see how much fluctuation there is. We must ensure that everything is foolproof! We're not doing scientific research in another world, so how can we get a good night's sleep!"

Just then~
"Boom boom boom!"

There was a rapid and forceful knocking on the door outside the isolation laboratory.

Everyone was taken aback. It was so late at night, who would bother us?
(End of this chapter)