Upon seeing the giant grenade being thrown, Sun Jian quickly shouted, covered his ears, and squatted down on the ground.
The villagers were stunned by his actions and didn't know what was happening. However, they all followed Sun Jian's example, putting their hands on their heads and squatting on the ground.
For a moment, the open space at the east end of the village was completely silent...
Sun Jian closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the loud explosion to occur.
His heart pounded violently every second.
But five or six seconds passed, and there was still no reaction.
"Holy crap! What's going on?"
"Why don't you just blow it up?"
The villagers whispered among themselves, and some of them had already stood up, looking around in bewilderment.
One person stood up, and then everyone else stood up as well, all frozen in place, looking bewildered, and all turning their gazes toward Sun Jian.
"What...what's going on? Why are you squatting down?"
Zhou Wan'er was also stunned, her beautiful eyes widening as she stared at Chu Qingcheng and Gu Zijian.
"Sun Jian!! What on earth are you doing...?"
Village chief Sun Liangzhi was so angry he almost died, but before he could finish his sentence...
Suddenly, a loud "bang!" followed, and an explosion followed, like a dragon's roar that shook the heavens and the earth, shooting straight into the sky.
In that instant, night was replaced by day!
The powerful shockwave spread outwards, instantly flattening four or five houses. Wood chips and rubble flew everywhere, raising clouds of dust.
The massive explosion also created a small mushroom cloud that rose into the air.
Everyone felt their ears ringing and the world spinning.
Since many villagers had just stood up, they were directly thrown away by the outermost shockwave, but fortunately they only suffered minor injuries and were not seriously hurt.
"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"
Sun Jian kept waving his hands to clear the dust from the air and spitting out saliva.
When the smoke cleared, all the villagers were stunned by the explosion.
They looked around as if they had lost their souls, their expressions blank yet filled with fear.
That explosion came so suddenly, it was like a thunderclap out of nowhere.
Are you alright?
Sun Jian ran up to the three women and asked them questions.
"We're fine, husband."
"Cough cough."
Chu Qingcheng and the others waved their hands to disperse the dust, and even coughed slightly.
"Husband... this... did you make this? What... what is this thing?"
Gu Zijian wore an incredulous expression, as if he had discovered a new continent.
"Yeah, but I didn't expect it to be so powerful; it's beyond my comprehension."
Sun Jian glanced at the dilapidated houses still glowing with fire in the distance and confirmed Gu Zijian's answer.
"You...you're absolutely amazing."
"Husband, you...you're truly amazing!"
Gu Zijian and Chu Qingcheng showered Sun Jian with praise, while Zhou Wan'er approached the ruins step by step, speechless for a long time.
At this moment, all the villagers slowly came to their senses, and led by the village chief, they also approached the edge of the ruins.
The dilapidated houses that used to stand side by side are long gone. The surrounding area is charred black, with rubble and wood scattered everywhere, and many flames still burning.
The ground was blasted into a huge crater, deeply sunken in.
This power is even stronger than a thunderclap...
Everyone looked at Sun Jian with a mixture of fear and awe, still regarding him as an oddball.
Old Cao, Er Gou, Old Jiang, and the others were so shocked that they stared in disbelief and remained silent for a long time.
Sun Jian explained from the side, "I made this by combining gunpowder and other things. I originally thought it would only blow up a few houses and that would be the end of it, but I didn't expect it to be so powerful."
"Does this...does this thing have a name?"
Village chief Sun Liangzhi asked timidly.
"Yes, it was originally called a landmine, but after I modified it, let's call it a hand grenade now!"
"Everyone, are you all alright?"
Sun Jian strode up to the platform and surveyed the villagers below who were terrified.
"Don't be afraid. As long as you handle it properly, it won't hurt you. Old Cao threw it out and it took him a while to explode."
Seeing that the villagers remained silent while asking questions, Sun Jian smiled wryly and continued, "I also made some other traps, which were modified crossbows, rolling stones, and logs."
"As for the grenade from earlier, it was just a prototype."
"With these things in our village, let alone a few hundred bandits, even if tens of thousands of troops from the Great Zhou come, I can make sure they never return."
"Do you believe me now?"
Upon hearing this, the fear in the villagers' eyes slowly disappeared, replaced by hope!
"We believe it! We believe it! That's great! We're saved!"
"No need to flee anymore! That's great!"
The crowd began to cheer, and their admiration for Sun Jian reached its peak.
Chu Qingcheng and Gu Zijian were overjoyed, looking at Sun Jian on the stage with adoring eyes, their gazes filled with tenderness.
Only Zhou Wan'er didn't seem so happy. She muttered to herself, "You want to blow up tens of thousands of our Great Zhou army? You dare!"
"Ding! The system has detected that Zhou Wan'er's favorability towards you has decreased by 1 point. The current value is 31 points."
"Ding! The system has detected that Gu Zijian's favorability towards you has increased by 3, and the current value is 40 points."
"Ding! The system has detected that Chu Qingcheng's favorability towards you has increased by 1. The current value is 50 (peak)."
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Sun Jian suddenly received a system notification. He turned his gaze to the three women, a black line appearing on his forehead.
Based on past experience, a score of 10 or higher indicates a strong liking, while a score of 20 or higher indicates dependence and affection.
Chu Qingcheng and Gu Zijian both have increased their favorability towards me, so why did Zhou Wan'er suddenly lose points?
I remember now!
This girl must have been scared because I said I was going to wipe out tens of thousands of Great Zhou troops...
Sun Jian sighed helplessly, but what could he do? She was a princess of the Great Zhou royal family.
"Ding! The system has detected that Chu Qingcheng's favorability towards you has reached its peak value of 50. She is now devoted to you for life and to the death. You will receive a legendary-level lottery draw (limited to 30 days), 20 points of any attribute, and a new character binding task will be successfully unlocked. The system will then match and bind a new character according to the host's situation."
Sun Jian shut down the system, turned his gaze to the crowd, and began to deploy his plan to eliminate the bandits.
With the added power of the grenade, everyone listened to whatever Sun Jian said. Not only did they no longer question him, but they even began to spread rumors in private that Sun Jian was the reincarnation of the Thunder God from heaven.
Fortunately, Sun Jian lived up to expectations and divided his stored grain into rations and distributed them to everyone. This was not because he was a saint, but because he needed these people to help him with the work.
As for food supplies, Sun Jian has no need to worry at all. The super potatoes he planted earlier will be ready for harvest soon, ensuring a continuous supply of food.
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