Chapter 162: Gear Trap of the Explosive Device

The sentence from the radio just finished, and the old lathe in the corner of the workshop suddenly went "Clack!" as if someone had twisted a switch inside it. Zhao Jianguo hadn't had time to react when a line of red text floated in the air: **15 seconds**.

It's not a Projection, nor an illusion. The air twists slightly, and iron filings drift up from the ground, sticking to the lathe's casing as if attracted by a magnet.

"Here it comes again!" Jia Dongxu sprang to his feet, the Wrench in his hand nearly slipping to the floor, "Didn't we just dismantle it? How is it still—"

"It wasn't fully dismantled." Zhao Jianguo stared at the old lathe, brow furrowed, "It doesn't start with that part at all; that's a fuse— the real bomb is hidden inside."

Before he finished speaking, the Gear Set meshing sound accelerated, a thin wave of heat hit his face. The countdown jumped to **12 seconds**.

Jia Dongxu swallowed, "Do you know what this thing is?"

"It's something Jia Wu left behind." Zhao Jianguo stripped off his work clothes, wrapping one around his right hand, "He studied a resonant fuse that uses Gear Sets rotating at specific frequencies to stack energy and finally explode. I've seen his diagram—right on that Metal Sheet."

"So you're saying this busted lathe has a bomb that sings?"

"Not singing, dancing." Zhao Jianguo rushed toward the lathe's side drive shaft, "Each rotation adds force to itself. As long as the frequency matches, each turn is stronger than the last. When it reaches the critical point, the whole building will shake three times."

"Then what do we do? Stop it?"

"We can't hard‑stop it." Zhao Jianguo crouched, ear close to the transmission box, "We have to make it miss a step. Like two people walking to the same beat, if you suddenly lead with the left foot, everything falls apart."

Countdown **8 seconds**.

Jia Dongxu's mind raced, suddenly recalling something: "Speed‑adjusting Gear Set! This old machine has a manual frequency‑adjusting device, the one connected to the black copper pipe—it can change the transmission ratio!"

"If you find it, start right away!" Zhao Jianguo planted one hand on the ground, the other already reaching for the high‑speed rotating reduction wheel, "I'll hold the spindle; you adjust its dance steps off‑beat!"

"Your hand will get burned!"

"It won't burn; it's just starting to smoke."

He finished speaking, and his right hand, wrapped in cloth, slammed into the transmission groove. The high temperature instantly pierced the fabric; his palm felt like a branding iron had touched it, pain souring his teeth, yet his fingers didn't loosen.

The Gear Set rotation speed began to drop.

Countdown **6 seconds**.

"Hurry!" Zhao Jianguo shouted.

Jia Dongxu lunged to the control box, his fingers sliding along the copper pipe to a blackish gear assembly; he gave it a hard twist— it jammed.

"It's rusted solid!" He was so frantic his forehead sweated, "It won't move!"

"Take the Wrench and hammer! Not head‑on, hammer the side of the linked gear! Vibrate it in the opposite direction!"

Jia Dongxu grabbed the Wrench, aimed at a nearby thin shaft, swung his arm in a wide arc and struck once.

"Bang!"

A crisp sound rang, the whole lathe jolted half a beat. Inside, the gears emitted a harsh grinding noise, like two saws pulling against each other.

The countdown stopped at **3 seconds**, the red light flickering erratically.

"Effective!" Jia Dongxu's eyes lit up, "One more time?"

"No!" Zhao Jianguo gritted his teeth, shouting, "If we hammer again it'll really explode! It's now unbalanced, the energy can't disperse, stuck right before the critical point. If you give it another jolt now, it might actually push it past the line!"

The two froze, holding their breath.

In the workshop only the fan whirred, blowing the blueprints into a rustling flutter. The line of red text hovered in mid‑air, the numbers no longer flashing, yet no one dared to relax.

After a full ten seconds, Zhao Jianguo slowly released his grip. The cloth edge was charred and curled, crumbling to ash at a touch. He flicked his singed palm and whispered, "It's stable now."

Jia Dongxu slumped on the floor, his back against the tool cabinet, panting heavily, "My god… this isn't a joke. Who could have shoved this thing into the factory? Xu Da Mao?"

"Xu Da Mao doesn't even know how to use a screwdriver," Zhao Jianguo said, staring at the lathe base, "This was done by someone knowledgeable. Moreover—he knows Jia Wu's research."

"You mean… someone replicated his design?"

"More than a replica." Zhao Jianguo reached to touch the drive shaft outer cover, his fingertip tracing a fine incision, "Look here, this pattern is identical to the one on Jia Wu's Metal Sheet. Even the curvature deviation matches. This isn't imitation; it's made exactly as the original."

Jia Dongxu fell silent.

He slowly rose, walked to the back of the lathe, crouched, and reached to turn the bottom housing screws. After three turns the cover loosened. He gently lifted it, revealing a silver‑gray disc, its surface etched with complex concentric rings, a small central hole emitting a faint dark‑red glow.

"This is the core?" he carefully extracted it, cradling it in his palm.

Zhao Jianguo leaned over, glanced, and nodded, "Hmm. It won't explode now, but it's still 'awake'."

Just as he finished speaking, a crisp notification tone rang in his ear:

【Detected high‑density civilization relic, Civilization Inheritance Degree +10%】

Jia Dongxu stared at the sound, "Did you hear that?"

"System reward." Zhao Jianguo massaged his temples, "Seems this thing isn't just a bomb; it's some kind of technical Carrier."

"So what we just dismantled wasn't a bomb, but history?" Jia Dongxu gave a wry smile, "I thought I was fixing a lathe, but I was rescuing a relic."

"Rescue was decent," Zhao Jianguo glanced at him, "If you hadn't remembered the location of that speed‑adjusting Gear Set, I'd already be soaking in ice water at the hospital now."

"Don't overpraise me," Jia Dongxu said, turning the disc over and over, "I'm just a worker; being able to identify which gear connects to which shaft is enough. Who do you think placed this thing? Why did it have to pick today? It only activated when you got the part."

"Maybe it wasn't choosing today." Zhao Jianguo stared at the disc, "But— it sensed that part. We thought we were using the system, but actually the system was being used by someone."

"You mean… someone used us to trigger this device?"

"It's possible." Zhao Jianguo reached for the disc, its touch icy yet faintly pulsing, as if a heartbeat lay within, "They don't know where the part is, but they know that once a Spacetime Stabilizer component appears, the matching fuse will self‑activate."

"So that means what we hold now is a tracker?"

"Or a beacon," Zhao Jianguo squinted, "It just spoke through the radio, indicating it can communicate outward. The signal it emitted may already have been received."

Jia Dongxu's face changed, "Then should we hide it? Or smash it?"

"We can't smash it," Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "It's the only evidence. Moreover— since it can link to the radio, there's a receiver behind it. What we need to find is that port."

"But we can't keep it at home, right? Leaving it in the factory isn't safe either."

"First bring it back to the Siheyuan," Zhao Jianguo placed the disc into his portable tool box, fastening the latch, "Find a metal box, line it with cotton, then bury it underground. We'll study it after the heat dies down."

"You really dare take it home?" Jia Dongxu glared, "If it sounds off at midnight, we'll both explode leaving no residue."

"Don't worry," Zhao Jianguo grinned, "I checked in this morning for 'Mechanical Affinity', so I have a bit of sensitivity to these things. If it tries to cause trouble, I'll know in advance."

"Your system is pretty considerate," Jia Dongxu rolled his eyes, "Last time it gave a part that could blow up a building; this time it gave a bomb‑disposal skill. Is it trying to make you build and fix at the same time?"

"Probably thinks my craftsmanship is good," Zhao Jianguo patted his shoulder, "Let's go, while it's still daylight, hurry back. Don't talk on the way, and don't touch the box."

The two cleaned up the site, reinstalled the lathe's housing, and wiped away traces. Just before leaving, Zhao Jianguo glanced back at the old lathe, suddenly feeling it resembled a sleeping beast, eyes closed, waiting for the next time someone would wake it.

They walked out of the workshop one after the other, and the door squeaked shut behind them.

Night wind blew in, lifting several sheets of scrap paper, which spun a few times on the ground.

The toolbox was placed on the rear seat of the bicycle and tied securely with rope. Zhao Jianguo rode in front, Jia Dongxu followed behind, and the two walked along the factory's side path toward the residential area.

Almost no one was on the road.

Halfway there, Zhao Jianguo suddenly braked.

"What's up?" Jia Dongxu asked, stopping as well.

Zhao Jianguo said nothing, lowering his gaze to the toolbox. A thread of extremely faint red light seeped from a crack in the box's corner, floating in the air like a blood filament, swaying gently toward the direction of an old locust tree by the roadside.

He reached out and pressed the box; the light paused, then grew brighter.

"It… has awakened again." Jia Dongxu lowered his voice, "Wasn't burying it supposed to be enough?"

"It doesn't want to be buried." Zhao Jianguo stared at the thread of light and said slowly, "It wants us to see where it wishes to go."

"You mean—it's pointing the way?"

"Not pointing the way." Zhao Jianguo shook his head. "It's a summons. Someone is waiting for it to go home."

He lifted his eyes to the alley ahead; it was pitch black, not a single streetlamp lit.

Yet in that darkness, a Tablet truck sat silently, covered with an oilcloth, its outline vague. Beside the wheels lay a chipped enamel cup, its side printed with the words "Advanced Producer," the color faded to whitish.

Zhao Jianguo stared at the cup, his pupils constricting. It was the cup Jia Wu had used in life.

That was a cup Jia Wu had used while alive.