Then, he tore a long strip from his cotton underwear, picked up the bamboo tube, and wrapped the strip around the outside of the tube, winding it tightly for five layers before stopping.

He did this to reinforce the bamboo tube, to prevent it from bursting when fired.

After finishing, he used a dagger to carve a wooden plug, wrapped it in a layer of cloth, and tightly sealed one end of the bamboo tube. In this way, a simple launching tube was completed.

After making the launching tube, Logan Carter began to prepare the propellant, which was the most crucial step.

Logan Carter took out two vials from the alchemy room at home. One contained potassium nitrate powder, and the other contained glycerin. He mixed the two together, added some water, and then shook the mixture vigorously, not stopping until the solution and glycerin were fully blended.

After all this, Logan Carter took a deep breath, focused his mind, and concentrated on the solution in the bottle.

‘Potassium nitrate is KNO₃. When dissolved in water, the ionic bonds break, producing freely moving potassium ions and nitrate ions. Glycerin, chemically known as glycerol, contains three hydroxyl groups. If I can use nitrate ions to replace the three hydroxyl groups in the glycerol molecule and fully nitrate the glycerin, I can produce highly powerful nitroglycerin.’

Naturally, this reaction is impossible to achieve. On Earth, glycerin must react with concentrated nitric acid under the catalysis of concentrated sulfuric acid to produce nitroglycerin and water. But now, Logan Carter has the alchemical talent of ‘Friend of Elements’, which is equivalent to having a powerful catalyst.

Holding the vial, Logan Carter remained completely still, his mind fully focused on the solution inside.

Time ticked by, and on the surface, Logan Carter seemed to be in a daze. The only change was the constant sweat beading on his forehead, with large drops dripping down.

After about a minute, there was no change in the solution inside the vial, and Logan Carter's first attempt ended in failure.

‘Huff~ huff~’

Logan Carter gasped for breath, his whole body almost soaked in sweat, with white steam rising from above his head. In this one minute, the alchemical energy he expended nearly exceeded what he had used before to control the spread of mandrake poison, yet it had no effect.

Annie, who had been watching Logan Carter closely, saw him frowning in thought and quietly asked, “Did it not work?”

Logan Carter nodded slightly. “Mm~ My method was wrong. Let me think of another way.”

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Chapter 10: Pale Yellow Oily Liquid

For an exploratory scientific experiment, failure is to be expected; success is a rare event.

Logan Carter was mentally prepared, so he did not feel discouraged.

After resting for a while, he immersed himself in thought, carefully sensing the solution in the vial.

‘Previously, when I controlled the natural diffusion of mandrake poison, the molecules only changed their relative positions—a simple physical change. But this time, I need to transform one molecule into another, which is a chemical change. The difficulty is on a completely different level, far beyond my capabilities... What should I do?’

The physical process of molecular diffusion in a liquid only requires overcoming intermolecular forces, which range from a few tenths to several dozen kilojoules per mole (in the gaseous state, at standard pressure). Chemical changes, however, require breaking chemical bonds within molecules, and the strength of these bonds is usually several hundred kilojoules per mole.

The latter is at least an order of magnitude higher than the former, making it much more difficult.

“What should I do?” Logan Carter stared down at the liquid in the bottle.

The solution in the bottle looked no different from clear water, but in his perception, these liquids were far from as calm as they appeared. Within the solution, all sorts of energies surged and collided chaotically, seemingly never stopping, like a pot of boiling thick soup.

A thought suddenly surfaced in Logan Carter's mind.

‘Molecules are constantly in motion, which is manifested macroscopically as temperature. The higher the temperature, the more intense the molecular motion and collisions. When the temperature reaches a certain threshold, the collisions can even break molecular structures, causing chemical changes.’

At that moment, as if in response to Logan Carter's thoughts,

In the aqueous solution, a series of coincidences occurred. A very faint energy was suddenly struck repeatedly by surrounding energies, and, by chance, all these collisions happened in the same direction. As a result, this energy suddenly increased by hundreds of times and began rampaging through the solution.

‘Hmm~ this is... a high-energy particle that appears by chance. If this force were a bit stronger, it could break chemical bonds... Wait, I have an idea!’

This method is simple and direct, and widely applicable: the collision method!

Chemical bonds are very strong, and Logan Carter's alchemical power cannot break them directly—that's a fact. But if he uses his alchemical power to accelerate the nitrate ions in the solution, controlling their direction so they become tiny projectiles to bombard the hydroxyl groups in the glycerin, he might achieve his goal.

The best part is, in aqueous solution, nitrate ions are free. Controlling them only requires overcoming intermolecular forces, which is exactly within Logan Carter's capabilities.