[Congratulations! Your stream has now moved to the Hall of Rising Stars!]
Huh, theatrics and popularity matter, then. Chen Mo thought as he found himself nine Sapphires richer. One viewer donated five and four donated one; Chen Mo would've loved more, to see something with more digits, but for now, he'd settle.
Amelia and he burst into the chemistry lab, far enough away for Mrs. Smith's punches to be inaudible.
Amelia was perplexed as to why Chen Mo brought them here. "Why are we here?"
Chen Mo, on the other hand, knew exactly why he wanted to be in here.
The chemistry lab was unsettlingly sterile. Not a stain could be seen, and not a scent could be breathed. The main lab room had around twelve tables arranged in two rows, each complete with three sinks and an emergency shower.
On the two sides of the lab were drawer cabinets, storing lab equipment such as test tubes, their racks, retort stands, and various flasks, etc., etc.
The chemicals were stored behind another door — the door that Chen Mo headed for without hesitation.
The chemical storage was organised, with sections labelled and containers marked.
It didn't take long for Chen Mo to find what he wanted: red phosphorus, stored in a white plastic bottle.
But it was small; Chen Mo could hold it comfortably in one palm.
"This is her home field, y'know?" Amelia joined him, still joking with a smirk.
Oh, right, she's a chemistry teacher. A light bulb lit up above Chen Mo's head.
He contemplated for a second before deciding against using the red phosphorus; he'd pocket it into the dufflebag instead. Then, in the refrigerated cabinet, he'd skim through all the heavy bottles until he found it.
It, being concentrated ethanol, at 80M.
Rather than spending five Sapphires for a bottle of beer, the size of which was unknown from the Store, the lab provided Chen Mo with flammables for free.
However, once again, there wasn't much of it.
Chen Mo would take off the cap of the substance's tinted bottle, march out into the main lab room, then begin to sprinkle it on a table. Only a table, because that was all the ethanol the lab had to offer.
"What are you doing?" Amelia finally panicked for once. "We could get into serious trouble!"
"No, we won't." Chen Mo shook his head confidently, though a faint, almost imperceptible flicker of unease passed through his chest as his fingers searched for a lighter. "We just messed up a little science experiment and ended up burning one of the worst places in this school."
He'd take two lighters; one would remain in his palm while the other would be shoved into the dufflebag, along with a large boiling flask, a retort stand, and a Bunsen burner.
"Hehe... You're evil." Amelia playfully jabbed Chen Mo in the shoulders; she was caught in her mischievous mood.
"Besides, Mrs. Smith will extinguish it." Chen Mo shrugged, then flicked the lighter in hand open.
Amelia would notice the much heavier dufflebag. It now held various chemistry lab equipment, along with their water bottles, used clothes, and wet towels. "What's the Bunsen burner for?"
"Just for fun." Right after Chen Mo articulated the last word, wet squelching echoed from the hallway; Mrs. Smith was on her way.
Chen Mo hurled the ignited lighter in hand casually, then, without waiting, led Amelia out of the lab through the front door.
The table was set alight in a mere second, with roaring flames crackling fiercely, scorching and blackening the surface of the desk as the fire spread hungrily across it.
Mrs. Smith entered through the back door as the two left from the front.
It was her lab. Mrs. Smith couldn't resist saving it. She'd set her flashlight down and scramble hurriedly for a fire extinguisher.
This was just another scheme of Chen Mo's to buy time as he thought up a better plan than to exhaust his limited red phosphorus.
Initially, he had wished for the arson to serve a different purpose, but there wasn't enough of it in the bottle to achieve what Chen Mo had hoped for.
Thus, instead, the two roamed the hallways again, desperately searching for something else to work with.
"You are such an asshole, Xiao Bai." Amelia said that with a teasing grin, not with any disdain or hate.
Chen Mo's attention wasn't on her; it was on what was behind her. "Wait." He halted his footsteps and, subsequently, hers too.
"What?" Amelia tilted her head curiously, still smiling after what she thought was a successful 'prank'.
It was the general notice board.
There were several posters made by math students for their projects; that wasn't Chen Mo's concern. There was a calligraphy competition coming up next week; Chen Mo couldn't work with that either. There would be a festival nearby the school, tonight, that will be ending with fireworks as a final crescendo.
Bingo.
From the map provided in the poster, Chen Mo was able to deduce where the fireworks would go off from the perspective of the high school he was trapped in.
"Do you want to go see some fireworks?" Chen Mo pointed at the poster, with sincere eyes pleading to Amelia.
It shouldn't have even been a question. "You have to ask? Let's go!"
"Did we bring a watch?" Chen Mo asked while their feet were already pacing towards the rooftop, where the view would be optimal.
"No! We're here to swim." Amelia chuckled.
Chen Mo didn't find that amusing, though, as that meant extra mental work. He turned a corner suddenly and entered a random classroom.
"Hey!" Amelia followed.
He simply needed to know the time, and every classroom was decorated with a working clock. Chen Mo knew this because even their dilapidated classroom's clock was ticking.
Time: 11:47 p.m.
Not enough. Chen Mo thought, then spelled the word 'Store' in his head.
[5 Sapphires spent]
[Bottle of lube purchased!]
"Why do you have that?" Amelia was flustered within a second of seeing the bottle of oil, primarily used for sex, appearing out of thin air in Chen Mo's left hand.
"Don't worry about it." Chen Mo didn't waste any time and resumed their journey onto the rooftop.
Soon enough, wet squelches would echo.
To reach the rooftop, stairs were inevitable. The stairwell was dark and compact; its steps were rough and dusty. No windows, no moonlight; green emergency lights compensated for that.
The two entered the stairwell and began their climb to the fourth floor, or the rooftop of the tallest building of Theater High School.
While on their way, Chen Mo would spill the bottle of lube all over the flights of stairs behind them, making Mrs. Smith's later ascent much more inconvenient.
The door to the rooftop was locked.
Amelia rattled it. "Ah shit! What do we do?"
Chen Mo knew exactly what to do; he didn't carry an entire Bunsen burner up here for no reason.
He positioned the mouth of the gas burner next to the metal padlock, then flicked the second lighter he had pocketed earlier to ignite it.
Even with his D grade in chemistry back in high school, Chen Mo still knew the basics of how to start a Bunsen burner. An orange flame appeared first after the gas knob was turned, then a blue flame with stronger heat would emerge when the air hole was unsealed.
That fierce blue flame would tear through the arm of the padlock, burning it a gleaming red until it melted gradually.
"You really thought everything out, huh?" Amelia planted her wrists by her waist, relieved.
"We gotta have a climax for the date." Chen Mo casually flirted.
The wet squelching echoing from below the stairwell intensified.
Then,
THUD!
"Woah! What's that?" Amelia flinched.
Chen Mo had orchestrated the slippery floors, so he wasn't surprised at all. "Mrs. Smith tripped."