Chapter 135: Progressing (1/2)

Chapter 135: Progressing

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A shiny mechanical arm gripped onto a half-disc. The disc was as thin as a leaf, it’s surface burnished into perfect smoothness, and the red skeleton grains sprawling on it were like an abstract art of lines. At its center were three holes that could each fit a finger, arranged to form a triangle.

Ye Chong examined the disc closely, his mind rapidly calculating as he recalled all the knowledge about skeletons passed down by the old man to him, trying to find the best approach based on what he knew. Unlike the old man and Hei Zi, Ye Chong had a solid theoretical foundation, all thanks to the unique teaching methods by the elders at Aurora.

In this fickle and materialistic society, foundational theories in all academic subjects were largely unappreciated. Moreover, since mech foundational theories were cross-disciplinary, they were more complicated and massive, such that there was no single unifying system for them. What Ye Chong had learned were the conclusions of the Aurora’s elderlies from their lifelong work. They had studied mechs all their lives, and found in their later years that those previously ignored foundational theories were the most fundamental of all. Hence, to prevent Ye Chong from repeating their mistakes, everything that they taught Ye Chong began from the most fundamental level.

Ye Chong had unwittingly been nurtured by them to become the most peculiar mech engineer across all fields.

Ye Chong had a rectangular metallic tank placed before him, filled with silver liquid. The calm surface of the liquid was like a flawless mirror, reflecting Ye Chong perfectly. Hei Zi watched anxiously from the side at the disc gripped by the mechanical arm. This was the most important step, immersing the disc into the strengthening chemical. The immersing duration, angle, proportion and so on, all contributed to the final quality of this part.

The disc’s early processing was all done by Ye Chong, and now he faced the final step - immersion. Immersion was the unique process of immersing a part into the strengthening chemical to enhance the skeleton’s various properties.

Ye Chong sat calmly in front of the controls dashboard, which directly manipulated the mechanical arm. The controls were more intricate and complicated than a mech’s controls. The holographic screen projected from the controls’ photon processor clearly reflected from Ye Chong’s pupils.

Ye Chong was feeling serious. After all, up until this step, Ye Chong had done everything perfectly. Once this step was successfully done, that part might be the most perfect skeleton part ever made.

Ye Chong had laboured through repeated considerations and calculations from the very first step of choosing the right materials. He had picked the sternum of a Moonblood bird; he even took this Moonblood’s skeleton to the old man for inspection. The next step was designing, and after carefully analysis of the Moonblood’s skeleton, he finally decided to make it into a mech engine’s padding. After that was crude processing and fine burnishing; Ye Chong partook every step after careful consideration, and his execution was also exact.

All this time, immersing was the most complicated step, and the effects were highly random. Even the old man had carried out immersions based on experience, without any logical theory behind them.

Unlike his sombre expression, Ye Chong was calm inside. No one knew that Ye Chong was actually quite confident with this last step. Ye Chong had discovered early on the randomness of the immersion process, and he had studied it closely, and through repeated experimentation, found a few ways to greatly increase the success rate of the method. He was now finally presented an opportunity to test his conclusions.

Ye Chong entered a series of commands into the photon processor of the controls dashboard. He then set the controls from manual to auto mode, and left the dashboard.

The mildly anxious Hei Zi abruptly noticed Ye Chong coming to his side, and could not help but be startled. ”Ye, why are you here?”

”The settings are complete, no need for me to control it!” Ye Chong explained calmly. As he finished, the mechanical arm began to move slowly.

”Ah!” Hei Zi gasped in shock. ”Ye, how can you use auto mode? Quick, shut it down!” He rushed towards the controls dashboard, but was held back by Ye Chong.

Seeing Ye Chong’s indifference, Hei Zi panicked. ”Ye, quick! That thing’s going to be ruined! Master had never used auto mode for immersions! Ye, stop the machine, quick, or it’ll be too late!” Hei Zi’s hoarse voice was filled with urgency.

Ye Chong’s hands gripped onto Hei Zi tightly like shackles, and no matter how much Hei Zi struggled, he could not free himself. He immediately realized how much stronger his junior brother was compared to him.

Ye Chong understood his concern for himself, and while he was personally moved, he kept his expression flat as he replied, ”Hmm, just wait and look!”

Between their exchanges, the mechanical arm had finished its job, and the disc was now lying quietly in the drying oven.

Ye Chong then let go of Hei Zi’s wrist, and Hei Zi rushed immediately to the drying oven. He opened the oven hastily and took out the disc, examining it closely.

”Ah! How is this possible?” Hei Zi gasped again in surprise, staring at the disc in his hand in disbelief.

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In the underground workshop.