Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 323 - 49 The Eccentric Cultivator (Part Two)
Chapter 323: Chapter 49 The Eccentric Cultivator (Part Two)
Chapter 323: Chapter 49 The Eccentric Cultivator (Part Two)
“`
“That was seven years ago—I was hunting mutated creatures and gathering ore in a small town filled with abandoned cars for a living. An elder Tibetan man there, named Sangji, taught me how to repair guns, to hand-make bullets, and to produce various parts using a simple lathe.”
Li Yan removed his greasy gloves and crawled out from the chassis of a disk-shaped autonomous tactical machine, glanced at Zhuoma, and continued to speak:
“I learned a lot of practical manual repair techniques from him.”
There were seven or eight twisted cigarette butts at Zhuoma’s feet, and she listened with interest as Li Yan spoke of his encounters with a mysterious car mechanic “Uncle Sangji.”
In Li Yan’s mouth was a car worker with a quirky temperament and a mysterious background; most of Li Yan’s mechanical repair skills had come from “Uncle Sangji’s” training.
“Mr. Sangji is truly a genius; many techniques he taught you are unheard of, both in thinking and in execution.”
The woman smiled at Li Yan.
“This thing can’t be fixed—I’ve dismantled it, but I’m confident I can fix the power unit of that external armor over there.”
Li Yan didn’t continue the conversation.
“Please do.”
Zhuoma gestured with an open palm.
Her eyes scanned the equipment and instruments scattered on the ground, picking up an unpackaged electronic mechanical arm to fiddle with, as their conversation also ended with the death of Uncle Sangji during Li Yan’s nineteenth year.
Amidst the clinking of parts and the noise of the machine lathes and grinding wheels, Li Yan’s “Magic Motion Technology” made slow progress.
“Your Special Expertise: Magic Dynamic Technology (51%) is activated!”
“Through long-term practical application and operation of Magic Motion Technology, your expertise has advanced by 1%.”
…
“Regrettably, your Special Expertise: Magic Dynamic Technology (52%) activation failed, rendering this equipment worthless.”
“Through long-term practical application and operation of Magic Motion Technology, your expertise has advanced by 1%.”
…
“Regrettably…”
…
“Your expertise in Magic Dynamic Technology has reached 59%, and you can no longer grow through practical mechanical repairs alone. To advance further, you must return to the source of your expertise, systematically study relevant theoretical knowledge.”
Li Yan smiled contentedly and tore off the damaged metal shell of the machine with his bare hands: “I have tried all the equipment that needs to be reworked. After I finish this one, you can pay me.”
“No problem.”
Zhuoma responded.
About half an hour later, as the sun reached its zenith, Li Yan came out.
He noticed that a crowd had gathered at the entrance of Warehouse Four, mainly key personnel from the equipment maintenance department, all staring at him with strange expressions, whispering to each other.
The gleaming quartermaster was now directing several new soldiers to tidy up the scene of Li Yan’s repairs. Several large containers that had been well-organized were left in a disordered mess after Li Yan’s unrestrained dismantling and disposing, and were now cluttered with heaps of common electronic trash, such as tactical computers missing their green screens, power generating units from heart pacemakers, and military kettles with only the iron lids left…
“Lieutenant Lin, may I have a moment of your time?”
Zhuoma called out.
The quartermaster quickly looked over and walked over to Li Yan and Zhuoma in a few steps, saluted Zhuoma, and then spoke, “What can I do for you?”
“I promised him that if he could fix these equipments, I would pay him 15% of the original price as repair fees.”
Zhuoma’s statement was succinct.
Lieutenant Lin’s expression flickered slightly but without much hesitation, he nodded in agreement.
“Next time, you can tell me more about ‘Uncle Sangji.'”
Zhuoma said this to Li Yan and then turned to leave.
Li Yan glanced at her retreating back and said nothing more.
Zhuoma, wearing a brown coat, rounded a corner and took out a vibrating handphone to answer a call.
“Hello~”
“How was that guy, pretty skillful, wasn’t he?”
Gunshots and the growls of a beast came from the other end of the phone, a call from Wei Dan.
“…” Zhuoma was silent for a moment, “The job wasn’t done.”
“Oh, well, I never really thought he’d stay at Kuang Zhuoma anyway.”
Wei Dan’s tone was unfazed by disappointment.
“Little Dan.”
“`
“What’s wrong?”
“Keep your distance from this man.”
“Hmm?”
“He may be a reliable man, but right now, he would only bring us trouble, the kind of trouble we can’t afford.”
“Hmm, I understand, I won’t…”
“Ge Libo is dead. She was a follower of the Medicine Buddha. During the Sixth Army’s burning of temples, she tried to kill a lieutenant colonel from the Black Star armored vehicles and was shot dead on the spot. This also implicated many of her colleagues, Yin Xiong, Zheng Hao, Ji Ou… They met their end at Great Demon Lake. I have no one left to use at my side.”
Zhuoma’s voice was hoarse. Organizing the special attack squad to conquer Great Demon Lake might have been the worst command mistake of her decades-long career. However, if not for this mistake, she would have already followed in the Raine Brothers’ footsteps.
“Little Dan, regarding who’s now qualified to stage a show in area B, I don’t know, but it’s certainly not Kuang Zhuoma. Our people can’t take any more tossing around.”
“I understand. I wasn’t planning on doing anything. I just wanted to…”
“Don’t want anything. Survival is what’s most important, that’s that.”
Zhuoma hung up the phone, took one glance at Li Yan who was talking to the quartermaster, and left without looking back.
…
“A Tomahawk Infantry Vehicle for 120,000 internal price.”
“Black Star Type-4 Enhanced Gene Injection, 80,000 internal price,”
“Black Pupil 4A1 Assault Rifle, 15,000, Red Rabbit Exoskeleton Armor, 155,000 internal price,”
“Thunderfire Navigation Kit, 55,000 internal price.”
“…”
The quartermaster clutched a rather long list: “In total, that’s 1,630,000 even. Based on what Zhuoma just said, Black Star would pay you 163,000.”
“You’ve miscalculated.”
Li Yan’s eyebrows rose.
“You know where that 5% is. Should I count the quantity of all the equipment parts and settle with you after?”
The quartermaster’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Li Yan, hearing this, shrugged his shoulders, as if to agree.
Then he immediately spoke: “Add in my own money, that’s a total of more than 260,000. I want a pair of high-quality life detection lenses and an All-Function Tactical Spider, the one listed for 220,000 in the catalog.”
The quartermaster waved his hand and called a guard over.
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“Let him take the things and leave.”
Without further delay, Li Yan got what he wanted: two transparent lens capsules to wear over the pupils, and a thirty-centimeter tactical spider encased in a metal shell, its body dotted with transistors and mechanical limbs.
Li Yan fiddled with the instruction manual and smiled knowingly.
Given his status as a “Psychic Mover”, Li Yan didn’t care about the glances from the crowd and released the Dodge Tomahawk.
Following that, Li Yan inserted the Tactical Spider onto the handlebar of the priced-as-a-third-tier-power-drug vehicle, twisting it twice. With the sound of gears turning, the spider’s six mechanical limbs clamped down, securing onto the handlebar. He then attached the tactical board he had purchased to the spider’s interface, and in no time, a map file labeled “Afafu” had been transmitted.
Li Yan pressed the white button on the console, and the blue projection appeared before his eyes, with the surrounding terrain swiftly scanned amidst the sound of data flowing.
He whistled excitedly, the tires of the Dodge Tomahawk agitated, and the shiny motorcycle sped away.
“Is it really okay to just let him go?”
Someone questioned.
“If his skills are just not replicable by primitive methods, then forcefully keeping him here makes little sense. This man has connections with both the life sciences department and the military. A rupture would not look good. On the other hand, if the equipment that passed through his hands truly has research value, this is also a deal worth making.”
The quartermaster who had bargained with Li Yan responded:
“Moreover, he won’t be able to break out of the blockade in area B now.”
…
With the map marked with Yu Shu Manor and his new equipment, Li Yan wasn’t in a hurry to travel. He rode the Dodge Tomahawk for a few kilometers before stopping.
Sudu birds patrolled the surroundings, ensuring no one was following. The place was desolate.
Li Yan, suppressing his excitement, dismounted the motorcycle, laid the Dodge Tomahawk horizontally, and with a wave of his hand, displayed an eye-dazzling array of parts.
Six Eagle Special Plastic Tires, armored vehicle batteries, the Grizzly Tank gasoline engine, a silver lightning armored vehicle’s dedicated clutch, transmission, high-polymer damping components cut earlier by Li Yan, the drive assembly, energy thrusters detached from the flight drive…
Some of these were intact components from Black Star armored vehicles returned to the furnace, and others were rare devices fixed by Li Yan’s hands and secretly hoarded by him. Li Yan had sketched out the upgrade plan for his beloved vehicle in the span of the previous morning. After the guard left, Zhuoma didn’t pay attention to these, allowing him to hoard them all up.
Along with an All-Function Tactical Spider at the forefront of Black Star vehicle technology incorporating all individual combat tactical features, Li Yan was confident, swearing that he would elevate the Dodge Tomahawk to a new level of quality.
