Chapter 191 The Mechanic Competition: The Troublemaker Arrives

Yinxian followed Chen Qing and Wuxi, looking disheveled. Upon entering the Mechanical Guild, Yinxian was immediately met with merciless ridicule from his classmates.

However, they focused more of their attention on Chen Qing.

Curiosity, disdain, annoyance—all sorts of gazes.

However, these gazes were not malicious; they were much friendlier than those of pirates or bounty hunters.

The interior of the Mechanical Association is basically decorated with all sorts of mechanical elements.

These are all very old-fashioned mechanical elements: gears, brass, wrenches, etc.

The entire mechanical association didn't look very advanced; it didn't have a high-tech feel.

Even the entire mechanical association building appears to be constructed of wood.

However, this mechanical association actually has a hidden secret.

Mechanical parts hidden beneath the wood were deliberately exposed in many conspicuous places.

Those parts are still in operation, which means that the Mechanical Association is actually a huge mechanical creation.

At first glance, it seems low-key, but in reality, it's still very high-profile.

There are many mechanical creations coming and going in the association, but there are also quite a few people.

The most eye-catching feature is the huge virtual model of the deep blue sea displayed in the center of the Mechanical Association's hall.

This virtual model is not a simple model; it changes according to events that occur in the deep blue sea.

For example, in this war between the Barbaro family and the Delugu family, the Barbaro family occupied one of the Delugu family's small islands.

The virtual model will change immediately, and the island with the Drugu family flag on it will instantly become the Barbaro family's.

The model's seawater is incredibly realistic, changing with the tides and daytime, and the climate is also based on the deep blue sea.

You can even see some ships sailing in the ocean, just like Chen Qing's ship, which is specially marked in the port of Clockwork Bay.

It's called a model, but it's actually a miniature version of the deep blue sea.

Chen Qing used her appraisal skill, and she only identified it as an A-grade item.

I know nothing else.

I kind of want it.

However, Chen Qing couldn't defeat the Mechanical Association, so she was considering the possibility of following the pirates' example of looting and running away.

"You are Chen Qing."

Just as Chen Qing's attention was focused on the miniature model of the deep blue sea, a girl suddenly stood in front of him, but she did not block his view.

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking confidently up at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing lowered his head and met her gaze.

"I can still grow!"

I don't know what the girl was imagining, but she said angrily.

Chen Qing hadn't said a word yet.

"Um."

Chen Qing withdrew his gaze and continued to consider the possibility of grabbing a quick loot and running away.

Clockwork Bay is not Rust Island, so it's quite difficult to grab a quick loot and run.

Especially since they were stealing things from the Mechanical Association.

This prop was placed in a branch of the Mechanical Association, and Chen Qing suspected that it might be a replica or a copy of that A-grade prop.

If it's just a copy or one of the originals that's being stolen, then it's definitely not worth the risk for Chen Qing.

never mind.

Let Qingxian keep an eye out for similar items.

Even a lower level is fine. Chen Qing will definitely get a lot of extraordinary points in the Deep Blue War. We can try to upgrade with those extraordinary points then.

Having such a tool is very helpful for Chen Qing to understand the situation in the deep blue sea.

Currently, there is still no sign of the boundary connecting the deep blue sea and the crimson sea being opened, and Chen Qing's strength is not yet sufficient.

It is estimated that she will stay in the deep blue sea for a long time.

"Titi, you mustn't be rude! You should address Chen Qing as Lord Chen Qing!"

Having just dealt with those people from the Mechanical Association, Wu Xi frowned and gave a reprimand.

Chen Qing is a senior mechanic, while Titi and the others are only intermediate mechanics. According to the rules of the Mechanical Association, Titi and the others should greet Chen Qing respectfully when they see him.

"Didn't she not join the Mechanical Association?"

Titi muttered something under her breath, but she still gave her teacher face.

"Greetings, Lord Chen Qing."

Under Wu Xi's threatening gaze, the other students greeted Chen Qing one by one.

Even though Chen Qing isn't a mechanic from the Mechanical Association, she's still a senior mechanic.

They should be secretly pleased that a senior mechanic is willing to waste his time playing "house" with them.

After all... competing with them, whether you win or lose, is quite embarrassing.

If it weren't for Qu Sizhen's sake, Chen Qing would never have agreed.

Wu Xi had been genuinely kind to these students, and had even asked a friend to act as a go-between for Chen Qing to secure this opportunity.

"You all need to get serious, understand?!"

The competition between Chen Qing and the children was arranged in a pavilion in the association's back garden. The pavilion was large enough to accommodate all of them.

"This competition is divided into three rounds: blueprint assembly, repair, and arbitrary manufacturing."

The competition between Chen Qing and the children attracted many mechanics from within the Mechanical Association, who were all curious about Chen Qing's abilities.

To Chen Qing's surprise, there were also survivors among them.

Survivors are truly everywhere; there's a Chinese person, and several survivors from other countries.

A group of people huddled together, peering around, choosing to stand on Chen Qing's side and cheer her on.

Fortunately, they were not members of the survivor observation team.

"Lord Wuxi, if you don't mind, may we join in?"

As Wu Xi was explaining the competition rules, several people suddenly appeared and asked with smiles.

Judging from the students' reactions, all of them were third-year students from the School of Mechanical Engineering.

They are all senior mechanics.

One of them is

Wu Xi did not agree on Chen Qing's behalf, and turned to look at Chen Qing.

"Anyone else want to join in?"

"Stop wasting any more time."

Chen Qing, holding the knife, said calmly, noting that she was standing a bit far from the people from the Mechanical Association.

She found herself in a standoff with the members of the Mechanical Association, whose side was a large, densely packed mass of people, while Chen Qing's side only had a few scattered survivors.

However, not wanting to lose face, the survivor from the Dragon Kingdom quickly ordered several banners and slogans on the trading channel.

A bright red banner with yellow characters, full of Chinese characteristics, was placed behind Chen Qing. The Chinese survivor was very enthusiastic and cheerful, waving the flag in his hand and cheering loudly for Chen Qing, without any stage fright.

"In that case, we won't stand on ceremony."

Several more mechanics stepped forward from the opposite side, all of them being advanced mechanics.

Originally, Wu Xi just wanted Chen Qing to teach his arrogant students a lesson, but when the third-year students stepped forward, the competition took a turn for the worse.

Wu Xi knew very well which power was behind them.

There are also a few senior mechanics who graduated from the mechanical engineering college, and a few mechanics who have grown up on their own.

The smell of gunpowder had become extremely strong.

There are also many factions within the Mechanical Engineering Association.

The three factions—the family faction, the master-apprentice faction, and the academic faction—look down on each other, and together they look down on the self-taught faction.

The four factions are further divided into numerous smaller factions.

The Machinery Association has developed to the point where it is riddled with internal factions, so Chen Qing's decision not to join was actually the right one.

However, Chen Qing didn't join the Mechanical Association; instead, these people united.

They were all very unhappy with Chen Qing's choice; how dare a self-taught mechanic look down on the Mechanical Association?

Just kidding, their Mechanical Engineering Association has been established for many years and has a very deep foundation. They just don't show off in public.

These people all turned their anger towards Chen Qing.

"Let's begin now that no one's around."

Chen Qing put the knife back into his spatial storage and stood in front of the dueling table, his face expressionless.

The mechanics couldn't tell what her emotions were, whether it was fear or terror.

They didn't think Chen Qing could win.

Of course, they acknowledged that Chen Qing's talent was terrifying.

This point was personally confirmed by Xia Liqu, Si Zhen, and other mechanics from various schools.

Their exact words were, "In the entire Mechanical Association, no one's mechanical talent can compare to Chen Qing's."

However, talent is talent.

The Mechanical Engineering Association... but that's their home turf.

"..."

Wu Xi didn't know how things had developed to this point, and she felt helpless.

Fortunately, Chen Qing was magnanimous and didn't get angry.

Now we have no choice but to grit our teeth and continue.

She couldn't afford to offend Chen Qing, and neither could she afford to offend the others... Wu Xi.

The senior mechanics who forced their way into this competition were no ordinary people; they were all top performers from their respective factions.

Especially Ran Lin, who joined the Red Serpent, came for Chen Qing.

"The first competition was assembling blueprints."

"The blueprints for the competition are—"

The moment Wu Xi saw the drawings, she frowned; these were not the drawings she had prepared.

The blueprints have been changed!

Wuxi originally prepared relatively common D-level mechanical blueprints, but now the blueprints have become C-level, and they are steam-powered machines that are often used by senior mechanics within the Mechanical Association for practice.

The Steam-Powered Machine is a relatively old-fashioned mechanical creation, a favorite among mechanics as a "Boatman" that can greatly increase the speed of a ship.

This blueprint only exists within the Mechanical Association; I never expected them to actually release it.

Don't be fooled by the fact that those mechanical families sell weapons; most of the mechanical creations they sell are actually weapons. They keep many of the good stuff to themselves, only using it among their own people.

Just like this steam-powered vehicle.

The people from the Mechanical Association present were openly targeting Chen Qing and trying to harm her.

Wu Xi could only sigh at this.

With Xia Li and the others gone, all sorts of demons and monsters have come out.

"Let's begin."

Chen Qing didn't care what the blueprints were; the Mechanical Association was their home turf, and these people were deliberately targeting her, which Wu Xi couldn't stop.

She is confident in her abilities.

Besides... so what if we lose?

Competition among mechanics is never decided by a single test.

"Wait a moment."

Ran Lin suddenly spoke, looking at Chen Qing with a smile.

"There are still some witnesses who haven't arrived yet. Don't worry, our Mechanical Association will never bully anyone. Chen Qing, you should know all of these people."

"..."

Chen Qing suddenly had a bad feeling; she seemed to know who was coming.

She didn't care about winning or losing; today was just a "friendly match."

However, she really didn't want to get involved with the survivor observation team.

They're like dog skin plasters; once they're on you, they're hard to peel off!

The witnesses Ran Lin mentioned were indeed those few sycophants from the Survivor Observation Group.

When they saw Chen Qing, they greeted him very warmly.

Chen Qing had met them before; it was because of them that Chen Qing was wanted by the beastmen.

"..."

Chen Qing fell silent, his expression growing even colder.

However, she was never one to talk much and had little expression on her face, so no one noticed anything amiss.

This group had been eyeing Chen Qing for a long time. Even without Wu Xi, they would have found a way to undermine Chen Qing's prestige.

Especially Ran Lin.

He came today on a mission from the Red Serpent Clan.

"Don't worry about us, let's begin."

The survivor observation team found a spot to huddle together, their eyes wide and fixed intently on Chen Qing.

Sure enough, wherever Chen Qing is, there's news.

Today's competition will at least yield three newspapers!

They were also holding paper, pens, and cameras.

Now that the survivor observation group has become a "regular army," they won't be as uncivilized as before, secretly conducting live broadcasts.

"The assembly blueprints for this competition are for a steam-powered machine, and the competition will be about the assembly speed of each mechanic."

"The mechanic who completes the assembly can proceed to the next round of competition. The fastest to complete three rounds of competition and whose completed mechanical creation is approved by the mechanics present will be the winner."

"All the materials have been placed before you mechanics. Now, let's begin—"

"Wait a moment!"

Members of the survivor observation team raised their hands and immediately spoke up to stop it.

"We have objections."

"???"

The mechanics present all turned to look at those troublemakers. Whose side are you on?

"This blueprint is clearly unfair to Chen Qing. As far as we know, steam-powered blueprints are the standard blueprints used by senior mechanics in the Mechanical Association!"

"Moreover, these materials haven't been checked yet. What if there's a problem with them?"

The survivor observation team wasn't on Chen Qing's side; they were just stating the facts.

The observation team members standing at the back were writing furiously, scribbling away.

Chen Qingmu had a blank expression; she could already imagine what the newspaper would contain.

The Survivor Observation Group won't side with her, nor with the Mechanical Association; they only care about the explosive nature of the news.

"I have no objection, let's begin."

Chen Qing just wanted to resolve this competition as soon as possible.

Since she had already said that, the mechanics present decisively ignored the opinions of the survivor observation team.

The first match began quickly.

While Chen Qing was still looking at the blueprints, the mechanics on the other side had already begun assembling the parts.

They already knew the blueprints for the steam-powered engine by heart.

Chen Qing carefully noted down every detail on the blueprints, and she was quite fast at reading them.

A few minutes later, Chen Qing had memorized all the blueprints.

The mechanics on the other side had already completed one-tenth of their assembly, while Chen Qing had only just begun.

The Steam Chaser is a marine-type mechanical creation, not small in size, with many mechanical parts.

Even if the mechanics on the other side had practiced many times, it would still take them quite a while to assemble the equipment.

The atmosphere at the scene quieted down, leaving only the sound of parts colliding.

Time ticked by, and soon, a voice suddenly rang out in the quiet atmosphere.

"alright."

"???"