Chapter 1: The Ghost Mechanic of Cinderella's Dungeon
“Tick-tock.”
Water drops fell into puddles along the rusted pipes.
Granton, the main star of the Orc Galaxy, has just gone through a period of heavy rain. The dilapidated roads are full of water, and the chaotic and disordered underground city is more humid than ever.
A corner of the black robe silently passed over the water, and the colorful neon reflection instantly shattered into particles of light.
At the entrance of the Wheat Field Bar, two black dog orcs were leaning against a graffiti-covered wall smoking. When they saw the visitor, they waved away the bitter and choking smoke and casually opened the door for him.
"Thanks."
The tone was unexpectedly soft, causing the tips of their furry ears to twitch in unison.
The wide black cloak almost wrapped the visitor's entire body, and the lower half of his face was unremarkable, but the teeth hidden between his lips were delicate and neat, as white as shells, making one want to pry open his lips to see what was inside.
Perhaps because they knew that the face was most likely a mimicry, these big dogs were very curious and couldn't help but bend down and get closer.
"Mr. Ghost, you are late again."
"Why don't you tell us your home address? We can provide free pick-up and drop-off service!"
The tone of laughter was close to his ears. Youan tilted his head slightly to avoid his cloak being cunningly lifted by the other party's short, upright animal ears. Without saying a word, he quickly walked to the bar and sat down.
The owner of the Wheatfield Bar looked as low-key as a bartender. He wiped the glass and chuckled softly, "Looks like I should replace the guard dogs outside. They always become a bit annoying when you come."
You An shook his head, put the box he had been carrying on the seat beside him, and got straight to the point: "Is there any order for me today?"
The Wheatfield Bar is almost the most authoritative trading point here. It has fair prices and a wide range of business. Most importantly, it does not belong to any gang. It is like the center point of a scale. Otherwise, it would not have survived for a long time in the underground city where all kinds of people gather.
"You came at the perfect time. There is indeed a modification order recently, and the reward is 80,000."
You An: "Eighty thousand?"
This price is enough to buy a customized gun, and just the modification and additional blueprints... it is indeed generous.
The Orc galaxy has experienced several wars, and mechanics are one of the hottest industries. The Orcs are enthusiastic about weapons to the point of obsession. As long as they can produce mechanical weapons that excite them, there will naturally be rich people and nobles who will pay for them.
"Well, that's very generous, but unfortunately not everyone can earn that much."
“Who is the employer?”
"Hummingbirds do."
This name represents the most famous gang in the dungeon.
Mr. Ryan removed the cork, and the light brown liquid covered the perfectly clear ice ball in the glass. He explained, "Their boss left a particle gun with me, hoping a mechanic could modify it. Many mechanics have tried, but the results aren't ideal. At least... they haven't satisfied the customer."
The particle gun is not considered a high-end weapon, and the reward offered by the other party is somewhat unusually generous.
Mr. Ryan knew that the young man in front of him would not miss the opportunity to make money, so he made a gesture and asked someone to take out the gun.
The heavy outer shell of the metal box was opened. Anyone with some knowledge of weapons could easily recognize its model.
This is a particle gun from the military, model [Star Flame].
You An only needed to take a quick look to know why the 80,000 yuan reward could only be earned by him.
[Star Flame] is an older model that can maximize the power of the energy crystal core. Its lethality ranks among the top three among particle guns. It was widely used during the war with the Zerg many years ago.
However, it has a fatal flaw.
If the matching energy core is overloaded, it will be forced into the cooling system. If the cooling fails, there is a certain chance that the self-destruct program will be activated.
In previous actual combat, there have been several cases of self-destruction explosions causing injuries to soldiers, so the military quickly ordered it to be decommissioned.
No one was willing to use a high-energy, high-risk weapon. If they hadn't known that this was an order placed by Hummingbird, everyone would have thought that someone had come to the dungeon deliberately to cause trouble.
However, just because others can't do it doesn't mean he can't do it.
Overly slender fingers emerged from the black robe, and Youan brought the gun over: "Let me try it."
His voice was not loud, but it seemed to drown out the melodious tune in the guests' ears. Everyone stopped talking and looked towards the bar.
This order has been posted for more than half a month, and the bar's customers have to watch the mechanics' excited challenge and then return in defeat almost every day.
The newcomer squinted his eyes and asked, "Who is he?"
My drinking buddy at the table replied, "A mechanic. I don't know his name, but many people call him 'Ghost'."
"Ghost" is quite famous in the dungeon. No one knows his identity. They only know from casual conversation after drinking that he appeared alone in the Wheat Field Bar a year ago, bringing a box of broken mechanical parts that looked like they were picked up from a garbage planet, and exchanged them for millions of White Orchid coins.
After that, every time he appeared in the dungeon, it was basically to pay bills and exchange money. He was solitary and taciturn, appearing and disappearing at any time, like a floating mysterious ghost.
"From the sound of it, he seems quite young. He probably hasn't even touched a military weapon like the [Star Flame]. Is he capable?"
"It's hard to say. Anyway, the first 28 mechanics all failed, and one had his hand blown off and is lying in the hospital getting a prosthetic limb."
"Want to take a gamble? I'm quite optimistic about him."
"I've been waiting for you to say this, come on!"
Like adding fuel to a fire, an exciting gamble is about to break out, with crystal cores, gems, mechanical weapons and rare metal blocks falling onto the table like raindrops.
Clang clang clang...
Core components, quantum circuit converter, gun barrel... the metal parts of the [Star Flame] particle gun have been disassembled and neatly arranged in a row.
The Hummingbird Society provided a full range of disassembly tools and energy cores, and they obviously did not want to take the risk of snatching this batch of arms and end up with nothing.
Youan looked at the bronze gear dial behind Mr. Ryan. There was still an hour before the delivery time agreed upon with the customer.
Ryan raised an eyebrow, "Is that enough time?"
"That's enough."
It was a very light sound, like sand falling in an hourglass.
Without thinking too much, Youan directly picked up the core component of the particle gun.
Checking the core components is a routine for almost every mechanic. This part is the space for storing energy crystal cores. Perhaps in order to achieve both lethality and durability, there are many traces of modifications made by "predecessors" inside and outside the metal shell.
The densely packed wiring was as thin as silk threads, and Youan's mechanical clamps pressed against the metal wall of the guide barrel, removing it directly with a drastic move.
Without any mental assistance or sophisticated testing equipment, he started to piece together a new circuit with only two mechanical knives in his hands.
Almost every step he took went against the "Machinist Safety Practice Manual" issued by the Granton Machinists Association, and his approach was so wild that it could give those stubborn academics a heart attack.
Soon, Youan picked up the core component again.
Just when others thought he was also going to reduce the energy storage effect, he reached out to the toolbox, and his movements were as natural as taking bird eggs from the belly of a white grouse, and he pinched out two shiny energy crystal cores with his fingertips.
This frightened the onlookers.
"Two crystal cores?"
"What is he doing! Bombing the bar!"
"Star Flame is only compatible with B-class crystal cores. One can only fire twelve times in a row before stopping. It's not even enough to reduce the energy, let alone increase the energy supply?"
"God damn it, someone take care of him. Passersby's lives are also lives!"
The discussion around the gambling table grew louder, but Mr. Ryan drank quietly without saying a word, looking as if he was used to it.
"alright."
After inserting the crystal core, Youan reassembled the scattered components, checked them again, put [Star Flame] back in place, and turned to Mr. Ryan.
Ryan knew that this meant payment, and winked at the black dog orc beside him.
Seeing this situation, the guests at the gambling table became anxious.
"Wait! Is this all right?"
"How do you know he succeeded in modifying it without even trying?"
"Yes, Mr. Ryan, at least try the gun, otherwise our bet will be very unconvincing!"
Without waiting for Ryan to express his opinion, the black-robed ghost who had been silent all this time suddenly spoke: "Okay."
No one would be so bold as to tease the Hummingbird Club, which is the main reason why Ryan paid the reward readily.
Of course, now that the mechanic is willing to test the gun to prove himself, he doesn't mind adding a new entertainment program.
The wine storage rack split in the middle and retreated to the left and right, revealing an entire military-grade energy wall emitting a blue light.
The guests stood up one after another, and dozens of eyes, some near and some far away, gathered on the figure hidden in the black robe.
Yuan rejected the Black Dog Orc's offer to help test the gun, picked up the silver particle gun, and stood alone in front of the energy wall.
If a mechanic doesn't dare to use a weapon he made, then there is no need to deliver such a work.
The black-robed mechanic raised his gun, and the light spot reflected from the gun's metal casing danced on his jaw.
"The Star Flame has been changed to a dual-circuit energy storage system, so the core component needs an extra crystal core to ensure energy supply. After the twelve-shot spiral penetration mode, it can automatically switch to the scattered shotgun effect. Of course, it can also be manually switched at any time."
As he spoke, he pressed the trigger with his slightly scarred knuckles. His fingertips were slightly swollen and showed a hint of red, as if it had become the third color in his body besides black and white.
The new customer who raised the question didn't know how much the people around him heard. He stared at the mechanic's lips that kept opening and closing, and his mind was full of thoughts about whether the other person's collarbone would be broken by the backward force.
No, what did he say? Dual mode?!
A white light flashed before their eyes, and the unique pulse reverberation of a particle gun drowned out the beating heartbeats of everyone.
"Range: 1.5 stars."
"Energy consumption: 280 hectares."
"Fire rate: 0.3 seconds per round."
"The intelligent correction index can reach up to 86%."
Accurate numbers popped out of the mechanic's mouth one after another, and everyone was surprised to find that he said it first, and then the energy wall that received the particle beam broadcast it.
Moreover, the data he reported was exactly the same as the parameters monitored by the energy wall!
After firing twelve spiral beams, Youan did not stop. Many guests who had witnessed Star Flame's self-explosion were terrified and quietly retreated to the door of the bar.
Youan continued to pull the trigger——
"Bang!"
The wind and waves caused the black robe to rustle.
Entering shotgun mode, Star Flame unleashes six laser beams, just as dazzling as its name.
After the twelve shots were fired, the mode was switched back to spiral beam. From the beginning to the end, no energy overload was caused, let alone the activation of the self-destruct program.
Youan put the gun down again.
After a moment of silence, whistles and applause burst out.
Youan was very satisfied with the results of his modification. The only drawback was that it increased the cost of using the energy crystal core, but it allowed this batch of guns to continue to be used safely. For the Hummingbird Club, that little energy consumption was nothing.
"I knew you were the only one who could handle it."
Ryan paid the commission readily.
This is the advantage of the dungeon. There is no need to worry about customers, no need to collect payments, and no need to pay taxes. As long as you are capable enough, you can make money.
The message box that was almost flooded with various hospital bills finally had an incoming payment message, and You An breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, Ryan glanced at the box beside him and asked, "Do you have anything else to do?"
"I'm waiting for a customer. He asked me to customize a weapon."
Youan said, looking up slightly.
The gears of the mechanical clock hanging high up turned, and at this moment, the bronze hour and minute hands were about to coincide with the top.
"Ah, it's too late, I have to leave now!"
The long red hair cut through the light and shadow of the clinking glasses. Before the guests who were immersed in the banquet could come to their senses, the figure rushed out of the castle hall in the night wind.
Enzo had just stepped onto the last step when he was nearly knocked away. He caught a glimpse of a figure passing by and turned back in surprise: "Lancelot? Where are you going?"
"Dungeon, happy birthday to your nephew. I'll give you the gift later."
Fragmented words drifted in the wind. He ran so fast that one of his shoes fell off and was left on the steps.
"Hey, your shoes—"
Enzo pretended to kick him, but the other party didn't even turn his head and transformed into a fox half the height of a man.
Like a burning arrow, it pierced into the darkness that the banquet lights could not penetrate.
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