"Junior brother..." Huang Jijian swiftly approached, feigning complaint, "Why so serious, just making a show would have sufficed. Look how tired you are, even if you couldn’t finish..."
Before he could finish his sentence, his expression froze, seeing Li Ming holding a newly refurbished serrated mechanical combat knife in his hand.
He actually made it!?
Li Ming squeezed out a smile on his pale face, "I have not failed to live up to your expectations."
"Holy shit." Ding Hui quickly rushed forward, took the serrated knife, swinging it in his hand, removed his data glasses from his forehead, and scanned it.
"Length 1.8 meters, width 0.3 meters, weight 2.3 tons..." With a casual slice, the nearby alloy material was cut, "Its hardness and sharpness are up to standard."
"Only, this forging technique, I’ve never seen it before." He looked down, scrutinizing closely.
Suddenly it went dark before his eyes, as it was Cheng Tienan who snatched the knife straight away with his large hand. Ding Hui tried to grab it again but was flung away like a little chick.
"A forging technique I’ve never seen before, it doesn’t look handmade, the alloy material isn’t refined steel, seamlessly integrated, clamped as one." Cheng Tienan caressed the knife for a long time, and sighed:
"It could be described as flawless. I haven’t found any defects in the craftsmanship, no forging marks, no stress fractures. It’s like it rolled off an assembly line, no, even more perfect than that."
"All these years, it seems we have wasted our efforts on nothing."
Zhou Kui and others looked at each other, seeing the amazement on Cheng Tienan’s face, they couldn’t help but wonder, is the gap between people really so vast?
Ding Hui, who had gotten up, nearly spewed blood, "Cheng, speak for yourself, don’t represent me."
Cheng Tienan sighed, "The only downside is that it lacks soul."
"Huh?" Li Ming was stunned, Big brother, are you joking? Soul?
"This weapon, it has a soul?" He asked cautiously.
"He’s talking nonsense, it’s like a pot steaming, one of those things that seems to exist but doesn’t really. If I were to summarize, it’s that each forging craftsman has their distinct traits, which they leave on the weapons they make. This one of yours..." Ding Hui hesitated for a long time before saying:
"It’s very regular, um... regularity is your characteristic."
However, Huang Jijian’s face shifted, he said with difficulty, "Junior brother, did you alter my design?"
This weapon had nothing to do with his design. Where was the curved blade edge? Still maintaining a serrated structure? It’s all upgraded, what use is it now.
"Mm, it is more in line with my habits," Li Ming explained briefly.
Who the fuck told you to change my design, do you even know what ’gilding the lily’ means!
With a roar in his heart, Huang Jijian truly wanted to see Li Ming disregard his duties, but the fact that the latter altered his design enraged him even more.
"Junior brother..." he suppressed his anger, "My design was approved by the client, rashly altering it, they may not..."
"Let the client come over." Professor Xia interrupted him. The weapon was already in his hands, and he played with it for a while, his face expressionless.
"Yes, teacher." Huang Jijian’s face changed as he contacted the client.
After all, the weapon was crafted for the client, and whether it was good or bad was for them to say.
Zhao Lei arrived promptly, Ding Hui forced a couple of sips of nutrient fluid into Li Ming, who hadn’t fully digested it when this guy showed up.
With a full-faced beard indicating his age, dressed casually, he was startled by the sight before him and couldn’t help being taken aback as everyone stared at him with inexplicable gazes.
"Old Zhao, this is the weapon you commissioned me to forge." Huang Jijian brought out the serrated knife.
"Mr. Huang, this doesn’t quite resemble the design you showed me?" Zhao Lei leaned to the side and hesitantly took the serrated knife, "I was quite satisfied with that design, why did you change it without telling me?"
Huang Jijian snorted inside but helplessly said, "There was a little mishap, if you’re really not satisfied, I’ll just forge you a new one with my own materials."
He didn’t say it was Li Ming who forged it, thereby saving face for himself and maintaining his hypocritical image.
As he spoke, he noticed that when Zhao Lei took the serrated knife, he handled it adeptly. A buzzing sound ensued, and the sharp serrations on the blade started vibrating at high frequency and incredible speed.
Zhao Lei’s expression turned from hesitation to excitement. It was as if he had hit some switch, and with a booming sound, the end of the knife’s spine rapidly turned red-hot before exploding into intense flames.
"Ha..." Zhao Lei was extremely excited, "Mr. Huang, you truly live up to being a student of Professor Xia. Amazing work."
"The length and weight are just right, these vibrating serrations are exactly to my liking, and this explosive flame has turned into a rechargeable type, even better for close combat."
"Moreover, even the grooves I had carved on the handle to increase friction are preserved, becoming patterns."
"I’ve been using it for over a decade. I’m used to patching it up. I thought I’d need some time to adjust after the upgrade, but you’ve been so considerate."
"I feel like it’s no different from my original weapon, only more powerful. Compared to it, the original design is just crap."
He was highly excited. For an ordinary gene evolver like him, changing a commonly used weapon was akin to gambling.
Both cost and material were quite expensive, and the final product might not meet his expectations, but this time he clearly won the bet.
However, Zhao Lei didn’t understand that the more he praised it, the uglier Mr. Huang’s expression became.