Chapter 1578: Observe and Play
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The man’s appearance was quite unique.
His nose was particularly huge, like a hybrid between a lion and a tiger. One could easily tell that it was not a template simulated by light and shadow but his real face.
In such a perilous place as Fish Dragon City, especially in the even more dangerous areas such as the casinos, the arenas, and the magical equipment stores, most people would choose a template face and anonymous crystal cards to disguise their real identity and avoid trouble.
If a person chose to show everybody else their real appearance blatantly in such areas, it would be indicative of two things.
Firstly, they were not scared of trouble.
Secondly, it was possible that they were fond of asking for trouble.
The magical equipment store under the Chamber of Commerce boasted the largest multipurpose test field in the Dragon Snake Space Zone. Hundreds of crystal suits were being tested in the place at the same time, and still more maintainers, refiners, and staff were measuring and serving outside of the field.
The bellow of the lion-nosed, scar-faced man, however, made everybody stop whatever they were doing. The more prudent ones stayed far away and watched, and those who were bold or unfamiliar with the man, such as Li Yao, simply went close to observe more carefully.
After all, few people dared speak so bluntly at the magical equipment store under the Chamber of Commerce.
“Where is Manager Nie of the Maintenance Department? Get him here!”
The lion-nosed, scar-faced could not have cared less about how other people were looking at him. He bulged his eyes and yelled, “It was because I trust the expertise of Manage Nie Siyuan of the Maintenance Department of the Four Sectors Magical Equipment Center that I put the limited-edition ‘Azure Thunder’ here for repair. Otherwise, I would’ve sent it to the original manufacturer in the Star Glory Federation! When I delivered the crystal suit to you, your staff bashed their chests and promised me that it would certainly be repaired. But what’s the meaning of this? Have Nie Siyuan’s eyes failed him because of old age, or does he have no respect for me, Zhao Tongtian from the Thunderbolt Exo Society, at all and simply gave my crystal suit to a random guy for maintenance?”
The lion-nosed, scar-faced man must have been a rather famous brutal guy in Fish Dragon City.
Because of the huge fuss that he was causing, few people dared to observe the scene at a close distance like Li Yao. Most of them were watching from afar, all prepared to activate their spiritual shield and run away at the first anomaly!
When Zhao Tongtian and the Thunderbolt Exo Society were mentioned, even the few ignorant Cultivators who were crowding over to watch together with Li Yao all gulped and took a few steps back, like rabbits who smelled the scent of tigers and wolves.
It was obvious that Zhao Tongtian and his Thunderbolt Exo Society were not easy to deal with in the Dragon Snake Space Zone!
All the staff were whispering to each other, their faces pale, not knowing what they should do.
A moment later, the crowd was divided. A middle-aged man, who was tall and slender, with a pair of long, agile hands walked in confidently. Glancing at Zhao Tongtian, he sneered, “So, it is Deputy Captain Zhao. In the last half a month, the once-in-three-years ‘Ace Game’ has been held in the ‘Dragon Snake Arena’, which is a gala for the entire Dragon Snake Space Zone. My master has been invited as the magical equipment director of the crystal suit matches. I was the one who supervised the maintenance of your ‘Azure Thunder’. Is there a problem?”
“You?” Zhao Tongtian eyed the tall, slender, middle-aged newcomer up and down before he scoffed, “So, Nie Siyuan wasn’t here. That explains a lot! However, if you’re not prepared to do the time, don’t pretend to do the crime! If the manager wasn’t here, you shouldn’t have taken my order at all in the first place! Sha Yongming, do you have any idea how precious my crystal suit is? You haven’t learned a third of your master’s expertise yet, and yet you were bold enough to mess with my equipment. You were truly insulting the Four Sectors Magical Equipment Center. You don’t know what you are doing!”
“Deputy Captain Zhao!” Sha Yongming, the refiner, blushed. Veins were bulging on his hands like earthworms as he gnashed his teeth. “We are all compatriots from the Uranian Ring Sector. The Thunderbolt Exo Society has shares in the Chamber of Commerce, too. Why are you making a fuss in a place of your own people?”
“I am making a fuss? You will know I’m making a fuss when I’m making a fuss, Sha Yongming!” Zhao Tongtian burst into laughter because of fury. “It’s because I trusted you as my own people that I sent my ‘Azure Thunder’ to your place for maintenance. Although the maintenance has gone wrong, I’m still standing here talking nicely with you! I’m sure that you know who I am, don’t you? Since when have I, ‘Thunder Lion’ Zhao Tongtian, been so reasonable?
“Forget it. Any more words with you will only be a waste. In short, you can’t handle this ‘Azure Thunder’! If you could, I wouldn’t have had it delivered to this place but asked the refiners of the Thunderbolt Exo Society to repair it! I told your staff time and time again that Nie Siyuan must see to it in person. I know that you charge a lot, but do you think that I don’t have the money? How were you bold enough to touch my crystal suit when you didn’t know how valuable it is? Bring your master here right now. Let me see whether it is because he has zero respect for me or because some bodacious fool failed to forward my demand!”
Because of the great humiliation, arrows of blood seemed to be darting out of every pore on Sha Yongming’s face. “What problem do you have with this ‘Azure Thunder?”
He was a true disciple of Nie Siyuan, the Chief Maintainer of the Four Sectors Magical Equipment Center, and his arts in refining and maintenance were extraordinary. Particularly good at the repair and modification of crystal suits, he was a minor celebrity in Fish Dragon City.
Even when his master was around, most of the crystal suits delivered to the place for maintenance were actually handled by him. Nothing had ever gone wrong.
When this particular crystal suit was delivered, the requirements did specify that his master needed to maintain it personally, with no limit to the maintenance fee.
However, his master was busy providing technical support for the ‘Ace Game’, the arena match held once every three years in the Dragon Snake Space Zone, and had entrusted all affairs in the Maintenance Department to him. Furthermore, the crystal suit was indeed an extraordinary piece of art, and Sha Yongming had found the temptation irresistible.
He had thought that, since he had grasped ninety percent of his master’s knowledge and the crystal suit had no serious problems but only some minor erosion issues, nothing could possibly go wrong.
But as it turned out, the customer had realized that something was not right after the first try!
“Of course, I know what the ‘Azure Thunder’ is!”
Cold sweat the size of a yellow bean was flowing on Sha Yongming’s forehead, as he pointed at a calligraphic autograph on the right shoulder of the crystal suit that seemed to have been written in silver metal threads.
“This is the very first crystal suit designed and crafted by ‘Wu Yaxuan’, a young genius of refining who has risen to fame recently in the federation. It was a hit the moment it was released to the public. Even the mass-produced version is difficult to come by, not to mention the limited edition that he crafted personally. As I recall, he only built nineteen crystal suits personally, right?
“But so what?
“I perfectly followed the maintenance manual of the original manufacturer in every detail. All the performance parameters are as good as new! Deputy Captain Zhao, what exactly is the problem with the crystal suit? Insufficient instantaneous acceleration? Rigidness in direction shifting? The fire control rune arrays are not responsive enough? If you have truly found any flaw, we will refund the full maintenance fee with a compensation of ten times as much money. Then, I will ask my master to repair the crystal suit for you again!
“However, if you can’t point out any flaws and continue being unreasonable in public, I must regretfully tell you that this is not your playground!”
While they were talking, more and more people crowded into the test field, including many guards who were fully-armed with cold faces.
Fish Dragon City was such a chaotic place. How could the magical equipment center not be heavily protected, given all the highly-valuable materials and magical equipment it had?
Glancing around coldly, Zhao Tongtian laughed in derision before he slowly said, “It’s just my feeling.”
Bulging his eyes, Sha Yongming was amused. “Feeling? Deputy Captain Zhao, you are not implying that, although you can’t find any maintenance fault, the crystal suit ‘feels’ different from before when you are using it, are you?”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Zhao Tongtian replied. “The performance parameters in the crystal suit are the same. Acceleration, turning, and jumping are fine, too. The speed to pick up any weapon is as good as before… Every detail is exactly the same as the past, but when they are combined, it gives me a different feeling from before! The sense of smoothness that feels like mercury flowing on the ground has gone. I can’t feel that my soul has melded with the crystal suit anymore. It’s almost—it’s almost like the ‘limited edition’ that Wu Yaxuan crafted in person has become one of the ‘general edition’ manufactured in the factories!”
Sha Yongming’s voice grew colder and colder. “Deputy Captain Zhao, have you made up your mind to ask for trouble?”
“I’m asking for trouble?” Zhao Tongtian burst into laughter. He raised his thumb and pointed at his big nose. “Rest assured. If I’m asking for anyone’s trouble, it won’t be with a small fry such as yourself! If we get to the bottom of it, that’s because you are not capable enough. Who is Wu Yaxuan? One of the most creative geniuses in the younger generation in the federation and the first assistant of ‘Solar Eclipse’ Jiang Shaoyang, the best refiner of the federation! How can you understand the essence of his masterpiece?
“Because we are both from the Uranian Ring Sector, I’ll give you another chance. Just go and immediately invite your master here and stop making the issue any bigger than it already is. So many people and so many eyes are watching. You won’t be able to take the blame if the reputation of the Four Sectors Magical Equipment Center is ruined!”
Li Yao pricked his ears up and listened for a long time in the inner circle. He finally got the gist of everything.
Jiang Shaoyang’s heir was truly involved!
Crafting a piece of magical equipment, especially highly-precise magical equipment like a crystal suit, was not something that could be done individually but required a whole experienced, well-trained team.
The so-called ‘first assistant’ was essentially the No. 2 person of the whole team. The job was usually taken care of by the most distinguished true disciple of the leader of the team.
It meant that the ‘Azure Thunder’ was probably the very first crystal suit designed and crafted by Jiang Shaoyang’ true disciple, as well as the No. 2 person of Jiang Shaoyang’s team, after he left his master. Naturally, he must have received Jiang Shaoyang’s enlightenment, too. No wonder it was so finely-made and worth appreciating.
Even Li Yao could not wait to ‘appreciate’ it now.