Genius Mechanic

16. Gift

The parts in the warehouse had been prearranged, sorted from inside to outside according to the priority of their quality. Ying Chenlin finished inspecting this section of the shelves and also did a quick search online about these parts. Even though these A-Class parts might not be the most expensive or top-notch ones, they represented the level of mid-range parts commonly found in the current market.


Ying Chenlin had some understanding of the early material market. During the time around when he was 18 years old, he often entered the contaminated zone to collect materials, but parts were not within his familiar range.


During his early days when he wasn't well-versed in repair knowledge, the mecha's parts were handled by mechanics commissioned by Xun Bao, who helped replace the parts. Ying Chenlin was only responsible for finding materials and selling them. Later, after signing contracts with other bases, he didn't have to think about the parts anymore, as there were people who repaired the mecha for him.


It was after he joined the KID base that he started working on part sculpting. At that time, the prices of parts in the entire market had dropped.


During his early days, the parts he used had low conversion rates, which was normal. However, in the KID warehouse, he rarely purchased this type of parts, and he didn't know that the general high-grade parts on the market would have such low conversion rates.


There was no case of purchasing low-grade parts. He knew that at this time, the parts had not undergone further iterations, nor had they reached the level of parts five or six years later. He just didn't expect the conversion rate of this type of parts to be so poor.


He thought at most there would be a 5% difference, but he didn't expect it to be nearly 10%.


Ying Chenlin padded the parts in his hand and slowly released a thread of psychic power from his right fingertip into the parts. He closed his eyes slightly, and his consciousness followed the psychic power into the intricate interior of the parts, leaving no detail overlooked.


[Shen Xingtang: I forgot to tell you that you can take the parts from the back of the shelves. There is an index on the intelligent system in the warehouse, and I have already entered your permission. The things are a bit messy, thank you for your hard work.]


When Ying Chenlin opened his eyes, he noticed the message Shen Xingtang sent five minutes ago. He turned slightly and looked towards the deep interior of the warehouse, murmuring, "The workload is a bit large, but it's manageable."


He put the light brain in the cart next to him, grabbed the handle, and walked straight into the warehouse's interior.


Back in the temporary repair room, Shen Xingtang was still working. After finishing the treatment of the mecha's right wound and not seeing Ying Chenlin coming out, she briefly sorted out other issues with the mecha.


After finishing everything, there was no movement from the warehouse. Shen Xingtang felt puzzled; indeed, the warehouse was quite messy... but could it be that hard to find something?


Coming down from the mecha, Shen Xingtang intended to check the situation in the warehouse. Just then, Jiang Simiao stepped into the repair room and said, "Xingtang, the supplier we contacted last time called. They said the price of the batch of parts we need for the next season will increase."


"Increase?" Shen Xingtang halted in her tracks. "I didn't even negotiate with them, and they have the audacity to raise the price?"


"Yes," Jiang Simiao helplessly nodded. "They mentioned the recent incident in the contaminated zone. You know it's currently sealed off, causing a scarcity of materials in the market. That's the reason they provided."


"How much are they raising it by?" Shen Xingtang asked.


Jiang Simiao made a gesture to indicate the amount.


Shen Xingtang couldn't help but laugh in frustration. "Are they crazy?"


Jiang Simiao replied, "They want us to give them an answer tonight."


Shen Xingtang's expression wasn't pleasant. As she walked towards the warehouse with Jiang Simiao, she continued speaking, "This price is unacceptable. Besides, the contaminated zone is only sealed off for a few days, and the prices are high only during this period. They are trying to take advantage of the fact that we urgently need parts for the mecha repairs."


As they reached the entrance of Warehouse A3, the sensing lights inside the warehouse turned on.


No one was at the entrance of the warehouse, and Shen Xingtang noticed that the cart by the side was missing. She walked quickly into the warehouse, and not long after, she saw a figure standing between two rows of shelves with their back facing her.


"But we can't find another parts supplier right now," Jiang Simiao was originally discussing the situation in the external parts market with Shen Xingtang when she suddenly raised her hand to stop him.


Jiang Simiao stopped, puzzled.


The person standing between the shelves was Ying Chenlin. At his feet was a small cart, and it already held around ten parts. While Warehouse A3 was indeed disordered, Shen Xingtang didn't think it would take over an hour to find a dozen parts. She furrowed her eyebrows and approached to ask Ying Chenlin about it. However, she suddenly noticed the testing machine next to the shelf.


On the testing machine was an A-GZ1456 type part, and the floating test results displayed:


[Type A-GZ1456, Durability 75, Precision Conversion Rate 55%.]


Durability 75 and Precision Conversion Rate 55%? The A-GZ1456 was a type of A-Class joint bearing, commonly priced at 40,000 credits per unit. Such a price would determine the limitations of the material it used. A base durability of 70 and a precision conversion rate of 50% already meant it was an excellent product among such materials.


Shen Xingtang couldn't remember picking up any of these parts during scavenging missions. The supplier she cooperated with was quite stingy; even more so than her. Every part they delivered had undergone meticulous inspection. There was no way they would sell her this kind of part for 40,000 credits each.


As she picked up the part, a voice suddenly sounded beside her. "The basic value of that part is too low."


Shen Xingtang turned her head and saw Ying Chenlin looking at her. He held an A-GZ1456 in his hand as well. She didn't quite understand—was this mechanic from some rich base before? How could the values of such parts be lower?


Ying Chenlin placed the part he was holding onto the testing machine, and the latter quickly displayed a new value.


[Type A-GZ1456, Durability 80, Precision Conversion Rate 60%.]


Shen Xingtang stared at the testing machine in disbelief.


"55%—the one I handled had some parts that got scrapped. It's more comfortable when the precision conversion rate is 60% for this type of material; it makes the mecha's operation smoother," Ying Chenlin explained, putting the checked part into the small cart beside him. "Have you finished handling your part?"


Shen Xingtang held the part in her hand. "And you call this scrapped?"


"It indeed got scrapped," Ying Chenlin explained, "This part was already physically shaped at the factory, and my mental power can only make secondary modifications to it, which then solidifies. There's no way to carry out a third correction."


Raw materials are physically and mentally shaped at the factory to produce finished goods. Once the material structure of such finished goods is established, mental power can only make a second modification on the unstable parts, and the opportunity is limited to just one chance.


When Ying Chenlin first started learning about repair work, he faced physical limitations and lacked the assistance of AI, making it difficult for him to perform actual mecha testing. His mental abilities were also weak, so he spent day and night studying the abandoned parts in the warehouse, understanding the specific functions of each part in the mecha and their basic structure and material composition.


The experienced mechanics in the repair room told him that parts polished purely with mental abilities were better. They taught him a bit about it, and he started using his mental power to impact the internal structures of the parts. During those years of learning about repairs, he ruined thousands of parts through polishing.


However, those years also laid a solid foundation for his skills.


In the future, mecha technology became nearly mature, and purchased parts rarely needed polishing. At most, it could improve the parts by 1%-2%. Nevertheless, he had developed the habit of polishing parts, and he felt that the parts didn't feel right without it.


Seeing Shen Xingtang remain silent, Ying Chenlin looked at her with confusion.


"I can understand mental polishing, but what you did wasn't just connecting polishing," Shen Xingtang said. She understood that every repairer used mental power to assist in connecting parts to the metal nerves of the mecha. When necessary, they would perform minor shaping on the parts that had been reinforced...


But what they meant by polishing and shaping wasn't about breaking down the internal structure of the parts to enhance their basic values.


"Connecting polishing?" Ying Chenlin explained, "Usually, we need to check and polish the parts before the connecting polishing."


Noting her puzzled expression, Shen Xingtang took a deep breath and asked, "Chenlin, who taught you this skill?"


Ying Chenlin paused for a moment, suppressing the emotions in his eyes, and replied simply, "Several people who helped me a lot."


More accurately, it included everyone in the KID repair room in the future, including Shen Xingtang. But he couldn't be honest with her about this now. They didn't have the same deep friendship as in the future, and the idea of reincarnation was too inconceivable.


Jiang Simiao didn't understand the knowledge of repairs. He frowned slightly and asked, "What's wrong with these parts? Isn't this basic value high? The batch we received last time didn't have this..."


Before he could finish his sentence, Shen Xingtang interjected, "You—"


Shen Xingtang didn't know how to express her feelings. Could it be that after suffering from Mercury Retrograde for so long, the heavens finally favored her and casually threw a big treasure to KID? "We can't discard these parts. Are all of these parts polished by you?"


She glanced at the small cart.


Ying Chenlin replied, "These are all acceptable."


Shen Xingtang was momentarily speechless. "Then what about the unacceptable ones?"


Ying Chenlin pointed in a direction where there was another cart.


The parts that were ruined through polishing couldn't be returned to the shelves. He was planning to ask Shen Xingtang how to handle those.


Shen Xingtang walked over quickly.


Jiang Simiao looked at Ying Chenlin in confusion and explained, "She's very strict when it comes to parts and occasionally has a temper."


Ying Chenlin nodded understandingly.


Jiang Simiao looked at Shen Xingtang with complex feelings. The last time there was an issue with a batch of parts, Shen Xingtang didn't hesitate to buy a flight ticket and rush to the headquarters of the supplier. After a day and night of negotiations, she managed to reduce the unit price by 5%.


At that moment, Jiang Simiao's neural processor vibrated.


The beeping notification immediately caught his attention.


Ying Chenlin glanced at him.


Jiang Simiao saw the name of the contact and frowned. It was the supplier who raised the price. He had no choice but to answer the call, "Mr. Xu? Our boss is busy at the moment. Can we get back to you about the parts later?"


The other party said a few more things in an unfriendly tone.


Ying Chenlin noticed the momentary change in Jiang Simiao's expression and glanced at him sideways. Before Jiang Simiao could reply, a call was suddenly answered through his virtual screen, activated by a calloused finger.


Shen Xingtang had already finished looking at the parts and joined them.


On the other end of the call, Mr. Xu's loud voice carried a hint of business calculation. He pretended to be reluctant and said, "Mr. Jiang, you know that the supply of goods is tight now. Even Sirius' material supply has slowed down. If we hadn't been cooperating for so long, I would have sold this batch to someone else—"


He paused for a moment and continued, "I won't hide it from you; DE has also contacted us recently."


Jiang Simiao frowned; it seemed like the man was trying to threaten them. They couldn't be sure if DE's contact was real or fake, but this person was definitely trying to sell the goods at a higher price during this material shortage while taking advantage of their current need for materials.


At this point, Shen Xingtang spoke up, "Is that so? Then Mr. Xu, you should sell the goods to DE."


Mr. Xu seemed surprised by her response, "Shen Boss, I proposed this price because of our long-standing relationship. A 5% increase isn't much. How about this, I'll reduce it by 1%? Let's meet halfway, and you can come tomorrow to sign the contract—"


"But, Mr. Xu," Shen Xingtang interjected.


Her tone changed, "I don't want to give you a single penny."


"Shen Xingtang, I didn't agree to the much higher price offered by DE. If it weren't for our longstanding relationship, I would have sold the goods elsewhere already," Mr. Xu replied.


"Mr Xu," Shen Xingtang's tone softened slightly, "I'm considering our years of transactions, which is why I bothered to listen to all your nonsense."


Mr. Xu: ?


Shen Xingtang continued with a smile, "Don't let me stop you from making big money. Just sell the goods to DE."


With that, she hung up the call decisively.


Jiang Simiao looked surprised at the sudden turn of events; he hadn't expected the negotiations to break down so abruptly. In the past, Shen Xingtang would haggle and bargain with the other party, but why was she not wasting any time today?


Jiang Simiao said, "Xingtang, it will be difficult to negotiate with another supplier."


Ying Chenlin glanced at Shen Xingtang slightly.


Shen Xingtang didn't rush to respond to Jiang Simiao; instead, she smiled warmly at Ying Chenlin. To her, he was like a great treasure mountain. "Chenlin, my darling, are you interested in collaborating with me to make a big profit?"


Author's Note:


A sweet infinite flow story between two bosom friends, now with added fluff!


【"Nineteen Hells [Infinite]" by Yan Shu ID: 5360212】


【Amnesiac Hell Lord (Bottom) x Gentlemanly Hellish Weapon (Top)】


Synopsis:
Every hundred years, during the harsh winter, the gates of hell reopen, allowing evil spirits trapped in the Infinite Hell to break through the nineteen layers of purgatory and return to the mortal realm.


The evil spirits in hell were far from good, but Lian Que managed to mingle among them. However, the evil spirits soon noticed that the blade of the fierce ghost's knife never struck him directly, even in the face of formidable enemies. Even the infamous person with a bloody iron wrist treated him differently on several occasions.


In the dark corners unseen by others, the hell messenger summoning cards shone brightly in his hands—


"Binding successful, esteemed paying user,
Welcome to the nineteenth level of hell.
I am the Hell Messenger, your most faithful—believer."


Lian Que tilted his head and smiled, "Thank you, but I don't remember when I topped up?"


Jing Siyan lowered his gaze in silence.


But he remembered that desolate tomb on the barren mountain, the flowers casually left behind by that person, and those words—


"I heard that those who have no one to offer sacrifices for them in the mortal realm can only enter the gates of hell after death and cannot reincarnate. But if possible, I want to remain human."


He once ferried him into reincarnation, not knowing that to him, all the tenderness in the mortal realm was left only in that lonely tomb and the flowers he left behind.


If he was in hell, he would willingly fall into eternal damnation and never reincarnate.


***


Jing Siyan followed his god faithfully, step by step ascending to the divine throne, just to become the most suitable blade for him.


Until the nineteenth level of hell was engulfed in flames of greed, and everyone was filled with desire, ridiculing him for daring to defile the gods. He looked at his deity, his eyes gentle yet restrained:


"Anything will do?"


Lian Que leaned down, whispering, "Anything will do."


Jing Siyan's pupils were stained with fiery red flames, and he knelt before his god, kissed his hand with awkward yet pious devotion.


Lian Que: ?