Leader of the Ark Raiders

Could it be because the Demon King has been in power for a long time?

He was thinking about it, and his eyes met Maria inadvertently.

Only then did he realize that the youngest daughter of Linguang's family had been watching him.

The eyes of the two met, and the little girl Kuranta nodded her lips and smiled shyly, as if she was showing off the treasure she had just stolen.

A secret that only belongs to the two of them, and only the two of them understand the meaning.

775. Craftsman's Ultimate Challenge

All contestants are in place and the game begins as scheduled.

"—Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! The final selection of our exciting forging competition has finally started under the eyes of everyone. Next, please allow me to introduce the contestants who participated in this final!"

The voice of the host echoed in the workshop and was transmitted to the live broadcast platform of Intercity Network through the camera.

Shen Cangye saw the host clearly.

Well, it's a kuranta.

...So, even the host is arranged by Rose News and transferred from Casimir, right?

The host said loudly: "First of all, Mr. Dorsey Kivelli! He has 23 years of forging experience and has won several championships. He is an expert craftsman! Every swing of his hammer carries unparalleled strength! Welcome Kievli! Mister Willie!"

There was a burst of cheers from the audience.

Kivelli is a veteran contestant and still has a certain popularity.

"The next one is Mr. Zeka Fortunis! He is dedicated to forging weapons that appear in various film and television works. His live forging has many fans and he is also an excellent craftsman. Welcome!"

"Mr. Nick Skipper! He has been running a weapon shop with his wife for ten years. This time, he was ordered by his wife to come here to get the secret recipe for forging!"

"Mr. Kars Mitroglu! He has been a blacksmith enthusiast since he was a child. He is self-taught and has forged more than [-] weapons! A man who is determined to become the God of Blacksmithing!"

"——Finally, the applause is for our Miss Maria Linguang! She comes from Kasimir, the country of knights, but she is obsessed with craftsman career. After losing the last competition, she was called by the fans of the show. Please come back This lovely little Kuranta girl! Don't think that this invitation is free, today, Miss Linguang will face the most difficult challenge! Whether she can get off to a successful start, let us wait and see!"

The cheers of the audience sounded like mountains and seas.

On the opposite side of Maria, Kivelli just gave her a thumbs down lightly.

The Kuranta girl was unmoved and stopped looking at him.

After the host introduced the judges one by one, he stood in front of the stage.

"It's been a long time, my friends! For the final selection of the forging competition, we will hold a total of three rounds of competition, and we will eliminate one player round by round. In the end, the remaining two will enter the exciting supreme duel. Now, the first round The game is about to begin—”

Following the host's voice, a platform slowly rose from the ground.

In an instant, many viewers were amazed.

On the table was a large pile of broken copper and iron.

Forklift buckets, broken sleds, old tires, and even abandoned rail sections... all kinds of scrap metal piled up into mountains.

The contestants looked at each other in blank dismay, and had vaguely guessed what the additional question was.

The host smiled slightly:

"I believe everyone has already seen it! That's right, our additional question today is - we will not provide forged steel, please find the steel you need from this pile of scrap metal."

"You will have to forge a functional weapon in your personal style from the steel you are given. Afterwards, our judges will test the weapon's performance. In the first round, you will have three hours to build the weapon itself, and in the second round The second round adds a handle to it, and it becomes a fully functional weapon!"

Discussions gradually rose in the audience.

Scrap metal is often heavily corroded.

Forged weapons can easily break if the metal itself is not properly handled.

This is not only an assessment of the players' ability to find suitable forging materials, but also an assessment of their ability to select and process metals.

The host paused and said, "Miss Linguang."

"Yes." Maria looked up at him.

"Miss Maria Linguang, your test is different from other contestants." The host said, "On the basis of selecting materials from scrap metal, we have prepared two additional questions for you."

Maria nodded.

The host pointed to the five locked boxes on the side of the forge, and said:

"Your second additional question—we will not prepare for you the tools and equipment for forging. There are five boxes in there, and each box contains silver coins. The number of silver coins varies from ten to fifty. We lend you the forging tool, and you have 10 minutes to use the steel ingot in front of you to forge the lock-picking tool! After you unlock the box and get the silver coins, you can follow the instructions on our big screen The price list to exchange for the tools you need! After 10 minutes, we will take back the forging tools lent to you, understand?"

"Understood." Maria nodded seriously.

The host explained a lot.

But the rules are actually quite simple.

—She has no forging tools.

She needs to open chests to get silver coins to "buy" tools and equipment.

The organizer will lend her a forging tool to use for 10 minutes, allowing her to create a key that can be used to unlock the lock.

On the price list, various tools are clearly marked according to the number of silver coins.

If she can't open the chest, she can't get the blacksmithing tools either.

That's roughly equivalent to the end of her competition path here.

"Miss Linguang, next is your third additional question——"

The host's words reminded Maria who was thinking.

Her challenge is far from over.

The host said and continued: "For this competition, your quenching box is no longer special oil for quenching, but water - from oil quenching to water quenching."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked.

Shen Cangye sat in the auditorium, and heard the audience beside him exclaim, "This is an impossible mission!"

During this period of time, Shen Cangye also gained some understanding of forging through daily experiences.

He knew that quenching was an indispensable step in forging.

Briefly speaking, the forging process consists of several steps: first, heat the metal, perform a thermal cycle, forge and shape it, and then quench it.

Quenching is to immerse the metal calcined to an extremely high temperature into water or oil for rapid cooling, which can greatly improve the rigidity, hardness, wear resistance and toughness of the steel.

When quenching, special oil is generally used to cool the forged material.

The cooling effect of oil quenching is mild. If it is replaced by water with a large specific heat capacity, the cooling is extremely fast, the stress is large, and the tendency of deformation and cracking is also large.

Quenching with water, improper handling will cause the forged material to break, and all previous efforts will be wasted.

"Are you ready for the challenge?" the host asked.

…without raw materials, tools, or even proper cooling.

This is the dilemma Maria is facing right now.

The difficulty of this competition surpassed any previous forging competition.

Vulcan stared at the blond girl on the forging station and fell silent.

Kivili at the other end booed without losing the opportunity, "Give up, quitting now will not be as embarrassing as you will fail later! After 10 minutes, you don't even have the forging tools! Or, do you want to forge within 10 minutes?" a knife?"

He sneered, "Don't be stupid, it's wise to give up now."

Maria just smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Host, I am ready to accept the challenge."

776. Guess, who is she looking at?

Maria's voice echoed in the workshop.

The judges on the jury table shook their heads in unison.

This challenge is really too difficult.

None of them was sure that this young artisan girl could pass the test.

Only the president of the association smiled faintly, "You are so brave, little girl. Come on."

"Thank you." Maria smiled.

The host pointed to the timing board on the top of the workshop and said, "You have three hours for forging, so start your work, artisans!"

As soon as the words fell, the contestants all rushed to the pile of scrap metal.

Maria walked up to the boxes, looked at the five big boxes and fell into thought.

No matter which box you want to open, you need to forge the key first.

and.

Without knowing the number of silver coins in the box in advance, it is difficult to estimate what equipment and tools you will get.

Doing additional questions can be said to be a top three, which greatly increases the uncertainty in the forging work.

The host lost no time in explaining: "How many keys can be made in 10 minutes? Miss Linguang only has one chance to unlock—that is to say, if she is unlucky, she may only get ten silver coins! Ten One silver coin, and can only be exchanged for the most common manual forging tools, not even the most basic mechanical equipment! One wrong step, one wrong step! What choice will our Miss Linguang make?"

The judges are talking about each other, discussing in full swing.

"According to the average situation, she can get about twenty silver coins. Guess what she will exchange for it?"

"The tool set for manual forging is a must. In addition, the forging press can greatly reduce the forging effort, and it is also necessary."

"I think she will take the calciner and tempering equipment. After all, she suffered from the hand-operated heating furnace in the last knockout round."

"In fact, the polishing machine is the equipment that saves the most time. Think about the pain you have to grind by hand!"

Maria listened to the chatter of the judges, thought for a while, and ran back to her forging table.

She picked up the steel ingot and ran towards the heating furnace.

"Oh! Miss Linguang seems to have decided—uh, wait..." The host noticed something was wrong, "Did Miss Linguang forget to measure the diameter of the keyhole? Which box is she going to open?"

Shen Cangye cast a questioning gaze on Maria, but only received a confident gaze from the other party back to him.

...and a playful and sly smile.

There was a lot of discussion in the audience, all wondering what Maria planned to do.

The host watched Maria's operation.

It took a long time before he opened his mouth, "Why didn't Miss Linguang measure the size of the keyhole? Could it be—"

I saw Maria raised her hand, "My lockpicking tool is finished."

"What?" The host was taken aback.

All eyes cast away.

What I saw on Maria's anvil was a hammer.

The other contestants watching the excitement were stunned.

The audience froze.

The judges were all stunned.

Pick the lock with a hammer...?

The lockpicking tool is a hammer?

Ok?It seems... no problem.

Xiao Linguang smiled mischievously, "Mr. Host, you just said earlier that you want to make a tool for unlocking the lock, but you didn't say that the key must be made?"

The host raised the microphone blankly, "But we expect you to make a key and open one or two random wooden boxes..."

Maria smiled embarrassingly, "There is a problem with your statement, and that is not my responsibility."

The host and judges were dumbfounded for a while.

Someone in the audience burst out laughing.

——If you didn’t explain the rules well, then don’t blame the players for taking advantage of loopholes.

The host had no choice but to turn his eyes to the president of the association for help.

The president of the association sitting in the middle of the judges' seat stroked his beard and laughed, "Okay, you are very smart. Please open the lock, Miss Maria Linguang."