The Whole World Fell Silent

After all, Rein was visiting as the "Lord of Black Dragon City," so the Academy of Sciences of Omar dared not neglect him.

His position as city lord is at the kingdom level, and according to the aristocratic system, his rank is equivalent to that of a prince.

Moreover, Rein also sent someone to deliver a formal exchange invitation, following proper procedures.

Regardless, the Oma Royal Academy of Sciences has no choice but to accept this "exchange," whether they want to or not.

The college staff led Rein and his party to the "Academic Exchange Hall".

A place that resembles a lecture hall.

The man in the tuxedo with the mustache was quite polite, arranging for them to sit down. "Lord Rein, please rest for a while. We have already notified the person in charge of the students."

"Um."

Rein nodded and sat down casually on the sofa.

Although he didn't care about those formalities, when he was out in public, as the city lord representing Black Dragon City, he still had to maintain a certain level of prestige and act arrogantly as appropriate.

Not long after they took their seats, the students who had heard the news and dared to come poured into the academic exchange hall.

The group of people, including Rein, were stared at and whispered among themselves.

Rein, on the other hand, was quite relaxed and at ease, half-lying on the sofa drinking coffee.

Old Master Tuster remained expressionless. However, after leaving the lakeside cottage, a glint of shrewdness appeared in his eyes, growing ever stronger.

Only little Karl seemed a little nervous.

More and more people came in, dozens, hundreds, thousands.

People were pointing and whispering about them, not just the young and inexperienced students, but also many older professors, some even with gray hair.

Coincidentally, Mark and his group from the advanced class that Rein and his group had encountered when they entered the student hall also arrived at the exchange hall.

They saw Rein and his group and were slightly surprised.

"Haha, so it was them, who was being so arrogant!"

"Oh, these country bumpkins actually are mechanics? No wonder I recognized the model of your Mechanical Arm, Mark."

"Heh, do they really think our Royal Academy of Sciences is some kind of place? They even want to exchange ideas with Dean Breidan? Tsk tsk, do they think they're some kind of 'Grand Mechanical Master'?"

"Who knows, in some rural areas, any random, lowly motorcycle repairman could be called a 'Grand Mechanical Master'."

"Ha ha ha ha."

"."

Even though they now know that Rein is the city lord, these young students still speak rudely.

These "second-generation officials" who grew up in the capital city, regardless of their other experiences, have met many high-ranking nobles.

A city lord from the "countryside" is not someone they should be afraid of.

Before long, once the identities of Rein and his group were no longer a mystery, the large meeting hall gradually became noisy.

Anyway, today was destined to be a big mess, and Rein remained calm.

He ignored the mockery around him, letting it go in one ear and out the other.

Tuster also wore an indifferent expression; looking like this, he was probably unrecognizable. Besides, in the Royal Academy, he had few friends, but plenty of enemies.

When Karl was mocked by the crowd for the first time, his face turned bright red.

These people not only mocked him, but also his grandfather Tuster, and mocked their proud mechanical technology.

Faced with those malicious taunts and sarcastic remarks, Karl clenched his fists, indignant. "Brother Rein, we don't even know them. How can they say such things about us!"

"They're just a bunch of self-important fools, ignore them."

Rein smiled and said nonchalantly, "If you're really upset, you can let these guys learn something during the exchange later. After all, mechanics are all about skill."

"Um!"

Karl nodded solemnly upon hearing this. "I will show them that the mechanical technology of our Black Dragon Academy is not as bad as they say!"

After waiting for about an hour, the meeting room was already packed with people.

But Dean Breidan did not appear; instead, a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion showed up.

He introduced himself, "My name is Oliver. My teacher is currently tied up with some matters and cannot get away for the time being, so I will be the one to host this exchange meeting."

Upon hearing this, Rein replied indifferently, "Oh."

Upon hearing the introduction, he knew that the guy in front of him was Dean Breidan's disciple and also a Mechanical Grandmaster.

Under normal circumstances, a grandmaster like this would be sufficient to handle exchanges with local academies.

The "main character" didn't show up, which was expected.

Knowing that Tuster is still alive and would definitely cause trouble if he came today, he certainly wouldn't show himself so easily.

However, whether Breidan comes or not, this whole thing is going to cause a stir today.

Rein didn't press Breidan about whether he was coming or not.

Since his side was the one who started the trouble, he didn't mince words. "Since Grandmaster Oliver is here, then so be it. Our Black Dragon Academy has come with sincerity this time, so we hope to have a good exchange with your academy."

Oliver asked, "How does Lord Rein intend to communicate?"

The itinerary for exchange groups from other academies is usually quite fixed. They first visit the academy, then watch the students' project presentations, buy some technology patents to take home, and that's considered the exchange complete.

Rein, however, went straight to the point. "Let's have a competition. Although our Black Dragon Academy has only recently been established, our students are eager to exchange ideas with the geniuses from the 'Holy Land'."

Is this a challenge?

Although Oliver had already heard that the visitor was up to no good, his expression still turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing this.

No one is qualified to challenge the Oma Royal Academy of Sciences.

But then he glanced at the people around Rein, a look of doubt on his face.

Aside from the guards, only the child seemed to be a student.

One person?

Students?

Without further ado, Rein turned to look at Karl and said, "Karl, go up on stage and chat with the geniuses of Oma Imperial Capital."

Finally, he added, "You're welcome!"

Karl nodded seriously and said, "Okay, Brother Rein. I'm off then."

"Um."

Rein nodded, his gaze gradually deepening, and he murmured to himself: Since the old man won't come out, let's see how long you can hide!

Little Karl went on stage and looked at the densely packed crowd below, feeling slightly nervous.

He remembered the etiquette the officials in Black Dragon City had taught him before he came, so he gave a stiff bow and stammered, "My name is Karl Furnster, and I come from Black Dragon City. Please take care of me."

His seemingly naive performance immediately drew laughter from everyone.

"Haha, look at his clumsy aristocratic manners. Even a circus clown could do it better."

"He really is a country bumpkin."

"Is that all you want to do? You want to have a competition?"

"."

The students of the Oma Royal Academy of Sciences made no secret of their mockery of "country bumpkins," a tradition within the aristocratic circles. High-ranking nobles looked down on lower-ranking nobles, and lower-ranking nobles looked down on newly ascended nobles, but at the very bottom of the hierarchy lay the "country bumpkin" nobles outside the capital.

Especially upon hearing that Black Dragon City was coming to "challenge" them, these noble youths burst into laughter.

It was as if I could see a monkey standing in a ring, putting on a comical performance.

How could there be such a "fool"?

Does anyone really think that "exchange" is a competition with the Oma Royal Academy of Sciences?

Karl stood alone on the stage.

He seemed somewhat at a loss when faced with the ridicule of a thousand people.

After all, it's an exchange meeting, and even if it's a farce, it has to continue.

In any case, it wasn't Oma Academy that was losing face. The host, barely suppressing a laugh, stepped forward and began the exchange.

He asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Karl from 'Black Dragon Academy,' what kind of mechanical technology are you skilled in?"

"Mechanic" is just a general term.

Anyone with Transcendent in the field of mechanics can be called a "mechanic".

The field of mechanics is also extremely broad, involving many disciplines such as guns and ammunition, Mechanical Arm, Mechanical City, locomotives, exoskeletons, mechanical armor, and even alchemy and forging.

The Royal Academy of Sciences has more than thirty disciplines in mechanical engineering.

As the saying goes, everyone has their own area of expertise. Generally, mechanic apprentices specialize in one or a few techniques.

Now that we're going to "compete and exchange ideas," we naturally have to bring out our own "specialties" to compete.

Karl had never been to school and didn't understand what the host meant by asking that question.

But upon hearing the question, he answered truthfully, "I know some firearms, Mechanical Arm, ammunition, Steam Locomotive, Mechanical City, demolitions, and energy."

Karl counted them seriously, but he found that he couldn't count them all, so he said, "Well, I know a little about everything related to mechanics."

The host was taken aback when he heard this.

The room erupted in laughter again.

Fields like "Mechanical City" and "energy" are not areas that apprentices can access. They are areas that only Senior Mechanic are qualified to learn.

An apprentice, who can just open his mouth and say he's "good at" everything?

"Haha, where did this idiot come from? When asked what he's good at, he actually said he's good at everything. Even grandmasters wouldn't dare say they're proficient in so many fields. Is this kid some kind of clown trying to make us laugh?"

"I never expected that this wasn't an academic exchange, but rather a bragging contest?"

"Could it be that he knows a little bit of mechanical knowledge and thinks he's 'proficient'? I doubt this guy has ever been to school."

"Heh, if that 'Black Dragon Academy' is this bad, I don't think there's any point in comparing it."

"."

A perfectly good conversation suddenly turned into what seemed like a farce.

Many students and mentors who had come with the intention of attending the academic exchange shook their heads and got up to leave the venue.

In their view, this farce was completely hindering their research.

At this point, neither Rein nor Grandmaster Oliver called a halt, so the exchange meeting had to continue.

The host had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask again, "Since Mr. Karl knows a little about it, which mechanical technology do you plan to share with everyone?"

Karl looked at the setup of the venue and thought for a moment, "How about firearms? It doesn't seem like this is a very convenient place to display anything else."

He thought to himself, "An explosion or something like that would probably blow up the whole venue."

The host continued, "So, do you have any finished works that you can show to everyone?"

"You made it yourself?"

Karl thought for a moment and then took out a strangely shaped musket.

It looks a bit like a bubble gun that kids play with; it's short and thick, and its design is full of childlike fun, completely different from the dark style of mainstream firearms.

It looks more like a child's toy than a killing tool.

In the audience, when Rein saw Karl pull out his bubble gun-shaped musket, a look of amusement and exasperation crossed his eyes. He muttered to himself, "Sure enough, Karl's taste hasn't changed."

However, the best is yet to come.

The host, suppressing his embarrassment, looked at the oddly shaped object—which could be considered a musket—and said, "Mr. Karl, could you please introduce your musket?"

"Oh."

Karl solemnly introduced his musket, saying, "I named this musket the 'High-Explosive Bubble Sprayer' because the ammunition is so powerful that I thickened the barrel. It uses 'Level 3 Black Phosphorus High-Explosive Gunpowder,' so the chamber also has a Fourth Tier special enchantment. The bullet is..."

But before he could finish speaking, the venue became lively again.

The noise interrupted him again.

Just now, everyone was full of anticipation, watching to see what kind of tangible things this bragging kid would produce.

Unexpectedly, it really was a musket that looked like a toy.

Hearing this impressive presentation, even the most serious person couldn't hold back their excitement.

"Is this a musket? Are you sure it's not a child's toy?"

"Fourth Tier enchantment? Hahahaha. Fourth Tier enchantment is a skill that only intermediate mechanics can master. Does his crappy thing even need such a high-level enchantment?"

"Tsk tsk. As expected, the level of the academy determines the level of its students. Our Royal Academy certainly can't compare to this kind of scum, hahaha."

"This is supposed to be called a musket? It's an insult to the discipline of 'firearms manufacturing'! Muskets are weapons for killing people and monsters, not toys!"

"."

Seeing this, even the most composed person couldn't help but shed tears.

In this situation, no one would be in a good mood. It's one thing for one person on stage to make a fool of themselves, but are they expected to watch this farce unfold with thousands of people?

That's utterly absurd!

It's a waste of time, especially for mechanics who are dedicated to studying mechanical technology!

"Get out!"

"Get out!"

"Get out!"

"."

The noise in the discussion room grew louder and louder as everyone expressed their dissatisfaction.

The farce should come to an end.

The host couldn't hide his embarrassment. "Hey Karl, what a gun you've got."

Hearing everyone mocking him, Karl's face flushed red, and he retorted, "My gun is very powerful!"

Upon hearing this, the host lost his focus and glanced at the hospital's senior management in the audience, seeking help on how to salvage the situation.

Those people didn't quite understand either; were they really here to make a joke? Even the higher-ups at the academy were somewhat confused.

What was supposed to be a tricky "exchange conference" turned into a farce.

It is Black Dragon City that can propose an exchange, as they are guests and hosts of the Oma Academy.

Black Dragon City didn't call a halt, things had to continue.

Seeing that no one wanted to end the event, the host had no choice but to continue. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Well then, Mr. Karl, why don't you try firing at the target over there? Let's test the power of the musket."

"Oh."

Karl nodded, picked up his musket, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

A greenish-yellow spark shot out from the muzzle of the gun.

Then, a loud "BOOM" rang out, making everyone's eardrums ache!

Looking closer, a hundred meters away on the platform, the target, which had originally been capable of withstanding attacks from small artillery, suddenly exploded. Eerie Green Flame ignited on the hundreds of shattered stone target.

Then, the whole world went silent.