Su Li glanced at the form.
On the morning of the third day, Talia appeared in Ginkgo Alley right on time.
She carried a long object wrapped in leather, wearing an expression that said, "There's no way you can handle this," as she stepped inside.
When she unwrapped it, there was a second-tier bracer inside.
Its body was made of bronze-colored metal, its surface engraved with intricate patterns. On the inside was a composite circuit formed from seven main lines and more than a dozen auxiliary lines.
A crack ran along the left side of the bracer, stretching from the fifth node all the way to the twenty-third. The aether residue on both sides of the crack had oxidized black, forming a wide interference field.
"Seven blockages." Talia set the bracer on the workbench. "Circuit rupture plus oxidation interference. A conventional repair would require dismantling and rewelding at least two-thirds of the main lines."
She took a step back and folded her arms. "Begin."
Su Li placed his bonded short sword beside the bracer. The forge patterns on the blade lit up, specks of light flowing along its spine before projecting onto the circuits on the bracer's surface.
Its internal structure unfolded in Su Li's mind, as clear as an engineering blueprint.
He turned to Elonore.
"You go first."
Elonore stepped up to the workbench, picked up a guiding needle, and slowly probed the circuits along the bracer's inner wall.
Her hand was steady. The needle tip paused at seven locations, and each time it did, she drew a mark on the paper beside her.
"The fifth, ninth, fourteenth, seventeenth, twentieth, twenty-second, and twenty-third nodes. They're all completely blocked. There's secondary oxidation between the fourteenth and twentieth nodes. Direct welding will trigger an overload."
The look in Talia's eyes changed.