Su Li drew the tongs from the furnace, clamped the roughly formed metal blank, and set it on the anvil.
Its dark-gold surface glowed with a mellow red light, like a heart freshly dug out of the earth.
"This ship hasn't even touched the water, and it's already eating gold coins."
He picked up the hammer and began refining the surface. Every blow carried the fine adjustments of fifth-tier aether, correcting the internal circuits toward their intended design.
Elonore followed his rhythm, adding buffer nodes. The hammering and the aether released from her fingertips formed a peculiar cadence, one heavy, one light.
Half an hour later, the final hammer blow fell.
A fist-sized oval metal core lay on the anvil. Even dark-red patterns spread across its surface, radiating outward from the center like blood vessels.
Su Li picked it up with the tongs and dropped it into the cooling tank. The instant the water touched the core, white steam billowed from the entire tank.
"It can handle fifth-tier aether and magical propulsion pressure at the same time. No problem." Su Li shook the numb ache from his wrist.
Talia had turned to the fourth page of her notebook. She stared at the core gradually settling in the cooling tank, her pen hovering over the paper, forgotten.
Su Li lifted the bowl of pork rib congee, now no longer very hot, and took a large gulp.
"This thing." He glanced at the cooling tank.
Saina was bent over, picking bits of pork rib from the congee to feed Silver. Hearing him, she looked up.
Su Li set down the bowl.
"It's for you to look at the sea."
Saina's hand paused. Silver meowed at her feet, but she ignored it. She only stared at Su Li for two seconds before lowering