With a Puppet's Help, Making a Devil's Work Ball is So Convenient

Holding onto the hopeful thought that "payday is coming soon," Shen Le shook off his fatigue and threw himself into his work.

He pried off the newly carved section he had just finished embedding into the Devil's Work Ball and set it aside. He inserted the Needle Knife into the interior of the old Devil's Work Ball, measured it against the space, and prepared to begin the delicate grinding process.

Hmm, there was a distinct difference between the strength of the Jujube Wood and the strength of the bonded Woodworking Powder. Under the rapid rotation of the handheld Electric Drill, this difference was especially obvious.

Excellent!

In that case, grinding away the Woodworking Powder that had been poured in and bonded between the two layers would be much easier and more precise, ensuring no damage to the original parts!

Shen Le remained calm and unhurried. He closed his eyes to circulate his internal energy, feeling a faint, warm current flow into his eyes, ears, fingers, and palms.

The technique provided by the Copper Fragment was truly useful; it enhanced his vision and hearing, while also increasing the grip strength and dexterity of his fingers and sharpening his reflexes.

While the boost from the technique was still active, he started the Electric Drill and got to work!

"Zzz..."

"Zzz..."

The Electric Drill vibrated rapidly, sending wood dust flying. Xiao Ling sat on the main body of the Ink Marker, holding a high-power hair dryer with both hands, aiming it at the wooden ball and blowing hard to ensure the wood dust wouldn't obscure Shen Le's vision. At the same time, she spoke to him in a tiny voice:

"How much longer will this take?"

"I don't know, this is delicate work... I have to drill in bit by bit. Every layer needs to be ground smooth, and the second layer still needs to be hollowed out. It's going to be a while!"

"How about you let me try?"

Xiao Ling put down the hair dryer, paused for a moment, and flicked her hands.

The dozens of Silk Threads tied to her body flew up simultaneously and drilled into the wooden ball.

They tightened, pulled, and rubbed rapidly. A teeth-grinding, screeching sound filled the air.

Shen Le: "..."

That's even worse than me using the Electric Drill!

It feels like it's going to drive me deaf!

"Ahem, Xiao Ling, could you help out a bit later instead?" He tried his best to sound gentle as he negotiated with the Little Puppet:

"I need to carve the wooden ball first. This job requires force, so let the Electric Drill handle it. Once the carving is done and it's time for polishing, you can help then, okay?"

"That's so boring..."

The Little Puppet grumbled. She leaped off the workbench and ran outside with a rhythmic tap-tap-tap. Shen Le called out after her:

"Xiao Ling, if you have time, wipe down the wooden door in the courtyard!"

"You got it!"

A crisp reply followed. Then came the sound of a door opening, a basin being dragged, water being poured, a towel being wrung out, and the swish-swish sound of scrubbing.

It had to be said, Xiao Ling was quite useful—obedient and well-behaved. Whatever task he gave her, she would do it.

Wiping tables, chairs, furniture, doors, and windows—wherever Shen Le pointed, she would go. Plus, she didn't get thirsty, hungry, or tired, and she didn't need paid bathroom breaks...

She also didn't ask Shen Le for the wages of a part-time cleaner or a nanny. As long as Shen Le bought her clothes from time to time and did her makeup occasionally, everything was settled.

Of course, Shen Le couldn't possibly make her spend twenty-four hours a day scrubbing and cleaning around the house when she wasn't working outside.

After all, that was Xiao Ling, the Little Puppet he had personally repaired and brought back to life, not some Pal, right?

Shen Le smiled and continued his work:

Needle Knife...

L-Shaped Carving Knife...

Umbrella-Shaped Grinding Head...

Using several tools in rotation, the unnecessary Woodworking Powder that had been poured into the Devil's Work Ball was ground out one by one.

The pitted third layer of the sphere, which had been patched with Woodworking Powder, began to smooth out.

The patched second layer of the sphere became completely detached from the third, and even the uniform, hollowed-out patterns on the second layer began to emerge one by one...

"Whew... after working for several days, finally, only the grinding, polishing, and waxing are left..."

Shen Le collapsed onto the bed with a heavy thud. He spread his arms wide, closed his eyes, and sprawled out in the shape of a cross:

"I hope this Ink Marker can come to life... Once it wakes up, I hope it's well-behaved and can be of some help—preferably by acting as my assistant and doing some of the heavy lifting..."

When that time came, he would have a diligent carpenter to help him repair the wooden walls, pillars, railings, rafters, and brackets of this mansion.

Relying solely on himself was just too difficult!

Fortunately, for the subsequent work, he had Xiao Ling's help. With a diameter of 1.5 centimeters and three layers of spheres, the gap between each layer was only about a millimeter; the grinding head couldn't even be tilted to reach into the gaps.

To grind it smooth, he had to patiently rotate the area needing work until it aligned with the ball's holes, then extend the thinnest grinding head inside, press it against the hole, and apply it to the spot that needed grinding...

For such a small ball, fixing the inner layers in place wasn't easy either. Even Shen Le's smallest pinky finger couldn't fit into the holes on the ball.

Fortunately, Shen Le had the Little Puppet, and she had dozens of Silk Threads. By reaching in from the surrounding eleven holes at multiple directions and angles to pull on each layer, she allowed Shen Le to work with peace of mind.

Just a little more effort, just a little more and it will be fixed!

Be patient, almost there!

For a Devil's Work Ball with a diameter of 1.5 centimeters, even with its three layers, the total surface area needing to be polished was less than half the size of a palm.

Shen Le held his breath and focused, rotating the sphere bit by bit, polishing and buffing it, oblivious to the passage of time.

The hour hand moved from seven to twelve, then circled around for most of another round, pointing back to seven. Finally, Shen Le yawned and stretched:

"Ah... finished, all done. Just need to apply the wax, and it will be completely finished, ready to be mounted onto the Lead Weight... Xiao Ling! Bring the hair dryer over!"

The high-powered hair dryer roared to life, blowing away the liquid wax smeared on the surface of the wooden ball and clearing out the droplets that had dripped inside, sticking between the middle and inner layers.

Finally, he reached out and flicked the Devil's Work Ball, sending its middle and inner layers spinning wildly, rotating in every direction, fluid and smooth, without a hint of resistance:

"Done!"

Shen Le let out a satisfied sigh. He held the Devil's Work Ball up, inspecting it under the light from every angle, flicking it back and forth. Then, he lowered his head to look at his own hands:

I actually made it!

A Devil's Work Ball, something so difficult, and I actually made it! I actually made it with these very hands of mine!

He gave himself a mental pat on the back, feeling pleased, and decided to reward himself by picking up his phone and ordering an air conditioner.

Then, he mounted the Devil's Work Ball back onto the top of the Lead Weight, slotted the Lead Weight back into the Ink Reservoir, and placed the Ink Marker squarely on the table:

Hey!

I fixed you, you know!

How does it feel?

Don't you want to thank me?

Aren't you going to hurry up and come to life?

"Ouch!"

He recoiled sharply, clutching his forehead. Through the gaps in his fingers, he saw the Lead Weight topped with the Devil's Work Ball fly back onto the table and slot itself into the Ink Reservoir. It stood upright in the Ink Reservoir, spinning a few times before finally settling into a quiet, motionless rest.

He touched his forehead; there were bumps and indentations, clearly the marks left by the Devil's Work Ball.

The good news was that the Ink Marker seemed to have truly come to life; the bad news was that this living Ink Marker seemed to have a rather short temper.