Tech Nerd

(The previous chapter has been corrected following readers' feedback. You may want to reread it first.)

Anyone who knew the skill "Divine Machine Craft" understood that in Under One Person, Ma Xianhong had refined and created all kinds of miraculous tools using only ordinary materials. So in truth, Mo Lin could completely replicate Ma Xianhong's various creations without using those rare metals.

However, ordinary materials had their limits. What Mo Lin had learned from his brief previous life was that in so many novels and anime, the more people wanted to forge divine artifacts through technology, the more likely their forging would fail because of material quality. Extraordinary materials were necessary! (Damn it! [○｀Д′○] I really couldn't connect that last part about no longer being human!)

Therefore, after successfully swindling rare metals from the Elders' Hall, Mo Lin planned to begin crafting items with the extraordinary technique Divine Machine Craft.

However, the Elders' Hall's generosity far exceeded Mo Lin's expectations. It looked like they had only given him one box, but there were actually two soul tools inside, each containing one hundred kilograms of rare metals!

After pouring out all the rare metals, Mo Lin first experimented on the two finished soul tools and modified them.

During the modification process, Mo Lin truly experienced just how absurdly overpowered it was to directly learn Divine Machine Craft. He had originally been unable to understand the construction at all, yet he instantly analyzed its operating principles and saw exactly where it could be improved. After spending a day on it, he increased the storage capacity of both soul tools to fifteen cubic meters and transformed them into exquisitely crafted bracelets, one black and one white.

Through this modification, Mo Lin felt as though he had opened the door to a new world. Over the following week, he began replicating—plagiarizing—Ma Xianhong's various magical artifacts: Devouring Pouches, Three Treasures Pearls, Black Dipper Armor, and the like. He crafted—copied—them with immense delight! Of course, this also caused him to become socially dead to some extent.

After finishing a day of training, Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan had originally planned to eat, but Xie Yue suddenly remembered something and asked his younger sister, Hu Liena:

"Nana, did Mo Lin apply for leave to travel? I haven't seen him in a week."

Hu Liena abruptly stopped walking and fell silent for a moment.

"Ahhh! Has it really been that long since I last saw him?"

"No, Nana, he's your junior brother! How can you not even know where he's been?" Xie Yue said.

Hu Liena pouted.

"He may be my direct junior brother, but his cultivation speed and methods are simply too unreasonable. Forget me being his senior sister—even my teacher sometimes doesn't know how to guide him. All she can do is provide him with all kinds of resources and a good cultivation environment. I only saw him three or four times a week before.

"But it really is unusual for him not to show up for an entire week. How about we... Yan, why are you running?"

At some point, Yan had already slipped over to the corner of the corridor.

"N-Nothing. I'm just going to the bathroom."

Xie Yue sighed, grabbed Yan, and dragged him toward Mo Lin's room.

"I'm telling you, didn't you just lose a sparring match to Mo Lin? Is that really enough to make you this scared?"

"It's not about whether I'm scared or not, it's..." Though Yan kept struggling, he ultimately gave in before Xie Yue, the big brother.

Hu Liena knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.

Xie Yue had intended to knock again, but the door was directly pushed open... as if!

Mo Lin was a man from the twenty-first century. It would have been strange if he did not check his door lock ten times before sleeping or after going out. If there had been a gas stove in the room, he probably would have checked even more times.

The three saw that Mo Lin seemed to be resting and had just decided to leave when they saw him walking over from the end of the corridor.

After researching in his room for a week, Mo Lin discovered that he did not need to use rare metals for every part when making certain large magical artifacts. For example, for something like a puppet, only its frame and joint connections needed to be made of rare metal. Though this rare metal could conduct soul power at high speed, its hardness was truly lacking. Thus, Mo Lin had just asked Bibi Dong for a batch of steel and applied for a room to serve as a dedicated forging workshop.

After Bibi Dong agreed, Mo Lin headed back toward his room, intending to do more research, only to find three people blocking the door.

"How do you all have time to come find me?"

"I'm your senior sister, and those two are your fellow disciples. You disappeared for so long. Is it strange for us to come looking for you?" Hu Liena was somewhat displeased by Mo Lin's words.

Mo Lin thought about it and suddenly realized that visiting Bibi Dong had been his first time leaving his room in over a week. His meals had all been delivered to him. They had come because they were worried about him, yet he had acted as if he had seen a ghost. That had been an incredibly tactless move!

To change the subject, Mo Lin said:

"Since you're here, let me show you what I've accomplished this past week."

Then he opened the door and gestured for the three to follow him.

After a month of Mo Lin's devastation, the royal suite Bibi Dong had originally provided had turned into ruins.

Crafting artifacts naturally involved flames, and occasionally blowing apart a table or chair due to poor soul power control was perfectly normal. As a result, only the bed, sofa, and coffee table in Mo Lin's room remained intact.

Thus, all of Mo Lin's masterpieces from the past week were displayed on the coffee table.

At present, Mo Lin had only replicated Devouring Pouches, Scout Flying Bugs, and Three Treasures Pearls. In fact, the puppet's frame was nearly complete as well, but it was too large and had all been tossed onto the balcony.

Three Devouring Pouches and four sets of Scout Flying Bugs with matching Monocular Goggles were neatly arranged on the coffee table. The three did not know much about soul tools and did not quite understand why Mo Lin was showing them these things.

Mo Lin tossed the three Devouring Pouches to them.

"This is called a Devouring Pouch. It's used to store objects and has a storage space of ten cubic meters. Even living creatures can be placed inside as long as they are unconscious, and they will not wake up within the Devouring Pouch."

The three caught the Devouring Pouches. They had assumed they were just small accessories and handled them casually; Yan even tossed his in the air for fun. But after hearing Mo Lin's explanation, they immediately clenched them tightly, afraid of dropping them. Even though they did not know much, they understood that soul tools were treasures. It was said that even high-level soul tool craftsmen had a low chance of success when forging soul tools over several days.

"These are Scout Flying Bugs. They need soul power to replenish their energy, and the soul power fluctuations they produce during use are nearly nonexistent. Put on the corresponding goggles, and you'll be able to see what the Scout Flying Bugs see."

After speaking, Mo Lin casually tossed three sets of Scout Flying Bugs over as well.

The sight made the three of them ache with distress. Such precious items were being treated so casually by Mo Lin.

Hu Liena looked at the soul tool in her hand.

"Mo Lin, you aren't planning to..."

"That's right. They're gifts for you."