Tang Wulin: So You Mean I'd Just Become a Blacksmith and Already Be Facing an Unemployment Crisis?

Gu Yuan had been hunched over the desk for a long time without saying a word.

Mo Yuan sat on the sofa opposite him, holding a cup of hot tea that Gu Yuan's assistant had just brought over. He wasn't in a hurry to urge him.

It was water steeped with the leaves of a plant-type Soul Beast called the Azure Rainbow Tree. It had a truly distinctive flavor, and was supposedly another product from the team that grew Spirit Rice.

Jin Ling poked its head out of his sleeve, its round eyes curiously surveying the spacious studio. Apparently taking a keen interest in the rare metal samples lining the walls, it hopped away, hugging a fist-sized chunk of Red Gold Ore and sucking on it with abandon.

Mo Yuan ignored it, letting it roam among Gu Yuan's collection.

After all, he had already looked everything over. Though these metals were rare, none were on the level of Golden Water Harmony, and all of them were within his ability to compensate for.

"Slap."

Gu Yuan finally set down the last page of blueprints, braced both hands on the desk, and let out a deep breath.

He raised his head. His gaze lingered on Mo Yuan's face for a full five seconds before he finally asked, "This—have you actually verified it?"

"Of course I have." Mo Yuan put down his teacup, his tone calm. "Under laboratory conditions, three kilograms of ordinary iron ore produced two hundred grams of Star Silver within forty-eight hours. Its purity was completely identical to that of natural High-Grade Star Silver. I kept the original experiment records. I can give them to you if you need them."

Gu Yuan's eyelid twitched. "Two hundred grams... Have you calculated the conversion rate?"

"Iron ore is roughly sixty percent iron. Theoretically, each kilogram of iron ore can produce three hundred grams of Star Silver. Under laboratory conditions, the conversion rate is limited by environmental stability, so this is all we got. If we build a dedicated pilot production line and optimize the temperature control, pressure, and resonance frequency of the magic arrays, the conversion rate can reach at least eighty-five percent."

He spoke as casually as if he were reciting a menu, but Gu Yuan's hands began to tremble slightly.

Eighty-five percent.

His thoughts raced. More than ninety percent of the Federation's annual Star Silver consumption currently came from three ore veins east of the Mingdu Mountains. Those three veins had been controlled by three great clans for nearly three thousand years, and their annual output for the Federation had remained steadily around two hundred tons.

Two hundred tons of Star Silver was neither a lot nor a little, but nearly all the core components of mid- and high-grade Soul Tools relied on it. Not to mention its use in making Battle Armor, that notorious material guzzler.

If this "Molecular Reconstruction" technology could truly be put into practice, then even if three kilograms of iron ore produced two hundred grams of Star Silver—he made a rough calculation. One ton of iron ore could produce nearly sixty-seven kilograms of Star Silver. At the Federation level, that magnitude would be overwhelming.

After all, the Federation truly wasn't short of iron ore!

By then, ore veins?

Ore veins would be a joke!

Gu Yuan reached up and pressed his temples, forcing himself to calm down.

He had worked at the Mecha Engineer Association for over thirty years and had seen no fewer than eight hundred or a thousand supposedly revolutionary technology proposals. Yet ninety-nine percent of them turned out to be nothing special. There were plenty of impressive theories, but very few could actually leave the laboratory.

But this nine-year-old child before him was different.

After all, the child had already shocked him so many times.

"You want to submit it directly to the Federation Academy of Sciences?" Gu Yuan asked.

Mo Yuan nodded. "That's the best channel. I don't think the Federation can possibly let this technology remain in private hands."

"It's the most direct channel," Gu Yuan corrected him, "but not necessarily the best."

He stood and walked to the wall, then pressed a button. The soundproofing Soul Tools in the four corners of the room activated, and a transparent energy membrane covered the entire studio.

Gu Yuan walked back and sat down again, staring straight at Mo Yuan. "Those people at the Academy of Sciences will leave a nine-year-old child like you waiting for three months, even if you're a Level-9 Soul Engineer. That's the most conservative estimate. Besides, they have a habit: when faced with technology that's too far ahead of its time, they first ask, 'Does this conform to the Federal Parliament's plans?' If it doesn't, they archive it immediately. As for what state it'll be in when it's brought out later, or who it'll belong to, that's another matter."

Mo Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly. "So?"

"So I suggest you take a different route." Gu Yuan pressed his right hand onto the stack of blueprints. "The Mecha Engineer Association has an idle pilot laboratory in southern Mingdu. It has complete equipment, ample space, and security meeting the Association's highest internal standards. You can move in as a specially appointed Association researcher and use my authorization to requisition the first batch of basic materials. Once you produce the finished product, putting the actual device on the desk of the Federation Academy of Sciences' president will be far more useful than mailing them the blueprints."

After saying that, he stared at Mo Yuan and waited for his answer.

Mo Yuan did not answer immediately.

He lifted his teacup and took another sip, his gaze slowly circling Gu Yuan's face.

He was judging him.

On the surface, Gu Yuan's proposal would save Mo Yuan the trouble of dealing with bureaucrats. But in essence, it would first bind Mo Yuan's technology to the Mecha Engineer Association. Once the finished product appeared, the Association would naturally hold first authorship. Mo Yuan could bear the title of "primary researcher," but the Association would control part of the channel for releasing the technological results to the outside world.

Mo Yuan was no stranger to this tactic. The academic resource wars of his previous life had been full of such maneuvers.

On the other hand, Gu Yuan was not lying. Going directly through the Academy of Sciences would indeed mean being left waiting for at least three months, while once the pilot line was running, the actual product would carry more weight than any theoretical argument.

Technology was not what he lacked.

Moreover, although he was a scientist, the underlying logic of this world was still that the strong were respected. As it happened, he was the strong one.

After weighing it for roughly ten seconds, Mo Yuan put down his teacup. "I'll inspect and approve the site and equipment myself. I must personally assemble the core magic-array modules, without passing through any third party. I'll hold naming rights to the finished product. When it's released publicly, you may use the Association's name for joint authorship, but my first authorship cannot be touched."

Gu Yuan froze for a moment, then laughed.

This boy was even shrewder than he had thought.

"Deal." Gu Yuan extended a hand.

Mo Yuan shook it.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to see the site." Gu Yuan stood and carefully placed the stack of blueprints into a sealed metal case. "Get some rest today. I've already had Little Li arrange your accommodations. It's the Association's internal guesthouse, with guards on duty twenty-four hours a day."

Mo Yuan nodded in agreement.

He called out, and Jin Ling hopped back to his shoulder while hugging the chunk of Red Gold Ore it had sucked down by an entire circle. Mo Yuan flicked it on the forehead. "Don't suck so much. This belongs to someone else."

"Coo, coo..." Jin Ling reluctantly set down the Red Gold Ore, then jumped into the collar of Mo Yuan's clothes.

Watching this, the corner of Gu Yuan's mouth twitched involuntarily.

In his sixty-plus years of life, this was the first time he had seen a Soul Spirit suck on ore with such utter impudence.

Forget it. Who could blame it when it was stronger than him?

That night.

The guesthouse inside the Association was eerily quiet.

Mo Yuan stayed in a suite reserved for Level-9 Soul Engineers. It came with a private miniature workbench and material cabinet, and had excellent soundproofing.

After showering and changing, he sat at the workbench, turned on his portable Soul Tool terminal, and began sorting through the day's information.

The assessment passed, the badge obtained, the promise of a pilot laboratory...

Everything had gone even more smoothly than he had expected.

But it was too smooth.

He narrowed his eyes.

A process that went overly smoothly often meant that some information had yet to surface.

He activated the terminal and opened the Mecha Engineer Association's internal public information database. Logging in with Level-9 Soul Engineer authorization, he quickly searched several keywords.

"Pilot Laboratory in Southern Mingdu"—the results appeared. The laboratory had been completed three years ago, but had never been used. It had originally been intended for the Association's "High-Energy Materials Research Project," but had been shelved after Parliament cut the project's budget.

The budget had been cut.

That meant the project itself faced resistance at the parliamentary level.

He continued scrolling and saw that the end of the laboratory's site-approval file was attached to a list of joint seals. The surname listed first made Mo Yuan pause.

"Xu..."

He did not dig any deeper and closed the terminal.

He had enough information.

Gu Yuan wanted to use him to restart this shelved laboratory, while he happened to need its site and equipment.

They were simply taking what they needed from each other. As for the struggles behind it, once the finished product came out first, it wouldn't matter who had signed what.

In any case, he had already considered the possible impact this technology could bring.

The ore-vein magnates, the Blacksmith Association...

The only truly awkward part might be that the original protagonist had just become a blacksmith and was already facing the risk of unemployment.

But this was the helplessness people faced in the development of a new era.

Mo Yuan yawned, took Jin Ling out of his collar, and placed it beside the pillow before turning off the light.

"Coo—croak—"

Jin Ling rolled over and exposed its belly. A faint layer of golden light glimmered beneath it, slightly brighter than it had been during the day.

Mo Yuan smiled with his eyes closed.

This little thing should be nearing its limit.

At the same time, in Mingdu, inside an inconspicuous gray building in the northern district.

A man in a dark gray formal suit sat before a desk, holding a thin sheet of paper bearing the personnel roster the Mecha Engineer Association had updated that afternoon.

His gaze stopped on the newest entry—

"Mo Yuan, Level-9 Soul Engineer (newly promoted), Registration No. AL-009527."

Level nine.

Nine years old.

He set down the roster and picked up another file from the corner of the desk.

It was an encrypted brief. Its contents were short, consisting of only three lines: Assessment duration, approximately three hours. The theoretical design was the Deep-Sea Exploration Mecha Design (detailed contents undisclosed). The practical work was a Level-9 Concealment Soul Tool. Association Vice President Gu Yuan had personally received him and arranged the follow-up coordination.

The man was silent for a moment, then typed a command into the terminal and sent it out: "Continue observing. Do not make contact for now."

The screen displayed a "Delivered" notification. He shut down the terminal, leaned back in his chair, and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while.

"Nine years old..."

He shook his head and placed the brief deep inside a drawer.