The Sankton Industrial Zone had seemed rather deserted lately.
Ever since the Xinfei Merchant Guild had obeyed the City Lord's Manor's orders, moved the last of its magic machine tools and workers out of Sankton Manor, then demolished all the factories inside and restored it to a manor, the entire Sankton Industrial Zone seemed to have lost its vitality overnight, growing much quieter.
In the past, as soon as dawn broke each day, the rumble of magic machine tools and the sharp clang of metal against metal would ring out from every direction, filling the industrial zone with life.
But ever since the Xinfei Merchant Guild had moved away, although all kinds of sounds still filled the air every day, something always seemed to be missing, leaving even those sounds listless.
"President, here's the sample we just finished. Take a look." A worker handed a freshly polished component to Freeman, who was leaning against the factory entrance, startling him out of his daze.
Freeman took the component, glanced at it, then ran his hand over it. He immediately frowned and tossed it back to the worker.
"No good. The surface still isn't smooth enough. The joint needs to be polished again. And measure the length again. I'm sure it's too long."
The worker measured it with a vernier caliper and discovered that the component was indeed about a millimeter longer than the specified range. He immediately looked at Freeman in admiration. "President, you're incredible! You could tell it was too long just by looking at it and touching it. But it's less than a millimeter too long. That shouldn't matter, right?"
At those words, Freeman straightened up, frowned, and looked the worker up and down. Suddenly, he snorted and pointed at him. "For that remark alone, you're losing this month's