Luke didn't try to hide it; on the contrary, he seemed afraid that others wouldn't notice.
Perhaps because he could use the other party's invention, Luke maintained a certain friendliness towards his rival, Rein, but made no attempt to hide his disgust Luke Suolaer.
Ed quickly found the reason--
Suolaer said that the territory of the Graycast Corridor was difficult to expand on land, so they should turn their attention to the sea.
Luke, a veteran who had expanded his territory in the Demon Realm, couldn't possibly tolerate such words.
It was clear that Luke had taken Suolaer's statement as a declaration of war, and began to directly counter it in his own speech.
The three of them finally finished speaking, and the microphone was handed to Gray, who seemed harmless.
The scruffy-bearded rookie's hands were trembling at first, but after taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he began to pour out everything he had thought about on the road over the past few days.
Undeniably, compared to the previous three, Gray is indeed not as good.
He was just an ordinary traveling merchant, and there were countless traveling merchants like him in the Graycast Corridor.
But Ed remained steadfast in his belief in Gray, not only because they were friends, nor because Ed had explicitly stated his intention to financially support him, but because Ed knew this seemingly ordinary merchant possessed a very special ability—
Adaptability.
Of all the people Ed had ever met, Gray's ability to adapt to changing circumstances was the strongest, if not the only one.
Even he himself always leaves himself a backup plan when taking risks:
When recruiting Seraphina, he Spread to the Hoofed Beast carcass outside the cave to fake his death and escape. When leading the players in a full-scale attack, he disguised himself as a medic to rescue people from behind. Even when facing the vampire Grand Duke head-on in his true form, Ed never closed the spatial portal opened by his "bodyguard" Seraphina.
Ed himself knew that although his style of doing things sometimes seemed unconventional, he was actually quite confident in his abilities.
However, Gray was completely different.
Ed first discovered this when Gray confronted Xilǐ'er head-on.
He successfully caught a big fish by using his two hearts, and after trading Xilǐ'er's life with a powerful crossbow, he immediately chose to run away.
Perhaps others could have thought of this way to break the deadlock, but Ed saw it clearly at the time. After realizing that the only way to escape was to use himself as bait, Gray executed the plan immediately without any hesitation.
The second time was when Gray was on his way to the Second Holy See again. At that time, the Blood Corpse Seal had failed, and Gray encountered Corpse Tide in the Wilderness of Chaos. It can be said that Gray made all the right decisions that someone of his rank and level could make.
Without hesitation, he abandoned his vehicle when the time came, and ultimately arrived at the Second Holy See in the form of Geodude, successfully escaping danger once again.
The third time was when they passed through the sealed land of Duke Hall. Although Antasia ultimately saved Gray and his companion, Ed noticed during the recap that Gray still made decisions with extremely fast speed.
He abandoned the valuable goods and immediately turned back to the Second Holy See, even though he was closer to the Graycast Corridor at the time.
Many images flashed through Ed's mind, eventually merging with the person in the Psionic Energy image.
Hopefully, he'll get what he wants. Ed grabbed a handful of popcorn, stuffed it into his mouth, and continued watching the live stream with great interest, before his expression began to contort.
"... Please believe that the appearance of the Machine Spirit is not meant to take away anyone's living space, but to make everyone's work more efficient."
On the high platform, Gray's declaration was in its final stages. He felt that the people below were looking at him strangely, and even the Grand Artisan Felix, not far away, seemed to be staring intently at him.
He could clearly see that the three people from before hadn't received this treatment. So, had he said something wrong? Or had some major event occurred in the months he'd been away from the Great Labyrinth City?
What Gray didn't know was that no one—not the citizens waiting to vote below, the Grand Artisan presiding over the ceremony, or those watching from behind a curtain in the distant tower, or even Ed thousands of miles away—was looking at him. Instead, they were all listening to him speak, their eyes fixed on what was behind him.
Because right under everyone's noses, the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess, which hadn't found a chance to leave after coming on, actually started causing trouble!
Fragments of someone's memory awakened within the Machine Spirit's consciousness, and a phrase suddenly appeared in its mind. "[Don't look at the ads, look at the results]."
Although neither "advertising" nor "therapeutic effect" fits the current situation, the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess" suddenly began to think.
The speeches given by Gray and the three preceding him were not only about the strategies they would implement after being elected as the Grand Foundry Master, but also an advertisement for their own contributions and achievements.
So what were his contributions?
It's myself.
Thinking about this, the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess had shone through, a sudden enlightenment. This feeling could actually be described more simply as "enlightenment."
After gaining intelligence, the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess felt that the whole world had become different.
Watching the rambling Gray, it suddenly thought of a brilliant way to help him win.
Since Gray is in charge of advertising, he must be responsible for the therapeutic effect.
So, in front of everyone, he began to Alienation his vine-like tentacles into hex screwdrivers, and then publicly demonstrated disassembly and assembly to the people of the Great Labyrinth City.
Anyway, that guy named Rein already did a demonstration. Since we're both making contributions in the invention category, there's nothing wrong with him demonstrating for Gray, right?
Gray's speech became like background music as everyone watched as the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess gradually disassembled its entire drill front until its original appearance was revealed.
Then it began to inspect each of its components one by one, removing any worn blades from the parts pile and Alienation them with new ones on the spot.
After confirming that the parts were all in order, it began to assemble itself at an astonishing speed.
Finally, as Gray finished his last sentence, the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess was tightened with its last screw.
A brief silence fell over the entire plaza of the Great Labyrinth City, and then—
A deafening roar of cheers swept over them, engulfing not only Gray and Nora, but also the remaining three teams of competitors and a host.
Gray frowned slightly, feeling a bunch of question marks popping up above his head:
Was what I just said really that good?
If I remember correctly, he also had a slight stutter...
Why are you all reacting so strongly?
However, no one wanted to explain for him at this moment. The cheers had not yet subsided when the Grand Artisan Felix walked over from the side of the platform:
"Alright, citizens of the Great Labyrinth City, all candidates have completed their presentations and briefings. Now—"
"Voting for the Grand Foundry Master Election Officially Begins!"