Chapter 98: High-Tech in the Trash

Chapter 98: Chapter 98: High-Tech in the Trash

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"What are you two discussing?"

Gu Su walked over to Tooth Bone and Corpse Witch and squatted down beside them. His eyes swept over the messy pile of materials in front of them, and he immediately spotted a repaired pair of glasses in a corner.

The frame was carefully bent from flattened sheet metal, its edges polished relatively smooth. The lenses looked as if they had been ground from the shattered glass of a discarded window, their edges still lined with fine burrs.

Though he couldn’t imagine who would use them, Gu Su had to admit that Tooth Bone was a truly gifted craftsman, able to effortlessly repair such inconspicuous trinkets.

Tooth Bone stopped swinging the small Iron Hammer in his hand, looked up at Gu Su, and explained in a flat tone, "He plans to build his own poison Research Room. He just placed an order with me for a lot of lab equipment."

He reeled off a bunch of names and functions I’ve never heard of. Now I’m trying to figure out if I can cobble together what he needs from this pile of trash the Kobolds left behind."

Hearing this, Gu Su immediately recalled the home Laboratory they had found on the top floor of Vine Mansion. It was filled with simple lab equipment jury-rigged from various old electronics. The Skeletons had even hauled a batch of it back, but it had all gone unused.

He hadn’t expected Corpse Witch to want to build a Research Room. For the developing Graveyard Demon, this was undoubtedly excellent news.

Gu Su had no objections. With nothing better to do, he simply scooted to the side, sat down on a clean piece of sheet metal, and watched with keen interest as Tooth Bone rummaged through the chaotic pile of supplies, searching for suitable materials to piece together the lab equipment Corpse Witch required.

Tooth Bone’s movements were swift and practiced, his tools a blur. He crafted each piece with clean, decisive motions that showcased his expertise, exuding a crude yet solid sense of Technology.

First, he selected a well-formed, thick-walled ceramic pot from the pile to serve as a base. After scraping away the mud and rust from its surface, he repeatedly burnished the inner wall with a finely polished piece of sheet metal.

Next, he selected a hollow copper tube of uniform thickness from the scrap heap. Using a special pair of pliers, he bent it to a precise angle. He then attached it to a pre-drilled hole in the side of the pot, securing it with both high-temperature molten wax and copper rivets. A simple yet tightly sealed reagent conduit began to take shape.

He then began work on a core piece of equipment: a manual centrifuge. He chose a heavy Metal disc for the rotor, embedding a reinforced bearing at its center to reduce friction. He paired this with a discarded Metal crank and gear set scavenged by the Kobolds, welding them together to create a hand-cranked drive mechanism.

He welded a protective casing from sheet metal, leaving openings for an observation port and an inlet. Turning the crank sent the rotor spinning at high speeds. While it lacked the precision of an electric model, it could reliably perform the necessary centrifugal separation of reagents.

After that, he dug out several thick, heat-resistant plastic sheets. Using the red-hot tip of an alloy needle, he burned neat grooves and graduated markings into them. He assembled these into a partitioned base, inserting a polished sheet of transparent glass as a viewing window and adding a simple temperature control unit.

With that, a thermostatically controlled reagent tray, which allowed for both heating and observation, was complete. The quality of its construction far exceeded something merely cobbled together from junk.

Impressed by Tooth Bone’s masterful craftsmanship, Corpse Witch added a few new requests, asking if he could also make a simple microscope and a precision stirrer.

Tooth Bone nodded in acceptance. He started by taking a shard of highly transparent Crystal, polished to a flawless finish, to serve as an objective lens. He fitted it into a hollow Metal tube to form the body, mounted it on an adjustable Metal stand, and fashioned fine-tuning knobs from thin iron wire. A simple microscope, capable of observing basic reagent crystallization, quickly took shape.

Next, he picked up a thin, high-strength steel rod. After heating it to a glow, he hammered the tip into a flattened, spiral-shaped stirring head. He then welded a smoothly polished Metal grip to the other end, carving a non-slip pattern into it and even adding a simple bearing to the pommel to ensure a smoother, more precise stirring motion.

Finally, he used various scrap Metal parts to assemble a set of corrosion-resistant, graduated measuring tools. He used a thick sheet of metal for the body, embedding a shard of Crystal as a window for the tick marks and reinforcing the edges with copper wire. The tool was perfectly suited for accurately measuring toxic liquids.

Each piece of equipment had the makings of professional laboratory gear. Though they looked like they were made of garbage, their effectiveness was undeniable. Even the normally reserved Corpse Witch couldn’t help but nod repeatedly in satisfaction.

Gu Su watched from the sidelines in fascination, his eyes darting between the manual centrifuge and the microscope. Every so often, he would pipe up with a question.

Each time, Corpse Witch would patiently explain, his voice tinged with excitement for his future Research Room. "That’s a manual centrifuge. Turning the crank separates impurities from reagents.

This is a microscope for observing the subtle crystalline changes in poisons. They’re all essential tools for my research."

Tooth Bone, meanwhile, just kept his head down and worked, occasionally offering a mumbled reply. His attention was completely focused on the materials in his hands, lest the slightest error compromise the precision of his creations.

The three of them were each absorbed in their own tasks, creating a surprisingly harmonious atmosphere, when the Skeletons outside returned. Braving a light drizzle, they delivered a new batch of supplies scavenged from deep within the sewers.

Gu Su instinctively shuffled aside to make room for the Skeletons. As he moved, his eyes happened to drift to the very bottom of the junk pile, where he caught a glimpse of a red corner peeking out from under several heavy sheets of metal.

"What’s that? Pull it out and let me see."

Gu Su pointed at the object with the red corner, his voice filled with obvious curiosity.

Two of Tooth Bone’s Skeletons immediately stopped their work. They hurried over, carefully pushed aside the overlying sheet metal, rags, and scrap plastic, and pulled the item Gu Su had pointed to from the junk pile. After wiping the mud from its surface with clean water, they handed it to him.

Gu Su took the object. It was cool to the touch. The moment his eyes fell upon it, they lit up. It was a large, bright red Offering Candle, about half a foot long.

The candle’s body, which should have been a perfect cylinder, was now slightly misshapen. Its surface was covered in a dense web of cracks, as if it had been crushed under a heavy weight for a long time. Caked in dark brown mud and dust, it had long lost the pristine, ornate appearance an Offering Candle was supposed to have. The tip, where a glowing bulb should have been, was also caked in grime, its original form obscured.

On closer inspection, however, one would discover this was no traditional wax candle. An inconspicuous round switch was set into its side, surrounded by faint signs of wear.

A small charging port, already starting to rust, was visible at the bottom. It was clearly an electric Offering Candle, the kind that lit up when powered.

The cracks snaked along the candle’s body, peeling up in places to reveal the fine copper filaments and wires within. It had clearly been abandoned in the damp sewers for years; prolonged soaking in wastewater and pressure from debris had severely damaged it, causing much of its red lacquer to flake away.

But what truly thrilled Gu Su wasn’t the Offering Candle’s design—it was its Attributes.

[Damaged Offering Candle (Green Quality): Originally one of a pair of perpetually glowing offering candles. Only one remains, and it is damaged. It no longer brings good luck. Its only current function is to attract the uncanny. Repairable.]

"What a find."

Gu Su couldn’t help but murmur, the delight in his eyes impossible to conceal.

Including today, this was his fifth day in this bizarre game. In that time, he had gone from finding nothing but useless scrap that couldn’t even be considered basic repair material to having the Graveyard Demon’s base overflowing with all kinds of usable supplies. The progress was nothing short of staggering.

But he had only ever obtained three items of true Green Quality, and one of those—the music box—was damaged beyond repair.

This damaged Offering Candle was his fourth Green Quality item, and what’s more, it was repairable. It was no exaggeration to say this was the single greatest prize from the fight against the Kobolds.

He tightened his grip on the Offering Candle, gently wiping at the rust on its base. Turning to Tooth Bone, who was still hunched over his work, he asked, "Can you fix this?"