Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 589 The Blacksmith and His Seven Useless, Incompetent Apprentices

"Let's go inside first."

Li Zheng's first impression of the blacksmith was that he was taciturn, didn't talk much, and spoke very softly.

However, he could hear a terrifying burst of power hidden in the blacksmith's suppressed voice!

If fully unleashed, its voice alone might be enough to kill a group of weaker beings.

"Please go first." Li Zheng stepped aside to let the blacksmith, the owner, go in first, while he followed behind Zi Shu.

"The teacher is here! The teacher is here! Everyone, sit down quickly!"

Icarus's panicked voice rang out, and a brief commotion broke out in the blacksmith's shop as the blacksmith returned.

When Li Zheng walked in, he saw that the once spacious storefront had been reduced to a small open space in the middle of the blacksmith's shop because it was filled with a huge amount of various equipment, tools, props, counters and other items. Eight different alien races sat on small stools, staring longingly at the blacksmith standing in the center.

They looked like they were sitting in a row, eating fruit, so well-behaved.

The blacksmith glanced around; the atmosphere in the blacksmith's shop was extremely tense. Even the most lively Icarus had put away his cynical attitude and was now serious.

"You all know why I called you back this time," the blacksmith said in a deep voice. "While I was away from the shop, apart from your eldest brother occasionally making some new inventions while he was looking after the blacksmith shop, what achievements have you each made? Tell me about them."

Good guy!
Is this a random check of homework?
Li Zheng looked at the blacksmith and his apprentice and thought to himself.

No wonder those eight apprentices all looked like they were facing a formidable enemy. Anyone would panic if their teacher suddenly checked their homework.

Oh, there really are some who aren't panicking.

Li Zheng looked at the calmest of the eight people. He was a foreigner with a crane-like appearance but a tuft of beard on his chin.

Wearing a uniform stained with oil, he exuded a sense of vicissitude.

He must be the so-called senior brother.

Having just received the blacksmith's approval, it's no wonder he was the only disciple who could remain calm.

"Don't even say anything?"

The blacksmith's stern gaze swept over the disciples again, finally settling on the one sitting opposite the eldest brother: "Let's start with the youngest, the eighth. What new inventions have you made lately?"

The eighth disciple is different from ordinary life forms. He does not have a standard flesh and blood body, but is a human-shaped blue light, with only traces of facial features showing on his head.

"Teacher...I...have no new inventions..."

The eighth disciple stood up, not daring to speak loudly.

The blacksmith frowned: "Seventh Brother, what about you?"

The seventh disciple resembled the blacksmith, except that the two horns on his head pointed skyward, giving him a ferocious appearance. His looks were even more menacing, the kind that would stop children from crying at night if he were on Earth.

Yet even this same guy, in front of the blacksmith, cowered like a quail, stammering, "Master, I don't have any either."

"Sixth brother?" The blacksmith's displeasure deepened.

"I...no..." The sixth brother was a tabby cat. Among the eight disciples, he was the shortest. He sat on a stool and hid among the big men around him. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't even notice him.

Is this Pascicat?
Li Zheng looked at him strangely. Why was he different from the last time they met?

What happened to his cutesy verbal tic?

Or did I mistake someone for someone else?

"Fifth brother..." The blacksmith asked in turn, but when it came to the fifth brother, he paused for a moment: "Never mind, shut up!"

Fifth Brother: "...?"

Why don't I even get a chance to admit my mistakes?
This is so unfair!
Li Zheng watched with great interest. The fifth disciple was the most distinctive among them, because his appearance was a blur in Li Zheng's eyes.

Or rather... Li Zheng could only see a mosaic in the area where the fifth disciple was.

Next up was the fourth disciple, who, with a long face, also shook his head in shame, indicating that he had no new inventions.

When it was Icarus's turn, a turning point finally appeared. After being called upon by the blacksmith, Icarus declared proudly, "Master, I have it!"

"Tell me." For the first time, a hint of emotion appeared on the blacksmith's face, which had been so gloomy it was almost dripping with water. It seemed that these useless apprentices weren't entirely without merit.

"I'm currently developing something that can transform laziness. Once it's successful, the Land of Sloth in the Seven Sins will crumble on its own!" Icarus said proudly, looking down at his fellow disciples.

"Break through laziness?" The blacksmith's expression instantly turned icy cold: "You?!"

Even the blacksmith himself wouldn't dare to make such a boast. What merit or ability does Icarus possess to solve a problem that countless geniuses throughout the ages have failed to solve?

"Teacher, Icarus just said that thing is still under development." Pasmiao rolled his eyes, pointed at Icarus and exclaimed, "A half-finished product, and one with almost no chance of success, can be presented as an achievement?"

"Shut up!" Icarus roared. "Mind your own business!"

That damn cat is good for nothing but sabotaging others.

If you're so capable, show us your results!

When he was honestly questioned just now, didn't he look like he was about to die?
Icarus really wanted to bite his sixth junior brother to death; the two had been at odds ever since the junior brother became the blacksmith's apprentice.

"Shut up and sit down!" the blacksmith roared, his suppressed voice releasing a burst of power that instantly made everyone in the room gasp for breath.

Icarus turned deathly pale, as if struck by a hammer, his earlier radiant appearance completely gone, and he collapsed weakly onto the stool.

"You are all my blacksmith's personal disciples, yet while I was away, you were all lazy and unmotivated, shirking your duties!" the blacksmith said in a deep voice. "If word gets out, it will tarnish the reputation of my blacksmith shop!"

"teacher."

At this moment, the eldest disciple, who had been silent until now, stood up and said, "This matter cannot be blamed on the junior brothers. It's just that the outer city has been developing for countless years, and everything that can be invented has been invented. It is almost impossible to make further breakthroughs in technological progress."

“Yeah…” Icarus muttered helplessly, “We want to come up with something new, but if I pull out something like a ham stick again, you’ll definitely kill me…”

This time, Pasmin didn't sabotage Icarus.

This is not a problem unique to blacksmith shops; it is a headache for all shops in the outer city that focus on research and manufacturing.

It wasn't just Icarus who made the unreliable ham stick weapon; who among the others didn't come up with something unreliable to pass off as something else?
When they invented things like the Salted Fish Gun, the Tech Cup, and the Resonant Tech Stick (also called the Tech Stick), didn't they know that these things were not presentable?

But there is no way!

After so many years of development, the resources available in the outer city are limited to a few types, and everything that needed to be studied has already been thoroughly researched.

I'm utterly powerless!

Otherwise, why would you leave your perfectly good shop and go into the Matrix to become a merchant?
Isn't the idea also to rely on the new races to provide some dubious ideas in order to achieve more breakthroughs in invention?

"I think you all have gone astray in your thinking."

An untimely voice suddenly rang out, and everyone's attention shifted to the stranger standing next to the Zishu siblings by the door.

When Pasmiao saw him, his eyes narrowed sharply.

It's him?

When Icarus heard that Li Zheng had a different opinion, he asked loudly, "Then what are your brilliant ideas? Tell us so we can learn from them?"

"Learning and what..." Li Zheng smiled modestly, "With such a good teacher as the blacksmith, what knowledge can't you learn? I'm just an outsider, just sharing some layman's opinions."

"You know you're an amateur, why are you interrupting?" Icarus frowned, clearly displeased.

If it weren't for the blacksmith's presence, he might have lost his temper and taught this arrogant fool a lesson.

"I told you to shut up, have you forgotten?!" the blacksmith roared, and an invisible sound wave aimed at Icarus, sending him tumbling backward.

After getting up, his face became even paler.

After reprimanding Icarus, the blacksmith turned to Li Zheng and asked, "What are your thoughts? Speak freely. If anyone dares to offend you again, I will punish them severely on your behalf!"

"I wouldn't call it a brilliant idea," Li Zheng suggested. "Since it's difficult to find a breakthrough in new props, is there a possibility... I mean, a possibility... that there's room for improvement in things we've invented before?"

(End of this chapter)