Chapter 5 Challenges

Yuan Ye rubbed his chin again, realizing that this was indeed a tricky problem. The only solution was to have exceptionally quick hands. Normally, he would be reluctant to deal with such a troublesome matter, but this time was different, as the payment was substantial. Even with a fifty-fifty split, he could still earn five thousand Star Dollars.

With this idea in mind, Lin Fan quickly left the room and approached his magnetic vehicle. In a swift and efficient manner, he removed the gear shifter from the dilapidated magnetic vehicle. Following his own thought process, he disassembled and reassembled the two gear shifters. In less than an hour, a gear shifter that was not exactly perfect but functional appeared in Yuan Ye's hands

With each hand grasping a handful of metal balls, Yuan Ye placed both hands inside the transparent cover, took a slight breath, and began his first task of "loading the balls"

After moving his fingers slightly, Yuan Ye repeated his previous action once more. As a result, when he collided with the fifteenth ball, the metal sphere rolled out again

In the quiet room, such sounds emerge every few seconds

The new transmission system has made the speed transition of the magnetic vehicle much smoother, and it also features ultra-high-speed magnetic wheels. This excites Yuan Ye immensely; he is eager to take the vehicle out for a spin. However, after some consideration, he decides against it, as activating the magnetic vehicle consumes energy, and for Yuan Ye, energy equates to money.

After carefully examining the "watermelon slice" for a while, Yuan Ye had already memorized the specific locations of all the holes. Next, he planned to give it a try

The sound of splashing

The mistress let out a bitter laugh and said, "Do you think this transparent cylinder can accommodate seven or eight pairs of hands?"

No, the old man who brought this component and the technician have already clarified that the damage to the part was caused by his erroneous operation. He is afraid that the military personnel will penalize him, which is why he brought it here for repair, and he specifically requested manual repair, as using machinery would leave traces of the repair. Xiao San quietly said, "Previously, I hired several repairmen, and they all said that if machinery were used, it would be easy, but if it had to be done purely by hand, they would be powerless."

The mistress said this and demonstrated to Yuan Ye by placing a small ball into the hole of the "watermelon slice". As a result, two seconds later, the small ball was automatically ejected.

The transmission contains a total of nine gears, which is clearly a component discarded from a high-end magnetic vehicle. This discovery excited Yuan Ye a little, as it is known that ordinary magnetic vehicles only have seven gears. The more gears there are, the greater the variability in speed, thus providing the driver with more options.

Two seconds pass in the blink of an eye, yet Yuan Ye believed that his hands, which he considered not slow, had only managed to load 14 metal balls

Replacing the energy wiring and repairing the damaged parts of the transmission device essentially marked the completion of the task. However, accomplishing these took Yuan Ye a total of three and a half hours

Seeing Yuan Ye in some difficulty, the third party said: "Why don't you take it back and try it first? If it doesn't work, just return it. However, regardless of whether it is successful or not, it must not exceed one month, because they will need to hear the results in a month."

Shh... Yuan Ye let out a long sigh, then gently shook his head. It seemed that this action was more difficult than he had previously thought

Having hastily eaten something, Yuan Ye eagerly took out the gear shifter he had obtained today and began to examine it carefully alongside the illustrations in the book

When the fifteenth bead was installed, the metal beads scattered once again. It was at this moment that Yuan Ye realized that although his reaction ability, insight, and judgment had significantly improved under a state of heightened awareness, his hands could not keep up with his thoughts

Returning to the repair shop, it was already 1:10 PM, and Yuan Ye was ten minutes late again. However, the owner of the repair shop was no longer present at that moment, which made Yuan Ye breathe a slight sigh of relief

Cautiously setting aside the two metal boxes, Yuan Ye began to continue the work from the morning. The magnetic vehicle he was currently repairing had issues primarily due to aging energy wiring and damage to the transmission mechanism. For Yuan Ye, this was not considered a significant challenge.

What kind of component is it? Hearing the mistress say this, Yuan Ye became somewhat curious.

Splash ... ... splash. ... ... ... splash ...

"Isn't it enough if seven or eight people complete it together?" Yuan Ye proposed another idea

Once again returning to the dilapidated room, Yuan Ye involuntarily fixed his gaze on the ordinary metal box, which contained the "watermelon slice" component. To Yuan Ye, it now represented a substantial stack of star credits.

Upon seeing such an object, Yuan Ye's brow furrowed slightly. This strange component was something he had never encountered before. This was not surprising, as the Federation maintained strict control over arms, making it exceedingly rare for ordinary civilians to come across them.

"For 5000 star coins, it’s no big deal to use it once more." Yuan Ye comforted himself, closing his eyes as the mysterious pattern on the pendant floated in his mind

Upon returning home, the sun had already begun to set. The dim yellow sunlight streamed in through the small window, casting long shadows of the furnishings throughout the room

At 5:30 PM, Yuan Ye had completed his work at the repair shop. Normally, he should have gone to the service company to see if there were any suitable business opportunities for him. However, since his magnetic vehicle was broken, he decided to spend the remaining time repairing his magnetic vehicle and fixing the parts.

It seems that it can only be used to solve the problem. Yuan Ye's gaze slightly darkened. He has always adhered to the principle of avoiding the mysterious birthmark whenever possible, as its side effects are indeed too significant. Conversely, each activation of the mysterious birthmark brings him unexpected effects. In Yuan Ye's mind, the mysterious birthmark is a double-edged sword.

Carefully reassembling the magnetic vehicle once again, and using particle paint to cover the marks left by the mechanical arm, Yuan Ye looked over the magnetic vehicle he had repaired, a hint of joy appearing on his face, along with a sense of accomplishment in his heart. What he needed to do now was to test its performance; if everything was normal, he could notify the owner to come and collect the vehicle.

A few seconds later, when Yuan Ye opened his eyes again, his gaze became calm yet sharp. Without any hesitation, Yuan Ye quickly grabbed the metal ball and began to repeat the previous action

This damaged gearbox is primarily affected in the fourth and fifth gear positions. From this, Yuan Ye can deduce that the original owner of this gearbox must have been a conservative driver, in other words, someone who advocates for a safety-first driving principle. This stands in stark contrast to Yuan Ye himself, as the damaged areas of his gearbox are located in the high-speed gears of the first and second positions

Alright. Yuan Ye said, contemplating for a moment, and finally made this decision

The metal sphere in the cavity suddenly dimmed, and then 14 metal spheres rolled out from inside, rendering Yuan Ye's previous efforts futile

This is not difficult at all. Yuan Ye disagreed, saying: "First, use tape to secure the small ball on top. Once everything is assembled, you can simply remove the tape, right?"

After installing the repaired transmission into the magnetic vehicle, Lin Fan drove the magnetic vehicle a couple of times in a small open area. Feeling very satisfied, he then turned off the engine

Yuan Ye smiled gently, and the idea for the repair emerged in his mind. He realized that as long as he replaced the fourth and fifth gears from the original transmission onto this one, there should be no problem.

Opening the metal box, Yuan Ye carefully took out the "watermelon slice" and placed it gently on the table, afraid of damaging any part of it. Although he did not know its exact value, just by looking at its appearance, he was certain that he could not afford to lose this item.

Looking at the gear shifter in his hand, Yuan Ye's lips curved slightly. Such a gear shifter would be disregarded by anyone with even a little spare money, but for Yuan Ye, it was like a treasure. One must understand that with it, the performance of his old magnetic bike would see a significant improvement

The sound of water splashing

"That won't work," said the mistress. "This method has been suggested by others before, but I heard from that old soldier that the interior of this component consists of a complex circuit chip. It is only possible to insert all 25 small balls within two seconds; if this time is exceeded, even if all are inserted, the internal chip will not register them."

"Ten thousand? That's quite high. Could it possibly be some stolen goods and books?" Yuan Ye speculated while rubbing his chin

About half an hour had passed, and a thin layer of sweat had already formed on Yuan Ye's forehead. He had lost count of how many times he had failed, only knowing that his previous best record was just 16. However, this achievement did not last long, and now his performance was gradually declining—within two seconds, he could hardly complete even 12. The reason for this was the rapid decline in his physical strength and energy. This performance did not last long, and now his results were gradually deteriorating—within two seconds, he could hardly complete even 12, due to the rapid decline in his physical strength and energy.

As the sky had darkened, Yuan Ye could clearly see that the small balls inserted into the holes emitted a faint, almost imperceptible glow, which was quite marvelous. However, Yuan Ye had no time to appreciate such wonders; at this moment, he had to concentrate fully, using both hands to accurately and swiftly strike the balls into the holes.

In fact, repairing this item is both difficult and easy. Xiao San explained busily, taking out a small bag of shiny golden metal balls from one corner of the box, each with a diameter of about half a centimeter: "To say it is easy means that you just need to insert these small metal balls into these holes, but to say it is difficult is because you must complete this process within two seconds."

This is it. The mistress said, as she took out an ordinary metal box from the cabinet under the metal table. Upon opening it, there was a golden-yellow component resembling a watermelon slice, covered with numerous tiny holes, and encased in a transparent cylindrical shell.

By the edge of the pool, Yuan Ye simply rinsed off the oil on his body and left the repair factory while carrying two metal boxes

Upon thinking of this, Yuan Ye opened the small bag filled with metal balls. The number of metal balls inside far exceeded twenty-five, making it clear that there was no need to worry about accidentally losing one or two.