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Chapter 36: The Preliminaries part 1
Master Tang said with a smile, “I am Tang Ke, one of the proctors for this competition.”
“Now, I will explain the rules for the preliminary round.”
“I believe many participants here have already noticed that the prices of the source materials provided by the organizers are significantly lower than in the past. Previously, the Star Brilliance Competition was an independent event held by the Yaoming Group. Starting from this session, the Source Weapon Association is also participating. To encourage more talented individuals to pursue this path, the organizers are providing more conveniences, one of which is the reduction in material prices.”
Yun Yingzhi blinked his large eyes, his mood lifting instantly. This meant the cost of manufacturing source weapons had been halved!
How wonderful!
While he was celebrating internally, Master Tang continued with the other rules.
Yun Yingzhi pricked up his ears to listen.
Master Tang continued, “The competition starts at nine in the morning and ends at nine in the evening. There will be two break periods: from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, and from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM.”
“There is no specific topic or restriction for this preliminary round. Participants may manufacture any source weapon they are specialized in. If anyone here wishes to attempt a Grade Eight source weapon or higher, you may separately apply for the necessary materials.” After a pause, Master Tang added, “Of course, we cannot provide rare materials, but we will do our best to provide the vast majority of materials found on the market. Similarly, for Grade Eight materials and below, if they are not available in the source material vending machines, you may submit a special request.”
Master Tang listed a few more rules before finally adding, “As I mentioned before, the prices of the source materials here have been lowered to the absolute minimum. To prevent malicious waste by some participants, we have stipulated that if the material loss during the manufacturing process exceeds a certain limit, the participant will be disqualified immediately. For those with more egregious behavior, the organizers will forcibly charge the market price for the materials used.”
“To avoid disqualification or other issues, I hope all participants clearly understand their own limits and do not engage in wasteful behavior.”
Master Tang concluded, “If any of you have questions, you may ask me now. If not…”
Yun Yingzhi raised his hand.
Master Tang was quite far from him and couldn’t see him directly.
However, the staff members working in the section where Yun Yingzhi was located spotted him.
And then…
In the next moment, Yun Yingzhi realized that the holographic projections hanging in every direction had switched to show him in his three-piece padded cotton suit.
Looking at himself on the screens surrounding him, Yun Yingzhi was completely stunned. “…”
The people around him stared at him with confused expressions.
If given another chance, he absolutely would not have raised his hand so impulsively in such a setting.
Master Tang’s voice came through the amplification system. “The participant with the serial number A13167, what question do you have?”
Yun Yingzhi was very nervous. He was extremely worried that the students from Fanse Academy would recognize him.
Under any other circumstances, he might have shaken his head and said he had no questions, but right now…
All he saw before his eyes was money, money, and more money!
Yun Yingzhi instinctively pulled down his hat and adjusted his mask. Then he realized that his current behavior was being live-streamed, making him look particularly suspicious.
The gazes from the students of the Ten Great Military Academies became even more subtle.
Yun Yingzhi’s cheeks turned a bright red; he looked incredibly shy and bashful.
Master Tang’s voice came again. “Participant A13167, what is your question?”
Yun Yingzhi cleared his throat and intentionally spoke in a rough, deep voice. “The prices of the materials provided by the organizers are very cheap. So, do the source weapons we manufacture during the competition belong to us?”
The smile on Master Tang’s face deepened. “Of course they belong to you.”
Yun Yingzhi blinked. His already red cheeks flushed even deeper as he asked again, “If, if I were to say…” He was a bit embarrassed to speak.
Thinking about it, this idea was indeed very thick-skinned, but…
It was all for the money.
A person as poor as he was could be even more shameless for the sake of credits.
Yun Yingzhi thought that if Yun Yinghui was watching this live stream, even he would surely understand. After all, he was soon to be the father of two little gold-swallowing beasts.
Someone in the crowd whispered, “Look, even his hands are turning red.”
“What does he want to ask? Why is he so embarrassed? He looks like he’s about to start smoking.”
Master Tang asked, “What is it?”
Every inch of Yun Yingzhi’s exposed skin was flushed crimson. He awkwardly wished he could transform into his second form and find a hole to crawl into, but even so, his desire for cheap materials pushed him to ask the second question: “If I am unsatisfied with the first source weapon I manufacture, and then I make a second one, and then I’m still unsatisfied with that one and make several more…”
Master Tang: “…”
The crowd: “…”
Everyone looked at Yun Yingzhi with very peculiar expressions.
They wondered: did this participant A13167 have any sense of reality?
Even though it was just the preliminaries, the difficulty of advancing was very high. Yet, for the sake of milking the organizers’ materials, he wanted to manufacture several source weapons in just twelve short hours?
The crowd speculated: was this suspicious participant absolutely confident in himself, or did he simply look down on the difficulty of this competition?
Under the incredibly complex gazes of the onlookers, Yun Yingzhi continued to shamelessly ask, “If I manufacture, say, ten source weapons, can all those materials be purchased at the discount price?” His eyes were full of anticipation.
Master Tang’s mouth twitched. He felt that Yun Yingzhi was truly an eccentric source weapon master.
After a moment of silence, Master Tang said with a smile, “Certainly.” He added, “Every source weapon you manufacture during the competition belongs to you. However, you must remember not to waste too many materials, or you will lose your eligibility.”
Happy little bubbles seemed to pop up around Yun Yingzhi as he nodded joyfully.
Master Tang asked, “Does anyone else have any other questions?”
Yun Yingzhi raised his hand again.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he continued, “There are one-hour breaks at noon and in the evening. Can we choose not to rest, eat something quickly at the station, and continue working?”
Under the new rules, Yun Yingzhi didn’t feel like this was a competition at all; he felt that every second of the event was money.
As a big eater, he felt that in this situation, he could actually eat while continuing to manufacture weapons, diligently milking the system. If it really came down to it, he could even go hungry for a day.
In fact, with the mindset that this was basically “fleecing for free,” he had originally intended to manufacture a Grade Four source weapon in the first round because it was simple, required no brainpower, and used cheap materials.
He didn’t think that way anymore. The higher the grade of the source weapon, the more “wool” he could pull.
Many of Yun Yinghui’s teammates were Grade Five, Six, and Seven warriors.
He currently couldn’t produce a large quantity of Grade Seven or Eight weapons in a short time, but Grade Five and Six were not a problem.
He wouldn’t make Grade Four weapons anymore. He was going to make many, many Grade Five and Six weapons for his brother, so that every ordinary soldier in his brother’s team could be equipped with the strongest source weapons, allowing any ordinary member to perform beyond their limits thanks to their gear!
Yun Yingzhi didn’t realize that he looked extremely excited right now, with happy little flowers virtually blooming all over him, unable to hide his emotions at all.
Master Tang replied, “A source weapon master needs to maintain a good state of mind while working. The noon and evening breaks are mandatory; you cannot remain in the work area.”
Yun Yingzhi was very disappointed upon hearing this.
Two hours… he felt that if his luck was good, he might have been able to finish another source weapon.
Inscribing was difficult, and the loss rate might be higher, but…
Thinking about the material costs being even cheaper than those at Alvin’s studio, Yun Yingzhi suddenly felt that for the sake of money, he could become omnipotent.
Fleecing for free was the way to go!
After Yun Yingzhi, a few others asked related questions.
As it approached nine o’clock, Master Tang asked, “Do any participants have further questions?”
After waiting a moment, no one spoke.
Exactly at nine o’clock, Master Tang announced, “Then, starting from now, the competition begins!”
The moment Master Tang said the competition had started, Yun Yingzhi immediately trotted toward the nearest source material vending machine.
The participants around him were stunned, their gazes snapping toward him in unison.
Then, they watched as Yun Yingzhi used his personal terminal on his wrist to start checking out. He was buying Grade Five and Six manufacturing materials. In an instant, every single Grade Five and Six material in the entire vending machine was bought out by him.
The crowd: “…”
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