Chapter 4643 — A Quiet Moment Alone

"Don't celebrate too soon, Brother Wei Zhao. Our automatic forging contraption isn't truly finished yet—truth be told, it's still only half-built..." Han Jingyi reluctantly poured cold water on his excitement.

"Huh? Half-built?" Wei Zhao's expression froze at once. Had he been celebrating too early?

"That's right. The overall structure is more or less done, but there are still some technical problems we haven't solved. Right now we're just waiting on the electronic components from the Central Merchant Guild." Han Jingyi nodded.

"Pfft!" Wei Zhao nearly choked on his breath, blurting out in astonishment, "Cough, cough—this thing needs electronic components too?!"

"Of course! Otherwise how could it ever be intelligent? These smart chip components are hard to come by—you can't get them anywhere on Cloudstep Island. Luckily the Central Merchant Guild popped up out of nowhere, right in the nick of time. Hee hee!" Han Jingyi laughed.

"The Central Merchant Guild even sells specialized chip components like these?" Wei Zhao was startled again. It was one thing for the Guild to set off a craze for tech products on Cloudstep Island, but he hadn't expected them to be selling smart chip components too. Were they planning to drag Cloudstep Island through an industrial revolution?

"They do, but those smart chip components are far too conspicuous. We didn't dare place an order outright—we were afraid someone with ill intentions might take notice. This sort of thing is actually quite sensitive; it could easily expose the secret of our automatic forging contraption. We couldn't afford to be careless." Ning Xuefei nodded.

"Then what did you do?" Shangguan Lan'er asked curiously.

"Hee hee, I had Feifei specially place an order with them for some digital devices. They're all high-end goods, but they're the sort of luxury items people buy for enjoyment—no matter how many you purchase, no one will get suspicious. The transistors and various electronic parts inside can all be pulled out for use, and the chip components can be pieced together from them as well. I doubt we'll have much trouble." Han Jingyi smiled with confidence; her self-assurance in this area was truly unmatched.

"It's just a pity the Central Merchant Guild is so slow. We placed our order so long ago, and they still haven't delivered these digital devices. So sluggish—I'll have someone go hurry them along in a bit." Ning Xuefei pouted.

"Oh? Could they be refusing to sell on purpose?" Something stirred in Wei Zhao's heart.

"That's hardly it. If the Central Merchant Guild wants to do business here, they have to watch my mother's mood before they can even gain a foothold. Where would they get the nerve to refuse a sale on purpose..." Ning Xuefei stuck out her tongue.

This place was different from North Island. North Island was nominally under the Threefold Pavilion's control, but its environment was relatively lax—any merchant guild with enough strength could set up shop there. West Island, however, was another matter entirely. Here, female power reigned supreme, and the overall atmosphere was one of tight-knit solidarity and exclusion toward outsiders. To do business here, one had to watch the Ning family's mood. Offend the Ning family, and no matter how formidable a guild might be, it could never gain a foothold.

"Then why?" Wei Zhao asked, puzzled.

"Hee hee, the main reason is that the digital devices Jingjing ordered aren't ordinary goods. Even in the secular world, only a handful of places sell them, so they don't have any in stock. They can only take advance orders and we'll have to see when they can deliver. This is a privilege only Feifei has—anyone else couldn't even place an order." Han Jingyi laughed.

"So that's how it is." Wei Zhao finally understood. With the Central Merchant Guild's current ascendancy, an ordinary person could buy only whatever happened to be available, no matter how many spirit jades they had. Only someone with special privileges like Ning Xuefei could make such a peculiar request. After all, if the Central Merchant Guild wanted to establish itself on West Island, they would surely accommodate anything that wasn't too troublesome—at worst, it meant the hassle of a special order.

After a pause, Wei Zhao suddenly said, "By the way, Jingjing, don't you find this Central Merchant Guild unfathomable? I wrote to Ling Shan and the others in the secular world before, and they even wrote back—all through this Central Merchant Guild!"

"Mm, the fact that they can connect with the secular world really is impressive. So once we finish this automatic forging contraption, Jingjing has decided that will be her next research topic. It's just that we have too little information right now and can't find a lead for the time being. But if the scientists at the Center can achieve it, Jingjing won't be any worse than them!" Han Jingyi clenched her fists excitedly. If there was anything in this world that could thrill her so, it was surely an unsolvable problem like this.

"Uh, Jingjing, you're really something else—you're going to research even that?" Wei Zhao slapped his forehead, feeling a little dizzy.

When he himself ran into something like this, all he could think of was asking Zhang Lifeng for help, or trying to infiltrate the Central Merchant Guild and ferret out the core secret. Yet here was Han Jingyi, bubbling with enthusiasm, determined to study it all on her own. Truly, the minds of geniuses were beyond the imagining of ordinary folk. At least in this respect, Wei Zhao was a hundred thousand streets behind Han Jingyi.

Shocking as it sounded, on second thought, every one of Han Jingyi's inventions along the way—including the Divine Farmer's Cauldron—wasn't each of them ahead of its time and utterly heaven-defying?

If anyone else had said such a thing, Wei Zhao would have taken it as a joke. But with Han Jingyi, it truly wasn't impossible. Perhaps his own wish to travel between Cloudstep Island and the secular world would ultimately be realized through her!

"Hee hee, Jingjing isn't all that amazing!" Han Jingyi gave a shy smile at his words.

"Uh... let me have a quiet moment alone..." Wei Zhao was instantly speechless. She could casually announce her intent to research something as heaven-defying as traversing the secular world—and that still wasn't amazing? Were there any real prodigies left in this world?

"Oh, then Lan'er, let's get out of here. He wants to be alone with Jingjing." Ning Xuefei seized the chance to tease them with a knowing smile.

"Sounds good, sounds good! Let this pair—the stone that yearns for her husband and the stone that yearns for his wife—gaze their fill at each other. We'll go eat first; my stomach's growling just in time." Shangguan Lan'er giggled in agreement.

"The banquet should be just about ready. You two can snuggle here a little while, but don't be too late—the official envoy from North Island absolutely cannot miss the banquet!" Ning Xuefei made a mischievous face, then grabbed Shangguan Lan'er and headed for the door. Little Curly Bear wanted to play a while longer in the research room, but in the end the two women dragged him off by the ears.

In the vast research room, only Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi remained. They exchanged a slightly awkward glance, and the atmosphere suddenly turned somewhat ambiguous... R1152