novelraw Chapter 1213 617: Coincidence (2)
Chapter 1213 617: Coincidence (2)
Marvellous Old Deng was lounging on the sofa with his feet up, snoring loudly, making people want to kick him off the floor.
Meanwhile, Aunt White Owl remained seated in her spot, spreading a piece of velvet cloth on the table before her, holding her tools, and meticulously caring for the parts in her hand.
It was a handgun.
After being maintained, the many components on the velvet cloth reflected the morning sun's rays, sparkling brightly.
This made Ji Jue stop in his tracks, unable to avert his eyes.
At best, it could be described as skillful and meticulous; Ji Jue could do such maintenance too, but it would never have this kind of feel.
As if gently stroking a pet, as carefully as attending to a baby, yet also like meticulously trimming one's nails, maintaining a part of one's body.
A companion, a peer, even a lover.
Without the need for Mechanical Descent, Ji Jue could hear the soft hymns emanating from the assembled parts, filled with love and trust, deeply loving its owner.
Ji Jue had never thought he would one day perceive such pure love and trust from other tools.
"It's like raising a child with your own hands."
Ji Jue sighed lightly.
"Hmm?" White Owl laughed and said, "Ah Xuan also said something similar, but I honestly don't feel it. I just purely like it, nothing so profound."
"That's what makes it precious."
Ji Jue replied, not voicing the unspoken… because that's what's frightening!
At that moment, what Ji Jue perceived from her aura was the ultimate, Ascension!
With merely one's love and hate, she endowed a handgun with such miraculous characteristics; it was merely liking and dedication that elevated a mundane item to a miracle.
Without this, how could she have created such exaggerated feats from so far away?
"Did you sense it?" White Owl laughed, saying nothing more, and looked at the case in his hand: "The item, is it ready?"
"Ready, yes, but among these weapons, I can't really pick the best."
Ji Jue put down the briefcase and slowly said, "As the client, why not choose based on your preference, so no matter which one you pick, at least it's agreeable to the eye, isn't it?"
The case opened, and three well-maintained rifles came into view.
To be fair, they were purely weapons, disregarding the demands for absolute precision and processing precision, without showing anything miraculous.
But just looking at them, it stirred one's heart.
The instinctive perception told everyone who saw it what it means to be flawless!
Initial processing, fine processing, running-in, balancing, Integration, followed by spiritual nourishment with Fluid Alchemy; even the smoothness of the final anti-rust coating had achieved a nanometer level.
Flawless.
He had done his utmost, no, surpassed limits, ensuring precision, perfectly meeting the client's requirements.
The only drawback was... of the three, only one was truly complete.
The other two had, more or less, some flaws.
The question was, can you really tell the difference?
"A challenge?"
White Owl's smile became increasingly joyful, grinning: "No wonder Ah Xuan's student... Back then, your teacher also played the same game with me."
Ji Jue was momentarily stunned and then watched her extend her hand, her fingers sweeping over the three rifles: "Hmm, the most effort is in this one, possibly the first product, but unfortunately, it still has quite a few flaws. The second one, hmm, not bad, just a bit of an issue with running-in, so is it the third one? Unfortunately, no, the third is the most balanced, neither excellent nor bad, yet still not it.
So—"
In the crisp sound of snapping, White Owl casually disassembled the three rifles into fragments, then reassembled them from scratch.
In the end, the only complete piece mixed in among the three appeared in front of Ji Jue, not a bit off!
It made Ji Jue fall silent for a moment.
Words failed him.
"How did you see it?"
If Ji Jue wasn't the maker, he probably wouldn't be able to instantly discern which piece and part was truly exquisite.
"Intuition, these things, just go by feel, haha, you craftsmen can't understand, can you?"
White Owl chuckled faintly, stroking the weapon in her hands, lost in enchantment: "What a beautiful little thing... a bit temperamental, always hungry, but rare in its obedience and cleverness, overall perfectly meeting the requirements, excellent, very excellent, exceeding my expectations."
"Only meeting the requirements?" Ji Jue asked back.
"Depends on the reference point, right?"
White Owl placed the weapon back into the case, "Though I'd love to praise you, compared to Ah Xuan, there's still substantial room for progress."
She pondered for a moment, decisively stating: "At your pace, in ten, no, five years, I probably won't be able to tell at all, will I?"
Ji Jue nodded calmly.
That composed demeanor made White Owl slightly surprised:
"You're not even a bit dissatisfied?"
Ji Jue retorted: "As a student, being compared to the teacher, isn't that the best honor and praise?"
"..." White Owl was silent for a moment, shaking her head: "That's one thing unlike Ah Xuan."
"There's no need for everything to be identical, even between teacher and student, is there?"
"Hmm, true." White Owl clapped the case in her hand, her smile suddenly turned mischievous: "However, since you know who I am, and still gave me this item, it means you're somewhat prepared in your heart, aren't you?"
"As a craftsman, completing the client's order and requests is all that matters, other matters are unrelated to me."
Ji Jue picked up a cup of cold strong tea, drinking it all down, indifferent.
Anyone who could enter the workshop was a client acknowledged by Ji Jue.
Clients wanted guns, he made guns; as for who the gun intended to kill, it didn't matter.
Anyone could die!
Looking across the current White Country, whoever had the qualification to be aimed at by this gun, Ji Jue would want to light firecrackers and open champagne, no matter who died.
His only regret was that this rifle was a semi-automatic weapon, and the output wasn't enough; if possible, he'd want to include a water-cooled machine gun!
After all, from the Federation to the Empire and then to the Desert Market, they were all a bunch of goddamn scum, may they all just die die die die die!!!!
"Indeed, a Mohist."
White Owl grinned, shouldering the case, kicking the snoring Old Deng awake, "Time to go."
It was only when she was pushing the door open that she came back to her senses, slapped her forehead, and looked back at Ji Jue: "As a craftsman, at the very least, give your work a name.
Even if it can't be called alchemy work, some effort was put in, wasn't it?"
"..."
Ji Jue was silent, scratching his head, self-deprecating with a smile: "I'm really not good at this kind of thing, better leave it be."
"Just think of one, anything is fine!" White Owl urged: "At least give yourself a bit of participation."
This participation, better leave it?
Ji Jue sighed, thought for a long time, "Then let's call it 'Chekov'."
White Owl was momentarily confused, seemingly surprised: "Didn't expect you're a fan of drama."
"The designer of the B89 model was named that." Ji Jue laughed: "Isn't it a coincidence?"
"Indeed."
White Owl nodded, pushed the door, and left.
In drama theory, if a story begins with a gun, then it must fire before the end.
This is the Chekov's Gun.
And what's more coincidental, in the same drama theory, if this gun that determines the outcome did not appear at the start of the story... then its name is called, Mechanical Descent!
No matter which, there will be a gunshot.
Because someone is going to die.
"Damn nice."
Ji Jue set down the empty teacup, looking out at the sky; a fighter jet sped across the sonic boom, unending.
Carrying the winds of war, headed to faraway places.
Boom!!!
In the distance, amidst the thunderous explosion, rising again were the smoke and flames of Hell in the endless sandstorm.