Volume 1, Chapter 7: Giving You a Chance

"Workshop 207 is not a dumping ground."

The words struck like an invisible steel needle, piercing through the last of Tian Weijun’s psychological defenses. The muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably—a spasm born of a volatile mixture of humiliation and rage.

"The blueprints are in your head? The materials are in the scrap heap?" Tian Weijun suddenly laughed, a dry, grating sound like two rusted sheets of metal scraping together. "Good! A genius indeed! A hero who turns trash into treasure!"

He took a step forward, his voice deliberately raised to echo through the empty workshop, attempting to reclaim his lost authority through sheer volume. "You are capable, Du Yuze, I admit that. You have given me a surprise—a massive surprise!"

His tone shifted, every word dripping with venom, carrying the weight of an irresistible command. "But a hunk of iron that can only roar for ten seconds, a prototype that isn't even fully assembled—that proves nothing! It is not a product; it isn't even a semi-finished good! It is just a pile of… noisy scrap metal!"

Tian Weijun extended a finger, nearly poking the tip of Du Yuze’s nose. "You want to prove you aren't a corporate spy, that you aren't just grandstanding? Fine! I’ll give you a chance!"

He paused, savoring the pleasure of holding the power of judgment once more, and laid out the trap he had carefully designed, word by word: "One month! Starting from today, I give you one month. I want to see a complete, finished product that has passed all stability tests and is ready to be installed for a test flight!"

"If you succeed, Workshop 207 is yours, and I, Tian Weijun, will personally go to the main factory to request a commendation for you." His tone turned icy. "If you fail..."

He did not finish the sentence, merely casting a look of contempt around the dilapidated workshop, as if surveying a corpse already sentenced to the grave.

"In one month, the bulldozers will arrive on schedule. This place will be flattened to the ground."

With that, Tian Weijun did not spare another glance at Du Yuze. He turned abruptly and, accompanied by his subordinates—who were equally pale and deathly silent—strode out of the workshop. His back was held stiffly straight, yet his pace was hurried, as if he were fleeing.

The heavy iron door slammed shut with a clang, sealing off the outside world.

Inside the workshop, a deathly silence returned.

After a long while, a burst of uncontrollable, ragged breathing broke the stillness. Pang Qingquan leaned against a cold machine tool, looking as if he had just been pulled from the water, his work clothes soaked through with cold sweat. His lips trembled, and he struggled to focus his gaze.

"He's mad… he’s completely lost his mind…" the veteran technician muttered to himself. He stumbled toward the iron beast that had just gone quiet, reaching out a trembling hand, yet he dared not touch the metal casing that still radiated residual heat.

"Little Du… this… this…" He turned his head, his bloodshot eyes filled with horror and despair. "One month… to build a finished engine? This isn't building a table or a chair! This is something meant to fly, something that costs lives! Every single part, every single process, has to undergo hundreds of tests and inspections! This… this isn't a mountain to climb; this is a fantasy!"

Du Yuze did not answer immediately. He walked to the side of the engine and opened an inconspicuous inspection port, revealing the complex lines and precision components within. As his gaze swept over them, a line of virtual data appeared in his mind.

[Turbojet-7A Modified 'Kuafu' No. 1 Prototype]
[Current Completion: 85%]

"There is enough time," Du Yuze said, closing the port with a tone as calm as if he were commenting on the weather.

Pang Qingquan nearly choked. "Enough time? How could there be enough time?! The remaining fifteen percent requires more work than the first eighty-five percent combined! Precision machining, dynamic balancing, fatigue testing, high-altitude simulation… which of these doesn't require manpower? Which doesn't require equipment? What do we have? Just this empty shell of a workshop and a pile of scrap!"

"That is why we are missing two things," Du Yuze turned to him. "Helpers and materials."

The moment his words fell, a series of cold mechanical chimes rang in his mind.

[Emergency Mission Triggered: The 'Mount Tai' Covenant]
[Mission Goal: Within 30 days, deliver a Turbojet-7A finished engine to the Red Star Machinery Factory with 40% performance optimization, having passed all installation tests.]
[Mission Reward: 5,000 points, unlock 'Master-level Machinist Skill' schema, unlock primary access to 'Special Alloy Smelting'.]
[Failure Penalty: Points reset to zero, system enters forced hibernation.]

Du Yuze’s consciousness flickered slightly. The rewards precisely targeted the two gaps he had just mentioned. The skill schema would grant him craftsmanship that transcended the era, even allowing him to instruct others. The smelting access meant he could truly "turn stone into gold," refining the high-grade materials he needed from scrap.

Points were the leverage to pry all of this open.

He suppressed his thoughts and refocused his attention on Pang Qingquan, his question becoming concrete and direct.

"Master Pang, answer my first question." Du Yuze’s pace was measured, but every word was exceptionally clear. "Among all the retired master technicians in the factory, is there an eight-level machinist who is recognized as the best, has the most eccentric temper, the most stubborn personality, and who feels physically ill if he doesn't touch a machine tool for a day?"

Pang Qingquan was stunned; he had not expected such a tricky question. He furrowed his brows, searching through his memory for names and faces that had long since faded. Suddenly, a nickname struck his mind like lightning, making him shudder involuntarily.

"You… you don't mean you want to find 'The King of Hell' Li?" Pang Qingquan’s voice went up an octave. "Master Li Xuefeng? My god… he retired six years ago! And his temper… let's put it this way: when the Chief Engineer of the main factory came to inspect, he pointed at his nose and cursed him for drawing blueprints that were utter garbage! Even Tian Weijun walks a wide circle around him!"

"He is the one," Du Yuze replied without hesitation.

Pang Qingquan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed with difficulty. "Finding him… is harder than reaching the heavens. He once declared that if anyone dared to bother him with the factory’s nonsense, he would break their legs."

"The second question," Du Yuze continued, as if he hadn't heard the threat. "In the factory grounds, which warehouse or scrap yard is most likely to be piled with high-temperature alloys or titanium scrap left over from decades ago—the kind that no one has registered or managed?"

This question sent Pang Qingquan into deep thought. He gestured, recalling the past. "If you're talking about a place like that… there is only one. The No. 3 scrap yard in the corner of the south wall. It’s called a warehouse, but it’s actually a historical dumping ground. Since the factory was built, every piece of scrap metal, failed experimental part, or debris with an unknown origin that couldn't be processed has been thrown there for decades. The dust is thicker than the materials, and I’ve heard there are snake nests inside. No one is willing to go there."

"Very good." Du Yuze nodded, a clear plan forming in his mind.

Pang Qingquan looked at him, feeling that this young man was even more mysterious and incomprehensible than that roaring engine. "Little Du, what exactly are you trying to do? Even if you can convince 'The King of Hell' Li, even if you can dig gold out of a trash heap… it’s still impossible!"

Du Yuze offered no further explanation. Theoretical impossibility, in the face of absolute technical prowess and system assistance, was merely an equation waiting to be calculated and solved.

He turned back to look at the engine that held his heart and soul. It stood quietly in the center of the workshop like a dormant beast, waiting for the day it would truly be awakened.

"Master Pang, lead the way."

"Lead… lead the way? Where to?"

Du Yuze tilted his head and spoke a few words.

"To pay a visit to the King of Hell."