Chapter 293: Rising Fame, Learn as You Use

"How did you do that?"

The alchemist stared at the steady-state clock in his hands, now ticking with rhythmic precision, and asked the question before he could stop himself, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"..."

Wang Yu remained silent, watching the alchemist with a calm, unhurried composure.

"My apologies. That was my mistake; I shouldn't have pried into your techniques."

The alchemist realized his error instantly. In the academic circles of the Sky Mechanical City, inquiring about a fellow practitioner's proprietary methods was considered deeply rude and offensive.

"May I ask, what is the repair fee?"

The alchemist wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, born of sheer embarrassment, and asked what he owed for the restoration of his clock.

"Here is the price list. For a minor issue like this, it is 100."

Wang Yu gestured to the placard hanging on the wall behind him. When the alchemist had first entered, his attention had been entirely fixed on Wang Yu, the "new arrival," and he hadn't noticed it until now.

"Simple mechanical distortion, 100; issues with the magic-conductive circuits, 300; other problems are negotiable based on the situation. If extra materials are required, I will inform you of the cost in advance. Processing low-tier materials..."

The alchemist muttered the contents of the list to himself, his surprise growing with every word. The rates were, quite frankly, remarkably cheap.

It wasn't that they were practically free, but given the standard fees of repairmen in the Sky Mechanical City—a profession already in short supply—Wang Yu’s prices were significantly lower.

Moreover, for something as notoriously finicky as a steady-state clock, most repairmen would refuse the job entirely. If one did accept, the alchemist estimated he would have paid at least 500. Yet here, Wang Yu had handled it as a basic repair for a mere 100.

"Wait, how did you even know the steady-state clock only had a mechanical structural issue?!"

The thought struck the alchemist, and he looked up to question Wang Yu, only to be met once again by that same expressionless face.

"Uh, uh, uh, I'm sorry. I really can't help myself."

The alchemist regretted the words the moment they left his lips. Why couldn't he control his curiosity?

Wang Yu didn't take much offense. Most alchemists and scholars in the Sky Mechanical City were like this—possessed by a near-obsessive love for knowledge beyond their reach. An uncontrollable tongue was a common affliction among them; it was only a disaster when they couldn't control their hands.

There was a saying: alchemists remain boys until they die. When they start, they want to touch and ask about everything. In their middle years, they become more reserved, but once they age, their skills sharpen and their knowledge deepens, they return to wanting to touch and ask about everything once more.

"Here. Does your processing service include these? I do have a need for it."

The alchemist docked his ID card to the magic network, transferring the 100-credit repair fee, and inquired about Wang Yu’s second line of business.

"Let me see what you need processed. If I can't handle it, I'll tell you. By the way, what should I call you?"

Wang Yu stated his requirement bluntly—a glance would tell him if it was doable—and then, remembering something, asked for the man's name.

He had seen this fellow yesterday when Ziggy was selling dragon scales. He was the first customer today, too; it seemed there would be many more opportunities to do business with him.

"Just call me Isaac. Can these Everfrost Stones be processed? I need semi-steady state frost crystals."

Isaac produced a transparent container from his robes. Floating in a colorless, slightly effervescent liquid were several azure stones—mid-tier ice-attribute alchemical materials. The frost crystals extracted from them possessed an exquisite affinity for ice elements.

"Both your repair and processing needs are quite simple. Wait here, three minutes."

Wang Yu raised an eyebrow. The items Isaac brought were, to him, the easiest category of work. He took the container of Everfrost Stones and walked to the back of the shop.

About two minutes later, Wang Yu emerged. The container no longer held bright blue stones, but rather snowflake-like glowing crystals—the mid-tier material, frost crystals.

"You..."

Isaac instinctively wanted to ask how Wang Yu had done it. He had seen the alchemical instruments sitting on the front counter and had hoped to catch a glimpse of the process, but Wang Yu had finished in less than two minutes.

Having learned his lesson twice, however, he successfully clamped his mouth shut, refraining from prying into Wang Yu’s methods.

"Three units of Everfrost Stones processed. According to the price list, that will be 300."

Wang Yu handed the items to Isaac, his tone indifferent. The price was fair, and he was honest in his dealings.

"No problem. Your prices really are much cheaper than anywhere else. If I didn't have such limited reserve funds, I’d have much more processed here."

Isaac paid the fee promptly. It still stung a little, even if it was well worth it—or rather, *too* worth it. Still, watching his savings dwindle always caused a pang of heartache.

"There are some materials and alchemical tools I can't repair yet. If you're satisfied, just help me spread the word to people you know."

Wang Yu offered a smile, speaking casually.

The Sky Mechanical City had one good quality: there was no such thing as malicious price-cutting. No matter how low Wang Yu set his prices, no one would come to cause trouble. In this city, such a situation had a unified explanation: "inferior skill."

"Will do."

Isaac nodded and turned to leave the "Eighth-Grade Machinist Shop." He fully intended to tell his friends about this remarkably affordable store; after all, the early bird gets the worm.

"Hmm... let's see."

After Isaac left, Wang Yu retrieved the Endless Page from the void above his head and began to draw rapidly, guided by the memories in his mind.

His Grand Knight-level physique turned his hand into a blur. The nib of his pen danced across the artifact with the speed of a high-precision printer, gradually rendering an exploded view of an alchemical tool.

The indestructible nature of the Endless Page allowed it to withstand Wang Yu’s terrifying speed. While his intelligence hadn't changed much since his physique improved, his memory and spatial perception had grown significantly, allowing him to support short bursts of "brute-force" recall.

In about five minutes, the exploded view of an alchemical tool was replicated on the page, with the parameters of every component and its special structures carefully annotated.

A close observer would notice that the tool Wang Yu had drawn was the very same steady-state clock Isaac had brought in for repair.

He opened this shop partly to make money, and partly to collect the structures of more alchemical items for himself, Aivia, and Ziggy to study.

Wang Yu’s self-analysis was quite thorough. As he had said before, five parts were due to his "cheat," three parts to luck, and two parts to his own effort. Without the unique advantages brought by his transmigration, no amount of effort would have allowed him to reach this height so quickly.

Thus, he never shied away from thinking about how to utilize his "cheat" effectively. The Power of the Chariot was a part of this. This ability to command and reshape external matter had applications far beyond mere combat.

In fact, when it came to the study of alchemy, the Power of the Chariot was a complete and total "cheat"—much like an eighth-grade machinist from Earth compared to an ordinary person; it was a dimensional strike.

For one, the Power of the Chariot was incredibly brazen when it came to detection. To Wang Yu, inanimate alchemical creations were completely defenseless.

A single scan with the Power of the Chariot made the internal structure clear at a glance. Identifying which component had failed was as simple as looking at it.

As for repairs, the ability to command matter and alter its form made the process trivial. He could bypass the casing and modify the internal structure without ever opening the machine.

Of course, things that couldn't be done on Earth could be achieved in this world through the hands of mages or magical tools that allowed one to operate through solid shells. But that introduced a problem: interference.

Both sorcery and spells generated energy fluctuations, and most alchemical items contained magic-conductive circuits that were highly susceptible to such interference. This was especially true for items like the steady-state clock; if the internal state were disrupted, the entire device would be ruined.

The Power of the Chariot had no such issues. It produced no fluctuations; it was a direct modification of the matter itself, and it was absurdly convenient.

If a Knight possessed an internal potential that allowed them to penetrate matter and influence the interior, they might be able to do what Wang Yu did.

But in the end, a Knight who couldn't use magic but was also an alchemist was a rare breed. Even Wang Yu was, in reality, still just a "clumsy alchemist."

"Hmm, the structure of these gears is similar to those clocks on Earth. They should have excellent timing precision. With magic to maintain stability, the margin of error will be minimal..."

Wang Yu studied the exploded view of the steady-state clock. Purely mechanical structures, no matter how complex, were easy for him to understand.

"Snap...!"

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the notebook upward, where it vanished into the void. Wang Yu sensed someone entering the shop. It was Isaac, accompanied by several friends who had come to buy dragon scales the day before.

"Hello, Shopkeeper. Can you repair this ring?"

Of the several people who entered the shop, one stepped forward, placed a ring on the counter before Wang Yu, and asked a question.

"Let me take a look first."

Wang Yu stuck to his standard reply; he had to examine it before knowing if it could be repaired.

Picking up the ring, which featured a high-quality fire-elemental gemstone set in an adamantine band, Wang Yu channeled his Chariot Power to probe its internal structure, immediately concluding that this was beyond his own ability to fix.

The internal structure of the fire gem was flawed, and the magic-conducting circuit—crafted to leverage the gem’s inherent magical affinity—had collapsed due to some factor, leaving it in a state of severe disarray.

He picked up a testing stylus from the table, injected a small amount of mana, and tested the circuit's operation; Wang Yu discovered that roughly twenty percent of the circuit structure had shattered, a catastrophic level of damage.

"Is this a casting ring for a molten engraving stylus?"

Wang Yu recalled the encyclopedia of magic arrays in his mind and asked.

"Yes, can it be repaired?"

The man nodded in confirmation, looking somewhat surprised that Wang Yu could identify the type of casting ring just by glancing at it.

"One moment..."

Wang Yu did not rush to answer. He certainly could not handle a malfunction involving damaged mana circuits; he was still a novice, and his attainments in this field could only be described as tragic. But while he couldn't do it, others could.

He tapped the Perfect Fractal Lens on his forehead, using his mental energy to transmit the internal structure he had scanned with his Chariot Power to the two others currently using the lenses.

In the workshop behind the room, Avia and Zig, who were conducting magic array engraving experiments, simultaneously paused their work and turned their attention to the structural diagram transmitted by the lens.

"The circuit here must have melted down, right? The overall engraving structure is quite novel; it’s worth studying. It’s a much more stable way to construct magic circuits for fire-elemental spells than the standard methods."

The girl and Zig began to discuss the diagram Wang Yu had sent, showing a keen interest in it.

"Hmm, interesting. Repairing it is simple enough. Just reconnect these few magic circuits here. Yes, just these two; look, once connected, the overall structure becomes complete."

Zig nodded, tracing lines in the air to demonstrate how to repair the damaged circuit and restore its integrity.

"No problem, I’ll transmit the repair plan to Wang Yu."

Having reached a consensus on the repair plan, Avia immediately adjusted the Perfect Fractal Lens over her right eye, transmitting the solution to Wang Yu in the form of a visual overlay.

"Done."

The image transmitted through the lens clearly showed Wang Yu how to fix the circuit. All he had to do was manipulate the circuit to match the image. Driven by his Chariot Power, the internal structure of the fire gem was altered and corrected; the repair was complete.

"Huh? How did you...!"

The alchemist took the ring back, half-doubting. In his eyes, Wang Yu had simply stood there blankly for a minute, pressed the ring between his palms, and handed it back. What the hell?

But the moment he injected his mana, a tiny, crimson, searing high-energy drill appeared at his fingertips. He froze, his mouth opening to ask how Wang Yu had managed it.

He was immediately silenced by Isaka, who covered his mouth in time; he couldn't let his friend act like a fool.

After that, the other alchemists began asking Wang Yu to help repair their items. Wang Yu would either take a look and fix the broken parts instantly, or stand there blankly for a while waiting for technical assistance from Avia and Zig, then follow the lens's guidance to complete the repair.

It was fast, high-quality, and cheap, leaving the gathered alchemists stunned. They had truly never seen someone who could repair items just by standing there, without using any alchemical instruments.

However, since it could be fixed and the price was right, they were the ones benefiting. There was no point in asking too many questions; getting their items repaired was what mattered.

As this group entered, more and more customers were drawn into the shop to have their items fixed, and Wang Yu operated just as he had before.

There were instances where even Zig and Avia couldn't figure something out immediately, in which case Wang Yu would bluntly state he couldn't fix it or ask them to return the next day.

By and large, most things could be repaired, while a small portion were beyond their current skill level. Without exception, however, the structures of these alchemical items were all recorded by Wang Yu.

These records became the fuel for their collective progress, and the proficiency of the group improved rapidly through this fast-paced, hands-on practice.

And so, the reputation of this "Eighth-Grade Fitter Shop" began to spread among the alchemists in the surrounding regions.