Oke's Magic Workshop, the apprentice's practice room, was a hubbub of activity.

Skeleton soldiers, their frames as thin as kindling, were gathered around a square wooden table, making squeaky noises as they chattered about something.

Following Oke into the practice room, Luo Yan cast a curious glance at the group of skeleton soldiers.

On the table lay something resembling a sewing machine, with leather belts winding around the flywheel, connected to both the pedal and the rods beneath the table.

A player with the ID "Zheng Fangxing" sat in front of the table, meticulously moving a block of granite while pedaling.

Indeed, the contraption was not just like a sewing machine; it was one.

Previously, Brother Zheng had received an order from the first leather factory in the Great Graveyard, which required the creation of a pedal-operated sewing machine. He had spent two weeks studying the device, and it was only missing the final hook and shuttle. He figured he might as well modify the semi-finished machine and use it for inscription engraving.

As it turned out, it was extraordinarily handy!

Driven by the connecting rods and flywheel, the needle, attached to a spring rod, struck the surface of the granite Practice Stone at a rate of N times per second, utterly outperforming manual punching in terms of efficiency!

And that's not all!

By adjusting the spring rod above the needle, one could also adjust the force of each impact, maximizing the compatibility with the material! This avoided punching too deeply or too shallowly, thus preventing the material from breaking.

With a series of crisp "clangs," he poked hundreds of dense dots onto the surface of the Practice Stone in just a few breaths.

"Done!"

With a light pull of the engraving tool across the dotted array, the dots immediately connected into lines!

Zheng Fangxing stylishly brushed off the dust from his hands and showed off the Practice Stone to the other apprentices around him.

Seeing the neatly engraved "Netherworld Language," which looked as if it had been printed, the onlooking players couldn't help but exclaim from the bottom of their hearts.

"66666!"

"Holy shit, bro! Your craftsmanship is amazing!!"

"Is this modified from a sewing machine??"

"Bro, how long did you get sentenced for?"

Zheng Fangxing: "Get lost! You're the one who got sentenced! I'm a legitimate craftsman with legitimate skills!"

Watching the star amongst them, Zheng, getting all the attention, one who had downed the chemistry pool grumbled sourly at the side.

"Don't forget this was my idea!"

Clearly, Brother Zheng had forgotten.

But whether he forgot or not, this contraption was his design, and it had nothing to do with this guy who could only shout "666."

Seeing everybody's envious gaze fixed on the machine in his hands, the business-minded Brother Zheng also chuckled, finally revealing the fangs hidden behind his smile—

Or rather, his human nature.

"Gentlemen, I've finished my homework! Who else needs to complete their assignment? Don't worry, my machine is not expensive, just 1000 Joss Paper for half an hour!"

The so-called homework referred to the tasks that Oke assigned to the apprentices. Each person had to submit 10 Practice Stones daily, and if one received at least a C rating after practicing for a week, they could move on to the next subject.

Using this machine, achieving an A-rating every day for seven days wouldn't be a problem!

Most importantly, it saved time!

Manually carving Netherworld Language was really tedious, and it could delay leveling time, something that most players striving for excellence couldn't tolerate.

But—

1000 Joss Paper was damn expensive!

Before Brother Zheng's voice died away, it was drowned out by a wave of exclamations.

"Damn!"

"You call this cheap?!"

"That's enough for my buddy to hit the toilet five times!!"

The one who had drunk from the chemistry pool clenched his fists even tighter, adding fuel to the flames.

"The curse of the capitalists!"

Zheng Fangxing's soul fire flared within his skull as he glared at the guy playing the thief shouting to catch the thief.

"The hell?! I'm a capitalist now??? Don't be ridiculous—"

"Guys! Confiscate it from him!"

"Roar!!!"

"@#￥&%!"

Confiscation, of course, was out of the question. Even if game rules allowed for it, in the end, it would only end up benefiting the Demon King.

Amidst the raucous crowd, the farce ended when Brother Zheng compromised, changing his hourly fee to a "membership package that guarantees task completion."

1000 Joss Paper for an hour was a bit painful, but a weekly task guarantee for 10,000 Joss Paper seemed more acceptable to most players.

Once they became familiar with the machine's use, most people wouldn't need more than an hour a day; they might even complete the assignment in just half an hour.

Originally, according to Oke's plans, it would have taken these apprentices at least six hours to finish crafting ten samples...

It wasn't just the players who were shocked.

It was also the two "NPCs" standing at the doorway.

Watching his apprentice create another finished sample, Oke excitedly turned to Luo Yan beside him, dancing with joy as he said,

"Look! Lord Demon King! You must understand what Oke is trying to say! This is simply... simply unbelievable! How did Your Minions... come up with such a method?"

To be honest, if the game had a public chat feature, Luo Yan would have been tempted to spam "666" in support of this guy.

Although this wasn't any remarkable technology, coming up with the idea to use it here was not easy at all, and adapting it to the local conditions was even more impressive.

"Indeed impressive."

They were truly his minions!

Seeing that the Lord Demon King indeed understood his point, Oke became even more excited, clenching his fists and speaking with renewed energy,

"If we had such a punching tool... we could further lower the skill requirements for apprentices! Even the dumbest goblins could undertake the task of carving inscriptions! Lord Demon King, Oke strongly suggests that we acquire several more of these devices!"

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