Leader of the Ark Raiders

"I'm sorry." Xiao Linguang said in a low voice.

She lowered her head and saw that she was still holding on to his wrist, which she did when she was leading him for a run.

Hmm...can I not let go now?

But immediately after, Shen Cangye flicked his wrist and broke free from her.

"Let me check the map." Shen Cangye took out the phone from his pocket.

Maria was a little hurt, the smile on her face disappeared, she withdrew her hand embarrassingly, "Oh good... I'll go with you."

"Our car is left at the gate of the craftsman association, let's go back and get the car first." Shen Cangye said.

He handed the phone to his left hand, and held her hand with his right.

"Ah." Maria whispered softly.

"What?" Shen Cangye stopped moving.

"No, it's nothing, I'll go with you." The Kuranta girl pursed her lips, suppressing the corners of her mouth that rose wildly.

... That night, during the video chat with Aunt Zofia, Maria was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth from ear to ear.

"——what's so happy? You're grinning so much that the corners of your mouth almost reach your ears." Zofia couldn't help but say.

"Because—because today is the best day! Today he—ah, today I passed the qualifiers of the forging competition!"

And in her diary, it is recorded honestly: Today is the best day, he held my hand.

Maria's whole body was in a state of excitement.

She has almost forgotten that tomorrow is the day to really enter the forging workshop and compete with other people.

753. A Heavy Armor Who Doesn’t Want to Be a Blacksmith Is Not a Good Knight

Sure enough, as Manisa said, the second round of qualifiers was forged in the field.

In the city of Yasenus, more than a dozen forging workshops, large and small, were rented out.

All contestants are assigned to compete in random forging workshops.

Using the same size steel, they will forge a weapon of the specified shape and size on site.

The weapons forged by the contestants will be handed over to the judges for review.

The judges will observe the perfection of the forged product, whether there are cracks or defects, etc., and finally give a score.

Shen Cangye accompanied Maria to the forging workshop closest to their residence.

After completing the registration, Maria stepped onto the forging station.

Shen Cangye sat down in the auditorium beside the workshop and watched her.

At this point, the game has not yet started.

There were more than a dozen people sitting sparsely in the auditorium, most of them were family members of the contestants.

This is a medium-sized forging workshop, the walls are all unpainted gray walls, and there is an exhaust vent on the top of the workshop, which is very rough.

There are ten forging stations in the workshop, and each forging station is equipped with basic tools, such as iron tongs and forging hammers.

The rest is the machine that Shen Cangye can't name.

The referees and judges of the competition were sitting at the front of the forging area, chatting.

When Maria walked to the forging station, they were obviously surprised.

Obviously, the proportion of women among blacksmiths is extremely low, let alone young girls like Maria.

In an instant, all eyes were on Xiao Linguang.

Sister Xiaguang shrank uncomfortably, and turned her gaze to someone in the auditorium, looking for someone's figure.

Those eyes that were chasing her also turned to the auditorium, understood something, and then stopped looking at her fiercely.

Shen Cangye gave her an encouraging look, and Maria smiled.

Today she was wearing a neat vest and overalls, with her blonde hair coiled up, which was the most comfortable and convenient attire.

Not long after, the host walked to the center of the forging workshop and announced the start of the qualifiers.

"Gentlemen—! Ah, no, everyone..." The host glanced at the only woman before realizing that he had made a mistake.

He quickly corrected his speech, and then said: "Everyone, on the workbench in front of you, there are two pieces of steel, one high-carbon steel and one low-carbon steel. Your task is to combine high-carbon steel and low-carbon steel. Together, make a battle-axe!"

Every contestant's full attention is listening to the host's explanation carefully.

"The design dimensions of the battle ax are also on the workbench in front of you. You have up to six hours to complete your work!"

"In addition," he pointed to the raw material area on the side of the workshop, "the handle of the ax handle also needs to be made by you yourself from wood!"

"—Now, let's get to work, master blacksmiths."

As soon as the host finished speaking, everyone jumped into action.

If you want to join two pieces of steel together for forging, the first step is welding.

Maria's reaction was also very fast, she immediately started preheating the high carbon steel and annealing it.

This is for the convenience of welding with low carbon steel so as to obtain a complete billet for forging.

While waiting for the warm-up, she began to study the drawings.

Shen Cangye looked at the timing board on the wall of the workshop, lost in thought.

It seems that this battle ax only needs to be completed within six hours.

But it's not without competition.

There is only one group of judges.

The further you get to the back, the more tired the judges will be, and the judging standards will involuntarily become stricter.

Therefore, works completed earlier have a higher pass rate to a certain extent.

Before long, several blacksmiths had finished welding the steel, and put the billet made of high-carbon steel and low-carbon steel into the forge for heating.

The forging process is difficult to say.

In short: heat the forged material, wait for it to reach a certain temperature, and deform it by manual hammering or machine stamping.

The two steps of heating and stamping will be repeated until the billet is shaped and finally enters the quenching stage.

The so-called "thousands of tempering" means that after countless times of hammering and smelting, a weapon becomes an indestructible weapon.

Maria was the first batch of craftsmen to start tempering.

Wearing thick labor gloves, she used tongs to take out the red-hot steel billet from the forge, after being forged by a punching machine, it was placed on an anvil for further shaping.

Every time she swung the forging hammer up and down, the streamlined muscles were like mercury, disappearing from the waist, appearing on the arms, and then disappearing again.

Thin beads of sweat slid down the texture of the muscles, carrying wet moisture.

Unlike men, her muscles are not convoluted, but slender and graceful, looming, not the result of deliberate practice, but exercised in daily work.

When this slender figure started to swing the forging hammer, the eyes of several craftsmen around her were attracted to her.

The host had no choice but to approach and knock on the table, so that those people had to withdraw their slightly rude gazes.

Soon, the steel billet cooled down, and Maria threw the half-formed steel billet back into the furnace for heating.

She exhaled and wiped the sweat with a towel.

Then, she suddenly realized that there was a particularly important person in the auditorium.

Sister Xia Guang quickly straightened her bangs and straightened her clothes.

After thinking about it, she simply leaned on the workbench and began to shape it.

"Wouldn't it be more charming to think?"

Maria thought about it, put her arms around her chest, and put her chin on the other hand as if thinking, and stole the eyes of several craftsmen.

After the Kuranta girl posed, she couldn't help but want to look at the auditorium.

But looking back, she felt that her appearance should be a little colder, and she suddenly fell into a situation where she wanted to take a peek but didn't dare to.

"Miss." The host knocked on her table.

"Huh?" Maria was taken aback.

The host kindly reminded, "Time is limited, I suggest you to prepare the wood for the handle of the tomahawk when you are taking a peek at your sweetheart."

"Oh...oh yes!" Maria almost jumped up.

The actions of cooperating with his concave shape are clearly seen by others.

She blushed and ran to the side of the workshop in a panic.

Shen Cangye couldn't help shaking her head as she watched her long hair coiled into a small ball bouncing with the movements.

this girl...

Suddenly, someone sat beside him.

"Sir, you are here with Miss Maria Linguang, aren't you?" The man held out his hand to her as a handshake gesture.

Shen Cangye glanced at him unexpectedly, and immediately frowned, "Are you—?"

754. Is there a conflict between the hardcore blacksmith and the soft girl?

Sitting next to Shen Cangye was a Kuranta man.

He was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, which was very different from the casual clothes of the others in the audience.

"Are you...?" Shen Cangye looked at him.

There are not many kuranta in Minos, a country dominated by rich hooves.

Besides, she was still dressed so formally.

It's weird at first glance, okay?

"Hi, my name is Wojchet, from Kazimir." The Kuranta man handed over a business card.

Shen Cangye also took a look at the business card and understood.

This Kuranta man was from Casimir's Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Rose Press.

"Commercial Federation." Shen Cangye smiled.

It's been a long time since I heard this name.

Casimir does not change because of anyone's actions.

No matter what he did in Casimir then, the selfish pursuit of capital in a country that entertained to death would not change.

"You must have heard of our company, right?" Wojchet said, "Please allow me to introduce you to our Rose Newspaper..."

Regardless of whether he listened or not, he spoke like a master.

Shen Cangye waited for him to finish, before saying: "Of course I've heard of the name Rose Newspaper."

A bit of pride and pride appeared in Wojchet's eyes.

He then asked: "I have something about Miss Maria Linguang. I want to consult you. What's your name?"

Presumably, seeing the other party show respect to Rose Newspaper.

The tone of this little reporter quickly turned into a tone of business-like urging others to interview.

To reassure him, Wojchter added, "I won't ask you too personal questions, and you will have the opportunity to appear in our media."

Shen Cangye used his words to ask him back, "Have you heard of Maria Linguang's partner?"

Wojchet was stunned for a moment, apparently stunned by the question.

He played back what he had just said in his mind.

Maria Linguang's partner?

—Wait, that person is! ?

So, he, he is...