The Geared Immortal

An Academy Life: 14

/*unedited*/

A bustling crowd is surrounding a young man who stood calmly in the middle of the many different kinds of people. From the clothing of the people, they seem to look like teachers from the academy.

Suddenly, Shin Jiao saw a person from the group which looks familiar to him. That person is Elder Jugs, one of the people which Shin Jiao has a little familiarity with. In their travel towards the Great City of Wu, they have encountered a lot and became friends along with the others.

So when their eyes met, Shin Jiao nods slightly towards Elder Jugs and smiled. Upon seeing the calm expression of Shin Jiao, Elder Jugs heaves a sigh of relief. He knows that Shin Jiao has a magnificent ability when it comes to crafting.

But the problem they are facing right now is different from any normal artifacts. When Shin Jiao made those artificial arms and a leg inside the wagon he used some simple crafting style. Though it was quite intricate however Elder Jugs didn't pry deeply into it as he knows that Shin Jiao has his own secrets. But since they are friends he is sure that the young man would treat him that badly.

Suddenly when the people started to discuss and ask questions about the young man in front of them and seems like Gu Ouyang is giving too much importance to him they began to discuss in a hushed voice.

"Who is he?"

"I don't know, maybe a new assistant for Master Ouyang."

"I think he does not belong to our crafting department. He is not wearing a crafting department badge."

"Well, he is not wearing any badge at all."

"Then, is he not a student of the academy?"

Upon hearing the words of the people around them, Gu Ouyang smiled and actually expected such a thing so he didn't let the people around them wonder and think more.

"Everyone… I think you are wondering who this young man is?" Gu Ouyang suddenly asked.

Before going to this place, Gu Ouyang has already determined to bring Shin Jiao after seeing the diagram which he drew while having a match with Sai Wu. As he stopped that match, everyone was dumbfounded. They were all astounded especially when he dragged Shin Jiao along with him after stopping the match.

At that time Shin Jiao felt helpless but didn't complain. He already partly expected such a reaction so he just himself be taken away.

On the way in this place, Gu Ouyang and Shin Jiao became familiar with each other and that they acknowledge their meeting in the Crafting Association branch in the Wu Kingdom.

Gu Ouyang told Shin Jiao the importance of the artifact they called the phone and what it could entail in the progress of the citizen in the kingdom. The two made some secret deal which benefited both parties. Shin Jiao's goal is to use the mad power of the Academy in the kingdom of Wu to hasten the building of communication relay.

This way he can communicate with the group in the underground base in the town of Dis as early as possible.

"This young man is Shin Jiao and is a new student of the academy." Gu Ouyang said as he introduces Shin Jiao to the people around him.

"He will be a special addition to our group of researchers, who would research the phone." Gu Ouyang said.

After saying that the people around them suddenly began to discuss in a hush, but their words can still be heard. Suddenly a woman wearing a teacher's robe of the academy raised her hand and asked.

"Teacher Ouyang… isn't this too much? He is just a commoner… How can he help with this research?"

"Yeah that right, we are already having a hard time finding the solution for this complex runes and arrays, how can just some nobody help us?"

After the teacher asked that question, everyone also showed their dissatisfaction with Shin Jiao. This is true especially to the young men in this room. When Shin Jiao appears, the young women who are an apprentice in this place suddenly had their eyes lit up. This made most of the young men felt unsatisfied and as if with a tacit understanding, they wanted to kick Shin Jiao out.

"You all have no say about this. I just wanted to introduce him to all of you… He will be my assistant." Gu Ouyang said with a stubborn look on his face.

Nobody expected this outcome. Gu Ouyang is an eccentric middle-aged man and would not just have an apprentice. Most of his apprentices are already famous and are well-known artificer. So upon seeing the young man who looks nothing like an artificer everyone began to doubt what Gu Ouyang said.

But since they have already met the young man, they didn't pay much attention to him anymore. All of the people in this place have their own special identity and expertise, although some are just assistants yet as a student, they are above their peers. Upon seeing that Shin Jiao was admitted by Gu Ouyang most of the people have nothing to say about it.

When everyone dispersed back to their work, Elder Jugs suddenly walks towards Shin Jiao and Gu Ouyang.

"Well, isn't this a surprise… we met again young man. How are you and the others doing? I haven't left this place since coming back." Elder Jugs said with a smile.

When Gu Ouyang heard this he was astounded. He knows what Elder Jugs' status is in the kingdom. He is one of the most trusted advisers of the king and is a part of the royal family. So since he knows Shin Jiao, Gu Ouyang felt that there seems to be a connection between the two.

Upon seeing the confused look on Gu Ouyang's face, Shin Jiao smiled and decided to explain a little.

"Elder Jugs and I met while traveling." Shin Jiao said explained in a short sentence.

"Ow, I see… Well, Elder Jugs likes to travel all over the kingdom so it's not a surprise." Gu Ouyang said as if he already had an idea of what happened.

"So, young Shin, are you going to help with this artifact?" Elder Jugs asked.

"Ah… well, actually this is not an artifact." Shin Jiao said.

When the other students heard this a sneer appears on their faces. They have worked in this place for weeks now without a result. They really found the array inside the thing called 'phone' complicated. Plus its function and how it works are really mindboggling.

The idea behind this tool is very simple; one can talk to other people in the opposite line and vice versa. But the complex array, though low-level, is truly terrifying. Even with the help of many array masters, they find it hard to follow; hence the progress of the work on the phone is taking them a lot of time.

Many have tried to imitate the function, just like what Sai Wu did, but it is just a one-way use and is not an acceptable result.

When Shin Jiao saw the sneer on the faces of the people who pretend to be busy, he just smiled.

Then he walks towards a table with a blank sheet of paper on it. He then took out a writing tool in his spatial tool. Since the people in this place uses writing brush, Shin Jiao felt that it is too primitive and made his own ink pen.

On the blank sheet of paper, he began drawing a flow chart.

When the students and teachers saw this they wanted to step forward and stop the pretentious young man. They didn't want him to waste the time of Elder Jugs and Master Ouyang. But they restrained themselves in front of the two famous people.

Not long later, silence permeated through the air. Only the light scratching of Shin Jiao's pen can be heard as it travels through the coarse paper.

Everyone is already dumbfounded at what they are seeing. The reason why they are shocked is that Shin Jiao is actually drawing the pattern of how the phone would work.

In the flow chart, he drew the receiver and transmitter function of the phone. Then he added a thing called the relay station and signal booster. Then there was the thing called radio wave which is new to everyone in this place. After the flow chart, Shin Jiao began to draw the basic diagram of the phone.

While drawing, Gu Ouyang excitedly acted as he adds some paper to the place where the diagram would not fit. Seeing the control of Gu Ouyang when he sticks the two paper flawlessly, Shin Jiao was astounded in his heart.

It took him a couple of hours before he finished the drawing, but none of the people around him made any noise. No one even left their place even after a long time. Only those assistants who scurry out to light up the place left as it began to grow darker.

When Shin Jiao finished the complete diagram, it was already midnight. Yet when he lifted his head, he was astonished to find that all of the teachers have their eyes glued on the diagrams. He can even feel the spiritual sense of some of them as they look through the other diagrams piled up in the corner.

Upon seeing that Shin Jiao is done, Gu Ouyang's hand suddenly trembled as he carefully looks at the coarse paper with lines and written words on them.

"This… this is the complete array for the thing called phone right?" Gu Ouyang asked while looking at the drawing on the table.

He carefully looks at it as if it were some precious item; his hands even trembled while he scrutinized the lines and the array.

Nobody dared to doubt this as they have already seen the array on the phone and that same array exists in the blueprint that Shin Jiao just made. So right now, everyone was dumbfounded and had a couple of questions in their mind.

"Who is he? And how did he know the array diagram?"

Beside the stunned Elder Jugs, a teacher asks him in a hushed tone.

"Elder Jugs, how did he know about the arrays?"

"You're asking me, but who do I ask then?" Elder Jugs muttered.