「Twenty minutes later.」
The heavy metal doors of the testing workshop finally slid open.
A testing staff member walked out briskly, clutching a report.
Liao Ming was the first to rush forward.
He was so nervous his neck was flushed red.
"How is it?"
"Is that the result for Han Feng from our group?"
The tester shook his head.
"No."
"This is the report for the second jet that was sent in, Apprentice Chen Gang's."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Yi and Chen Gang immediately surrounded him.
Although both were confident, they couldn't help but feel their breathing quicken.
"Congratulations!"
The tester smiled and handed the report to Chen Gang.
"A flawless repair."
"All malfunctions have been eliminated. The jet's performance has been restored to 94.8% of its factory state. Rating: Excellent!"
"WHOA—"
A wave of irrepressible applause and admiration swept through the crowd.
94.8%!
For a decommissioned jet that had been worn down to a near-wreck, this figure was like a miraculous resurrection.
For context, 70% was a pass, 80% was good, and only 90% and above was considered "excellent."
For an apprentice who hadn't even graduated to achieve this, he was truly worthy of his reputation as a genius.
Chen Gang looked at the number on the report, the corners of his mouth lifting high.
His gaze swept toward Han Feng in the corner, full of a victor's provocation.
Zhang Yi was grinning from ear to ear.
He deliberately walked over to Liao Ming and Han Feng, clasping his hands behind his back and assuming the posture of an elder.
"Xiaohan, did you see that?"
"This is what you call professional."
"94.8%. Now that's a hard metric."
"You may have been half an hour faster, but in the maintenance business, safety is first and quality is king."
"The biggest taboo for a young man is rushing ahead for credit."
He then looked at Liao Ming, his smile tinged with a hint of pity.
"Old Liao, don't be discouraged."
"Your apprentice might be a bit impetuous, but his hand speed isn't bad."
"Just have him work on his temperament. There's always next year."
Liao Ming was so angry he was grinding his teeth. He was about to speak, but Han Feng gently stopped him.
Han Feng just smiled and nodded, looking as though he was taking the lesson to heart.
"Teacher Zhang is right. Quality is indeed very important."
"Mm, a teachable young man."
Zhang Yi raised his chin in satisfaction, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of playing the grand sage.
Just then, Liao Ming couldn't hold it in any longer.
He yelled at the tester, who hadn't left yet.
"Hey!"
"What about the report for Han Feng from our group?"
"He finished half an hour before Chen Gang, how is it not out yet?"
That shout made the smiles on Zhang Yi's and Chen Gang's faces grow even wider.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Zhang Yi scoffed.
His voice wasn't loud, but it was just loud enough for everyone around to hear him clearly.
"There must be too many problems, or he didn't fix it at all."
"The testers are probably going through it, checking every single fault point. That's why it's so slow."
Chen Gang also shook his head, a perfectly calibrated look of "pity" in his eyes.
However, the tester hadn't left.
He scratched his head, his expression extremely odd.
"Um..."
"Apprentice Han Feng's jet... it was actually tested a while ago."
"Then why don't you have the report?"
Liao Ming's heart leaped into his throat.
"It's because..."
The tester stammered, as if trying to figure out how to phrase it.
"Because the data is a little... off."
"Our team leader was afraid the equipment was malfunctioning, so he's switching to the backup system to run a third verification test."
"The data is off?"
Zhang Yi's eyes lit up, and he laughed out loud.
"I told you so!"
"He must have broken it during the repair!"
"Hahaha, Old Liao, are you ready to write that incident report?"
...
「Inside the testing workshop.」
The team leader in charge of testing Han Feng's jet was clutching two reports, his forehead drenched in sweat.
He sprinted all the way to the break room, bursting in on Zhao Yu, who was drinking tea.
"Engineer Zhao! Engineer Zhao! You have to come see this!"
Zhao Yu put down his teacup, his brow furrowing into a knot.
"What's all the panic about?"
"Is the jet not fixed?"
"If there's a problem, send it back for rework. Those are the rules."
"N-no... it's not that it wasn't fixed."
The team leader gulped hard and shoved the reports right in Zhao Yu's face.
"We've tested it three times, using two different machines."
"This jet's performance parameters... no matter how we test it, they come out to 100.5%!"
Zhao Yu's hand trembled violently.
Scalding tea splashed onto the back of his hand, but he didn't feel a thing.
"What did you say?"
"100.5%!"
The team leader sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
"This is just too outrageous!"
"Its performance is higher than a brand-new jet fresh from the factory!"
"Engineer Zhao, this isn't scientific! Is it possible all our testing stations are broken?"
Zhao Yu shot to his feet and snatched the reports.
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
'Performance didn't just not degrade, it improved after repairs?'
'Did he bless the engine or something?!'
...
Outside the testing workshop, the atmosphere had grown tense.
Zhang Yi paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, unable to hide the smile on his face.
He glanced again at Liao Ming, who was craning his neck to see, and was about to offer a few more words of "guidance."
Just then, the doors to the testing workshop were thrown open with a loud CLANG.
Zhao Yu stormed out, clutching the report tightly in his hand.
He was moving so quickly his collar was askew.
His expression was a complex mix of shock, elation, and the utter disbelief of someone who had just seen a ghost.
"Engineer Zhao!"
Zhang Yi's eyes gleamed as he hurried up to be the first to speak.
"Were the kid's numbers so absurd that they broke the machines?"
As he spoke, he deliberately turned to look at Liao Ming and raised his voice.
"Old Liao, I told you young people shouldn't be so eager for quick results."
"Now look what's happened. He'll probably have to pay for the testing equipment's repair fees."
Chen Gang stood to the side without speaking, but the curve of his lips said it all.
'It's in the bag.'
Liao Ming ignored Zhang Yi's blustering and just stared intently at the paper in Zhao Yu's hand.
His palms were covered in cold sweat.
Zhao Yu stopped and let his gaze sweep over Zhang Yi's and Chen Gang's faces.
His expression was so strange it made one's hair stand on end.
"Who told you the machine was giving errors because the numbers were bad?"
Zhang Yi froze.
"Huh?"
"You mean he didn't fail to fix it?"
Zhao Yu didn't say a word, simply slapping the report he was holding against Zhang Yi's chest.
"See for yourself."
Zhang Yi instinctively caught it and looked down.
Chen Gang immediately leaned in, curious.
It only took one glance.
The smiles on the master and apprentice's faces froze in place.
Their smug, self-satisfied expressions were instantly frozen, looking utterly ridiculous.
In the comprehensive performance assessment section at the very bottom of the report, a line of bold, red text and numbers was printed:
[Performance Recovery Rate: 100.5%]
[Rating: Perfect (Exceeds Factory Standards)]
"Th-this... how is this... possible?!"
Zhang Yi's voice was so shrill it cracked.
He snapped his head up, staring at Zhao Yu, his voice trembling.
"Engineer Zhao, the machine! It must be broken!"
"Or the sensors are short-circuited!"
"A perfect restoration would be 95% at best, how could anyone possibly repair it to 100.5%?"
"This violates the law of conservation of Energy!"
Chen Gang was also dumbfounded, his mind buzzing.
The intellectual framework he was so proud of was shattered in an instant.
'Exceeds factory standards?'
'Did he just repair it, or did he dismantle the engine and redesign it from scratch?'
Zhao Yu snorted coldly, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his white lab coat, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
"At first, I also thought the machine was broken."
"So, we switched to two different backup testing stations."
"And we had three different High Level technicians each run three separate cross-verification tests."
Zhao Yu pointed at the report and said, word by word.
"This is the final result."
"There was no misjudgment."
The scene fell deathly silent.
All the spectating apprentices and mentors stood with their mouths agape.
They looked from the report, which seemed like a divine oracle, to Han Feng, who had been standing in the corner looking innocent the entire time.
An absurd thought popped into everyone's mind.
'This wasn't a competition on the same level.'
'Everyone else was being tested on their repair skills.'
'He was putting on a show of how to turn a pile of scrap metal into a Divine Weapon.'
'Even better than new.'
This was already beyond anyone's comprehension.
Absurd.
So absurd, it made all other absurd things look sane.