Your shooting skills are just average...
Lu Wenjue went to the company for a meeting early in the morning.
Qianye Stage Design Studio was a mid-sized local enterprise. Thanks to a group of loyal old clients, they were doing quite well overall.
When Lu Wenjue submitted her proposal, higher-ups showed a rather skeptical attitude: mainly because the website looked completely sketchy and unregulated!
The management suspected that she had been scammed by some AI-generated video. Who could guarantee that the seller wouldn't just take the money and run? But Lu Wenjue had prepared a demonstration video of the mechanical butterfly—
Using her younger sister's Blue Morpho butterfly. Lu Xiyu had refused to let her take the actual butterfly to the company, so a video was all she could provide.
"We primarily handle projects like company annual meeting performances and celebration events, but I believe this butterfly could also deliver a stunning effect on large stages like concerts," Lu Wenjue said during the meeting. "We are very lucky. Currently, this butterfly hasn't been discovered anywhere else online. It's on the expensive side, classifying as a high-end toy, and right now, we are the only ones who have thought of using it for stage performances."
She had also asked that aloof customer service representative and learned that the mechanical butterfly wasn't being mass-produced on an assembly line. It was entirely handmade and assembled, so it was impossible to ship out in large quantities in the short term. If Qianye Stage could build a reputation through special performances featuring these mechanical butterflies during this period, the company might be able to seize the opportunity to expand its scale.
This was an opportunity!
Perhaps because Lu Wenjue's pitch was so persuasive, she first convinced her manager, who then helped persuade the big boss during the meeting.
They made the final decision to order a small custom batch first and try applying the mechanical butterflies to an event next week. If the results were good, they would attempt to place a long-term order with the Mechanic.
According to the model demonstration, they needed twelve butterflies of varying sizes to fly alongside the performer during the show. Therefore, aside from six normal-sized ones, the other six needed to be custom-made. The trading website quoted twenty-one thousand.
The amount wasn't too large, but Lu Wenjue was still nervous. She transferred the deposit and requested the Mechanic to send two normal-sized mechanical butterflies first. After leaving the conference room, Lu Wenjue went back to revise her PPT for a while and continued working on the model demonstration on her computer. Then, the delivery arrived.
Wait a minute... didn't this delivery arrive a little too fast?
Upon learning that it was the mechanical butterfly, the other people in the office gathered around. A colleague from the next desk watched her unbox it and said, "Doesn't it have obstacle avoidance? Why not try flying it in the office?"
Their office was filled with quite a few performance props, and the corners were a complete mess, making it the perfect place to test the butterfly's obstacle avoidance capabilities.
Lu Wenjue put on the wristband and slowly followed the instructions to turn it on and pair it. The butterfly's golden wings fluttered open and closed, and the next second, it flapped its wings and took flight.
The people around exclaimed, "Wow!"
It looked too exquisite, too much like a real butterfly. However, its painted color was a brilliant gold, allowing people to easily tell that it wasn't a living creature with a soul, which made them even more amazed by its performance.
Lu Wenjue tried putting the wristband under the desk. The butterfly avoided the books and the computer, flew a circle around her, and ducked underneath to gently rest against the screen... In the subsequent tests, it also flew with great agility. From a distance, it looked like a shimmering golden autumn leaf. Lu Wenjue couldn't help but imagine the scene during the performance: a swarm of butterflies, large and small, flying around the performer along a pre-designed route, and at the exact moment the performance ended, they would land on the performer. As the spotlight hit them, their wings would gleam radiantly... This scene would definitely become a classic.
Someone reached out to catch it but didn't dare use any force. The butterfly brushed past his palm, its weight as light as a shadow. Lu Wenjue operated the control panel, making the butterfly land on her own shoulder.
"Phew..." She let out a breath, but her eyes were sparkling brightly. "I think we can start designing the stage around the butterfly's effects!"
She needed to urge the Mechanic's website to ship the rest as soon as possible. Next week's performance was going to be filmed by the local television station!
-
Lin Fuque was fishing.
However, Ge Pingbo, who was beside her, noticed that rather than fishing, the child seemed more like she was spacing out.
She held the fishing rod in one hand while her other hand moved around in the empty air, as if she were practicing her hand speed.
Taking advantage of the moment Lin Fuque lifted her rod, he asked, "Are you feeling too bored?"
"Hmm?" Lin Fuque shook her head. "No, I'm just studying."
Beside her leg sat a small red bucket. The little fishes inside were all meant to be taken back as extra meals for Rose and her babies, so Lin Fuque didn't feel that fishing was meaningless or boring.
But that didn't stop her from taking online classes while fishing.
She had learned a little trick. In fact, entering the training space, participating in the badge exam, and then forfeiting the exam only required closing her eyes for two or three seconds. Afterward, the half-hour lesson could be played on her interface exactly like watching a cartoon.
So while fishing, Lin Fuque was studying the maintenance tutorial courses for the Mechanical Butterfly and the Wind Energy Hand Cannon.
"Grandpa, I want to become an amazing and responsible person," Lin Fuque said very seriously. "Even if I can't beat a kitty in a fight, it doesn't matter."
A child's train of thought was always very erratic. Although Ge Pingbo couldn't quite understand, he still felt she made a good point and encouraged her, "You might not necessarily lose to... uh, a cat? But there's no need to fight with kitties anyway. Why not try being friends?"
This sentiment actually stemmed from Lin Fuque selling the mechanical butterfly set. The butterfly she had previously given Lu Xiyu was a gift; if it broke, she could just fix it. However, the ones she sold were merchandise. Even though broken items could be exchanged, Lin Fuque still hoped they would be more user-friendly, more stable, and ideally, never break at all.
But currently, she hadn't completely mastered this blueprint. She was merely like an assembly line worker, able to produce them highly efficiently (and without gaining any experience points).
Therefore, she felt she needed to study hard to take responsibility for the things she sold.
Besides, it was actually quite fun.
She would even occasionally get completely engrossed while watching the videos.
"You're right too, Grandpa," Lin Fuque sighed. "If only Little Yellow didn't hate me."
Ge Pingbo pulled up his rod. "Is Little Yellow that white cat who gave birth yesterday?"
When they met, Lin Fuque had already told him about what happened last night. Ge Pingbo hadn't expected there to be a follow-up to the cat sneaking into the cage. Now, the cat had given birth to three kittens. Lin Fuque had showed him the photos: one pure white, one pure black, and the skinniest one, which could clearly be identified as a tuxedo cat.
The three tiny kittens were drinking milk in their mother's embrace, and the balcony had been temporarily set up as a living space for the cats.
"Little Yellow is the fiercest and highest-level cat in the neighborhood." Lin Fuque raised her hand and gestured, indicating that Little Yellow was at the very top, in a position high above her head. "The white cat is Rose. Her level actually isn't low either, just a little bit lower than Little Yellow."
So there were even levels to this. Ge Pingbo was curious. "Then what about me?"
Lin Fuque glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, moved her hand down a notch, thought about it, and then moved it down a little bit more.
Ge Pingbo: So in your eyes, I can't even beat a cat, right? No, I can't beat two of them...
Lin Fuque stated: "Grandpa is two levels higher than me."
Ge Pingbo: That's nothing to be happy about.
The two of them fished for a while. Lin Fuque looked at the surface of the lake, picked up her small stool, and signaled for Ge Pingbo to follow her. They changed locations again. The fish here were obviously more active, but Lin Fuque looked around and found that there was still no fish as big as the one that had given her experience points yesterday.
Sigh, she had even brought a water gun today.
The two stood a few meters apart and cast their lines into the lake in unison. The surroundings quieted down again until Lin Fuque heard the barking of a dog.
"Hello, Grandpa Ge," Shi Feiming called out as he walked over with Wuhua on a leash. He handed Lin Fuque a plastic bag. "These are the leftover pee pads from when Wuhua was a puppy. You can use them for the kittens."
He had received the photos Lin Fuque sent that morning, along with the message "mother and babies are safe," so he simply rummaged through his house... Dog pee pads could be used for kittens anyway.
Lin Fuque: "Thank you, Wuhua!"
Shi Feiming: Wait, shouldn't you be thanking me?
Then Lin Fuque started petting Wuhua. Shi Feiming suspected she just wanted an excuse to pet his dog.
He opened his mouth but didn't speak: the kittens were still too small, and his family already had a large dog like Wuhua. If those three kittens really couldn't be adopted out later, they could discuss it then.
He looked around again. "Where is Lu Xiyu?" Why wasn't he here?
Lin Fuque: "Little Yu's mother came back from her business trip, so he has to stay home and do his summer homework."
However, Lu Xiyu had secretly texted her, saying he had hidden a notebook under his summer homework and was drawing an "Appliance Repair" flyer for Lin Fuque. Once he finished, he would print it out and hand it out all over the neighborhood.
"Oh..." Shi Feiming didn't have anyone forcing him to do homework. He turned to leave, but his gaze suddenly fell on the camouflage water gun nearby.
Lin Fuque saw it too and was about to say something when she suddenly turned her head—as if she had eyes on the back of her head and noticed something—then she directly picked up the water gun, took two steps forward to stand flush against the railing, rested the water gun on it, and pulled the trigger with perfect posture.
Shi Feiming: "..."
Alright, he knew she was going to use it, so he wouldn't ask anymore.
"Snap!"
That didn't sound like water shooting out, did it?
Ripples spread across the lake's surface, and the lotus leaves swayed. Lin Fuque only shot once, but when she turned her head back, her expression was filled with deep disbelief. She said, "I missed."
Well, it looks like your shooting skills are just so-so...
Although Shi Feiming really wanted to make a sarcastic remark, he couldn't resist looking in that direction. He saw a large lotus leaf spinning on the surface of the lake, with its severed stem visible next to it. Obviously, Lin Fuque had shot something unknown and snapped the leaf.
If that was a miss, what was she aiming at?
Seeing his curiosity, Lin Fuque pointed to the faintly visible bubbles next to the lotus leaf and whispered, "There's a big fish right there."
Shi Feiming didn't see any big fish, but he glanced at Lin Fuque, reached out to take the gun, and aimed at the bubbles...
"Snap!"
The water gun didn't shoot out water, but the pitiful lotus bud nearby exploded.
"You missed too." Seeing Shi Feiming standing there in a daze, Lin Fuque narrowed her eyes, looking very regretful. "The fish has already run away."
She originally thought she could gain experience points by shooting fish with the water gun's ice bullets, but thinking about it now, she had overestimated herself.
Aiming at a target the size of a fish, underwater, with an average-accuracy water gun—missing was the norm.
She might as well just wish to catch another one with her fishing rod.
But Shi Feiming was still looking at the water gun. He quickly noticed the silver-white "Ice Bullet Converter" at the muzzle, and then glanced at the water in the bottle. He was sure that the "ice bullet" he had just shot was related to this thing!
How was this done? So amazing!
Lin Fuque could tell he wanted to ask. She might not have been able to answer before, but after learning a bunch of knowledge about the [Wind Energy Armguard Hand Cannon], she had grasped the underlying principles by analogy. "It has to do with high pressure. You see, this device looks very, very small, but it's actually quite complicated inside."
"You made this?"
"I took it apart."
Shi Feiming: ==
Lin Fuque gestured, "Once I figure out how it works, I'll make one for you too. Thanks for lending me the water gun."
Shi Feiming was a bit tempted, but he immediately thought, "You're not going to make them for Lu Xiyu and the others too, are you? It's too dangerous to attach this thing to a water gun. What if they use it to shoot people while playing?"
And even if they didn't shoot people, what if they shot passing cats? What about birds overhead or other people's windows?
This small device was inconspicuous. Shi Feiming admitted it was very impressive, although judging from the effect of the ice bullet, it would at most sting a little if it hit a person.
But he also felt that if it became widespread, someone might use it to shoot his Wuhua one day.
"I don't want it anymore," he said. "And you shouldn't give it to anyone else either."
"Hmm..." Lin Fuque thought about it. "You're right."
Actually, she felt that shooting fish wasn't very good either. If she shot that fish, she would only get experience points and a fish corpse that she couldn't retrieve. But if she caught a fish with a rod, she could take it back for the cats to eat, and Grandpa Ge would also be happy if he caught one.
But if that was the case, did she still need to study the ice bullet converter? What else could it be used for?
On the panel to the side, a post-exam explanation video that only Lin Fuque could see was still playing. It was currently explaining how to repair the energy storage cabin of the wind energy hand cannon.
The sky was cloudless, and the sunlight was intense. Wuhua, radiating heat, looked like a hot piece of white chocolate bread. Lin Fuque raised her hand to wipe her sweat and suddenly said, "I've got it!"
She ran over to tell Grandpa Ge, then ran back and patted Shi Feiming on the shoulder, petted Wuhua's head, and grabbed her things. "I'm going home to modify it."
With the deposit in her account, Lin Fuque had yet to make a single wind energy hand cannon, but she had saved enough money to buy the materials.
According to the item description, this hand cannon was used to kill large beasts. Lin Fuque didn't really dare to make it in reality... If an accident happened and the chamber exploded, the problem wouldn't be as easily resolved as it was with the first mechanical butterfly.
She wanted to combine things and make something else.
The thing she wanted to make this time was more complicated than anything before. If the butterfly set was just an improvement on the original blueprint, she would need to draw a completely new blueprint this time—
[Random Task: The Mechanic's Advancement]
[Recommended Task Level: Level 3]
[Having acquired a certain foundation of knowledge, you naturally develop a desire to create. You need a completely new three-dimensional blueprint to test and explore over and over again. During this period, the intelligent system will assist in judging the feasibility of the blueprint, ultimately helping you complete your own creation.]
[Task Requirement: Create a brand-new work with an originality of at least 50%]
[Task Reward: Low-level random crafting blueprint x1, Experience Points x50 (Upload and pass the blueprint to gain a small amount of bonus points)]
Hmm, looking at the trading house, should she first buy a windmill, a hat, or an umbrella?
-
Because he had spent half the day wrangling with the university over changing his advisor, Wen Ce returned home rather late.
He was even considering whether to ask Professor Lin for a favor and transfer under her wing. Professor Lin specialized in conductors, which was a different research direction, so she wouldn't be able to offer much academic advice. But at the very least, she had a solid character and was highly responsible.
Just as he was about to open the door, he suddenly noticed a pizza box taped to the building's main entrance. Written on it were the words: "For Brother Wen."
Who could have delivered this?
Quite a few people knew he lived here. He pulled the box down and limped his way inside.
From inside, he tipped out a bionic butterfly and a wristband.
The butterfly had a wingspan of about thirty centimeters. It was unpainted, its metallic shell gleaming under the light. It looked a bit rough around the edges, but Wen Ce felt it was a significant improvement over the one he had seen previously.
Just then, his roommate pushed open his bedroom door and walked out. Seeing the butterfly on the table, he paused in surprise. "Isn't that the butterfly you were talking about the other day? Where did you find it?"
His roommate had also tried building this model of bionic butterfly, which was why Wen Ce had immediately messaged him upon first seeing it.
But his roommate knew that no research lab had yet managed to produce the kind of butterfly Wen Ce had described, let alone the fact that the original butterfly "had already been carried off by a cat."
Tucked beneath the butterfly was a piece of paper with a website address scribbled on it. It stated that to activate the device, he needed to visit the site and download an app. At the bottom was a short note: "Thank you, Brother Xiao Wen." The handwriting was childish, and Wen Ce immediately guessed it was written by Lin Fuque. Taking a deep breath, he unlocked his phone, typed in the URL, and scrolled down to find the app download link.
His roommate warned, "...Be careful you don't download some scam link!"
Wen Ce replied, "No, you don't understand!"
The two huddled together. Two minutes later, his roommate lowered his hand, his expression turning entirely serious. As the butterfly fluttered through the living room, he asked, "You're telling me this... was made by a little kid?"
Where did this little genius come from? Who was their mentor? And whose name was going to be on the research paper?
Wen Ce's focus, however, was elsewhere. He had finally noticed that on "The Mechanic's Exchange" website, there was another model of butterfly available—one that was smaller, more agile, capable of executing far more complex maneuvers and rapid obstacle avoidance, and it didn't even require a button battery.
The product demonstration video left them both astounded. At a price of 1,500, they could bite the bullet and afford it... But wait, what was this video on the homepage?
An even more advanced product? An introduction to the company? The designer sharing their creative philosophy?
The two exchanged a glance and immediately turned on the TV. They were going to cast it to the big screen and watch it in detail!
