~----~

[Time Period: Year 583 A.G]

[Trial Identity: You are an engineer working for the Big Gig Construction Company, a construction company that has a contract with the Omnicore Federation. The Federation is embroiled in another Civil War.]

[Trial Task: The Big Gig Construction Company has received a contract to equip the Omnicore Army with 18,000 units of standardized, durable melee weapons, 28,000 units of standardized guns, 120,000 rounds of ammunition, 800 basic missile chassis parts, and 85 retrofitted, light-armored transports! You must help the Big Gig Construction Company meet this unrealistic target.]

[Objective Summary: Construct or die.]

~----~

"…"

Leon blinked again as he stared at the HUD screen in front of him with a look of disbelief on his face.

'T-that's just…' He was speechless.

With the experience he gained from Talia telling them about her Trial, Leon was extremely cautious from the beginning as he was worried about being thrown into the middle of an ongoing war.

This was why the moment he regained consciousness, the first thing he did was observe his surroundings to look out for any danger.

He didn't notice any danger, but apart from realizing that he was inside a construction factory, he also noticed another fact about his co-workers.

None of them were Ascended!

None of the engineers used any form of ADE in their construction, meaning they were not Mechanists. They were mundane engineers.

They worked the OG way, meticulously cutting metals and alloys, processing raw materials, and fabricating with the help of the heavy machines and robot assistants.

'It's normal that a commercial construction company that doesn't directly belong to the Omnicore Federation does not have Ascended'.

'This is in line with what Talia said about the Omnicore Federation- their regulatory rules concerning Mechanists, innovation and all that'.

'But to know the lack of Mechanists and still force this company to construct 18,000 units of standardized melee weapons, 28,000 units of standardized guns, 120,000 rounds of ammunition, 800 basic missile chassis parts, and 85 retrofitted, light-armored transports, isn't that just asking to terminate their contract?'

Suddenly, Leon felt pity for the manager whose voice he heard through the speaker. 'That guy definitely lost his contract in real history!' He was sure.

At this moment, he truly realized how petty the Omnicore Federation was.

Despite being the strongest power in the world, the defacto rulers of the world, they were still petty enough to not just restrict the development and innovation of Mechanists, but also even go as far as suppressing construction companies that don't directly belong to them.

'Maybe the Federation tried to buy the company directly but the owner refused. As for the company, the Federation are likely their biggest clients if not their only client'.

'By losing the contract, that's like losing their lifeline. They'll be forced to either go bankrupt and fade into obscurity or they'll agree to be assimilated by the Federation'.

'There's literally no third option in between'.

'And even if the owner of this company doesn't agree, once the company goes bankrupt, the Federation can just use underhanded means to take over'.

'Then, they won't even need to pay a dime for it'.

'They can twist the rules of the law to take over the company, or they can easily pin some crime on the company owner to legally take it over. Afterall, this is the government'.

Leon felt a chill run down his spine as these thoughts went through his head.

He hissed. 'They're so petty'.

'Federation my foot, more like a bunch of selfish kids who want to monopolize all the toys in the world!'

At this moment, despite the fact that he was yet to meet the owner of this construction company, as a fellow creator, he could relate to what was going on and immediately began to feel bad for the owner.

'By now, he must be truly desperate'.

At that moment, Leon noticed the familiar A.I Construct that berated him a few minutes ago walking towards his direction again. Without hesitation, he finally snapped out of his thoughts and went to work.

He didn't use his ADE though.

Just like the other engineers working around him, he went back to the basics, cutting, assembling, and fabricating with the machines available to him.

Even as he went back to his basics, his experience and his ability as a true Mechanist still meant he was far more efficient than them.

As Leon worked, he finally looked into one of the machines with a smooth surface, using it as a mirror to look at himself and with it he confirmed a suspicion.

Reflecting on the mirror was a young man who seemed to be in his early twenties with short inky black hair and black eyes.

Leon nodded subtly. 'My appearance didn't change, that means I didn't take on the identity of someone else like Talia did'.

'Instead, I have my own identity here'.

'How does it work?' He was confused. 'Did the Trial alter history for me? I thought when a Trial is tied to recorded history and not made up, it's supposed to follow the normal flow of history'.

He didn't focus on that train of thought.

In the end, he simply shrugged and continued his work as other thoughts began to swirl through his brain.

At this moment, he had priorities and his greatest priority was finding a way to complete the Trial, ascend, and become an E Rank Mechanist.

He didn't have the time and luxury to contemplate philosophical debates and begin to decipher how Trials work in this world.

He could do it later after he became an E Rank Mechanist. For now, his Class promotion was the priority.

His eyes gleamed as he worked on assembling a pistol. 'What are the chances of this construction company meeting the quota?'

He grimaced. 'It's literally non-existent, the Federation didn't leave them any leeway at all'.

Back in Community G, it literally took him, Rex, and Kain half a day to construct 100 pistols and 2,000 bullets and they were Mechanists!

Compared to Mechanists, all the engineers here were literal bums.

Leon did not see an easy way to complete this Trial mission unless a miracle happened.

In one glance, he could see a few hundred engineers working in this large factory. His estimate was that there were at least 200 to 300 engineers here.

'Even if they're 400 and they all work towards the target of the Omnicore Federation, I don't see a way of meeting that quota in 2 days'.

He frowned.

'A miracle, huh?' His eyes narrowed, then a thought suddenly came to his mind. 'Can I climb the ranks?'

The only way Leon saw of creating a miracle was if he took charge of this whole operation.

If he was in charge, one, he could teach all the engineers optimized ways of assembling and fabricating every single one of the target products at a much higher efficiency than what they were doing now.

This would improve the overall efficiency towards the impossible goal, but it still would be just a single drop in an ocean.

Two, he would have to forfeit sleep for the next 2 days, accepting the reality that he would have to construct non-stop if he was to meet the target.

Afterall, he was the best mechanic here.

And three, if he was in charge, to maximize his efficiency, he would demarcate a construction room entirely for himself where he'll have 10 assistants alongside robots that'll assist him.

There, he'll construct non-stop till the time elapses. 'If I can achieve all these, maybe, just maybe I can meet the target'.

The question was, 'how?'

Leon's black eyes gleamed as he looked up at the giant holo-clock that floated in the middle of the construction company, and then he started a countdown in his head.

'I have less than 48 hours'.

As for how exactly he was going to climb the ranks, he already cooked up an idea, a crazy but practical one.

All of a sudden, he stopped working and raised his right hand, calling the attention of the A.I Construct who was their supervisor. Leon boldly made a gesture for the A.I Construct to come closer.

Understanding what he meant, the A.I Construct's face darkened but still he walked closer. "What is it?"

With an exaggerated look of disdain on his face, Leon gestured at the materials on his work counter. "These materials are too little for me".

'Huh?' The A.I Construct was stunned, he thought he heard wrong.

Leon was kind enough to repeat himself. "I said these materials are too little for me, who do you take me for? I want more. When I say more, I mean more, give me 10 times more materials!"

The A.I Construct's cybernetic eyes twitched.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, then he looked at the holo-clock. "You do know you're working under a time limit right?"

Leon nodded nonchalantly.

"You do know you have just 2 hours to finish using all these materials up right? And that you already have less than 2 hours to work with".

Leon nodded, then he repeated his stance. "I need more materials".

The A.I Construct's face scrunched up in annoyance. "Fine, you'll get 10 times more materials than the others". Then his face turned cold. "If you can't meet the quota when it's two hours," he smiled maliciously. "Say bye bye to your job".

"Heh," Leon was unfazed. "Let's see".

The engineer's confidence annoyed the A.I Construct to no end, but he didn't show it on his face as he walked away to give the orders. 'I'll see exactly how you want to meet up'. He thought as he left.

A minute or two later, a robot pushing a trolley with more materials approached Leon's counter before dumping the raw materials on it.

Without a word, the robot turned and pushed the trolley away.

The A.I Construct supervisor approached Leon's counter, then with a smug look on his mechanical face, he leaned against the counter wall and looked at Leon, waiting for him to fail.

Leon smirked.

He didn't hesitate, he rubbed his palms together to get his brain active then his grayish white ADE flared.

Construct!

The grayish white energy encapsulated the materials, working naturally with the blueprint as within a few minutes, pistol after pistol started appearing on the counter at a speed that bothered on Godly.

"…"

The A.I Construct stared with an incredulous look on his face, his gray eyes alternating between the grayish white energy, the dwindling materials, and the pistols in pristine condition that were appearing on the counter table.

His eyes twitched. 'What the hell!'

He couldn't leave, he was mesmerized as he stood and watched the entire process.

Less than an hour and 5 minutes later, all the materials were used up and 30 pistols sat in pristine condition on the workshop table.

Leon crafted 30 pistols in 1 hour, 5 minutes!

Ever since the construction project with Alexander Cain, not only did his Ascended Counter finally rise to 1,000, increasing his Construct and Deconstruct speed significantly, another reason for his speed was due to his familiarity with the blueprint of kinetic pistols.

Constructing them was instinct to him now.

He could craft a basic kinetic pistol between 2 to 3 minutes. For an F Rank Mechanist, this speed was ridiculous.

If this was already ridiculous for an F Rank Mechanist, to an A.I Construct supervisor who'd never interacted with Ascended, this was a miracle!

"…!" The A.I Construct stared at the counter with horrified eyes.

Leon snickered as he saw the expression on his mechanical face through the corner of his eyes.

Then calmly, he turned to look at the A.I Construct. "This is too little for me, I need more".

The A.I Construct almost fainted.

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