"What?!"

"Did you just say a single engineer crafted 30 pistols in one hour?"

"Yes Manager, I swear in the name of the Director-Prime!"

Hearing that, the manager's eyelids twitched. Swearing in the name of the Director-Prime was all he needed to know that his subordinate was not lying to him.

But still, 30 pistols in one hour by a single engineer?

That was impossible!

This manager was an obese Synth.

His mechanical skin was smooth and rosy, his metallic cheeks round and symmetrical like a work of art, while he had a big protruding mechanical belly that pushed against his velvet black suit.

He had full blonde hair.

At this moment, he shook as his gray eyes gleamed in excitement. "He's definitely an Ascended, a Mechanist!"

"A what?" The A.I Construct asked innocently.

"You don't know". The manager waved his hand impatiently.

Unlike in the territories of the other major factions in the world, in all territories of the Omnicore Federation, a lot of information is restricted and censored by the government, including information about Ascended.

Afterall, to curb rebellion, restricting information access was a necessity.

In territories belonging to the Omnicore Federation, deliberately revealing information about Ascended could be charged with treason.

And this was the reason why the Omnicore Federation and the Freegrid Collective were bitter enemies. Afterall, the rebels thrived on hacking databases, cyber defense grids and spamming data and information on the psionic network.

This information restriction is also the reason why most civilians in Omnicore territory don't know about Ascended.

Only a few know rumors about people with superpowers, but there's no proof and they dare not casually discuss it, and they definitely don't know what these superhumans are called.

A supervisor working in a construction company not knowing about Ascended and Mechanists was not abnormal.

The manager thought for a few seconds, his brain beginning to flow with a lot of optimistic ideas and then he suddenly flashed a bright smile at the A.I Construct that made the supervisor shift uncomfortably.

The Manager never smiles!

The manager patted his subordinate's shoulder in a reassuring manner but it only made the A.I Construct shudder, then he said. "You've made a big contribution this time". He grinned. "Just wait for me outside, I'll call you in".

"Y-yes manager". With that, he stepped outside.

As soon as the A.I Construct left, Manager Rodolfo approached the psionic smartphone in his office and quickly dialed a number.

Click!

A holographic projection of a Synth appeared in front of him.

This Synth looked regular, he had grayish white skin and he looked fit like normal Synths unlike Manager Rodolfo. He had thick and neatly permed black hair with a few streaks of gray.

He looked like a Synth who was already advancing deep in age.

He sat on a luxurious-looking high-back chair and looked at his manager with a calm look on his face. "What is it?"

Rodolfo quickly rubbed his palms together in a fawning manner. "Good evening boss, um, something important came up".

The Synth stared at him, calmly waiting for him to elaborate.

Rodolfo didn't beat around the bush. "Like you instructed, I kept on putting recruitment notices with higher salary offers out there and I hired a few new engineers today".

Getting to this point, he could not help a smug smile appearing on his face as he said. "Of the new hires that we got today, one of them started working this evening and we discovered that he's a Mechanist".

"…"

For a few seconds, there was silence at the other end of the call like the older Synth's brain was processing what he just heard as he stared at his manager, then he suddenly stood up from the high-back chair in a frantic manner, literally shoving his face into the projection.

"What did you just say? Don't you dare lie to me Rodolfo!"

Rodolfo chuckled. "I was the one who scouted him boss, I…"

"Get ready, I'm coming to the factory".

The Synth didn't listen to his manager's rubbish as he directly cut the call.

Rodolfo didn't mind though. Instead, as soon as the call was cut, he chuckled to himself before adjusting his black suit in a smug manner. "I hit the jackpot this time". He muttered to himself with a big smile on his face as he walked out of his office.

When he met his subordinate, the A.I Construct who was a supervisor in the factory, he smiled at him. "Go and invite the engineer to my office".

He paused, then he slapped his head. "No, no need, let me follow you instead, show him to me".

The A.I Construct nodded and kept his head low in a timid manner. "Yes Manager".

…

When Leon saw the A.I Construct walking towards him again with another person, a Synth instead of bringing the additional materials that he demanded for, he was not surprised.

Afterall, this was what he aimed for from the moment he decided to take on the identity of a proud Ascended Mechanist.

He expected this, but what he didn't expect was the size of the Synth that was approaching beside the supervisor.

'What in tarnation am I staring at?' Leon struggled to keep a straight face. 'Synths can actually be obese?'

In the one week plus since he awakened in this world, this was the first time that he saw a Synth being remotely obese.

Leon's lips twitched.

The A.I Construct supervisor didn't say a word, but Rodolfo understood immediately when he stopped in front of Leon's counter.

And once Rodolfo saw the engineer, he nodded secretly to himself. 'This is how a Mechanist should carry himself, he feels so capable'.

'Wait, is this the aura of Ascended that I always hear about?'

'Wow, the company is saved!'

'I need to treat him with respect!' He instinctively adjusted his posture, presenting himself as subservient as he greeted the engineer politely with a smile. "Esteemed sir, good evening".

"My name is Rodolfo Alfredo, I'm the manager of this construction company".

"Nice to meet you". Leon shook hands with him calmly.

When Rodolfo shook hands with the Mechanist, his hands shook in an indiscernible manner. 'So this is the palm of a Mechanist, so capable!' He thought excitedly. 'I should definitely get an autograph!'

Though the Manager didn't say anything apart from a simple greeting, Leon could tell immediately that his act was working. He could guess the thoughts going through the manager's mind.

Then suddenly, his brain cooked up a mischievous idea.

Leon looked at the obese Synth with a serious look on his face and said. "Did you know? Fat people are hard to kidnap".

Rodolfo was taken aback. "Really?"

"Of course," Leon nodded seriously, then he smiled. "My name is Leon, Leon Ardent, how may I help you?"

For a moment, Rodolfo didn't exactly know how to react as he forced a smile. 'Was that an insult or a compliment?'

'Uh, I'll just forget it'.

Well, in a way what followed was exactly as Leon expected.

The company was truly desperate as not only did Manager Rodolfo treat him like a King, within just 10 minutes he met with the owner of this company.

Even Leon didn't expect things to progress this fast.

And just like that, within an hour and 30 minutes of his consciousness entering the Trial, Leon became the lead engineer of the whole project.

Of course, to not make it seem like he was the one being desperate, he pushed for a big bargain on the salary aspect, and most importantly he made the owner of this company give him authority that was only slightly below his.

This meant from now on, no area of this construction company was restricted to Leon. He had authority that was even greater than the manager now.

In one step, Leon rose to the top of the hierarchy in the company.

After that, his next step was simple. He did not hesitate to implement his reforms in the company to accelerate the production processes.

Afterall, he was in a race against time.

The first thing he did was get access to all the blueprints available in the company. Originally, these were supposed to be company secrets that's only available to an engineer with decades of experience under his belt, and only after years or even decades of faithful and diligent service.

But due to Leon's special identity as an Ascended Mechanist and how pressed the owner was to meet the quota with his ownership of the company on the line, the owner of the construction company gave him easy access to everything that he demanded.

DING!

~----~

[You have gained a new blueprint: Titanium Spear]

[You have gained a new blueprint: Titanium Longsword]

[You have gained a new blueprint: Titanium Dagger]

[You have gained a new blueprint: Titanium Battle Axe]

[You have gained a new blueprint…]

[You have gained a new blueprint…]

[You have gained a new blueprint…]

[You have gained a new blueprint: Light-armored Transport Truck]

~----~

Just like that, Leon gained 8 new blueprints!

All 8 of them were the only blueprints and the staple of the Big Gig Construction Company, the blueprints were what made their identity.

The 8 blueprints were a Spear, a Longsword, a combat Dagger, a Battle Axe, a Mace, a Halberd, a new kinetic pistol blueprint, and the light-armored Transport Truck blueprint which was his greatest haul of all.

Before now, Leon had never even thought of creating a Truck. Afterall, that was supposed to be the project of big construction companies.

But now, this widened his horizons.

'Can I actually construct my own Truck in the future?' His eyes lit up in excitement. 'Theoretically, I can'.

'All I have to do is be patient and make sure I have a way to replenish my ADE reserves because doing it is going to take a long time'.

And suddenly, this Trial no longer felt like just a deadline for him to become an E Rank Mechanist, it became a way for him to grow his abilities and blueprints too.

Leon was excited but he was also slightly worried. 'I wonder if I can take these blueprints out with me after the Trial'.

'It'll be such a letdown to lose all of these after leaving here'.

He suddenly felt bad that he was inside a Trial. 'If I was already E Rank, I wonder how much Ascended Essence I would have gained from learning so many blueprints at once'.

Leon also remembered that the System's Ascended Counter increases even when doing joint projects.

'Damn, I would have completed the E Rank Ascended Counter immediately by the end of this project!'

Still, Leon didn't regret.

This was already more than he hoped for. Besides, he just didn't have the luxury to rest.

He had a deadline to meet.

He started work without any delay.

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