I really can't tell, the little girl Wen Wen is so quiet, but her head is really hard!
Facing this huge pile of gold, Xiao An's reaction is much calmer, it's fair to say that he never really had a concept of money and didn't care about it either.
Since Ji Jue said this is mine, then I'll keep it.
"Thank you, Ji Jue."
The teenager smiled sweetly, closed the box, and turned to Wen Wen, "Please help me save these as well, sister Wen."
The relationships among the four people in the Northern Mountain District were clearly far closer than those colleagues who simply worked together at the Security Bureau.
Deep friendship.
A few years ago, shortly after Wen Wen had taken office, due to her spendthrift habits and her reluctance to engage in dirty money and shady dealings, she found herself a bit overextended financially. At Tong Hua's suggestion, she opened a shell company.
With no actual business, its main purpose was to manage the Northern Mountain team's financial turnovers, acting like a departmental petty cash fund. Most of the team's gray income came through here.
Relying on Tong Hua's maneuvers and insider information, they even managed to turn a profit through investments, leading to prosperous days. After all, their regular salaries alone were hardly enough for the needs of a Chosen One.
With capabilities and the Matrix, lying low was easy, but to make progress was exceedingly difficult. Equipment, potions, Secret Rituals, and intelligence, recovery and treatment, training and advancement of abilities, even mastery and consumption of skills, acquiring blessings and operational actions—everything required money.
Even the recent chaos caused by Lawrence, where most of the victims infected with Blood Thirst were treated and cared for, went through the company's accounts. Now with this large addition to the income, it was foreseeable that their financial situation would be much more optimistic for a considerable period.
After applying eye drops, Tong Hua was no longer screaming in agony and was now lying on the box like a mythical dragon, counting his gains and chuckling nonstop.
When this matter was discussed, Ji Jue solemnly coughed twice and waited until everyone looked over before he smiled and placed the backpack from beside him on the table.
"This time, I specially came over for this—ta-da!"
Accompanied by Ji Jue's own sound effects, his first official alchemy creation was finally revealed!
Under the soft light, the strangely contoured power frame became visible to everyone.
It was like a supportive skeleton just outside the flesh, achieving mobility and support functions through multiple fixes on the thigh, joints, lower leg, and ankle.
The main body was crafted from a single block of aluminum, reinforced with alchemy to improve structural strength and durability, and under an extreme lightweight design concept, all unrelated structures were omitted, successfully reducing the total weight to an astonishing nine hundred grams.
The joint parts used a power structure from a paper design, enhanced with the entropy emblem and a simple magnetic storage structure of the Spiritual Circuit— absorbing some of the weight and potential energy from leg lifts and bends, releasing it when extending, thereby greatly reducing the user's burden and automatically switching gears between walking, running, and jumping based on the input force.
When necessary, one's own spiritual essence could be input to briefly enhance the output.
The dimensions and specific details were made according to Xiao An's measurements.
This was a prosthetic specially customized for the teenager.
Amidst the puzzled looks from others, Ji Jue didn't explain much but pushed it towards Xiao An, "Try it on."
"Ah?"
The teenager was startled, looking at the prosthetic on the table, and after a while, as if he finally realized, "Me?"
Under Ji Jue's guidance, he rolled up his pant leg, revealing the harrowing nails, and carefully fitted the prosthetic onto his right leg.
The process was not complicated; after becoming proficient, it could be easily donned or removed with just one hand manipulating two clasps.
The metal frame bypassed the long nails above the knee, fitting snugly against the skin, replacing the joint function, bearing the pressure, operating smoothly, without any noise.
In the ensuing silence where even breathing seemed negligible, Xiao An's body wobbled a bit, his hands supporting on the sofa's armrests, cautiously raising his body once more.
Feeling an odd sensation he had never experienced before.
He instinctively looked back at Ji Jue. Ji Jue just smiled, making a gesture to continue.
Just like that, he gently took the first step.
Then, the second step, the third step...
The balance and body control abilities of the White Deer Path quickly helped him adapt to the aid of the prosthetic, and after five steps, his movements were back to normal.
Only then did he, as if waking from a dream, turn back and look at his feet on the ground.
Turning back, he showed Ji Jue a surprised smile.
"It seems the basic model works fine for everyday use."
Ji Jue stroked his chin, grinning proudly, relishing in this grateful gaze, then, like magic, pulled several more models from his bag and laid them out on the table, a feast for the eyes:
"Next, let's try the extended version, the enhanced version, and the ergonomic version!"
An entire afternoon's time— how could he have made just one?
After all, with Non-attack at hand, producing such simple alchemy works was as fast as a production line.
Moreover, originally not complicated, the design was also simple, forsaking all flashy functions, and took the route of as light as possible, comfortable to wear, and straightforward durability.