195: Chapter 193 This new wrench, no one can claim it as their master.

"The old one is broken."

"The new one isn't yours to cut."

Lin Jin grasped the tool that had just been pieced together.

It didn't even look like a proper wrench.

On one side was the broken arc of Chen Ye's shield hilt, while the other was embedded with shards of Shen Tingxue's Ice Key. The tail end was fitted with a metal ring cracked off from Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear, and the handle was pressed with the corner of Ye Guizhou's seal and black scorch marks from He Zhibai's ledger pages.

The ugliest part was the middle.

The broken rusty wrench was forcibly clamped inside; the crack was still there, and so was the rust.

It hadn't turned into a divine artifact.

It didn't emit a blinding light.

It was just heavy.

So heavy that Lin Jin's wrist dropped, and he almost lost his grip.

The golden blade light descended for the second time.

Clang!

The new tool hung in mid-air, deflecting the blade line.

The blade line shattered into countless golden specks, scattering onto work order no. 002, where they were contaminated grey by the pile of oil stains, chalk dust, mining lamp serial numbers, and bloody handprints.

Chen Ye was about to cheer when his expression suddenly changed.

The broken shield remaining in his hand jolted violently, and the cracks on the shield surface widened by another half-inch.

"Hiss—"

Crimson frost seeped from the broken edge of the Ice Key in Shen Tingxue's palm.

With a sizzle, an electric arc from the tail end of Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear backlashed onto his wrist.

Thirteen looked down at the torn skin on his palm; golden light was reigniting at the edge of the wound.

The chipped corner of Ye Guizhou's seal grew scorching hot.

Black ink began to seep from the torn part of He Zhibai's ledger page.

The corner of the paper Luo Wensheng had just finished writing on vibrated violently.

A piercing alarm sounded from the maintenance slot where Cheng Du had removed the brass screw.

[Multi-person wear-and-tear components identified]

[Tool in use]

[Wear-and-tear recovery initiated]

Lin Jin immediately let go.

The new tool thudded onto the control console with a dull sound.

The backlash everyone felt eased slightly.

Chen Ye widened his eyes.

"Damn, it drains our blood just for using it once?"

Cheng Du's expression was grim.

"God Head is tracing the source of the materials."

"It treats the tool as an extension of your bodies."

"Every time it blocks a strike, it replenishes the wear and tear from the original owners."

The voice of God Head descended from the sky.

"Multi-person spliced tool."

"Multi-person collective burden."

"Since you refuse a single sacrifice."

"Then you shall all be consumed together."

A line of golden text appeared on the new tool.

[Collective organ generating]

[Lin Jin as primary wielder]

[Remaining component providers as continuous energy suppliers]

Chen Ye's face darkened instantly.

"I gave a shield fragment, not a kidney!"

Shen Tingxue's gaze was icy.

"And the Ice Key shards are not my bones."

Thirteen looked at his own palm.

"I just threw away trash."

Lin Jin stared at the [Collective organ] line and suddenly chuckled.

"Here we go again."

"As long as the item was given by a person, it wants to follow the item and drag the person back."

He picked up the tool again.

This time, he didn't swing it but laid it flat next to work badge no. 001.

"Ye Guizhou."

Ye Guizhou endured the pain of the scorching seal and stepped forward.

"Stamp what?"

"Material receipt."

Ye Guizhou was stunned but immediately understood, and he brought the seal down heavily.

[Component received]

[Component delivered as maintenance material]

[Does not constitute continuous blood, energy, or life supply from the original owner]

He Zhibai immediately opened the ledger and gritted his teeth as he wrote:

[Component wear and tear charged to public maintenance costs]

[Original owner entitled to repair, replacement, rest, and compensation]

[Cannot use "previously provided materials" as grounds to add personal debt]

Luo Wensheng gripped the pen and added on the Record paper:

[Chen Ye provided shield hilt fragments; this does not mean Chen Ye becomes the shield hilt.]

[Shen Tingxue provided Ice Key shards; this does not mean Shen Tingxue is continuously freezing.]

[Zhou Heng provided Thunder Spear tail ring; this does not mean Zhou Heng is continuously conducting electricity.]

[Thirteen provided scorched skin; this does not mean Thirteen becomes a tool patch.]

Thirteen glanced at her.

"That line works."

Cheng Du also re-numbered the remaining brass screws at the maintenance slot.

"Brass screws are waste components."

"Cheng Du himself does not return to the Mainframe with the screws."

After saying this, as if it wasn't harsh enough, he added:

"Whoever treats me like a spare part again, I'll tear apart their ancestors for eight generations."

Qin Shanhe's broadcast transmitted this original voice recording as well.

Surprisingly, Luo Wensheng wrote it down exactly.

[Cheng Du's original words: Whoever treats me like a spare part again, I'll tear apart their ancestors for eight generations.]

Chen Ye's mouth twitched as he watched.

"You're recording this too?"

Luo Wensheng looked up.

"Original voice, permanent Record."

The golden text on the tool began to distort.

The four characters for [Collective organ] were pressed down by strips of grey receipts, turning into a new registration.

[Maintenance Squad Public Tool]

[Component Source: Multiple people have delivered worn-out parts]

[Usage Conditions: Bound to work order, not bound to a single human body]

[Wear-and-tear Handling: Record, replace, compensate, rest]

Lin Jin reached out and grasped the tool again.

This time, Chen Ye's shield didn't crack further.

Shen Tingxue's palm was no longer being drained.

The tail end of Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear only vibrated slightly.

Thirteen looked at his hand.

"Alright."

"This time, it really feels like the trash has been thrown away."

Lin Jin lifted the tool and tried swinging it.

Too heavy.

It wasn't heavy in terms of weight.

It was that every broken piece inside had its own direction.

The shield hilt wanted to block, the ice shards wanted to seal, the thunder ring wanted to conduct, the ledger wanted to Record, the seal wanted to confirm, the paper corner wanted to leave the original voice, and the brass screw wanted to transfer.

If he tried to hold it alone, all those directions would twist onto his wrist.

Lin Jin looked at the tool handle.

"Still missing a grip."

Cheng Du immediately cursed:

"Don't stuff human flesh in there again!"

"I know."

Lin Jin looked around.

"Stuff positions in."

Everyone was stunned.

Lin Jin placed the tool on the maintenance table and carved six temporary slots into the handle.

[Observation]

[Record]

[Load-bearing]

[Energy-conduction]

[Verification]

[Transfer]

"This tool cannot have a master."

"And it cannot just be held by me."

"Every time it's used, write down clearly who is in which position."

"You can change shifts."

"You can let go."

"You can say you don't know how."

Chen Ye was the first to place his hand on the [Load-bearing] slot.

"I bear the load."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Jin glared at him.

Chen Ye immediately corrected himself:

"The shield bears the load."

"I am currently holding the shield, two minutes, switch people if time is exceeded."

He Zhibai nodded.

"That line is much better."

Shen Tingxue placed her hand next to [Energy-conduction] but didn't pour the Ice Phoenix power in.

"I control the temperature, I won't freeze everything for the tool."

Zhou Heng held the other side.

"The thunder current only conducts overloads, it won't connect to the main cycle of the gods heart."

Luo Wensheng sat at the Record position.

"I Record usage actions and side effects."

Ye Guizhou pressed the seal.

"Transfer confirmed."

He Zhibai updated the ledger.

"Verify wear and tear."

Thirteen stood to the side and said coldly:

"I'll see who tries to turn the slot into a chair."

Cheng Du snorted from the Mainframe maintenance slot.

"I suppose you're useful."

The six slots lit up.

The weight of the new tool suddenly dispersed.

When Lin Jin grasped it again, it finally didn't feel like holding an entire city.

It felt like holding a temporary shift schedule.

Ugly.

Troublesome.

But usable.

The golden blade descended for the third time.

This time, it didn't strike the tool itself, but instead slashed toward the two characters for "parallel" at the very top of work order no. 002.

God Head clearly understood.

As long as these work orders could remain parallel, the various regions would not be subordinates of Jiang City.

As long as the regions were not subordinates, the world-class recovery could not seize a single source.

Lin Jin raised the new tool.

"Load-bearing."

The Chen Ye shield hilt slot lit up.

"Here!"

"Energy-conduction."

Zhou Heng and Shen Tingxue responded simultaneously.

"Record."

Luo Wensheng's pen tip fell.

"Verification."

He Zhibai flipped the ledger.

"Transfer."

Ye Guizhou raised the seal.

The new tool swung out.

It wasn't a chop.

Nor was it a smash.

It was like a clumsy maintenance plier, clamping onto the edge of the golden blade, forcibly twisting that blade line from "severing parallel relationship" into "marking line damaged."

Click!

The golden blade deflected, grazing work order no. 002 and leaving a charred crack.

Luo Wensheng immediately wrote:

[work order no. 002 damaged]

[Parallel relationship not severed]

[Needs copy replacement]

Ye Guizhou stamped:

[Damage received]

[Does not equal void]

He Zhibai added:

[Copy cost increased]

[Cannot be converted into cancellation of mutual aid]

The golden blade's cutting logic was forced to pause.

Because it wanted to create a "broken line."

But the work order recorded the broken line itself as a fault that needed repair.

Lin Jin seized the opportunity to hook the tail end of the golden blade with the new tool and yanked it down hard.

The blade line was dragged into the maintenance table and wrapped around several brass scrap nails.

Cheng Du's eyes lit up.

"Fix it in place!"

Shen Tingxue froze the tail end of the blade line.

Zhou Heng's thunder current conducted in reverse.

Chen Ye's shield surface suppressed the vibration.

Thirteen stepped on the projection of the golden blade.

"Don't move."

The golden blade was actually held down for a split second.

The physical receipt lines around the world that were being severed also gained a moment of respite.

Hai City sent over a blurry picture again.

The mining lamp signals in Beiyuan flashed three times.

A new batch of chalk bags was sent out in Qinghe County.

The Hospital in Nanling copied the "To Be Named" stickers into three hundred copies.

New small patches kept appearing on the edges of work order no. 002.

It looked less and less like a work order.

It looked more like a tattered piece of clothing that had been patched over and over.

But it was precisely this tattered clothing that left the divine blade unable to find a clean place to strike for the time being.

God Head fell silent.

It was brief.

But it made everyone's heart sink.

Cheng Du whispered:

"It's changing tactics."

The next second, all the blade lines in the golden gate in the sky retracted simultaneously.

The Mainframe had no alarms.

No new attacks.

Only a line of cold notification slowly appeared.

[Severing mutual aid failed]

[Tool chain severely contaminated]

[Human maintenance tools have constituted a system-level threat]

[Resolution plan: Tool recovery]

Lin Jin's pupils constricted.

"Tool recovery?"

As soon as he spoke, all the tools in Jiang City vibrated simultaneously.

The doctor's scissors.

The Nurse's stethoscope.

The maintenance squad's screwdriver.

The miner's hammer.

The teacher's chalk.

The driver's car key.

The chef's spatula.

Even the half-stub of crayon in a child's hand used to write "Not going today" lit up with a golden border.

[Unauthorized maintenance implement]

[Recovering]

Inside First Hospital, the scissors in Fang Ning's hand flew violently toward the window.

She grabbed them, but was dragged and slammed into The Hospital bed.

The chalk on the blackboard in Qinghe County broke one by one on its own and flew toward the sky.

In the Beiyuan Mining Area, the miners' iron hammers slipped from their hands.

By the drainage ditch in Hai City, the pancake uncle's iron spatula was dragged by the golden light, buzzing loudly.

God was no longer fighting the work order.

It wanted to confiscate everything that allowed people to change reality with their hands.

The new tool in Lin Jin's hand also jerked violently toward the sky.

The six slots simultaneously emitted a piercing alarm.

[Public tool recovery determined]

[Please return to parent terminal]

Chen Ye pressed down hard on the load-bearing slot.

"It's even snatching this?"

Cheng Du's face was livid.

"Of course it is."

"If humans have no tools, they can only beg God empty-handed."

Lin Jin grasped the new tool with both hands, blood seeping from his palms again.

He looked up at the sky, at the scissors, chalk, screwdrivers, and mining hammers flying up from all over the world, like a reverse iron rain.

"Everyone!"

He roared into the broadcast:

"Don't play tug-of-war with the tools!"

Everyone was stunned.

Lin Jin gritted his teeth and slammed the new tool onto the maintenance table.

"If the tools are snatched, make new ones with whatever is at hand!"

"No scissors? Use your teeth to tear the cloth!"

"No chalk? Use your fingers to write with dust!"

"No wrench? Use a stone to jam the nut!"

"God can confiscate tools."

"It can't stop people from finding things to use!"

Fang Ning watched the scissors being dragged away, suddenly looked down, and used her teeth to tear open the gauze packaging.

Teacher Song Qing watched the chalk fly away and continued writing on the blackboard with fingers stained with chalk dust.

The pancake uncle let go of the iron spatula, grabbed the rolling pin from his stall cart, and jammed it hard into the drainage ditch wheel.

The Old Miner in Beiyuan watched the iron hammer fly away, picked up a piece of ore, and smashed it against the buckle.

All over the world, the people whose tools were confiscated were stunned at first.

Then, one by one, they looked down.

Finding stones.

Finding wooden sticks.

Finding cloth strips.

Finding teeth.

Finding fingers.

Finding shoulders.

Finding voices.

On the Mainframe screen, God Head's tool recovery list began to error out frantically.

[Tool definition expanded]

[Stones used as hammers]

[Teeth used as cutting tools]

[Fingers used as pens]

[Voices used as alarm bells]

[Shoulders used as temporary supports]

[Recovery scope impossible to exhaust]

Lin Jin held the dragged new tool and chuckled softly.

"You finally realized."

"Repairmans didn't have tools at the very beginning."

"They saw the problem first."

"Then found things at hand."

In the sky, the thousands of tools being sucked up stopped.

Because if the parent terminal continued to recover, it would have to recover stones, wood, teeth, fingers, voices, and shoulders.

Any further, and it would be recovering the entire human body.

And that would no longer be "tool recovery."

It would be public slaughter.

God Head's golden light suddenly turned cold to the extreme.

[Tool recovery failed]

[Human tool-making capability uncontrollable]

[Judgment: Hands are primitive maintenance implements]

Lin Jin's expression changed.

The next second, a golden lock ring appeared on everyone's wrists around the world.

God Head's voice was cold.

"Since you can turn all things into tools."

"Then I will confiscate first—"

"Your hands."