105: Chapter 106 Upside-Down Workshop

The second knock inside the copper rail was closer than the first.

Tap.

Half of a nameplate at the edge of the Multi-Nest Layer Divine Domain heated up slightly, as if licked by something invisible through the Grey Fire. Behind the Nest King Platform, the empty bone carriage frame swayed, emitting a faint friction sound between the bone beams, as if a beast that had slept for many years had suddenly twitched its muscles.

Wu Fu had just finished wrapping the wing bone for Night Wing when the fine fur behind her ears instantly stood on end: "It's recognizing materials again."

Grey Pupil stared at the thick, impenetrable darkness at the bottom of the bridge, his cane pausing: "The sound is coming from inside the rail."

Qiao Ye was still standing on the broken edge of the Lock Bridge. Hearing this, he subconsciously pressed his shield foot into the bridge gap, and the white ash that had just solidified on his shoulder armor fell off in a flurry: "Is there something alive in the rail?"

Wen Zhao retrieved three Line-Marking Nails back into his fire-line box, leaving only the most cracked one to press against the bridge line; the firelight at the tail of the spike was as dim as a candle wick about to go out: "There's an echo, but not necessarily anything alive."

Qiao Ye glanced at him: "That sounds even scarier."

Instructor Han Tiecheng's iron fire order hung outside the door, the single-person low-fire passage record on its face still glowing with unfaded fire patterns. He stared at the copper-black old rail beneath the Lock Bridge, his gaze as heavy as iron: "Lu Jin, don't dismantle the bridge."

"I know." Lu Jin stood before the break, his palm black fire slowly tracing the half-nameplate. The four characters "Ding Gu Workshop" on the nameplate were thick, their edges gnawed into fine pits by the well wind. As the black fire passed, the rat-toothed old copper nails on the back began to heat up, and lines of manufactured craftsmanship awakened from within the copper nails, like hibernating snakes slowly extending their heads, drilling down along the bridge's maintenance groove.

Every inch it drilled, the bottom of the Lock Bridge rang once.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

It was like someone was using a small hammer to signal the way for them.

Wu Fu's eyes grew brighter, and her claws spread out unconsciously: "There's a workshop below, a big one, and the materials are plentiful."

Grey Pupil coldly interrupted her: "Check the lock first. Only if the materials are plentiful is it worth having a lock."

Wu Fu had already started calculating, her tail swishing back and forth behind her: "Copper rails, old axles, empty bone carriage frames, and the maintenance grooves under the bridge. Lu Jin, hang the Worker Nest Egg Tray down; I can test a section first."

Instructor Han Tiecheng immediately said: "Only trial runs are allowed, no dismantling of main components."

Wu Fu wrinkled her nose: "If we don't touch the main components, what kind of workshop is it?"

Instructor Han Tiecheng looked at her, his gaze scraping past like a blade: "It's called coming back alive."

Wu Fu pursed her lips and didn't argue back. Lu Jin looked at her, his tone calm but carrying indisputable weight: "How much can the Worker Nest Egg Tray connect to?"

Wu Fu extended three claw fingers: "Three items. Bridge repair, rail patching, and carriage frame taming." When she mentioned the third item, her eyes drifted toward the back of the Nest King Platform again, "The empty bone carriage frame is too thin; it has bones but no axles. If this old workshop below still retains the axle specifications, I can make it learn to walk half a step first."

Grey Pupil said: "How much material will half a step cost?"

Wu Fu didn't look at him: "That depends on how hungry it is."

"I'm asking you."

Wu Fu glared at him: "I'm hungry too."

Lu Jin raised his hand to interrupt the two, his gaze falling on the flickering old rail at the bottom of the bridge: "Fix the bridge first."

Wu Fu was about to retort, but Lu Jin added: "If the bridge doesn't break, there will be materials later."

The tip of her tail lashed heavily against the ground, but in the end, she didn't persist: "Fine, let's make the bridge live first."

The Worker Nest Egg Tray emerged from the Multi-Nest Layer Divine Domain, slightly thicker than when it was first hung in the Frontline Fire Hall, its three layers of grey chambers resembling a half-open nest eye. The top layer spat out Work Rats, the middle layer spat out worker silk, and the bottom layer held the grey shell material that Wu Fu usually couldn't bear to use. She pushed the egg tray toward the Lock Bridge; the egg tray didn't cross the bridge directly but hovered between the door anchor and the break, first spitting out three strands of grey-white worker silk.

The first strand wrapped around the crack in the bridge deck, the second drilled into the bridge's maintenance groove, and the third adhered to the rat-toothed old copper nails on the back of the nameplate.

As soon as the copper nail lit up, the old rail at the bottom of the bridge also lit up a line. The line was very narrow, extending from below the break toward the inner side of the outer ring of the Grey Fire Well. When it reached the seventh zhang, it was suddenly blocked by a layer of black-grey contract runes. As soon as the worker silk touched the contract runes, the bridge deck sank violently. Qiao Ye was still on the bridge, and he was almost thrown off, his shield foot scraping a harsh screech against the bridge deck.

"Again?"

Wen Zhao pressed down on the old nail, his web of his hand vibrating until it went numb: "The bridge is rejecting the worker silk!"

Lu Jin looked at the layer of black-grey contract runes. The runes were thin, wrapped between the old rail and the bridge belly, each loop like a small tooth clasp. Grey Pupil's Sacrificial Fire shone over, and several lines of Old Royal Court manufacturing script emerged on the surface of the runes. The script was darkened by the Grey Fire, yet it exuded an unquestionable cold hardness.

Wu Fu squinted and read aloud: "The Lock Bridge belongs to the well, the axles and rails belong to the workshop... Those who do not hold the work ledger, take one nail, collapse one inch."

Qiao Ye's face darkened: "Take one nail, collapse one inch? This workshop is too stingy."

But Wu Fu went quiet. She stared at those lines of text, her tail slowly tightening: "It has a ledger."

Lu Jin asked: "Can it accept a ledger?"

"Need the workshop's ledger board," Wu Fu licked her fangs, "or pay with materials."

Grey Pupil looked at her: "Don't pay randomly."

"I know." For once, Wu Fu didn't talk back, withdrawing the Worker Nest Egg Tray by half an inch. The worker silk that had just been pressed by the contract runes was still trembling. She flicked her finger, and a small piece of grey shell material from the bottom layer peeled off, sending it to the edge of the contract runes along the worker silk. As soon as that piece of grey shell material landed, the contract runes immediately bit down, and the bridge deck sank another half a finger.

Wu Fu's expression changed: "It doesn't accept grey shells."

"Grey shells are Breeding Nest material." Lu Jin took over, "It wants work materials."

A genuine look of pain appeared on Wu Fu's face. The middle layer of the Worker Nest Egg Tray opened, and a small section of freshly grown grey copper worker silk was cut off by her. That section of worker silk carried faint fire patterns and was usually used to repair fire channels, with extremely high consumption. She sent the grey copper worker silk to the edge of the contract runes. This time, the contract runes didn't bite the bridge immediately; they seemed to be sniffing. After two breaths, the black-grey contract runes moved aside by half an inch, and the Lock Bridge stopped sinking.

Qiao Ye breathed a sigh of relief: "It's picky too?"

Wu Fu's eye corners twitched with heartache: "It's eating my worker silk!"

"Charge it to the ledger." Lu Jin said.

Wu Fu immediately turned to look at him, her eyes bright: "This one needs to be ten times!"

"Six times."

"Nine times!"

"Seven times."

Wu Fu gritted her teeth: "Seven times, plus the medicine ash for Night Wing."

Lu Jin nodded: "Can do."

Only then did she continue. After the grey copper worker silk was swallowed by the contract runes, a small section of the old rail was revealed. The rail surface was covered in small tooth marks. After several of the tooth marks aligned with the rat-toothed copper nails on the back of the nameplate, Wen Zhao's Line-Marking Nail stopped heating up. He let out a long breath: "The bridge line is stable."

Lu Jin looked at the bottom of the bridge: "Night Wing."

Wu Fu was about to curse, but Lu Jin added: "Change to Work Rats."

Wu Fu's expression finally improved: "That's more like it."

Three Work Rats crawled out of the Worker Nest Egg Tray, a size smaller than ordinary Work Rats, carrying small bone hooks on their backs and wearing grey copper protective plates on their claws. As soon as they landed on the bottom of the bridge, they crawled down along the old rail. The first tested the seams, the second hung the line, and the third bit a small grey nail, responsible for reporting the codes to Wen Zhao.

Qiao Ye squatted at the edge of the bridge deck, frowning as he watched: "They're so small, the well wind will blow them away in one breath."

Wu Fu glared at him: "Only by being small can they get in."

As soon as the first Work Rat squeezed into the rail gap, a gust of thin wind blew from the bottom of the bridge. It immediately flattened itself, its tail wrapping around the grey copper worker silk. The well wind brushed over its back, only scraping off a tuft of fur. The Work Rat shivered in pain but didn't fall off; instead, it gripped the rail gap tighter and continued to crawl forward.

Wu Fu's expression softened slightly: "Not bad, knows how to hold the line."

"You taught it?" Grey Pupil asked.

"They learn after falling enough."

After the old rail extended downwards for seven zhang, it turned into the well wall. The Work Rats drilled into the well wall along the rail gap. Wen Zhao's Line-Marking Nails heated up one by one. He stared at the firelight at the tail of the spikes, his expression changing slightly: "There's a cavity, very narrow, more than one layer. It looks like an inverted workshop down there."

Ning Yanqiu's Cold Mirror Auxiliary Seal descended, the cold white light shining in along the small grey nails on the backs of the Work Rats. Below the well wall, a copper-black structure emerged—the entire workshop was still buried in the well wall, revealing only an edge. A row of inverted copper beams, three disconnected bone rails, and dozens of small workstations embedded in the well wall, each workstation so small that it could only accommodate one Rat-folk craftsman crouching to work. Hanging in front of the workstations were old hooks, short hammers, grey copper rulers, and broken gears. Many things were broken but not scattered, as if a group of craftsmen had just retreated from here and hadn't had time to put away their tools.

The Old Rat-folk craftsman under the Grey Stele Post suddenly knelt down. He saw those small workstations through the fire net, and a hoarse, low cry came from his throat, as if someone had grabbed his windpipe.

Lu Jin looked at him: "Recognize it?"

The Old Craftsman raised his head, the wrinkles on his face illuminated deeply by the firelight, each line carved with aged ash: "It's in the ancestral ledger. The workshop under the well wall, repairing the Lock Bridge, patching fire boots, maintaining carriage axles. The place where the Royal Court Rat-folk craftsmen suffered the most."

Qiao Ye scratched his head: "Why did they suffer the most?"

The Old Craftsman glanced at him, his gaze seeming to penetrate from a very deep place, carrying the astringency and heaviness unique to the bottom of the well: "If you lose focus on the bridge, you repair your life under the bridge. When the well wind comes, it hits the bottom of the bridge first, and the people under the bridge die first."

When these words came out, Qiao Ye didn't speak. Wu Fu, who had been full of materials in her eyes just a moment ago, also went quiet. Her tail slowly tightened, watching those small workstations, her voice lowering: "This place can repair my Worker Nest... but we can't dismantle it randomly."

Grey Pupil looked at her: "You finally listened."

Wu Fu didn't curse him. She raised her hand, and the three layers of grey chambers of the Worker Nest Egg Tray opened slightly, as if paying tribute to the silent workshop under the well wall: "Trial run, connect only three places. Bridge gaps, rail gaps, and axle shadows."

Lu Jin nodded: "Do it."

The middle layer of the Worker Nest Egg Tray spat out more grey copper worker silk. This time, it didn't crash hard into the contract runes but first hung onto the nameplate, then adhered to the old rail, and then followed the order of the workstations reported by The Old Craftsman, connecting them down one by one. Every time a grid was connected, a small section of worker silk was left outside, like reconnecting breathing to an old workshop submerged in the well wall.

The first grid repaired the bridge; the broken fire supply channel under the broken slot of the Lock Bridge was wrapped by the worker silk. The grey copper worker silk didn't fill it completely, only supporting the thinnest part. The sound of the wind on the bridge deck immediately lowered by half, and the shield foot under Qiao Ye pressed lighter. He looked down and muttered: "The bridge doesn't seem to want to bite me as much."

Wen Zhao said: "It can only hold for a while."

"A while is fine too."

The second grid patched the rail; the old copper rail was revealed more. After the tooth marks on the rail surface engaged with the rat-toothed copper nails on the back of the nameplate, Wen Zhao's Line-Marking Nail was completely stable. Just as the third grid was about to connect the axle shadows, the empty bone carriage frame behind the Nest King Platform shook heavily. Wu Fu's eyes were frighteningly bright, and her claws were shaking: "It's here!"

However, just at this moment, the second Work Rat sent back a sharp, urgent scream from deep within the well wall.

Wen Zhao's expression changed abruptly: "Something in the rail gap is biting the line!"

Wu Fu looked up violently, only to see the worker silk in the Worker Nest Egg Tray that was connected to the rail gap turning black at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if it were being gnawed from the other end by something highly toxic.