Chapter 15: A Single Screw, Taming the "Man-Eating Machine"

"Creak—"

Accompanied by a tooth-aching grinding sound, the long-sealed heavy iron doors of the Fifth Workshop were slowly pushed open.

A blast of stale engine oil mixed with the smell of dust rushed toward them.

The setting sun pierced through the window frames, and countless dust motes danced wildly within the beams of light.

The workshop was large, yet it felt empty.

Most of the equipment had been dismantled and moved away during the relocation a few years ago,

leaving only rows of black holes on the ground where the anchor bolts used to be fixed.

At the far end of the workshop, a massive object crouched.

An oil-stained green canvas covered it, its silhouette appearing ferocious.

Lin Xi strode forward and yanked the canvas off.

Dust billowed up, causing everyone to break into a fit of coughing.

A dark green C620 ordinary lathe forced itself into everyone's sight.

Even though it was mottled with rust, that rugged sense of oppression unique to Soviet-style heavy industry still hit them full force.

Rugged and heavy.

"A C620?" Lin Xi's eyes lit up.

"A 1950s product from the Shenyang No. 1 Machine Tool Plant."

"This is practically a legendary machine tool of our generation. Why wasn't it moved?"

"Who would dare move it..."

The one speaking wasn't Officer Zhao, but Sun Erga, who was hiding behind the others.

Sun Erga's face was pale as he pointed at the machine tool, his voice trembling slightly.

"This is that... 'Man-Eating Machine'."

"Man-eating?" Lin Xi raised an eyebrow.

"Five years ago, while this machine was still running, an old worker was turning a high-speed flywheel." Sun Erga swallowed hard.

"I don't know if the chuck exploded or the workpiece flew off, but anyway... the person was gone on the spot."

"It was tragic. I heard brains were splattered all over the ceiling."

Officer Zhao, standing nearby, also nodded, his expression looking unnatural.

"That did indeed happen."

"After the accident, the maintenance crew tried to fix it several times."

"But the weird thing is, as long as this machine exceeds 600 RPM,"

"a woman's crying sound comes from the headstock—sobbing and wailing, it's incredibly creepy."

"Moreover, the machine bed vibrates so violently that it's impossible to do any precision work."

"The workers say privately that the vengeful spirit finds it too noisy and is throwing a tantrum."

"Later, everyone thought it was bad luck. Whoever operated it would have misfortune. When we moved, the leadership just waved their hands and left it here to be scrapped."

Wang Yu's teeth chattered with fear as he gripped Wang Dapao's sleeve tightly. Wang Dapao, however, remained unfazed, merely frowning at the cold hunk of iron.

Lin Xi almost burst out laughing.

In this day and age, not understanding science made it easy to scare oneself.

He didn't explain. Instead, he took two steps forward and carefully observed the machine tool.

In his mind, the livestream had turned into an "Expert Consultation Room."

[Mechanical Ascension: Good heavens, is this the legendary haunted house... no, haunted machine? This patina, this texture—isn't this more intense than Boruto?]

[Cyber Taoist: Ghostly wailing? I think the bearings are the ones crying. I suggest a direct physical exorcism.]

[Long Five Screw - Retired Version: The headstock of a C620 is basically just a large gearbox. That flywheel accident back then definitely caused a slight deformation of the spindle, or the thrust bearing at the rear end shattered.]

[Master Wang the Lathe Repairman: Streamer, don't listen to their nonsense. I've fixed eight hundred of these old machines. Open the headstock cover and see if the counterweight at the rear of the spindle is loose. That kind of howling is 90% air-cutting noise caused by a loss of dynamic balance!]

This was the joy of having a cheat.

Lin Xi felt completely reassured. He straightened up, a playful look in his eyes.

"Big Cannon, go flip the switch!"

"Since you're following me, I don't care if it's a ghost or a god—it's going to work for me honestly!"

Seeing this setup, Officer Zhao greased his feet and retreated to the main door—ready to bolt at any moment.

"Clack!"

Wang Dapao steeled himself and pushed the electrical switch. The indicator light glowed red, like a crimson eye.

Lin Xi skillfully shifted gears and started it up.

"Hummm—"

The motor ran at a low speed, remaining relatively steady.

The corners of Lin Xi's mouth curled slightly as he suddenly pushed the speed lever to the high-speed gear!

"Wooo—!!!"

A shrill, sharp howling sound instantly exploded, echoing through the empty workshop.

The sound rose and fell; it really did sound like the wailing of a resentful woman in the dead of night!

The ground began to vibrate, and dust trickled down.

"Oh my god! The ghost is screaming! The ghost is screaming!"

Sun Erga was so scared he collapsed onto the floor and scrambled outward on all fours.

Even Officer Zhao's scalp tingled, and he turned to flee.

Only Lin Xi acted as if nothing was wrong, even closing his eyes and leaning his ear closer.

[Master Wang the Lathe Repairman: I hear it! The frequency is proportional to the RPM! It's definitely a counterweight issue!]

[Physics Class Rep: This kind of vibration can be canceled out by adding a reverse torque. Streamer, look at the counterweight holes on the back of the chuck and find that phase!]

Lin Xi shut down the machine.

The hair-raising shrill howl came to an abrupt end.

The world instantly became quiet.

"Big Cannon, find me an M10 screw and a wrench," Lin Xi ordered.

Wang Dapao snapped out of it, rummaged through a pile of scrap, and handed the items over.

Lin Xi rotated the chuck, his fingers feeling around the counterweight holes on the back until he finally locked onto one.

"The accident back then did indeed cause the spindle to warp by a tiny fraction."

Lin Xi explained nonchalantly while tightening the screw, "But this 'ghost wailing' isn't a ghost; it's the wind."

"The spindle is unbalanced, so when it rotates at high speed, it cuts through the air like a whistle."

"Coupled with the resonance of the machine tool, it becomes the ghostly wailing you hear."

He applied a sudden burst of strength, tightening the screw firmly into the counterweight hole.

"Done."

Lin Xi patted the rust off his hands and looked at the few people huddled by the door.

"Erga, stand up."

"Watch closely and see how our 'money-printing machine' is resurrected."

He powered it up again.

He pushed the lever all the way to the end—the maximum speed of 1200 RPM.

Everyone instinctively covered their ears.

However...

The expected "ghost wailing" did not occur.

There was only the steady, powerful "humming" of the motor—the most beautiful rhythm of the industrial age.

The machine tool, which had been violently shaking before, was now as docile as a large cat.

Dead silence.

Officer Zhao's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.

The machine tool that had troubled the maintenance crew for years and was even abandoned because it was "haunted."

This kid just stuffed a screw in and... fixed it?

"Incredible..." Wang Dapao murmured to himself, his gaze toward Lin Xi filled with admiration.

Sun Erga scrambled up from the ground, not even bothering to brush the dust off his rear, and circled the machine tool three times.

"Good heavens, did Manager Lin just exorcise this ghost?"

Lin Xi ignored the crowd's shock.

The priority now was—materials.

"Officer Zhao, since I've fixed this machine,"

Lin Xi turned and looked at him with a half-smile,

"according to our previous agreement, this counts as an 'unrepairable scrapped asset'."

"It belongs to our Service Center now, no problem, right?"

"No... no problem! It was already an asset waiting to be scrapped anyway!" Officer Zhao didn't dare say no.

Lin Xi turned around, his gaze scanning the mountain of scrap piled in the corner of the workshop like radar.

A mess of aluminum plates, ceramic tubes, bearings of unknown years...

The corners of Lin Xi's mouth turned up.

How was this a junkyard? This was clearly a treasure trove!

"Big Cannon, get the brothers to work!" Lin Xi waved his hand grandly.

"Our first pot of gold is buried right in this pile of junk!"