Poverty makes me capable of anything.

From top to bottom, they are the life-related secondary professions: "Pastry Maker," "Scout," "Engineer," and "Mechanic."

The "Pastry Maker" profession unlocks with an affinity level of 0, while the three subsequent professions unlock with affinity levels of 10, 15, and 15 respectively.

Trying to do too much at once can lead to failure, but having multiple jobs isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as you know how to prioritize.

So Zhou Jieyu's attitude was, "I want them all!"

Children make choices; adults want it all!

Zhou Jieyu considers herself a mature woman who combines beauty and wisdom!

"Do you wish to unlock the profession of [Pastry Maker]?"

Zhou Jieyu chose "yes".

"Unlocking the [Pastry Maker] profession requires 30 pelu. Do you wish to pay?"

"Uh……"

Zhou Jieyu was caught at this threshold, which made her a little embarrassed. She only had 31 pieces of rouge on her, which was not enough to spend at all.

After hesitating for a long time, Zhou Jieyu said earnestly to An Ran, "I'll come back tomorrow."

After saying that, she ran away.

I'll make money and take care of you...

No, I'll make money and then switch jobs.

After watching Zhou Jieyu leave, An Ran quickly took out the 11 coins she had just received and lined them up on the table.

The bright silver coin gleamed in the sunlight, making An Ran's eyes even more dazzling.

Hehe...

She happily put the money into her pocket.

Although it's only 11 points now, if you operate it properly, more and more zeros can be added to this number.

"How much money did you scam?"

At this moment, store manager Colin opened the door and asked.

"..."

An Ran broke out in a cold sweat. How could this be called a scam when it involved NPCs? This was clearly a transaction.

"This is a deal, a deal."

“I don’t care if it’s a transaction or a scam, anyway, you’re free now, right? Come over and help me out when you’re free. I have a lot to do today, so please close the shop while you’re at it,” Colin said.

"Task issued: [Colin's Mechanical Engineering] Fifth Stage. Accept?"

Task reward: 1000 experience points.

Task repeatability: unique.

1000?

Let's go!

……

"Splash!"

"Squeak!"

An Ran pulled down the roller shutter door of the repair shop, then turned around and pushed open the door connecting to the workshop.

Colin stood in the corner, looking somewhat tired, but beneath that tired face seemed to lie some unspoken emotion.

It is said that researchers are in this state of mind when they are about to produce results.

What exactly did Colin do?

Anran, who has only looked at a few drawings, is still completely bewildered.

"Take a look at this first. There's a lot to do today, and you need to concentrate." Colin handed over a few more drawings.

Anran received the blueprints and, as always, reviewed them.

They sent over four drawings in total this time.

Moreover, they were consecutive numbers.

From [? ? ? ? (56/79)] to [? ? ? ? (59/79)].

There are still 20 drawings left.

Colin sat quietly to the side.

The first drawing shows a connecting structure, which appears to be intended to connect the previously constructed columns.

The second drawing is a circuit that I don't quite understand; it seems to be part of some kind of power unit.

The third drawing shows an even smaller connection structure.

The fourth drawing shows a pair of spherical objects, round and mostly milky white, with the other part at the front being crystal clear.

This thing...

The more An Ran looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. Wasn't it just a pair of eyeballs?

eyeball.

As Anran recalled the things Colin had made before, those strange cylinders, those odd little gadgets, and the connecting structures drawn on the blueprints.

An Ran put down the blueprints in her hand with a serious expression, turned to Colin who was deep in thought, and said, "Boss, are you trying to make a baby?"

Chapter 11 Long Dream

"Boss, are you trying to have a baby?"

In the cramped room, bathed in a warm yellow light, a petite girl spoke to a middle-aged man with a mustache sitting in the corner.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became...

It became suppressed.

Colin stood up, his eyes sharpening in that instant, like a dull blade about to strike.

The round glasses reflected the light.

But Colin's gaze quickly shifted elsewhere, as he looked at the many devices displayed on the table.

He made most of them himself, while a small number of components were made by An Ran.

Colin increasingly felt that Anran was a very talented mechanic; it was truly rare for a girl to achieve this level.

Therefore, it is not difficult to roughly deduce one's intentions from a few drawings.

It should be said that he had a premonition that this day would come.

There's no need to make a fuss about it now.

Colin did not directly respond to An Ran's words, but his silence was tantamount to acquiescence.

Anran recalled the first time she came to Colin's repair shop, when Colin was reading the book "Practical Technology of Bionic Machinery" very seriously.

Little white rabbit, white and white.

Colin might have some kind of unusual hobby.

cough cough...

An Ran subtly shifted her body, feeling as if she were doing something extraordinary.

However, Anran cannot give up the rewards from the hidden quests.

Let's do it!

After a while, An Ran wrote down the contents of the four drawings: "We can begin now."

"it is good."

When it came to this project that he had put so much effort into, Colin changed his usual somewhat lazy style and became highly focused, even unusually excited.

The whirring sound of the equipment running could be heard again in the workshop.

The bearings have been manufactured.

The glass body shaping is complete.

The microcircuit substrate is ready; soldering can begin.

The spherical rotating surface capable of 360-degree rotation has been polished.

Everything is going very smoothly.

Colin, engrossed in "creating a human," had lost track of time. When all the pre-ordered basic components were finished, Anran glanced at the time on the wall and realized it was already past 6 p.m.

Oh no, I haven't had lunch. No wonder I'm so hungry.

"Phew—" Colin wiped his face with his oily hands, sweat mixing with the oil droplets.

With a satisfied smile on his face, he checked the time and said to An Ran, "That's all for today. I got a little carried away. Here, consider this a small reward."

100 bis.

An Ran's eyes lit up slightly, and she accepted it without hesitation.

"The fifth stage of the mission [Colin's Mechanical Engineering] is complete. Reward: 1000 experience points."

Perfect, a great success.

Anran left the repair shop satisfied.

Money is important, but experience is equally important. Anran needs enough experience to level up quickly in order to maintain his dominance over other players.

Other NPCs are unaware of this, so they will be gradually "eliminated," but An Ran is an outlier with exceptionally high ideological awareness.

"Although it looks quite professional, it's probably just an electric toy at best, or maybe it runs on gasoline."

As Anran lay in bed, she thought that the technological level of Earth in 1886 was not much better than that of the old Earth. Although it was forced into the Great Space Era due to being conquered by the Empire, its advanced technology had not spread.

Besides, although Colin is a rather mysterious NPC, he is only a junior mechanic, and there is no qualitative difference between him and himself and this apprentice mechanic.