Only I can make them stronger

…………

In the afternoon, Leah took Xia Ye and Leah, who insisted on coming, to a store.

There was a big hammer and a wrench hanging on the door of the shop. Xia Ye knew the nature of this shop at a glance - an equipment store.

As they walked in, they were struck by a burning sensation. There were no other customers except the three of them. A middle-aged brown-haired woman in work clothes was hammering a knife on an anvil behind the counter.

The counter of this store was actually completely connected to the forge at the back. The smell of metal and burning materials filled the entire room, making Xia Ye feel a little uncomfortable for a moment.

"Aunt Careya, are you free now?" Luo Qi bowed politely and greeted the middle-aged woman.

"It's Luoqi! Why are you here today? Whose weapon is broken? I guess it's Liya. This girl is usually reckless..."

A loud voice said over the sound of the furnace.

It seemed that this aunt named Careya liked Luoqi very much. After hearing the voice, she immediately stopped what she was doing, looked up and greeted her enthusiastically.

"It's not me! I take good care of my boxing gloves! That's a whole month's residence tax!" Leah opened her eyes wide and spoke up for herself who was wrongly accused.

"That's Sha... eh? A man?" Careya smiled and was about to say something, but his eyes quickly fell on Xia Ye and asked in confusion: "This person is with you? How strange!"

"Doesn't Leah usually hate men the most?"

"But Liya likes him very much... This is Mr. Xia Ye, our new clerk." Luo Qi introduced with a smile:

"Mr. Xia Ye, this is Aunt Kareya. She is the best blacksmith I know."

"Hello, Aunt Careya." Upon hearing this, Xia Ye also nodded to the other party.

"I don't deserve it! I just want to support my family... So you are here today to buy equipment for the new clerk?" Careya waved his hand, looked at Xia Ye, and his doubts became even more serious:

"But...with all due respect, I'm afraid Mr. Xia Ye is not capable of controlling the weapon I made."

"Don't even mention driving it, you probably can't even lift it, right?"

Careya is a straightforward and cheerful person, so he didn't try to be tactful just because the other party is Luo Qi's companion.

She could tell at a glance that Xia Ye's strength was not even at the first level, and he was not a fighting domain type of alien, so he was not suitable for the equipment in her shop.

"That's true..." Luo Qi looked at Xia Ye apologetically and smiled bitterly:

"So we came today because we have something else to ask of you."

"Anything else?" Careya looked at Luo Qi puzzledly.

"We would like to ask you if you can...sell us a piece of E-grade ore in private. It should be the size of a fist. Any kind is fine..."

"What!?" Luo Qi was interrupted by Careya's loud voice before she could finish her words.

Then she jumped over the counter neatly and sideways, nervously closed the door and locked it, then lowered her voice and said:

"Luo Qi, do you know what you are saying? This is against the law! What are you doing?"

Seeing each other's appearance, Xia Ye and Luo Qi both showed a bitter smile on their faces.

The latter paused and said, "That's why I just came to you... For a private transaction, I can charge 40% higher than the market price."

"This is not about the money! So what if you get it? It's extremely troublesome to handle. If someone finds out, all the clerks in your Qianshi Office will be detained for inspection."

"..." Luo Qi was speechless by the other party's words. After all, she was not particularly clear about what Xia Ye was talking about "method". She only came to ask for help from Careia out of trust in Xia Ye's ability.

"As long as I can get it, I can dispose of it quickly without leaving any traces or letting anyone find out." At this moment, Xia Ye stood up and said confidently.

"You? You have the ability? Even I have to spend a lot of effort to process the raw stones, and you have skinny arms and legs..."

Kareya obviously didn't believe it and questioned it with a frown.

After hearing this, Xia Ye had a general idea of the other party's character and situation, and smiled:

"Aunt Careya, if you have any raw ore, I can show it to you right away."

"I have used up this month's quota and have no spare money..."

Seeing that the other party was hesitant to speak but couldn't help being curious, Xia Ye knew what was going on and continued to ask:

"But it sounds like you still have some channels that can be considered, right?"

"Since you are the best blacksmith in Luo Qi's heart, I believe you must have other ways."

"So what? If you can't prove your ability, I won't help you." Careya said firmly: "To be honest, I don't believe you are a forger."

"If you say so, I want to make a bet with you." Hearing this, Xia Ye pretended to frown and said in an angry tone.

"bet?"

27. The Craftsman Being Controlled

"What bet?"

"Let's bet... the weapon in my hand is harder than any first-level alien weapon you have forged." Xia Ye said as he took out the crowbar from his waist and winked at Luo Qi.

Xia Ye didn't make this bet casually.

The conversation between the other party and Leah just now has already shown that the boxing armor used by Leah was made by Careya.

He remembered the scene when Leah smashed the Type 1 dog's head with one punch. Although it was also quite violent, compared with his performance in the resident certification test, Xia Ye could clearly see that he was far better than her in terms of weapons.

The subsequent attack on the man in Shadow Claw once again proved the strength of the crowbar.

Therefore, Xia Ye is very confident in his +3 physics holy sword.

According to the usual game settings, blacksmiths like Kareya will have an old problem -

He couldn't tolerate the provocation he had just received.

Although they didn't say it, they all felt in their hearts that their skills could never lose to a young man like him who looked like he had never worked with iron before.

Xia Ye was not worried at all that the other party would refuse his bet.

"This weapon was forged by me personally, Luo Qi can testify to that."

"I think if it works as I said, it can be considered as indirect proof of my forging ability, right?"

Luo Qi saw Xia Ye's winking expression and immediately understood what he meant, so she could only agree helplessly:

"Indeed, this... weapon was forged by Xia Ye himself."

Upon hearing this, Kareya grabbed the crowbar that Xia Ye showed without hesitation, examined it carefully, and a strange smile appeared on his face, mockingly saying:

"Xia Ye boy, you call this... a weapon?"

"It's fine as long as I can use it myself. To be honest, I want E-level ore raw stones in order to further forge this weapon."

"And judging from the results of my quick look just now, at least none of the weapons on display in the store can compare to this powerful weapon of mine."

In addition to explaining, Xia Ye further provoked Careya's competitive spirit.

Sure enough, the latter's face changed, and it was obvious that he had taken the bait, and then he asked:

"Okay, what's the bet?"

"No bet." But to Kareya's surprise, Xia Ye did not mention the ore, but just said lightly:

"I just want to prove that I am not as 'skinny and skinny' as you say."

"Good boy, you have guts!" It seemed that Xia Ye's words were quite to Careya's liking, and the slight anger that had risen up after being provoked just now disappeared in an instant.

So she turned back to the counter and took out a short knife as long as her forearm from underneath it and said:

"This is my most proud creation this month. I'm going to bet with you on it!"

……

Soon, Careya took the three people to a workshop behind the counter and pointed at a pair of metal pliers.

"You can't withstand my strength. Put your weapons on this metal clamp and I'll attack with the knife. Let's see which weapon gets chipped first!"

"No problem, but I still want to hold my own weapon in my own hands." Xia Ye nodded and made his request.

"Why?" Careya was puzzled by this request.

"Because...even though I'm not strong enough, I still want to fight alongside my weapon!" Xia Ye pretended to be cool again.

All these years of reading and playing online articles and games were not in vain.

He knows very well how to grasp the so-called spirit of craftsmanship.

As for the real reason...

Of course, he would not forget that his physical holy sword could only exert its strengthening effect when he was holding it.

Sure enough, when Careya heard this, he immediately became respectful.

She once dreamed of conquering the wilderness, but was seriously injured in a battle and ended up living in the city as a blacksmith.

So she could understand the passion behind the words "fight side by side" from Xia Ye's mouth.

She was not the only one who stood in awe. Liya also looked inexplicably serious and shouted to Xia Ye:

"Xia Ye! I believe in you! Don't lose to the fierce Aunt Kareya!"

Only Luo Qi, who saw through everything, pulled Leah back helplessly.

She clearly felt that Xia Ye's emotions were quite stable, even a little cunning, but there was no trace of passion.

"Good boy! Come!" But Careya didn't pay attention to so much. At this moment, she just wanted to feel whether Xia Ye's confidence was well-deserved.

Everything was ready. Xia Ye was standing next to the metal pliers, holding the clamped crowbar in one hand, while Careya was holding a dagger in the other hand, ready to strike.

"Ha!" A loud shout rang out in the house, and Careya's dagger chopped towards the crowbar with the force of thunder.

"Ding!!!" Then, a shocking sound of metal clashing was heard, almost making Xia Ye faint.

Careya's strength is really not to be underestimated.

But soon, a flash of white light flashed from the contact point between the crowbar and the dagger, and Careya's arm holding the knife was actually shaken away.

Then she looked at the dagger in her hand in surprise.

A small gap had already appeared at the place where the crowbar had been chopped.

This dagger has reached 70% of the material's element fusion degree, and is one of the top-notch ones among the first-level alien weapons that are generally made of E-grade ore!

The outcome was decided with just one strike!

What shocked her even more was that when she took the crowbar and observed it, she found that there was not even any rational element on this weapon!

In other words, this young man named Xia Ye defeated his own masterpiece solely by relying on his material processing and forging skills!

"I lost." Careya took a few seconds to accept the fact, and then admitted his failure quite calmly.

There wasn't even a trace left on the opponent's weapon.

"Aunt Careya, thank you for letting me." Xia Ye took down the crowbar, nodded to Careya, and turned around to leave with Luoqi and Liya.

"Wait!" But as expected, Careya stopped them and asked loudly:

"Don't you want your weapons to go further?"

"I want to, but since Aunt Careya is not convenient here, I can only find other ways." Xia Ye didn't even turn his head.

"I have a channel here. Do you want to listen?" Seeing this, Careya hesitated for a moment and then said:

"I also want to see how powerful this weapon of yours can be."

……

"Next Tuesday, a new vein will be mined in the Livika Mine east of the city. The more famous blacksmiths in the city will go there to identify the minerals and participate in the mining discussion."

"I will also hire an escort when the time comes. Since you want the E-grade ore so badly, why don't you just let your firm take on this task?"

"I can secretly get you a sample of the raw stone, but you need to consider how to avoid strict inspection and bring it back to the Shia city-state... At least I can't think of any way, and the mine will be particularly strict with us blacksmiths."

"No need to bring it back, I'll deal with it on the spot." Xia Ye waved his hand, which surprised Careya again.

However, every blacksmith has his own unique skills, so she didn't ask too much.

"But Aunt Careya, you are so powerful, do you still need our escort? Isn't that a bit deliberate?" Xia Ye then asked curiously.

"I was seriously injured in the wilderness before. Once I leave the city and am exposed to the wilderness air for too long, the factor disease will flare up. By then, I will be even worse than a first-level Inhuman." When mentioning this, a trace of melancholy flashed in Careya's eyes.

"I will pay you for the mission, and I won't charge you for the raw ore."

"This is not a good idea. Let's do as I said before, the market price..." The other party decided to help Xia Ye, and Luo Qi felt embarrassed to take advantage of him again.

"No, just do as I say. I only have one request—"