[Warning! Please leave the Fusion Tempering Furnace immediately. Smelting is about to begin, and the furnace will generate extremely high temperatures.]
Seeing this, Ethan didn't dare delay.
He quickly retreated.
Then, the Fusion Tempering Furnace's domed door suddenly closed.
After that, the entire black-gold furnace was enveloped in lightning, flashing rapidly while making crackling sounds.
A moment later, the furnace's black-gold surface had even turned the glowing red color of heated iron.
The temperature really was extremely high.
Ethan casually took out a Goblin Black Gold Blade and thrust it against the furnace wall.
Sss!
A puff of white smoke rose immediately.
The originally gleaming silver blade tip of the Goblin Black Gold Blade actually began melting instantly.
Then the entire Black Gold Blade liquefied into molten metal and flowed down the furnace wall.
'What a high temperature!'
'Good thing I ran fast!'
But in Ethan's mind, the Fusion Tempering Furnace earned another mark on his blacklist.
If he hadn't had the prompt, and if he hadn't run fast enough, wouldn't he himself have been melted down as material?
'What a scheme!'
Indeed. Compared to slowly swindling materials away, directly melting the people who possessed piles of materials... the Fusion Tempering Furnace would definitely get far more materials that way.
Besides, no one could even settle the score with a furnace afterward.
After all, what kind of score could you settle with a furnace?
'What an evil thing!'
Bzz!
However, taking advantage of this moment, the damned statue spoke up again.
Damned Statue: ["Now you understand my good intentions, right? This Fusion Tempering Furnace isn't anything good. Although it's called the Fair Balance, it's not fair at all. Unlike me, who sets the price first and does business afterward, fair to young and old alike."]
["If you deal with this lousy scale, you'll definitely be the one who loses in the end."]
["I know what you're thinking."]
["You definitely want to fuse the Charlie Brand Radio with the crystal ball so you won't have to spend materials asking me for predictions anymore, right?"]
["But have you ever thought about how high the price would have to be to fuse something like the Charlie Brand Radio, which has a soul of its own, with a crystal ball that possesses the power of prediction?"]
["Give up!"]
["I know you can't bear to part with those spirit stones. How about I give you a five-percent price? What do you say?"]
["This is the absolute lowest price."]
["In another twenty minutes, the flood will reach this place."]
["If you still don't agree by then, even if you give me fifteen thousand spirit stones, I won't be able to help you anymore."]
However, after listening to all the damned statue's nonsense, Ethan only replied coldly with one word, "Oh."
"..."
The damned statue was so angry it didn't even bother making a "bzz" before going dark.
And the moment the damned statue went dark, the Fusion Tempering Furnace's arched door opened once more, and waves of hot steam poured out.
It seemed... the temperature inside really was extremely high.
Ethan didn't go in immediately. Instead, he stood at the entrance for a moment, then reached a hand inside. After confirming that the temperature was within what he could withstand, he quickly walked in.
On the balance scale, the two orange hats on the Fusion Item Placement tray had fused into one, becoming a blue Goblin hat.
As for the spirit stones Ethan had originally placed on the other tray, they had already disappeared.
'So this is fusion?'
[Goblin Blue Hat: Defense +10%, Strength +15%]
Compared to the [Goblin Orange Hat: Accuracy +5%, Strength +5%], it really was much better!
Just as Ethan was about to continue studying the Fusion Tempering Furnace...
Rumble!
A violent shaking echoed through the ground.
If Ethan had guessed correctly, then...
The flood had arrived!
'Damn!'
Ethan was startled.
He no longer had time to study anything in detail. He immediately placed the Charlie Brand Radio and his crystal ball together onto the Fusion Item Placement tray.
The Fair Balance's central dial once again displayed a red exclamation mark.
[Required Materials: 1 Robot Wreck + 1000 Spirit Stones, or 1 Computer Wreck + 1000 Spirit Stones]
[P.S.: Adding 50% more materials increases the success rate by 50%. Doubling the materials increases the success rate by 100%. Of course, that's only if you know which materials are required. Otherwise, the Fair Balance will usually swindle away materials it doesn't even need.]
'It actually needs a Robot Wreck or a Computer Wreck?'
Ethan was somewhat surprised by the Fair Balance's requirements.
But soon... he understood.
It was probably because the Charlie Brand Radio was, after all, a machine.
If you wanted to upgrade a machine, or in other words repair one, then you'd have to take parts from another machine. The requirement was reasonable enough.
It was just that needing 1,000 spirit stones for energy seemed a bit excessive.
But in the end, Ethan still gritted his teeth and placed 1 Computer Wreck + 1 Robot Wreck + 2,000 spirit stones onto the Material Placement tray.
Although... the Fair Balance's listed requirement was only one Computer Wreck plus 1,000 spirit stones.
For the sake of the Charlie Brand Radio's safety, or rather, for the sake of the prediction ability's safety, Ethan still chose the plan with a 100% success rate.
Double the materials.
Bzzz~
As Ethan finished placing the materials.
The Fair Balance immediately generated countless arcs of electricity, or rather electric currents.
At the same moment, the entire Fusion Tempering Furnace began heating up rapidly. Seeing this, Ethan quickly dashed out of the furnace!
["Eth... Ethan... bzzz... Why did you leave me in here?"]
The Charlie Brand Radio was probably frightened too. At this moment, it kept making crackling electrical noises and hurriedly questioned Ethan.
Naturally, Ethan had no time to explain everything in detail. He only replied casually:
"I'm upgrading you. Turning you into an automatic fortune-telling machine!"
["Ah?"]
The Charlie Brand Robot froze for a moment.
But in that brief instant, the Fusion Tempering Furnace's door closed.
Then, Charlie's screams began coming from inside the Fusion Tempering Furnace.
["Ahhhhh!"]
["It hurts! What's happening? It hurts so much!"]
Charlie's screams left even Ethan dumbfounded.
'Isn't it said...'
'That people who become items can't feel pain?'
'Then what is going on with Charlie?'
"Bzz!"
The damned statue flashed a few times before lighting up again, ["Heh! Heh! Heh! That's what you get for refusing to work with me!"]
["I almost forgot to tell you that this smelting furnace actually has more than a 50% failure rate. And if you're fusing something with a soul, the failure rate is as high as 80%. If you add equipment related to space or spirit items, like the crystal ball, then the failure rate goes as high as 95%."]
["What a pity! Your Charlie Brand Radio and that pile of materials are probably going to be scrapped."]
["If you'd cooperated with me earlier, you could at least have saved a large amount of material costs."]
["Oh, and the limited-time discount!"]
["The flood is about to reach this place!"]
["Now, if you still want to work with me..."]
["Fifteen thousand spirit stones, plus five thousand beast cores of every element. No bargaining!"]
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