Three days later, at the bar table in the East Branch.
"What happened after that?"
"What else? Kill everyone with guns, burn the hive, and turn the place upside down—that's it."
'Bai Ya' raised his glass and touched it with Ed, and they each took a sip.
"Where's Andro? Have you found him?"
"Are you talking about Scarface? He is a ruthless character. I originally wanted to survive, but it turned out that he had a crystal dust bomb tied to his body."
Quinn said while leaning over the bar and rummaging through the bar.
Crystal dust is a rare high-energy dust that comes from crystallized particles in salt lakes. After being stimulated by the black crystal, a chain reaction will occur and transform into a gaseous state, resulting in an explosion.
"Found it." She took out a bottle of wine and slapped it on the table.
"Here, I've agreed to treat you to a drink. Highland production area, three years old, single malt, sealed in white oak barrels - no need to say more."
"Oh my, this is good stuff."
'Bakuya' still had the glib tone of a half-man and woman, raised two fingers, and poured the remaining gin in the cup on the ground.
"Wait, did I say I wanted to buy you a drink?" Quinn asked, holding down the bottle.
"Aha - you will." Bai Ya put his arm on Ed's shoulder, raised his red lips and blew him a kiss, "For our friendship, right, honey?"
Ed was so disgusted that he almost lost his breath. He clenched his fists and coughed twice, but finally nodded in acquiescence.
Quinn pulled out a butterfly-wing folding knife from her waist. The blade flew in the air for a moment, and then she cut the mouth of the bottle in half with one knife, and the cross section was as smooth as a mirror.
Light aromas of grain and peat hit the nostrils. The golden glycolic wine flows into the crystal clear glass along the break, like an old dream.
"Yes, the smell is really strong. If the sea monster smells so good, I would be willing to hold him and kiss him every day." Bai Ya smiled and raised his glass, "Come on, I'll give this glass to the 'three-legged cat'."
Three-legged cat?
Ed couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard the word. Apparently 'The Anvil' gave him the nickname, but it only took a week for it to spread everywhere.
"Well, do I still have a chance to change my nickname? Like 'mechanic' or 'disciple', something more normal."
"Be content, darling, it's hard for everyone to remember you and your white cane."
Byakuya smiled and shook the glass. When drinking, his tone would always be slightly normal:
"What's more, you have a hound by your side. The great detective is now a cat and a dog. The nickname 'Anvil' came up with is simply perfect, isn't it?"
Only the black cat, which brings bad luck, has nine lives. For some reason, Ed suddenly remembered what Mr. Eaton said.
"I knew it was him again." Quinn's face looked a little unhappy, "Don't listen to the sissy, Ed, the code name can be changed, not to mention that your code name has not been officially decided yet."
"Okay, okay, it's just a title anyway."
He shrugged and took a sip from the cup.
The highland sea breeze, surface peat and white oak barrels create a unique smoky aroma, and the alcohol is well integrated into the wine itself without any unpleasant pungency.
"Speaking of anvils, that guy was really miserable. The power system of the dragoon's armor broke down halfway, and he held on forcibly while carrying the iron shell." Bai Ya gloated and said with a evil smile while holding the wine. , "The stuff from the Royal Society is good, but it's just too delicate - now it's better, his baby bumps are all over the place."
"What are you laughing at, huh?"
'Anvil' came over angrily, pulled over the bench and sat down, making a piercing scream.
His bulk made the already not very wide bar seem even narrower, and Ed had to awkwardly move towards Byakuya.
"It's nothing, it's just the weather, money, work and other trivial matters... you know."
Byakuya calmly changed the subject.
"S--this wine is really good." Anvil put his thick arm on the bar and smelled from the air, "Pour me a glass too."
"Then you have to ask the person next to you first. Ah Mao is the big hero this time. If he hadn't sneaked behind enemy lines and taken the account book first, our work this time would have been in vain."
Byakuya smiled evilly, as if he didn't think it was a big deal, as if he didn't think the relationship between Ed and Anvil was deep enough.
"Eric." Quinn called out Bai Ya's real name directly, with a hint of anger in his voice.
"The wine belongs to Miss Quinn, we just happened to have a good time." Ed quickly changed the subject, "By the way, Mr. Eaton asked me to ask, is the maintenance manual for the dragoon armor still there?"
"That pamphlet? Of course it is. Why does he ask that?"
"I can take a look, maybe I can be of help, what if?"
"Is this what Eton means?"
Anvil gave Ed a suspicious look.
"Well, that's what he said. Ed worked as a maintenance engineer in the past, so it shouldn't be a problem." Quinn also helped.
Although his face was a little confused, Anvil lowered his head and looked around, rubbed his palms, and stood up:
"Okay, I'll take you to the equipment room."
When she came to the equipment room, she saw a huge metal monster in front of her. Catalina's black armor looked like a child in front of this giant beast.
The overall structure is close to that of a full-body plate armor, with an inclination and wider V-shaped groove added to the breastplate, and riveted steel plates added to the joints to protect the complex internal transmission device.
The huge metal gauntlet combined with the power system is enough to crush rocks with the force of its grip.
On the back, a huge steam boiler maintains the power of the entire metal armor. Key components such as pistons, cylinders, high-pressure steam pipes, and sliding gates are all installed at the rear. After the cooling fan is started, it will discharge amazing heat to protect the personnel inside.
Even so, there is still a risk of burns to the wearer's back.
It was bulky and slow, but Ed had to admit that this suit of armor was almost impossible to be broken through by external forces from the front - especially when it contained a battle-hardened and well-trained agent.
"What went wrong? The power system failed, right?"
Ed looked around with a magnifying glass. Mechanical maintenance is a matter of 30% skill and 70% fate. Many faults cannot be explained. Whether it can be used again after repairs depends entirely on God's will.
"That's right, I didn't do anything at that time. The grunting levers and gears behind me suddenly stopped turning. The whole armor was as heavy as two cows, and then the back was frighteningly hot." Anvil described it using his hands and feet.
According to the anvil's description and maintenance manual, Ed first checked the cylinder. There was no damage to the cylinder block, and the piston connecting rod was also operating normally. So he checked the crankshaft and flywheel group again, and sure enough, the crank was deformed and broken.
Due to the severe overload of the power system, the centrifugal force of the crankshaft rotation puts additional loads on the bearing bushes and crank pins of the connecting rod's big end, the crankshaft main journal and its bearings, which eventually leads to crank wear and even deformation and bending.
Fortunately, there are still supporting parts left by the Royal Society. For a part like this that is extremely prone to wear and tear, the Royal Society, which has always been rigorous, will naturally not forget about maintenance issues.
I hope it works.
The repair took about an hour. Ed, who was now disgraced, lit the steam boiler with uneasiness.
Pure white steam spurted out and was evenly blown away by the cooling fan, and the entire power system resumed operation again.
"Holy shit, that worked!" Anvil jumped up and cursed in an almost complimentary way.
"No problem for now, but I suggest you take the time to put it on and try it on. If you have any questions, you can contact me at any time."
Taking off his goggles and gloves, Ed took out a handkerchief and wiped the oil and sweat stains on his forehead.
"I didn't expect you to be so stubborn." Although Bai Ya was crossing his legs at the side, his eyes also changed. "Hurry back and have a drink. I'm going to throw up just sitting here smelling the engine oil."
Quinn didn't say a word the whole time, but it could be seen that she was equally satisfied with Ed's performance, as if the students she taught had achieved perfect scores.
Chapter 61 Sitting in front of the bar, Anvil’s fierce orange beard finally became looser. He raised his glass:
"I have to admit, boy, I did find you a little distasteful at first. But now that you have joined the gang, according to the rules of the northerners, we are all brothers to each other."
"Just a colleague." He heard Bai Ya interrupt quietly.
"...Brothers may not always be so harmonious, but if something really big happens, I will protect you."
Anvil picked up the wine glass and waited for Ed's reply.
"Of course, you can trust me."
Ed picked up the whiskey and clinked the glass with him.
"...but don't trust me too much."
