In late autumn in September, withered yellow is the main color of the season.

In addition to the carefully arranged garden and the flowers that bloom in season, even the green lawn has begun to turn yellow, and the fallen leaves of the Indis plane trees that come with the wind are endless, and it is impossible to pick them up.

There is a flat-topped garden pavilion in the middle of the lawn.

Of course, it only looks like a gazebo, but there are no utensils such as tables and chairs inside.

Because it's actually the entrance to Professor Portland's private lab.

The interior of the pavilion is roughly divided into two parts, one side is a staircase that extends downward, and the other side is only a large square steel plate that is flush with the marble floor.

"Let's all stand on the steel plate," Professor Portland said with a smile, "it may be a little crowded, get over it, and it will be fine in no time." ”

On the steel plate of about three square meters, more than a dozen people quickly stood still.

Professor Portland finally stepped onto the steel plate and flipped the switch on the column next to him.

The sound of "rolling" gears sounded, and the whole steel plate began to sink slowly.

"Don't panic, this platform is safe." Professor Portland's calm voice suppressed the astonishment of individual guests.

"Its main purpose is to transport heavy loads, and the structural strength is sufficient, so there is no problem in carrying us up and down."

Speaking of which, he laughed a few times and added:

"Of course, the descent can only depend on our own weight, but the ascent requires the steam engine to do the work, and the machine is not turned on today, so everyone will have to go up the stairs later."

Guests have said that there is no problem.

The darkness of the descent was short-lived, and soon the group returned to the world of light, truly entering Professor Portland's private laboratory.

In the bright glow of the gas lamp, the first thing everyone saw was a steam engine with a huge boiler, connecting rods, flywheels, and many pipes connected to it, and next to it was a deep black pile of high-quality coal.

"It's a classic of more than a dozen Stark products, with a slight modification as I requested."

Professor Portland walked out of the lifting platform first and began to point to the equipment and instruments to introduce:

"It's the furnace...... This is a vice...... This is the milling machine ......"

This underground space is actually not small, but after installing a lot of equipment, there is not much activity space left, more than a dozen people are crowded together, and some activities are not open.

Professor Portland walked around the group and showed several small prototypes, which fully satisfied everyone's curiosity.

Finally, he pointed to a simple mecha that could be seen to be a humanoid shape, and spoke in a tone with a bit of pride:

"I made it according to the imagination of Russell the Great, but unfortunately it is still far from being completed.

"Russell the Great was a genius," he exclaimed, "and the manuscripts he left behind were sketches of his imagination of the various mechanical devices of the future, many of which had already become reality!" ”

Valera felt as if she had seen a more advanced and complete finished product through the big guy in front of her.

The guests echoed the praises of Russell the Great and approached one by one to watch.

When it was Valeera's turn, she noticed a familiar structure in the palm of the mech's right hand—the expansion opening of the folding blade.

I see...... She somewhat understood the value of her two drawings to the professor.

After everyone had seen the unfinished mech, Professor Portland began the final and most important process of the visit-

Q&A session.

……

After a few questions, Valera was rightfully the best visitor and was given the privilege of entering the small studio.

Amid the curious and envious gazes of the other guests, she followed Professor Portland behind the dark iron door.

Private labs, in-house workshops.

After the iron door closed, Professor Portland withdrew his ceremonial smile and said:

"Time is limited, so I'm not polite.

"I've tried the 'cosplay' you said, and it worked very well, and I can feel that my spirituality has become more lively and relaxed.

"It's a pity that if I had known this method a few years earlier, I would have been able to truly become a 'craftsman'."

The whole workshop is not large, only about 10 square meters, and in addition to the research table and a large workbench, there are only a few shelves for storing various materials.

In Valeera's vision, most of the items exude a variety of spiritual brilliance, strong or weak.

After hearing Professor Portland's words, she withdrew her gaze and replied with a smile:

"Looks like that's why you're willing to meet with me.

"Now that you've tried and approved of the 'play-to-play method', we have a little bit of a foundation of trust in our communication."

Valiera took a few steps, picked up an item from the workbench, and played with it in her hand.

"In my original intention, I'm a kind person, and it's only because of the play-making requirements of the sequence path that I will do something that doesn't do much harm...... Evil? ”

She raised an eyebrow and continued:

"In fact, I think some of the people at the top may be acting much worse than I am.

"I think we can get along, like this meeting, and it's good for both of us, you say?"

With that, Valera found the key to the object in her hand and made it transform into a crossbow.

"Very subtle change." She raised her crossbow and looked at Professor Portland.

Professor Portland smiled and replied, "I gave it to you." ”

"In fact, my choice to meet with you means that I have given up on reporting you."

He walked over to a stand and found a small square wooden box and placed it on the research table, "There are dozens of matching crossbow arrows in here, and a few of them have extraordinary effects, and I will give them to you." ”

Professor Portland had apparently thought about it in advance, and went on smoothly:

"I'm so grateful for the 'cosplay' you taught us.

"It is indeed very valuable secret knowledge, and its value is indeed not much worse than the formula of high-order potions, and I am willing to pay 10,000 pounds in exchange.

"I've deposited money into this bearer account in advance, I hope you are satisfied."

As he spoke, he pulled a note out of his pocket and placed it on the wooden box from earlier.

Valera couldn't be too satisfied.

You know, Crane only sold this knowledge for the price of two pages of Russell's diary...... And Audrey bought three pages for 20 pounds!

Although her expectations are far more than 20 pounds, they are only to the extent of hundreds or thousands of pounds, not to mention that when she chose to "advance" before, she was also mentally prepared for no gains, and now she suddenly got a return of 10,000 pounds, which is naturally a surprise and extremely satisfying.

Of course, Valilla doesn't show the surprise in her heart.

She glanced at the two items on the table with a calm expression, and nodded slightly, "Fair trade, 10,000 pounds is enough." ”