OD Project: Sky King Flats II

It's over ... it's all over...

Goodness gracious me! Did you guys detonate a huge bomb or something?

There was some noise during the wee hours at this place. We came here and ... this is what we found.

Eighty percent of our construction material stockpile and pre-fabs have been damaged! How are we supposed to build anything?

Look on the bright side of life, dorknerd. We're in the wild hilly countryside. Things get broken all the time. Tell your bosses you'll have major delays. They won't blame anyone.

Happy now, Mister Lang Tou? Speaking of which, this sabotage looks pretty familiar to me.

You're accusing me? Why would I even move my bum and break your scrap? Blighted waste of stuff!

Maybe someone needs a reminder. Building the farm at Qingbo Stockade is going to benefit his people. This isn't just a prank. It's an act of malice that someone will regret later.

Now if someone confesses, we'll — HEY! Where are you going?!

Sod it! Saw that coming from a mile away. Your accusations are friggin' old and obvious. Just go and type your report, dork.

Hmph. Snobbish stuck-ups... Can't talk no sense to 'em.

Uh-oh. There he goes... Endmin, maybe we should talk to He Lao about this sitch.

Maybe this is the Third Dare. He makes some trouble for us and see if we can solve it. That would be a test of our skills.

If Lang Tou really wasted stuff like this, our Chief would have more than a word with him. But he's acting weird. A good fellow of his temper wouldn't just walk away and brood.

Look at the dents and marks on the crates. They were probably rammed aside by something with spikes.

Maybe some tough guy tried to push the crates aside. Or maybe someone drove a truck and rammed them.

See that? The last crate of goods. No human could have pulled this off.

The devil's work! It's the equipment... They broke all of it...

Components for assembling the farm complex. We furnished them with low frequency acoustic emitters. They're meant to deter beasts. Gotta order another batch of them.

Deter beasts? Is that a joke? They dragged the stuff all the way here. I think it does a better job as a beast lure.

Oh, I guess you're also going to say that it lured in all those Aggeloi, right? People who don't know how things work should keep their unscientific opinions to themselves.

Tch. Easy for you to say that, since this isn't your turf.

Dude... This is nothing personal. The scientific principles of acoustic deterrents are quite complicated.

Trying to mislead me with your scientific mumbo-jumbo? AGAIN? Bet you never cared if the Stockade lives or dies.

Typical Wuling buggercrap. I smelled it once and remembered the stink. You double-crossing stuck-ups never cared about the smallfolks.

You're making ... baseless accusations! You know what happened back then? The Tianshi came here to build a city with zero support. You Stockaders just stood by and watched.

We don't owe your Stockade anything! In fact, we Tianshi endured and defeated that disaster ten years ago on our own! We've been most accommodating in this joint project, but I guess asking someone for common decency is too much!

Endured the disaster on your own, eh? You know how many of our fam died that time? I wonder how that calamity blew up in our face. Oh, it's the friggin' Tianshi and their crazy-ass experiments! You brought it upon us!

Whatever, old man. Guess you have a book of grudges. Look, we Tianshi have to keep both disasters and bandits at bay. We can't spread our forces everywhere.

Bandits?! Dork, you talking about us? Nobody ever calls us bandits. Not until you raised that silly wall of yours.

No, that's not what I... Ugh. Why do I even bother? You're so unreasonable.

Well, this seems like a good time to restock our key materials. Let's settle down and rest before we discuss the next steps of our operation.

Hmph. I'm letting you off this time 'cos Darkmask. Remember! The Third Dare isn't over yet!

How did it all end up like this...?

I know. Ugh. Tianshi Zhuang assigned me to this project ... precisely because of my understanding of the local customs. Great. Now all the local bad blood and history are on me.

Yeah. That disaster left a terrible taste in everyone's mouths. Inside and outside the city.

I know I shouldn't have let anger get the better of me, but I... Man... Impulse is such a terrible thing...

Have you considered, you know, using some humbleness ... and giving Lang Tou a proper apology?

That probably won't be enough. The man has a strong distrust of Tianshi. What happened today might have reinforced his skewed perspective.

I really messed up this time. Endfielders, can you help me come up with a plan?

This mission means a lot to me. I don't care if I get censured by Tianshi Zhuang afterwards, but we can't afford to miss this wonderful opportunity.

Oi! Lang Tou! Don't get yourself killed!

What's going on, He Lao?

Lang Tou found himself a bunch of scraps right after he came back. Told us he'll take care of the rest of the building project... A wave of stubborn prolly hit him in his head again.

Dorkhead's trash machines are luring beasts into our turf. I won't let him build our farm with his stupid toys.

A bit, I guess... He and his crew fixed and built plenty of stuff in the Stockade. Even the waterwheels.

Hey! Stop fooling around with it! Machine housing can be anything you like ... but we need a true technician to work on the pumping and power generator modules!

You trying to discredit me? This is just a pump for sprinkling water and poop. How hard can it be?

Carpentry is a totally different field of expertise. You've built some impressive farm houses, but Originium machines are an entirely different matter!

What?! Endmin, that's not what I...

Dorknerd! If I get this done on my own, I'll adopt you as my grandkid and treat you like one. And vice versa! Game enough for this dare?

...G-grandkid?

Alright! Prep the stuff. Watch and learn, kid!

What? You think we are cave people who can't even make fire? Your lack of faith is insulting!

Exactly! You should — WAIT! Hold on! I didn't say that!

WHAT?! Ahhh... Are you making fun of me?

But ... Lang Tou is still up there. Keep poking the manglerbeast and he might just snap!

Sure, he might have certain skills, but this is a major project. Maybe we should discuss...

Hah! You? I think you're bound to fail. Go ahead and do your stuff, son. I mean, grandson.

Lang Tou, you sure you can do this?

When did I ever mess up, huh? Keep your eyes peeled.

Oh man. Now I know why Mom gave me that look when I attempted to cook my first meal...

Hey! Lang Tou! You okay up there? You're really far off the ground.

Hahah. Oh? This? Far? If you wanna know, I'm enjoying the cool, refreshing breeze.

No! It's just that ... I think you left your wrench here!

My... I don't need no wrench! Darkmask! I gotta fix up the insides of this contraption. I'll give you the numbers. You do the tweaking for me!

Red wire, blue, yellow-green... What the hell? A gray one?!

GOT IT! The pump is running! Alright, baby boy! Got anything to say?

The generator is actually supplying power... What did you do?

Dorknerd, since when did you guys change the cable layouts? Are you trying to cheat us again?

Cheat? What on earth — It's just a technical upgrade... HOLD ON! What did you dismantle? What are you looking at?!

So, Endmin... if Lang Tou is planning to work through the night, do we have to keep our eyes on him?

Pipe and wire connections. See? We can build our own stuff.

Can't believe you have all these tricks up your sleeve. Dang ... that was an automated control chip...

Hah. Yeah. So, what's the "pressure-sensitive circuit" for?

Wha...? Don't tell me you didn't ... connect that...

Wow. That's a lot of steam! The entire place is shaking too!

WHA?! HOW? WHY...?

The entire thing will be utterly destroyed if this goes on. I'm heading up. Stay here and keep your eyes on the machines and facilities!

No! STOP! I made a few improvised connections! It might get worse if you make changes to them!

THANKS, GENIUS! NOW HELP ME GET IT FIXED!

Endmin! I need your help — check the terminal and adjust the parameters! PLEASE!

Well... Never expected to see a move like that...

The pump got overloaded because it wasn't getting any signals from the pressure-sensitive circuit... Say, who taught you how to rig Originium circuitries? You barely know how to read.

Ffft. The city dumpsite is full of useful stuff. I dismantle hundreds of them every year.

I might be unlettered, but the Stockade has a collection of wisdom rhymes. We have our own tricks for metal smithing, weaving, and machine cobbling.

Wisdom rhymes of the Stockade... They might be basic knowledge and science left behind by the Yanese pioneers.

We're not just talking about cogwheels, axles, or other mechanical analogs... These are Originium formulas and digital signals! By Talos, is this guy a natural or what...?

So I guess ... we're all safe for now?

I really don't want to accept this contraption of questionable components. But ... I gotta state the obvious. It's actually running pretty well.

Enough with yer nonsense! It works. It runs. And it's reminding someone to call me his grandsire.

Excuse me?! Need I remind you that I had to save your sorry arse! It was me who prevented us from being blown to pieces? You say the magic words now!

Well, how about some compromising ... You could adopt each other!

Like hell I'd claim him as family!

Regardless, we can finally conclude this phase of the construction project.

However, I'm still a little concerned. Those construction materials ... what could've sabotaged them...?

Even then, the fact that they have survived all those years as an oral tradition... It's a remarkable achievement.

Look. Plenty of things to investigate here.

Sheesh! The ground is an entire mess of tire tracks and footprints.

There's a very deep and long mark, possibly left by dragging some crates.

Darkmask, got the stuff?

Great! Time to give you a show. Trust me. It's gonna floor you all!