Chapter 3

"Whoosh—"

Xu Yi let out a long breath, put down the utility knife in his hand, and casually wiped the sweat from his face, only to find that the sensation was strange. Upon closer inspection, he realized his hands were covered in grease. This wipe probably turned his entire face into a big mess.

Xu Yi didn't mind this at all, and he chuckled, looking at the somewhat odd-looking iron contraption standing in front of him with great satisfaction.

Calling it an iron contraption might not be quite right. This thing had a square base, and above it were hollow spaces with large gaps, connected by steel bars. In the middle, three evenly distributed fan blades were enclosed.

Clearly, this was the fan he had successfully developed.

It took Xu Yi half a month to develop this fan driven by a magic array.

What took the most time was not the most important power source, but the casting of the fan's exterior.

After solving the main problem of using a magic array to replace the motor, Xu Yi found a serious issue: it was very difficult to replicate the fan's casing based on the models of electric fans on Earth, as this world lacked a well-developed plastic and alloy manufacturing process.

With no choice, Xu Yi had to use iron instead.

Moreover, the casting technology in this world was far less precise than on Earth, so the final product looked somewhat odd, even ugly.

"Never mind, I can't be too picky. As long as it works, that's fine." Xu Yi shrugged, trying to comfort himself.

After doing two more thorough checks, Xu Yi picked up a small, somewhat mottled magic crystal, about the size of his thumb, and carefully inserted it into the slot at the back of the fan, then closed the cover.

Just this simple action made Xu Yi break out in a sweat. After wiping his face again, he raised his right hand, extended his index finger, hesitated for a moment, and then pressed down.

"Click—"

A crisp sound, the fan's switch was pressed down. Xu Yi immediately felt a thread of magic start to flow inside the fan. Soon, a pale blue light, indicating the activation of the magic array, began to shine through the gaps in the fan.

Xu Yi widened his eyes and stared at the fan blades with tension.

A moment later, the three fan blades suddenly trembled and began to rotate slowly.

At first, the fan blades rotated very slowly, but it didn't take long for the speed to increase, gradually becoming so fast that the three blades could no longer be distinguished from each other, almost forming a single blade.

As the fan blades rotated at high speed, a gentle breeze began to waft from the fan, blowing onto Xu Yi, who was drenched in sweat, instantly bringing him a refreshing feeling.

Xu Yi silently enjoyed it for a while, then suddenly clenched his fist.

Success!

###

Seeing Xu Yi walk in with the fan, the people in the research lab all looked at him with curious eyes.

What's up with this guy today? Not only is he grinning like an idiot, but he's also carrying such an odd-looking iron contraption. What does he want to do?

"Hey, Xu... Xu Yi, what's this thing?" Rem couldn't contain his curiosity and pointed at the fan in Xu Yi's arms.

"This? It's... a magic fan. I made it out of boredom."

"Magic fan?" The people around him were even more puzzled.

Rem glanced at the fan but couldn't sense any magic from it, which left him very curious.

"What's this thing for?"

Xu Yi chuckled, looked around, and placed the magic fan on the table in front of Rem.

"It's been quite hot these days, so I thought I'd make this to cool everyone down."

Saying that, Xu Yi reached out and pressed the switch.

The people in the research lab were all mages and naturally felt the flow of magic from the magic fan's internal magic array as soon as it was activated. However, this flow of magic was extremely weak, indicating that the magic array inside was a very low-level one.

Then, they were surprised to find that the three leaf-like blades inside the strange contraption began to rotate, and the speed increased rapidly.

"Wow! There's a breeze!" When Xu Yi placed the fan, it was facing Rem, who immediately felt the wind and exclaimed in surprise. "So cool!"

"Wind?" Seeing Rem's magic robe start to flutter as if blown by the wind, the others couldn't help but gather around.

As soon as they came to the front of the fan, they immediately felt the cool breeze.

It was still very hot today, and everyone had sweated a bit. Now, with the wind blowing, they immediately felt refreshed.

After enjoying it for a while, the people immediately started asking Xu Yi questions.

"Hey, Xu Yi, how does this thing work? Is it because of the magic array inside?"

"That doesn't make sense, does it? Magic arrays are one thing, but how does a magic array make this thing rotate? I've never heard of a magic array having that effect."

"It must be something Xu Yi researched himself, right? Isn't that so, Xu Yi?"

"Research it yourself? Xu Yi, are you really that proficient with magic arrays? To be able to research a new magic array?"

"Right, Xu Yi, you can research magic arrays yourself? Then why is your magic strength so low?"

...

Most of the questions these people asked revolved around Xu Yi's magic strength, with few asking about the principle of the magic fan.

This was in line with the tradition of the Sains continent, where the application of magic was rarely a concern for mages.

Finally, it was Vina, who had been looking at the magic fan thoughtfully, who asked.

"Xu Yi, you must have used a magic crystal inside, right? Otherwise, the magic array couldn't last this long."

"Right." Xu Yi pressed the switch to stop the fan, opened the slot at the back, and took out a small piece of magic crystal that had become noticeably darker due to the magic consumption.

Vina's eyes narrowed as she looked at the magic crystal, which was about the size of Xu Yi's thumb.

"If I'm not mistaken, this magic crystal isn't even intermediate level, is it?"

Xu Yi smiled bitterly and spread his hands. "I can't afford a high-level magic crystal."

Vina nodded, took the magic crystal from Xu Yi, examined it, and then pointed to the magic fan.

"Xu Yi, can you take apart this... magic fan and let me see the magic array inside?"

Xu Yi shook his head with a smile. "I can take it apart, but reassembling it is more complicated." Seeing the disappointed look on Vina's face, Xu Yi added, "But if you want to see the magic array, it's easy. I have the blueprints and can show them to you anytime."

"This..." Vina hesitated for a moment, then, as if making a decision, pointed at the magic fan. "How about selling this magic fan to me?"

Everyone around was stunned.

Rem couldn't help but say, "Vina, why are you buying this? If you're interested in the magic array inside, Xu Yi just said he could show it to you anytime."

Vina shook her head. "It's different." She didn't pay attention to the surprised looks from the others and stared at Xu Yi, asking seriously, "Name your price."

Xu Yi looked at Vina's serious expression and felt a bit troubled.

It seemed that Vina was really obsessed with magic, and just seeing such a novel thing made her want to explore it immediately.

But when it came to pricing...

If it was just the material cost, the main cost of this magic fan was in the structure, including the wooden base and the steel bars, which totaled less than thirty silver coins.

Adding the labor cost, including the fees for the blacksmiths, the total cost wouldn't exceed one gold coin.

However, the most important cost was the research cost.

Xu Yi spent over half a month developing the magic fan, dedicating almost all his free time to it. He used over a hundred sheets of paper just to research the perfect magic array.

Not to mention the transformation of the entire frame structure to integrate it perfectly with the magic array, which incorporated mechanical engineering knowledge far beyond that of the Sains continent, making its value incalculable.

Seeing Xu Yi hesitate, Rem immediately became unhappy and frowned. "Hey, Xu Yi, this is just an iron frame. How much could it be worth? Since Vina wants to buy it, just sell it to her. Name any price, and I'll pay it."

Vina frowned and glanced at Rem but didn't say anything more.

Although she was very curious about the magic fan, she also didn't think this odd-looking thing was worth much.

After thinking for a while, Xu Yi held up two fingers. "Considering we're colleagues, if you really want to buy it, two gold coins."

This price could be said to completely ignore the research cost, treating the magic fan as a regular commodity.

He wasn't worried that Vina would immediately figure out the secrets of the magic fan after buying it. She might easily see through the magic array, but the modern mechanical engineering knowledge contained in this seemingly unremarkable magic fan was something she couldn't understand.

However, this price, which Xu Yi thought was fair, made everyone's eyes widen.

"Two gold coins?" Rem waved his arms dramatically. "Xu Yi, are you crazy? This is just an iron contraption! Even though you came up with this idea, it's not worth two gold coins!"

The people around him echoed his sentiment, thinking Xu Yi's price was too exaggerated.

Vina didn't speak, but her deeply furrowed brows clearly showed her thoughts.

Xu Yi sighed, feeling a bit helpless.

The people in this world had no knowledge of modern industry and naturally couldn't understand its value.

From a purely magical perspective, the magic array inside the magic fan indeed wasn't worth two gold coins.

As a senior mechanical engineer from Earth, Xu Yi had his own dignity and wouldn't allow his hard work to be sold cheaply.

So he could only shrug. "If you don't accept this price, then forget it. I just thought the research lab was hot, so I brought it here for everyone to use."

The people looked at Xu Yi with strange expressions. If he was willing to let everyone use it for free, why not do a favor and sell it to Vina at a low price?

Vina hesitated, about to continue persuading Xu Yi, when a clear voice came from the research lab door.

"Two gold coins, I'll buy it."