When Gao Yang and the others entered the workshop, they were greeted by a lively scene: on the west side, the mana-engine-driven processing machinery hummed, churning out all kinds of mechanical parts (and the various metal tool fittings the territory urgently needed); human craftsmen bustled among the machines, having grown somewhat accustomed to this entirely new mode of production; and in the very center of the workshop was the domain of the iron-sphere star-man—he simply floated there, a radius of several meters around him a no-man's-land, as quantities of metal ingots were drawn into the air by some unknown force and swiftly shaped into sturdy parts that could not yet be made by machine or hand, after which the finished parts would fall automatically into the several stacking areas nearby for the human craftsmen to take.

Gao Yang watched from afar that iron-sphere star-man with parts drifting all around him, and thought it really did look like ten thousand swords returning to their master...

Then he stepped forward, and Rebecca called out from a distance: "Eggy! We've come to ask a favor!"

Hearing the call, Nikshi Egg quickly cleared the floating parts to one side and turned toward Gao Yang. "Ah, more business? The lord's here too?"

Under normal circumstances, Gao Yang simply couldn't tell whether Nikshi Egg had turned around, because this iron-sphere star-man was smooth all over, with no way to distinguish front from back or left from right. But this time he saw at a glance that the other had turned, because he was startled to discover that a face had actually been painted on him!

The instant Gao Yang saw that face, he stopped dead in his tracks and nearly pitched headfirst to the ground. He couldn't be blamed—anyone who saw a 1.3-meter-diameter "funny face" floating before him greeting him would be unable to keep their composure!

Gao Yang stared dumbfounded at Nikshi Egg's "face," at those curved eyes, that sidelong glance, that punchable mouth, and stood gaping for a full five seconds without managing a word. Then the first thought that popped into his head was: has some fellow transmigrator secretly infiltrated my territory?!

Who drew this "funny face" expression?!

He was just about to ask someone when Rebecca, seeing the astonishment on his face, spoke up with a grin: "Ancestor? Did I startle you? Did I paint it well?"

Gao Yang's neck creaked as he turned his head and glared at Rebecca. "You painted this on him?"

"Yes!" Rebecca nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Every time I talk to Eggy I can't tell which side is his front, and he complained that when he's working people always suddenly talk behind his back and startle him. So later I came up with an idea and painted a face on him..."

"You... just painted it however you felt like?" Gao Yang looked this girl—who was always doing shocking things—up and down, trying hard to find some trace of a fellow transmigrator in her. "Don't you think that expression looks a little strange?"

"I just wanted to paint a smiling face," Rebecca said, scratching her hair. "Though my hand did slip a bit while I was painting... or maybe it slipped several times, so the eyes came out a little weird."

Gao Yang's mouth twitched. "And what do other people say when they see him wearing that face?"

Rebecca thought it over carefully, then nodded. "It's still pretty festive."

Beside her, Jenny nodded along. "Mm, quite festive."

Gao Yang: "..."

By then Nikshi Egg had floated up in front of Gao Yang, and the enormous funny face bobbed twice. "What do you think of my new look? I feel like having a face makes dealing with you humans much easier."

"You... as long as you're happy," Gao Yang said, struggling to keep his expression from cracking, and produced the materials he had brought along. "Let's get down to business first. I want you to help me assemble a new kind of... weapon."

"Oh? A weapon this time, not a machine?" Nikki Egg's voice sounded very interested. "What is it?"

"For now I'm calling it a heat-ray gun."