The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 813 What to do about this picky old iron lump?
"Professor Xu, how did you determine the shape of these broken iron artifacts?"

Shen Le scanned the entire pottery urn from top to bottom, inside and out, and found large areas of iron deposits on the inner wall of the urn.

Some were rotten iron blocks that had been soaked and then released into the water, leaving only a thin layer of residue; others, especially the bottom of the jar, were rotten iron blocks that had been left in the jar for a long time, with the iron elements seeping into the pores of the pottery.

Based on these traces, Shen Le could roughly sketch the shape of the iron lump's base, but that wasn't enough. How tall was it?
Is its overall shape cylindrical, oval, or some other object?

What is its total weight?
Shen Le scanned, outlined, and sensed the entire pottery urn repeatedly, but still couldn't find a clue. Having no other option, he had to ask his mentor for help, requesting a meeting with an expert in ironware restoration at the National Museum of China.
"I really can't find my way..."

Professor Xu looked at him helplessly, then at the photos, videos, documents, and the 3D-printed model of the scrap metal he had brought. After a long silence, he pointed outside:
"go out."

"what?"

"Go outside, turn left, and go to rooms 15-16 in section F. Take a look around, then come back and tell me your thoughts."

Shen Le went out blankly and followed the direction the professor pointed out. There were two studios and four workbenches, and people were busy with restoration work, measuring, scanning, testing, and cleaning, without even looking up.

On the shelves next to me, boxes and boxes were piled up with all sorts of items waiting to be repaired—some in pieces, some in strips, some in clumps…

Shen Lezai examined each workbench and shelf meticulously. He could guess what some of the items were, but not the vast majority.
Those iron lumps that could be guessed clearly received more attention and bore more signs of repair.

As for those that are almost impossible to guess, they basically just stay in the storage cabinet, under constant temperature and humidity to prevent oxidation, and then they just stay there, waiting for some future discovery, maybe we can restore them to their original shape.

Shen Le's steps slowed as he read, his head growing heavier with each glance. After finishing, dejected, he returned to Professor Xu and said, bowing his head:

"Thank you, Teacher Xu. Sorry to bother you—"

"you understood?"

"Understood. ... If you can't fix it, don't force it. Leave it as it is and wait for the wisdom of future generations..." In short, if you don't know how to fix it, don't force it. Just leave it alone!
Anyway, not every artifact unearthed needs to be restored and exhibited. If you have that ambition, you have to see if the museum will allow it!

Museums obviously can't agree to that! And even if they did, there aren't enough places to exhibit it!

Shen Le took his leave and squatted back in his lab, examining the rotten iron lump. He looked at it for a while, then probed it with his mental energy.

Let's observe for a while longer, and then use our mental energy to probe further.

After it was taken out, the thing, which was about the thickness of a fist, half the length of a forearm, and had a rather strange shape, actually stopped all its unusual behavior and lay quietly in the tray, motionless.

No matter how Shen Le probed it, or how he touched and immersed it with his spiritual power, it didn't react at all, nor did it communicate with Shen Le, as if it had no sentience whatsoever...

Shen Le was helpless! He scanned the scrap iron block back and forth seven or eight times to determine the extent of corrosion caused by soaking it in water;

First use a wooden skewer, then a soft brush, and then a cleaning technique to remove all the dirt from it little by little;
The gases, moisture, soil, and contact materials in the tomb were tested one by one to determine the type of corrosion.

The degree of corrosion of this rotten iron lump was determined using various methods, including steel needle detection, magnetic testing, wet chamber testing, chloride ion determination, and density determination.

Its composition, structure, and microstructure were determined using methods such as X-ray flaw detection, eddy current flaw detection, magnetic particle flaw detection, X-ray fluorescence analysis, X-ray diffraction structure analysis, metallographic microscopy, polarizing microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and electron energy dispersive spectroscopy.

These tests can tell it a lot, but they can't tell it what this rotten iron lump used to look like.

Shen Le tried every means possible: washing it with distilled water, soaking it in a weak alkaline solution to desalinate it, using a reduction method to clean and remove rust, and then soaking it in a corrosion inhibitor to protect its surface.

After going through the whole process, a rickety lump of iron that was on the verge of crumbling was finally transformed into a lump of iron with a slightly solidified surface, a bit of shine, and an appearance that wouldn't crumble for the time being.

But it wasn't fixed!

It's not responding!

It didn't show any spirituality and didn't give Shen Le any feedback, which meant it wasn't repaired!

"Sigh, Green Lamp, why is this thing so hard to fix?" Shen Le sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"It wasn't like this when I repaired you! When I repaired you, all I did was clean it, remove the rust, slow down the corrosion, reassemble it, and patch up the glass cover. That was it! Why is it so difficult?"

[Perhaps because...it's lazy?] The small oil lamp flickered, a sliver of white light emanating from its wick, which quickly expanded, illuminating the entire room, especially shining a little brighter on that rotten iron lump:
Do you want me to urge it on? I'll give it a tap, and it should get up!

"No!!!" Shen Le's head exploded with a buzzing sound:

"Please don't! I haven't fixed it yet. It has a bit of spirit and can't withstand a single bolt of lightning! What if you strike it and damage it? Or what if you strike it too hard and it flies out with golden light and starts slashing around?"

[Should I hold back a bit? -- I'm not afraid of it hacking around wildly, I can hold it down!]

"Don't!"

【Why else would I be lazy? Because it's delicate? I was too resilient back then, too tough. You just casually fixed me and I woke up... Humph! I'll collapse too! I'll fall apart too! I'll be fixed all over again!】

"..."

Shen Le coaxed and pleaded with the little oil lamp, promising it a series of humiliating conditions, such as taking it to the power plant to eat electricity after finishing his work here. Finally, he calmed the little oil lamp down.

He then stroked the iron lump with feigned difficulty, looking quite troubled:

"How do I awaken its spirit? How do I communicate with it? This thing is completely unresponsive..."

Not only did Shen Le's calls go unanswered, but he also placed bamboo slips around the iron lump, surrounded it with gold-plated sheets, and even gripped a dagger, slashing and hacking around it, but to no avail.

He tried to probe deeper and deeper with his mental energy, layer by layer, hoping to find its spiritual core or the array within it, but he couldn't.

They set up a spirit-gathering array, placing the iron lump in the center, and opened it up to absorb spiritual energy, but it was like an ordinary piece of iron, completely unable to absorb anything...

Oh dear, this is troublesome...

Shen Le was so worried that he kept scratching his head. The ladies in their flowing skirts fluttered around, trying to bring him tea and water, massage his shoulders and back, and sing and dance to comfort him, but he ignored them all.
Xiao Youdeng, Huang Yutong, and Zhong Xiaomei volunteered to try and communicate with the iron lump. Even the clay figures under Zhong Xiaomei's command tried to stamp the "Patrolling Mountains and Controlling Waters" copper seal on it, but they couldn't make a sound.

This lump of iron, with its copper and iron connected together, doesn't even bother to show him the changes in current caused by the potential difference!

"Or perhaps we could ask the Special Affairs Bureau?" Huang Yutong gently shifted her body, pushed over a chair, and solicitously invited Shen Le to sit down: "Do they have any experts over there skilled in crafting or repairing magical artifacts? Or at least experts skilled in communicating with fragments of magical artifacts and understanding their properties? Could we ask them to come and take a look?"

"Um……"

Shen Le pondered for a moment. He didn't know many experts from the Special Affairs Bureau, but fortunately, making a phone call to ask for one would only take a few minutes;

But most importantly, he knows experts in this field!
When it comes to understanding metals and communicating with them (not really), alloy experts are the real masters!

Shen Le decisively pulled out his phone and called Boss Alloy. This time he was lucky; Boss Alloy was in Beijing working on a project, only a traffic jam away from Shen Le's location (not really).

Shen Le hung up the phone, and less than half an hour later, she saw him swaying and staggering into the room.

"Where? Where is it? Let me see! I told you you should have come to me sooner; there's no metal I can't handle!"

He tilted his head back, his nostrils flaring rapidly as he sniffed hard. Then, without waiting for Shen Le to lead the way, and without taking the gold bar Shen Le offered and stuffing it into his mouth, he strode off towards the laboratory.

"I smell it! It smells so good! It's so unique! Hmm..."

Shen Le hurried after him, almost running. The alloy tycoon had already strode into the lab where the iron blocks were kept, his eyes immediately fixed on his target, gleaming.

"That's it! This is it! It has a strange taste, let me have a bite..."

He opened his mouth wide in a flash, and his entire face, even his head, began to expand, twist, and deform, taking on a shape similar to a lion.

Shen Le was startled and quickly rushed forward to block him, spreading her arms wide:

"No! Don't swallow it! What if it goes through your stomach and causes harm, or your spiritual essence dissipates? This thing is extremely important!!!"

"Tsk... When you asked me to fix things before, you didn't say you couldn't swallow it." The alloy boss muttered under his breath, but went along with it and didn't insist any further.

He simply stretched out his thick, heavy hand and waved it to the side as if swatting away a fly:

"Make way, make way, let me investigate. Don't worry, I won't eat it, I won't swallow it, okay?"

Shen Le had no choice but to step aside. The alloy boss focused slightly, and its head continued to change, finally settling into a lion-like shape.

Then, a semi-transparent, gigantic mouth detached from the head, flew forward, and vaguely caught the rotten iron lump in its mouth:

"Well……"

The translucent, gigantic mouth closed, its tongue twitching and making smacking sounds, as if it were savoring something. After a while, the gigantic mouth disappeared, and the alloy behemoth shook its head forcefully, revealing itself once again as a normal human.

"You can't just remove the rust from it! You can't just give it energy! It's hungry! It wants to eat! Once you've fed it enough, it will naturally grow back to its original shape!"

What kind of crooked and unorthodox repair method is this... Is this thing a piece of iron or a Tai Sui (a type of rare fungus)? Why do we have to take out something substantial to feed it!
Shen Le silently grumbled to himself. After grumbling, he still had no choice but to respectfully ask for advice:
Did it say what it wanted to eat?

The alloy expert pointed to the side. Shen Le followed his finger and saw the newly repaired Madam Xu's dagger, gleaming brightly, lying quietly on the shelf...

"This definitely won't do! Are there any others?"

"It didn't say." The alloy tycoon shrugged matter-of-factly.

"I'm already doing well that I can read this much of this vague spirituality, what more do you want?"

No...not very good. Shen Le swallowed her anger and called on Huang Yutong and Zhong Xiaomei to help her. They took out all sorts of metal blocks and respectfully invited the old man, the rotten iron lump, to do him the honor of taking a bite.

304 stainless steel, no; spring steel, no; shell steel, no; turbine engine debris, still no.
Feeling the quality was too good to chew? Shen Le brought over another batch of pig iron, wrought iron, cast iron, and even iron powder. He placed the scrap iron chunks on it one by one, to no avail; they didn't even glance at them…

"Why isn't it eating anything?" Shen Le looked to the alloy boss for help.

"Or, could you please talk to the research institute and ask them to get some different alloys for it to try?"

"I think...it might not be a problem with the metal." The alloy expert stared intently from beginning to end, his expression serious. Upon hearing Shen Le's question, he thought carefully:

"Could it be that it doesn't have the strength to eat? Or is its spiritual energy too weak? Try putting it in a spirit-gathering array?"

Shen Le readily agreed. Fortunately, the previous spirit-gathering array hadn't been dismantled yet, so they quickly put the scrap iron into it and tried again with all the other raw materials.

They tried everything from beginning to end, even bringing out the spirit metal from the Dragon Palace used to make magical artifacts, but the piece of junk still didn't react at all.

"I feel like it's not that it can't eat, it's that it looks down on it!" The alloy boss's chubby face grew increasingly serious.
"Or perhaps, it's not to your liking? The metal is secondary; the essential element it contains is primary?"

When asked about the nature of magical artifacts, Shen Le couldn't answer. He had no choice but to call the Special Affairs Bureau for help.
Various mineral sands!

Metal ingots!
Ingredients for magical artifacts!

Fragments of magical artifacts!

"Seriously? He's still not eating? How picky is this guy?!"

If it's a piece of wood, I'll let it grow on its own! But not a lump of iron; it won't grow!
Shen Le sighed helplessly, then shamelessly called Qing Li again, asking to borrow a treasure from the Dragon Palace to try his luck.

No need for top-grade magic weapons, just magic weapon fragments or random trash from the Dragon Palace will do—that's great, I'm even worried it won't be able to handle it.

A whole bunch of inexplicable things were sent in. Shen Le's eyes ached from staring at the experiment so much, but finally, he saw it move:
There is a door!

There's something that suits its taste!

"Slow down!"

He moved with lightning speed, tearing two pieces of iron from the man's mouth. He took photos, measured them, and sent them along with videos.

"Please, please! Help me figure out where this came from—at least what dynasty it's from, and what it was used for before it was collected by the Dragon Palace?"

(End of this chapter)