Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 198 The Strange Item Repair Shop

Strange object?

Chen Xuan had also heard Amy mention this term last night—the new Paris city only came into being after the Angel Alliance opened up the right to use the artifacts. It can be said that humanity's comfortable life underground is entirely due to the technological innovation brought about by the artifacts.

However, when he tried to inquire further about the strange object, Amy said she did not have the authority to answer.

He had assumed it was some kind of high-end gadget, but he never expected to hear it in a repair shop.

"Okay...where should I rate it?"

“That’s fine with me.” The man tapped the nameplate on his chest. “My name is Kyle, a Level 2 Operator in Atoms and Electrons. May I ask your surname, sir?”

"My surname is Chen." Chen Xuan took the damaged barcode scanner out of his pocket and handed it to the other person.

Kyle took it and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? An antique appliance from a hundred years ago? This kind of thing shouldn't have any practical value anymore. Hmm... the casing is broken, looks like it was caused by an impact, the internal circuitry is broken... um?"

His expression suddenly turned serious.

"This is... a mind chip?"

Huh? You ask me?
Chen Xuan was completely confused. What was a mind chip? Was it a wet component containing the brain?

"How is it? Can it be fixed?"

"Where did you get this?" Kyle couldn't help but ask.

"It's a family heirloom," Chen Xuan casually made up. "You guys don't check a customer's identity before you do repairs, do you?"

“No need for that… If it were stolen goods, the security system would have sounded the alarm the moment you walked in.” He shook his head. “To be honest, I personally can’t tell what it is, so I’ll just give it an A+. The A-level repair room is currently unoccupied, so you can go straight there.”

Chen Xuan was greatly surprised. He couldn't figure out its details... yet it could give a score, which meant that the repair shop had considered scoring unknown items when formulating its scoring rules. The problem was, if even its principles and structure were unknown, was there any possibility of repair? Moreover, judging from the slightly surprised but not too surprised expression on the other party's face, this shop seemed to frequently encounter similar items.

"You can fix it even if you don't understand it?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Of course, there are many things in this world that humans cannot understand," Kyle said dismissively. "Take the strange objects that are right in front of us, for example. No one has ever dared to say that they know everything about them."

Okay...that makes sense.

"This is an A+, are there any higher ratings?" Chen Xuan suddenly asked curiously.

“Each level is divided into three sub-levels, and above A-level there is an S-level.” Kyle led him and Liu Shuyue to the A-level repair room. “And the lowest level for a rare item is S-level.”

In other words, you can even repair strange objects here.

The two entered the room, and the door was immediately closed. The so-called Class A repair room was almost no different from an unfinished house. It was about ten square meters in size, with all four walls and the ceiling made of metal. There was a movable gate installed in the center of the wall directly opposite the door, and a warning zone was marked in black and yellow paint next to it, giving it a rough industrial feel.

"Hello, guest, I am a Class A repair assistant. Please listen to my explanation of the repair instructions." A female synthesized voice came from the loudspeaker above the gate.

"First, you can simply place the damaged electronic product on a tray."

"Secondly, the product should be as complete as possible. If there are any defects, the repaired product may undergo unexpected changes, and our store will not bear any responsibility."

"Third, if the repair fails, please try again."

Fourth, please do not try a third time, otherwise the product may be lost, and our store will not be responsible for it.

Fifth, the probability of other unknown risks is approximately 0.001%, and you will bear this risk.

"If you agree, please say 'I agree.' Your commitment is considered as a full understanding of the above rules."

"Is this really a repair shop?" Liu Shuyue asked doubtfully. "I've only ever seen shops that don't charge if they can't fix it, I've never seen one that makes customers follow a whole bunch of rules."

Chen Xuan finally understood why A-level repairs required a private room instead of queuing at the counter. If it were just repairing something like a phone, it certainly wouldn't be this complicated. If even A-level repairs were like this, what would S-level rooms be like?

“We’re already here, we can’t just back down now, can we? What if we manage to fix it?” He rubbed his hands together, even a little excited, and said into the megaphone, “I agree.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the gate opened, and a tray emerged from inside.

"Wait a moment, I'll set up an array." Liu Shuyue took out four talismans and pasted one on each wall. "Alright, in case something serious happens, it can help us escape immediately."

Chen Xuan nodded, placed the barcode scanner on the tray, and casually bent down to peek inside.

There were indeed no human repairmen inside. The tunnel was very deep, with a conveyor belt following closely behind the plate, stretching as far as the eye could see. Around the conveyor belt, many robotic arms and metal pipes were visible, clearly indicating that an extremely large industrial facility was installed behind this wall.

However, these things obviously cannot repair nanoscale chips.

The barcode scanner should be sent deep into the repair shop, where the oddity is located.

No wonder there are so many counters and windows in the lobby—they are probably connected to conveyor belts behind them.

The tray is retrieved, the gate is closed, and then it's just a matter of waiting.

Chen Xuan thought he would be here for ten or twenty minutes, but less than three minutes later, the movable door slammed open, and the tray threw out the barcode scanner as if it were a hot potato.

Holy crap, what kind of service is this?!

"Hello, customer. Repair failed. Please take your item with you," the electronic voice announced in real time.

"Looks like it won't work?" Liu Shuyue wasn't surprised at all.

Chen Xuan said unhappily, "You shouldn't have thrown my things out like that, should you?" He picked up the barcode scanner and slapped it back onto the tray. Anyway, the rules said that you could try again after failing once.

The tray retracted successfully.

But this time the result came even faster. The gate reopened less than a second after closing, and as the barcode scanner was thrown out, a cluster of sparks erupted from the tunnel! The synthesized voice also changed tone, "Hello, guest... please don't put it in again, get out—"

Before he could finish saying "get lost," the voice abruptly stopped, and the overhead light suddenly went out.

"Come closer to me!"

Just as Liu Shuyue was about to activate the formation, Chen Xuan pressed her hand down, "Wait, don't rush."

At that moment, a noisy commotion came from outside.

He pushed open the door and found that the once brightly lit hall was now dimly lit. The customers were making a scene, while the staff were trying their best to calm them down.

"Why did the power suddenly go out? It's still lit up outside!"

"It won't swallow my phone, will it?!"

"When will it be back to normal? I'm in a hurry!"

"Excuse me, everyone, please be patient! We have already sent someone to check the electrical box and meter! The power outage is most likely an intermittent fault and will absolutely not affect our store's operations!"

Liu Shuyue and Chen Xuan exchanged a glance, then quickly walked out in silence.

"Hey Mr. Chen, how's the repair going?" Kyle caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye and quickly asked from behind.

"The power went out before it was even fixed!"

"Sorry, but please remember to come back and browse again when the phone comes back on!"

After finishing speaking, the other party went to deal with other customers' issues.

The two walked out of the repair shop hand in hand, and then walked another hundred meters or so before slowing down.

Chen Xuan and Liu Shuyue looked at each other in silence for a moment, then burst into laughter! Encountering an unexpected accident in a strange city was just as exciting as an adventure.

"Did we just cause trouble?" she asked with a radiant smile.

"No way, it's clearly because its capabilities are limited, it has nothing to do with us." Chen Xuan said righteously, "A repair shop can't possibly cause trouble for customers just because it had to fix something and the power went out."

And his attitude was so bad, he actually threw the barcode scanner at himself.

But what's with that electronic sound?

He initially thought it was a pre-recorded audio clip, which he would then choose to play based on the repair results. However, the slightly agitated "Get out!" at the end was clearly not a message that a shop would record.

These strange objects are truly incredible things!

(End of this chapter)