I, Stone Golem, only want to forge.

Chapter 121 Didn't you come here to buy something?

The lizardman leader watched Murphy and Sylph disappear into the market passage.

His shoulders finally relaxed, and he let out a long breath. He immediately turned around and urged one of his subordinates, who was still not fully recovered, "Go and tell the shop owners inside to be careful and not to say anything careless or cause trouble, understand?"

If anything really happens, they can be replaced with kobolds or minotaurs at any time without even a word.

Therefore, it's best to avoid trouble if possible, and minimize incidents if possible.

It didn't want that person to get into an argument with someone inside and turn the whole place upside down.

But simply reminding a group of shop owners isn't enough to guarantee safety.

The lizardman leader stroked the rough scales on his chin, then specifically asked one of his men, "Where did that one go?"

"The specific direction should be towards the vicinity of the living area and the maintenance area."

The subordinate pointed a claw into the depths of the passage, "I just don't know exactly what to buy."

Upon hearing this location, the lizardman leader's face immediately fell in distress.

It paced back and forth in place several times, its paws behind its back.

These two places are arguably the areas with the most disputes in the entire market.

The live animals section is obviously where all the animals for sale are live creatures. The repair section isn't much better; you only get paid after the work is done, and it's common for buyers and sellers to argue over the final price.

However, it also understands that disputes between the two places are inevitable.

The assessment of the condition of living creatures is inherently subjective, and the condition of repaired items is often only discovered halfway through the repair process.

Even if they give advance notice, the argument will still happen.

It sighed, put its paws behind its back, and muttered something to itself.

Even though lizardmen and dragons share an inseparable bloodline, it doesn't really have much affection for dragons or any creatures related to them.

Especially when it comes to possessiveness and selfishness. It knows better than anyone how difficult those things are to please.

"I hope nothing bad happens—"

Meanwhile, Murphy followed the road signs and walked in.

However, what first caught its eye was not the sale of any living creatures, but a large number of unidentified devices placed on various tables.

These tables are arranged at varying heights, some covered with glass cabinets, while others are simply exposed.

On each table was a mechanical artifact, some still barely maintaining their original shape, while others were simply a pile of scattered parts, barely recognizable as what they originally were.

Murphy took a quick stroll around the area, scanning each stall, but couldn't find any stall manager.

Only a few meters away, on a chair against the wall, was a person in drab work clothes fast asleep, their snoring audible from a great distance.

"What is this thing?"

Murphy stopped and pointed to a gear device on a table, asking a question.

"This place is full of broken machinery, mostly relics from the last era—"

Sylph glanced in the direction Murphy was pointing and casually explained. But she quickly added, "However, it's not placed here to be sold. It's for repair, or to help people figure out what it is. Some people find things they don't understand in the ruins and bring them here to try their luck."

At this point, Sylph wrinkled her nose slightly and added in a low voice, "But this thing seems to be a rip-off. They basically only pay you after the work is done, so it's easy for disputes to arise over price differences. I heard that someone almost got into a fight over this last month."

Murphy, far from being discouraged, became somewhat interested in the so-called "relics of the previous era" after hearing this.

I strode over there, wanting to see exactly what these things were.

Sylph saw Murphy walk straight toward the platform in the repair area and initially reached out to stop him.

She had her hand raised halfway up, but then she remembered what had happened at the market entrance, so she withdrew her hand and followed Murphy in small steps.

When Murphy reached the platform, he bent down and took a closer look, but was greatly disappointed.

Most of the so-called "relics of the previous era" are actually replicas.

The workmanship is so rough it's appalling, and some are practically like the blind men and the elephant.

The counterfeiters have never seen what the original looks like; they just piece it together haphazardly based on their own understanding and imagination.

The remaining few items that it confirmed were genuine were not actually anything too complicated.

At most, they are parts of large machinery, worn out and with very limited functions.

Theoretically speaking, there's nothing about these things that Murphy should pay attention to.

It put the part back on the table and was about to turn and leave when its gaze was suddenly drawn to something.

It glanced at a sticker.

Murphy stopped and turned to look at the sticker, which contained specific location information.

At first glance, Murphy felt that this location looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

It went through the address in its mind before suddenly remembering it.

Isn't this the location of the mage tower that Fina told me about before?

It's quite a coincidence.

Murphy was intrigued by this unexpected coincidence, so he went back to the platform and examined the machine closely.

The object has a dark gray metal shell with many scratches and dents on its surface, indicating that it had been lying in the ruins for quite some time.

The overall size is about half the size of a millstone. The core part is a precision lens assembly and a series of gear structures for calibration.

Murphy bent over and began to slowly search through the artisan memories in his mind. After searching for a while, he actually found the corresponding information.

This thing looks like a light calibrator.

In the previous generation, this was a component used in making precision optical instruments such as cameras or astronomical telescopes.

However, judging from its size and structural complexity, it's unlikely to be used with a regular camera; it's probably a model that medium-sized astronomical telescope stations would be equipped with.

Murphy's thoughts drifted to this point, and he naturally connected it to another matter.

The Roy family seems to be in the mirror business, and that mage is a member of the Roy family.

Since the research focuses on mirror-related technologies, it's not surprising that they specifically sought out optical calibration components.

Murphy even suspected that the lens technology that the Roy family was so proud of was originally unearthed from the relics of a previous generation and passed down and improved from generation to generation.

Thinking about it this way, it became a little curious about the purpose of that so-called mage tower.

Mage towers naturally serve various purposes, but mage towers specifically designed for astronomical observation are extremely rare.

Who knows, it might be of some help to me in the future?

Murphy pondered to himself.

It then glanced at the request note posted next to it. The handwriting on the note was fairly clear; it roughly meant that only a minor repair was needed for the machine, enough to get it running about 70-80% of the way again.

If the original cannot be repaired, being able to roughly replicate a similar-functioning replacement is considered a successful completion of the commission.

Murphy circled the light calibrator twice more, taking a closer look from different angles.

Using his spiritual insight to scan the internal structure, he roughly determined the cause of the machine's malfunction.

It's not complicated.

Over the long years, the runes have been naturally worn down by the flow of magic, and several key engravings have become so shallow that they are almost invisible, causing the entire calibrator to malfunction.

This was incredibly simple for Murphy.

Repairing worn runes doesn't require any special materials or tools; you just need to re-engrave the worn-out lines.

"How do I accept this commission?" Murphy straightened up and turned to ask Sylph, who was standing next to him.

"?"

Sylph blinked, her pretty face filled with confusion. "Didn't you come here to buy something?"

"Just something I did," Murphy replied casually, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, like picking up a pebble from the roadside.

"Alright then————"

Although Sylph didn't quite follow Murphy's train of thought, she still went up to take a look at the commission information board posted on the side of the table.

She bent down and carefully read the small print, then straightened up and said to Murphy, "Let me see. This is a titanium-level commission; you probably can't accept it."

"What do you mean?" Murphy asked, looking puzzled.

"There are four levels: gold, platinum, titanium, and black gold. You can only accept tasks of that level or lower once you reach the corresponding level."

As she said this, she seemed to remember something, pointed to the address copied on the sticker, and added, "Or isn't the address given on it? If you have time, you can contact him yourself without going through the market."

After all, these commissions are posted in the market simply to have another channel; they don't necessarily have to be accepted here.

"Why create a whole hierarchy?"

Murphy asked again.

It was somewhat puzzled by this system of multiple layers of checkpoints.

"I suppose it's a kind of protective measure."

Sylph thought for a moment and explained, "I'm afraid that if there are no requirements for accepting missions, some people will mess around without knowing anything and turn other people's precious relics into a pile of scrap metal."

Secondly, some of these ancient relics may contain residual harmful magic, and people who are not at a high enough level may be injured if they touch them rashly.

Something similar seemed to have happened before, which is why this hierarchical system was established later.

How do I level up?

Murphy asked again. It had already made its plans.

"Oh, go to that place to get a card."

Sylph pointed to a small service window in the corner of the repair area. Behind the window sat an old man dozing off, his beard almost touching the table. "Once you receive it, you'll have the lowest level of Gold status. After that, you can just do repairs and complete missions. If you can repair about ten missions, you'll be able to advance to Titanium."

Her voice became less certain as she spoke, since she wasn't in charge of that kind of work.

I only know the general idea from what I've heard and seen, so I can only make a rough guess.

But as soon as she finished speaking, she saw Murphy turn around and walk towards the service window.

Perhaps because the lizardmen had given prior notice, Murphy basically just signed his name and received his card. The old man who had been dozing off was woken up and politely handed over a gold metal card without asking any further questions, even as part of the usual explanation.

Murphy walked back with the thin gold-level identity card in his hand and stood in front of the table full of machines waiting to be repaired. His eyes began to scan the rows of service cards, as if he was deciding which one to repair first.

Sylph's mind raced for a moment before she finally caught up with Murphy's train of thought. Her eyes widened instantly as she realized what this guy was up to.

"You're not thinking of leveling up by repairing things right now, are you?"

Her voice involuntarily rose half a beat, and her pointed ears also perked up.