Chapter 786
Karl Kleist
Chapter 786 Karl Kleist
"Greetings, esteemed judges. I am Karl Kleist, and my work is a magical puppet called 'Explorer'..."
The pale-faced young man stammered, his flaxen hair casually tied back, wearing an inappropriate dark green suede jacket.
He glanced at Wade, revealing a smile that was both nervous and tinged with affection and admiration. Then, he took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, and began to introduce his work in a slightly strained voice.
Materials, spells, functions, design concepts...
However, perhaps because his voice sounded like chanting, most of the audience didn't pay attention to what he was saying at all, their eyes were completely drawn to the appearance of the puppet.
The overall outline of this thing could barely be made out as a human figure, but the various parts looked as if they had been picked up and pieced together from a junkyard.
The torso is like a large crucible, while the limbs appear relatively slender. The head is a sphere with a blank expression drawn on it using simple lines.
It followed Karl Kleist forward, its legs trembling as if they could not bear the weight.
Its gait is also quite unique. One leg suddenly thrusts forward, the body leans dangerously forward, and just as it is about to fall, the other leg hurriedly and creaks to catch up, regains its footing, and then suddenly swings violently backward.
The audience's hearts were pounding like they were on a trampoline, jumping up and down as they anticipated seeing the clumsy creature shatter into pieces. But the puppet eventually shakily walked up to the judges.
Karl Kleist tried to avoid looking at the smiling faces, focusing only on Wade in front of him, and spoke a little more smoothly than before:
"As you can see, the 'Explorer' puppet cannot carry personnel. Its core value lies in its tolerance to extreme environments and its ability to work continuously."
"Whether it's a low-temperature environment, a corrosive space filled with toxic gases, or... or even the vacuum of space, it can work for extended periods without needing to breathe or getting tired. Furthermore... it can identify over 700 kinds of mineral materials and magical plants, classifying, collecting, and detecting them..."
"Now, let me demonstrate for you... Explorer, go and bring me that moonstone!"
On the materials shelf not far away, the moonstone was seen. Karl Clayster waved his wand and whispered a spell. Green mist instantly enveloped the area, and the nearby plants quickly withered and turned black, even the flowerpots changed color.
The judges' eyes lit up simultaneously—regardless of the quality of the young man's puppet, his magic move was exceptionally beautiful, and crucially, he controlled it very well, preventing the poison gas from spreading at all.
The 'Explorer' seemed stunned by the sight of the poisonous gas, and only when Clyster urged it again did it stagger towards the shelf.
Everyone's hearts began to rise and fall with its pace, and they couldn't take their eyes off it for even a second!
The 'explorer' plunged his foot into the poison gas, paused for a moment, and then the entire puppet crawled inside, its figure completely swallowed by the gas.
After a series of clanging sounds, the 'explorer' emerged carrying a pile of moonstones.
With each step, it swayed, leaning forward and backward, and the creaking and groaning of various parts seemed to grow louder.
Just when everyone thought it would stumble and fall through the task, a slender stone, unable to withstand the jolting, suddenly slipped from the puppet's grasp!
The explorer's iron-like hands suddenly opened wide, grabbing at the falling stones, but at the same moment it made its move, several other stones also clattered and fell down.
The puppet frantically tried to grab things, even attempting to use its feet to catch a rock. The enormous movement completely destroyed its precarious balance, and its entire body crashed to the ground with a loud thud!
"Ow—"
A cheer of satisfaction erupted from the audience.
"Get up, explorer! Stand up now!" Karl Kleist commanded, his face flushed.
Even after the explorer fell to the ground, it did not stop working. Its limbs continued to try to pull the moonstones to its side, and it even popped ropes out from its elbows, trying to tie the stones together.
After struggling for a while, not only the stone, but even the puppet's own limbs were all twisted together, making it impossible for it to get up.
"Hahahahaha..."
The entire audience burst into laughter; it was the most joyful moment for the crowd since the start of the match.
However, their happiness was built on Karl Kleist's embarrassment; his face was already flushed purple, and he desperately gave instructions:
"Untie the ropes first! Untie the ropes... Wait, this will entangle your fingers. You should cut them with a knife instead... Stop! I'm not telling you to cut off your own fingers!" Waves of laughter rose and fell. As the puppet struggled, it eventually didn't even need to do anything. The audience couldn't help but burst into laughter just seeing it and its desperate master.
On the judges' panel, Principal Fontana was trying hard to suppress his laughter, his shoulders shaking.
He cleared his throat and said, "Alright, Mr. Clyster, that concludes the presentation... The design concept is valuable, but... uh... this operational capability clearly has a huge... room for improvement..."
Silas Hawthorne chuckled, stroking his chin. “His coordination is practically zero…which led to his disastrous ability to act.”
Ms. Piqué shook her head and said, "Reliability is the foundation of mission execution."
As the judges' voices rang out, Karl Kleist lowered his head further and further until he finally heard a young voice:
"Mr. Kleist's design actually makes better use of the puppet than treating it as armor. However, its dynamic balance system still needs improvement, which involves the balance algorithm for torque and center of gravity..."
He listed several formulas, and seeing everyone's blank expressions, he couldn't help but smile and say:
"Or, if two legs can't maintain balance, why not make it four or eight legs? Or install some wheels, or turn its support rod into claws that can grip the ground, wouldn't that be great?"
Seeing Karl Kleist's "This can actually work?" expression, Wade said gently:
"Making puppets look similar to real creatures is just a personal hobby of mine, and there is no need for it."
"In fact, by appropriately altering the puppet's appearance, it can be made to perform various functions more easily—"
"If you need it to mine ore, you can learn from Muggle mining machinery; if you need it to travel, you can imitate cars and airplanes; it can also be like a book, like the table in front of you, or like an egg, or even something that has never existed in the world before."
“Design your puppet according to its needs, Mr. Kleist, rather than defining what it must look like and then forcing it to conform.”
As Karl Kleist looked at the calm-looking Wade, the shame in his eyes gradually gave way to excitement and gratitude.
As Wade spoke, Kleist's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and everyone could almost see the inspiration emanating from his eyes, so abundant it was almost like light.
"Thank you, Mr. Gray! I understand now, I had completely gone down the wrong path!"
Karl Kleist took a deep breath, his voice still trembling slightly, and said, "I shouldn't just imitate you, but... I should design the puppet in my own way. Actually, I also thought before that adding more claws and support wheels would be better..."
However, with the creator of the puppet, Wade Gray, sitting in front of him, Karl Kleist feared being disliked and criticized, and ultimately did not dare to make any changes.
In fact, he had several classmates who studied alchemy together. In recent years, magic puppets have been very popular, and every alchemist has tried to crack and replicate them.
During this process, everyone regarded Wade Gray's method of crafting as the ultimate standard, and some extreme individuals even tried to imitate exactly the casual twist of the runes when inscribing them.
Even so, their puppets are still inferior to the puppet pets currently on the market in terms of intelligence, agility, and mobility, let alone the puppet soldiers that Vader himself keeps by his side.
In this situation, any unnecessary changes would seem like overestimating one's abilities and would be met with ridicule and criticism, causing Karl Kleist's eager heart to cool down.
But now, he has the right to make changes personally suggested by Wade Gray! Wade himself stated that his method is not the only one!
Carl was so excited he almost cheered. He looked into Wade's smiling eyes and bowed deeply.
“I know how to improve, Mr. Gray… At the same time, I will also work hard to learn the calculation methods you mentioned. One day, I will present you with an even better work!”
Wade nodded and said, "I look forward to it... Mr. Clayster."
One update tonight
(End of this chapter)