The Legendary Junkmaster

Chapter 147: Gears of Fate (2)

Jason sighed as he picked up one of the new metal plates beside the leg. It was surprisingly light, but it was difficult to tell at a glance how sturdy it actually was. 'If this is strong enough then they've ended up with some good material. It would be even better if I knew how to make it myself. This could seriously ramp up the effectiveness of the Infinity.'

Jason watched with a curious gaze as the crew worked to replace the legs of the Murk Walker. It was quite an interesting thing to watch and gave him some insight into what the designer had been thinking when they created it. Such as the placement of wires and mechanical parts. Jason frowned at a few of the decisions that did not make sense to him, but he was not an expert on these things so he chose to keep silent.

Eventually, the crew finished replacing the legs and they stepped back to admire their work. For now, they were just testing if it were a viable solution. So they had only replaced its four current legs and not added any new ones. However, now they had come to the moment of truth. It was time to release the restraints and see if the new metal was capable of holding up all of that weight. 

"Ok, cross your fingers guys!" Sarah shouted as a few of the workers moved to the winches that would lower the massive vehicle. 

Jason held his breath as they slowly lowered it. He hoped that he would not be held responsible if it did not work! He could imagine it right now, where the legs would just crumple and he would be surrounded by angry workers. The feet touched the ground and the hooked chains kept lowering. 'So far, so good...' Jason smiled as the tension on the chains was released!

A roar of shouting exploded as the Murk Walker held its own weight! At least they knew that the metal was a viable option. The next question was whether or not it could withstand the stress of moving. Sarah raised a hand to one of the workers and he ran to the rear leg. There was a ladder implanted into it which he used to climb up into the boat-shaped body. 

Jason waited for a few moments as he broke out in a nervous sweat. Suddenly, a roaring sound of some kind of engine came from somewhere in the huge metallic body! Black smoke escaped from the eight exhausts implanted in the rear as the Murk Walker came to life. 

"Alright Bern! Get that thing walking... Take it nice and slow!" Sarah shouted as she waited to see the results. 

It was a mystery to Jason how the guy heard her over all of that noise, but he did. In the next moment, the metallic beast's limbs began to move! It was painfully slow to watch, but Jason guessed that they had to be taking precautions because they were dealing with something new. The pilot walked forward a few steps before trying to go faster. Luckily, nothing went wrong and Jason could heave a sigh of relief!

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"OK! That's good! Let's go test those legs out properly!" Sarah yelled excitedly as Jason cocked an eyebrow at her.

'They're not really going to take this thing down to that liquid, are they?' Jason frowned as the crew began to walk alongside the Murk Walker towards the entrance. The sliding doors of rusted metal were pulled further open as the pilot steered it outside. The commotion of the Murk Walker leaving the workshop drew a small crowd. However, when people began to notice the changes made to its legs, it caused gossip to spread throughout the town.

Jason controlled his ANT-V to follow the group as he stared over his shoulder nervously. It seemed like everyone in town was now excited to see what this recent development would bring. Of course, Jason was still unaware of just how important these machines were to the people living here. Whenever he glanced at the growing crowd, he would notice more and more people staring at his ANT-V.

This unnerved him a great deal. He had never intended to draw attention to himself while travelling back to Highrise. However, there was no escaping that anymore. Unknown to him, there was a group of people hurrying to join the crowd. This group was the very same one that Archive had paid attention to earlier.

The Murk Walker picked up its pace as it headed down the rocky slope outside of town towards the foul liquid. Jason wasted no time in putting his gas mask back on because of the smell. Especially at this range. 'If I'm going to be here for a while, I'll need to get my hands on that plant that Zach was chewing on the way here. I don't think I can stand this smell much longer.'

An atmosphere of excitement gripped the group. Any idiot could see that the new legs were made of impressive metal. However, they knew that the actual test was just about to begin. Sarah and her crew took a deep breath as they came to a standstill. Allowing Bern to continue on alone.

The pilot himself was nervous. If these legs gave up and submerged him, then he would definitely die. The foul substance was corrosive to human skin but did not appear to affect any other materials. The only problem was that there was no Murk diving equipment on board to protect himself. 

Bern secretly prepared himself to make a running jump at the first sign of trouble as he took the first step into the sludge. The Murk Walker suddenly sunk, causing Jason to gasp! But a subtle look from Sarah told him that this was normal. It seemed that Bern's entry point was quite deep, causing the foul liquid to come all the way up to the hull of the boat-shaped body.

Bern quickly ran to the rear that was facing the shore. When he reached it, he paused and waited to see if anything would go wrong. Seconds and then minutes passed with just a few creaks coming from the hull. Sarah, on the shore, sighed in relief as the crowd celebrated behind them. A broad and proud smile appeared on her face as she turned to wave at the crowd.

"Ok Bern! Take it out for a full run!" Sarah yelled at the top of her lungs, now that the most dangerous part was over with. 

Bern, on the other hand, replied with a timid smile as he edged back towards the controls. Jason frowned as he watched the vehicle move off at a pace that he felt was quite a bit slower than Sentinel's boat. 'Is that to do with the density of the liquid? I can't tell if that's considered fast or not...' Jason groaned as he stared at the back of Sarah's head. 

It was then that he noticed that her body was visibly trembling as she clenched her fists. 'Don't tell me she's disappointed? That design definitely looked better than the old one!' Jason waited as he prepared for the scolding he assumed was due to come. But then, he heard excited whispers coming from the crowd behind him.

"So fast!"

"I know, right!"

"What did they do to achieve that?"

"I'm definitely going to ask how much it will cost to get some work done on mine!"

Jason glanced over his shoulder and noticed that a few people near the front were gossiping while staring at the Murk Walker in awe. 'Is the improvement really that great? But they've only replaced the legs! They haven't even tested a body made with that metal yet!'

Jason was silently stunned as he saw greed appearing in their eyes. He could already tell that just this modification could be sold for a lot in this town. In fact, it would not even surprise him if Sarah could charge anything she wanted. 'How much of that liquid metal did I give her? Can she even keep up with the demand?'

"I guess Sarah has you to thank for this!" A familiar laugh echoed out from the crowd as Zach pushed his way through to join Jason. "You've really done it now kid, everyone here will be wanting to partner up with you."

Jason groaned as a lot of eyes turned towards him. Zach was not the subtle kind of guy. He was more like a foghorn, announcing to everyone anything that he wanted to say! This statement of Zach's drew the attention of a certain group of people. A group that Jason would have better of avoiding...