After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World
Chapter 1424: Studying Criel

Chapter 1424: Studying Criel

Most of the new metals went straight to the research lab for in-depth study, while a few ores were lent to the territory’s top metal users to study. This included not only Garan, but also Helios and Oslo.

This was one of the exercises Metal users did, and for now, it was unique to Alterra.

The metal users would hold a type of metal—which in Alterra could be iron or copper (or stainless steel if they were connected enough)— and had a feel of its components in hopes of improving the quality of their own metals.

This was a long and tedious process that hadn’t seen much obvious results in the past few months. However, it seemed to have worked on Garan, so a lot of the metal users followed his practice.

In Garan’s case, he could improve his metal’s malleability, creating even more intricate metals using less energy, by studying copper, while improving its hardness and resistance with stainless steel (which was closest to his own passive metal).

The others had no such luck yet. However, when the research center studied Garan’s current manifested metals versus the data they had months ago, he did show increased control over his elements, so he hadn’t stopped the exercise since then.

This new metal, Criel, was a very difficult metal, though, and Oslo, for one, had no idea what to do with it even after staring at it the entire night.

He went to visit the research lab for some clues the next day, hoping to get a hint from whatever data they had so far. Interestingly, he found Lin, the woman who found it, there.

She was quite beautiful in a different sort of way than the others. Her eyes were slightly slanted but with a blossom shape, and her hair was so black it seemed to absorb everything.

"Hello there," he said, using his voice that had a naturally flirtatious tone. "You cleaned up very well."

Any other woman would swoon or get flustered, but Lin’s eyes fixed on the metal. "So you’re giving it back now?"

"..."

He cleared his throat. "Well, no, I’m here to ask for help," he said, handing it over to her.

Because he had been holding and rubbing on it the whole night, his fingerprints were all over it. There were also traces of his own metal when he tried to feel it by encasing it with the material he was most familiar with.

Anyway, it looked a bit different from how it looked when she lent it.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she gave him a disgusted look, as if silently reprimanding him for not taking proper care of the metal.

"..."

This was the first time he received a stare like this, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

Seeing that his small talk—for once—wasn’t gaining him any favors, he decided to go straight to the point. He cleared his throat because it suddenly felt a little tight.

"I’m here to ask for assistance," he said. "I learned from Miss Althea that learning more about something’s composition would help me understand it more."

Of course, in their case, it was mostly in the context of tools and arrays, but this should be similar.

Lin stared at him for a while, several seconds longer than proper, and it made him feel a little unnerved. First, he was used to people being polite to him, or at least treating him professionally.

If anyone was rude to him, he could normally tell them off, but obviously, she wasn’t being rude on purpose.

If he pointed out such a little thing, then he’d put unnecessary tension between them, which wasn’t good, especially since he was the one who needed something.

Fortunately, the woman nodded in the end and Oslo heaved out a breath of relief.

Oslo was really a bit out of his element right now—literally.

"This metal has the combination of the properties of nickel and chromium," she said. Oslo was about to ask what those were when she summarized its functions. "It can increase an alloy’s strength and ductility, and it can resist corrosion better."

She guided him to their microscopes and let him take a look at the crystalline things invisible to the naked eye.

"Look deeper at its structure," she told him. "Feel it more intimately."

"You see that structure?" she asked, and he nodded as his eyes stared into the glass. "You should be able to see a cube where each corner and the center of each face has an atom."

After so many months, Oslo had indeed heard of this. For one, there was a special class where top professionals were taught some basic concepts about chemistry and physics. He was classmates with the great Grandmaster Hoffen, actually, and there were also Brenda and Clutch in that class.

Although it wasn’t instantaneous progress—especially when it was a wholly new concept to them—they did see an increase in their understanding of their own crafts, and that alone made each class invaluable to them.

"This arrangement allows the atoms to move around more easily, which contributes to its strength and flexibility," she continued to explain, and he couldn’t help but steal a glimpse of her as she spoke.

She was very articulate and he could see how her eyes sparkled a bit as she talked about these things.

It was a little attractive...

"Its crystal structure allows for greater slip and deformation under stress, and it can absorb energy without fracturing."

He nodded. "This is really interesting," he said. "And you found this yourself? Forgive me, but it’s quite fascinating that a beautiful lady like yourself would do such tasks."

"Well, I did with the goblins," she said, not offended. "I know it is unconventional, but I quite liked being surrounded by rocks and metals."

"That’s amazing," he said, very honestly and without the apprehension Lin was used to in some men.

Added with the fact that Oslo was objectively very handsome and—most importantly—he seemed sincere, Lin’s impression of him improved just a bit.

She gave him a soft smile, and Oslo couldn’t help but gape.

"Well, the goblins were incredibly lovely."