Sky-cracking Rider

A miss by a millimeter is a kilometer of error.

This principle is wholly applicable in the industrial field and can sometimes even be more exaggerated.

Merely ten grams for a lightweight turboprop aircraft weighing around two tons is almost negligible; a pilot drinking less water or urinating more could easily offset that.

But if every part of an airplane had a 10-gram error, the accumulated total would undoubtedly be astonishing.

Seeing Chen Fei scrutinizing the part in his hand with a puzzled look, cold sweat instantly broke out on Randy. Unable to control his trembling hand, he failed to grip it properly, and with a thud, a part fell from the airplane and shattered into pieces.

The critical issue was that the part was a good one.

The professional examiners, who already knew the answer, all furrowed their brows. Such an error should not have occurred; a part was needlessly damaged. Compared to Chen Fei, who had been flawless in his operations, flowing smoothly with rhythm, they inevitably lowered their subjective assessment of Randy by a notch.

Seeing Chen Fei still examining the new part in his hand, Salman, who was in charge of the certification exam, asked, "Chen Fei, is there a problem?"

Chen Fei's gaze shifted from the magnetic pump he was holding. "Mr. Salman, this part is defective. Do you have a spare?"

Salman said in bewilderment, "Defective? How is that possible?"

He had watched Chen Fei unwrap the part himself. It hadn't even touched any sludge, so how could it be defective?

"Weight, off by ten grams!"

Chen Fei, holding the part, weighed it briefly to demonstrate.

10 grams?

The couple teaching at the site were genuinely baffled.

Randy screamed internally: Impossible, do you think your hand is a digital scale? Just by holding it like that, you can tell the difference of 10 grams?

He guessed correctly. It was impossible to tell by holding, but the Dog System's "nose" was sharp!

For metal masses under one kilogram, the Dog System's resolution could reach to the decimal points of grams, essentially acting as a digital scale!

Salman's expression turned strange. After hesitating, he said, "Sorry, we only have one on site. There are no spares."

The external examiners immediately entered the excited phase of onlookers; this was an unexpected crisis. It was both a danger and an opportunity. If they strictly followed the inspection procedure and replaced the part, any dog could do the job.

Whether it's an assessment or not, to become a qualified maintenance technician, one should solve existing problems rather than creating new ones.

"None available?"

Chen Fei frowned.

He looked towards the shelves filled with new parts. Although there were many, none were suitable, even the older model TC-M5402A magnetic pumps were working fine.

"None! You'll have to fix it yourself."

Salman watched Chen Fei with interest. This was both a bonus question and an extra credit opportunity; if handled well, a bad situation could turn into a good one.

"Alright then!"

Chen Fei began disassembling on the spot the magnetic pump that was ten grams underweight.

Each screw removed and then reinserted had to be exact, as sometimes even a single additional or missing turn was unacceptable.

He quickly identified the missing part. To be precise, there was an extra 63 grams of material that shouldn't have been in the magnetic pump, while a crucial 73 grams of the micro-control valve component was missing; it wasn't just a simple matter of being ten grams underweight.

If rashly installed in an aircraft, it was foreseeable that the turboprop would fail within ten seconds, causing further damage to other parts, and naturally, the assessment would be a complete washout.

To be recertified, one would have to wait another three months.

What a hassle!

Chen Fei left the tool bench and started picking through various parts on the shelves.

His actions baffled everyone.

The two teachers at the scene and the external examiners could not guess what this youngster was planning.

After picking up several scattered parts and weighing them, Chen Fei casually squeezed them. When he opened his hand, only a strangely shaped lump of metal remained.

Salman and Elisa, the couple hosting, "..."

The two engineers from Nevada Mountain Aerospace Company, "..."

The randomly selected industry third-party maintenance technician, "..."

Fuck!!!

The strength of his hand was terrifying, what was he trying to do?

Chen Fei, without explaining, continued to knead the lump like clay and returned to the tool bench. He brought the seemingly muddled lump of alloy close to the magnetic pump missing the micro-control valve.

"Metal Shaping" skill, activate!

Letting the Dog System supply the material might end up costing energy points.

With only a little energy points left, Chen Fei was reluctant to let the Dog System take them. Furthermore, finding an alloy with a similar composition and using "Metal Shaping" to form it in one go could achieve the same effect.

Done!

This time, the micro-control valve weighed exactly 73 grams, not a milligram less.

Just as he was finishing assembling the magnetic pump, he heard Mr. Salman approach with a camera.

"Wait a second, uh, what's going on here?"

It wasn't just Teacher Salman who saw the micro control valve restored to new; he also noticed the discarded, useless part. Not only was its shape incorrect, but its material and color were also off.

It couldn't serve any purpose when it had been forcibly jammed into the magnetic valve, turning out to be a harmful part that caused more trouble than help—it would have been better off not there at all.

"This is the defective piece originally in the magnetic pump!"

Chen Fei pointed to the discarded part he'd just removed from the magnetic pump and then to the newly installed micro control valve, continuing, "This is a brand-new part made with special ability."

With "Metal Shaping" in hand, as long as he had enough materials and a sample from the "Physical Evolution Database", he was the best repair technician.

"Special ability? You're a supernatural power user?"

Salman looked at Chen Fei in surprise.

Before this, he had not realized that this young man also held the identity of a supernatural power user.

Up to now, Chen Fei could no longer keep a low profile.

If he didn't use the special ability "Metal Shaping," he too would struggle to conjure something out of nothing.

"I am."

Chen Fei nodded his head.

Molding parts with bare hands, you say it's just great strength, blatantly deceiving!

Metal Ability Users were originally known as Industrial Superpower Users, and they were highly useful on Blue Star.

Salman pressed, "What level are you?"

"E-rank, E-rank supernatural power user!"

Chen Fei was afraid to admit he was a B-rank supernatural power user, worried it would leak out and the American Federation might forcibly detain him.

Once they were determined to detain someone, there were plenty of reasons they could concoct. Lazy ones would just claim an "unfounded accusation"; more diligent ones would provide fabricated personal testimonies, physical evidence, and complete scene set-up, written on the spot by Hollywood's top screenwriters and directors—it just depends on which version you'd prefer.

It was only now that Chen Fei somewhat regretted revealing his B-rank supernatural power user status to Old David a couple of days ago in a reckless moment to complete a deadly mission assigned by the Dog System.

But the FBI still hadn't come knocking, surely a result of Old David keeping tight-lipped.

Unexpectedly, this old man indeed had some credibility.

After all, if even his old pal the F-22 "Raptor" was determinedly sacrificed, David Sid wouldn't care about Chen Fei's abilities, even if they were A or even S-rank, he wouldn't care in the slightest.

"E-rank supernatural power user?"

Salman nodded his head in sudden understanding, and behind the camera, the various screens were simultaneously nodded at by the external examiners watching.

Superpower levels, from low to high, are ranked as G, F, E, D, C, B, A, and S-rank.

G-rank superpowers are known as Juvenile Rank, where the ability can't be projected outward or take form, can be faintly perceived but isn't strong, barely qualifying as a supernatural power user with practically zero societal threat, less dangerous than even holding a knife.

F-rank superpower users are known as Civilian Rank, capable of externalizing and forming their ability, but with a small range of effect and short duration, often suited to household skills.

E-rank superpower users are somewhat stronger, known as Soldier Rank, their abilities can affect larger objects for a limited duration, not able to be maintained for long periods.

Simply molding a few parts, which is precisely what F-rank and E-rank users could achieve, Chen Fei easily accomplished the task, claiming to be an E-rank superpower user—others would likely believe without doubt, fitting perfectly with the characteristics of an E-rank superpower user.

E, E-rank superpower user?!

Damn, F*k, Shit... The man with a sickly-pale face was like he was severely bleeding out, almost done for.

Let alone an E-rank superpower user, even if it wasn't a superpower user, the opponent could easily pin him to the ground and beat him to death.

Chen Fei did not notice that Randy, the young black man at another workstation, had a horribly upset look at this moment; his entire focus was on the malfunctioning "Big Mouth Monster" Turboprop Aircraft before him.

After installing the repaired magnetic pump into the aircraft, he continued to disassemble other parts, pulling out additional defective pieces and preparing to replace them.

This time, Chen Fei was extra cautious.

Not only did he evaluate each part for its quality, but he also used "Metal Shaping" to reshape and restore them.

Indeed, Chen Fei found several more new, defective parts.

Both teachers Salman and Elisa also noticed this situation.

The factory's two engineers were cautious and did not make any hasty statements, but the third-party repair technicians invited there were all too aware of what was happening, immediately they began uncontrollably banging on the table and yelling.

"Someone is sabotaging this!"

If it had been found just once, it might have been reluctantly considered an accident, but the recurring issues could hardly be described as coincidences.

"Keep these as evidence, submit them to security for inspection!"

After consulting with his wife Elisa, Salman immediately made a decision.

But the certification exam had to continue, it wouldn't be suspended just because of these incidents.

Randy kept swallowing his saliva, forcibly steadying his trembling as he continued with the inspections.

1 hour 5 minutes, Chen Fei completed all the inspections, and the aviation repair software "Sky Eye Cloud Inspection" in "Siege Lion Mode" verified successfully.

2 hours 0 minutes, the young black man Randy barely finished his task on time, thoroughly soaked in sweat.

After both "Big Mouth Monster" aircraft successfully passed the ten-minute trial run, they would proceed to the next stage, a half-hour interview.

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