Humans Shrunk 100 Times

In the lively campus of June, from the main road leading to the playground from the entrance gate, there were lush willow and osmanthus trees on both sides. In the center of the flowerbeds, a huge banyan tree soared into the sky, and if you stood below it, it seemed as though the entire sky was covered.

This was one of the landmarks of Ziwei High School.

It was said to be over sixty years old and had stood here even before the school was established. The three six-story teaching buildings of Ziwei High School were built around it.

In the past, during class breaks, students could see this lush tree through the windows, and the abundance of greenery greatly eased their eye fatigue.

In front of Teaching Building No. 3.

Two small figures had just walked out of the shade of the big banyan tree, and the sunlight fell on them again, instantly raising the surrounding temperature.

Chen Mu reached for his waist and, with a swish, he had a plastic sun umbrella in his hand, covering himself and his companion He Ying.

The translucent plastic was used for sun protection, so naturally, the effect wasn't that great. However, in the next moment, from the position where Chen Mu held the umbrella handle, a layer of fluid with a metallic luster slowly crawled up.

This fluid went all the way up and quickly covered the entire surface of the umbrella, as if it had coated the plastic umbrella with silver.

The temperature under the umbrella seemed to have dropped slightly, at least there was no longer direct sunlight.

"You must have a high success rate using this trick to seduce girls," He Ying said, even though she had spent a considerable amount of time with Chen Mu, she was still surprised by his various methods from time to time.

"Thank you for the praise; I will continue to work hard," Chen Mu replied, seemingly modest.

...

June 22nd.

Lunar calendar, the third day of the fifth month.

Good day for a journey.

Chen Mu and He Ying have been out since early morning, and it's been over four hours now.

It has been exactly four days since the last surprise attack by Yizhong.

During these four days, everything has been calm and peaceful.

However, everyone knows that the tranquil days of Qiming have come to an end.

Being discovered by the hostile Yizhong, it's not a pleasant thing.

But according to Tang Jing's analysis, Yizhong won't launch a second attack rashly in the short term unless their strength significantly increases. Currently, they don't have a good way to deal with Qiming's landmines.

Moreover, with the powerful Qingbei as a restraint, Yizhong doesn't dare to go all out to attack them.

But it's always better to be prepared for the future, so Dong Junwei still wants everyone to treat each day as if it were the day before a war.

As a strategically significant observation tower, the efficiency has greatly improved with the assistance of the winding device, and it no longer requires the real-time control of the siblings, Lu Liangliang.

Of course, Wei Dalei's workload has increased a bit.

Every night before going to bed, Old Wei has to come to the side of the plastic box by the door, insert the wrench into the hole, wind it up, and make a creaking sound.

Although this winding device is just a prototype and its design and workmanship are far from what Tang Jing had expected, it's advantageous due to its large size. With dozens of turns of the winding spring, one winding can last for three days under normal usage. However, Old Wei still winds it up every day, fearing it might not be enough in case of a battle.

However, this automatic elevator device still has many issues that need improvement, and the biggest trouble is the lack of lubricating oil.

The operation of mechanical equipment often depends on this inconspicuous thing.

Even a mechanical watch needs regular oiling, or else the hands' movement and the overall lifespan will be affected.

Chen Mu and He Ying have come this time with a specific mission.

The objective is clear: to find machine oil, specifically engine lubricating oil.

The question of whether this is a big problem or not is debatable. After all, even without machine oil, the winding device can still operate, but the friction between its components increases, affecting efficiency and lifespan.

Even for a simple elevator, its winding device is quite complex. Apart from the basic winding mechanism, there are a dozen or so bearings and gears of various sizes.

Chen Mu admitted that if he had to design it himself, it would probably take him several months, and he would only be able to create something inefficient, ugly, and of poor quality.

Fortunately, Tang Jing is there.

Chen Mu only needs to process each part according to the dimensions she provides, and with Wei Dalei's help, install and fix them one by one.

However, the problem of lubricating oil remains unresolved.

In the end, Chen Mu took the initiative to take on the responsibility of going out to find lubricating oil and also wanted to find some practical materials if possible.

However, lubricating oil is not like cooking oil, and it's probably rare to find such a thing in an ordinary high school campus.

Yet Tang Jing directly pointed Chen Mu in the right direction.

Teaching Building No. 3, Fourth floor, on the west side.

That's the office of the labor and technology teacher.

In the eyes of both teachers and students, this is a subject that can be considered optional.

However, after the education system reform in Shangshi, physical education and labor and technology classes were the two biggest beneficiaries, especially the latter, which survived from middle school to high school and persisted until the first half of the senior year.

As students, they had always been interested in this class because the teacher would provide materials for them to work on their own projects during class—making models, paper cutting, assembling gadgets, and even playing with clay.

The labor and technology teacher's surname is Wan, and he enjoys his own office, mainly because he needs a lot of materials, so there's simply no space for anyone else.

However, the most troublesome thing for Chen Mu is that the office where Tang Jing said there must be lubricating oil is on the fourth floor.

At first, he had thought about how the people upstairs would save themselves and solve food and other issues, but now he finds himself having to go up there.

The reason he only brought He Ying along is that this time the objective is clear: go there, get the lubricating oil, and come back. Having more people would increase the risk of exposure.

"Are you sure you've written down everything we need?" He Ying tried to stand as close to Chen Mu as possible to block the sunlight.

"Of course, why?"

"I'm just worried that Mr. Wan might not have so many types of lubricating oil in his office."

According to Tang Jing's instructions, they need to get as much lubricating oil as possible from the office on the fourth floor, but lubricating oils come in different types and brands, and there are at least three types Tang Jing mentioned.

Would a high school crafts teacher be that specialized and keep so many different types of lubricating oil in his office?

But since Tang Jing said so, it should be right.

They decided to go and see first.

The classroom of Class 4 of Grade 12 is located on the east side of Building 1, making it the closest to the cafeteria, only about 70 meters away.

But Building 3 is different, being more than twice the distance away and requiring them to pass by the big banyan tree.

It took them nearly an hour to walk from directly under the banyan tree to Teaching Building No. 3.

Finally, they have arrived.

As they approached, Chen Mu looked up at the outdoor platform that was 30 centimeters high and couldn't help but sigh.

He pointed upward and asked He Ying, "Did you just jump up there in one go?"

"What's wrong?"

"I think you might need to do it again."

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