Chapter 28 Chapter Four

"Are you going to make a show?" the Grand Duke said sullenly.His whole body was hidden in the fur, and his thin hands held an iron rod that was used as a crutch. "There is gold for you, my lord." "There is still gold to offer me," the Grand Duke agreed casually. As confident as he could be, Peng Yaci put down the box he had brought and opened it.With all the hostility around him, he felt alone and helpless, like navigating space for the first time. The bearded advisors sat in a semicircle, all glaring at him with unfriendly eyes.Among them, the most conspicuous one was Farr, who sat beside the Grand Duke and was deeply favored by the Grand Duke. He had a thin face and strong hostility on his face.Peng Yates had met him once a few days ago, and he was listed as the main enemy at that time, but he became Peng Yates' number one prey because of this.

Outside the hall, a small army is standing by.Today, Pennyack is completely isolated from his spaceship, armed with no weapons other than planned bribes, and Korov remains their hostage. It took him a week of hard work to make this crude and weird contraption he had brought.Now he was making the final adjustments, and praying again that the quartz removed from the spacecraft would hold up to its deformation. "What is this?" asked the Grand Duke. Peng Yaci stepped back and said, "This is a small device designed and manufactured by myself." "Of course I can see it, but what I want to know is not this. I'm asking you, is this one of the magic props in your world?"

"It does use nuclear energy," Peng Yaci admitted in a serious tone: "But none of you need to touch it, and you don't have to have anything to do with it. I will operate everything, and if there is anything ominous, let me One can make one's own way." The Grand Duke waved the iron rod in his hand as if he was facing an enemy, and he was still chanting words, as if he was reciting a spell to get rid of bad luck.The thin advisor on the right leaned towards the Grand Duke, and the tip of his red mustache almost pierced the Grand Duke's ear, but the Grand Duke quickly avoided it with a disgusted expression.

"What does this evil thing of yours have to do with the gold that can save your compatriot?" "Using this machine," Peng Yaci began to explain, and at the same time put his hand lightly on the box, stroking the round side wall: "I can turn the iron you throw in into the finest gold. Heaven and Earth There is only such a machine in the world, which can put iron--vile iron, my lord, as the foot of the chair on which lord sits, or the iron pillars that support this building--and make it shine, Heavy and pure gold." Peng Yeci felt that what he said could not convey the meaning.When he usually sells products, he is articulate and eloquent, but now he is clumsy, like a space cargo ship that has been shot and is on the verge of collapse.Fortunately, what the Grand Duke cares about is not his words, but only the content of his words.

"Oh? Is this the alchemy, then? Some fools in the past claimed to have this ability, but they all blamed themselves for sacrilege." "Did they succeed?" "No." The Grand Duke seemed to be taking pleasure in misfortunes: "It is a sin to manufacture gold by manpower, which in itself breeds the seeds of failure. This kind of attempt plus inevitable failure will bring death. Okay, just Try it with my iron rod." He tapped the iron rod on the ground. "My lord, please forgive me. The device I made is small. Your iron rod is too long." The archduke's small twinkling eyes began to look around, and then suddenly stopped: "Landa, give me your belt buckle. Come, don't be afraid, if you break it, I will double compensate you."

So the belt buckle was passed from everyone's hands and handed over to the Grand Duke, who weighed it carefully first. "Take it," he said, throwing the belt buckle on the ground. Peng Yicci picked up the belt buckle, pulled the cylinder hard, blinked his eyes, and carefully placed the belt buckle in the center of the anode screen - he will definitely become more proficient and easier in the future, but he must not fail the first time. Immediately, the machine made a piercing sound of "cracking" which lasted for ten minutes and released a little unpleasant smell.The advisers quickly backed away, and everyone was muttering and complaining.Faer didn't know what to whisper in the Grand Duke's ear again, but the Grand Duke remained expressionless and remained motionless.

Finally, the texture of the belt buckle changed from iron to gold. Peng Yaci held the gold belt buckle in front of the Grand Duke, and said in a low voice, "Please look at it, my lord!" But the Grand Duke hesitated for a moment, and then gestured for him to take it away, keeping his eyes fixed on the transformation device. Peng Yaci immediately said in one breath: "Everyone, this is pure gold, 100% gold. If you want to prove it, you can use any physical or chemical method to test it. From any angle, it is exactly the same as natural gold. All iron can be processed in the same way, even if it rusts, it doesn't matter if it is mixed with a small amount of other metals-"

The series of words that Peng Yeci said was just to break the deadlock of silence.He never retracted his hand holding the belt buckle, only this gold belt buckle can prove everything. When the Grand Duke finally stretched out his hand slowly, the thin-faced Fayu hurriedly said again: "My lord, the source of this gold nugget is not clean." Peng Yaci immediately retorted: "Your Excellency, good roses can also be found in the mud. You and your neighbors bought all kinds of items, and you never asked where they came from—after all, it was a tradition blessed by ancestors. It is produced by a machine, or by some weird instrument. Please don’t be afraid, I am not giving you this machine, but just this piece of gold.”

"My lord," said Farr, "you are not responsible for the crimes committed by foreigners who commit crimes behind your back without your permission. But if your lord accepts that before you, it is your consent Under such circumstances, it is disrespectful to the Holy Spirit of our ancestors to use iron to make fake gold nuggets.” "But gold is gold," said the Grand Duke hesitantly. "At the same time, it is for a heretic who has committed a felony. Val, you are too picky." However, the Grand Duke withdrew his hand. Peng Yaci also said: "Your Excellency is a wise man, please think carefully - letting go of a heretic will not cause any loss to the ancestors, on the other hand, the gold in exchange can be used to decorate the ancestral hall dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Moreover, Even if gold is evil in itself, when it is used for such a pious purpose, its evilness disappears."

"In the name of my grandfather's bones," the Grand Duke was obviously quite enthusiastic, and he let out a sharp laugh: "Fare, what do you think of this young man? His words are very reasonable, and what my ancestors said Makes sense too." Farr replied in a frustrated voice: "It seems to be the case, as long as this principle is not used by the 'evil spirit'." "I have a way to make you feel more at ease." Peng Yaci suddenly said: "Please take this piece of gold and offer it as a sacrifice on the altar of your ancestors, and detain me for another thirty days. If thirty days After the day has passed, if there is no ominousness—if there is no disaster, of course, it means that the sacrifice has been accepted, what better way than this?"

The Grand Duke stood up and wanted to see if there was anyone who disapproved, but of course all the advisers present agreed unanimously.Even Farr bit his messy mustache and nodded reluctantly. Peng Yaci smiled, thanking religious education in his heart for its magical effect.