Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 745: Might Just Be At The Peak Of Apprentice

The array took over half an hour to complete, but Han Yu did not rush. When he finished, the formation glowed softly, perfectly balanced.

He placed the core beneath the top panel of the box shaped body.

Spirit stones followed, positioned according to the array diagram, feeding energy into the system.

The moment he activated it with his spirit sense, Qi flowed smoothly through every channel.

The puppet hummed faintly.

Han Yu tested the wheels.

Forward motion.

Backward motion.

Right turn. Left turn.

The wheels adjusted exactly as intended. Right side reversed while left advanced, allowing the box to pivot cleanly without joints.

No creaking.

No stutter.

Satisfied, Han Yu carried the puppet to the assessment platform and placed it within the testing formation.

The chamber fell silent.

Several breaths later, the formation screen flashed.

PASS

Han Yu’s disciple token vibrated in his hand.

SHUA

A new line etched itself into the formation screens surface.

Novice Puppet Artisan.

Promoted.

Apprentice Puppet Artisan.

A true member of the Puppet Peak.

Han Yu stared at the token for a long moment.

This was not merely a title.

It meant access.

Advanced workshops. Restricted manuals. Higher level commissions. Recognition.

More importantly, it meant leverage.

A slow smile tugged at the corner of his lips, brief and sharp before vanishing behind his usual cold expression.

"So this is how it begins..." he murmured.

Zhao Liumen had taken his pill market.

Fine.

Han Yu would simply build something else.

Something sharper.

Something harder to take away.

Han Yu stood for a long moment after leaving the testing chamber, his disciple token still warm in his palm.

The realization came quietly.

Almost naturally.

"If the pill market is blocked..." he murmured to himself, eyes narrowing slightly, "...then I simply walk a different road."

Puppets.

Unlike pills, puppets were not consumed. They did not vanish after use. Their demand rose and fell with projects, wars, constructions, and crises. But there was one thing that never changed.

Maintenance.

The Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect relied heavily on puppets. Mechanical puppets hauled resources, crushed ores, transported materials, guarded facilities, and assisted alchemists. They worked endlessly, day and night, without rest. And that meant wear.

Constant wear.

Joints loosened. Qi channels fractured. Nodes degraded. Control arrays became damaged.

And beyond the mechanical puppets, there were the jiangshi.

Undead servants.

They did not rust or break in the same way, but they were far more dangerous.

Jiangshi required yearly inspections at the very least if not more. Their control seals needed reinforcement. Their bodies had to be checked for corruption, deviation, or the emergence of sentient will.

An uncontrolled jiangshi was not an inconvenience.

It was a massacre waiting to happen.

That was why maintenance paid well.

Very well.

Making jiangshi paid even more, but that was far beyond Han Yu’s current qualifications. He was not a Master Puppet Artisan. He had not yet reached the required depth in curse mastery or blood refinement. Altering mind modifying seals like the Doll Seal was an entirely different tier of knowledge.

That was still his ultimate goal.

But to reach it, he needed resources.

Merit points.

Access.

Wealth.

And puppets could give him all three.

Han Yu changed direction and headed toward the main hall of the Puppet Peak. Compared to the Alchemy Peak, this place was louder. The clanking of metal, the hum of formations, the rhythmic thuds of testing chambers filled the air.

Just like many other occupation halls, a massive formation wall dominated the hall, lines of missions scrolling endlessly.

Maintenance assignments.

Repair contracts.

Inspection tasks.

Han Yu scanned them calmly.

There was no shortage.

He selected one that was marked as suitable for Apprentice Puppet Artisans.

Fix three Rock Breaker Puppets.

Simple. Reliable. Paid decently. two hundred merit points each.

He accepted the mission with his token and followed the guidance array to the maintenance zone.

Three Rock Breaker Puppets stood idle inside a reinforced chamber.

They were bulky constructs, taller than a man, with thick legs and massive hammer shaped forearms. These puppets were used to pulverize ores and break down stone blocks. Their design was sturdy, but the constant shock traveled through their frames relentlessly.

Han Yu approached the first puppet.

He did not start by disassembling it.

He closed his eyes.

His spirit sense spread.

The internal structure unfolded before his perception. He saw micro fractures in the Qi channels. Nodes that had begun to loosen under repeated impact. A slight misalignment in the left shoulder joint that would have worsened within a month.

Most artisans would have started by replacing the hammer.

Han Yu ignored it.

He opened a maintenance panel along the puppet’s torso and accessed the internal channels directly. With a thin engraving tool that looked like a crystal chisel, he reinforced three weakened Qi lines, subtly redirecting the flow to reduce stress accumulation.

He tightened the node connections, adjusted the shock absorption formations embedded in the joints, and only then replaced the hammer head with a fresh one.

Total time.

Nine minutes.

The second puppet had a different issue.

Its hammer arm was fine, but the repeated vibrations had propagated into the central core housing. The control array was beginning to drift, causing delayed response times.

Han Yu recalibrated the array, reinforcing it with two additional stabilizing lines that were not part of the original design.

He finished in ten minutes.

The third puppet was the worst.

Its internal frame had developed asymmetrical strain. If left unchecked, it would have snapped during operation, potentially collapsing onto other workers.

Han Yu dismantled half of its internal supports, reforged two Spirit Bronze connectors on the spot, and reassembled the frame with corrected stress distribution.

Eleven minutes.

Exactly about thirty minutes.

He activated all three puppets.

SHUA

They moved smoothly.

He ran a rock crushing test.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Hammer strikes were clean. Shock dispersion was optimal. No internal strain registered.

A supervisor arrived to inspect the work.

He frowned at the readouts.

Checked again.

Then looked at Han Yu.

"...Approved," he said slowly.