"So, since it has been quite so ti since we last held a Value Scale Session..."
Lara spoke while walking slowly toward the side of the stage.
The lights above continued shining brightly upon her, while the massive audience remained focused on every word she said.
"I’ll explain how this session works once again, both to refresh everyone’s mory and to properly introduce it to our new audience and viewers watching across Britannia."
She stopped near the edge of the stage and looked across the hall.
The excitent was already visible.
Many people sat forward in their seats.
Others adjusted their notebooks.
Several scholars even held their pens ready.
Everyone knew this was the true battlefield of the Auction.
The presentation had only been the opening act, while this was where inventions either rose higher or fell apart.
"First, everyone is eligible to ask a question."
Lara raised one finger.
"However, you must have registered beforehand on the BNC site under the Questioner Role during the invention presentation."
She pointed toward Ezra.
"After registration, a Light Rod is distributed by our attendants."
Her eyes swept through the crowd.
"Which has already been done, right?"
"YES!"
The reply ca imdiately.
The hall erupted into light laughter.
Lara smiled.
A staff mber quickly walked onto the stage carrying a silver-colored rod before handing it to her respectfully and retreating.
"So..."
She raised the rod.
The caras imdiately zood in.
The giant holographic screens magnified the object for everyone watching.
"You can see these three buttons located at the rear section."
She turned the rod around.
Three glowing buttons ca into view.
Yellow.
Red.
Green.
"To ask your question, you simply press the yellow button."
Click.
The yellow light activated.
The crowd watched carefully.
"Once the yellow light activates, our technical departnt will determine who pressed first."
She continued calmly.
"Then they will relay the information to , and I will call that person’s na."
She nodded.
"That individual will then have the opportunity to ask their question."
Many newcors imdiately began paying attention.
Several viewers watching through the Skynet took notes.
"Once Ezra answers..."
Lara pressed the red button.
The yellow light instantly shifted into red.
"If you are not satisfied with the answer, you press this."
She then pressed the green button.
The red light changed into green.
"But if you are satisfied..."
She smiled.
"You press this."
Lowering the rod, she continued.
"Each questioner is allowed only one question."
Her voice beca firr.
"So please think carefully before asking."
She raised a finger.
"Also, discussions on a single question cannot exceed five minutes."
She lightly shook her head.
"If they do, I will intervene personally and end the discussion."
The crowd laughed.
After all, many scholars were famous for turning simple questions into hour-long argunts.
"We have many questioners waiting."
Lara spread her hands.
"So, everyone deserves a chance."
She paused briefly.
"If ten full minutes pass without a single yellow light activating..."
She smiled.
"Then the Scholar’s Bombardnt...also known as the Value Session...will officially end."
Her arm swept toward the giant screens.
"And we will imdiately display the updated market value of the invention on the Britannia Market Exchange."
Excited whispers imdiately spread.
Many investors exchanged looks.
That was the mont they were truly waiting for.
The final value.
The final verdict.
The final judgnt.
"Now..."
Lara turned, her gaze landing on Ezra.
"Good luck, Young Inventor."
A playful smile appeared on her face, then she raised her microphone.
"LET THE BOMBARDNT BEGIN!"
Her amplified voice thundered throughout the enormous hall.
The very instant she finished speaking...
Yellow lights exploded across the upper floor.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
Dozens.
It looked like a field of stars suddenly lighting up.
"Wow."
Even Lara blinked.
"Seems quite a lot of people are eager to co after you, Young Inventor."
She glanced toward Ezra.
The boy stood calmly beside the Phantom Rolls.
His expression didn’t change.
Not even slightly.
The audience below reacted imdiately.
Many expected a fierce session.
Others hadn’t expected such enthusiasm.
Lucy stood backstage watching.
Her hands unconsciously tightened together.
Although she knew Ezra had prepared extensively for this mont...
Her heart still felt nervous.
This wasn’t the Trial of Steel.
This wasn’t combat.
This was different.
The enemies here used words, and words could be just as dangerous as Alchemy.
Several seconds later...
A ssage arrived through Lara’s earpiece.
"Oh?"
She smiled.
"We have our first questioner."
The hall beca quieter.
"Our first questioner..."
She raised her hand dramatically.
"Mr. Anderson."
The giant screen imdiately shifted.
A middle-aged man appeared.
The audience reacted instantly.
"Representative of The Eclipse."
The atmosphere changed.
Excitent spread throughout the venue.
The reason was simple.
Anderson wasn’t so random craftsman.
He was one of The Eclipse’s highest-ranking Craft-Based Alchemists.
An Arcanist-ranked Alchemist.
The inventor responsible for the famous Colorful Crystal Windows currently installed in Royal Steam-Carriages and Royal-Class Dirigibles throughout Britannia.
A genuine authority.
A veteran inventor.
The type of person whose words carried weight.
And he would be the first to challenge Ezra.
Anderson stood.
His expression remained professional.
"So."
He raised a finger.
"You spoke extensively about the smoothness of your exterior design reducing fuel consumption."
He adjusted his glasses.
"This is the area I wish to focus on."
The crowd imdiately beca attentive.
Several scholars lowered their pens.
Anderson continued.
"The Noble and Royal Steam-Carriages you’re attempting to improve have existed for decades."
He paused.
"So of them existed before you were even born."
Several people nodded.
"So, I wish to know."
He looked directly at Ezra.
"What is the exact difference between their fuel consumption and the Phantom Rolls?"
His voice remained calm.
Professional.
Like a senior inventor testing the depth of a younger inventor’s understanding.
All eyes turned toward Ezra.
Many people smiled faintly.
The question wasn’t a hard one, but it held the absolute power that could drop the difference between the Phantom Rolls and the other steam carriages a low.
Yet...
Ezra simply narrowed his eyes slightly.
"To answer your question..."
His voice remained calm.
"Allow to show the top speed, cruise speed, Novarite consumption, and coolant consumption of every major Steam-Carriage class compared directly against the Phantom Rolls."
The hall instantly beca quiet.
Ezra raised his hand toward the technical team.
You’ve got to be kidding ...
Lara glanced at Ezra from the side of the stage.
For the first ti since the event began, she nearly lost control of her professional expression.
Her heart shook.
Not because of Anderson’s question.
But because of Ezra’s response.
No...
More accurately...
Because he had already prepared the answer before the question had even been asked.
Her mind imdiately drifted back to the final day before the Auction Event.
At the ti, the preparation team had been busy making last-minute adjustnts.
The technical departnt was checking holographic projections.
The planning committee was reviewing schedules.
Staff mbers moved in and out of conference rooms carrying docunts and reports.
During that busy period...
Ezra had suddenly arrived carrying another stack of papers.
Without any hesitation, he handed the docunts to the technical team.
"This will be used during the Scholar’s Bombardnt."
His voice had been as calm and flat as ever.
The technical staff accepted the docunts.
Naturally, everyone beca curious.
After all, the presentation itself was already complete.
Why would he suddenly provide additional material?
When they opened the files...
They discovered prepared answers.
Prepared explanations.
Prepared charts.
Prepared demonstrations.
Prepared comparisons.
Each one corresponded to a different potential question.
At the ti, Lara had thought he was simply being cautious.
After all, any inventor would naturally prepare for criticism.
But now...
Watching the giant holographic screen displaying the exact chart needed to answer Anderson’s question...
She felt her scalp tingle.
I didn’t believe he could predict the exact question that would be asked.
A drop of cold sweat almost rolled down her face.
She quickly maintained her smile.
The caras were still watching.
The audience was still watching.
As a professional broadcaster, she couldn’t allow herself to lose composure.
Yet inside...
She was completely stunned.
But it’s one hundred percent accurate.
Her eyes moved from Anderson to Ezra.
Then back to Ezra.
It was as though Ezra had already known Anderson would ask this question.
Lara rembered confronting him imdiately after receiving the docunts.
At the ti, she had marched straight toward him.
"How did you know these would be the questions they ask?"
She rembered asking.
Her tone had been serious.
She found the whole thing ridiculous.
Because predicting a question was one thing.
Predicting multiple questions and preparing detailed responses beforehand was sothing entirely different, especially when it involves humans who think differently.
She felt Ezra was opening himself to a mistake.
If he was to focus too much on these prepared answers, what if they don’t ask the question...
And Ezra’s answer?
"It’s just a guess."
The mory made Lara’s eye twitch slightly.
Just a guess?
What kind of guess predicts this perfectly?
anwhile...
Backstage.
Lucy stared at the giant screen with shining eyes.
Unlike Lara...
She already knew.
Because Ezra had explained it to her.
At that ti, they had been sitting together reviewing docunts, when Lucy had asked him the sa question, and Ezra had simply replied.
"I’ll bait them into asking the questions I want. And then I’ll answer using prepared explanations."
At the ti...
Lucy had smiled.
She thought it sounded impressive.
Very impressive.
After all, her Master was always thinking several steps ahead.
But now...
Seeing it happen in person...
She felt completely speechless.
Her mouth opened slightly, then closed again, because she genuinely didn’t know what to say.
The first question.
The very first question had gone exactly the way Ezra wanted.
Lucy suddenly understood why Ezra looked so calm throughout the entire event.
It wasn’t because he was fearless.
It wasn’t because he was overconfident.
It was because he had already prepared the battlefield beforehand.
The realization sent a chill through her.
A pleasant and frightening chill.
At the sa ti.
Even the technical team couldn’t stop themselves from exchanging looks.
Several staff mbers quietly laughed.
Not because they found the situation funny, but because they were amazed.
The planning committee mbers looked at one another.
So shook their heads.
Others smiled helplessly.
This kid is really scary.
The sa thought appeared in their minds.
Inside one of the VIP rooms...
Park sat beside several BNC executives.
The Duke of Galehart and several mbers of his entourage were also present.
They all watched the event through the private holographic display.
He rubbed his forehead, rembering receiving those docunts.
He rembered thinking the boy was being overly cautious.
Now he felt slightly embarrassed.
Back in the main hall...
The holographic screen appeared displaying the comparison table.
***
Noble Carriage — Cruising Speed: 50 km/h, Maximum Speed: 70 km/h, Novarite Consumption Rate: 8 Rods per hour, Coolant Consumption Rate: 16 liters per hour, Crytalix Utilization Efficiency: 68%.
Military Carriage — Cruising Speed: 60 km/h, Maximum Speed: 85 km/h, Novarite Consumption Rate: 12 Rods per hour, Coolant Consumption Rate: 30 liters per hour, Crytalix Utilization Efficiency: 63%.
Royal Carriage — Cruising Speed: 75 km/h, Maximum Speed: 100 km/h, Novarite Consumption Rate: 7 Rods per hour, Coolant Consumption Rate: 10 liters per hour, Crytalix Utilization Efficiency: 82%.
Phantom Rolls — Cruising Speed: 90 km/h, Maximum Speed: 120 km/h, Novarite Consumption Rate: 5 Rods per hour, Coolant Consumption Rate: 4 liters per hour, Crytalix Utilization Efficiency: 94%.***
***
Several people blinked repeatedly as they looked at the comparison table displayed on the giant holographic screen.
The difference between the coolant consumption of the existing Steam-Carriages and the Phantom Rolls was far larger than they had expected.
At first, many of them thought the invention was rely a new exterior design.
A revolutionary exterior design.
But still just an exterior design.
Yet now...
The more numbers Ezra revealed, the more they realized the Phantom Rolls wasn’t simply beautiful.
It was practical.
Dangerously practical.
"It only uses five Rods per hour of Novarite..."
Anderson stared at the holographic screen.
His eyes remained fixed on the numbers.
Even as a veteran inventor and senior representative of The Eclipse, he found himself genuinely shocked.
Around him, other Craftsn, Scholars, and Craft-Based Alchemists had already begun discussing among themselves.
Quiet voices spread throughout the hall.
Several people quickly took notes.
Others began performing calculations on their personal devices.
The value of an invention wasn’t determined only by how impressive it looked.
Efficiency.
Longevity.
Resource consumption and Maintenance costs.
Those were the things that generated true wealth.
And Ezra had just touched all of them at once.
"Yes."
Ezra nodded calmly.
His voice remained steady.
"As you can see, because of the reduction in air resistance and other factors capable of increasing the thermal output generated by the boiling Crytalix..."
He pointed toward one section of the chart.
The holographic display imdiately enlarged the highlighted area.
Many audience mbers focused their attention there.
Then Ezra’s finger moved again.
Stopping at another section.
"The CUE."
He tapped lightly.
The abbreviation glowed brighter.
"Crytalix Utilization Efficiency."
A secondary diagram appeared beside the chart.
Showing energy conservation flow throughout the Phantom Rolls’ Steam-Engine system.
"The CUE demonstrates how efficiently the generated thermal energy is conserved and utilized."
The animation continued moving.
The audience followed it carefully.
"Because of the improved airflow structure and reduced thermal waste, the Phantom Rolls conserves more usable energy."
His hand moved toward the coolant section.
"And because of those factors..."
He tapped the value.
"The coolant requirent drops to only four liters per hour."
The hall imdiately erupted into discussion.
Several Scholars nearly stood from their seats.
Many Craftsn looked stunned.
Even so representatives from major production companies could not hide their reactions.
Four liters per hour.
That figure alone carried enormous implications.
Maintenance costs.
Operational costs.
Travel distance.
Long-term ownership expenses.
Everything changed.
"That ans..."
Anderson slowly looked up from the chart.
His expression appeared slightly dazed.
Almost as if he was still trying to process the information.
"This Phantom Rolls isn’t only faster..."
He raised one finger.
"Quieter..."
A second finger.
"More powerful..."
A third.
"It produces hotter Crytalix steam..."
A fourth.
"And yet..."
His voice slowed.
"...it consus less coolant?"
The entire hall beca quiet.
Everyone looked toward Ezra.
Waiting.
Expecting.
Perhaps hoping there was a catch.
A hidden flaw.
A limitation.
Sothing.
But...
"Yes."
Ezra answered.
Just one word.
Simple and direct.
Without hesitation nor embellishnt.
The simplicity of his answer sohow made it hit even harder.
Anderson stared at him.
Then slowly turned toward the other Eclipse representatives seated nearby.
Every one of them looked equally stunned.
One representative rubbed his forehead.
Another stared at the chart.
A third had already begun calculating projected industry losses if the Phantom Rolls entered mass production.
Finally...
One of them spoke.
"This..."
His voice trembled slightly.
"This... this... this is practically a revelation to one of the biggest problems in Crytalix Steam Technology."
The representative couldn’t stop staring at the efficiency values.
Years.
Entire generations of craftsn had accepted coolant consumption as a natural limitation.
And now a thirteen-year-old boy had arrived and casually reduced one of the major causes.
The realization left many people speechless.
Anderson suddenly laughed.
Not mockingly.
Not bitterly.
But with genuine admiration.
The kind a veteran inventor felt when seeing sothing truly innovative.
Then he looked directly at Ezra.
"Does this answer your question?"
Ezra asked.
His dark eyes remained calm and his expression remained blank.
As though none of this was particularly surprising to him.
Anderson smiled.
"Yes."
Without hesitation...
He raised the Light Rod.
Click.
The green button lit up.
The mont the audience saw the green light...
The hall erupted into applause.
Clapping echoed throughout the venue.
Many people stood again.
Others nodded in approval.
The answer had been accepted.
Completely accepted.
"Wow!"
Lara imdiately stepped forward.
Her voice carried excitent.
"We have our first question answered successfully!"
She pointed dramatically toward the audience.
"And our questioner is completely satisfied with the response!"
The applause grew even louder.
Lara turned toward Ezra.
The admiration in her eyes wasn’t hidden anymore.
"Honestly..."
She placed a hand over her chest.
"I didn’t understand half of what they were saying."
The audience burst into laughter.
Even Anderson laughed.
"But..."
Lara continued.
"I can absolutely feel how much thought, planning, and research went into this invention."
She smiled warmly at Ezra.
"And that alone is impressive."
The audience applauded again.
anwhile...
On the second floor.
Rena sat comfortably in her seat.
Her legs remained crossed and her arms folded beneath her chest.
A satisfied smile rested on her face.
"As expected of the boy praised by Rogers."
She muttered quietly.
Her eyes remained fixed on Ezra.
The answer had been excellent.
But that wasn’t the part that impressed her most.
The truly impressive part was what Ezra had just accomplished strategically.
He hadn’t rely answered a question.
He had reshaped the battlefield.
The mont he revealed the Phantom Rolls’ fuel efficiency advantage, countless planned attacks instantly lost their effectiveness.
Many criticisms beca aningless.
Many argunts beca weaker.
Several people who had intended to question the practicality of the invention were now forced to rethink their approach.
Rena’s smile widened while her gaze shifted toward the other questioners seated around the upper floor.
She noticed several of them looking frustrated.
So were already changing notes.
Others looked deep in thought.
Their original plans had clearly been disrupted.
Good.
Rena leaned back slightly.
Now let’s see what the rest of you got.
A faint smirk appeared on her face.
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