If one was truly strapped for cash or couldn't find a legitimate channel like the Adeptus Mechanicus, various Hive gangs also had cybernetics for sale, but the quality and safety of these items were rather questionable.
Those shadowy operating rooms were piled high with rusty tools and suspicious liquids.
Although installation was included, you couldn't guarantee that the person installing these cybernetics wasn't planning to remove them after you died and sell them to the next person.
The gang doctors' methods were appallingly crude, with a post-operative infection rate as high as seventy percent.
And this process typically only took a few months.
The black market for cybernetics run by gangs was like a never-ending revolving door; people constantly went in, and people were constantly carried out.
Although it was indeed very cheap.
A used respirator modified by a gang might only cost one-tenth of the price through legitimate channels, and of course, its lifespan might also only be one-tenth.
Of course, if these options weren't to your liking, there were other choices in the Imperium.
Though this The Galaxy / Milky Way was cruel, opportunities also existed.
For example, by undergoing biological modification and ascending to become an Astartes, the harsh natural environment would no longer pose any harm to you, as an Astartes was designed to maintain combat capability in all kinds of extreme environments.
Those superhuman warriors, having undergone nineteen modification surgeries, could even briefly survive in a vacuum.
If becoming an Astartes was too difficult, the Adeptus Mechanicus's biological modification technology could also solve the problem.
Those red-robed technicians possessed astonishing biochemical knowledge.
Although the Adeptus Mechanicus advocated abandoning the flesh and embracing the blessings of metal and machinery, this did not mean that the Adeptus Mechanicus's biochemical modification level was low.
On the contrary, their research into the essence of life might be more profound than any other organization.
One must know that the Imperium's gene-slaves were even taller and stronger than the Emperor's Custodian Guard.
These giants, over three meters tall, could work in the harshest environments, their muscle tissue tougher than steel.
However, they did not possess high intelligence or thinking ability; they were merely a group of human forklifts and loading tools.
These pathetic creations often did not live beyond five years, dying from organ failure.
Even in various Hive Cities, the Hive gangs held a large number of biological modification technologies, both legal and illegal, enough to transform a person beyond their own recognition.
From simple muscle enhancement to complete alteration of appearance, anything could be bought on the black market if one could afford the price.
Again, for the Imperium, even if you were at the lowest rung of Imperial commoners, there was still more than one way to solve a problem.
The only difference was what price you had to pay.
The living standards of Imperial Worlds were indeed uneven; the disparity between two Imperial Worlds could be even greater than that between a human and a dog.
On some worlds, residents lived in paradises comparable to utopias, while other worlds were veritable living hells.
It's no exaggeration to say that in the Imperium of the 40k era, you could witness all stages of human civilization and technological development, from the most primitive tribal societies to highly futuristic interstellar civilizations.
This vast empire spanning the The Galaxy / Milky Way was like a living museum of civilization.
The pinnacle of human technology could even create extinction relics capable of slaying a Primarch, and autonomous machines that fed on concepts, but at the same time, the The Galaxy / Milky Way was not lacking in human colonies whose technology had regressed to the primitive stage.
On those forgotten worlds, residents worshipped non-rusting metal fragments as divine blessings.
And now, although the Imperium had lost a great deal of technology, the Imperium itself still possessed powerful strength sufficient to dominate the The Galaxy / Milky Way.
Those ancient STC Templates and relics from the Dark Age continue to write hope for humanity's survival.
It's just that, generally speaking, the blessings brought by this powerful foundation left behind by ancient humanity do not flow down to the ordinary lower-class citizens of the Imperium.
Those fate-changing technologies are always held in the hands of a few.
Just like when Alex arrived at the spaceport earlier, he saw the laborers working there.
These ragged figures formed the most basic workforce of the Imperium.
These people, simply wearing ordinary one-piece work suits and covering their mouths and noses with cloth strips or rudimentary respirators, were clearing the burnt ruins of the spaceport through physical labor.
Their movements were mechanical and skilled, clearly accustomed to such harsh working conditions.
Meanwhile, right next to them, separated only by a road, the spaceport defense forces, clad in full body armor, could use fully enclosed helmets with respirators, and even further away from them, the Battle Sisterss in full Power Armor were even more advanced.
This stark contrast silently spoke volumes about the class disparities within the Imperium.
However, these ordinary laborers were already considered to be living a relatively good life in the Imperium; at least they had stable jobs and income, allowing them to support themselves with relative ease.
Compared to their compatriots struggling for survival in the lower levels of the Hive City, they seemed to be living in paradise.
In fact, even as these laborers were clearing the spaceport ruins, beneath their feet, in the pipeline areas under the spaceport streets, another group of Imperial citizens also lived.
Those dark, damp tunnels were crowded with lives untouched by sunlight.
However, they were usually not recognized as citizens by the Imperial authorities, and often not even as human beings.
In the Imperium's archives, they were merely pests that needed to be periodically cleared.
They could only live in narrow areas like sewers or ventilation ducts, avoiding contact with ordinary Imperial citizens, and many didn't even have jobs.
These societal outcasts formed underground communities, struggling to survive by supporting each other.
These people survived entirely by scavenging garbage from the streets and collecting sewage, and a lucky few managed to sneak onto a void ship when it docked at the spaceport, thereby embarking on a different life.
For them, boarding a spaceship meant escaping this hellish world.
However, these people did not find a better place; they merely changed environments to continue enduring.
Life on a void ship was equally arduous and full of unknown dangers.
Moreover, it was highly likely that they would die due to various accidents when the void ship first jumped into the Warp.
Warp travel was nothing short of a nightmare for untrained ordinary people.
These people were Mutants, born in the void of space, and could also be called Children of the Stars.
Their genes had mutated due to long-term radiation exposure, and their bodies often bore obvious signs of mutation.
A significant portion of them formed the vast lower-class sailor population on Imperial void ships, as for a void ship's captain, they wouldn't care if there was one more person or one less person on board.
These Mutant sailors were like interchangeable parts, always in oversupply.
Because Warp jumps always resulted in casualties, whenever a void ship docked at a port, it would usually replenish some lost sailors through various means.
Sometimes it was legitimate recruitment, but more often it was direct kidnapping or deception.
It was also for this reason that Chaos cult ideologies and Genestealer contamination would spread, propagating along the void ship's routes to more distant Imperial Worlds.
These unseen threats were often more deadly than open warfare.
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