Over a decade ago, on Gabe Steele's first day in the Iron Sand Desert, the Rose Gasoline Bar opened.
Back then, the indigenous warlords hadn't experienced the factory's siege and were far more arrogant than they are today. The mechanical hunter profession was also far less powerful than it is today.
A beautiful woman of unknown origin who opened a lucrative business—one can only imagine the fate that befell her.
However, anyone who caused trouble in the bar, regardless of their status, would find their head hanging at the gates of the Motor City the next day.
Gradually, the troublemakers dwindled, and those who spoke with reason increased.
Black Rose gradually integrated into the ecosystem of this oasis, becoming a crucial player.
Littlefinger was also a crucial link in Black Rose's underground network. A single cyborg doctor could indirectly control at least a hundred cyborgs.
Back then, Littlefinger's main job was bartending, and his hair wasn't that thin.
The reason for Littlefinger and Gabe Steele's troubled relationship was simple: the mutual repulsion between the "licker" and the "little wolfdog." While both were "dogs," they were different breeds, and naturally enjoyed different benefits.
Littlefinger, always a pushover in front of Black Rose, cursed and flung several books on prosthetics at her.
"Don't expect me to teach you!"
Gabe Steele raised his middle finger again.
"Summary of Prosthetic Surgery," "A Brief Discussion on the Digitalization of Consciousness and Mechanical Rejection," "Eighteen Key Points for Muscle Implantation," "Artificial Protein Infusion and Interface Technology"
[You are reading the professional knowledge book "Summary of Prosthetic Surgery," learning progress 1%...2%...13%]
The scene suddenly fell silent, with only the sound of Gabe Steele flipping through the pages.
An hour later—
[Your learning progress has reached 100%, you have completed reading "Summary of Prosthetic Surgery"]
[You have entered the job transfer state, job transfer progress 1/14]
With the system panel, the knowledge in the book will automatically be transformed into experience and memory, directly imprinted in the mind, which is more effective than any other learning method.
"What are your plans next?" Black Rose suddenly spoke as Gabe Steele turned to the last page.
Gabe Steele was stunned. The other person's tone was uncharacteristically gentle—but he understood immediately.
With Black Rose's network of intelligence, she couldn't have been unaware of the factory convoy's ambush. Even more so, she couldn't have been unaware that her ticket to the City That Never Sleeps had been stolen. Perhaps even the mastermind behind the incident had been discovered.
But it was useless. With that ticket, the mastermind would likely have already entered the City That Never Sleeps and enjoyed its comforts.
And she, the unfortunate one, didn't even have a chance for revenge.
The reason the Mechanic Hunters were able to establish themselves in the Iron Sands Desert wasn't just because their occupational characteristics were well-suited to the region, but also because they were riding a booming wave of factories relocating there, creating a need for mercenaries to purify the beasts of the irradiated zone.
Now, the factories have become behemoths in the desert, and the distinction between the inhuman and the livable zones has become increasingly distinct. The number of spots available in the City That Never Sleeps is dwindling each year.
It's almost impossible for Gabe Steele to earn vast amounts of Mechanic Coins from the irradiated beasts as he once did.
"I thought you were always after my body, only interested in my body, but I didn't expect you to actually care about me. Could it be, as some literary young woman said, that the gateway to a woman's soul is through her mouth?" Gabe Steele muttered to himself before breaking into a brilliant smile.
"Rest and recharge."
Black Rose gave Gabe Steele a deep look, nodded slightly, and left without a word, taking Littlefinger with her.
In Cyberworld, a holographic game touted as 100% authentic, all attributes are natural reflections of the human body. Beyond the five primary attributes, there's no such thing as Charm.
On the other hand, character, an objective entity stemming from relationships between men and women and endowed with a partial moral dimension, can be summarized by the system.
Similarly, it's the only attribute that can become negative.
The original owner's character had a 4, which greatly comforted Gabe Steele; his character hadn't had a positive character in years.
There was even a note below the character's character:
(Most scumbags are ruthless and unrefined, but you're different. You're completely stingy.)
Gabe Steele recalled the original owner's memories and found it to be true. His military-grade mechanical heart and titanium endoskeleton were also obtained by a woman—and crucially, she got them for free.
Probably due to Black Rose's advice, Littlefinger, the middle-aged bald man, finally stopped staring at him every day to ask for the six thousand mechanical coins. After helping him debug the prosthesis and confirming that there was no problem, he snorted coldly and turned away.
However, he left behind a pile of professional knowledge books for prosthetic doctors—this should also be due to the instructions of a certain woman.
Finally, after reading professional books for about a week, the familiar "ding dong" sound rang on the game panel.
[You obtain a new profession, prosthetic doctor, and comprehend the skill "primary prosthetic modification"]
[You change your job to prosthetic doctor and obtain the first-level human science and technology blueprint "Pain Editor"]
Pain Editor: A neural co-processor that inhibits pain receptors from sending signals to the parietal lobe of the brain, so that the user cannot feel pain.
[You comprehend the professional skill [Human Body Modification Surgery]]: Use medical equipment to perform excision, suturing, transplantation and other modifications on the human body.
[You Light Up Knowledge [Electronic Neurology]]
Level 1: Study the structure and function of the nervous system and analyze neural signals.
[You Light Up Knowledge [Human Biology]]
Level 1: Basic knowledge of the eight major systems of the human body, providing a preliminary understanding of the various complex life processes within the human body.
[You Light Up Knowledge [Human Applied Mechanics]]
Level 1: Basic knowledge of statics, kinematics, and dynamics.
Adding the [Industrial Materials Science] and [Mechanical Modification] provided by the secondary job of "Factory Worker," he now possesses knowledge of five professions.
"Huh, I finally got it!"
Feeling the knowledge seared into his head, Gabe Steele finally breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt a surge of pressure.
The most realistic, yet also the most challenging, aspect of this game is the experience required for everything.
Upgrading your main profession requires experience,
upgrading your secondary profession requires experience,
human system modification requires experience,
and upgrading your professional knowledge
requires even more experience. Gambling for blueprints requires a vast amount of experience!
Gabe Steele thought for a moment and first upgraded [Electronic Neurology] to level 3, then [Mechanical Modification] to level 2. The experience from previous tasks was almost gone.
Then he opened the crafting panel on the game board.
In the game Cyberworld, players are encouraged to create their own equipment. The technological knowledge of different classes is combined into blueprints of varying levels, which are then used to craft equipment.
The way to gamble on blueprints is to pool the knowledge of various classes into an experience pool, where a certain percentage of experience is allocated to each class's knowledge.
Aside from the lucky ones, there are only two ways to guarantee a blueprint.
One is to fill the experience grid to the maximum. For example, the experience cap for level 1 class knowledge is 100 points, while level 2 is 200, and so on. Filling all the experience grids for all knowledge will guarantee a blueprint—though the quality of the resulting blueprint is still uncertain.
Another method is to invest experience points down to the last digit. These blueprints are called exclusive blueprints and are either rewards earned by professional players for completing hidden quests or recipes created by high-paying players using experience.
In future game forums, this type of "blueprint research" became a hot topic among players, even creating dedicated sections dedicated to it. Many of the recipes are still remembered by high-level engineers.
"Nothing can change nonsense, and money can't change fate. Use your face to replenish your liver, and you can get out of nonsense and into Europe."
"I'm so handsome now, it's only natural for me to succeed once, right?"
Divide the experience slot into two, hang the two upgraded professional knowledge on each, and inject 151 and 92 experience points respectively.
[Electronic Neurology] + [Mechanical Transformation]
merged!
[The fusion is successful, you have researched a first-level mechanical blueprint [Machine Ant]]
[The fusion is successful, you have researched a first-level mechanical blueprint [Quadruped Robot]]
"It's actually a double-yolk egg!"
Gabe Steele slapped the table and said happily: "It turns out that God blesses Zha Shuai!"
Two days later,
Littlefinger stormed into the Gasoline Bar angrily, but before he could say anything, Black Rose frowned and said, "You have to be careful during this period. The desert has been uneasy recently."
Littlefinger was stunned for a moment and blurted out: "Could it be that group of terrorists called the Knights? Didn't the factory send people to hunt them down?"
"Not this," Black Rose changed her sitting position and slid a stack of photos to the other corner of the table. Littlefinger took it, glanced at it, and found that they were all aerial photos taken tens of thousands of meters above the ground. His expression gradually changed from confusion to solemnity.
"The urban circle is expanding?!"
Black Rose nodded and said, "If this continues, the two oases on the edge will soon border the urban circle, and they may face a beast tide."
"Beast tide!? Impossible, there hasn't been one in nearly ten years!" As if recalling something, a trace of fear flashed in Littlefinger's eyes, and he said, "Where are there S-level Beast Kings now?"
"Beast Kings are not all born. As long as enough genomes are devoured, new Beast Kings will naturally be born."
Black Rose paused, and said, "Our car city is located in the heart of the desert. It does not border any urban circle, and there will be no beast tide. But you'd better not run around during this time. I'm worried that small groups of beasts will infiltrate."
"By the way, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Littlefinger remembered his purpose and said with gritted teeth, "Take care of that little brat you raised. If it weren't for your face, I would have asked someone to kill him long ago!"
"What has he done these days?" Black Rose said with interest. These days, her little man has been elusive.
"Him! That guy came to my clinic today with a bunch of gifts, very politely, saying he wanted to thank me for the surgery I did for him. He even insisted on buying me a drink. I was careless and fell for it, and ended up passing out after one glass of wine. It turned out that the guy had drugged my wine, and then dragged my operating table away in front of me—he even took the gifts intact!"
Littlefinger thought of something and pulled out a tattered piece of paper from his pocket. The note said something about borrowing the operating table and returning it after use.
"He can't even afford to pay for my operating table even if I sell it!" Littlefinger jumped up in anxiety.
Black Rose curled her red lips, then said expressionlessly: "It seems that reading books is not in vain. You can even mix your own anesthetic."
(End of this chapter)