Due to limited data, Xiao only developed two realms for the time being.
The first was full-body coverage by cyber aura; the second was the construction of a fusion furnace within the body. Xiao named them the Qi Refining Stage and the Foundation Building Stage, respectively.
With successful test data from Rouge, Adam Hammer, and Yorinobu Arasaka, Xiao had already accumulated sufficient information on the Qi Refining Stage. After confirming that everything was feasible, he began cultivating himself.
Xiao summoned a drop of brilliant silver liquid and let it flow across his fingertips.
This was polymerized cybernetic fluid.
Guided by his thoughts, the liquid slowly seeped into his body. The fusion of machinery and flesh brought with it a familiar sensation—nothing unexpected.
The effect was very similar to using the Munch-Munch Fruit, except this was not a temporary fusion. This was permanent embedding.
Coverage: 1%…
Coverage: 31%…
Coverage: 51%…
Coverage: 80%…
Coverage: 100%.
In just two minutes, Xiao achieved complete coverage of cyber spirit qi throughout his body.
Yet he felt almost nothing.
If anything, his body felt slightly more relaxed.
This sensation was actually an illusion created by cyber aura regulating the body. The human body is, by nature, a chaotic and uncontrollable factory. Every part performs its own function, yet none truly understands the overall system.
Over time, errors accumulate—and disease follows.
Cyber aura was equivalent to installing an artificial intelligence into that chaotic factory, coordinating every component so that each could perform its role efficiently and harmoniously.
Because of this, cyber aura could extend a human's lifespan to its natural limit—or even push beyond it.
In terms of raw ability, Xiao could feel that his endurance ceiling had risen slightly, and his physique had improved a bit—but the increase was insignificant.
After all, the Qi Refining Stage was still too shallow. Cyber aura carried very little power at this level, and even at full coverage, growth was limited.
The total enhancement was roughly equivalent to the peak of Level One, with overall values still below one thousand.
For Xiao, this was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
The next step was Foundation Building—opening a dantian within the body and constructing a fusion furnace.
But once he began practicing, problems quickly emerged.
First of all, even Cyberpunk 2077's fusion technology was far from mature, let alone miniaturized to such an extreme degree.
Although energy technology in Cyberpunk had advanced creatively, its essence remained crude—still little more than boiling water in a different container.
Most machinery on the market still relied on CHOOH2 synthetic alcohol fuel, an energy source not much different from petroleum.
CHOOH2 was refined from genetically modified high-sugar wheat cultivated through specialized methods, then purified into high-concentration alcohol.
There was very little Xiao could learn from this.
As a result, the fusion furnace he envisioned resembled a cutting-edge engine more than a traditional fusion reactor.
The furnace converted food or cyber aura into energy through digestion, releasing vastly amplified power to drive the entire body.
This step was equivalent to an Iron Buddha evolving into a tank—transitioning from human power to mechanical power and triggering a fundamental qualitative leap.
Strength, speed, bodily hardness, resilience, neural response, and endurance all increased dozens of times over.
The most terrifying part, however, was prosthetic synergy.
Even an ordinary person, without any special enhancements, could easily reach Mach 42 after installing a fusion furnace and activating the Sandevistan.
Yet when Xiao pushed the fusion furnace to its limit, he felt an inexplicable resistance within the power system.
His movements felt unsmooth—heavy, sluggish, as if something were restraining him.
The second issue was energy transmission.
Even the best engines on the market could not transmit power without delay. A latency of 0.1 seconds was unavoidable.
To ordinary people, 0.1 seconds was negligible.
But at Mach 42, that delay was more than enough to get him killed ten times over.
This forced Xiao to question whether he had taken the wrong path.
Unfortunately, he lacked comparative data and could not pinpoint the problem.
With no other option, Xiao dispersed the fusion furnace within his body, returning himself to the Qi Refining Stage.
He decided to find more test subjects.
Big data always gave birth to miracles.
There was no rush.
After all, there were mortals from multiple worlds available for experimentation. If he was wrong, then let more people try.
There is no road in the world—roads appear only after many people walk them.
…
…
Xiao's will spread outward with cyber aura, reaching the massive landfill outside Night City.
This garbage dump contained all of the city's refuse—along with countless buried secrets and corpses.
The protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077 had once been killed and dumped here as well.
At the same time, this landfill sustained countless homeless people who survived by scavenging.
Sometimes, a rich man's trash was a poor man's treasure.
Every time a garbage truck arrived, swarms of scavengers rushed forward.
As long as someone was lucky enough to find discarded items the rich no longer wanted and sell them on the black market, they wouldn't have to worry about food for months.
Lana, a newly fallen drifter—
Just half a month ago, she had lost her job. Unable to repay her loans, her house, car, and even her prosthetics were repossessed by the bank.
Now she had nothing.
Without connections, she didn't dare venture into the Badlands, leaving her with no choice but to survive by scavenging in the landfill on the city's outskirts.
It was another cold, starving night.
She had found nothing of value during the day and hadn't eaten at all.
Curled up inside a small shelter cobbled together from scrap metal, Lana endured hunger and cold as tears streamed silently down her face.
She had worked so hard. She had given everything to the company.
Yet because she collapsed from illness at her post, they fired her—and took everything she owned.
She was furious. Powerless.
Furious at those damned capitalists who valued profit over human life.
Powerless because she had no way to resist. She hadn't even dared talk back to her boss before being thrown out like garbage.
The cruel truth was that this world was simply like this.
No one would sympathize with her.
In this city, everyone was barely surviving. Who had spare resources for compassion?
Suddenly, a translucent window popped up before Lana's eyes.
"Do you wish to understand the meaning of life… and truly live?"
[YES] [NO]
Startled, Lana jolted upright, rubbing her eyes before forcing herself to calm down.
She knew what this meant.
Some mysterious existence—one that did not wish to reveal its identity—was offering her a task.
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