Jinghai City has over a thousand elevator shafts leading to the Underground City, with the deepest area located ten kilometers underground.
As you can imagine, taking the elevator is also a test of patience.
Lu Xun casually found a place to sit, took out Bluetooth earphones from his pocket, put them on, turned on the music function of the communication device, and listened to music while closing his eyes to relax.
The soothing melody made his whole body relax.
Citizens passed the inspection one after another and entered the elevator.
There were men and women, dressed differently, almost all adults, who were working professionals from various industries.
Many of them had prosthetic bodies implanted, some more, some less, with a combination of machinery and flesh, metal structures exposed on the skin's surface.
After modifying their bodies, their work efficiency could greatly improve.
In the Second-level Self-looping City, 80% of human physical labor was replaced by machines and AI, and productivity advanced rapidly.
But AI cannot completely replace humans.
There are still many jobs that must be done by people.
Only in a Self-looping City of level four or above can full automation be achieved.
The development of a city needs to tailor strategies according to geography, surrounding environment, rift resources, and other factors.
Jinghai City's development potential is actually quite average.
Being able to rise to level two is already quite good; reaching level three is probably the developmental limit of this city, and beyond that is very challenging.
Once it reaches level three, there will be no elite and civilian class barriers because the affluent resources will allow everyone to live an elite lifestyle.
But the gap between each level of the Self-looping City is tremendously large.
Jinghai took over two hundred years to go from one to two.
Want to reach level three? Borrow another five hundred years from the heavens!
No matter how beautiful the future is, people at present cannot enjoy it.
All they can do is implant prosthetic bodies, modify their bodies, enhance their ability to create value, strengthen their competitiveness, and strive to join the elite class!
Therefore, Lu Xun, wearing a school uniform and without any prosthetic parts, seemed a bit out of place in the crowd.
Many citizens couldn't help but cast a glance at the boy: tall and slim build, broad shoulders, long limbs. His delicate facial features still retained a hint of childishness, appearing lively and vigorous.
Is this a school uniform from the number one school? How did a noble student end up taking the elevator in the Outer City District? Isn't there school on Monday? Everyone found it quite novel.
Lu Xun didn't care about the glances from others, just listened to music by himself.
Finally, when the elevator had gathered more than a hundred people, it started and slid down into the depths of the earth.
It was just like rushing to take the subway to work, only with an added feeling of weightlessness.
Every time it reached a layer of the underground base, the elevator would stop and open the door.
People constantly left and joined along the way.
After thirty minutes.
Finally arrived at the "-174F" level.
Lu Xun walked out of the elevator door, and a vast, boundless huge base unfolded before his eyes!
The floor area was even larger than the Inner City surface, with lights illuminating every area.
On this layer of the base, there are three livestock farms, seven slaughterhouses, and numerous food processing plants, leather factories, and fertilizer plants…
So as soon as you step out the door, you can smell a slightly sickening stench in the air.
But Lu Xun was already used to it.
He took the base's bus and set off, spending another ten minutes, finally reaching his destination — Linsheng Slaughterhouse!
The slaughterhouse covers an area about the size of two football fields, made up of several factories and warehouses where livestock are washed, processed, inspected, and refrigerated all on-site.
"Hey~ Xiao Lu, why are you here, skipping class again, right?"
The security guard at the door was a middle-aged man with a bushy beard. He was quite surprised to see Lu Xun.
The kid just returned to school yesterday, and he's here again today?
"Yes, good afternoon Uncle Li, is Old Octopus here?" Lu Xun greeted him and asked.
"He should be checking orders in the cold storage, right? Go and have a look."
"Okay, see you later."
Lu Xun nodded and walked into the slaughterhouse, heading straight to a warehouse in the southeast.
Upon arrival, he didn't rush to knock on the door.
Instead, he glanced at the ground on the right, where there was a pot of succulents.
This was a signal, meaning "business is open, it's safe."
If a cactus was placed, it would mean "the wind is tight, business is temporarily closed."
The slaughterhouse was just a facade.
Lu Xun's nominal "apprentice" status was also a disguise.
This place was actually an unlicensed prosthetic body hospital, or so-called "black clinic."
Only Old Octopus was disguised so perfectly that nearly a thousand employees of the slaughterhouse were unaware of the truth.
The prosthetic doctors in this small clinic were only two, besides Old Octopus, there was Lu Xun himself.
The signals hidden in the flowerpots were only understood by them and some old customers.
Lu Xun never revealed his face while treating patients.
Each time, he would change his outfit, put on a mask and sunglasses before contacting the clients.
Therefore, in this world, only Old Octopus knew his real identity.
After all, opening a black clinic was against the regulations, especially a prosthetic hospital.
Once caught, one would face hefty fines, and in serious cases, even criminal responsibility.
So there's no such thing as being too cautious!
Knock knock —
Lu Xun knocked on the door, and shortly after, footsteps approached from behind the door.
The other party had already verified the identity of the visitor through surveillance, so they opened the door with confidence.
"The little brat finally came, I was almost worried to death!"
The old voice was slightly hoarse, and a man over sixty appeared before his eyes.
His head was bald over a large area, with only messy white hair at the temples and surrounding areas.
His left and right eyeballs were replaced with different models of electronic eyes, one big and one small, one red and one green; his ears were also replaced with cat-like mechanical prostheses.
Additionally, both hands and feet were entirely mechanical, exuding a cold metallic luster.
Of course, the most eye-catching part was the six mechanical arms installed on his back, some thick, some thin, retractable, foldable, and of various shapes, just like the tentacles of an octopus.
This old man was Lin Sheng, nicknamed "Octopus Butcher."
A former master-class prosthetic doctor.
Old Octopus had his license revoked, was fined into poverty, and stripped of his special district residency rights due to a very severe medical accident.
He was also Lu Xun's mentor in the profession.
However, due to certain reasons, there was no bond of mentorship between them, only a relationship of interest.
"Haven't you finished modifying that Nano Wing yet? Today's the final deadline, kid."
Old Octopus desperately pulled Lu Xun in, speaking in an anxious and irritable tone: "This is an old client, we can't lose our reputation."
"I don't need you to teach me how to do things." Lu Xun glanced at him coldly and casually threw his backpack at him: "If it weren't for the money, I wouldn't be doing such a disgusting job!"
Just to modify this lousy prosthetic, he skipped two weeks of classes and even missed the opening ceremony.
A Centaur, holding mechanical wings meant for the Hippo Race, asked Lu Xun to install it on himself… What's wrong with people?!
Different races have differences in body structure.
So the same model of a prosthetic product cannot be universally used by multiple races.
When purchasing a prosthetic body, you must tell the seller which race you belong to, provide detailed body data, and even specify the specific bloodline branch of that race in more detail.
After all, the Elf Race is divided into types like Dark Night Elf, Blood Elf, Green Field Elf, and so on.
A mechanical wing customized for the Hippo Race, installed on a Centaur?
Although both of you have "horse" in your names, you're completely crossing species!
Lu Xun immediately refused, saying it was impossible.
Old Octopus begged him for several days, but he wouldn't budge.
The reason he eventually accepted was that the other party offered more money…
Lu Xun used the "All-Knowing Right Hand" to analyze that Centaur's body and then spent two weeks to modify that prosthetic wing to be suitable for a Centaur model.
"Don't be so resentful; I know making you do this was a bit hard for you, but isn't it good to earn money?"
Old Octopus opened the backpack, reached in with his mechanical arm, and rummaged around.
Soon he took out a nano-metal ball the size of a fist.
After activation, the ball gently unfolded and streamed like fine sand.
In the blink of an eye, it revealed its original shape, turning into a pair of mechanical wings with a wingspan of more than eight meters, very striking!
Nano materials are not commonly used in prosthetic manufacturing; although easy to store and with cool effects, they aren't very practical.
Only wing-type prosthetic bodies are frequently used.
The mechanical wings before him had many differences from how they looked last time he saw them, clearly heavily modified by Lu Xun.
"Haha, I knew you had the capability, kid."
Old Octopus's eyes shone, unable to help but laugh heartily, giving Lu Xun a fierce compliment.
"Let me remind you, that Centaur lied."
Lu Xun's tone suddenly turned serious.