Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

”Yo, hello.”

Gao Gong greeted.

The next moment, Gao Yuanyuan darted into the room like a rabbit, ”bang,” the bedroom door was shut, and Gao Gong even heard the sound of the door being locked.

”Am I that scary?”

Gao Gong stroked his chin, confused by this behavior. In fact, the act of ’signing as a guardian’ must have the family’s signature to be valid, meaning the other party should have known about this already.

So, what is the other party afraid of?

Or perhaps, did the other party think it would be a kind old couple?

Don’t be ridiculous, this is the Cyber Test Field, there aren’t that many normal people around.

Gao Gong shook his head and continued his work, throwing out the trash downstairs, then plugged in the temporary operating table and began testing it. A surgical arm started moving nimbly.

Beside the operating table was a mobile cart filled with various drugs, with prosthetics placed on the second layer of the cart.

Every Prosthetic Doctor has their own underground clinic, maybe more than one.

Every clinic has its own name, the name is its feature.

Gao Gong thought about it and decided to make ’Neural Transformation’ his main focus.

The name will be ’Mr. G’s Neural House.’

In Nightless City, Cyber Doctors aren’t as rare as in the Radiation Desert, but they are hidden characters, and without certain connections, you won’t encounter one.

This is also why when Gao Gong made a round of calls, these informants agreed so readily—knowing a Cyber Doctor is a very valuable connection.

”Speaking of which, it’s been a long time since I gambled on blueprints.”

Gao Gong thought about it, players will be coming in a few days, and there is a great market for low-level blueprints.

Start with the Sports System and Neural System first.

[You have gained a Level 2 Biological Blueprint[Explosion-Resistant Ligament]]

[You have gained a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint[Iron Blade Arm Slot]]

[You have gained a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint[Thigh Pendant Slot]]

[You have gained a Level 1 Biological Blueprint[Soft Bone Grinding]]

[You have gained a Level 1 Biological Blueprint[Hard Bone Thickening]]

[You have gained a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint[Forearm Blade]]

...

[You have gained a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint[Low-level Eye Chip]]

[You have gained a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint[Implantable Socket]]

[You have gained a Level 2 Mechanical Blueprint[Pain Amplifier]]

[You have gained a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint[Plastic Cat Pupils]]

...

At this time, Gao Gong’s left hand was undergoing a regular prosthetic surgery.

Similar to the neural transformation on the right hand, only this time the transformation is just to implant a socket.

Prosthetic Socket: A socket connecting to the prosthetic body, it can also be used to insert chips, neural sensing equipment

Soon, a data interface appeared on the back of Gao Gong’s left hand.

[You have implanted a Prosthetic Socket]

Gao Gong moved his left hand, inserting a chip plugin into the back of his hand.

In the next moment, a virtual projection appeared right before him.

’Mr. G, you have officially become the guardian of Nightless City citizen No. 3134412 ”Gao Yuanyuan.”’

’You will inherit the three identification chips (tax, loan, main brain) from the couple Gao Chaomin and Du Lili.’

’Since the Main Brain Mechanic has revoked the couple’s positions, the main brain function will be cancelled.’

The ’Main Brain Function’ turned gray, leaving only tax and loan.

Clicking on tax, a line of words appeared on the projection—15 days until the next citizen tax.

’Ah, taxes, those nostalgic words.’

He then clicked on the loan.

’Your overdue taxes are 240,000 Mechanic Points.’

240,000?

Did Gao Yuanyuan’s parents take a high-interest loan? How did they owe so much?

There was an inexplicable feeling of taking over an unpleasant responsibility.

While Gao Gong was mulling over this, there was a soft click, a figure slipped out of the door crack, head down, hands clenched, face pale, body trembling slightly, looking very nervous.

”Hello, how should I address you, Yuanyuan little sister?”

After a long pause, a faint voice came from the other party’s mouth. If Gao Gong’s perception wasn’t close to 100, he probably wouldn’t have heard it.

”You, you should just leave.”

Damn, not even letting me take this on!

Gao Gong sized up the other party with interest and said, ”Did you sign the guardian agreement yourself back then?”

”... Yes.”

”And now you’re regretting it.”

The girl in front of him nodded slightly, then quickly shook her head, her big eyes instantly filled with tears.

The Miss Zhenzi in front of him actually possessed both gentle voice and soft body attributes, which made Gao Gong feel very gratified; in the desert, the lolis he had seen were, if not 100, at least 80, each more aggressive than the last, and unexpectedly, on this upgraded version of a loli, the girl possessed the royal attributes.

Great relief in his old age!

”Is it because of those loans?”

Gao Yuanyuan nodded lightly.

”And personally, do you want me to be here or not?”

Gao Yuanyuan’s eyes widened, her face flushed instantly.

”If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as you agree,” Gao Gong stretched lazily, revealing strong muscles under his t-shirt.

”Got any food? I only had a bowl of noodles this morning, and after working all morning, I’m hungry again.”

Gao Yuanyuan opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say at this moment.

This guy, doesn’t he realize he’s a big burden?

”Hey, hey, hey, is anyone here!”

”It’s only right to pay off what you owe, it’s a principle of nature. Even though we, the Welfare Gang, aren’t the original creditors, we took care of those losers.”

”Who’s in favor of what I say? Who’s against?”

Gao Gong turned his head and saw a young man with tattooed arms standing at the door, slamming a dog leg blade against the door.

These are the same guys who took over the arcade yesterday, right?

Welfare Gang, a new gang? The name sounds so healthy.

...

Leaky isn’t your typical city gangster; he’s a stowaway from Fucheng Island, a free citizen of the East 8th District. He hasn’t had the time to get the city-dweller’s signature marks — a 3D projecting gang tattoo and an implanted screen playing gang slogans over and over.

But as a peripheral member of a new gang, he doesn’t lack ferocity. The gap in his forearm’s iron blade arm is filled with a mix of black sludge, bone shards, and flesh, like chives stuck in teeth. Underneath his ill-fitting suit are two tiny engines on his metal prosthetic legs. The hand crank extends all the way to his waist, and when it’s hooked on his belt, this rather rustic Fuzhou Boy turns into a diesel-electric hybrid killing machine.

Clearly, the young man was far more intimidating than Gao Gong; instinctively, Gao Yuanyuan almost jumped behind Gao Gong.

”Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

After comforting the girl, Gao Gong leisurely walked up to the other party.

”You’re not Gao Yuanyuan,” the tattooed young man paused, confirming the IOU again, ”Who are you?”

”I’m Gao Yuanyuan’s distant cousin. How much does she owe you guys? Name a figure.”

”City folks are so straightforward. It’s 22,000 Credit Points in total. You pay up, and I’ll leave immediately.” The other party’s expression softened a bit.

”I don’t have the money.”

Leaky was furious.

”What’s with city folks? Do you think just because you hit a rough patch you don’t have to pay back the money? Believe it or not, I’ll chop you up and feed you to the dogs!!”

”Lower your voice,” Gao Yuanyuan suddenly whispered.

”Hmm? What did she say?” Leaky looked towards Gao Gong.

”She said lower your voice, and also, don’t turn on the light.”

”What do you mean? You tell me not to turn on the light and I shouldn’t? I’ll warn you, just because of what you said, today I’m going to chop off one more of your fingers!”

”Telling me not to turn on the light? Hmph! I’m going to turn it on!”

Leaky, not believing in superstitions or perhaps being rather stubborn, directly turned on the light.

In the next moment, all the automatic-sensing 3D debt words popped up outside, landing at the door, blasting in high tones above 100 decibels.

”Debt repayment is a matter of course!!!”

The sensation is akin to a hundred people yelling in your ear simultaneously.

Leaky’s back of the head felt like it took a solid hit, a gush of heat cascaded down his sparse epidermis, flowing down his spine, becoming increasingly wet. Finally, his waist involuntarily shook, and a stream of yellow liquid trickled down the pantlegs.

”...”

The three of them fell silent simultaneously.

Leaky’s eyes turned red, his lips quivering, as he raised his left hand, ’swoosh,’ pulling out a bloodstained dog leg blade from inside his forearm.

”You, none of you are leaving here today.”

”The misalignment of the engine affects your urethra,” Gao Gong glanced at the opponent’s crotch, ”Do you feel an urge to pee every time you chop someone, sometimes even incontinent?”

”What nonsense are you talking!?” Leaky gritted his teeth.

”It’s not a big deal, just have to realign the circuits. Come, sit on the operating table, I’ll fix it for you. Oh, and clean your pants first.”

Leaky stared directly at the opponent. With the opponent’s back turned, one slash and he’s got his head.

After a long time, he finally squeezed out a sentence.

”I-I didn’t come here for this.”

”So, are you here to collect the debt, or do you want me to fix your urinary frequency and incontinence issues?”

Leaky wrestled with the loyalty to the gang versus personal issues before making up his mind.

Gang loyalty be damned!

”If you can fix this for me, I’ll pretend I never saw you today.”

”Deal!”

Ten minutes later—

[You’ve completed an adjustment on a subpar prosthetic body, experience +100]

Leaky felt entirely relieved and even jumped a few hard leaps.

”So refreshing, truly refreshing.”

”Remember, there won’t be such a good deal next time. Anyone who crosses the Welfare Gang shall be punished from afar!”

”Here are some oral meds I’ve made, they’ll alleviate your pain when peeing.”

”Thank you, boss.”

After the other party left, Gao Gong stretched lazily again. Turning back, he saw Gao Yuanyuan looking at him with sparkling eyes.

”Oh, right, almost forgot the main task.” Gao Gong smacked his forehead and pulled out two small shovels and a pair of noise-canceling earplugs.

”Let’s go scrape off those words outside.”

”Okay!”

The electronic rain continued to fall non-stop, enveloping the entire Nightless City in rain, but inside a rundown building, traces of warmth squeezed out from the gray surroundings.

When the last word was scraped off, those big eyes that resembled Zhenzi’s finally curved into a big grin like a crescent moon.

”Time to eat.”

”W-wait a moment,” Gao Yuanyuan trotted into the room, came out with a palm-sized ’player,’ placing it on the table. As electronic lights flashed, two lumps of Nutrition Paste quickly turned into two pieces of beautifully crafted steak dinners.

”Time to eat!”