Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Midnight, Hanging Street

In terms of this planet’s time, the real midnight should be 15 o’clock, after all, a day here lasts 30 hours.

However, 12 o’clock is still the time when normal people rest.

Yet on Hanging Street, the colorful neon signboards almost fill the entire street.

The night is more dangerous than the day.

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella just stepped out of the capsule hotel when he encountered a drug vendor quietly injecting himself, a forced shopping virtual advertisement, and a fanatic religious figure loudly preaching the ’AI Blasphemy Theory.’

The voice of the latter had an unimaginable infectiousness.

Unlike the previous two, this one hit him almost without any time to react, leaving him with an ’AI aversion’ state, causing him to instinctively feel discomfort around artificial intelligence.

”Damn it.”

Even with the staunch will of this early-game bigwig, he couldn’t help but curse.

The dangerous level of this place was almost like where he lived, yet his abilities in the game were far less diverse than in reality.

He must arm himself quickly, or survival here would be difficult.

It wasn’t long before Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella forgot this was just a game.

Finally, after dodging a group of robots patrolling at night, he arrived at Staff Lane.

The dark alley was empty and deserted.

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella heightened his alertness to the maximum. Although this was a simple task, accidents were not ruled out.

Almost without any forewarning, Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella felt his waist suddenly yanked by something, and before he realized it, he appeared on the rooftop of Staff Lane.

The mysterious shopkeeper stood opposite him, different from earlier, he now had a wrist guard-like object in his hand.

”You’re here.”

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella nodded, cautiously asked, ”May I ask what you want me to do?”

Gao Gong didn’t answer, turned, and leapt to another rooftop, Rainy Night was momentarily stunned, instinctively chased after him.

In an environment resembling ’Kowloon Walled City,’ the two figures swiftly darted around, gradually, Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella began to feel pressured, as if slowing down even slightly, the other would vanish into the darkness, while running, he had to mind surrounding obstacles, like old cables of unknown purpose, rooftop signboards, and even drug addicts binging on the rooftops.

Gradually, as his physical strength waned, his focus began to slip, and the pressure he felt grew larger.

Yet, his strong willpower kept supporting him.

Unsure how long had passed before a ’ding’ sounded, and the player panel rang.

[You’ve realized the passive skill ’Basic Tracking’]

Basic Tracking: Able to continuously follow a target with your gaze amidst high-speed movement, while dodging various obstacles

Note: This skill is a passive skill, can’t be enhanced by experience points, only through skill level improvement.

’Cough, cough, whew—’

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella supported his knees with his hands, gasping heavily, even spit came out, it had been a while since he had been this disheveled.

This made him reminisce about the initial phase of his training.

He raised his head, found the mysterious shopkeeper sitting on a distant signboard, recalling the chase just now, he suddenly realized that every time he reached his limit, the other would intentionally slow down.

’Is he training me?’

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella walked to the signboard, sat down on the ground, the other handed a bottle of drink while gazing ahead.

Atomic Cola: A sugar-free drink with added chemicals, able to enhance energy recovery, duration: 5 minutes

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella pulled open the tab instantly, drank it all in one go.

Gao Gong got straight to the point: ”I’m tracking an invisible serial killer.”

In the free zone, this kind of serial offender was too common, some were revenge-seeking terrorists, some failed brain-modification experiments, some were bionic men infected by viruses, some were war veterans with cyber psychosis.

The media in Nightless City too indulged in reporting such sensational news for traction.

This time, the serial killer had made the headlines for three consecutive days, having evaded the mechanical eyeliner invasions three times in a row.

At least this month, no criminal had been this brazen!

Gao Gong wasn’t a warm-hearted hero of justice, but the problem was, since yesterday, this invisible killer had been hovering near the Hanging Street area, if this guy targeted his cheap little sister, they’d be screwed.

But Rainy Night seemed to misunderstand something, expressions twisted: ”You’re asking me to eliminate that killer?”

Gao Gong glanced sideways at the other, Nightless City is an intermediate map, those who can vanish and kill here are basically seasoned characters above level 20, might even sport an elite template, you’re basically sending yourself to slaughter.

Even so, he indeed planned to find some work for the other.

Though his task rewards could use ’Alliance Experience,’ that’s no reason for the other to freeload him.

”Keep watch for me,” Gao Gong stood up, tossed over a communicator, and with a flick of his wrist, his figure flickered several times on the rooftop and disappeared.

”This is—”

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella narrowed his eyes. The other’s muscular strength, movements, explosive power, including that strange retractable device and the way he hovered in mid-air, all aroused a peculiar excitement from deep within him.

…

This invisible assassin was very cautious. Gao Gong detected the other’s presence several times, but just when he was about to place a ’Hunter’s Mark’ on the opponent, they would mysteriously vanish.

However, he could still determine the general area of the opponent’s activities.

As Gao Gong’s Radiation Field spread, the surrounding lights began to buzz and crackle.

Electronic Control, affecting all electronic devices within the Radiation Field.

This was a capability of the ’Radiation Field Mastery’ template.

Gao Gong could determine that the other party must have some electronic device on them, and their ’invisibility’ ability might just be attributed to this equipment.

In Nightless City, there’s no such thing as police officers. Instead, there are various types of Peacekeepers who belong to different security companies, contracting different districts. High-status neighborhoods have the top-notch firepower, even equipped with Armed Space Stations for round-the-clock surveillance, while low-level districts offer no benefits and nobody wants to contract them, like most places in the Outer City District and Old Town District.

This is how the Freemen’s District came into being.

And where there are no Peacekeepers, there is naturally no law from Mechanical City.

Gao Gong appeared on top of a hotel named ’First Press.’ Across from him, two magnetic suspension cars had overturned at the street side, with the hood of one car completely cut off.

In the third car, a potbellied middle-aged man was being dragged out by bodyguards, having taken a knife to the abdomen, with a very cute little girl beside him.

’Came too late? No, someone got here before me.’

As the ’Eye of Freedom’ activated, mist began to rise from the ground. Faintly, Gao Gong saw two figures fighting. Their speed was so fast that even the Eye of Truth could only project a blurry image.

’Creating a Sound Burst, their speed and Power should both be over 40.’

’This legislator looks familiar, isn’t this the Mr. Hu who supports the Beautiful Interconnection Moral Chip?’

’This guy’s been in quite a few scandals recently.’

In Nightless City, news isn’t subject to a censorship committee, and Gao Gong had seen at least three of his scandal videos.

’Might as well give him a mark, might come in handy one day.’

After placing a ’Hunter’s Mark’ on him, Gao Gong swung his ’Single Molecule Line,’ vanishing into the darkness once more.

…

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella wasn’t just waiting dumbly on the roof; he appeared on a nearby street.

Based on his personal experience, as a seasoned assassin, he would definitely choose a good escape route, and in an environment like the Outer City District, there are many escape routes.

But his focus was on the ’invisibility.’

’If I could turn invisible, I would choose a place not crowded with eyes, but instead heavily surveilled, because the most dangerous place is often the safest.’

Most of the Outer City District is a ’Freemen’s District,’ but there are exceptions. Based on Rainy Night’s observation during the day, there is a ’Sicily District’ nearby, a standard wealthy area with strict security, high walls, and more than a dozen mechanical dogs on the perimeter.

Rainy Night dared not approach, because he found that those guard dogs were higher level than him; they were level 10 alert dogs with infrared recognition and tracking systems.

He couldn’t be sure if the other would come this way, but the chances of encounter seemed higher.

He crouched outside this wealthy district for nearly ten minutes, and sure enough, there was a strong explosion sound. His eyes lit up, and he quickly took out the communicator.

But within a couple of seconds, a high-pitched scream unique to a young girl pierced the air.

”Duck!”

Rainy Night hesitated little before lunging in one direction. The next moment, a long diagonal slash appeared on the wall behind him, and then ’boom,’ the wall split apart.

At this moment, Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella’s mind went blank.

When he came to his senses, a bitter smile squeezed onto his face.

’About to be first killed.’

But in the next moment, Gao Gong suddenly appeared. His right leg, like a whip, lashed into the empty space.

The next instant, a figure was kicked ten meters away.

At the same time, countless spindle-shaped metal fragments flew off it, forming an Energy Cannon in mid-air, and a beam flashed past.

In the astonished eyes of Rainy Night, a five-digit damage number appeared.

The assassin was completely vaporized, leaving only a peculiar Samurai Sword lodged in the ground.

”Let’s go.”

Gao Gong grabbed the other, the Single Molecule Line tautened suddenly. Before anyone arrived, he grabbed the Samurai Sword from the ground and disappeared.

Seconds later, a fully modified mechanical girl descended from the sky.