Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Hanging Street, an unremarkable morning

Jack K, once a renowned Bounty Hunter, famous in the underground world for his efficiency and ruthless nature, killed thousands of old-style Bionic Men during the Bionic War, and is still a wanted criminal with bounties placed on him by Bionic radicals. His hunting footprint covers two moons and an Asteroid Belt.

But times have changed, Bionic Men are becoming more numerous and powerful, and have even become the main ethnicity on this planet after the Bionic Human Bill was passed.

In Mechanical City, it’s better, with Bionic Men and Primordial People split half and half, but in Mother City, the settled Bionic Men far exceed the Primordial People.

Oh, now even genuine Primordial People are rare, everyone’s a Modified Human, and you’d be embarrassed to go out without some enhancements on your body.

As if by clockwork, Jack opened his eyes on schedule, sat up in bed, revealing his scarred and muscular upper body.

The tall figure sat expressionless for a minute, then got up and entered the shower room, where jets emerged from the walls. Though no water sprayed out, under the sound of air pressure, his body visibly became clean. It’s called a polymer bath, advanced but always reminds people of gas chambers and crematories.

Jack K’s body bears many stitching scars, these seams resembling old-style Bionic modifications rather than current prosthetic implants.

In the past, Bionic Men had to look like humans to live like humans.

Now, the situation has completely reversed.

You have to pretend to be a Bionic Man to secure a good enough job.

Although decades of Bounty Hunting made Jack a lot of money, and his usual stall setup is just to kill time, as a former Bounty Hunter, he’s always professional enough.

First, he headed to the underground market in Old Town District to get enough meat. As for the meat supplier, it might be parts from a Clone, perhaps leftovers from organ trades, or even dodgy artificial meat.

But Jack K doesn’t care; he sells noodles, not fresh meat.

As long as it doesn’t kill people, it’s fine.

Returning from the market to his small workshop, he kneaded dough while putting the meat into a grinder.

A female Bionic taught him the dough-kneading skill.

The earliest Bionic Men couldn’t eat, not even Nutrition Paste, only liquid injections, or nutrition shots.

Later, as Digestive Systems improved, they could eat certain dough foods, though meat remained indigestible.

For a long time, the ability to eat meat was a sign distinguishing Bionic Men from Primordial People.

Jack recalls that one punishment for Bionic Men back then was stuffing fresh meat down their throats. The Digestive System’s Downtime would cause extensive spasms on the Bionic body, like a hysterical chick.

Back then, Bionic expressions were much more terrifying than now, surely scaring those high-end clients who exclusively sought Bionic prostitutes into wetting themselves.

Adding various chemical seasonings to the soup, tasting to confirm the flavor hadn’t changed from before, Jack placed the large pot of hot soup onto his mobile stall and pushed it onto the street.

Today’s Hanging Street was particularly empty, Jack sniffed the air, smelling gunpowder.

This was one of his Special Abilities, identifying the intensity of battle through the gunpowder composition on the field.

”Street warfare, huh.”

Generally, in the Outer City District, it’s normal for two groups to pull guns on each other over mutual dislike.

The same frequency applies to gang wars as common as eating and drinking.

But these don’t qualify as street warfare.

One sign of street warfare is the escalation of firepower intensity, moving from firearms to artillery weapons, and simultaneously declaring no protection for buildings in the conflict area.

This is very dangerous.

Because once the damage reaches a certain level, nearby security companies will surely come to maintain the safety of ’artificial data’.

Escalate further, and even the Mechanical Main Brain’s mechanical forces might intervene.

This is absolutely not good news for either party involved.

Because their intervention doesn’t aim to mediate, but to wipe both parties out.

This resolves both the problem and the troublemakers.

Only an ’annihilation war’ escalates to the level of street warfare.

Thick smoke burst forth from a shop front, Jack remembered that was a newly opened Prosthetic clinic.

Truth is, few Prosthetic Doctors openly operate clinics on the street.

Those underground Transformers prefer hiding in shadows, using forbidden transformations to disturb this damned world.

His old-style Bionic body is the masterpiece of some Prosthetic Doctor, though not one from this clinic.

With an impassive face, Jack pushed his stall to its usual spot.

Street warfare is very dangerous for others, but for someone used to hunting worldwide, it’s nothing much.

Just today’s business might not be too good.

Gunshots soon rang out from a building.

Based on the people, goods, and occasional gang overseers entering and exiting this building, Jack judged long ago that it contains a small processing plant.

Soon, a group of people rushed out, covered in blood, some missing limbs, yet they all seemed elated like they were on drugs.

”Got 5000 experience, nice!”

”Handle those muscle stimulants carefully, don’t break them. These are great for boosting conditions.”

”Wonder how much they’ll sell for.”

”Surely a lot.”

”Hey, there’s noodle shop here.”

”What’s this about noodles? Clearly, it’s a health recovery point,” Red Flower Demon wiped the blood off his face confidently: ”Boss, get me a red potion.”

Jack said expressionlessly, ”I only sell noodles here.”

”Then get me a bowl of noodles.”

Soon, the steaming noodles were served. Red Flower Demon scarfed them down in a few bites, then looked at his still-bleeding wound and fell into deep thought.

”Boss, is this bowl of noodles really just noodles?”

”...”

”This doesn’t make sense. What’s the point of the system generating you, to sell noodles?”

”Is there a hidden quest, like eating ten bowls of noodles or something?” Little J pondered.

”I could eat ten bowls of noodles,” Red Flower Demon grimaced, ”but if this bleeding doesn’t stop, I feel like I’ll be the first player to die from eating noodles in Cyber Realm. Boss, are you sure you don’t sell medicine here? Do you have bandages?”

Jack gave him a cold look. He recognized the other, the Prosthetic Doctor brought this fake Bionic Man to eat noodles about half a month ago.

A Primordial Person transformed into a Bionic Man.

How ridiculous.

Though thinking this, Jack couldn’t help but recall the clumsy Bionic Man girl pretending to be a Primordial Person.

’Really, I’m a real person. Look, I can touch my nose with my tongue. See, normal people can do that, so I’m normal, right?’

Jack’s expression suddenly turned gloomy.

”If you’re going to die, roll aside, don’t block my business.”

”Boss, you’re being unreasonable——” Red Flower Demon was about to trigger the quest further, but Big Bo, with the highest Perception, suddenly shouted: ”Whoa, monsters spawned!”

Sure enough, a group of Motorcycle Gang members suddenly ’spawned’ in the street. Their upper bodies were like street-style gangsters, with nose rings, color-changing eyes, and Mohawks, but their lower halves were completely different, plugged into giant motorcycles. These motorcycles were wild, with wheels as thick as truck tires, and six engine nozzles, apparently the latest implanted Motorcycle Frenzy models.

These Motorcycle Gang members roamed the various districts of Nightless City, living off robbery and extortion. Even the local gangs greatly detested them.

For players, however, these were level 15 elite monsters with over 50% modification.

”Holy crap, Brother J pulled mobs!”

”Pull my ass, they’re going 200 mph! You want me to get run over?”

”Run for it!”

These little players had some experience and, without saying another word, immediately fled to stairs, alleyways, and even climbed walls.

As for those players with tough skin but low agility, they naturally stayed behind, bullets ricocheting off the motorcycle’s bulletproof glass one by one.

Watching these few who didn’t retreat, Jack’s eyes flashed with surprise. Which model of Combat Chip is that, with a built-in rearguard function?

Without a doubt, these three or four small players staying behind were quickly crushed to death by the motorcycle monsters.

Seeing the direction one Rider was heading, Jack hesitated for a moment, sighed, and pulled out an oversized-caliber Electromagnetic Rifle from under the table. This old-style rifle had another nickname — Charged Particle Cannon.

...

”Damn, can’t escape!”

Seeing a thick wall ahead, Red Flower Demon didn’t hesitate, throwing both hands out to transform into a slum version of Wolverine. He also tossed a smoke bomb given by Boss Hui. The materials for these smoke bombs were special and not only obstructed vision but also confused direction, a valuable little item.

As for the Motorcycle Gang’s weapon, it was an implanted Mantis Blade, a retractable blade that could extend up to 3 meters.

It turned out that if you weren’t a tactical player, don’t overstep to kill monsters. After a few bursts of sparks, Red Flower Demon was easily chopped down and entered a severely injured state.

’Why is this guy’s blade so heavy!’

’My newly installed wolf claws!’

Red Flower Demon’s face was full of reluctance. According to players who’ve died once, losing Experience was secondary; the worst part was dropping equipment and Prosthetic Body exploding on the spot!

Just as Red Flower Demon waited to die on the spot, two explosions rang out almost simultaneously.

The first explosion caused the rear wheel of the Motorcycle Gang member to shatter into pieces, and the spring blade he swung out automatically retracted. Only then did Red Flower Demon notice the spring blade’s power source was connected to the motorcycle’s engine, no wonder one slash felt like getting hit by a car.

As for the second explosion, it cleanly blew the Motorcycle Gang member’s head off.

[You killed a Motorcycle Gang member, Experience +400]

No time to check his player panel for the refresh, Red Flower Demon stared in awe at the gunshot.

”Damn, Advanced Electromagnetic Weapon, second only to Energy Weapons!”

A tall figure emerged from the mist, and Jack said expressionlessly, ”You still haven’t paid for the noodles you just ate.”

Red Flower Demon swallowed hard and hurriedly paid.

”This is a side dish for the noodles,” Jack tossed something over, and Red Flower Demon caught it.

Advanced Bandage: A military bandage made from special herbal materials, restores 5 points of Blood Volume/sec, flesh regeneration +30%, duration 60 seconds.

Red Flower Demon watched his retreating figure, smelling the scent of a father.

When Jack reappeared on Hanging Street, the battle had changed again: a dozen people were beating up a Motorcycle Gang member, the implanted motorcycle’s tire seemed caught by something, making the situation quite difficult.

The attackers had varied Professions and methods, but the one thing in common was the fanaticism in their eyes.