Seeing that Chen Fan remained silent, the middle-aged woman understood a few things as well.
She helplessly shook her head and reached out to touch Xiao Wen's tear-streaked eyes.
"Since even the God Chosen has no good solution, then tomorrow I'll take Xiao Wen..."
"Wait."
Chen Fan interrupted the middle-aged woman. "Aunt Shen, there's something I'd like to ask."
"Xiao Wen's right hand is a divine miracle bestowed by the gods. How did Gao Li dare use it as collateral?"
"Isn't he afraid the church will come after him?"
The middle-aged woman froze, then shook her head in confusion. "I... I don't know either."
After thinking for a long time, she guessed, "Perhaps the church simply doesn't care about this sort of thing?"
Chen Fan's gaze sharpened.
Did they not care, or were they deliberately allowing it?
It wasn't that he was being paranoid. He had encountered similar incidents in his previous life.
Chen Fan turned to the boy beside him and said in a low voice, "Aunt Shen, I'd like to take a close look at Xiao Wen's right hand. I wonder if..."
Faced with a God Chosen's request, the middle-aged woman naturally had no hesitation and nodded repeatedly.
In Chen Fan's view, let alone merely looking at Xiao Wen's right hand, even if he made more excessive demands, this fanatical believer would agree to every one of them.
Under Chen Fan's gaze, the middle-aged woman reached out, pulled the timid little boy from where he had been hiding, and rolled up his sleeve.
An exquisite Mechanical Arm was clearly revealed before Chen Fan's eyes!
The entire Mechanical Prosthetic was perfectly proportioned. There was no visible energy supply device, no complicated control wiring...
Its workmanship was exceptionally fine, and its surface was engraved with countless mysterious linear patterns.
This was practically a work of art!
At least, that was how Chen Fan saw it!
His expression changed slightly as he carefully examined the Mechanical Prosthetic before him.
Through those mysterious patterns, Chen Fan could clearly see the tiny gears and power lines beneath its surface that were still operating.
Scattered beside those hair-thin power lines were tiny indicator lights that flickered with a faint glow.
Chen Fan's gaze slowly traveled up the arm before finally stopping at the junction between the Mechanical Prosthetic and the carbon-based flesh—the connection was a ring-shaped interface, and the entire prosthetic was mounted onto it like a plugin.
After observing it for a while, Chen Fan reluctantly accepted a fact.
This was absolutely not a technological creation within the scope of his understanding. Even Blue Star from his previous life probably could not produce a Mechanical Prosthetic like this!
The instant he reached that conclusion, Chen Fan felt his heart sink!
Since this Mechanical Prosthetic was a divine miracle bestowed by a "god," that meant the technology mastered by the "gods" far exceeded his imagination!
That instantly lowered his chances of escaping his fate as a God Chosen by quite a bit!
Chen Fan?
In his mind, Yi softly reminded him: In visitor mode, the Intelligent Terminal's basic scanning power is very low. Only direct physical contact can complete the scan.
It wasn't over yet!
He still had a trump card!
Yi, this technological creation from a higher civilization, was his hope of turning things around!
Thinking that, Chen Fan gradually calmed down.
He extended his right hand and gently grasped the precise Mechanical Prosthetic.
The glove-shaped Intelligent Terminal did not block Chen Fan's sense of touch.
The entire Mechanical Prosthetic exuded a sharp, bone-piercing chill from the inside out, while its smooth, rounded surface directly displayed the advanced craftsmanship it contained!
Basic scan complete.
As Yi's Electronic Synthesized Voice rang out in Chen Fan's mind, Chen Fan, having achieved his goal, naturally released the Mechanical Prosthetic from his right hand.
Meeting the middle-aged woman's worried gaze, Chen Fan lied without changing expression. "Aunt Shen, I more or less understand the situation now."
"If possible, I'll try to put in a word with the church deacon for you."
Upon hearing that, a heartfelt smile immediately appeared on the middle-aged woman's face.
After repeatedly thanking Chen Fan, she turned and knelt before the statue, pulling her child along as she devoutly murmured words of gratitude to the gods.
The statue on the table looked down from on high, silently watching everything that happened in the room.
To Chen Fan, the faint smile at the corner of Its mouth was especially glaring.
Chen Fan imperceptibly shook his head.
Without lingering, he turned and left the room that made him feel so oppressed.
After returning home, Chen Fan, consumed by thoughts of the Mechanical Prosthetic, failed to notice the unusual look on his mother's face in the living room.
Under his mother's hesitant gaze, he hurried back to his room.
"Click."
The door was locked tight.
With a thought from Chen Fan, the silver-white Intelligent Terminal appeared in his palm. "Yi, did you find anything?"
The moment he spoke, an azure glow suddenly appeared before him and swiftly formed an extremely detailed Holographic Projection, clearly displaying a 3D model of the Mechanical Prosthetic.
The next second, the prosthetic model was automatically dismantled into countless components of different sizes, while Yi's voice sounded at the same time:
The component manufacturing methods are extremely crude, and the precision of every part is abysmal.
Garbage. Complete and utter industrial garbage!
I really don't know which ** designed these blueprints. If I ever saw them, I'd have to slap them silly!
Chen Fan blankly stared at the constantly shifting Holographic Projection before him, then numbly raised a hand and dug at his ear.
Good grief, even Intelligent Terminals could curse now.
Don't you dare doubt it. Everything I said is true!
Perhaps noticing Chen Fan's reaction, Yi's tone became particularly forceful: I even found thirty-seven basic errors and three serious errors in its foundational architecture.
The design of this thing is complete garbage!
This kind of industrial garbage deserves to be installed on an intelligent life-form? Heh... ptooey!
The corner of Chen Fan's eye twitched. Somewhat puzzled, he asked softly, "Even if its design is a little poor, isn't your reaction a bit excessive?"
You don't understand.
Let me give you a simple example. It's like seeing the back of a stunning woman on the street, someone you'd rate a ninety out of a hundred, only for her to turn around and turn out to be a bearded, toe-picking brute.
And that toe-picking brute is wearing full makeup and constantly batting his eyelashes at you.
Maybe that comparison is a little extreme, but that's more or less what I mean.
Chen Fan instantly shuddered.
All right, I could picture it now.
After venting, Yi's resentment eased considerably, and its tone returned to normal: Overall, the technological content of this Mechanical Prosthetic is not very high.
Its internal power source is a Micro Fusion Battery. That's a fairly standard choice, but the Fusion Battery manufacturing technology is somewhat crude.
Its control method uses outdated neural and muscle control, which has considerable side effects on that little boy's nervous system. It will probably have a certain negative impact on his brain development.
As for the basic architecture and components... I already gave my assessment just now.
PS: Thanks to The Tenth Art for the Alliance Leader reward!
Thank you, boss! You're awesome!!
Of course, thanks as well to all the other readers for your rewards and support!
Before you continue