Everyone's Built Differently

"This... this is..."

Behind him, Dorio's voice suddenly rang out like a ghost, without warning.

"Mann, what are you doing? Everyone's waiting for you!"

Mann's lower body was still outside.

Only his upper body was inside the car.

At the sound of Dorio's voice, he flinched reflexively.

The back of his head slammed straight into the car's ceiling.

He struggled to pull himself out and waved at Dorio. "Can you give me a second? I'm coming."

Chapter 32: Everyone's Built Differently

That evening.

At a bar in Santo Domingo.

Glasses clinked all around.

"Cheers!"

Among the many glasses filled with alcohol, one held cola, making it particularly conspicuous.

But no one present said anything.

After a round of drinks, the atmosphere grew lively.

Mann thumped his chest and declared loudly, "Drink all you want. It's all on me."

"Now that's what I like to hear. Don't mind if I do."

Jack's second-favorite thing to hear was, "Drink all you want."

His favorite was, "Good work. Here's your pay."

"Su, could you come with me for a moment? There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it? Can't we talk here?"

"This isn't the best place."

"All right, then."

Su Xiao nodded.

He followed

Mann out of the bar.

The bar's door closed behind them.

It shut the noise and clamor inside.

The bar was in a relatively remote location, and it was quiet outside.

The gentle night breeze felt pleasantly cool against their skin.

Mann led Su Xiao behind the bar, to the pink sedan they had parked there.

"You know I'm not much of a talker, so I'll get straight to it. Hope you don't mind. Would you be interested in joining my crew?"

Mann had a feeling.

Although Su Xiao and his two companions were still unknown,

they had a promising future.

If he could recruit them into his crew, they would make it far more formidable.

Su Xiao froze for a moment.

He truly hadn't expected this to be why Mann had called him outside.

"Sorry, but I'm not planning to join another crew for now."

"All right. But if you change your mind, the offer still stands."

Mann rested his hands on his hips.

Su Xiao's refusal had been within his expectations.

So he wasn't surprised.

After all, he wasn't a euro. He couldn't expect everyone to love him.

"Now, onto the second thing."

Mann opened the trunk.

Inside lay a pair of mechanical arms wrapped in a waterproof tarp.

"Are you trying to sell these to me?"

"No, these arms are loot from the job."

After Mann explained, Su Xiao finally understood.

The Animal Gang rejected conventional cyberware.

Although they had neural interfaces, they wouldn't chop off their arms to replace them with mechanical ones.

But the Animal Gang's method of enhancing their bodies had its limits.

Everyone was built differently.

No matter how much they lifted or how many enhancers they took, individual differences inevitably meant their training produced different results.

Mann guessed that the Animal Gang's leader might have been physically inferior to the other members, unable to catch up no matter how hard he trained.

That was why he had found a ripperdoc.

And secretly had his hands chopped off.

Then replaced them with a pair of mechanical arms.

He had covered the mechanical arms with a layer of synthetic skin.

And usually kept them hidden under a coat.

That way, no one could tell.

Although these mechanical arms were actually an older model from two generations ago,

their performance was exceptional.

They still packed a punch.

They were better than the ones Mann currently used.

If there was good cyberware available, take it and use it. That was Mann's creed.

"I've got my eye on these arms, but I don't have enough money right now. Once Faraday pays me, I'll transfer the money to you. How does that sound?"

The arms Mann currently used had a built-in Projectile Launch System.

But if he transferred it into this pair of mechanical arms and then installed them, he could already imagine how much stronger he would become in combat.

Mann had considered keeping them for himself.

Su Xiao didn't know about them, after all.

Dorio was the only one who had seen him take the cyberware.

And Mann trusted Dorio.

He was certain she would never tell anyone.

But after thinking it over, Mann ultimately abandoned the idea of keeping them for himself.

He felt there was no need.

Some opportunities were fair game, but others weren't.

He had called Rebecca's brother to ask about them.

Although this was an old model, it had been all the rage when it first came out.

Even now, it wasn't completely obsolete.

Just like a GTX 1080 Ti might not measure up to the latest graphics cards, but if someone offered you one for free, would you take it or not?

Since the arms were still worth something, Mann had offered to buy them.

Su Xiao had no objections.

But he did have one request.

"Can I take a look?"

"Of course."

Mann nodded.

Su Xiao picked up one of the mechanical arms.

He examined it carefully.

Then he picked up the other.

At that moment, the system responded again.

"You guessed that mechanical prosthetics could replace human arms to provide greater strength."

"But could an external mechanical device achieve the same effect without cutting off your hands?"

"Spend 20 potential points to obtain the improved blueprint?"

A smile curled across Su Xiao's lips.

He was thrilled.

His luck had been pretty good lately.

The I Guess skill triggered passively.

Not long ago, he had guessed his way to the Tactical Goggles.

Now he could guess his way to an improved blueprint for mechanical prosthetics.

It really was feast or famine.

But the Tactical Goggles had only required five potential points.

This time, it required twenty.

Su Xiao opened his panel and checked the potential points he had earned from completing the previous job.

He hadn't even reached a fifth of the requirement.

He still had a long way to go.

But he wasn't discouraged.

He wasn't afraid of demanding requirements.

He was afraid of having no goal.

As long as he could see a progress bar, he could work with it.

He just had to keep taking big strides in that direction.

And complete a few more jobs.

Sooner or later, he would meet the twenty-potential-point requirement.

Time flew by.

From meeting Jack to

crossing paths with V and going on a job with Mann's crew...

It all seemed to have happened in the blink of an eye.