Cyber World

Gao Gong opened his eyes in confusion. His metal-plated palm lifted slightly, but unfortunately, it refused to obey him.

Scorching sunlight poured through the torn roof of the vehicle. It brought not only heat but also traces of radiation from nuclear fallout. This affected his already-damaged electronic prosthetic eye (the right one), and with a sharp pop, it shut down completely.

He had been shot at least three times. His chest had been stabbed, and his skin was both painful and itchy. The car must have been hit, sending shards of glass mixed with fragments of the vehicle ahead flying into him. That was how his right eye had exploded.

Most importantly—

This wasn't his body!

Hadn't I finally stolen an NPC template from those old PUA saints in the "Collective of Minds" and been on my way through an interstellar teleportation? What's going on now? Did the Calamity invasion begin ahead of schedule?

Feeling the agony radiating from every part of his body, Gao Gong couldn't help baring his teeth.

Ever since he had uploaded his consciousness to a data terminal and transformed it into a central-brain AI, it had been a long time since he had experienced such severe injuries.

Pain signals traveled from every part of his body to his central nervous system, pouring into his brain like a violent storm.

It was unbearable. He wanted to throw up!

I haven't been human for years. Why do I still have to suffer this kind of pain?

Could those old schemers on the Civilization Council have discovered that I'm a player? Impossible. I cleaned up every trace, and I disguised myself so well. I survived from the beginning of the game to the end without dying once. There wasn't even a change in my information state. How did they find me?

They instantly replaced my body, preventing my resurrection mechanism from activating.

This kind of operation—unless they killed the millions of virtual personalities, AI clones, consciousness fragments, soul viruses, and logical information entities I had hidden on various planets in an instant, which advanced civilization used a "Wonder Weapon" on me?

Weren't most of those cosmic wonders destroyed by the Calamities long ago?

Did someone foresee that I planned to guide the Calamities here and kill me in advance?

Ximen Qing hadn't even seduced Pan Jinlian before Wu Erlang cut him down? That's not fair!

His stomach churned, his throat burned as if someone had stuffed a handful of chili peppers down it, and blood surged from his nose and mouth. Along with the increasingly feeble beating of his mechanical heart, all of it made Gao Gong understand one fact.

He was about to die!

As if stimulated by the approach of death, the neurons in his brain suddenly contracted violently. Neurotransmitters raced along the axons to their terminals, and the host's memories surged forth like a tide.

They were the brief memories of the owner of this body.

According to those memories, the owner of this flesh was named Gao Gong, a veteran mechanical hunter. He had spent years roaming the Iron Sand Desert, making a living by hunting radiation beasts and mechanical biobeasts for the "bounties" offered by factories and corporations in the city. Occasionally, he also worked as an assassin, bodyguard, or bandit. Because he was ruthless and always took revenge, he had quite a reputation among the hunters. People had given him the nickname Lone Wolf of the Wasteland.

He had ended up in this state because of an ordinary escort mission.

The cargo being transported was a specialty of the Iron Sand Desert: energy ore.

According to Gao Gong's calculations, this job should have been extremely easy.

Even the most powerful indigenous warlords in the Iron Sand Desert wouldn't dare lay a hand on cargo belonging to the "factory."

Yet, contrary to everyone's expectations, when the convoy reached the Great Rift Valley, a group of wanderers suddenly attacked. The scouts sent out ahead were killed instantly, leaving no time to issue a warning. The enemy's overwhelming firepower was nothing like that of the natives and directly crippled the entire convoy.

The mine workers and escort guards all died miserably. Even he, a veteran bounty hunter, had been outnumbered. Someone had closed in and stabbed him from behind when he wasn't ready, extinguishing his consciousness and directly causing this transmigration.

The reason he hadn't died on the spot was that, during the mechanization of his body, some vital organs had been replaced with mechanical components.

In this sudden clash, the mechanical hunter Gao Gong had been killed, while a new consciousness crossed through time and space and successfully merged with the deceased.

Gao Gong had become Gao Gong.

From Gao Gong's fragmented and chaotic memories, the attackers had consisted of two groups. One group dealt with the convoy's guards, while the other had targeted him directly.

After taking down four opponents, he had been ambushed at close range. A blade had pierced through his chest from behind, pinning him to the front seat of the vehicle. Blood and artificial protein fluid had dripped steadily from the blade.

Heavy footsteps rang out. They were the sound of boots trampling over sand. A mechanical head poked through the vehicle window.

The red light of a visual sensor swept repeatedly over his chest and skull, accompanied by a screeching sound. It seemed ready to fire another shot at any moment.

"Target confirmed."

The other's voice synthesizer produced a flat, emotionless mechanical tone. Yet for some reason, Gao Gong detected a trace of excitement in it.

In interstellar society, many mechanical life-forms developed a special "interest" in the bodies of sapient species. Its academic name was "mechanical venereal disease."

It was worth noting that although the other party had a metal head, the skin exposed beneath the military uniform was somewhat pale. It had no visible veins or skin texture—was it a cloned body?

That appearance looked somewhat familiar.

"Is he dead?" another voice seemed to come from outside the vehicle. Because of his hazy consciousness, the voice sounded distorted and illusory.

Gao Gong noticed that the flesh on the other's neck was clearly turned outward, as though the head had been inserted directly into the chest cavity. The exposed wires and fluid tubes confirmed it.

An inferior implant system. Neural splicing below Level 4, without even rudimentary bionics. This thing could only be sold as garbage on the black market of civilization—and the lowest-grade mechanical-body garbage at that.

The mechanical head didn't seem intent on firing another shot. Instead, it reached out and felt around Gao Gong's body.

So it really does want to have one while I'm still warm!

Just as Gao Gong's sphincter tightened, the other party pulled something from his pocket.

It was—the Mechanical City's provisional citizen certificate!

This was the treasure everyone in the Iron Sand Desert dreamed of possessing!

That tiny booklet had nearly emptied the original owner's savings. Otherwise, given his worth, the original owner would never have taken on such a low-level escort job.

According to the plan, in a few more months, once he had saved enough money, the original owner would carry his hopes of rising above his station to the city he had dreamed of day and night—the City That Never Sleeps.

He would become a city resident!

But—how had the other party known?

As the other party bent down, Gao Gong's gaze fell on the chest of the other's gray bulletproof vest. A crest depicting a flesh shield and a metal spear hung there.

This is... the Flesh-Mechanics Knights of Meat-Rift Star?

A distant memory suddenly drew close. When combined with Gao Gong's memories, it left him shocked to discover that he seemed to have transmigrated back to the cyber testing ground at the beginning of Cyber World—commonly known as the newbie village—and a full year before the players descended.

The half-mechanical being before him was an artificial soldier of the Knights. The Flesh-Mechanics Knights, also known as the Vengeance Knights, were another dark power opposed to the Mechanical City. They were a terrorist organization whose goal was to overthrow the city's rule, and their tentacles spread throughout the post-Calamity continent. There were rumors that the organization's leader was a military AI from the pre-civilization era.

That means the Beast-Mechanics Disaster hasn't begun yet. The City That Never Sleeps hasn't fallen, and the corporate war is still in preparation.

The Memory Loss, Personality Reset, Information Virus, and all the other cybernetic waves are still far in the future.

This planet is still under the calculations of the three great mother cities?

At this point in time... the Knights should be preparing to launch the first battle of the Beast-Mechanics Disaster—the "Hydra Campaign"!

This is early-game content the players never participated in!

"Kill him!" The distorted voice rang out again.

"No. This body is quite good. It will become part of my collection. I want to keep it fresh so I can replace it at any time."

"The agreement... violated... cooperation with your order..."

"Lowly trash, remember this: the Knights answer to no threats!"

As soon as the words "the Knights" were spoken, an electronic panel suddenly appeared before Gao Gong's eyes, exposing the "skull's" attributes in full.

Knights Artificial Soldier:

Level: 9

Body Modification: 11

Class: Artificial Soldier Lv7

Health: 80/80

Stamina: 50/60

Mechanical Energy: 50+30

Personal Attributes: Strength 9 Agility 9 Endurance 9 Intelligence 9 Perception 9

System Modifications:

Electronic Combat Brain Lv5 (Increases mechanical energy by 30)

Pain Elimination Lv4 (Cuts away the body's pain-perception system)

Fanatical Consciousness Lv5 (A fanatic warrior whose loyalty is fixed by the mechanical brain)

Skills: Basic Shooting Lv6 Knife Execution Lv5 Charge Mode (Faction-Specific)

Notes: A low-level combat unit made by combining an electronically modified brain with a cloned body. The electronic brain ensures their loyalty, while the cloned body ensures their production capacity.

This is—a system template!

Gao Gong was both shocked and delighted. With a thought, the familiar panel lit up once more.

Compared to the simple player template, this dark-gold game panel was far more magnificent and beautiful, and it contained much more information.

Name: Gao Gong

Race: Carbon-Based Human

Total Level: Lv 12

Body Modification: 24

Consciousness: 10

Primary Class: Mechanical Modder Lv8 (You are an outstanding mechanical hunter. Your powerful ambition has given you brutal strength)

Secondary Class: Factory Worker Lv4 (You were once a child laborer in a body-modification factory. Ambition drove you onto another path)

Health: 10/100 (Body Dying) (Mechanical Body Heavily Damaged)

Stamina: 29/108

Mechanical Energy: 96

Personal Attributes: Strength 15 Agility 9 Endurance 13 Intelligence 8 Perception 9 Luck 4

Free Attribute Points: 0

Personal Systems:

Motor System 9%

Nervous System 5%

Endocrine System 1%

Circulatory System 5%

Respiratory System 1%

Digestive System 1%

Urinary System 1%

Reproductive System 1%

System Modifications:

Reinforced Endoskeleton (Motor System): Your human endoskeleton has been replaced with a titanium-alloy mechanical skeleton. Although it is mass-produced factory equipment, it still grants you sufficient mechanical strength. Strength +5 Endurance +3 Agility -2

Bionic Joints (Motor System): Power-generating joints designed to work with a mechanical endoskeleton, equipped with miniature motors. Requires timely recharging. Agility +2

Combat Prosthetic Eye *1 (Destroyed): Enhances your visual imaging. Visual Range: 500 meters (Adjustable)

Mechanical Heart (Circulatory System) (Partially Damaged): Your initial attempt to modify yourself into a higher-grade cyborg

Skills:

Full-Power Strike (Modification): After your endoskeleton has been mechanized, every attack you make will reach the upper limit of your strength. Critical Hit Rate +6% Stun +6%. Has a certain chance to inflict the negative status "Concussion"

Precision Shooting Lv5 (Advanced): As an outstanding firearm user, years of combat have given you excellent gun sense. Firearm Damage +10% Recoil -5% Critical Hit Rate +5%

Brawling Lv8: You are an expert fighter. When using your bare hands or blunt weapons, Attack Power +15%, Block Damage Reduction +10%

Basic Maintenance Lv4 (Class): You possess some maintenance knowledge and can perform certain repairs on firearms and vehicles. Repair Success Rate +5%

Mechanical Hunting Modification Lv5 (Class): Allows you to modify your combat body to a certain degree, increasing the probability of successfully hunting prey.

Individual Combat Power: Tier 0 (Mechanical Modder) (On a planetary civilization, you barely count as acceptable cannon fodder)

Specialties: None

Class Knowledge Tree: None

Huh. These base attributes made him quite the enforcer!

The game panel had two pages. When he switched to the second page, a gray box popped up.

The Civilization Template has not been unlocked. Please fulfill the conditions before opening it.

Gao Gong's heart jolted, and his expression grew complicated.

The game forums were telling the truth! There really is a second civilization template!

As early as the late game, many players had suspected that besides the "class template" players received by default, Cyber World should also have a "civilization-building template." Otherwise, in the late game, it would be nearly impossible for players to contend with the various powerful advanced civilizations, let alone accomplish the enormously expensive ascension of civilization.

When the Three Calamities invaded, players were captured, dissected, and studied by various civilizations. They had forcibly reverse-engineered another "NPC template" from the "player template." As a result, the NPCs in this game actually leveled up faster than the players. Could anyone believe that?

This sent the game's grindiness straight through the roof. The forums were filled with complaints, and posts demanding changes to the game's difficulty flooded the front page every day. But instead of the damn developers, what arrived were various NPCs tracing players through their internet connections to arrest them.

In reality, enormous mechanical arms descended from the sky one after another, alien monsters tore through the atmosphere, artificial intelligence seized control of the nuclear arsenals of various nations, and species-specific viruses ravaged the globe.

Virtuality and reality had been reversed. NPCs had become the true high-level players.

Cyber World had become a cyberpunk version of the real world.