Chapter Twelve: The Little Woman

Gao Gong's eyes flashed with surprise. This stalker reminded him of an old saying.

She's so cute, she'd probably cry for a long time if I punched her.

This stalker was a Beast-skin Loli with swollen eyes.

Of course, Gao Gong immediately realized it wasn't "swollen" from being hit, but rather a birth defect caused by the native radiation environment. Her eyes had grown a pair of tumors.

It looked like she'd been punched.

Kind of cute, actually.

The Beast-skin Loli was not actually delicate and soft. Facing Gao Gong, she immediately drew a steel bar from her waist, its sharp end pointed directly at him.

"Little girl, you've been following me for days."

On the very first day, Gao Gong had discovered that besides himself, there were others in the Concrete Forest, though he wasn't sure if they were Scavengers or Mechanical Hunters.

Prioritizing monster hunting, Gao Gong hadn't paid much attention. However, over the next few days, he noticed someone seemed to be following him.

The stalker showed no intention of stealing his kills, instead picking up the remains of beasts that Gao Gong left behind.

This made Gao Gong certain that the other party was most likely not a fellow hunter, but a Scavenger.

However, ordinary Scavengers wouldn't venture deep into the city limits.

Gao Gong was also curious how the other party was tracking him.

The Loli opposite him became inexplicably enraged at being called "little girl." "Who's a little girl? Are you blind? I'm thirty this year!"

"Uh—"

Gao Gong blinked and took a serious look at her again. A flicker of embarrassment crossed his eyes.

Damn, even a pervert like me can misjudge sometimes. It turns out her mutation wasn't just 'swollen eyes,' but also had an effect similar to 'dwarfism.'

"Let's get straight to the point. How did you follow me?"

"Who's following you? This city is so big, you—"

The Swollen-eyed Little Woman was about to argue when her eyes narrowed. A strand of hair fell from her forehead.

She hadn't even seen how he drew his blade.

If that blade had sliced her throat... she wouldn't even know how she died!

Gao Gong said softly, "I said, let's get straight to the point. It's not for my sake, but for yours."

Seeing her terrified expression and the beads of sweat on her forehead, Gao Gong nodded inwardly.

Actually, he had intended to cut the steel bar earlier, but hesitated. He figured it might not cut, and to avoid looking like a fool after trying to show off, he decided to cut her hair instead.

The reason he could fool her was that he had leveled up again recently, adding a point to his perception.

11 perception was more than double that of an adult. Fooling a little Lo— no, a little woman, was not a problem.

So far, the effect was good.

Who knew the effect would be too good? Huang Yuanli threw down the steel bar and sat with a look of heroic sacrifice. "Kill me if you want. I won't say anything."

Gao Gong was somewhat amused and exasperated. "Why would I kill you? You don't have anything valuable on you. I mean, if you're a local Scavenger, perhaps we can cooperate."

"You've been following me for days, you should know that besides some precious materials, most parts of the Radiation Beasts are trash to me."

"Really?"

Huang Yuanli couldn't quite believe it. Gao Gong's current appearance was very much like Marvel's Blade Warrior—except his face was as handsome as Daniel Wu's. In short, he looked quite imposing at first glance.

Seeing her disbelief, Gao Gong stuck the Red Unicorn into the ground, sat down, took out a tube of Nutrient Paste, and put it in his mouth. He then offered her another one.

"Have one?"

He had money now, so he bought the flavored-enhanced version of Nutrient Paste for 5 Mech Coins a tube. This one was barbecue flavored and tasted like meat jelly.

Huang Yuanli subconsciously swallowed. In her memory, the last time she ate meat was when she was very young, from canned meat provided by the factory. That feeling was unforgettable!

Perhaps it was the food, or perhaps it was the fact that her life was in his hands, but she seemed to give up. She sat down on the ground, grabbed the Nutrient Paste, and squeezed it into her mouth.

"Don't rush, don't rush. I have plenty of this stuff."

Gao Gong grabbed more than ten tubes and scattered them on the ground. These Nutrient Pastes came in vegetable, fruit, and even roast duck flavors, which made Huang Yuanli stare wide-eyed.

After eating her fill, Huang Yuanli rubbed her stomach. Her guard was completely down, and she said lazily, "Compared to other Mechanical Hunters, you're quite decent. Those hunters look at us like we're primitives. Hmph, they might not know as much as we do."

Gao Gong said with interest, "You're indeed different from the Scavengers I've met."

"Of course. According to the old civilization era, I'm an intellectual."

According to Huang Yuanli, Scavengers were divided into two types. One type lost their parents in the mechanical wars from a young age and grew up in a daze, possessing only rudimentary survival skills, living like rats in the sewers in this fringe territory.

The other type was raised by refugees from childhood, receiving a relatively complete education from the old civilization era, and could survive in the city with the knowledge they possessed.

She was the second type.

"Aren't you curious how I could track you?" Huang Yuanli beckoned with a hint of pride. A small black dot flew over from the stairwell and landed on her finger.

It was an Electronic Bee.

"This is my Agent Bee."

Name: Electronic Bee

Species: Mech-Bio Beast - Metal Wing Subclass - Electronic Type

Radiation Level: F-

HP: 5/5

Stamina: 8/8

Bio-energy: 11

Bio-attributes: Strength 1 Agility 2 Endurance 2 Intelligence 2 Perception 2

Skills: Flight Lv5 Signal Perception Lv6

Notes: This is a moving electronic signal.

"You can actually train Mech-Bio Beasts!"

Seeing Gao Gong's astonished expression, Huang Yuanli became even more pleased. With a thought, the Electronic Bee landed on Gao Gong's palm.

This wasn't the first time Gao Gong had seen a Mech-Bio Beast, but it was the first time he'd seen such a small one. The bee's wings were clearly made of metal, and its stinger was thicker, resembling a 2.5mm headphone jack. The rest of its body was indistinguishable from a normal bee.

"It can emit radio waves and confirm if the surroundings are dangerous by the intensity of the recovered electronic signals. It can also use frequency adjustments for positioning and tracking..."

The more Gao Gong listened, the more familiar it sounded. Wasn't this just a miniature radar?

"How did you train it?"

Huang Yuanli rolled her eyes. "How could I possibly tell you? It's how we make a living!"

The Swollen-eyed Little Woman stood up, patted her backside, and said, "If you don't kill me, I'll go back. As for whether to cooperate with you, I'll have to consult the elders. Don't think you can fool me!"

A flicker of surprise flashed in Gao Gong's eyes, and he smiled. "Of course, I never force anyone."

He went home quite early today.

Normally, Gao Gong would get off work right on time at four or five. It wasn't that he lacked the desire to work overtime, but once night fell, the beasts in the urban areas became less calm than during the day and entered a state of chaotic combat. Some high-level monsters would even leave their territories.

Moreover, at night, the radiation levels in the city would reach a very high point. Even with a Radiation Shot beforehand, prolonged exposure to such an environment would cause irreversible damage to the human body.

The reason for this phenomenon was quite simple: electricity consumption at night was definitely higher than during the day, and the same applied to Radiation Organisms.

However, Gao Gong left particularly early today, finishing work before three o'clock.

"It seems I've hooked a big fish," Gao Gong said, opening his car window. The hot wind blew on his face, keeping his mind clear.

"Being able to train Mobile Radars means this is no ordinary tribe, nor is it a simple beast-taming method," Gao Gong paused. "The scientific research knowledge they possess would be considered top-tier, even in the old civilization era."

"If they've trained not only Electronic Bees but also other Mech-Bio Beasts, then it's not just professional knowledge."

Gao Gong's eyes lit up. "It might even be a Professional Knowledge Chain!"

In the game "Cyber World," there were two ways to acquire professional knowledge: the first was to unlock sub-professions, and as the sub-profession leveled up, new professional knowledge would naturally be unlocked.

The second method was to complete research tasks for special factions. The professional knowledge obtained from these tasks was mostly related to crafting exclusive equipment.

However, above professional knowledge, there was actually another existence—the Professional Knowledge Chain, also known by players as the "Professional Skill Pits"!

It was called a "skill pit" because the experience required to fill it was immense, making it almost impossible for anyone to complete.

Generally, when a sub-profession reached its maximum level of twenty, it would unlock about 10 pieces of professional knowledge.

To obtain a complete Professional Knowledge Chain, one had to level up their sub-profession to the maximum, then upgrade all 10 pieces of professional knowledge to Lv9, and complete the profession fusion task. Only after the fusion task was completed could a Professional Knowledge Chain be born.

The tribe Huang Yuanli belonged to likely possessed such a Professional Knowledge Chain.

Professional Knowledge Chains had two functions: one was to craft high-level equipment of Rare (Strategic Weapon) rarity or higher, and to construct Civilization-level megastructures.

And another, more important function—to achieve Civilization Ascension.

Only by gathering enough Professional Knowledge Chains, unlocking the Civilization Knowledge System, and completing the Ascension tasks could Civilization Ascension be achieved.

Generally, a planet-level civilization could master at most a Level 1 Professional Knowledge Chain, while Civilization Ascension required at least a Level 3 civilization.

But this was the Cyber Experiment Field, and Gao Gong suspected that what they possessed was a Level 2 Professional Knowledge Chain related to Neuroscience.