"You laugh so lewdly!" When he saw Huang Yuanli again, the petite married woman looked at him with undisguised disdain.
"Do I?" Gao Gong rubbed his face with complete seriousness. "Can this face of mine really make a lewd expression?"
"Ugh~~"
Yesterday, Rose had been in a good mood and taken him racing until dark. Gao Gong wasn't a coward like Little Finger. The speed, approaching half a Mach, had thrilled him, sending his hormones surging and filling his muscles with endorphins. In short, he had been in just the right state after getting off the bike.
Then Rose had taken him racing again. In terms of performance, the Kusarigama Hunter 430 was nowhere near comparable to her.
That was why Gao Gong was in an especially good mood today. The sunlight felt so warm—oh, there was no sunlight in the desert, only warm nuclear radiation.
"Hey, I told the people in the tribe about your matter. Some agreed, while others opposed it. Fortunately, the clan elder later overruled everyone and said we could make contact first."
Clan elder? That organizational structure sounded rather ancient.
"But Professor Han was furious. When I got back, he gave me a thorough scolding!"
Professor Han? How had the title suddenly become so modern?
Huang Yuanli glared resentfully at Gao Gong and said, "Then you didn't show up for several days in a row, and I got scolded again. A lot of people in the tribe have been calling me a liar behind my back!"
Gao Gong smiled without explaining. Fishing required knowing when to tighten and when to loosen the line. If he was too enthusiastic, the other party might suspect that he had ulterior motives. Even if they ultimately reached an agreement, he would still get fleeced.
He changed the subject. "So how does the leader of your tribe plan to cooperate with me?"
Huang Yuanli glanced around cautiously, as though people were still hiding nearby. "Well, the elder means to ask whether you can get us a batch of equipment, like the gun you're carrying."
"This one?" Gao Gong glanced at the high-precision sniper rifle hanging from him. "That would be rather difficult."
As disappointment appeared in Huang Yuanli's eyes, Gao Gong smiled again. "But if you only want ordinary firearms, that won't be a problem."
Rose's integrity was quite impressive. Not only had she refused to freeload, she had delivered enough materials the next day to make three High-Speed Microcomputer Knuckle-Dusters. Some of the rare metals were even restricted goods that military warehouses wouldn't sell.
And to reward Gao Gong for his performance the previous night, Rose had even sent him a high-quality heavy sniper rifle. He had no idea whether she was hinting at something.
Name: Catwoman
Type: Sniper Rifle
Quality: Fine (Customized Template)
Weight: 7.6 kg
Basic Attributes: DPS: 39; Attack Power: 78; Attack Speed: 0.5 attacks/sec; Attack Range: 3,120 meters
Additional Attributes: Heavy Sniper (+32% kinetic damage); Berserk (+11.2% critical-hit rate)
Plugin Slot: Flechette (Weapon reload time -5%)
Note: A weapon obtained by selling one's body, yet used to attack other people's bodies. Tsk, scumbag.
"But if I provide you with firearms, what can you give me? You probably don't have many Machine Coins on hand." Gao Gong stroked his chin. "That electronic bee of yours seems pretty good."
Huang Yuanli said awkwardly, "I can't give you that. Everyone in the tribe only has one. But as long as we're in Hope City, I can take you to get whatever you want. We know a lot of areas that you don't."
Hope City? Gao Gong's thoughts shifted, and he continued, "So you mean I provide firearms to you for free, and in exchange, you take me scavenging?"
"Uh, well—"
The other party struggled for a long while, her face turning red, but still couldn't come up with anything. Gao Gong didn't press his advantage. Instead, he gave up easily and changed his wording. "Fine, then. But let's make one thing clear first. Whatever I obtain, I'll give you firearms of equal value. That's acceptable, right?"
"Of course, of course." Huang Yuanli let out a long sigh of relief.
Over the next week, Huang Yuanli, the thirty-year-old petite married woman, took Gao Gong deep into the urban sprawl. Although the city was packed with high-rises, most of it was a concrete jungle. There were still some other areas.
For example, construction sites that had turned into heavy-metal wetlands, zoos that had become radiation amusement parks, small mechanical-creature settlements in the slums, and sewer systems that had become snake dens.
It had to be said that having such a guide greatly increased Gao Gong's hunting efficiency.
As long as he made a specific request—such as the level of radiation beast he wanted, how thick the armor of a mechanical biobeast should be, what its weaknesses were, or where it usually roamed—Huang Yuanli could always provide an accurate answer.
That might sound a little offensive, but she was far more useful than a dog.
Soon, Gao Gong's experience points and Machine Coins climbed back into the five-digit range.
He didn't hold back either, raising all five Professional Knowledge skills to lv4 in one go.
To do good work, one first had to sharpen one's tools. As for the Machine Coins that remained, he planned to save them to buy a smart armored vehicle.
Huang Yuanli's relationship with him also gradually grew closer. Although the game had no Charm attribute, looking good was certainly an advantage between men and women. At the very least, it was pleasant to look at.
Gao Gong also came to understand Huang Yuanli better. Her personality was completely different from her appearance: she was carefree, clumsy, and reckless.
If she hadn't been reckless, she wouldn't have followed him so closely when they first met.
The only thing she had in common with a proper loli was that they were both gluttons.
Their "Cable Tribe" seemed to have mastered a technique for processing radiation meat. Unfortunately, the resulting meat was incredibly disgusting. According to her, it tasted like plant roots mixed with feces.
She had even specially brought a piece for Gao Gong to try, but when he saw the miserable pale lump of meat in her hand, which looked as though it had expired three years ago, he simply couldn't bring himself to bite into it.
This period was also one of the few good times Huang Yuanli had enjoyed. She no longer had to risk her life hunting, had delicious energy paste every day, and spent her working hours wandering around and watching Gao Gong display his might.
She had weighed herself yesterday and discovered that she had somehow gained three pounds in just one week. What a sin.
"Shh!" Gao Gong pressed down on Huang Yuanli's head as she tried to poke it out, signaling for her to keep quiet. Then he pulled open the gun mount. His right eyelid twitched twice in quick succession as he switched to aiming mode.
A string of numbers flashed across his cybernetic eye.
Distance: 2,114 meters Wind Speed: 3.4 meters/sec Inclination Angle: 26 degrees Brightness: 46% Target Length: 1.3 meters; Width: 0.3 meters Movement Speed: 1.4 meters/sec
"I finally caught you!"
Gao Gong muttered to himself. In his field of vision, a snake-like creature was swimming through the heavy-metal mire.
Huang Yuanli's eyes widened as well, and she held her breath.
Gao Gong gently squeezed the trigger. The next moment, a faint explosion sounded from the suppressor, and his right shoulder jerked violently.
You dealt 101 damage to Desert Worm.
The thing seemed not to have been killed by the first shot. It continued struggling, trying to burrow into the swamp.
But the second shot that followed completely snuffed out its life.
You dealt 62 damage to Desert Worm. You killed Desert Worm. Experience Points +50.
"Let's go take a look!"
Gao Gong lowered the gun mount and rushed over excitedly.
He had been searching for this thing for almost a week.
"What use do you have for this giant bug?"
Huang Yuanli looked at the huge bug Gao Gong dragged out of the heavy-metal marsh with undisguised disdain.
"This is good stuff!"
The creature looked like an earthworm as thick as a human thigh. The only difference was that its body was covered in flowing metallic liquid. On closer inspection, the metallic liquid was being secreted from its pores.
Name: Desert Worm Species: Mechanical Biobeast - Oligochaeta - Metallic Earthworm Order Radiation Level: E- Health: 120/120 Stamina: 50/50 Bioenergy: 36 Biological Attributes: Strength 3; Agility 4; Endurance 10; Intelligence 2; Perception 6 Skills: Metal Consumption lv5; Metal Secretion lv6 Note: Mechanical beasts that feed on metal aren't rare, but those with metal-secreting blood vessels and sweat glands are extremely uncommon.
The Scavenger Market was not only huge but dangerous. Even with Huang Yuanli as his guide, finding a specific type of mechanical biobeast was extremely difficult.
The key was that Desert Worms were creatures similar to earthworms, living in various swampy regions. They often remained motionless for three or four days at a time. Unless one had X-ray vision, it was impossible to find them.
Fortunately, these creatures were social animals. Finding one meant that there were at least a dozen more in this heavy-metal swamp.
The reason Gao Gong had insisted on finding them was related to the Level-three skin blueprint he had obtained, [Desert Skin]. The sweat glands of the Desert Worm were the most crucial material for [Desert Skin].
With this skin, Gao Gong wouldn't have to walk the dog and grind monsters every day. It could intercept the electronic signals within his body, allowing him to take the initiative like a genuine classical-stream mechanical hunter.
More importantly, [Desert Skin] was his first step onto the carbon-based path.
Before reaching Level 10 and changing classes, he had to raise the modification rate of one of the body's systems to 9%. This wasn't mechanical modification, but biological modification.
The mechanical stream plus the carbon-based stream was the path Gao Gong intended to take.
This path was known as Fusion Ascension.
Among the six Level-nine civilizations, the most powerful, the "Eternal Machine Dynasty," followed the path of Fusion Ascension.
Among all mechanical civilizations, it was the strongest.
Among all carbon-based civilizations, it was still the strongest.
And during the Cataclysm Invasion, it was one of the few top-tier civilizations capable of facing the Cataclysm one-on-one.
Since "Wife Sculptor" hadn't been able to save the players in his previous life, and he had even ended up transmigrating himself, then in this life, he had to take the strongest path. It was the only path he could take.
Seeing Gao Gong's eyes gleam as he stared at the Desert Worm, Huang Yuanli couldn't help shivering.
You can't tell from the outside, but could this guy actually be a pervert?
Gao Gong said excitedly, "While it's still light, let's catch a few more."
He really is a pervert!
Gao Gong had no idea what she was thinking. All he knew was that with this thing, he wouldn't have to worry about mechanical rejection during his first biological modification.
By the time the day's hunt ended, Gao Gong had collected a total of five Desert Worms.
Before you continue