Teammates Assembled

Tin Can's long complaint took up most of the journey.

"So, you're saying you heard that bionic humans have a high status in Mother City, so you decided to turn yourself into one, sneak into Mother City, and become someone important."

"But the modification wasn't finished, and the smuggling group was wiped out by the Peacekeepers of Sleepless City. You only got half a bionic brain, and your body wasn't even done?"

What kind of bizarre plan was this?

Little Finger's expression became extremely strange, as if he had thought of something.

"Yeah, Brother Finger, all my savings went into this modification, and I only got half of it done," Tin Can said, looking like he couldn't bear to recall the past. "After the failed modification, my old gang didn't want me anymore, and I couldn't pay back the loan sharks. So, I gritted my teeth, changed my identity, and came to the desert to make a living."

"Aren't bionic humans specifically made to serve humans?" the driver couldn't help but interject. There were many bionic humans in the bar, basically equivalent to artificial idiots. How could they be so popular in the city?

Tin Can sighed. "Big brother, you don't understand. Since the Bionic Human Act was passed, the status of bionic humans has been rising day by day. Especially as AI templates become more advanced, they can solve many problems that humans can't, and they're cheap too. Nowadays, even gangs are hiring bionic humans to kill people. I have to say, they're quite useful—after all, they don't fear death."

"As far as I know, the resident status ranking in Sleepless City now is: AI first, bionic humans second, and native humans third. Native humans are normal humans like us."

"You still consider yourself a normal human? How does your memory system operate?" Little Finger asked curiously.

"Of course. I only had half the surgery done, and no one wants me if I want to be a bionic human."

"I have a memory chip installed. The bionic system periodically deletes unimportant memories to ensure the system operates normally."

"What does it feel like to be a bionic human?" the driver couldn't help but ask.

"It's no different from a normal person, except it's hard to recall things you've forgotten," Tin Can thought for a moment and gave a clear definition. "It's like wearing a thick cotton coat no matter the season."

"That's because your tactile system is too poor," Little Finger rolled his eyes.

The oasis also had tall ruins. The two cars crossed ruin after ruin and arrived near a relatively hidden old metal recycling station.

"Let's go, I'll take you to see that kid. I have to go on duty later. Damn it, ever since I joined the Security Brigade, I spend more time at work than off duty. Damn it!"

Just as the two of them crossed a ruin, a figure suddenly fell from the sky. It hovered in mid-air against gravity, then flipped a few times before landing steadily.

[You have learned the passive skill "Molecular Line Grapple"]

Molecular Line Grapple (Passive): A skill for maneuvering in mid-air, assisting in attacks or escapes.

Passive Skill: Cannot be improved with experience points, only through proficiency.

Proficiency: 1/3000

Gao Gong glanced at the system interface, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes. He had finally unlocked this skill. Although it was passive and couldn't be quickly improved in power, passive skills had their own advantages. As long as he kept training, the skill level would eventually increase.

Gao Gong looked up and saw the stunned expressions of the two.

"Why are you here?" Gao Gong looked at Little Finger in surprise, then was immediately attracted by the armored vehicle behind him. He exclaimed with joy, "It's finally here! I thought it wouldn't arrive before the war started."

Little Finger snapped back to reality and said irritably, "That's because Sister Rose made special arrangements. Do you know how many connections we had to pull and how much effort it took to transport this big guy?"

Gao Gong ignored him and directly climbed into the armored vehicle to inspect its performance.

"Don't forget to pay me back. You only paid a deposit."

"Just deduct it from my share. What, you don't think I have money?"

Little Finger snorted. This guy really wasn't short on money, and he would soon have more than him.

What incredible luck.

Tin Can looked enviously at the armored vehicle. Finally finding an opportunity, he approached Gao Gong as soon as he got out. "Brother Gao, leave the driving tasks to me from now on. I guarantee a smooth ride for you."

Gao Gong blinked. "Sorry, who are you?"

"..."

"Oh, it's you," Gao Gong said without any embarrassment, under the increasingly strange gazes of Little Finger and Tin Can. In fact, he had only met this Tin Can once, and it was at night. Wasn't it normal that he didn't recognize him?

"I've delivered the person and the vehicle. I'm leaving," Little Finger paused. "If you have time, come to the bar. Sister Rose wants you to come over when you're free."

"Sure thing," Gao Gong said, looking at the dark circles under the other's eyes. "You've been using the virtual experience machine a lot lately."

"Used my ass!" Little Finger said with a look of indignant grief. "I have to perform over a dozen surgeries a day these past few days, and I'm only charging the cost price. Damn military control!"

As far as Gao Gong understood, the cost price Little Finger mentioned was double the profit, while the normal profit for prosthetic surgery was tenfold, and his target was a hundredfold.

Otherwise, why would prosthetic doctors also be called black market doctors?

The prices were truly exorbitant.

"Let's go. We need to go back and prepare too. We start working tomorrow," Gao Gong said, patting Tin Can's shoulder familiarly.

Tin Can's spirits lifted, and he hurried to follow, flattering Gao Gong and curiously looking around.

Gao Gong didn't choose him as a teammate for any special reason. He drove well, and he seemed passable. Although he was a bit sly, come on, this was a radiation zone. Let alone good people, how many normal people were there?

He just needed a subordinate who would usually be obedient—he didn't even need loyalty.

"Tin Can, you're smuggling in the black market now. What did you do before?"

"I used to deliver goods for people."

"Deliver goods? That sounds pretty legitimate."

"Yes, very legitimate. My old gang even had licenses and bought me insurance," Tin Can said proudly. "I used to transport captives and firearms for the gang, and sometimes some psychoactive drugs."

"Uh, no wonder you look so spirited."

Gao Gong had a lot of work to do and didn't pay much attention to the other party. Tin Can didn't treat himself as an outsider. After browsing the old metal recycling station, he brought out a box of gasoline-scented beer from a shed. He basked in the radiation while guzzling beer, quite content.

It's just that the scene of liquid spraying from the gaps in his organs wasn't very pleasant to look at.

Gao Gong frowned. The two pieces of equipment placed in front of him both had excellent attributes, reaching the 'Fine+' level.

It's worth noting that among Gao Gong's equipment, only the 'Beast Hunter · Iron Rain', crafted by Old Sun and Aunt Xiang together, received such an evaluation from the system.

However, the 'side effects' of these two weapons were too great, so much so that he didn't dare to use them.

The first box he opened turned out to be a biological weapon called a radiation energy gun. It looked like a large revolver covered in wriggling flesh tendrils. It could actively absorb nuclear radiation in radiation zones and then release radiation energy beams.

It's important to know that energy weapons are far from mature technology in Level 2 civilizations.

Only Level 3 civilizations use them on a large scale.

And only the research systems of Level 4 and above civilizations can support the development of large energy weapons like the 'Star Annihilator Cannon', 'Dark Matter Cannon', and 'Particle Annihilation Cannon'.

The reason this 'Radiation Energy Gun' was only 'Fine' and not a 'War Weapon' or 'Black Technology' was mainly because this thing could only be used in radiation zones, and the interval between shots was at least five minutes.

This also indirectly indicated that the Level 6 research blueprint 'Mas Fang', which involved a 'Micro Nuclear Fission Reactor', had not yet been unlocked.

This was acceptable, though. After all, no matter how trashy an energy weapon was, its damage would be in the thousands.

What was scammy was its remarks.

Remarks: This bio-weapon is not mature. Using this weapon has a very high probability of injecting the user with a bio-virus.

Holy crap, I don't want to turn into a zombie.

As for the other weapon, it was equally dangerous and scammy. It was an implanted machine gun with an intelligence module. On the machine gun's two gun mounts, four biological drills automatically provided AI implantation. No prosthetic surgery was needed; it could be directly installed into the human body.

Furthermore, the machine gun came with at least five intelligent modules, such as 'Auto-aim', 'Ballistics Analysis', and 'Charging Mode', all for free.

It could be said that in terms of combat system development, this machine gun had reached a quite mature level. It could even adjust its combat mode based on the host's nervous system.

However, the drawbacks of this machine gun were also scammy.

Remarks: With the increased usage frequency of this machine gun, the probability of developing cyberpsychosis will increase irregularly.

This was a gun that could make people develop illness without cause, the system commented.

Gao Gong had never used 'Mas Fang' weapons in his previous life, but he had heard of their reputation: cheap, powerful, super unstable, and very popular among players.

But from an NPC's perspective, this thing was a real scam.

However, with such great power, not using it felt like a waste.

Gao Gong stroked his chin, and soon he had an idea.

'Since this thing isn't meant for humans, why not just not let humans use it?'

He thought of an idea, but this plan required gambling on blueprints. He would need to save up experience points for a while.

The third day was the time he had agreed upon with Aunt Xiang. The Red Unicorn, coat, boots, and various other small items – these pieces of equipment had either broken or worn out during the past month of hunting and all needed to be repaired.

Aunt Xiang also knew about Gao Gong's secret base.

However, to Gao Gong's surprise, the person who appeared before him was not the short and hunched Aunt Xiang, but a tall, stout fatty.

"Xiang Zai, are you here to deliver goods?"

Xiang Zai smiled foolishly and shook his head. He handed over a basket of weapons and equipment and said, "Mom asked me to follow you."

At Old Friend Gun Shop, Aunt Xiang stood with her arms crossed, her expression fluctuating. Her gaze darted around from time to time.

Old Sun sat by the entrance, holding a bottle of wine, his eyes bleary. Seeing her expression, he let out a scoff, "If you can't bear to, then don't let him go. What's the point of worrying if he goes? It was like this before. You just can't change your ways, can you?"

"He has to go," Aunt Xiang sighed deeply. "I can't protect him forever."

"Have you prepared his weapons? With his physique, ordinary equipment probably won't fit, right?"

Aunt Xiang nodded. "I modified Old Gong's equipment to fit his size and gave it to him."

"Old Gong!? How can ordinary people use his equipment?" Old Sun exclaimed in shock. The Old Gong Aunt Xiang mentioned was one of the top three in combat power among classical mechanical hunters and was a recognized monster hunter.

Old Sun seemed to realize something and suddenly exclaimed, "Don't tell me Xiang Zai also has that ability?!"