Chapter Seven: Job Transfer

More than ten years ago, on the very first day Gao Gong arrived in the Iron Sand Desert, the Rose Gasoline Bar had just opened.

At that time, the local warlords hadn't yet experienced the factory's crackdown and were much more arrogant than they are now, and the profession of Mechanical Hunter was nowhere near as powerful as it is today.

A beautiful woman of unknown origin opened a very lucrative shop, and her fate was predictable.

However, anyone who caused trouble in the bar, regardless of their identity, would have their head hung at the gates of the car city the next day, without exception.

Gradually, there were fewer troublemakers and more people who reasoned.

Black Rose also gradually integrated into the ecosystem of this oasis, becoming an influential member.

Little Finger was also an important link in Black Rose's underground network; one Prosthetic Doctor could indirectly control at least a hundred prosthetic modifiers.

At that time, Little Finger's main job was still as a bartender at the bar, and he didn't have as little hair as he does now.

The reason why Little Finger and Gao Gong's relationship was not good was simple: the mutual repulsion between a simp and a puppy. Although they were both "dogs," their breeds were different, and the benefits and treatment they enjoyed were naturally different.

Little Finger was always a spineless coward in front of Black Rose. He cursed and threw several books on prosthetic medicine at Gao Gong.

"Don't expect me to teach you!"

Gao Gong once again gave him the middle finger.

"Abstract of Prosthetic Surgery," "A Brief Talk on Consciousness Datafication and Mechanical Rejection," "Eighteen Key Points for Muscle Implantation," "Artificial Protein Infusion and Interface Technology."

[You are reading the vocational knowledge book "Abstract of Prosthetic Surgery," learning progress 1%... 2%... 13%]

The scene suddenly quieted down, leaving only the sound of Gao Gong flipping through the pages.

An hour later—

[Your learning progress has reached 100%, you have completed reading "Abstract of Prosthetic Surgery"]

[You have entered the job change state, job change progress 1/14]

With the system panel, the knowledge from the books would automatically convert into experience and memories, directly imprinted in his mind. This was much more effective than any learning method.

"What are your plans now?" Black Rose suddenly asked as Gao Gong turned to the last page.

Gao Gong was stunned. Why was her tone so unusually gentle? His mind raced, and he understood.

With the intelligence network Black Rose possessed, it was impossible for her not to know about the ambush of the factory convoy, nor was it possible for her not to know that his ticket to Sleepless City had been snatched away. She might have even found out who was behind it.

But it was useless. The mastermind behind it, having obtained this ticket, had probably already entered Sleepless City to enjoy themselves.

And he, the unlucky one, didn't even have a chance for revenge.

The reason Mechanical Hunters were able to establish a foothold in the Iron Sand Desert back then, besides their professional characteristics being suitable for survival in this place, was that they caught the wave of opportunity. A large number of factories relocated here, requiring a group of mercenaries to sweep the radioactive zones for beasts.

But now, the factories had long become behemoths in the desert, and the division between the non-human zone and the living zone was becoming increasingly distinct. The number of spots for Sleepless City was decreasing each year.

It was almost impossible for Gao Gong to earn a massive amount of Mech Coins by hunting radioactive beasts as he did in the past.

I thought you were always lusting after my body, only caring about the physical and not the emotional. I didn't expect you to actually care about me. Could it be that, as a certain literary young woman said, the passage to a woman's soul is through her mouth?

Gao Gong muttered to himself, then flashed a brilliant smile.

"Rest and recharge."

Black Rose gave Gao Gong a deep look, nodded slightly, and left without a word, taking Little Finger with her.

In the holographic game "Cyber World," which claimed to be 100% realistic, all attributes were natural feedback from the human body's state. Apart from the five main attributes, there was no attribute like Charm.

Instead, Humanity, an objective existence that extended from male-female relationships and possessed partial moral qualities, could be summarized by the system.

Similarly, Humanity was the only attribute that could become negative.

The original host's Humanity was 4 points, which made Gao Gong feel gratified. His character hadn't had its Humanity corrected in many years.

And below Humanity was a line of remarks—

(Most scumbags are ungrateful. You're different; you're completely ungiving.)

Gao Gong recalled the original host's memories and found that it was indeed true. His military-grade Mechanical Heart and titanium alloy endoskeleton were also obtained from a woman—and the key point was that he got them for free.

Perhaps due to Black Rose's instructions, Little Finger, the middle-aged balding man, finally stopped pestering him for the six thousand Mech Coins. After helping him adjust his prosthetics and confirming there were no issues, he snorted coldly and left with a dismissive attitude.

However, he left behind a pile of vocational knowledge books for prosthetic doctors—this was also likely at the behest of a certain woman.

Finally, after about a week of reading vocational books, the familiar "ding-dong" sound echoed on the game panel.

[You have acquired the new profession, Prosthetic Doctor, and learned the skill "Basic Prosthetic Limb Modification"]

[You have changed your job to Prosthetic Doctor and obtained the Level 1 Human Technology Blueprint: "Pain Editor"]

Pain Editor: A neural co-processor that inhibits pain receptors from sending signals to the parietal lobe of the brain, thus making the user unable to feel pain.

[You have learned the professional skill "Human Body Modification Surgery"]: Perform cutting, suturing, and transplantation modifications on the human body using medical instruments.

[You have illuminated the knowledge of "Neuro-electronics"]

Lv1: Research the structure and function of the nervous system, analyze neural signals.

[You have illuminated the knowledge of "Human Biology"]

Lv1: Basic knowledge of the eight major systems of the human body, preliminary understanding of the complex life activities within the human body.

[You have illuminated the knowledge of "Human Mechanics"]

Lv1: Fundamentals of Statics, Kinematics, and Dynamics.

Coupled with the sub-profession [Industrial Materials Science] and [Mechanical Augmentation] provided by the Factory Worker, he now possessed five types of professional knowledge.

"Phew, finally done!"

Gao Gong finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the knowledge imprinted in his mind, but then felt immense pressure.

The most realistic, and also the most difficult aspect of this game, was that everything required experience.

Main profession leveling required experience.

Sub-profession leveling required experience.

Human system modification required experience.

Professional knowledge leveling required even more experience.

Gambling for blueprints also required an ocean of experience!

Gao Gong thought for a moment, first upgrading [Neuro-electronics] to Lv3, then upgrading [Mechanical Augmentation] to Lv2. The experience from the previous mission was almost depleted.

Then he opened the synthesis panel in the game interface.

In the game "Cyber World," players were encouraged to create their own equipment. The technological knowledge of different professions fused into blueprints of different tiers, and then equipment was made using the blueprints.

Among these, the method of gambling for blueprints involved pulling various professional knowledge into an experience pool, and then allocating a certain percentage of experience under different professional knowledge.

Aside from being an "Emperor of Luck," there were only two ways to guarantee obtaining blueprints.

One was a full-grid injection. For example, the experience cap for Lv1 professional knowledge was 100 points, Lv2 was 200 points, and so on. Filling all the experience grids for all knowledge would definitely yield blueprints—though the quality of the blueprints could be hit or miss.

The other method was to input experience values with precision down to the single digit. This type of blueprint was called a custom blueprint. They were either rewards obtained by professional players from hidden quests or formulas that wealthy players burned through experience to create.

In future game forums, "blueprint research" of this kind was a hot topic of discussion among players, even having a dedicated section. Gao Gong still remembered many of the "classic formulas" from it.

"Mystery can't change your luck, spending can't change your destiny. Compensate your liver with your face, escape non-luck and enter luck."

"Since I'm this handsome, succeeding on the first try is only natural, right?"

He divided the experience slots into two, assigning them to the two upgraded professional knowledge, and injected 151 and 92 experience points respectively.

[Neuro-electronics] + [Mechanical Augmentation]

Merge!

[Fusion successful, you have researched a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint [Machine Ant]]

[Fusion successful, you have researched a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint [Quadruped Robot]]

"It's a double drop!"

Gao Gong slammed the table, overjoyed. "As expected, heaven blesses the handsome scoundrel!"

Two days later.

Little Finger stormed into the Gasoline Bar, but before he could even speak, Black Rose frowned and said, "You need to be careful during this period; the desert has been restless lately."

Little Finger froze, and blurted out, "Could it be those terrorists called the Knight Order? Didn't the factory send people to hunt them down?"

"It's not that," Black Rose shifted her posture and slid a stack of photos to the other side of the table. Little Finger took them and glanced over them, realizing they were aerial photos taken from tens of thousands of meters up. His expression gradually changed from confusion to solemnity.

"The urban areas are expanding outwards?!"

Black Rose nodded. "If this continues, the two outermost oases will soon border the urban areas, and they might face a Beast Tide."

"A Beast Tide?! That's impossible; it hasn't happened in nearly ten years!" As if recalling something, a hint of fear flashed in Little Finger's eyes. "Where are there still S-class Beast Kings now?"

"Not all Beast Kings are born that way. As long as they devour enough gene sequences, new Beast Kings will naturally be born."

Black Rose paused, then added, "Our car city is located in the heart of the desert and doesn't border any urban areas, so there won't be a Beast Tide. However, you should still refrain from running around during this time; I'm worried small groups of beasts might infiltrate."

"Oh right, what did you need me for?"

Little Finger finally remembered his purpose and gritted his teeth. "Do something about that brat you're raising. If it weren't for your sake, I would have had him killed long ago!"

"What has he done these past few days?" Black Rose asked with interest. This brat had been appearing and disappearing like a ghost these past few days.

"Him! That kid brought a pile of gifts today and politely came to my clinic, saying he was grateful for the surgery I performed. He insisted on treating me to drinks. I was careless and fell for it. After one drink, I passed out. Turns out that brat drugged my drink and then dragged my operating table away right in front of me—dammit, he even took all the gifts back untouched!"

Little Finger thought of something else and pulled out a tattered piece of paper from his pocket. The content was roughly a request to borrow the operating table, promising to return it after use.

"My operating table! He couldn't afford to replace it even if he sold himself!" Little Finger was hopping with anxiety.

Black Rose curled her red lips, then said expressionlessly:

"It seems reading isn't in vain; he can even mix his own anesthetics now."