Job Change

More than ten years ago, on the very first day Gao Gong arrived at the Iron Sand Desert, the Rose Gasoline Bar happened to open its doors.

Back then, the native warlords had yet to experience the factory's purge and were far more arrogant than they were now. The profession of mechanical hunter was also nowhere near as powerful as it was today.

The fate of a beautiful woman of unknown origins opening a lucrative establishment could easily be imagined.

Yet anyone who caused trouble in the bar, regardless of their identity, would have their head hung before the gates of Auto City the next day, without exception.

Gradually, fewer people caused trouble, and more people learned to be reasonable.

Black Rose, too, gradually integrated herself into the oasis's ecosystem and became an important figure.

Little Finger was also a vital part of Black Rose's underground network. A single cybernetic doctor could indirectly control at least a hundred cybernetic augmenters.

Back then, Little Finger's main job was still mixing drinks at the bar, and he had much more hair.

The reason Little Finger and Gao Gong had such a poor relationship was simple enough. The canine instincts of a simp and a bad-boy puppy were mutually incompatible. Although they were both "dogs," they were different breeds, so naturally, the benefits they enjoyed were different as well.

In front of Black Rose, Little Finger had always been spineless. Grumbling and cursing, he threw over several books on cybernetic medicine.

"Don't expect me to teach you!"

Gao Gong raised his middle finger again.

"Summary of Cybernetic Surgery" "A Brief Discussion on Consciousness Digitization and Mechanical Rejection" "Eighteen Key Points of Muscle Implants" "Artificial Protein Infusion and Interface Technology"

[You read the vocational knowledge book "Summary of Cybernetic Surgery." Learning progress: 1%...2%...13%]

The room fell silent at once, leaving only the sound of Gao Gong turning pages.

One hour later—

[Your learning progress has reached 100%. You have completed reading "Summary of Cybernetic Surgery."]

[You have entered the class-change state. Class-change progress: 1/14]

With the system panel, the knowledge in the books was automatically converted into experience and memories, directly imprinted in his mind. It was far more effective than any other learning method.

"What are you planning to do next?" Black Rose suddenly spoke when Gao Gong reached the final page.

Gao Gong froze. Why did her tone sound unusually gentle? His thoughts turned, and he immediately understood.

With Black Rose's intelligence network, it was impossible for her not to know that the factory convoy had been ambushed. It was even more impossible for her not to know that his ticket into Nightless City had already been snatched away. She might have even uncovered the mastermind behind it.

But that was useless. Whoever had obtained the ticket had probably already entered Nightless City to enjoy himself.

As for the unlucky bastard that was him, he did not even have a chance to take revenge.

The reason mechanical hunters had been able to establish themselves in the Iron Sand Desert back then, besides their profession being suited to surviving there, was that they had caught a favorable wave. A large number of factories had relocated there and needed a group of mercenaries to clear the beasts from the irradiated zones.

Now, however, the factories had long since become colossal monsters in the desert. The division between the inhuman zones and the human zones had grown increasingly distinct, while the number of Nightless City slots decreased every year.

It was nearly impossible for Gao Gong to earn vast amounts of mechanical currency from irradiated beasts as he had in the past.

I thought you were only lusting after my body, all lust and no love. I never expected you to care about me too. Could it really be as that artsy young woman said? The passage to a woman's soul is—her mouth?

Gao Gong muttered inwardly, then revealed a brilliant smile.

"Rest a little and recharge."

Black Rose gave Gao Gong a deep look, nodded slightly, and left without a word. She even took 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 condition. Aside from the five major attributes, there was no such attribute as charm.

On the contrary, reputation—a measurable existence extended from relationships between men and women and possessing some moral qualities—could be summarized by the system.

Likewise, reputation was the only attribute that could become negative.

The original owner's reputation was four points, which greatly reassured Gao Gong. His character had not had positive reputation for many years.

There was also a note beneath the reputation stat—

(Most scumbags are heartless after getting what they want. You're different—you don't give anything at all.)

Gao Gong recalled the original owner's memories and discovered that it really was true. Even his military-grade mechanical heart and titanium-alloy internal skeleton had been obtained for him by a woman—and the key point was that he had gotten them for free.

Perhaps because of Black Rose's instructions, Little Finger, the middle-aged, balding man, finally stopped pestering him every day for the six thousand mechanical coins. After helping him adjust his cybernetics and confirming that there were no problems, he snorted and stormed off.

However, he left behind a pile of vocational knowledge books on cybernetic medicine. This should have been at some woman's request as well.

Finally, after reading vocational books for about a week, the familiar "ding" sounded from the game panel.

[You have obtained a new profession: Cybernetic Doctor. You have comprehended the skill "Basic Prosthetic Modification."]

[You have changed class to Cybernetic Doctor. You have obtained a Level-One Human Technology blueprint: "Pain Editor."]

Pain Editor: A neural coordination processor that suppresses pain receptors from sending signals to the brain's parietal lobe, allowing the user to feel no pain.

[You have comprehended the vocational skill "Human Modification Surgery": Using medical instruments to perform modifications such as excision, suturing, and transplantation on the human body.]

[You have unlocked the knowledge "Electronic Neurology."]

Lv1: Basic knowledge of the structure and functions of the nervous system; analysis of neural signals.

[You have unlocked the knowledge "Human Biology."]

Lv1: Basic knowledge of the human body's eight major systems; an initial understanding of the various complex life activities within the human body.

[You have unlocked the knowledge "Human Applied Mechanics."]

Lv1: Basic knowledge of statics, kinematics, and dynamics.

Along with the industrial materials science and mechanical modification provided by the secondary profession "Factory Worker," he now possessed five types of vocational knowledge.

"Whew, I finally got it done!"

Feeling the various kinds of knowledge seemingly branded into his mind, Gao Gong finally let out a sigh of relief. Then he felt an enormous weight pressing down on him.

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

The main profession's level required experience.

The secondary profession's level required experience.

Modifying the human body's systems required experience.

Upgrading vocational knowledge required even more experience.

Gambling on blueprints required an ocean of experience!

Gao Gong thought it over. He first raised Electronic Neurology to Lv3, then raised Mechanical Modification to Lv2. The experience from his previous mission was nearly exhausted.

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 could be combined into blueprints of varying levels, which could then be used to produce equipment.

The way to gamble for blueprints was to pull various vocational knowledge into the experience pool, then allocate a certain proportion of experience beneath the knowledge of different professions.

Aside from being extraordinarily lucky, there were only two methods that could guarantee obtaining a blueprint.

One was to fill the bars completely. For example, the experience cap for Lv1 vocational knowledge was one hundred points, while Lv2 was two hundred points, and so on. If all the experience bars for the knowledge were filled, a blueprint would definitely be produced—although the quality of the blueprint produced was difficult to praise.

The other method was to invest experience points precisely down to the individual point. Blueprints of this type were also called exclusive blueprints. They were either rewards obtained by professional players from hidden quests or formulas burned out with experience by wealthy players.

In the future game forums, this kind of "blueprint research" would be a hot topic among players. A separate section would even be opened for it, and Gao Gong still remembered quite a few of the "classic formulas."

"Darkness can't change the unlucky, and money can't change fate. Make up for bad luck with good looks, escape the unlucky and enter the lucky."

"I'm already this handsome. Succeeding on the first try is only natural, right?"

He split the experience bar in two, assigned the two upgraded vocational knowledge types to them, and injected 151 and 92 experience points respectively.

Electronic Neurology + Mechanical Modification

Combine!

[Combination successful. You have researched a Level-One Mechanical Blueprint [Mechanical Ant].]

[Combination successful. You have researched a Level-One Mechanical Blueprint [Quadruped Robot].]

"A double-yolk egg!"

Gao Gong slapped the table and exclaimed joyfully, "As expected, heaven favors handsome scumbags!"

Two days later

Little Finger stormed into the Gasoline Bar in a fury, but before he could speak, Black Rose frowned and said, "Be careful during this period. The desert hasn't been peaceful lately."

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

"Not that." Black Rose shifted her posture and slid a stack of photographs to the other side of the table. Little Finger took them and glanced through them. They were all aerial photographs taken from tens of thousands of meters in the air, and his expression gradually changed from puzzled to solemn.

"The urban belt is expanding outward?!"

Black Rose nodded and said, "If this continues, the two outermost oases will soon border the urban belt. What awaits them may be a beast tide."

"A beast tide!? That can't be. There hasn't been one in the past decade!" As if recalling something, a trace of fear flashed through Little Finger's eyes. "Where would there be any S-class beast kings now?"

"Beast kings aren't all born naturally. As long as enough genomes are devoured, a new beast king will naturally be born."

Black Rose paused, then continued, "Our Auto City is located in the heart of the desert and borders no urban belt, so there won't be a beast tide here. Still, don't run around during this period. I'm worried that small groups of beasts might infiltrate."

"By the way, what did you come to see me about?"

Only then did Little Finger remember his purpose. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Control that brat you're raising. If it weren't for your sake, I would've had people kill him already!"

"What did he do this time?" Black Rose asked with interest. These past few days, her little man had been appearing and disappearing mysteriously.

"Him! That brat brought a pile of gifts to my clinic today and politely thanked me for performing his surgery. He even insisted on treating me to a drink. I let my guard down and fell for it. I collapsed after one cup. It turned out that brat had drugged the alcohol, then dragged my operating table away right in front of me—and damn him, he even took all the gifts away without leaving a single one behind!"

Little Finger suddenly remembered something else and pulled a tattered note from his pocket. It said that he was borrowing the operating table and would return it after using it.

"That's my operating table! Even if he sold himself, he couldn't afford to compensate me!" Little Finger stomped around in agitation.

The corners of Black Rose's red lips curled upward, but her expression quickly turned impassive.

"Looks like reading the books wasn't pointless after all. He can even prepare his own anesthetic now."