T0-level Mercenary Group—that was Guangleng's problem to worry about.
"What kind of Mercenary Group is called the 'Highest Level'?"
Lin Qi didn't think a Mercenary Group with only five members could live up to its name and achieve such a feat.
He piloted the Flying Vehicle and landed on the top floor of the Weapon Research Institute.
The institute had only seventeen floors. It wasn't very tall, and it didn't have as many employees as he'd imagined.
The institute only had research projects below A-level.
Research was generally divided into five levels: M, L, A, S, and X.
M was the general-purpose series, L was the high-end series, and A was the military-grade series. A-level research products usually weren't sold on the market.
As for S and X, those weren't projects Lin Qi could get involved with at the moment.
They said X-level research projects involved planetary exploration, and that they could already make it possible for a cybernetic body to travel to the moon on its own.
No rockets—just mechanical ascension and a cybernetic body going to the moon. That was a pretty insane project.
As soon as Lin Qi got out of his Flying Vehicle, he saw another one land almost at the same time.
The Flying Vehicle bore the logo of Liu Heavy Industries. It was top-of-the-line, worth at least a hundred of Lin Qi's own vehicles.
The doors of the luxury vehicle slowly opened, and the two young ladies of the Liu Family stepped out.
The first to emerge was Liu Xuan, an old acquaintance of Lin Qi's. They'd known each other for five years.
Liu Xuan wore sunglasses, and she had almost no cybernetic modifications. Only her left eye glowed faintly blue.
As she passed Lin Qi, Liu Xuan greeted him calmly. "What a coincidence. Good morning."
Lin Qi nodded. It really was a coincidence.
It was his 399th day working at the Red Fruit Weapons Research Institute, and the 372nd time they'd happened to run into each other in the morning.
As for their chance meetings after work in the evening? There'd been slightly fewer than in the morning—only 371.
Behind Liu Xuan was her younger sister, Liu Li. Compared to Liu Xuan, Liu Li was even more unmodified. From the outside, there was no sign of any cybernetic implants.
As she passed Lin Qi, Liu Li said, "Why do you clock in at the last possible minute every day? Honestly..."
Before Liu Li could finish, Liu Xuan pulled her away.
Lin Qi had actually wanted to argue back.
What was wrong with clocking in at the last minute? Even cybernetic wage slaves shouldn't be exploited like that!
In a year working for the Red Fruit Weapons Research Institute, he'd developed seven arm and leg cybernetic bodies, plus one Micro-nuclear Powered Heart.
Counting the H-L-023 Micro-nuclear Powered Heart this time, he'd already completed three L-level research projects.
What L-level Researcher worked harder than him?
Look me in the eye and tell me! What's wrong with clocking in at the last minute?
Still, Lin Qi hadn't said it out loud.
The products Lin Qi developed were actually all designed to suit himself. Since he planned to get the finished products and have them converted into Exoskeletons at his own Cybernetic Clinic, their designs were fairly average for the L-level category: a few bright spots, but not many.
He was basically using public resources for personal gain.
Watching the sisters walk away, Lin Qi remembered the hostile stare he'd felt in the vehicle just moments ago.
Could the mercenary have been targeting the two of them?
Probably not, right?
How many Credit Points would it take to go after those two? Even ten million might not be enough.
Other people might not know, but Lin Qi had known Liu Xuan for years. He'd known since their school days that she was no ordinary member of the Liu Family.
Through Psychic Vision, Lin Qi had discovered that she had at least two bodyguards following her in secret.
Both bodyguards had more than 60 percent A-level cybernetic modifications. With over 50 percent of the body modified, they qualified as fully cybernetic.
They also carried a wide variety of weapons, enough to handle a small-scale firefight.
On their own, the two bodyguards might have been able to fight Master Ma, the mainstay of the "Highest Level" Mercenary Group.
But that was without taking supernatural combat abilities into account.
Master Ma's cybernetic implant level seemed to be only A-level.
Lin Qi had secretly witnessed combatants of that level during a past mission.
Someone with full-body A-level cybernetic modifications could match the combat strength of a Third Rank Martial Artist with no cybernetic equipment. They could take on an eight-person Riot Control Task Force alone.
"Should I warn them? Probably not. Even if our 'Highest Level' Mercenary Group showed up, two fighters on Master Ma's level might be more than we could handle. And this is Red Fruit City, to boot."
"With Red Fruit City's surveillance density and intelligent algorithms, that mercenary team may have already been exposed."
You'd have to be a Cyberpsychosis case to target a member of the Liu Family in Red Fruit City.
Liu Heavy Industries' control over Red Fruit City was downright insane. Even just trying to hide his identity as a Wizard put Lin Qi under enormous pressure.
Lin Qi stepped into the employees' elevator. Its built-in system identified him and automatically took him to the 13th Floor. The institute assigned floors according to research level, from highest to lowest.
M-level was on the highest floor, and A-level on the lowest.
The Weapon Research Institute's security system was strict. Researchers could only access the floor where they worked.
In another elevator, the Liu sisters were heading to the second basement floor. Both were L-level Researchers, but their status meant their labs were even more centrally located than those of A-level researchers.
"Big Sis, I've had enough! Every day, I have to wait around for half an hour!" Liu Li grabbed Liu Xuan's arm and shook it.
Liu Xuan said nothing, as if she were still lost in her thoughts.
"Big Sis!"
Liu Li raised her voice.
"Mm. I'm listening," Liu Xuan replied calmly, the smile at the corner of her mouth still lingering.
Liu Li was a little exasperated. "Big Sis, what do you even see in him? He's only 30 percent cybernetic. That cybernetic freak Lin Qi looks like he's aiming for the 95 percent limit. He replaces all the products he develops with them on himself."
"He's destined to become a Cyberpsychosis case. There's no one with more than 80 percent cybernetic modifications who doesn't go crazy."
Liu Xuan shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."
Liu Xuan knew perfectly well that her feelings for Lin Qi were unhealthy.
But those feelings had come from an experimental accident that Liu Xuan herself had caused.
That accident had tied together two people who should never have crossed paths, given their different social classes, creating the strange relationship they had now.
She could keep it in check, but she couldn't suppress it completely. It was an attachment rooted in her personality after the accident.
Only Liu Xuan understood that if Lin Qi disappeared from her life, she would inevitably become a lunatic—a cybernetic lunatic.
Even though less than five percent of her body had been modified.
"I really don't know what you see in him. Is it that pile of steel cybernetics?"
"You could pick anything at random from the Group's warehouse, and it'd be much tougher than his body."
Of course Liu Li didn't understand. She was a pure natural human with no cybernetic modifications at all.
Someone without cybernetic modifications couldn't understand the effect cybernetics had on a person's mental state, much less grasp how deeply that accident had affected Liu Xuan.
At the Red Fruit Weapons Research Institute, on the 13th Floor, Lin Qi had only taken a few steps out of the elevator when someone stopped him.
Clang!
The metallic impact rang out loudly.
Lin Qi looked down at the person before him.
A young man with cybernetic modifications only to his legs knelt before Lin Qi. "Please, boss, save my life!"
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