A Hundred Methods

"You win," Lyle said, leaning back in her chair and deciding to wait for death.

"I've decided to punish you by sending you to the front lines as a rifleman," Qin Mo said.

"You can't punish me," Lyle sat up straight. "Don't you still need me alive to help clear my files from the database?"

"You?" Qin Mo sneered, picking up Lyle's terminal and linking it to his power armor's faceplate. He then ordered the Master Control Intelligence, "Copy my files one hundred times from Hive Terra's Adeptus Arbites database, then delete them using one hundred different methods."

"Received, executing your command. Copying your files one hundred times."

"Wait, I was kidding. Don't actually copy them a hundred times. It'll be bad if it messes up."

"File deletion complete."

Qin Mo picked up the terminal, entered his name, and searched. The result showed no such person.

Seeing the result, Qin Mo himself was surprised. "Don't you guys upgrade your database firewalls? I was planning to spend all night making a virus that could hack into the database offline, and it gets deleted this easily?"

Lyle stared at Qin Mo, bewildered. She didn't understand the intricacies of database firewalls. All she knew was that she had lost her last bargaining chip with Qin Mo.

"Your name is Lyle, is Lyle Weather your name?" Qin Mo searched the name on the terminal.

Lyle froze for a moment, then instantly realized what Qin Mo intended to do. "No... no, no, no, don't!"

"Delete her files," Qin Mo commanded.

"Deletion complete."

"All done," Qin Mo picked up the terminal and showed it to Lyle. "You're a nobody now too."

Lyle's expression was a masterpiece. First shock, then anger, then grief, despair, followed by more anger and confusion. She had no idea what her fate would be next.

"You will be implanted with the memories of a dead soldier and sent to the battlefield."

"But I'm not done with your business yet."

After announcing Lyle's fate, Qin Mo got up and walked out of the room. He ordered Grot, who was guarding outside, "Lock Lyle up."

"Yes," Grot nodded and walked into the room.

Qin Mo walked towards the conference room without looking back, intending to deal with Grey's situation.

In the cave at the bottom of the fortress, Grey lay on the bed, his severed arm outstretched.

Qin Mo sat by the bed, drawing design schematics for a prosthetic limb while manufacturing it. He was immersed in the creation, determined to make the prosthetic limb a thousand times better than his original arm.

"Don't worry, this prosthetic will only be more sensitive, not worse than your original limb."

"I plan to integrate a telekinesis control device into the prosthetic. From now on, you'll be able to grab things from a distance or lift and crush heavy objects with your mind."

"It will also integrate a psychic suppressor."

"I'll connect the prosthetic limb to your heart, using the bio-energy generated by your heartbeat to power it."

Hearing that the prosthetic would be connected to his heart, Grey became uneasy. "You're going to operate near my heart. What if something goes wrong? Could it induce heart disease?"

"There's a one percent chance something could go wrong, but you won't die. Trust my skills," Qin Mo insisted on his plan.

"I just have a bad feeling about this prosthetic limb," Grey was still worried.

"Doesn't your original limb ever go wrong? Don't you get backaches? Don't be a natural human purist. Flesh is weak, flesh is weak!"

"My mother died of illness. I know how fragile flesh is better than anyone."

"Then what are you babbling about? Shut up and wait."

After the prosthetic limb was designed and manufactured, Qin Mo began the connection surgery.

He twisted Grey's flesh and the prosthetic's metal, making them grow and intertwine as if they were native, then connected the bio-energy collection device to the heart, and finally fused the nerves with the artificial nerves of the prosthetic.

Grey stood up and moved around, trying to retrieve a cup of water from a distance.

As the cup floated through the air and flew towards him, Grey reached out and grabbed it, feeling a more tangible touch than his original limb.

"Now, with this limb, you only need to touch something to detect if a person is alive, or if there are toxins on the surface of the air or objects, and many other benefits. Take your time to learn them," Qin Mo said.

"This is indeed much better than the original. I just don't know how much I can improve it to."

"I can modify you starting from your cells, turning you into an astonishing war machine."

"That would be really good."

"..."

After a bit of casual chat, Qin Mo suddenly asked, "Did you kill Laun?"

Grey, who was admiring his arm, stopped and turned to look at Qin Mo, not knowing what to say.

He wanted to say he didn't kill him, but he was afraid Qin Mo would misunderstand, like with Klein, and think he was defecting to Laun's side.

But if he admitted to killing him, given Qin Mo's previous attitude towards Laun, a rift might form between them.

"You did well, but next time, don't make decisions before me. I wanted to kill Laun more than you do," Qin Mo said calmly.

"Then why did you show so much respect for Laun? You didn't try to trick him into coming out and killing him," Grey asked.

"Some things don't necessarily need to be resolved immediately," Qin Mo turned and sat down at his workbench, continuing the design of new weapons.

Grey curiously leaned in for a few looks, realizing they were standard issue weapons for infantry, along with a detection device.

Grey could understand the standard weapons, but he truly couldn't grasp the purpose of the detection device.

"The defensive line has been integrated by me now. After we are prepared, we will launch an active offensive against the rebels," Qin Mo admired his own masterpiece. "An offensive targeting the rebel leader."

"How do we know where the rebel leader is?" Grey asked.

"I have a way to find it. This detection device is prepared for it," Qin Mo said confidently.

The leader of the Gene Stealers was the Patriarch, a terrifying monster seven to eight meters tall with a carapace and sharp claws. It was the founder of the Cult of Evolution and possessed the strongest psychic power.

Qin Mo decided to stir up a major battle once fully prepared, aiming to make the rebels launch a full-scale offensive. After the rebels launched a full-scale offensive, they would inevitably utilize the psychic power network belonging to the Gene Stealer species.

Then, the entire psychic power network of the Gene Stealer species would be detected, and by following the trail, the location of the Gene Stealer Patriarch would be determined.

Qin Mo had even thought about what to do after finding the Patriarch. Of course, he would immediately deploy all his trump cards, bring all the warriors clad in power armor, and eliminate the Patriarch at all costs.

And if the Patriarch absolutely could not be eliminated, then he would find a way to obtain its blood.

Qin Mo believed that as long as he could obtain the Patriarch's blood, he could create a weapon to exterminate their entire species.

"No matter what you plan to do," Grey puffed out his chest and assured Qin Mo, "you can always use me as a weapon, deploy me into a battle of no return, as long as it benefits the overall war situation."

"I will," Qin Mo nodded.