Deadlock

In times like these, making small money was easy. You could sell your labor, run a small business, or find a job anywhere. But anything that paid a little better was either gang business or monopolized by the powerful people in the city. There was simply no room for an ordinary person to get involved.

Han Yang thought it over and over, yet he could not find a job or business that would let him make money quickly.

"I still have to find a way based on the abilities I have. My mind is fast now, and my memory is good, but how do I turn that into money? Hmm, aside from gambling dens."

Han Yang racked his brains.

After a long while, an idea suddenly flashed through Han Yang's mind.

That's right. How could I have forgotten about this...

He finally thought of a way—one that could earn him more money in a short time without involving gang forces or monopolized industries.

It just required a certain amount of startup capital.

After calculating carefully, Han Yang realized he needed twenty thousand yuan to buy all the equipment.

Twenty thousand...

He could not even scrape together two hundred yuan right now.

"I should still borrow some from Brother Shen."

Han Yang sighed. "I really have no other choice now. I already owe so many favors anyway. One more won't make a difference."

Over the years, Han Yang had managed to gain a foothold in the Vegetable Market District and barely survive largely thanks to Shen the Butcher's care.

At noon the next day, Han Yang went to Aunt Wang's noodle stall again.

"Aunt Wang! A large bowl of noodles, and... and an egg!"

"Sure thing. Take a seat, it'll be ready soon."

Aunt Wang swiftly cooked the noodles and brought them over. Seeing that the portion had not been made any larger, Han Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

After wolfing down the noodles, Han Yang saw that Shen the Butcher had few customers and walked over.

Shen the Butcher glanced sideways at Han Yang. "What brings you here?"

"I... I want to borrow some money. Twenty thousand."

Twenty thousand was no small sum. Shen the Butcher fell silent for a moment, then took out his phone and transferred the money directly.

Han Yang relaxed. "Thank you, Brother Shen. Um, I'll pay you back within three months."

"Go on, go on."

Shen the Butcher seemed somewhat impatient. He shooed Han Yang away while lifting the pot lid to inspect the braised meats.

He sold not only raw meat, but cooked meat as well.

The moment the lid came off, the rich aroma of braised meat rushed toward him. Even though he had just eaten noodles, Han Yang's mouth still filled with saliva.

"Um... give me twenty yuan's worth of pig head meat."

Han Yang decided to splurge today, as a celebration.

"I'll bring the meat to your place tonight."

"Huh? O-okay..."

Han Yang laughed bitterly to himself.

He had finally made up his mind to buy meat for once, planning to enjoy a quiet meal that night, but his wish had fallen through again.

With money in hand, Han Yang returned home and immediately opened an online shopping site, beginning to purchase the tools needed for his money-making plan.

He selected several mechanical arms, connecting cables, drive motors, rotating shafts, circuit boards, industrial chips, and other items, then placed the order all at once.

That cost nearly two thousand yuan. After buying those things, Han Yang began looking at the Brainwave Control Device.

The Brainwave Control Device had existed even before the arrival of the Ita Civilization. It could achieve basic interaction between the human brain and computers, but its functions were relatively primitive and it had almost no practical applications. Even gamers disliked using it. Only people who enjoyed trying new things bought one for novelty.

But the thing was not cheap. Even a low-end model cost a full ten thousand yuan. Han Yang pondered for a long time before finally deciding to buy a secondhand one for six thousand.

In the blink of an eye, eight thousand yuan was gone.

Even so, he had not bought everything he needed. Han Yang planned to buy one set first and test it out. If it truly worked, he would buy more later.

That evening, Shen the Butcher arrived as promised, carrying the pig head meat. But unlike before, he was unusually quiet today. Not only did he not mention the Blue Army, he did not even reminisce about the past or complain about the present as he usually did.

He merely sat in silence, occasionally taking a drink or picking up a piece of meat. It made Han Yang uneasy as well.

"Brother Shen, are... are you okay?"

Shen the Butcher shook his head without speaking. After a while, he finally said in a low voice, "Old Wa is dead."

"Old Wa?"

"A codename."

"Oh..."

"At the Cloud Elephant Iron Mine, they abuse the workers. People who work there generally do not live past five years. Old Wa led some people there to organize the workers. It was exposed, and the Guard Team caught them. They beat him to death on the spot."

Han Yang fell silent as well.

Shen the Butcher's voice choked slightly.

"Over all these years, comrades have died one after another. Old Wa is dead, Kangaroo is dead, Box is dead, your father and mother are dead too... and still, there's no hope in sight... The sky is so dark. When will dawn ever come..."

Boom...

The roar of another flying car streaking through the night sky came from above.

Han Yang was startled. "You knew my parents? You knew who they were?"

Shen the Butcher looked at Han Yang, his gaze faintly mocking. "Otherwise, why do you think I've taken care of you all these years? Why do you think I trusted you enough to tell you directly that I'm with the Blue Army? Did you really think it was because you're handsome?"

Han Yang said nothing. After a long time, he said, "There is no hope on Earth, or even in the Solar System. Hope... lies beyond the Solar System."

How could the Ita sit by and watch resistance forces grow under their noses?

Only by leaving the Solar System, leaving the Ita, and finding a place unnoticed by any power would there be hope of growing stronger.

Shen the Butcher said gloomily, "We simply don't have the ability to leave the Solar System. Even if we could, too few people would be useless. Without enough people, we couldn't even survive in space, much less establish a base and slowly develop."

For Human Civilization, this was an unbreakable deadlock.

Only by leaving the Solar System could they develop. Yet to develop, they first had to leave the Solar System.

Han Yang did not speak. He merely said silently in his heart, Perhaps my appearance can break this deadlock.

For the first time, Shen the Butcher got drunk in front of Han Yang. Worried about him, Han Yang carried a dagger and escorted him all the way home before returning.

"No matter what, I should earn my first pot of gold first. Without money, I can't do anything."

Han Yang thought quietly.

No matter how great the goal or lofty the ideal, it had to begin with something grounded in reality. At this moment, Han Yang intended to put that truth into practice.

The industry Han Yang had chosen to earn his first pot of gold was indeed an extremely down-to-earth one.

Game boosting.

After merging with the computer chip, I can operate multiple computers by myself, take several boosting orders at once, and earn several times the money!

Of course, that depended on whether his idea could truly be realized.

Though life in this era was hard, the online gaming industry was flourishing beyond imagination. Aside from people like Han Yang, who could only live in chaotic districts and struggled every day just to survive, as well as those who did not even count as the bottom rung—people who could only wander, beg, and live off public assistance—anyone with even a little spare money and a proper job was generally passionate about online games.

Office workers living in the city in particular were even more willing to log in and play a few matches after a busy day.

The reason was simple. Although these people had escaped the pressure of survival, they had no path upward at all. Struggling was completely meaningless. With no hope for the future, they could only choose to enjoy life.

But other forms of entertainment were too expensive to afford, so they could only choose online games, the cheapest form of entertainment.

Technological progress had basically eliminated the existence of game cheats, but the enormous user base meant that demand for game boosting was equally enormous. Han Yang set his sights on that market.

In Han Yang's view, at this stage, that market was practically tailor-made for him. It could not have suited him better.

Once everything Han Yang had bought arrived, he immediately began researching and assembling it.

His past experience handcrafting computer chips had developed his practical skills to an exceptional degree. During this time, he had also specifically made time to study knowledge related to mechanical processing, and now he was full of confidence as he got to work.

The connecting rods, cables, bearings, motors, and other components assembled in his hands as though by magic, eventually becoming a strange-looking contraption.