The Cost of Cybernetic Augmentation

After hearing that Bai Xue had actually been beaten into such a state by Su Han,

Xu Jiang's expression grew even uglier. Veins throbbed on his forehead, and he finally could not hold back his curses.

"Seriously? The two of you are semi-cyborgs, and you couldn't beat one Secret Martial Arts practitioner?"

"Bai Xue was even beaten to within an inch of her life."

"What the hell are you good for?!"

"Is the Earth Dispatch Bureau keeping a bunch of good-for-nothings?!"

Zhou Ming kept his head down, enduring the tirade without daring to speak.

They had never imagined that Su Han would be so terrifyingly strong.

Only a few days ago, he had clearly been an ordinary person.

Yet now, he had made two semi-cyborgs come a cropper.

Only after Xu Jiang had finished cursing and his anger had finally subsided a little

did Zhou Ming finally dare to speak and explain.

"Captain, that kid Su Han is no simple opponent."

"Bai Xue and I originally thought he was just an ordinary Secret Martial Arts practitioner too."

"But when we started fighting, we discovered he also cultivated the Ten Thousand Immortals Cult's Qi and Blood Immortal Martial Arts."

"He cultivates both Immortal Martial Arts and Secret Martial Arts."

Xu Jiang's anger had barely subsided when those words stunned him.

"Both?"

"That's right." Zhou Ming nodded.

"When we fought him, he could set his whole body ablaze with qi and blood flames."

"That was clearly a Ten Thousand Immortals Cult cultivation method."

"And the Secret Martial Arts he cultivated also seemed to have reached a very high level. Combined with Immortal Martial Arts, his combat power was extremely high."

"Every time we clashed, his strength was not only terrifying, but also carried scorching flames."

"His attacks also carried inner force that could invade our internal structures like threads."

Xu Jiang fell silent.

How had the Ten Thousand Immortals Cult gotten mixed up in this too?

He sat back down and rubbed his temples, his head aching.

"Su Han, the Ten Thousand Immortals Cult..."

"All right, I understand."

"I'll report this."

"Su Han belongs to the Ten Thousand Immortals Cult. He'll be dealt with in the Earth Condemnation Bureau's next operation."

Zhou Ming nodded, but could not help asking,

"Team leader, what about Sister Xue...?"

Xu Jiang glanced at him and naturally knew what was on Zhou Ming's mind.

Bai Xue now needed full augmentation to survive, but that was no easy matter.

He sighed.

"Full-body cyborgs may be stronger, but the procedure isn't something we can just do on a whim."

"First, there's a failure rate. It isn't high, but it does exist."

"Second..."

He paused, his voice grave.

"This is the main point."

"Everyone keeps saying cybernetic augmentation is expensive, and it's not just a little expensive."

"It's extremely expensive."

Xu Jiang began listing the costs for Zhou Ming, one by one.

"A semi-cyborg costs 50 million, with annual maintenance of 10 million."

"An entry-level full-body cyborg costs 300 million, with maintenance of 200 million."

"An advanced full-body cyborg costs 1 billion, with maintenance of 500 million."

"A top-level full-body cyborg costs 3 billion, with maintenance of 1 billion."

"An ultimate full-body cyborg starts at 10 billion, with annual maintenance of 5 billion."

"That's only construction and maintenance. It doesn't include repairs after damage, and those all cost money."

"That's why only wealthy, well-connected powers like the Sturgeon Group and the Earth Condemnation Bureau can afford to maintain cyborgs."

"Other powers have them too, but none on the same scale as our two organizations."

He looked at Zhou Ming again and said gravely,

"As for Bai Xue's full-body augmentation, we still need to submit an application."

"Whether the bureau agrees is another matter."

Zhou Ming was already aware of all this, and could only remain silent.

But the cost was so high that they could not afford it on their own.

And this time, they had abandoned their assignment and failed to take part in the operation to wipe out the Ten Thousand Immortals Cult on time.

The bureau most likely would not agree to cover Bai Xue's repair costs.

Xu Jiang looked at Zhou Ming. He knew the boy had feelings for Bai Xue, and seeing the worried look on his face,

he finally offered some reassurance.

"Still, Bai Xue seems to be a member of the Bai family."

"The Bai family is considered a major family in the outer city, and they have money."

"Even if the application isn't approved, the Bai family will pay for her augmentation themselves."

Hearing that, Zhou Ming's eyes lit up, and hope welled up in his heart again.

"Really?"

"Mm." Xu Jiang nodded. "I'll submit the application. We'll have an answer in half a day."

"Go get some rest."

Zhou Ming breathed a sigh of relief, turned, and left.

On the outskirts of the city center.

Inside a long-abandoned factory building.

The sheet-metal roof was rusted, the premises were in disarray, and the air was thick with the smell of rust and mold.

But at this moment, twelve people stood in the factory.

There were men and women, young and old.

Some stood while others sat, their postures relaxed, but every one of them radiated a terrifying aura.

Like twelve volcanoes on the verge of eruption.

Their bodies carried a scorching pressure that even distorted the air.

However, every one of them bore injuries to some degree.

Some had bloodstained strips of cloth wrapped around their arms, some had burn marks on their chests, and some had bruises on their faces.

Kong Fuxian stood at the very front.

He had changed into a clean white long robe, but a tear at the left shoulder exposed a dark red wound beneath, which was slowly healing.

They were none other than the twelve true disciples of the Ten Thousand Immortals Cult stationed in the outer city.

Kong Fuxian was their leader, and all the disciples addressed him as Senior Brother Kong.

Kong Fuxian looked around at everyone and spoke calmly.

"Last night's operation can be considered a success."

"Although we lost quite a few disciples too..."

"We gained an understanding of the strength of the outer city's two strongest powers, the Sturgeon Group and the Earth Condemnation Bureau."

He paused, unable to keep a trace of delight out of his voice.

"More importantly, the experiment with the Heaven and Earth Eight Trigrams Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation was a success."

"The formation cores laid out in all eight locations were activated."

"They collected the blood from the entire formation area and refined it into..."

Kong Fuxian took a jade box from inside his robe and opened it.

It was packed full of dark red pills.

Each one was only the size of a fingernail, with a smooth surface, radiating a scalding heat and a rich, bloody smell.

"Three hundred and seventy-five Blood Pills!"

A chorus of sharp breaths rang out in the factory.

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Kong Fuxian distributed the Blood Pills among them.

About thirty per person.

"Taking them benefits cultivation in both the Wolf Smoke Realm and the Blood Pillar Realm."

He put away the jade box and faced everyone again.

"Whether you use them yourselves or reward the disciples under you is entirely up to you."

A woman in her thirties took the Blood Pills and held them beneath her nose for a sniff, narrowing her eyes.

"The purity is good."

"These can save us quite a bit of arduous cultivation."

Another elderly man examined a Blood Pill closely and nodded.

"This experiment was a great success."

"Next time we can expand its range."

A burly, bald man could not wait any longer and swallowed one.

He closed his eyes, a look of pleasure appearing on his face.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes, a flash of crimson passing through them.

"That's good!"

"Much better than arduous cultivation!"

Everyone put their Blood Pills away, and the atmosphere grew livelier.

A young man spoke up, turning to business.

"Senior Brother Kong, what's our plan from here?"