More than a decade ago, on the very day Gao Gong arrived at the Iron Sand Desert, the Rose Petrol Bar had just opened.
At that time, the native warlords had not yet been besieged by the factories and were much more arrogant than now. The profession of Mechanical Hunter was nowhere near as powerful as it is today.
A mysterious beautiful woman opened a lucrative establishment, and her encounters were predictable.
However, every person who caused trouble in the bar, regardless of their identity, would have their head hanging at the gate of Automobile City the next day, without exception.
Gradually, the troublemakers decreased, and more people came to reason.
Black Rose gradually integrated into the ecology of this oasis, becoming an indispensable member.
Little Finger is also an important link in Black Rose's underground network, indirectly controlling at least a hundred prosthetic transformers as a prosthetic doctor.
At that time, Little Finger's main profession was still as a bartender, and he didn't have so little hair.
The reason Little Finger and Gao Gong didn't get along is simple, the canine nature repels between a simp and a little wolf dog. Although they are both 'dogs,' they are of different breeds, so the benefits they enjoy differ naturally.
In front of Black Rose, Little Finger always acted submissively, angrily tossing a few prosthetic doctor's books over.
"Don't expect me to teach you!"
Gao Gong once again raised a middle finger.
"Prosthetic Surgery Summary" "Discussion on Consciousness Data and Mechanical Rejection" "Eighteen Key Points of Muscle Implantation" "Artificial Protein Infusion and Interface Technology"
[You are reading the professional knowledge book "Prosthetic Surgery Summary", learning progress 1%…2%…13%]
The room suddenly quieted down, leaving only the sound of Gao Gong flipping through pages.
An hour later—
[Your learning progress has reached 100%, you have completed the reading of "Prosthetic Surgery Summary"]
[You have entered a job transfer state, job transfer progress 1/14]
With the system panel, the knowledge in books automatically converts into experience and memory, directly imprinting into the mind, proving far more effective than any learning method.
"What do you plan to do next?" Black Rose suddenly spoke as Gao Gong reached the last page.
Gao Gong was stunned, the other's tone seemed unusually gentle—it quickly dawned on him.
With Black Rose's intelligence network, she couldn't be unaware of the ambush on the factory convoy, nor could she not know that Gao Gong's ticket to Nightless City had been stolen, perhaps even knowing who was behind it all.
But it was useless; the mastermind probably already enjoyed their time in the Nightless City with that ticket.
While Gao Gong, the unlucky one, didn't even have the chance for revenge.
The reason Mechanical Hunters could establish themselves in the Iron Sand Desert was not only because their professional traits suited the environment but also because they caught the trend, as many factories relocated here, requiring a group of mercenaries to clear the Radiation Zone beasts.
Now, the factory has long become a giant in the desert, with divisions between non-human and human zones becoming more pronounced, and the slots for Nightless City decreasing year by year.
Gao Gong found it almost impossible to earn vast Mechanical Coins by hunting Radiation Beasts as he did in the past.
'I always thought you were only interested in my body, indifferent yet attentive, but now you show you care. Could it be true, as some literary woman said, that the path to a woman's soul is—through words?'
Gao Gong muttered to himself, revealing a brilliant smile.
"Rest and recharge."
Black Rose glanced deeply at Gao Gong, nodded slightly, and left without a word, taking Little Finger with her.
In "Cyber Realm", a game claiming 100% realism, all attributes are a natural feedback of human state; apart from the five main attributes, there is no such thing as a charm attribute.
Instead, "personality," a partially moral existence derived from relationships between men and women, is an objective presence summarized by the system.
Similarly, personality is the only attribute among all that can turn negative.
The original character's personality was 4 points, which greatly comforted Gao Gong, as his character had not seen positive personality for many years.
Moreover, there was a note below personality—
(Most scoundrels are ruthless, you are different, you won't spend a dime.)
Gao Gong recalled the original character's memories and found this was true, as a woman helped him get his military-grade mechanical heart and titanium alloy inner skeleton— and he freeloaded.
Perhaps due to Black Rose's reminder, the middle-aged balding Little Finger finally stopped pestering him daily for those six thousand Mechanical Coins. After helping him fine-tune his prosthetic body and confirming there were no issues, he snorted coldly and left in a huff.
However, he did leave behind a pile of professional knowledge books for prosthetic doctors—this should be under a certain woman's instruction, too.
Finally, after about a week of reading professional books, the familiar 'ding' sound echoed from the game panel.
[You have acquired the new profession of Prosthetic Doctor, learned the skill 'Basic Prosthetic Transformation']
[You transferred to the Prosthetic Doctor profession, obtaining a Level 1 Human Body Technology Blueprint 'Pain Editor']
Pain Editor: A neural collaborative processor that suppresses pain receptors from sending signals to the brain's parietal lobe, allowing users to feel no pain.
[You have comprehended the professional skill [Human Body Transformation Surgery]]: Modify by excising, suturing, and transplanting the human body through medical instruments.
[You have illuminated the knowledge [Electronic Neurology]]
Lv1: Study the structure and function of the neural system, analyze neural signals
[You've unlocked the knowledge of [Human Biology]]
Lv1: Basic knowledge of the eight major systems of the human body, preliminary understanding of various complex life activities within the body
[You've unlocked the knowledge of [Human Body Mechanics]]
Lv1: Basic knowledge of statics, kinematics, and dynamics
In addition to these, the sub-profession of 'Factory Worker' provides [Industrial Materials Science] and [Mechanical Transformation], so he already has five types of professional knowledge.
"Phew, finally got it done!"
Feeling the various knowledge seemingly branded into his brain, Gao Gong finally breathed a sigh of relief, then felt the immense pressure again.
The most realistic, as well as the hardest part of this game is that everything requires experience.
The main profession needs experience to level up
The sub-profession needs experience to level up
The human body system transformation requires experience
Upgrading professional knowledge requires even more experience
Gambling blueprints need a sea of experience!
Gao Gong thought for a moment, first leveling up [Electronic Neurology] to lv3, then providing [Mechanical Transformation] to lv2, and the experience from the previous tasks was almost used up.
Then he opened the synthesis panel in the game's interface.
In this game, "Cyber Realm," players are encouraged to create their own equipment, blending different professional technological knowledge into blueprints of varying levels, which are then used to make equipment.
Among them, the method of gambling blueprints is to pull various professional knowledge into the experience pool and then allocate a certain proportion of experience under the knowledge of each profession.
Besides being a Luck God, there are only two ways to guarantee producing a blueprint.
One is to fill the gauges completely. For example, the experience cap for lv1 professional knowledge is 100 points, and lv2 is 200 points, and so on. By filling all knowledge experience gauges, it ensures a blueprint will be produced—although the quality of the blueprint produced can be quite unpredictable.
Another way is to precisely invest experience points down to the single digits. These types of blueprints are also called exclusive blueprints, obtained as rewards either in hidden tasks by professional players or through formulas conjured by big-spending players burning experience points.
In future game forums, this type of 'blueprint research' is a hot topic of discussion among players, even having a dedicated section, with many 'classic formulas' that Gao Gong still remembers to this day.
"Luck cannot change adversity, spending cannot alter fate. Make up with luck and become a Luck God."
"I'm already so handsome; succeeding on the first try is only natural, right?"
He divided the experience gauge into two, simultaneously attaching the upgraded two professional knowledge and injecting 151 and 92 experience points respectively.
[Electronic Neurology] + [Mechanical Transformation]
Combine!
[Fusion successful, you have developed a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint [Machine Ants]]
[Fusion successful, you have developed a Level 1 Mechanical Blueprint [Quadruped Robot]]
"It's a double yolk!"
Gao Gong slapped the table in joy and exclaimed: "Sure enough, heaven blesses the handsome and wicked!"
Two days later
Little Finger burst angrily into the Petrol Bar, but before he could speak, Black Rose frowned and said, "You need to be careful these days, the desert has been unsettling lately."
Little Finger was momentarily confused and blurted out: "Could it be those terrorists called the Knight Order? Didn't the factory send people to hunt them down?"
"It's not that," Black Rose changed her posture, sliding a stack of photos to the other corner of the table. Little Finger took them, glanced over and found they were aerial photos from thousands of meters up, his expression gradually changing from confused to grave.
"The metropolitan area is expanding?!"
Black Rose nodded and said: "If it keeps going like this, the two outermost oases will soon border the metropolitan area, facing perhaps a Beast Tide."
"A Beast Tide!? Impossible, it's been nearly ten years since one!" Seemingly recalling something, a flash of fear appeared in Little Finger's eyes: "There's no S-Level Beast King now."
"Beast Kings are not necessarily born; as long as enough genomes are consumed, a new Beast King will naturally emerge."
Black Rose paused before continuing: "Our Automobile City located deep in the desert doesn't border any metropolitan area, no Beast Tide will appear, but you shouldn't run around during this time, I'm worried small groups of beasts might sneak in."
"By the way, what did you want to see me about?"
Only then did Little Finger remember his purpose, gritting his teeth angrily and said: "You need to deal with that brat of yours, if it weren't for your sake, I would have already had him dealt with!"
"What did he do this time?" Black Rose asked with interest; these days, her little man has been coming and going mysteriously.
"He! That rascal came to my clinic today with a bunch of gifts, politely thanked me for performing surgery for him, and insisted on taking me out for a drink. I carelessly fell into his trap, one drink down, and I was out cold. Turns out he drugged me, then right in front of me dragged away my operating table—and even took back his gifts completely unchanged!"
Remembering something else, Little Finger pulled out a tattered note from his pocket. The note's content roughly stated borrowing the operating table and returning it after use.
"Selling my operating table wouldn't cover his debt!" Little Finger was hopping mad.
Black Rose's red lips curved slightly, then she said expressionlessly:
"Looks like the books haven't been read for nothing, he even learned to mix anesthesia."