Cyber ​​God: Abyss Walker

"It's been completely sealed off. So, some organization really did something in Pit 13?"

As Wang Yu walked past the mine, he stopped to look around with a hint of curiosity, just like the occasional residents of the abandoned city. This mine, which used to be a place where many miners could be seen coming and going, had been completely enclosed by a metal wall that had been quickly built in two weeks. Even the top of the wall was covered by a dome, and no outsiders were allowed to enter.

He muttered a few words to himself, then didn't linger. Pit No. 13 had nothing to do with him anymore, and even if it did, he would try his best to sever all ties with it.

After passing through this mine, one can officially enter the normal urban area of ​​the abandoned city. A neon-lit metropolis with a level of modern technology surpassing that of the 21st century unfolds before Wang Yu's eyes: towering buildings, rail transit systems built between these high-rises, pedestrian walkways completely crowded with shops below, and roads where all kinds of vehicles, old and new, pass by...

Wang Yu never denied the "prosperity" of this world, but this prosperity actually had nothing to do with some people. A large number of people were abandoned by this era and this city, including Wang Yu and those illegal residents who also had no identity.

"Clang!"

The driverless bus came to an abrupt stop in front of the bus stop where Wang Yu was waiting. The doors opened, and Wang Yu stepped onto the bus. On the bus stop seat behind him lay a homeless man whose right arm, which had been modified into a prosthetic body, along with his electronic eyes had been gouged out. He didn't know why the man had ended up like this, but in any case, a guy like him wouldn't last long in the abandoned city.

"Drip, drip, drip, drip..."

Wang Yu swiped the chip containing the universal currency back and forth in front of the scanner several times, but the machine only made a beeping sound and did not show that the amount had been collected.

"What happened? Is it broken?"

Wang Yu raised an eyebrow. What was going on? To happen to encounter a malfunction in the self-operated transportation system today? Was his luck a bit too bad?

However, a dozen seconds later, the doors closed by themselves, and the driverless bus gradually accelerated, heading towards the inner ring of the abandoned city. No one came to Wang Yu to ask him to pay the fare, so he simply gave up, found an empty seat, and waited for the bus to arrive at his destination.

The entire safe zone is a huge circular area. The innermost layer is the new capital city, which is completely different from the ruined city. Between the two is a huge ring of tracks. The ring train runs non-stop and is the only way to enter the new capital city. Anyone who enters in any other way will be listed as a wanted person by the Inquisition.

Beyond the ring train lies the abandoned city. This metropolis acts as a natural barrier, separating the new capital from the wasteland. Most threats from the wasteland cannot cross the not-so-small city of the abandoned city to damage the new capital located within it.

Beyond the ruined city, you've already left the safe zone. If you continue along the coast from the area where Wang Yu is located, you'll enter the open sea, which is wasteland and an absolutely dangerous area.

Hidden beneath the deep, dark sea are unspeakable horrors. To date, the outer sea is the only unknown wasteland area that has been almost completely unexplored and developed by humans.

On the other side of the abandoned city, opposite Wang Yu's area, lies an endless wasteland. Also a wasteland, vast abnormal areas divide the land: forests, giant rock forests, monument gardens…

Humans rarely set foot in the wasteland. Only a few remaining mobile cities are able to survive there for extended periods, migrating back and forth along relatively safe routes established over time.

Each time they reach the farthest region, there will be pioneer teams composed of insatiable greedy individuals or those carrying great ideals, heading even further into the wasteland.

Most of these people have disappeared without a trace, and very few, except for the first mobile city, have been established because of this group of outlaws.

Wang Yu, who had been silently pondering the matter, got up. The unmanned buses were traveling at extremely high speeds. What was absurd was that any resident who blocked their designated tracks and was hit and killed was solely responsible for their own death, and even had to compensate the companies responsible for these buses for maintenance costs.

Therefore, after a half-hour drive, Wang Yu had already entered the central area of ​​the abandoned city, which was his destination.

Wang Yu got off at the nearest stop. The broken scanner still showed no signs of being repaired. He stepped into this bustling and advanced cyber city.

"The Hai Chao Gang's businesses should be around here, right? The bars and prosthetic shops are all under their control. So we can just pick any one of them to complete the reporting task."

After observing the surrounding environment, which was undeniably cramped due to its excessively high space utilization, Wang Yu confirmed his destination and hurried there.

"Handsome guy, why not try out our store's latest arrival of sex dolls? They're perfectly lifelike, with every part mimicking the real human body. Whatever you want, anything that can happen between two people can be done even more perfectly with them."

A woman who had clearly undergone surgery to make her figure and face flawless, a woman whose mere glance was enough to make one's blood boil, called out to Wang Yu as he walked past the shop behind her, attracting his attention with a seductive tone.

Wang Yu, who had been expressionless, actually stopped. However, after glancing back at the sex dolls projected onto the shop's 3D projection behind the woman, who were engaged in something indescribable, he simply twisted his arm a couple of times and left, seemingly lost in thought.

The woman didn't seem to care and continued to solicit other residents of the abandoned city who were passing by, while Wang Yu turned and walked into the nearest bar.

The layout inside was very similar to those bars in the 21st century. Wang Yu thought this might be considered "retro"? The customers sitting in their seats were all quite quiet, savoring the drinks in front of them. There were almost no drunkards or people acting crazy. The atmosphere was actually quite good.

As for the reason, whether it's going on a drunken rampage or getting completely intoxicated, it's all too easy to lose some of your body parts in this abandoned city.

"What would you like, sir? We can provide both physical and electronic products. Of course, if you need something to get you hyped up, the price should be just right."

The burly bartender professionally wiped the glassware in his hands, promoting his drink to Wang Yu as he walked in. Behind him was a screen divided into many diamond-shaped areas, each with a specific number. Customers could choose to mix their own drinks or have the bartender do it for them.

Real liquor is just regular mixed drinks, while electronic liquor is provided to customers who have had implanted auxiliary chips and have lost their sense of taste due to excessive body modification. As for the last thing mentioned, there's not much to say about it.

"I didn't come here to drink."

As Wang Yu answered, he took out the emblem that could display his identity as a member of the Hai Chao Gang and showed it to the bartender.

"Oh? Let me see. The explosive collar is still there. It seems to be from the news, number 318. Hmm, there's a registration related to you. Go down."

The bartender's right eye flickered slightly. The chip remotely read the emblem and the explosive collar around Wang Yu's neck, confirming his identity and learning about Wang Yu's information. He immediately opened the bar and gestured for Wang Yu to come over.

A passageway leading underground opened as the bartender controlled it, and Wang Yu stepped inside. The intelligent guidance machine was already waiting there, leading Wang Yu through the underground passage.

"Is this passageway connecting all the businesses under the Sea Tide Gang's control?"

Wang Yu observed the intricate network of interconnected underground passages on both sides, lost in thought.

He was quickly led to a door. The gate opened, revealing the room inside, which was somewhat similar to the doctor's room, with an operating chair and a large amount of equipment. However, the doctor was more skilled in biotechnology and therefore could not help Wang Yu deal with the explosive collar.

"Get in, number 318. I'm glad you came here to register within the deadline, so I didn't lose a future subordinate. I am Wu Ziming. We met before. After that, you will need to follow me. And now, this is the first task I want to give you."

There was no one in the room, except for a 3D projection that appeared when Wang Yu entered, projecting Wu Ziming's image and talking about related matters.

Wang Yu sat on the operating chair, and soon electronic tentacles descended, drilling a hole in the place where the explosive collar was embedded in Wang Yu's neck. The azure liquid filling the explosive collar was drained, and the explosive collar was quickly rendered ineffective.

This process seems simple, but in reality, the explosive collar has been deactivated from the higher-level system; otherwise, it would have detonated directly if damaged by external force.

"This is a traitor to the gang. He is a sorcerer like you. After gaining a certain position in the gang and removing the parasite, he betrayed the gang and is now hiding in the anomaly zone on the outskirts of the ruined city. Your first mission is to hunt him down."

Wu Ziming's projection conveyed Wang Yu's first mission. A piece of paper containing relevant information was ejected from the device beside Wang Yu, which contained information about the target.

"Benjamin, number 75, a successful candidate in the ritual, joined the gang twelve years ago, is extremely skilled in assassination and sniping, and is currently..."

As Wang Yu silently read the contents, the image of a traitor who had been a member of a gang for many years and whose body had been modified to more than 40% cybernetic extent appeared in his mind.

His brows furrowed. This goal was far too difficult for him. He estimated that he was only 50% confident. The opponent was no ordinary nobody; he was a troublesome figure whose experience and equipment far surpassed Wang Yu's.

"I have no interest in sending you to your death in vain. To be honest, you'll probably be killed before you even see Benjamin. This traitor is a stain on our Tide Gang. So your mission this time is to lead a team of three mercenaries who have accepted the bounty to deal with this traitor hiding in the mutation zone."

"You need to register as a mercenary on Star Ring first, then become the guide for the bounty we've issued, and lead three other mercenaries who have accepted the mission to the target area. No matter what you do, kill this traitor. This is your first mission, and also our test for you. Don't let me down."

Wu Ziming spoke of Wang Yu's mission with a hint of mockery. Clearly, the Haichao Gang did not intend for Wang Yu to go and die meaninglessly. He was still useful, and if he could not complete the mission even under these circumstances, then he had no reason to live at all.

After finishing his explanation, Wu Ziming's projection disappeared from Wang Yu's sight. The machine that had just spat out the paper now directly produced a device similar to the mine watch, which was exactly what he needed—the Star Ring System Registration Device.

The Star Ring Mercenary System is an extremely large and mysterious organization. Its network platform exists in New Capital, Wasteland, and even Wasteland. As long as you have a Star Ring System identity registration device, you can access the Star Ring System from any location to post and accept missions.

Star Ring is probably one of the very few organizations that can rival the Big Four corporations. However, this organization doesn't seem to have any interest in interfering with the construction and operation of the safe zone. In reality, it only does two things: establish the Star Ring mercenary network and distribute identity registration devices on a large scale.

Anyone can become a mercenary of the Star Ring using an identity registration device. These mercenaries, scattered like stars throughout the safe zone, are all identified by a self-chosen code name, which is kept strictly confidential.

Even the four giant corporations couldn't breach StarRing's network security, and how this network covering the security zone was built remains a mystery.

After all, the network in this world is not so simple. Unspeakable pollution is everywhere. One theory suggests that the Star Ring was constructed by awakened AIs outside the Black Gate, or at least that these dangerous individuals were involved.

Leaving aside the issue of the network in this world, after discovering that they could not stop the spread of the Star Ring Mercenary System in any way, major corporations and gangs simply took advantage of this absolutely neutral platform.

The tasks within are neither good nor evil, neither black nor white; someone posts them and someone accepts them. The Star Ring System itself is also constantly being upgraded, and its various functions and mechanisms are already extremely perfect and efficient.

It can be said that the Star Ring mercenary system has actually become part of the safe zone. Various organizations have their own people registered in the Star Ring system, and every member of the Inquisition is registered there.

"Registering as a mercenary? They actually provide the Star Ring Mercenary System's identity registration device directly. These things are relatively easy to obtain both on the official market and the black market, but they still cost some money. It's an unexpected gain."

Wang Yu tapped the screen on the watch-like device and began registering his mercenary identity.

"Please enter the code name you use in the Star Ring system. This identity will stay with your device until you are logged out."

A prompt appeared, instructing Wang Yu to edit a code name for his identity.

[Outsider]

Without much hesitation, Wang Yu directly entered the name, but after entering it, his finger stopped clicking "OK," and a slightly neurotic smile appeared on his lips. He then deleted the text he had entered.

"This is so boring, can't we make it more interesting?"

……

"Hmm, the bounty has been accepted. It seems that Agent 318 has completed registration. His code name is..."

On the other side, Wu Ziming kept an eye on the bounty information on his device. He needed to confirm Wang Yu's code name, because the person who would be issuing the bounty at this moment must be Wang Yu.

"Ultraman?"

Wu Ziming read out the code name for the mercenary who accepted the bounty.