Cyber ​​God: Abyss Walker

The general store had just opened, and it didn't receive many orders. In fact, no one dared to send anything of high value to this little-known shop that had no order history for repairs. For Ling Qi and Wang Yu, processing these orders in a short period of time was not a problem.

"Click!"

"Done. The money comes in much faster than working as a mercenary in Star Ring, but it's much safer. And once my mechanic skills improve and I can take on more high-level jobs, I should be able to earn even more."

After reassembling all the parts from the broken robotic arm on the workbench, Wang Yu and Ling Qi had finished processing all the orders for the day. After putting away the processed items one by one, he leaned back in his recliner and talked about the current situation in a relaxed manner.

"There's still a lot of Universal Currency savings left, so there's no need to rush to earn more Universal Currency."

Lingqi responded to Wang Yu's words.

"Money, money, money, it's such a good thing. I didn't realize it when I had a lot of things weighing on my head, but now that things have settled down, I realize there are so many things that require money."

As he fiddled with the exoskeleton armor that temporarily replaced his right arm, Wang Yu sighed. With the parasite and the Tide Gang on his mind, he hadn't had time to think about money. He had two million in common currency that he was going to spend tomorrow, otherwise, as a mercenary, he might have died before he even spent the money.

After taking down the Tide Gang and solving the parasite problem in an unconventional way, Wang Yu, who had been working as a mechanical repairman all day, realized how lucrative it was to hire mercenaries in Star Ring. After completing all the orders on hand, his net income, including repair consumables, was about five or six hundred dollars.

Wang Yu estimated that no matter how much he improved, without expanding his business scope, the potential for improvement by relying solely on machine repair work would be less than ten times that amount. Moreover, the more orders he took, the more time he would have to work, which was not comparable to the income-to-time ratio of a single mercenary job.

"Have you considered getting a mechanic's license? With that, you should be able to get some higher-level jobs."

Lingqi gave Wang Yu a suggestion and sent the order completion messages to each of the customers.

"Forget it. Given the low recognition of licenses in this abandoned city, there's no difference between an S-level and an F-level certificate. Only a large company like BK Company would use this standard from the new capital for internal assessments. But then again, what reason would BK Company have to hire an unknown mechanic like me?"

Wang Yu waved his hand casually, indicating that it wasn't necessary. He said that the licenses for the abandoned city were just pieces of paper, useful only to those "big companies" internally, and practically useless to ordinary residents, since most of them were fake.

In the abandoned city, some professions are graded. Apart from mercenaries, whose skill level is difficult to pinpoint, professions such as cyborg doctors, mechanics, hackers (network security officers), mech pilots, etc., all have a rating system from F to S. This system was passed down from the new capital and naturally has considerable merit.

Wang Yu estimated that his current mechanic skill level was around the mid-C level, while Lao Yutou's was probably at the low-A level, and that was about it. Even if he gave Lao Yutou more time, Lao Yutou was unlikely to take another step forward.

It wasn't that he looked down on Old Fish Head; on the contrary, Wang Yu held this mechanic, who seemed to have been from Xindu, in high regard. The more Wang Yu learned from the old man's mechanic skills, the stronger he felt. He probably had a story behind him, but all of that had vanished after the old man's death.

The reason why A-level is considered the lower limit is that the mechanics at higher levels are no longer considered human, at least not pure humans. After all, mechanical repair is not magic, and it doesn't involve any mystical elements. In the end, humans can't compare to AIs that have been specially trained.

In terms of memory, operational precision, and efficiency, how can mortal humans possibly compare with machines in the end? If it weren't for the fact that technical data between large companies is impossible to share, and that ordinary people at the bottom of society have no chance to access high-end maintenance services, there would be no need for mechanics to exist at all.

Anyway, he can just look at A-level and then move up. With his mechanical repair skill value of 90, which is close to the human limit, Wang Yu has already done a great job of reaching the level of a mid-C-level mechanic in less than a year. If he wants to move up any further, with the skill values ​​of his current character card, it is unlikely that he will be able to do so smoothly.

"Hmm... at this hour, I should go out and get something to eat."

With a thought, the auxiliary chip transmitted the current time to Wang Yu. He got up, walked out of the shop through the exit left by Ling Qi, and headed towards the shops on this street.

Looking up casually at the bustling street, he realized that the world had become quite different since the aid chip was installed. Those guys were practically about to bypass his permissions and pop up in his face.

The 3D images, visible only to those with the assistive chip implant, surrounded the entire street. GG Brand recklessly tested the limits of personal authorization for the assistive chip, relentlessly transmitting massive amounts of information to the passing residents of the abandoned city, attempting to stimulate their mostly numb nerves.

Ignoring the 3D images surrounding him, Wang Yu didn't think these random things made the city any better; he just felt that this era was really noisy enough.

"Um……"

Looking up, Wang Yu's gaze swept over the person passing by. The person was somewhat familiar; they had previously traded in the mobile city and the abandoned city. The merchant was called "A Coupon." The other party noticed Wang Yu's gaze and returned it, but after realizing that he was an "unfamiliar stranger," he ignored him and quickly left to do his own thing.

The other party's memory is certainly not that bad, and this has nothing to do with the other party; it's all because of Wang Yu.

Upon arriving at his destination, Wang Yu bought some different flavored nutritional pastes and a slightly more expensive cooking box made of some unknown material at the food shop.

These things are among the cheapest commodities in the abandoned city. The technology for synthesizing food is already extremely mature. There is no claim that pollution has caused a large-scale extinction of organisms in the abandoned city. Biotechnology is not something to be taken lightly.

In terms of "taste and nutrition", ordinary food doesn't sell for much in the abandoned city. Only Wang Yu, an "earthling", and a few other oddballs are somewhat interested in it.

On his way back to the shop with the food, Wang Yu gently pressed his right eye, which was covered by an eye mask. The eye mask had no practical function; the special sense inside, known as the "Eye of the Seer," was not affected by a simple covering.

"I'm seeing more and more hallucinations. No, I can't call these things hallucinations. Since they are real and can affect me, they are not illusions."

After his intuition improved, Wang Yu would occasionally see things that normal people could not see. Just now, he noticed some shadowy shadows passing by in the alley next to him, like several human shadows superimposed on each other, which did not conform to the shape of shadows that could be produced by normal lighting.

After the appearance of the special sensory organ "Eye of the Secret Seeker," Wang Yu was able to see more clearly and in more detail than before. The thing that had briefly appeared in the alley was indeed a strange creature pieced together from several humans. It had no distinguishing hands and feet, used all twenty-four limbs, and had several heads, making it unclear which one was the reference point. It moved at an extremely fast speed.

The unusually shaped shadow was probably a trace projected by that thing in a lower-level material world, but Wang Yu had some doubts about whether a normal person could see the unusually shaped shadow.

"Things like this are quite rare in the abandoned city area, so it shouldn't affect me."

After muttering to himself, Wang Yu ignored the strange creature he had glimpsed and walked back to the shop. This was indeed the first time he had seen an unusual creature in the abandoned city area.

While it may be related to the increased depth and enhanced perception, based on his experience, places where humans gather are less likely to have abnormal creatures. In remote areas like kennels, the frequency of occasional abnormal phenomena is much higher.

"Hmm, it tastes good. Lena, would you like some?"

He opened a tube of nutritional paste with an incomprehensible flavor and popped it into his mouth. The taste was very stimulating, with the saltiness and spiciness reaching their extremes. To say it was delicious would be an exaggeration, but for Wang Yu, it was much better than the snot-like nutritional paste he had eaten before.

"Okay, and also, your taste perception structure should not have changed significantly with the changes in your body. The same substances should taste the same in your mouth as before."

While taking the nutritional paste from Wang Yu with one of her tentacles, Lena inserted another tentacle into the side of his cheek and then diagnosed Wang Yu's new physical condition.

"Is that so? By the way, you don't need to conduct medical biology analyses all the time, do you?"

After swallowing a tube of nutritional paste, Wang Yu casually remarked, "This stuff provides a decent amount of calories."

"It's delicious, but this is the only thing I know how to make."

Lena tucked the nutritional paste under her clothes in response to Wang Yu's words.

"That seems to be the case. Well, I'll teach you something else when I have time."

Scratching his forehead, Wang Yu realized that, just as she said, what else could Lena know besides medical and biological knowledge? He and Ling Qi hadn't taught each other anything either, so judging from Wang Yu's limited educational knowledge, it probably wouldn't work.

"OK."

After finishing his "dinner," Wang Yu got up, walked over to Ling Qi who was building a new mechanical spider, sat down next to her, patted her on the shoulder, and spoke.

"Lingqi, are you free? There's something I need to ask you for a favor."

Turning to look at Wang Yu, who had come to see her, Ling Qi asked with some curiosity.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Those messy things that happened before made me think about the great beings. Tsk, great beings always bring us all sorts of dangers and troubles, but we really can't do without them."

"Faced with the advanced weaponry of this era and organizations like the Tide Gang, I am far too weak. Without drawing power from a great being—a power that seems to spring from nothing—I can do nothing, even if I risk my life."

"Although I usually try to avoid getting involved with great beings, and even actively sever my ties with them, I must admit that those forces that require a price have indeed helped me solve problems that I care about more than the price itself."

"So, although these great beings are dangerous, at least for now, in order to prevent something like the Tide Gang from happening again, I will not give up using their power."

Looking at Wang Yu, who was focused on discussing his ideas, Ling Qi listened attentively, seemingly lost in thought.

"But, thinking about it carefully, I realize that I was gambling with the power of the great beings every time I used it. I was gambling with the power of dice. That won't work. Gamblers will eventually fail, and losing in this kind of gamble is basically the end of everything."

Wang Yu tapped his temple with his finger and shook his head.

"I lack understanding of these great beings. Using their power by feeling alone will not take me far. I must gain a deeper understanding of them, at least in terms of how to use their power, to find a more stable path and identify some of the laws that can be followed."

"Of course, it would be too hasty and wishful thinking to talk about studying those great beings right now. I don't plan to take such a big step. What I want to do at this stage is to determine the reaction of this body to the abnormal contamination of the power of great beings."

"I need to write down these patterns. After thinking it over, the only things I feel comfortable using to record this information are that phone and you."

Having stated his plans, since it was impossible not to borrow the power of the great being, Wang Yu prepared to actively contact the abnormal pollution, understand it, and eventually access the information of the great being. At this stage, he needed to first determine the nature of his own body.

"That's very feasible. So, Wang Yu, what do you plan to name this document?"

Ling Qi gave an approving smile, nodded, and spoke.

"Let's call this thing 'The Outsider's Notebook'."

Wang Yu didn't dwell on such trivial details as the name; he thought for a few seconds and then made his decision.

"Let's record the information that I can confirm right now."

Pressing his palm against his face, Wang Yu began to "write" in this notebook.

"The nature of the mimicry tissue itself did not disappear after it became my body, so it can rely on simple mimicry to complete a certain range of shape changes."

With a forceful squeeze of his five fingers, the skin and flesh on his face slightly deformed. When Wang Yu lowered his hand, his appearance was almost completely different from before. Relying on the plasticity of the mimicry tissue, changing his appearance became exceptionally easy, which was why the coupon did not recognize him.

"At the same time, just like in that simulated city, the mimicry organization can mimic other anomalous contaminations and can reproduce the mutation effects produced by anomalous contaminations within a range that are currently uncertain after they act on itself."

He raised his palm, and although he didn't inject any abnormal contaminants into his body, the surface of Wang Yu's palm began to show specks of metallic sheen—a mimicry-steel skin mutation.