Above the Blood Moon

When Lu Yao woke up, his first feeling was a headache, which felt like someone was chiseling the inside of his skull, and each heartbeat brought a sharp pain.

He groaned and raised his hand to rub his temples. In an instant, memories flooded back into his mind, so he sat up abruptly. Because he moved so fast, everything went black and he almost fainted again.

He waited until he steadied his breathing and his vision cleared before he began to look around at his surroundings.

This is a very small room, probably only a few square meters. The walls are made of various metal plates pieced together, and the ceiling is very low, about 2.2 meters high. An old fluorescent tube hangs on it, making the light dim and flickering from time to time.

The room was empty except for a mattress and a rusty locker. There was a musty smell in the air, mixed with the odor of some kind of chemical cleaner, which wasn't pleasant.

Lu Yao looked down at himself.

He was still wearing the same white bodysuit, but the tear in his chest had been repaired. He touched his chest and felt a faint pain under his skin, but it wasn't as intense as before.

"rhubarb?"

He shouted it out instinctively.

no respond.

Lu Yao's heart tightened, and he immediately rolled over and got out of bed.

He steadied himself against the wall and began searching the room, when he saw Big Yellow's head lying peacefully next to the mattress.

Several data cables were connected to the bottom of Big Yellow's head, with the other end of the cables plugged into a socket on the wall.

The plug has been modified. It seems that this AI robot is quite capable. As Lu Yao thought this, he squatted down and gently touched the metal casing of Big Yellow with his finger.

"rhubarb?"

This time there was a response. The visual sensor on the front of Big Yellow's head flashed, and then a familiar voice came out through the speaker built into the head.

"Master, you're awake."

"What time is it now?" Lu Yao asked. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Two days," Big Yellow said. "The standard time is forty-eight hours. You were badly injured, with minor internal bleeding. The doctor performed surgery on you and put you in a room upstairs in his tavern. You're safe, Master."

Lu Yao touched his forehead, where a metal exoskeleton covered it, its surface feeling cold to the touch.

"this……"

"It is part of my torso."

A rare hint of shame appeared in Da Huang's voice.

"To protect your safety, this is my highest-level program code. Under the circumstances, the only thing I could think of was self-destruction, which resulted in the loss of most of my body."

"In order to still be able to move, I can only transform into your head exoskeleton mech. Although its functions are limited to basic protection, visual enhancement, and communication, at least it can protect your head from being cracked open."

Lu Yao fell silent. He looked at the head that was charging in the corner, and then reached out to touch the metal shell covering his head.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome. ξ(✿＞◡❛)" Big Yellow paused for a moment, "But there's some bad news."

"What?"

"We are now in Forgotten City, the only place in the Deep Space Graveyard that can still be considered a city. There's something wrong with your persona because of that shirt with the words on it."

Dahuang continued.

"The doctors found that piece of cloth on you, the one you tore off the body to wrap the blue tissue fluid. There were words written on it with a marker. They looked at it and then they assumed your name was Jockley."

Lu Yao was stunned.

"Jockley?"

"It should be the name of that dead boy, or some message he wanted to convey. Anyway, the doctor and that hip-hop kid are both calling you Jockley now. I suggest you continue playing this role, Master."

Lu Yao processed this information. Qiao Keli, well, then he is Qiao Keli now.

"There's one more thing."

Rhubarb was added.

"The fact that I am an AI must absolutely not be revealed. If they find out that I'm stuck to your head right now, we're both doomed."

Its tone was very serious, so Lu Yao nodded back with a serious expression.

"I see."

"Yes, Master. Let me give you a brief overview of this city. (`・ω・´)"

"The Forgotten City is located at the bottom of the largest crater in the Deep Space Graveyard, with a total population of about 1.8 million, plus a floating population that may be two million."

There's practically no law or government here, at least I couldn't find any. The city is divided into three districts: the Debris Town, the Mirror Lake District, and the Corporate District. Everything is run by various companies.

"And we are now in the ruins town, where there are scavenger gangs, smuggling rings, mercenary organizations, and people like that doctor who run a tavern and act as a middleman."

Dahuang paused for a moment.

"The main currency here is Covenant Coins. Modification points from the Modified faction can also be traded. In terms of purchasing power, one Covenant Coin can buy about ten tubes of basic nutritional paste, or one cheapest prosthetic maintenance."

"As for clues about getting home," Da Huang continued, "I found out that the area of ​​the space station we came from has now been designated as a contracted area by Yadea Technology Company, making it extremely difficult to get in."

"If you try to sneak in, the company's security team isn't to be trifled with."

Lu Yao took a deep breath. His headache was still throbbing, but his mind was gradually clearing. His primary goal was naturally to return to that space station and find clues as to why he was there.

But first he has to survive.

Before he could even sort out his thoughts, a knocking sound rang out, making the metal door vibrate.

"Chockley!" a young male voice called from outside, his tone unfriendly. "Open the door, I know you're awake!"

Lu Yao looked at the big yellow head in the corner, and the visual sensor band on the head flashed twice quickly.

"It's that hip-hop kid."

After saying this, the indicator light on Big Yellow's head went out, and it used its limbs to climb onto Lu Yao's head and began to adjust its shape. The armor plates on both sides tightened slightly, and the visual sensor on its forehead lit up with blue light, projecting a semi-transparent blue interface in front of Lu Yao's eyes.

Lu Yao took a deep breath and silently repeated in his heart: I am Qiao Keli, I am Qiao Keli, I am Qiao Keli...

Then he stood up, walked to the door, and unlatched it.

The door opened.

Standing outside was that hip-hop kid. At that moment, his expression was terrible, as black as the bottom of a pot, and he started babbling on and on.

He spoke very quickly, his pronunciation was unclear, and he had a heavy local accent. Jockley couldn't understand a single word and could only stare at him blankly.

But the next second, lines of Chinese characters began to scroll rapidly on the blue screen in front of him:

[Real-time translation enabled]

[Target Language: Forgotten City Common Language (Modified Dialect Variant)]

[Translated content: ...You finally woke up, you fucking idiot! Do you know how much money I spent to drag you out? Ten Star Alliance Coins, a whole ten Star Alliance Coins!]

And then there's the lousy surgery At performed on you, costing 4.2 Star Alliance Coins. He even put you in the tavern's servant room, saying you rented it for half a month, and the bill for 8 Star Alliance Coins is all hanging on my head.

You owe me 22.2 Star Alliance Credits! 22.2, how are you going to pay me back?!

The hip-hop kid got more and more excited as he spoke, and his voice grew louder and louder. He took a step forward, and the five fingers of the mechanical arm opened and closed, making a clicking sound as metal rubbed together.

The murderous intent in his eyes was real.

Jockley shrank back, raised his hands in a gesture of calm, and opened his mouth as if to say something, but didn't know what language to use.

Finally, Chokli decided to use the most basic method: speaking slowly and using gestures. No matter where or what country you are in, or even in prehistoric times, gestures are always the simplest way to communicate.

"I have no money."

The blue interface immediately translated the sentence into speech, which was then emitted from a miniature speaker built into the head exoskeleton. The sound was processed and sounded like standard Forgotten City common language, only the intonation was a bit strange.

The hip-hop kid was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting Jockley to be so direct.

"Dude, aren't you even going to pretend? No money? So what are you planning to do?"

Jockley shook his head, trying to make his tone sound sincere.

"I will pay you back, but I need time, don't I? And what's your name?"

This question made the hip-hop kid pause for a moment.

"Daikiri".

He answered instinctively, then immediately realized what he had done.

"Wait, why are you asking this? Trying to get on my good side? No way! Either pay me now, or..."

"Daikiri," Jockley interrupted him, "I really don't have any money right now. How about this, let me have some time to recover. Once I feel a bit better, I'll look for a job and pay you back as soon as I earn some money, okay?"

He spoke slowly, carefully considering each word in his mind, afraid that this seemingly unfriendly hip-hop kid in front of him might resort to violence.

To be honest, Jockley is still a bit dazed. Everything happened too fast, so fast that he can hardly accept it, such as how he ended up with a debt.

But first, I must survive, and then slowly find my way home, Jockley thought to himself.

Daikiri stared at him for a long time, his eyes filled with suspicion, and finally he snorted.

"Alright, I'll give you three days. After three days, either you see the money, or..."

He raised the mechanical arm, his five metal fingers forming a fist.

"I'll dismantle you and sell the parts; organs from a pure human can fetch a decent price on the market."

After saying that, he turned and left, his studded jacket leaving a dazzling silver streak in the dimly lit corridor.

Jockley stood there, watching him disappear at the end of the corridor before slowly closing the door. He leaned against the door and let out a long breath, his heart pounding.

His first day in the Forgotten City didn't seem very interesting.