Chapter 157: Is It Finally Our Turn? - Intelligence Type Players

Elm District.

On the edge of a concrete wall that was covered with vines and bullet holes, a certain noise of something breaking through the air resounded.

Before the snow wolf, who was lying on the ground and biting on a corpse, could react, it was already slammed into a tree trunk by a javelin.

Ample Time, holding a mechanical compound bow, stepped forward and checked the prey that was already dead. When he saw the short javelin piercing the tree trunk, he couldn't help but click his tongue, "This is too powerful!"

The trunk of the tree was as thick as thighs.

If he was asked to shoot it with an arrow, he wouldn't be able to penetrate it without charging up for some time..

No, even with 80% of the charge, it would still not be enough. Unless it was an arrow made of pure steel.

Gale looked at his right hand, shock written all over his face. He muttered to himself in a low voice, "... So strong."

"Gale..."

"What?"

"Make sure to wipe your butt with another hand."

"Get lost!"

Gale walked forward and pulled the javelin out. But he didn't expect that he was only able to pull half of it out, leaving the other half behind the trunk.

As for the mutant snow wolf, there was no need to look at it at all, it couldn't be more dead.

Ample Time continued, "The strength of your right hand should be at least 30 points. It feels like it is enough to penetrate steel plates. If you think outside the box, you don’t have to just throw javelins, you can also throw knives, arrows, stones, or even bricks... Damn, I suddenly feel that Old White's strength type sequence is completely useless. He could be beaten up by anyone with a mechanical arm."

"Not necessarily." Gale shook his head and said, "I remember Light saying in the group earlier that the bottlenecks of each genetic sequence is level 10. The strength type should be able to unlock exclusive skills after level 10. Otherwise, leveling up will be useless if we compare it to using machinery."

The strength type players would probably be fine. At worst, they could install a mechanical arm. The ones that should complain were mutant players. After all, they were born with a debuff that hindered them in operating complex machinery, not to mention the sad intelligence attribute they had.

If the game couldn't make up for this shortcoming through skills in the later stage, the mutant sequence would be completely useless. Gale estimated that there would definitely be new changes after the tenth level.

"Yes," Ample Time nodded, "Now that you said it, I also remembered that the Bloodhand Clan's Boss almost broke through before dying."

"Yeah, and... I feel that this mechanical arm should have certain requirements for intelligence sequence." Looking at the broken javelin in his hand, Gale said thoughtfully, "It doesn't feel anything when using it normally, but if the output power is increased, I will feel slightly dizzy. I'm not sure of the reason for this phenomenon, and I haven't seen a similar description on the official website."

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Ample Time touched his chin with interest, and suddenly said, "Speaking of which, what is the power supply for your robotic arm?"

Gale froze for a moment and said, "I don't know, but there is a charging port here."

Saying that, Gale lifted his sleeve and showed the hole in his arm.

Ample Time stared for a while and said, "More than one hole, one on the forearm, one on the shoulder... I don't think all of them are charging ports."

"What do you think they are used for?"

Ample Time rubbed his chin and mumbled, "Look at this hole in the shoulder, it has two bars outside, so it's definitely a fixed card slot. I guess it's used to connect to the neural interface of the externally implanted plug-in. Maybe in the future, you can install... Um... You might be able to install another arm?"

“..."

Another one? So he would become Doctor Octopus?

Actually, it sounded pretty awesome!

However, in reality, he didn't have a third arm. So after this non-existent arm was installed, how should he use it... Wait...

Gale suddenly raised his head, looked at Ample Time, and said, "Do you remember the description of the intelligence type on the official website? I remember it said that the intelligence type attribute will affect the operation and access quantity of the neural access device."

Ample Time nodded. "I was thinking about this just now. Maybe mechanical transformation is the correct way to play the intelligence type Combat Profession. If the store opens up the purchase of implanted prostheses, maybe the future of intelligence sequence is coming!"

Alas, the future is finally here!

Gale suddenly felt like he wanted to cry.

He felt like he had waited for a long time, and his class was finally buffed by the developers.

Ample Time frowned. "But you have to be careful. My mechanical bow can still be picked up if I drop it. But if you die... Even if the arm can be recovered, I feel like it's not easy to put it back."

Gale held his right arm, and said calmly, "Don't worry, I'll take care of my legendary arm."

Amused by the guy's serious expression, Ample Time said with a smile, "Yeah, you'd better be. By the way, don't show off your new arm on the forum later."

"... Why?"

Looking at Gale who was clearly planning to show off on the forum, Ample Time said with a faint sigh, "Brother, do you know how many people finished themselves off last night because of their injuries? I estimate at least a quarter of the 117."

It's a robotic arm, alright!

Not to mention the players who died, players like him who had been slightly injured and could be healed by a bandage would definitely be envious of this guy's luck!

Gale, who had always been calm, also became nervous when he thought of the possibility that other players would be clamoring to nerf his legendary arm.

"Then I'll make up a story later..."

"Yeah... It’s better like this," Ample Time nodded, "You can just say that you saved their leader's life, and you traded your life for an arm. This reason is much better than you lying on the ground waiting to die, and then waking up with a mechanical arm installed."

Gale nodded quickly.

"Okay, I'll do as you said!"

"I'll say so when someone asks me."

...

Boulder Town.

A vertical take-off and landing plane flew over the towering concrete wall, over the outer urban area, and landed on the apron of the outer building in the inner city.

With three teammates, Li Hua jumped off the stationary plane, walked towards the officer waiting on the edge of the apron, and gave a military salute.

"Commander, the mission failed, the other party refused to hand over the prisoners of war, and refused to conduct further discussions on the issue of ransom."

The middle-aged man who looked like an officer nodded and did not blame them. "Okay, I understand, you can take a rest."

"Yes, sir!"

One had to be very careful when dealing with the disputes between the Army and the Enterprise. If they angered the Army, it may cause the war to spread to Clearspring City.

Provoking the Enterprise would also be a problem. Although they were far away, and it was unrealistic to send troops directly, as long as the other party raised the regional risk rating and tightened their bank's loan funding for trade routes, it would immediately cut the number of caravans from the East Coast by half; they would lose hundreds of millions of chips in one year.

So whoever won the fight in the end, they still had to go.

It would be best if they could do one party a favor and buy the prisoners of war.

It didn't matter if their plan to be a peacemaker failed, at least they tried. When the messenger from either side came to ask, there would be an explanation.

...

Outside the outpost, the snow had stopped for a while.

Yu Hu, who was carrying a hunting bow, walked all the way, and finally saw the outline of the south gate. But what confused him was that there seemed to be a lot less people here than usual.

Did they all go out?

The guards at the gate recognized his face and let him go after routinely checking the pass.

The chimneys of the industrial area were still fuming with smoke, and the sound of beating metal wafted from the half-covered factory building from time to time. It seemed that there should be someone inside.

Without staying too long in the industrial area to the south, Yu Hu went straight to the main building of the nursing home.

There was a room with a sign there. Yu Hu didn't know what was written on the sign. He only knew that it was a bank and also where his little sister worked.

This job was very easy. Most players with VMs had already used electronic payment, and only newcomers would use metal currency.

When there was free time, Xiaoyu would read a book while sitting at the wooden table by the door.

Arriving at the door of the bank and looking at Xiaoyu sitting at the wooden table reading a book, Yu Hu finally heaved a sigh of relief. "Xiaoyu, how have you been?"

"Elder Brother?" Xiaoyu raised her head and looked at her second brother standing at the door in surprise. She put down the book in her hand, and asked curiously, "Why are you here?"

Yu Hu said with a smile, "I'm worried about you. Last night there was such a big light in the north. Big brother, sister-in-law, and mom and dad were all worried about you. So I came here to check on you."

Xiaoyu raised an eyebrow and mumbled, "I'm fine. That bright light? I saw it last night too. But it's quite far from here, so it's fine."

"I'm relieved that you're alright," Yu Hu said with relief, looking at his sister who was safe and sound. "Remember to eat more meat, you can grow taller by eating meat."

Xiaoyu shook her head like a rattle.

"I can't eat too much. If I eat too much, I'll get fat."

"It's better to get fat!"

Xiaoyu frowned, "No, it’s not!"

Yu Hu felt that his little sister was good at everything, but she was just a little too stubborn. As far back as he could remember, he never won any argument against her, so he could only sigh and stop fighting with her.

"Forget it, you don't understand, and I don't want to argue with you... Speaking of which, what book are you reading? Is it good?"

Xiaoyu looked at her confused elder brother with a smile, and said ostentatiously, "This is the language that Big Brother Chu and the others are speaking in! Xiaoyu is now learning a new language!"

Yu Hu, who was playing with the book, said dumbfoundedly, "Ah? Wouldn't that confuse you?"

Xiaoyu said proudly, "No, Xiaoyu is very smart! Brother Chu said that as long as I study hard, I will be rewarded with candy."

Yu Hu looked envious.

But it was not that he envied his little sister for having a book.

Candies.

He also wanted to eat those...

Seeing that his little sister was doing well here, even looking much better than when she was at home, the only worry in Yu Hu's heart was gone.

He planned to say hello to Chu Guang before leaving, but unfortunately, he wasn’t there. The old man in charge of the warehouse said that he seemed to be going north, and he just left a few minutes ago.

Thinking of the nuclear explosion in the north last night, Yu Hu couldn't help but be a little worried, hoping that the place where Chu Guang was going would not be too dangerous.

Every year on Baker Street, there were one or two unlucky guys who got sick from radiation. Because they couldn't afford expensive radiation-reduction agents, they had to lie in their beds until they died.

Compared to radiation itself, those mutants attracted by radiation would be more dangerous, and the probability of breeding dangerous species would be much higher than in other places.

In any case, may he live long.

In this ruined world, there are too few people who are as kind as Big Brother Chu!

....

"Achoo."

Chu Guang, who was sitting in the light truck, sneezed suddenly without warning, and Xia Yan, who was sitting beside him, shot him a look.

"Have you caught a cold?"

"No, it's probably because someone was thinking about me."

Originally, he just said it casually, but he didn't know what was wrong with the woman sitting next to him because she suddenly glared at him.

"Who... Who was thinking about you?! Don't be so full of yourself."

"...?"

What the heck?

While they were talking, the truck had driven to the side of the Pioneer.

Chu Guang jumped out of the truck and gave the lame Xia Yan a hand.

After getting off the truck, Xia Yan glanced left and right, looked at the huge steel platform and crawler track, and looked at the production workshop that kept rumbling next to it, then said in a low voice, "Speaking of which, why did you bring me here? Is there a new job? For the record, I don't want to be too far away from the shelterer, and I don't want to live outside..."

Huh?

This woman is really fussy.

Chu Guang sighed softly, "Okay, it's decided, I'll keep you outside for two days."

When she heard that she really needed to work somewhere else, Xia Yan muttered in a low voice with a bitter look on her face, "Hey... If you have any opinions on me, tell me, I can change."

Chu Guang glanced at her without saying a word and took her directly to the elevator of the Pioneer. A woman in a white winter suit had been waiting there for a long time and smiled at the two of them.

Her name was Wu Ya. She was a medical staff in the logistics department of the Pioneer. She specialized in surgery and research related to implantation of prostheses.

Walking in front of her, Chu Guang went straight to the point. "Dr. Wu, This is the lame woman, I'll leave her to you."

Being amused by the nickname, Dr. Wu looked at him with a smile and said, "Please rest assured, we are professionals."

"Mhm, just don't kill her."

"?! HUH?! Wait, what do you mean by her not killing me?" Confused by this conversation, Xia Yan's face turned white while she nervously took a step back. "You... What are you going to do to me?"

Wu Ya couldn't hold back after all, she burst out laughing, before frowning at Chu Guang. She then said to her patient, "Your boss is joking with you. He bought a mechanical prosthesis for you, and I will install it for you later. Please rest assured, prosthetic implant surgery is a very mature technology here, and there is less than a 1% chance of an accident. Even if there is an accident, the risk is completely controllable."

Implanting a prosthesis?

Operation?

Xia Yan was stunned.

After a while, she looked at Chu Guang in disbelief.

"You..."

Knowing what she wanted to say, and knowing that the dumb woman wouldn't be able to say anything nice to thank him, Chu Guang waved his hand indifferently, indicating that she could stop. "You don't need to thank me, just work hard and repay me."

After dropping his final sentence, he walked towards the operation camp. The players in the camp were still waiting for him to arrange work for them.

Looking at the back of Chu Guang who was leaving, Xia Yan was slightly dazed, and her mood gradually filled with complicated emotions.

Implanting a prosthesis...

That should be very expensive, right?

At least, it's very expensive in Boulder Town.

She had seen it in the shop window several times. Some powerful implants were even comparable to an android with elementary intelligence. Even people with citizenship would shake their heads when they saw it, saying that they couldn't afford it..

Generally speaking, only powerful mercenaries or private guards hired by big bosses had the opportunity to use such expensive equipment.

Honestly speaking, after losing one of her legs, she basically had no hope for the future. Even though Chu Guang once told her that if she did well, he would give her a new leg, she never took it seriously and merely treated it as a joke.

After all, that was something worth tens of thousands of chips. How could it be used on someone like her...

Let alone the fact that he had said it jokingly when they first met.

"Do you need me to wait for you?" Walking to her side, Dr. Wu Ya said softly, "Anyway, you are my last patient today."

Pulling up the collar to hide her red ears, Xia Yan grabbed the cane stuck in the snow again, turned to look at the elevator and whispered, "No..."

"Let's go."