Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Early in the morning, Gao Yuanyuan stood at the doorway, freshly painted white, looking expectantly at Gao Gong.

”Why aren’t you going to work? You’re almost late.” Behind the door, Gao Gong, while tidying up the dining table, asked.

Gao Yuanyuan pouted slightly.

”Aren’t you going to take me?”

”I can’t take you every day, I’m not your brother complex.”

”Hmph!”

Gao Yuanyuan snorted softly, then left swinging her newly tied ponytail.

”Speaking of which, this cheap little sister’s birthday is coming soon, can’t miss this chance to gain some favor.”

After cleaning up the dining table, Gao Gong slowly went downstairs, then opened the front door, glanced at the somewhat empty glass cabinet, and muttered to himself.

”Time to restock again.”

The business of the Prosthetic Doctor is pretty good, in Nightless City, before players switched professions to Prosthetic Doctors, they thought of Black Market Doctors as being expensive but otherwise fine.

This notion lasted until the first player Prosthetic Doctor appeared.

A player single-handedly shook the market, making Mechanical City citizens understand what botched modifications look like, and that there’s no good cheap stuff.

Otherwise, how do you think players make those good things big corporations’ R&D couldn’t?

It’s not only in battles, surgical modifications can also bring a lot of experience, Gao Gong’s personal experience has already surpassed 1.3 million.

Once the Prosthetic Doctor and Biologist professions successfully switch, with personal modifications, 1.3 million experience should support Gao Gong to level 30.

Gao Gong thought for a moment, then decided to draw the rewards from before.

With an 8-draw streak, Gao Gong gained a popular science book on alien plants, 6000 points of experience, and three blueprints.

These three blueprints are [Nervous Tube Transformation], [Dopamine Splitter], and [Medulla Enhancer].

”Wow, what day is today? Such good luck!”

Among them, the Dopamine Splitter is a rare wide-range mental hallucinogen, while both ’Nervous Tube Transformation’ and ’Medulla Enhancer’ are excellent modification blueprints.

These respectively enhance the neural system and the circulatory system.

Nervous Tube Transformation (Superior): When your blood volume drops to 0, the brain secretes neurochemicals, transmitting electric signals, activating biological activities, temporarily restoring 10% blood volume, with an additional skill, Near-Death Strike.

Medulla Enhancer (Fine): Agility +4, Perception +5, Reaction Speed +10%

Besides, the ’Nervous Tube Transformation’ granting an extra life is more practical than any skill for an NPC like him.

In one-on-one duels, Gao Gong assumes there aren’t many in the whole Nightless City who can rival him.

But city folks typically have no sense of chivalry, when losing they call reinforcements or bombard with ranged weapons.

In historical records, Great Knight Steel fell exactly like this.

He doesn’t want to end up like that, getting hit by a Space-Based Weapon.

So since entering the city, Gao Gong has kept a low profile.

He moved to the back modification room, unwrapping a long cloth-bundled object, revealing a ’hissing’ samurai sword.

This was yesterday night’s loot.

Name: One-Marked Snake Blade (Assassination Alliance)

Category: Intelligent Blade

Quality: Superior (War Weapon)

Weight: 6.6kg

Basic Attributes: DPS:1500, Attack Power:500, Attack Speed: 3 attacks/second, Attack Range: 1.6 meters

Additional Attributes: Armor-Piercing (+13.% armor-piercing damage), Blood Split (+8.7% bleeding damage)

Additional Skills: Invisibility Snake Blade

Plugin Slot: Intelligent Chip: Coiling Serpent

Note: One of the top nine assassination blades forged by the best blade forgers of the Assassination Alliance. It is rumored that gathering all nine assassination blades will unlock the legendary ultimate assassination mission, possibly altering history.

”An assassination blade at the level of a famous sword, on par with Matsushima Keiko’s family-inherited Sakura Blade.”

The sword’s appearance was remarkable; the style was a normal samurai sword, with the center blade line splitting it into two parts. The blade part was transparent, and the blade line resembled a twisted snake mark.

While the blade part resembled normal sword tools, the hilt was unlike any conventional sword structure; three metal snakes sprung from the hilt, coiling around the handle, ’hissing’ with tongues flicking.

’A bit sinister, did this sword simulate a snake AI?’

Gao Gong grabbed the handle, and instantly, three metal snakes in a swift move bit his hand.

On the system panel, a series of negative states popped up instantly.

[You acquire the temporary state, ’Snake Blood Sacrifice,’ health decreasing at 3 points per second]

[You acquire the temporary state, ’Bloodthirst,’ while wielding this blade, you are frenzied for blood]

[You acquire the temporary state, Genetic Pollution]

[You acquire the temporary state, ’Assassin the Serpent’]

[You acquire the temporary state, ’Big Data Slash Skill’]

This was the first time a weapon alone brought five temporary states to Gao Gong.

And damn if they weren’t all negative.

The blood flowing from Gao Gong’s palm gradually covered the blade.

Simultaneously, a touch of blood appeared in Gao Gong’s right eye, his demeanor becoming cold and frenzied, while his left tactical prosthetic eye displayed a frenzy of combat data: wind speed, humidity, velocity, power, orientation, exertion angles, and various angles’ killing success rate.

Holding the Samurai Sword, Gao Gong seemed to transform into the most dangerous assassin of the Assassination Alliance.

The blood-dripping five fingers tightened their grip on the hilt, a trail of crimson extending along the ’serpent line’ to the tip of the blade. As the tip turned red, the blade gradually disappeared, followed by the hilt, Gao Gong’s hand, forearm, upper arm, and then his entire body.

The sound of Gao Gong’s voice came from the air.

”Energy concealment, no, visual interference, not that either.”

”This is an adjustment at the genetic level. Though I don’t know if there are any on this planet, in the universe, there are not too few carbon-based creatures capable of invisibility.”

”Did the Assassination Alliance decode an invisibility genetic fragment or did they find some invisible creature?”

Gao Gong’s figure gradually revealed, his demeanor still cold, but his eyes had regained clarity. He looked at the three small snakes frenziedly sucking blood, and sneered.

”A mere battle AI also wants to control me?”

The next moment, his body began to swell section by section, his fingers thickening and enlarging, with spikes protruding from them and inserting back into the metal snakes, halting the decrease in blood volume and even starting to regain the lost blood volume.

A multitude of fissures appeared on Gao Gong’s body surface, signs of ’genetic collapse’.

Yet, when these cracks spread to the location of the ’Crimson Red Tattoo’, not only did they not break open the tattoo, but with the opening and closing of flesh spores, within three seconds, these fissures completely healed.

Genetic contamination also depends on the level of the target; an ant cannot carry an elephant.

In the next moment, the veins on Gao Gong’s body surface wriggled, turning from blue to red, rupturing through the skin, forcing their way out from the muscles, writhing like giant pythons around the Samurai Sword, the corrosive liquid continuously dripping on the ground, creating small holes.

The intelligent blade trembled with a ’buzz’, at least confirming that it was not a happy emotion.

[Your temporary status, ’Snake Blood Sacrifice’, has been lifted]

[Your temporary status, ’Bloodthirst’, has been replaced by ’Blood Devouring’, absorbing 3 blood points per second when attacking an enemy]

[Genetic contamination has been suppressed]

The three metal snakes released their mouths and coiled around Gao Gong’s forearms like armbands.

Genetic contamination: The Single Pattern Snake Blade has absorbed vast amounts of blood over its past owners, along with absorbing large quantities of enemy genetic fragments, gradually eroding the blade, turning it into a master-eating demon blade. No sword-wielding assassin meets a good end.

Gao Gong roughly understood the origin of this serial killer, surprisingly an elite of the Assassination Alliance, which was indeed unexpected.

”Perhaps this is an opportunity.”

Gao Gong touched his chin. The mission related to the old assassin’s last wish has always existed, but he kept procrastinating.

It’s not that he insisted on letting Miyamoto Sanzang die with regrets, but he genuinely didn’t have the time or the means to undertake this task.

The Assassin Organization isn’t so easy to join, and the identity verification methods make counterfeiting almost impossible. Moreover, once the assassin contract is signed, it essentially binds one to the organization.

An Alliance Leader doing assassinations? Even if he was willing, others dare not employ him.

But now, he suddenly had a suitable candidate.

Rainy Night with a Knife and No Umbrella.

In his previous life, Nightless City was overrun by the beast tide army; this individual probably joined the Knight Order at that time, changing roles into a Mechanical Hunter.

But now, with the beast tide suppressed by him and Nightless City spared from being overrun, his chance of transitioning to a Hunter is very slim.

If being a Hunter is not feasible, he could become an Assassin.

With this individual’s level of operation, coupled with the player’s undying traits, standing out wouldn’t be difficult.

Thus, the other party escapes the fate of becoming an AI worker, and he completes the assassin mission, laying down a piece in the assassination group.

This is simply a win-win!

Now, all that needs to be done is to quickly increase the other’s favorability to reach the threshold for the ’hidden task’.

Looking at the buzzing Single Pattern Snake Blade, Gao Gong flicked his wrist, executing a bizarre set of assassination knife skills. This knife technique was remarkably odd, with each flick of the wrist resembling the strike of venomous snakes—silent, yet deadly enough.

[You have comprehended Basic Knife Technique]

[Your Basic Knife Technique has been advanced to ’Assassination Snake Blade’ under the influence of the Combat Chip]

[Big data generation in progress, your ’Assassination Snake Blade’ has advanced to lv2]

[Big data generation in progress, your ’Assassination Snake Blade’ has advanced to lv3]

...

[Big data generation in progress, your ’Assassination Snake Blade’ has advanced to Elite, unlocking the skill ’Snake King Blade’]

Snake King Blade: A deadly assassination knife technique, where the snake entwines humans, and the blade consumes humans

[You have obtained the additional state ’Poison’]

[You have obtained the additional state ’Entwining Blade’]

”Tsk tsk, big data upgrading is indeed fast.”

Experience upgrading is essentially stacking skill data, not much different from big data upgrading.

Gao Gong chuckled, stepping out of the modification room; outside, three small players were poking their heads around.

”Since you’re here, come with me to the Black Market for supplies.”

With a ’ding’, the ’supply’ task was released.

”Boss, slow down, I’ll pull the cart for you.”

”Dad, I’ll carry the bag for you.”

”Boss, is there anything else you need to do?”