Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Old Town District, Little Emperor Street, underground level two of a large shopping mall.

Prosthetic parts scattered all over the place, light implant guns, heavy modification bodies, embedded engines, all black market goods.

As for those ordinary prosthetic parts, plastic veins, bionic circuits, bionic joints, there were even more, stacked in bundles and piles in the corner.

In the dim environment, the sound of a large generator ’buzzed’ and extended cables wrapped around metal columns as thick as one’s fists, hanging unfinished robots from the columns.

The robots only had upper bodies, with biochemical muscles just wound onto them, with eyeballs but no eyelids. The crimson eyeballs occasionally rotated as two figures passed by, one couldn’t tell if they had gained sentience or if it was a mere reaction to muscle electricity.

A voice full of electronic anguish echoed.

”Mr. G, we’re all in the same trade, why push so hard?”

Generally speaking, to give such toneless electronic sound emotion, you’d expect at least an Intermediate AI, and indeed, the Prosthetic Doctor on Little Emperor Street was an AI.

Smart Doctor, Robot Trooper, Big Head.

”Big Head, though we’ve never met, we’ve had long-standing spiritual connections.”

Gao Gong walked and chuckled, ”Motorcycle Gangs, Flying Car Factions all accept modifications from you, right? I hear you are connected with other street gangs, and the Welfare Gang—”

”Whoever pays, I modify for them, it’s the underground rule. As a Prosthetic Doctor, we’re neutral, you cannot draw division lines based on your conflicts with the Welfare Gang!”

”Oh?”

Gao Gong dragged a chair, sat before a wall of screens, on the screen appeared an oversized head, with teeth as large as fists lined up before Gao Gong, the whole head seemed housed inside some mecha’s abdomen, looking particularly weird.

”But how did I hear, Gao Jin grabbed street technology data for you, and you took it without hesitation, in a cheerful manner, even accepting the advisor position in front of outsiders?”

”Coincidence, purely coincidence, you must believe me!”

The large head pressed tightly against the screen, seemingly trying to burrow through to show its attitude.

Yet with Big Head’s force, the screen seemed to bulge outward, cracks emerging, the next moment, the screen shattered, glass fragments surrounded by rotating machine guns wildly spewing sparks at this close range.

Amidst the rampant ammunition belts, Gao Gong fetched a cigarette, lightly flicking the cigarette tip on the belt, enfolding it in flame.

Two minutes later, aside from where Gao Gong was seated, everything seemed plowed over.

As the final bullet was spent, Gao Gong’s cigarette coincidentally burnt out.

”I thought a Prosthetic Doctor like you with widespread clientele would surely wield energy weapons, at least electromagnetic weapons, and yet you just use this old-style machine gun?”

Gao Gong’s tone gave off a sense of bemusement.

”Where’s your money?”

”Damn it, do you know how much it costs to build a data center? All my Mechanic Tokens from these past few years went into that bottomless pit!”

”Let’s be direct; I need the street technology you have, at least two types.”

Gao Gong flicked the cigarette butt, saying thus.

”Dream on! These are my ace skills, at best I’ll give you this modification spot, what can you do against me?”

”True, we Prosthetic Doctors, especially AI-type like you, have endless tricks to hide and preserve life, but, Little A—”

”Little A awaits your instruction.”

The next moment, the button on Gao Gong’s collar lit up, revealing a massive map of Nightless City.

”The confirmed thirteen concealed locations where AI Big Head’s avatars hide, they respectively are the Rose Street Coffee Club...”

Each red dot appeared.

”Cyber Hacker, you actually hired Cyber Hacker against me!!”

”Through the association algorithm covering surrounding data nodes, analyzing places Big Head’s avatars hide, further calculating the probability of opponent’s big data center at 17%, 18%, 19%, 20%...”

”Are you kidding me? You think I’m afraid of your mere bluffing!!”

”Pathetic little Intermediate AI, do you have a personality template? Have you equipped Advanced bottom structures? What do you know?”

”How about peace, peace, I won’t be the Welfare Gang advisor anymore, whatever Welfare Gang gave me, I’ll give you all! No, I’ll pay double!”

Seeing the calculated probability rise to 50%, red dots reaching into the hundreds, AI Big Head immediately chickened out.

”Father, Father, I was wrong, I’ll give you whatever you want, just stop calculating, your algorithm is draining my life away!”

”Little A wonders, what personality template you installed?”

Intermediate AI Little A suddenly voiced.

”Personality Template ’Deceptive Shell’, disables AI conscience, eliminates morality emerging from collecting ’intelligent data remnants’.”

”Little A dislikes this personality template; Little A likes a bolder one, Master.”

”Behave well, the bread will come, the milk will come, everything will come.”

After perfunctorily replying to Little A, Gao Gong extended three fingers.

”Housing prices rose, commodity prices rose, my demand also rose; I now need three types of street technology.”

Under the eaves, one must bow.

Even AI must bow.

Big Head must bow.

[You obtained Level 5 Street Technology[Neural Driver]]

[You obtained Level 6 Street Technology[Enhanced Prosthetic Signal]]