“Over six hundred points? Talk about extravagant!”
Feng Xue used [Cheap Goods] to convert the raw materials into 3-star cybernetic parts, muttering nonstop as he worked.
The reason they had to be 3-star was that cybernetics of different grades had limits to the entries they could carry.
When he had previously created a new character, he had tried to add the [Great Strength] entry, only to receive the prompt: [Cybernetics below 2-star quality (including 2-star) cannot carry skills]. After obtaining that information, he had also tried assigning both Lightweight and Battle Continuation to the same cybernetic part, only to receive: [Cybernetics below 4-star quality (including 4-star) can only possess one trait].
Thus, in order to attach the [Great Strength] skill, he had to cobble together a full set of 3-star cybernetics. Considering the cost, however, he still chose to use Cheap Goods to make the parts.
As for the weight problem caused by Cheap Goods, that was simple enough. During assembly, he just had to add some cheap metal ingots as counterweights. When transformed by his flesh-and-blood ability, they might even turn into steel muscles, an exoskeleton, or something of the sort…
[Unrecorded entry detected. Record it? Note: recording an entry will cause irreversible damage to the entry’s carrier. You may also obtain this entry by installing the cybernetic part.]
“Oh-ho, there really is one!” Feng Xue had only just stuffed the polished and shaped counterweight into the cybernetic part when the text from his golden finger popped up. That hadn’t appeared when he had first finished making the cybernetic part.
“In other words, follow-up improvements not processed by the golden finger can also produce entries? Makes sense. Otherwise, where would the entries on wild cybernetics come from?”
Feng Xue weighed the arm in his hand. Estimating it to be around four kilograms, he nodded in satisfaction. He had no intention of recording it directly. The materials he had on hand were limited, and the scrapyard was about to open. Compared to wasting materials and time recording it now, the correct move was to accumulate another identical one after returning from exploration.
Casually placing the arm on the workbench, Feng Xue turned and began fiddling with the other components, only to unexpectedly discover that this Cheap Goods skeleton plus steel counterweight design had actually been recorded in the manufacturing blueprints as well.
Do not think this was meaningless. One had to understand that once something entered the blueprints, it meant it had been recognized as a whole and could receive entry bonuses.
For example, if he assembled it himself, then the counterweights added afterward could not benefit from the Lightweight bonus. Stuffing less than four kilograms of counterweight into an arm would bring it to a normal weight. But if he assembled it using the golden finger’s blueprint, he could stuff twelve kilograms of counterweight inside and have the cybernetic part maintain a weight of around four kilograms.
This meant that, provided there was enough space, the Lightweight entry had transformed from mere weight reduction into “increasing armor thickness by two times”!
Although he had realized this little trick, Feng Xue did not plan to try it right now. For one, he was poor. For another, the cybernetic design had not left that much space for counterweights.
However, since he was making 3-star cybernetics, he naturally could not be satisfied with merely fulfilling the basic functions of a human body like with 1-star and 2-star ones. Although the materials he had were rather plain, he still dug out quite a few clever little ideas from the design blueprints.
After working busily for roughly half an hour, a robot that looked rather presentable was finally assembled. Feng Xue took out the clothes, backpack, handgun, magazines, and dagger he had prepared in advance and equipped them all onto it in one go. Only then did he select Create Character.
…
Entering battlefield: Scrapyard
Preparation time: 59 seconds
Battlefield intensity: Low
Extraction condition: Reach the extraction point (marked) and remain there for 15 seconds to successfully extract.
Extraction time limit: 6 hours
Extraction failure: Loss of synchronization
Random side missions:
1. I Am the Scrap King: Collect over 600kg of supplies (0/600kg)
2. Partner of Justice: Kill ten gang members (0/10)
3. Wasteland Ghost: Complete extraction without engaging in combat
…
“Oh, a new random side mission appeared again?” Feng Xue raised his brows. During his previous explorations, the random side missions had often changed as well, but they had basically been combinations of collecting, killing, and Wasteland Ghost.
That’s right. He had started several runs, but the third side mission had always been Wasteland Ghost.
Feng Xue was muttering to himself when he suddenly noticed that there was still an information window in his field of vision, covered by the battlefield information. He tapped it open and saw two prompts reading: [You have obtained a new entry. It has been stored in the [Entry Library]. You may open the [Manufacturing Bench] to view it.]
“Good grief. So character loading counts as recording too, huh?”
Feng Xue’s eyes immediately lit up when he saw that string of text. However, he was not in a hurry to check the newly obtained entries. Compared to something he could look at any time, completing this instance was what he needed to worry about most right now.
Splitting off a strand of consciousness to control his main body into lying down on the bed, Feng Xue took advantage of the remaining dozen seconds on the countdown to begin checking the equipment on his body.
His clothes were properly worn on his body. They had not been assimilated into skin because of source energy, nor was there any clipping. The dagger and handgun were also in fine condition. The magazine structure was normal…
As he carefully inspected each weapon and piece of equipment, the countdown returned to zero. Noise began to appear in the originally silent space. Feng Xue felt this body, which seemed even stronger than his real one, and could not help but nod in satisfaction.
“The skin feels normal to the touch, but if I press hard, I can feel a rigid structure. Looks like the counterweights I added really did become an exoskeleton. And because of source energy, they won’t affect mobility. Though the output is definitely lower than the original hydraulic rods plus bionic muscles, the controllability of flesh is still higher than that of cybernetics. Mm, at least higher than low-tier cybernetics.”
Feng Xue moved his body about, confirmed his condition, then directly opened the map. While checking his own position, he went to town on the junk beside him.
“The map changed again, but the area is about the same. If it isn’t a map randomly generated by the golden finger, then this is another scrapyard with a similar architectural style.”
With his prior experience, Feng Xue quickly locked onto the extraction point closest to him. Then, without caring about anything else, he began stuffing the bits and pieces that caught his eye into his bag.
By now, the scrapyard had reopened. The ruins that had seemed quite deserted just moments ago were, in the blink of an eye, beginning to fill with dense, dark silhouettes.
They were like hyenas pouncing on carrion. Roars, startled cries, and the clanging of metal rose and fell in succession. But compared to the previous times he had come to the scrapyard, this time, what entered Feng Xue’s ears contained very few gunshots or screams. Without a doubt, at this very moment, when wealth covered the ground, there was simply no need to fight over it!
Feng Xue’s gaze swept rapidly over the junk around him. He directly ignored the big items that looked quite valuable. As he moved, he casually scooped up one scattered part after another that had broken apart from falling from a great height.
I haven’t even fully laid out the structure of the worldbuilding yet, so don’t casually make up settings in your head. Although it’s cyberpunk, the system is still different from Night City’s, and the upper and middle-upper levels of Gelian are physically isolated. Of course, I won’t rule out that this is bait to get me to spoil things. Then I’ll say a little spoiler that doesn’t really count as a spoiler.
Gelian’s urban districts can be divided into: Heaven—Tower District—Building District—Street District—Garbage District. Incidentally, the Street District has no hospitals or shops, and aside from company business trips, there is no public intercity transportation. Relatively safe private flying cars cost about the same as a five-star cybernetic body. All right, that’s all I’ll say. The clever ones can probably tell roughly what Gelian’s cities look like now.