"Tsk, trash!"
Prying a pair of optical prosthetics from a corpse's eye sockets, Feng Xue gave them a cursory glance, his face twisting into contempt before he casually tossed them into his bag. He continued toward the next corpse. Behind him, a blood-soaked path stretched out.
The unsightly corpses were carelessly discarded by the roadside. Faintly, figures could be seen watching from afar, but no one dared approach anymore. They simply waited quietly—waiting for Feng Xue, the dragon crossing the river, to finish his feast so they could scurry up and beg for scraps.
Seeing his bag growing fuller, Feng Xue pulled out an arm. With several crunching sounds, he extracted a few high-value components and casually discarded the remaining casing and skeletal frame. This streamlining immediately reduced the bag's weight by thirty percent—after all, this was already the fourth time he had done so.
"This is the best this junkyard can offer."
Glancing down at the core components in his bag, Feng Xue saw that no high-combat elite unit had spawned, so he simply began moving toward the extraction point.
However, this extraction went unusually smoothly. Even after leaving the area piled with corpses, none of the nearby scavengers dared approach him.
The reason was simple: the aura Feng Xue exuded now was completely different from his initial naive and foolish demeanor. Standing among people, he remained as conspicuous as a firefly, but this completely unmasked style instead made others twice as wary.
Coupled with the thick scent of blood on him—a stark contrast to the junkyard's stench—which idiot would dare come looking for trouble?
They came to the junkyard to earn money, not to die!
With so many easy-target scavengers around to rob, anyone who picked a fight with someone who was clearly a hard target was utterly braindead, weren't they?
...
[Extraction successful. Synchronization terminated.]
[Side quest completed: Eliminate 10 Scavengers (23/10). Reward obtained: Portable Operating Table.]
[Rewards distributed. Materials recovered. You may choose to extract or sell them on the Exchange page.]
As his consciousness returned to his body, Feng Xue felt a cool sensation wash over his brain. He shuddered violently, his face bearing an expression of utter disbelief.
"D-Did I... do that?"
Without the influence of the [Heavenly Martial Killing Path] skill, although all its information was still recorded in his neural drive, that icy tyrannical intent and killing lust had completely faded.
"This thing really is dangerous!" Recalling that feeling of being dominated by bloodlust, Feng Xue broke out in a cold sweat. Though people always said Hong Kong manhua martial arts grew stronger the crazier they got, he felt it was better to remain normal.
Compared to a martial art like Heavenly Martial Killing Path that required exterminating one's own household to push to the peak, Hell Sword was far more conscientious. Unfortunately, neither were standalone skill entries but innate abilities integrated into a single prosthetic, which also killed his idea of installing a Ci Nan Arm for himself.
"But judging from the fact that I could still react, this skill really is just a [skill]. Although it's one-button activation, as long as I disconnect, it won't have any lingering effects. So long as I don't court death by actually training it... No, that's still not safe enough..."
At this thought, Feng Xue walked straight to the console and pulled out a data cable, plugging it in behind his ear.
"AI, run a check on my current mental state."
[Understood. Initiating neural link connection. Access permit confirmed. Launching comprehensive mental spectrum scan. Please wait... Scan complete. Your mental entropy value is stable within the safe range of 2.1±0.3, far below the cyberpsychosis diagnostic threshold. Retrieving your previous baseline records for comparative analysis... Evaluation complete. Your mental stability rating is A+. Stress resistance has significantly improved. Overall mental system efficiency optimized. Recommendation: Continue current neural training regimen. Next comprehensive scan recommended in 30 standard cycles. Have a pleasant day.]
"It looks like there's really no problem." Reading the report, Feng Xue finally set his mind at ease. He hastily squeezed a tube of nutrient paste into his mouth. Just as he was about to open his cheat panel to check his gains, his gaze suddenly fixed on the workbench—
There, an extra person had appeared...
No, not a person. Judging by the clothing and equipment, this was undoubtedly the character he had been using just moments ago!
"So if a created character doesn't die, it actually gets withdrawn after extraction? Now that's interesting!"
Feng Xue leaned in close to the body. Unlike the cold mechanical frame from a few hours ago, it had now completely become a body of flesh and blood, looking exactly like him.
"AI, run a physiological scan."
[Vital signs scanning... Scan complete. Subject's cardiopulmonary functions are intact. Metabolic levels are normal. Tissue viability is well-maintained... Warning: No brainwave activity detected. Brainstem reflexes present. Cerebral cortex and thalamic functions silent. Comprehensive diagnosis: Subject meets clinical criteria for permanent vegetative state.]
"Oh, so in simple terms, it's a vegetable?"
Sensing that connection similar to when he was in-game, Feng Xue tried projecting his consciousness into this body. Compared to when he did it through the cheat panel, this transfer felt especially rough—like someone accustomed to 200MB high-speed downloads suddenly left with a 1KB trickle. It felt as though he were wading through mud; every step required pushing the muck before him aside.
But difficult did not mean impossible. After a ten-minute tug-of-war, the connection was finally re-established. When the consciousness link reconnected, all resistance vanished instantly, and that feeling of being able to freely allocate his awareness resurfaced.
"Pretty interesting!"
With two fields of vision in his mind, and completely different versions of himself in each view, Feng Xue found it somewhat difficult to adapt. He could only close the character's eyes first to reduce the efficiency of information intake.
Fortunately, the Phantom Dragon Soul Type III's inherent multi-threading functionality allowed him to quickly straighten out his state. Before long, Feng Xue was simultaneously controlling both bodies with great relish.
"Not bad, not bad. This way, the safety of my upcoming actions is guaranteed. Still, this face needs some modification."
A new body that could die without any loss was of immense significance to Feng Xue. It not only solved the problem of performing surgery on his original body, but also transformed plans that originally required careful deliberation into ones he could execute immediately.
He disconnected again and placed his hand over the character's face, which was identical to his own. Face-sculpting was not something he was doing for the first time, but compared to altering it blindly without reference in the junkyard, it was undoubtedly much smoother now.
Before long, the character's height had forcibly been increased by ten centimeters, his build becoming more robust and his facial lines more rugged.
"Not bad, not bad. It's awkward to keep calling you 'character' all the time. From today on, your code name is [Demon Sword]!"