“That's it?”
Compared with the maddening itch from before, the kind that made him want to end himself on the spot, this assimilation felt only as if he’d been bitten by a mosquito. And after just a few seconds, even that sensation vanished completely.
“All done. The Great Yan-made ‘Lingxi Type V’ interface—high compatibility, low power consumption, cheap price, a built-in biochip integrated with a visual operating system, and specially fitted with functions almost identical to the lymph nodes behind the ear, making it convenient for flesh-type source energy assimilation! Ah, Great Yan is still the best. They specifically take this sort of thing into consideration. Here in the Ge Union, if you want to install a prosthetic suited for assimilation, you’ve got to pay a fortune for private customization!”
Old Jiang habitually grumbled about the shameless conduct of Ge Union capitalists as he pulled a magnetic data cable from the side and handed it to Feng Xue.
“Try it. Magnetic connector. Stick it on and it connects. The transfer efficiency isn’t as high as a plug-in type, but it’s suitable for a newbie like you to get used to operating it.”
Feng Xue took the data cable as instructed. Reaching up, he felt around and found a tiny slot behind his right ear, along with a hard protrusion like bone. It felt very smooth—truly rather like a navel.
As the data cable drew close, he felt a faint tug. With a soft “click,” the cable immediately attached itself to that hard protrusion.
Accompanied by a subtle stimulus like an electric current passing through his brain, it was as if a pop-up window truly extended into his field of vision—
[Data connection detected. Connect? Yes/No]
Looking at the familiar Chinese characters, Feng Xue tried touching them with his consciousness. The interface immediately unfolded. In terms of control, it was actually somewhat similar to his cheat ability, to the point that he even began to suspect whether that cheat of his was in fact some piece of software someone had installed while he was transmigrating.
“How is it? Connected? Any adverse reactions?”
Old Jiang’s voice sounded somewhat distorted in his ears, but Feng Xue still came back to himself at once and said,
“It’s fine. I just don’t know how to control it. Mm, this should be a graphical interface, so browsing directly shouldn’t be a problem, but what about downloading data? Don’t tell me it downloads straight into my brain? Does my brain even have that function?”
“Of course not!” Old Jiang rolled his eyes, speechless.
“Even if you have flesh source energy, don’t download things carelessly. The only thing you can use to store data is that biochip in the Lingxi interface, the part assimilated into your postauricular lymph node. Aside from the operating system, this model has about 2T of storage space. It’s fine for holding some documents, but don’t install software on it. It’s easy to bug out! Granted, you yourself won’t be affected, but the chip will definitely be done for.
“As for downloading… mm, I’ve got a brain-drive reading format specifically for flesh source energy users. Once it’s transcoded, it can be loaded into your brain as a memory zone… Copy this transcoder into your biochip, but when you use it, remember to transfer it into the device first before opening it!
“All right, see that folder in the lower left called [Common Sense]? Inside is the Ge Union daily-life common sense I prepared for you. Try accessing it.”
Old Jiang pointed at the folder in the corner of the terminal monitor. Judging by the interface, it was exactly the same as the operating platform appearing before Feng Xue’s eyes.
He tried selecting it with a thought. The next second, a massive stream of information surged into his consciousness like a floodgate opening.
“Holy shit!” Feng Xue was left dizzy by the impact of that information stream and instinctively severed the “connection.”
“How is it? Way better than reading with your eyes, isn’t it?” Old Jiang chuckled. “That’s the convenience of a brain-computer interface. In the future, whether you’re looking up information, controlling equipment, or even surfing the net, all it takes is a thought. But since you’ve only just started using it, remember to set an access speed limit. Otherwise it’s easy to get ‘net-sick.’ The settings window is in the upper right. See the gear icon? Open settings, then find the rest yourself.”
Feng Xue rubbed his temples, still shaken by the feeling from earlier of his brain being stuffed full. He was about to say something else when he saw Old Jiang already standing up again.
“All right, hurry up and copy the data. Don’t access it—just paste it directly into your device… Mm, by default it should be called ‘Brain Drive’… Just make a new folder and put it inside. You can read the rest slowly when you have time!”
Feng Xue naturally had no objection to Old Jiang’s words. He put on a set of clothing that was extremely cheap in both style and texture, then walked out of this room—whether it should be called an operating room or a handicraft workshop, he wasn’t sure—for the first time.
Directly opposite the room was another room with its door left open. Inside, he could see a simple bed and some daily necessities piled up casually. It was probably Old Jiang’s bedroom.
“The one next to it is the bathroom. Down from here is where I usually see patients.” Old Jiang led Feng Xue down the stairs to a spacious room. Compared with the second floor, where every inch seemed to have been squeezed for maximum use, the first floor was rather roomy. Locked display cabinets, a sealed-off front counter, and large bins filled with all kinds of parts like heaps of garbage gave the place something of the feel of a cyberpunk pawnshop.
Through the front door, which was stained with a little grease but still transparent, Feng Xue saw the densely packed low storefronts outside. Pipes and cables of all thicknesses intertwined overhead like spiderwebs, while the mixed smell of low-grade fuel, fermenting garbage, and various chemicals seemed to be pouring into the room through the cracks around the door.
“With this shop as the center, I still have enough face to cover you on the surrounding few streets. Once you’re out of that range, you’re on your own. But I think before you become a familiar face with me and my customers, you’d best not even leave the shop. In this area, not everyone has the patience to wait for you to finish announcing who’s backing you.”
Old Jiang spoke calmly about the surrounding environment. Feng Xue nodded as he listened, while also calling up the documents from the folder to read.
The performance of the Phantom Dragon Soul Type III chip was indeed extraordinary. Not only had it granted him neural reflexes and limb coordination far beyond what he’d had in his previous life, it also came with a multithreading module. He didn’t know what use the original Purple Mood had for a multithreading module, but at the very least, the current him could listen to Old Jiang’s lecture while reading at the same time—and even seemed to have enough attention left over to get himself some fries…
Though there were no fries at all.
Just as Feng Xue was studying seriously, Old Jiang suddenly pointed toward the door.
“Don’t space out. A customer’s here. Talk less and watch more. Don’t act like an idiot!”
“Ah, oh!” Hearing this, Feng Xue immediately shrank to the side. Only then did he notice the middle-aged man at the entrance wearing dark blue work clothes. Both his hands had already been replaced with mechanical structures, yet they hadn’t even been fitted with bionic skin. Although Feng Xue had only just read a little information, he could still judge that this was a pair of low-grade prosthetics without even tactile feedback. However, considering that the other party seemed to be a worker, he should at least be a two-star.
“Doctor Jiang, this…”
“I know. You overloaded them again, didn’t you?” Old Jiang waved his hand. “I told you long ago, this pair of prosthetics of yours does indeed have output exceeding three-star engineering prosthetics, but you don’t have the matching heat-dissipation components. To keep you from getting cooked alive, I installed a limiter…”
“I just wanted to earn a bit more, that’s all… With this job added in, I’ve pretty much got enough money. I’ll have to trouble you to add the heat dissipation too!” The middle-aged man revealed a somewhat honest smile, but Old Jiang shook his head.
“One thing at a time. Pay the consultation fee and the parts repair costs first. As for the heat dissipation, we’ll talk about it after we see whether you still have enough money!”