The nights in F City are always shrouded in neon lights and smog. Jorn stood in front of


    an abandoned warehouse in the Rust Belt neighborhood, looking up at the giant


    holographic advertisement floating above his head. It was a projection of a mechanical


    arm, with virtual gold flowing between its fingers. The slogan flashed brightly: "**Top


    prosthetics, change your destiny**".


    He knew that this was just a lie used by Cyber Group to exploit the poor. The real


    opportunities were hidden in those corners where even the neon lights could not reach.


    Pushing open the rusty iron door of the warehouse, a cold wind mixed with the smell of


    engine oil hits me. At the end of the long and narrow corridor comes the sound of


    mechanical arms welding. Under the dark red emergency lights, several figures are


    squatting on the ground dismantling a scrapped military prosthesis. Their prosthetic


    eyes glow in the darkness, like a group of vultures sharing carrion.


    "Where''s Old K?" Jorn''s voice was as cold as a knife.


    A short man wearing a gas mask raised his head, his prosthetic eye scanning his body:


    "New here? Do you understand the rules? Hand in your--"


    Before he could finish his words, Jorn ''s prosthetic arm had already grabbed his neck,


    and the mechanical knuckles made a dangerous buzzing sound. Several people nearby


    jumped up immediately, but no one dared to move - Jorn''s pupils were glowing scarlet,


    which was the standby state of the military- grade combat prosthetic eye.


    "Three seconds." He tightened his fingers, and the short man''s mask made a cracking


    sound.


    "Behind! The red door!" the short man struggled to squeeze out these words.


    Jorn let go of his hand and let the other person collapse to the ground. He stepped


    over the prosthetic parts scattered all over the floor and walked towards the blood-red


    iron door at the end of the corridor. Blue-purple smoke seeped out from the crack of


    the door, mixed with the smell of some kind of nerve anesthetic - this was Lao K''s


    "security inspection system", and ordinary people would pass out if they took a puff.


    But Jorn was prepared. He pressed the switch of the implant on the side of his neck,


    and the nasal mucosa was instantly covered with a layer of nanofiltration membrane.


    When I opened the door, the scene before me seemed like another world.


    hang from the twenty-meter-high warehouse dome , like some kind of mechanical


    neural network. Hundreds of transparent culture chambers are suspended in midair,


    each containing different types of prosthetic parts , with light blue nutrient solution


    flowing slowly inside the chambers. The ground is filled with boxes of smuggled chips,


    with laser anti-counterfeiting codes printed on them that read "Military Supplies of City


    A".


    "I smell blood." A hoarse voice came from the shadows.


    Old K sat on an iron throne made of scrapped mechas , with the left half of his body


    completely mechanized, and the energy core exposed in his chest glowing with a faint


    blue light. In his right hand, he was playing with a molecular vibration knife, and the


    blade made a high-frequency buzzing sound when it cut through the air.


    "I want a military-grade combat module." Jorn threw the stolen credit bag on the


    ground. "The latest model, compatible with the Mk-III neural interface."


    Old K picked up the purse with the tip of his knife and glanced at it. "This little money is


    only enough to buy a pair of mechanical dog legs." He suddenly grinned, and the metal


    teeth collided with a crisp sound. "But... you have something more interesting."


    Without warning, a laser shot down from the ceiling, covering Jorn''s entire body in a


    scanning light curtain. Old K''s artificial eye spun wildly, and the green light of data


    Stolen novel; please report.


    analysis flashed across his pupils like a waterfall: "Bone strengthening rate 87%, nerve


    delay 0.03 seconds, adrenaline secretion is five times that of an ordinary person - have


    you modified your genes?"


    Jorn narrowed his eyes. The old fox was more observant than in his previous life.


    "Plus this." He pulled open his collar, revealing a black chip embedded under his


    collarbone. It was the "Black Kite" key that he had taken from the corpse of the head of


    Cyber Group before his previous life''s self-destruction. It could crack 70% of the security


    systems in City A.


    Lao K''s breathing suddenly became heavy, and his mechanical lungs made a hissing


    sound like they were leaking air. He stood up, and his three-meter-tall mechanical body


    cast a terrifying shadow on the ground: "Boy, do you know how much this thing is


    worth on the dark web?"


    "Enough to exchange for the best goods you have here."


    The transaction was completed within ten minutes. When Old K''s mechanical tentacles


    pushed the modification table to the center of the warehouse, even Jorn, who was used


    to seeing blood, had his pupils shrink slightly - it was a two-meter-high metal cocoon,


    with energy conduits like blood vessels on the surface, and a pale human body was


    immersed in the cocoon.


    "The bionic skin hasn''t grown yet, but the internal organs and nervous system have


    been perfectly integrated." Old K knocked on the metal cocoon, and the human body


    suddenly opened its eyes. The pupils were a strange double-ring structure. "Spartan-IV


    combat body, a military test product. The nerve conduction speed is ten times faster


    than your current ragtag body. It comes with electromagnetic pulse resistance and


    subcutaneous armor."


    Jorn reached out and touched the metal cocoon, feeling the warmth of biological tissue


    at his fingertips. "Side effects?"


    "Every time you use the overload mode, 2% of your brain cells will be burned." Old K''s


    smile suddenly turned ferocious. "Of course, if you can get the ''Eternal Life Potion'' from


    City A, this price won''t be worth it at all—"


    Suddenly there was an explosion outside the warehouse.


    Jorn instantly entered combat mode, and his prosthetic eye switched to thermal


    imaging mode. Through the wall, he saw more than thirty red dots approaching quickly,


    three of which had the Cyber Group''s iconic golden outline.


    "You''re being followed!" Old K''s mechanical arm ejected a rotating machine gun,


    "Damn it, it''s the group''s special forces!"


    Before he finished speaking, the outer wall of the warehouse exploded. Soldiers wearing


    black tactical exoskeletons poured in like a tide. The man in the lead wore a silver-white


    breathing mask and his right hand was a signature liquid metal prosthesis - a second


    level supervisor of Cyber Group, codenamed "Silver Hand".


    "Hand over the Black Kite key." Silverhand''s voice was synthesized electronically, like


    sandpaper rubbing against metal, "or watch your internal organs being transformed


    into a work of art."


    Jorn smiled. He remembered that in his previous life, this man had pierced Lina''s heart


    with liquid metal when he executed her.


    "You know what?" He pressed the activator hidden in his palm, "This new body just


    needs to be tested."


    The metal cocoon exploded, and a pale Spartan-IV combat body jumped out like a


    ghost. When the liquid metal of the silver hand pierced the air, Jorn''s new prosthesis


    appeared behind him.


    The mechanical finger pierced into Silverhand''s cervical vertebrae, and the biological


    current burned the nerve bundle in reverse. Amid the screams of the soldiers, Jorn


    heard the beating of his new heart - a roar mixed with the pleasure of revenge and the


    desire for power.