Ashen God
Chapter 538 - 537: Golden Equipment [Full Coverage Mechanical Prosthetics]

Chapter 538: Chapter 537: Golden Equipment [Full Coverage Mechanical Prosthetics]

"I’ve been wanting to complain about this for a while now," he said. "The content in the description has absolutely nothing to do with the actual bonus effects of the Tarot card. The description of the earlier Divination Tarot Card·Emperor claimed it symbolized intelligence, but it didn’t enhance the energy value limit at all. Instead, it boosted attack power.

And this time, the Divination Tarot Card·Chariot is the same. It clearly states that it is closely related to strength, but it doesn’t enhance the power effect; instead, it boosts attack speed, which is ridiculous. Shouldn’t the Chariot, at least, if not enhancing strength, boost movement speed?

It’s no wonder they are counterfeit products from an underground black workshop. Besides sharing the same name, they have almost nothing to do with the original Tarot cards."

Even though he was criticizing the bonus effect of the Tarot Card·Chariot, Zhang Yanhang actually liked the bonus quite a bit. After all, attack speed was very useful for him. He believed that with this boost from the Divination Tarot Card·Chariot, he should be able to make another step toward his little goal of six mach.

"Moreover, besides the inherent bonus effect of the Tarot Card·Chariot, this time, I can finally unlock Set Effect Two—Trinity. I should be able to gain another part of the bonus effects."

Zhang Yanhang had been looking forward to Set Effect Two for a long time, just as much as he had been looking forward to his Four Great Emptiness Purifying World Fist becoming golden.

[Item Five]

[Option One: Half-Covered Mechanical Prosthesis (Lower Body·Female), quality light gold, equipment]

[Option Two: Half-Covered Mechanical Prosthesis (Upper Body·Female), quality light gold, equipment]

[Option Three: Full-Covered Mechanical Prosthesis, quality golden, equipment]

"Mechanical Prosthesis? What is that? And it’s golden quality equipment? Even though I have no idea what it’s used for, just hearing the name gives off a cyberpunk vibe.

But the female prostheses for the upper and lower halves mentioned in Option One and Two give off the feeling that this is actually some sort of inflatable doll."

But it was still light golden quality equipment, and Zhang Yanhang figured that no one would be so idle as to use such high-quality items for inflatable dolls. Well, if these prosthetic bodies could be infused with personality data and correspondingly activate autonomous AIs, then there might indeed be something interesting about it.

"So, now the question arises, what exactly is this full-covered mechanical prosthesis?" To find the answer, Zhang Yanhang immediately began to examine the attribute list of this full-covered mechanical prosthesis.

[Full-Covered Mechanical Prosthesis]

[Quality: Golden]

[Type: Equipment]

[Origin: Ashen World, Ministry of Internal Affairs National Public Security Committee, Public Security Bureau’s 9th Division, Ghost in the Shell.]

[Durability: 150/150]

[Defensive Power: 80]

[Special Attribute: 1. Electronic brain. 2. External memory device. 3. Self-starting.]

[Electronic brain: Uses nano robots to connect the brain’s nerves with an inbuilt microcomputer in the brain, significantly enhancing computational power, capable of internet connectivity, using mobile phone communication functions, shooting function, playback function, even installing APPs, and can control other electronic brains through network invasion.]

[External memory device: An external storage device, an auxiliary memory device, which can be mounted on an electronic brain to help the user store memories or other symbolic information as well as related image information.]

[Self-starting: Upon the death of a logged-in user, the device will automatically capture the user’s soul information (this function may fail if the soul has been damaged) and upload it to the prosthetic body. It will then initiate the transfer of the memory module to the electronic brain, allowing the user to resurrect in the prosthetic body, although they will not inherit any elements nor items, aside from Talent.]

[Usage Requirements: None.]

[Score: 440 (Golden items score from 351 to 440.)]

[Introduction: As the electronic brain enhanced the ’inward explosion’ of spiritual sense, the prosthetic technology that substitutes mechanical parts for body parts was also known as ’prosthetic technology,’ leading to a direct ’surge’ in handicraft technology.

Originating from a medical research project during the war, prosthetic technology continued to develop rapidly even in the post-war era, expanding its field from the medical world to the military, and reaching its true peak after decades. It granted a strength far greater than that of an ordinary human body.

This prosthetic body is a full-covered mechanical female prosthesis belonging to the Ghost in the Shell, a department directly under the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs National Public Security Committee’s Public Security Bureau’s 9th Division.]

At first, Zhang Yanhang felt pretty unfamiliar with the whole lengthy description of ’Ministry of Internal Affairs National Public Security Committee’, and even ’Public Security Bureau’s 9th Division’ was just vaguely familiar. But the last name, Ghost in the Shell, instantly made Zhang Yanhang realize what this thing was.

"So it’s the prosthetic body from Ghost in the Shell, huh? That’s an old title, I think the anime came out in the nineties..."

As someone born in the 21st century, it’s natural that Zhang Yanhang wouldn’t watch such an antique that was older than he was. Although he knew about Ghost in the Shell, he had only watched a few of the more recent movies.

Therefore, while he had some understanding of prosthetics, he was still at the level of knowing just enough to be dangerous, half a bottle that made more noise than a full one.

Based on his understanding, the prosthetic body in question appeared to be of a rather advanced type, meaning it could replicate all human functions, including reproduction, and from the outside, it was virtually indistinguishable from an actual human.

Moreover, because it had a built-in energy source, it didn’t need to eat or defecate. Of course, if a Lander truly wanted to eat, it did possess some digestive capabilities. However, the energy consumed to digest the food would be more than the nutrients one could gain from it.

As a result, if one were to indulge in eating, they would only become "hungrier." And why design such a foolishly human function? It seemed that eating was intended to psychologically comfort the Landers, helping them feel like they were still normal humans, which frankly was nothing but self-deception.

Furthermore, this was likely the product from the described Peak Period, as technologies like cable connectors on the back of the head blurred the lines between reality and illusion, leading many humans to replace their entire bodies with more powerful prosthetic devices, preserving only their brains.

Such a transformation would not only drastically improve physical prowess but also significantly extend human life spans. As long as the brain wasn’t dead, all other body parts could be replaced at any time, meaning that the body would no longer slip into decline due to the failure of a vital organ as it happened during the human period.

However, the full-body prosthetization also meant that if someone managed to hack into the electronic brain and take control, the human would lose command over their own body. As technology peaked, so did the number of hackers who enjoyed invading others’ bodies, with the main job of the Ghost in the Shell being to combat these hackers.

Still, they generally didn’t bother with those controlling the average citizens, as it was too much to manage; their focus was primarily on handling high-end hackers who infiltrated the bodies of government officials and wealthy magnates.

"I should be delighted with the Resurrection item obtained, but damn, the defects of this Resurrection item are too severe, aren’t they?

Although after resurrection one could inherit an Awakener’s most important and core Talent, offering a glimmer of hope for a comeback, everything else – such as original physical condition, Skills, and various Equipment items – could not be inherited, which is rather frustrating.

Well, perhaps if the drawbacks weren’t so substantial, a Resurrection item of only Golden quality would definitely not have ended up in the hands of a Second Tier Awakened like me."

Naturally, what made Zhang Yanhang most uncomfortable wasn’t all that; it was that the prosthetic body was a female model. In other words, if he used it to resurrect, he would also come back as the opposite sex, which was quite a bit to accept.

Zhang Yanhang occasionally dreamed of becoming a woman, rampaging through the city, wildly brandishing his fists, carrying a steel knife, and vanquishing vermin from the world. But after all, those were just dreams before the Spiritual Qi Recovery.

After the Spiritual Qi Recovery, the spirit of martial valor gradually faded away. Compared to females, males, ordinary humans, or any other life forms on Earth, the Awakeners were the true privileged class and ’vulnerable group,’ especially the Awakeners who reached the Extraordinary level.

"Fine, if becoming a woman is what it takes to continue living, then what’s the harm in it? As the saying goes, ’As long as the green hills last, there will always be wood to burn,’ being alive is definitely better than being dead.

Moreover, with this Resurrection item, my safety while hunting Monsters in the Ashen World should be significantly enhanced."

Zhang Yanhang felt that if possible, he should seek a more formal Resurrection item in the future, one that would allow him to maintain his strength after resurrection and not lose anything – a perfect Resurrection item.

Well, it was wishful thinking, as such an Artifact would certainly not be of merely Dark Gold Quality. It would likely be several qualities higher than even Dark Gold, a piece of high-level Equipment that is currently impossible to obtain.

"So, I choose ’3 points of Ash Source,’ ’Blue Dragon Essence Blood (Dawn Blessing),’ ’Voodoo Red-faced Owl (Skull),’ ’Divination Tarot Card·Chariot[Fake] (Gate of Truth),’ and ’Full-Coverage Mechanical Prostheses.’"

After reviewing all five item options, Zhang Yanhang immediately made his final decision. The time pause vanished in an instant, and since he only had one Ashen Treasure Box to open, he quickly started to inventory his gains after opening it.

First came the artifacts he had acquired. Among the items Zhang Yanhang got this time, there was only one golden quality ’Blue Dragon Essence Blood (Dawn Blessing),’ which belonged to the artifact category. Moreover, due to its potent effects, Zhang Yanhang was unable to use it for the time being and had to wait until he advanced to the Third Tier.

"Speaking of which, five points of Agility seem to already offset the seven-point gap formed between Agility and Intelligence attributes. Once I advance to the Third Tier, all I need to do is down this bottle of Blue Dragon Essence Blood, and I can immediately pull the gap back to just two points and prevent it from affecting my Intelligence attribute’s improvement."

Since the ’Blue Dragon Essence Blood (Dawn Blessing)’ was unusable for now, Zhang Yanhang directly stored it in his Waist Bag.

"I’ve gained another three points of Ash Source from opening the Ashen Treasure Box this time, plus the one point I had left over, which makes a total of four points. If it’s just for advancing skills later on, I probably won’t use all of it, considering I only have three skills left to upgrade.

But considering the amount of Ash Source needed to advance from Second Tier to Third Tier is unlikely to be just one point and will definitely increase to some extent, it’s definitely necessary to clear out the forest to the north of Raccoon City."

Having made up his mind, Zhang Yanhang then continued to inventory his equipment. This time in the Ashen Treasure Box, he got two pieces of equipment, one was the golden quality [Full-Coverage Mechanical Prostheses] and the other was the blue quality [Divination Tarot Card·Chariot[Fake] (Gate of Truth)].

Zhang Yanhang first picked up the [Full-Coverage Mechanical Prostheses] of golden quality. How to put it, this thing, no matter from which angle you looked, resembled an authentic human. It was only when Zhang Yanhang used his Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil to scan its insides that he could perceive the difference from humans.

This female prosthetic had a height of around 1.75 meters, with its upper and lower body in golden ratio, her skin was fair, her figure curvaceous, and her face delicate and stunning. One could say it was at the peak of human beauty.

Or rather, robots could really do whatever they wanted, since the whole body was custom-made, and naturally, it could be made as beautiful as desired.

"Speaking of which, should I preemptively dress it up? Otherwise, being naked when resurrected and running around might easily get me mistaken for a female pervert."

Zhang Yanhang gazed at the bare Full-Coverage Mechanical Prostheses and fell into thought. In the end, he decided it would be better to dress it up, to preserve decency.

At first, Zhang Yanhang thought about taking clothes from his Main World closet for it, but then remembered that clothes from the Main World couldn’t be taken to the Ashen World, so he picked a spare White Ten-piece Set from his Waist Bag to dress it. With this, the prosthetic body needn’t worry about the lack of clothes when in the Ashen World.

Behind the prosthetic body’s head, lifting the hair and skull revealed a hidden brain-machine interface. Upon completing DNA information verification and account login there, the Full-Coverage Mechanical Prostheses were officially activated.

If Zhang Yanhang would happen to die suddenly due to any special circumstances in the future, he would be resurrected on this Full-Coverage Mechanical Prostheses and commence his second life.