This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 157: Is Spring Coming for the Intelligence System?

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Is Spring Coming for the Intelligence System?

Elm District.

At the edge of a concrete wall covered in vines and bullet holes, a whoosh cut through the air.

Before the snow wolf gnawing at a corpse on the ground could react, it was nailed fiercely to a nearby tree trunk by a thrown spear.

Fang Chang, holding a mechanical composite bow, approached and checked the prey—it was dead. When he saw the short spear that had penetrated the tree trunk, he couldn’t help but click his tongue.

"This is just too awesome!"

The tree trunk was as thick as a thigh.

If it were him shooting with an arrow, he wouldn’t be able to penetrate it without a charged shot.

No, even with a charged shot, it would be difficult, unless it was switched to a pure steel-forged arrowhead, perhaps.

Wild Wind glanced at his own right hand, his face a picture of bewilderment as he muttered softly.

"...Is it really that strong?"

"Brother Wind."

"What?"

"Maybe switch hands when wiping your butt from now on."

"Get lost!"

Wild Wind stepped forward and tried to pull out the spear, but he only managed to extract half of it; the other half remained stuck in the back of the trunk.

As for the mutant snow wolf, there was no need to check—it was definitely dead beyond dead.

Fang Chang: "The strength in that right hand of yours must rate at least 30 points. It feels like it could even pierce steel plates. Consider broadening your ideas, not just spears—throwing knives, slinging arrows, rocks, bricks... Damn, I suddenly feel like Old White’s strength type is totally being duped by a mechanical arm."

"Not necessarily," Wild Wind shook his head and said, "I remember Brother Guang mentioning in the group chat a while ago that each phase of the Level 10 Gene Sequence for the strength type should unlock exclusive skills. Otherwise, compared to the mechanical ones, it does seem a bit lackluster."

The strength types were one thing; worst case, they could just attach another mechanical arm, but Variant type players were truly suffering. They are inherently not proficient with complex machinery and not to mention their poor intelligence attribute.

If they can’t compensate for this disadvantage with skills later, Variant types are entirely lackluster. Wild Wind estimated that when they reach level 10, there definitely would be some new changes.

"That’s true," Fang Chang nodded, "Now that you mention it, I also remember, that boss from the Blood Hand Clan... almost surpassed his limits before dying."

"Yes, and... I feel this mechanical prosthesis must have some demand on the intelligence attribute," looking at the broken spear in hand, Wild Wind thoughtfully said, "I don’t feel anything under normal usage, but if I increase the output power, there’s a slight feeling of dizziness... I’m not sure what causes this phenomenon, and there’s nothing similar mentioned on the official website."

Fang Chang stroked his chin with interest and suddenly spoke up.

"Speaking of which, what’s the power source for that mechanical arm of yours?"

Wild Wind paused briefly and replied.

"Not sure, but there’s a charging port here."

Saying this, Wild Wind lifted his sleeve, revealing a hole on his arm.

Fang Chang stared at it for a while and said.

"There’s more than one hole, huh? There’s one on the forearm and another on the upper arm... I suspect not all are charging ports."

Wild Wind: "What else do you think there could be?"

Fang Chang: "Look at this slot on your shoulder, the two bars outside obviously serve as a fixation slot, I guess it’s for connecting external implant plugs. Maybe in the future, you could attach another... uh, arm?"

Wild Wind: "..."

Another arm, that could work.

Doctor Octopus?

Doesn’t seem impossible.

But, he doesn’t have a third arm in real life, so even if he attached this non-existent arm, how would he use it... Wait a sec.

Wild Wind suddenly looked up, speaking to Fang Chang.

"Do you remember what the official website said about the intelligence system? I recall it mentioned that the intelligence attribute affects the operation and the number of connections for neural access devices."

Fang Chang nodded.

"I was just thinking about that issue. Perhaps mechanical modification is indeed the correct combat approach for the intelligence system. If the store later opens up the purchase of implanted prostheses, perhaps the spring of the intelligence system is coming!"

"The spring of the Intelligence System."

Wild Wind suddenly felt teary-eyed.

He always felt like he had been waiting forever, and now it was finally here.

Fang Chang said, "But you better be careful. Even if I dropped my mechanical bow, I could pick it up again, but if you died... even if your arm could be recovered, I think fitting it back on would be quite a feat."

Wild Wind held his right arm, calmly stating,

"Don’t worry, I’ll take care of my Kylin Arm."

Amused by his coy expression, Fang Chang laughed and said, "You really should take good care of it. Also, it might be best to avoid showing off on the Forum later."

"...Why?"

Seeing Wild Wind clearly planning to flaunt on the Forum, Fang Chang sighed deeply and said,

"Bro, do you know how many people were severely injured and repaired last night? I’d say at least a quarter of the 117."

A mechanical arm!

Not to mention those players who got repaired.

Even those like him who had minor injuries and only needed a bandage were insanely jealous of such god-like luck!

Thinking of the players clamoring to be ’cut down,’ the usually calm Wild Wind felt nervous.

"Then I’ll make up a story later..."

"That’s better," Fang Chang nodded. "Just say you saved their leader’s life, and you traded your life for this mechanical arm. It sounds much better than just laying on the ground, waking up, and having some ’God Equip’ extra."

Wild Wind quickly nodded.

"Alright, I’ll do that!"

"If anyone asks, that’s what I’ll say."

...

Giant Stone City.

A vertical-takeoff aircraft soared over the towering concrete walls and the peripheral urban areas, landing on the helipad outside the buildings of the Inner City.

Accompanied by three teammates, Lihua jumped off the steady plane, walked toward the officer waiting at the edge of the helipad, and gave a military salute.

"Reporting, sir, the mission failed. The enemy refused to hand over the POWs and declined further discussion on the ransom."

The middle-aged man dressed as an officer nodded, not blaming them.

"Alright, I’m aware now, you can go."

"Yes, sir."

Handling disputes between the Army and corporations had to be done very carefully; if the Army got upset, it could bring warfare to Qingquan City.

Provoking the corporations was equally troublesome; although they were far away and sending troops directly was impractical, they could simply adjust the regional risk assessment and tighten the banking support for trade routes, potentially halving the commercial teams coming from the East Coast, costing at least a billion in chips yearly.

Whoever ended up winning, they had to visit there.

If they could buy off the POWs to earn some favors, that would be ideal.

If playing mediator failed, it was no big deal; at least they had tried, and when envoys from either side came asking, they would have an explanation.

...

Outpost Base, the heavy snow subsided slightly.

Carrying a hunting bow, Yu Hu had walked a long way and finally saw the outline of the south gate. However, he was puzzled, as there seemed to be far fewer people than usual.

Were they all busy elsewhere?

The gate guard recognized his face and, after routinely checking his pass, let him through.

The industrial area’s chimneys were still puffing away, with the sound of metal being struck intermittently floating from the half-closed workshops, indicating there were people inside.

Without staying long in the southern industrial zone, Yu Hu went straight to the main building of the sanatorium.

There was a room there with a sign on it, and although Yu Hu didn’t know what was written on the sign, he knew it was a bank and also where his sister worked.

"This work is pretty easy; most players with VM already use electronic payments, only newcomers use metal currency.

In his spare time, Little Fish would just hold a book and sit at the wooden table by the door, reading.

When they arrived at the entrance of the bank, seeing Little Fish sitting and reading at a wooden table, Yu Hu finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his hanging heart also settled down.

"Little Fish, are you alright?"

"Brother?" Little Fish, lifting her head in surprise, looked at the second brother standing at the door, put down the book in her hand, and curiously asked, "Why are you here?"

Yu Hu smiled and said, "I’m just worried about you! Last night, a bright light flashed in the north; Big Brother, sister-in-law, Dad, and Mom were all really worried about you. So, I came to check on you on their behalf."

Little Fish: "I’m fine, I saw that very bright light last night too, but it’s quite far from here, so it didn’t affect me."

"I’m relieved you’re safe!" Looking at his unharmed sister, Yu Hu said with relief, "Remember to eat more meat, only then can you grow taller."

Little Fish shook her head like a bobblehead.

"I can’t eat too much, eating too full will make you fat."

Yu Hu: "It’s good to put on some weight!"

Little Fish: "Not good!"

The little sister was fine in every aspect except she was quite stubborn. When it came to arguing, Yu Hu had never won against her since he could remember. He sighed and then didn’t argue with her anymore.

"Never mind, you wouldn’t understand; I won’t argue with you... By the way, what is this book about? Is it interesting?"

Little Fish slightly curled her lips, looking at her clueless elder brother, and boasted.

"This book, it’s about the sayings from Brother Chu! Little Fish is now learning two languages!"

Yu Hu, playing with the book, was stunned.

"Ah? Wouldn’t that get you confused?"

Little Fish proudly said: "Not at all; Little Fish is very smart! Brother Chu said that as long as I study hard, he will reward me with candy."

Yu Hu looked envious.

It wasn’t the book he envied.

It was the candy.

He wanted some too...

...

Seeing his sister well and even in better spirits than when she was at home, Yu Hu’s little worry also disappeared.

He planned to greet Brother Chu before leaving, but unfortunately, Brother Chu was not here. The old man in charge of the warehouse said he seemed to have gone north, just a few minutes ago.

Thinking of last night’s nuclear explosion in the north, Yu Hu couldn’t help worrying a bit, hoping that the place Brother Chu went to wouldn’t be too dangerous.

Every year on Bet Street, there are always one or two unlucky fellows who get sick from radiation and, unable to afford the expensive anti-radiation drugs, can only lie in bed and wait for death.

Moreover, compared to the radiation itself, the Variants attracted by the radiation are even more dangerous, and the probability of breeding dangerous species is much higher than in other places.

Anyway, may he live long.

In this damned world, there were too few kind-hearted people like Brother Chu!

...

"Achoo."

Chu Guang, sitting on a light truck, suddenly sneezed without warning; Xia Yan glanced at him.

"Caught a cold?"

"No, probably someone’s thinking about me."

It was just a casual remark, but somehow, the guy sitting next to him, suddenly glared at him.

"Who, who would be thinking about you, don’t flatter yourself."

Chu Guang: "...?"

What the heck."

While they were talking, the truck pulled up next to the Pioneer.

Chu Guang hopped down from the truck and lent a hand to the limping Boss Xia.

After getting off the truck, Xia Yan looked around cautiously, eyeing the massive steel platform and the tracks, then glanced at the nearby production workshop that buzzed incessantly, and whispered,

"What did you bring me here for? Is there some new work? Just to be clear, I don’t want to be too far from the shelter, and I don’t want to live outside..."

Hey?

You’re quite picky.

Chu Guang responded, "Okay, decided. I’ll throw you outside for two days."

Hearing that it was indeed a change of position, Xia Yan’s face turned sour, and she muttered in aggrieved tones,

"Hey... if you have any complaints about me, just say it. Can’t I change if you tell me?"

Chu Guang glanced at her without a word and then led her directly to the side of the Pioneer’s elevator. A woman dressed in a white cold-weather suit had been waiting there for a while and smiled at them.

Her name was Wu Ya, a medical staff member of the logistics department on the Pioneer, skilled in surgery and prosthesis implantation research.

Approaching her, Chu Guang got straight to the point,

"Doctor Wu, this is the cripple; I leave her in your hands."

Amused by the term "cripple," Doctor Wu looked at him with a smile and said,

"Rest assured, our technology is professional."

"Uh, just don’t let her die."

"Wait, what? Die?" Xia Yan was utterly confused by their conversation. Her face turned pale with anxiety, and she took a step back, "What, what are you going to do to me?"

Wu Ya couldn’t help but laugh out loud. After shooting Chu Guang an annoyed look, she turned to her patient and explained,

"Your boss is just joking with you. He has bought you a mechanical prosthesis, which I will install shortly. Please be assured, the prosthesis implantation surgery is a mature technology here, with a less than 1% chance of any mishap, and even if something does go wrong, the risks are completely manageable."

Prosthesis?

Surgery?

Xia Yan was stunned.

After a while, she looked at Chu Guang in disbelief.

"You..."

Knowing what she wanted to say and also knowing this crude fellow couldn’t utter any pleasant words of thanks, Chu Guang casually waved his hand to stop her,

"No need to thank me, just work well to repay me."

Dropping these words, he walked toward the direction of the Action Camp, where players were still waiting for him to assign tasks.

Watching Chu Guang’s departing figure, Xia Yan stood dazed for a moment, her heart gradually filling with complex emotions.

Prosthesis...

That must be expensive.

Especially in Giant Stone City, it still carries a high price.

She had seen it several times in shop windows—some powerful prostheses that could even compare to a bionic person with basic intelligence. Even citizens with civil status would shake their heads at the sight and say they couldn’t afford it.

Typically, only powerful mercenaries or private soldiers maintained by the big bosses had the chance to use such costly equipment.

Honestly, after seeing her leg become what it was, she had almost given up hope for the future. Even though Chu Guang had once told her that he would give her a leg if she performed well, she never took it seriously, thinking of it as a pie in the sky.

After all, that was an item worth tens of thousands of chips.

How could it possibly be used on someone like herself...

Not to mention he had said it jokingly.

"Do you need me to wait for you a moment?" Doctor Wu asked softly, walking up beside her. "After all, you’re the only surgery scheduled for today."

Pulling up her collar to hide her red, frozen ears, Xia Yan picked up her crutch stuck in the snow and turned to the elevator, saying softly,

"No need..."

"Let’s go."

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