This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 626: This Bionic Person is Too Useful!

Chapter 626: Chapter 626: This Bionic Person is Too Useful!

"F*ck! My ideas got ripped off by those damn planners again!!"

In the industrial zone of Dawn City.

Mosquito, with his eight mechanical tentacles attached to his back, crossed his arms and looked with a sour burst of envy and jealousy at the crab construction armor bustling up and down the construction site nearby.

What the hell is the difference between that thing and the crab robot he had made before?

But it’s undeniable that, as NPCs with opened technology, those No.100 Shelter crab robots really had some tricks up their sleeves.

Once inside one of those, a person could do the work of five.

Especially with construction in complex terrains, not only could these behemoths ensure the safety of the construction workers, but they also improved the work efficiency per hour.

The alliance workers operating these things were still not proficient, yet the construction efficiency had already improved significantly. Mosquito believed that in a little while, the performance of these gadgets would be even more astonishing.

A short distance away, a bionic man with a bald head, unnecessarily wearing a safety helmet, was exchanging some experience with the nearby construction team leader and engineer, all of whom were also donning safety helmets.

Mosquito had wanted to eavesdrop as well, to see if he could glean some wisdom, but at that moment, a familiar voice called out from the side.

"Mosquito? Didn’t you head over to Giant Stone City? When did you get back?"

"Haha, what has Brother Guang done to torment you this time?"

The newcomers were none other than Discourage and Reaper.

Seeing that it was his two underlings, Mosquito didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed. Sighing towards the construction site in the distance, he began to ramble.

"It’s that big crab! Remember the one I made before? It’s still sitting in a warehouse in City of Dawn, and now, before the version even updates, it’s become an NPC thing!"

Discourage was taken aback for a moment, it took quite a while to remember this incident, and all of a sudden he burst out laughing so hard he ran out of breath.

Reaper, equally unsparing, laughed even more wildly, nearly choking on his own saliva.

"Holy sh*t, isn’t that stuff from how many versions ago?!"

"And that thing is a machine—no, wait, the thing you made was a crab?!"

Wasn’t that thing just a bunch of crab shells put together? For crying out loud, let alone an electrical control system, it didn’t even have a battery or a motor.

With so many laughable points, the two didn’t know where to start their mockery, so they just held their bellies and laughed.

Seeing his two apprentices giving no face at all, Mosquito didn’t get angry. After all, he was used to it; he just rolled his eyes and didn’t stoop to argue with these two jerks.

Truth be told, isn’t every great invention a process from immature to mature? There’s no such thing as a Chang’an City built in a single day.

His non-powered armor and crab robot were just not perfect yet. The recent few soft updates had already proven, at least his ideas were feasible, just lacking some refinement.

Mosquito believed, give it some time, and his bizarre gadgets would definitely prove useful.

And motherf*ckers, when I invented airplanes and recoilless guns, you weren’t laughing! What’s so fun about harping on this?!

Finally having laughed their fill, Discourage suddenly noticed the eight mechanical arms on Mosquito’s back, and his laughing spasms turned into astonishment.

"Holy sh*t, bro, did you pick up that mechanical arm again?"

Mosquito chuckled.

"Pick up? No way, I’ve custom ordered a new set."

Discourage: "Holy sh*t?!"

Reaper was also dumbfounded, managing to say with a helpless laugh.

"But, boss, why don’t you ever learn from your mistakes?"

"I knew you guys were going to say that!"

Mosquito sighed leisurely and without further explanation, he maneuvered the mechanical hand on his left arm to curve around to his right side, grabbing onto the mechanical arm behind his right shoulder.

With a shrug of his shoulders, to everyone’s amazement, he pulled the mechanical arm off like he was uprooting a radish.

Seeing this outrageous and unbelievable scene, Discourage’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Holy sh*t?! Prosthetics can be removed now too?!"

Mosquito smiled proudly.

"It’s not about prosthetics being removable, I had them made to be detachable."

As he spoke, the hand holding the mechanical arm poked to the right and reattached the mechanical arm he just pulled off.

Reaper stared at him in shock, taking a while before managing to utter a question.

"But what about the spine? Can that be removed too?"

If he remembered correctly, significant modifications to the flesh aside from replacing the components themselves also required an extension of the body’s original hardware.

And in this case, the so-called extension meant replacing the spine.

The structural materials mainly consisted of titanium alloy or stainless steel, while the materials for the neural connection devices were primarily carbon-based polymers and molybdenum metal.

A set of cybernetic prostheses worth 500,000 silver coins largely had a cost of at least 100,000 or even 200,000 in the spine and the spinal replacement surgery.

If merely the mechanical arms were made detachable, each death would still incur the expensive loss of the bionic spine.

Faced with a deadly query, Mosquito chuckled and said,

"That indeed cannot be detached, but it’s not a big issue! Little known fact, the more industrial products are manufactured, the lower the cost. My trip from Giant Stone City this time is precisely to solve this problem!"

Discourage and Deadly both were momentarily stunned.

"To solve this problem..."

"What are you planning to do now?"

Confronted with their perplexed gazes, Mosquito coughed dramatically, then continued with animated excitement,

"Just yesterday! I got it, I got a long-term supply order and an authorization contract from Huge Rock Military Industry!"

"Starting now, the technicians from Goblin Technology will work with Huge Rock Military Industry’s engineers to research the assembly line production methods for the ’Universal Interface Bionic Spine’! Replacing the secret family recipes of old engineers with standardized production processes, we aim to ensure that every player in the modification stream can afford a spine that they won’t mind wasting!"

"Simply put, I’m going to reduce the price of bionic prosthetics!!!"

Of course, it wasn’t just that, he himself was deeply interested in bionic technology.

His previous success with aviation kerosene has already given him a taste of the fruits.

And upon discovering that the game’s technology could also be applied in reality, his ambitions gradually grew larger.

If he could transfer some of the bionic prosthetic technology to reality...

Even if he couldn’t fully grasp these overly advanced technologies, just transferring the "prelude technology" like neural connection technology and algorithms to reality could physically eliminate conditions like cervical spondylosis and high-level paraplegia from Earth.

However, he was also clear that this idea was a bit too crazy.

Neural connection technology and related algorithms in reality were still in their infancy, barely allowing trained orangutans to play table tennis.

But knowing that there were companies that could create virtual reality helmets, he had some confidence in his hands-on abilities and learning capabilities.

As one of the first players to enter the game, his United Human language has become conversational with the NPCs of this world, lacking only some specialized terminology and understanding of those "too high-end basic knowledge."

All of these could be learned slowly.

After hearing Mosquito’s grand declaration, both Discourage and Deadly’s eyes widened simultaneously.

"Damn!"

"666!"

Goodness! Previously on the forum, he had complained about Mosquito Brother, who was spending undue money on NPCs as test subjects, acting like a pure sucker.

Now it seems that it was he who had the smaller vision.

It turns out this guy was playing a huge game, raising his favorability with the NPCs and transforming from a sucker client directly into a partner.

Doing OEM for "competitors."

This clever move was something he had never thought of...

...

The "strong alliance" between Goblin Technology and Huge Rock Military Industry was just a minor and inconspicuous interlude among the massive production orders in the Dawn City industrial zone.

In this rapidly expanding industrial stronghold, where one could almost see the growth with the naked eye, deals worth tens of millions or even billions were reached almost every day.

The food from Luo Xia Province ensured the Alliance’s food supply, while the managed mines and waste sorting centers at the POW Camp provided nearly cost-free raw materials.

With the cost of residents’ daily necessities and upstream raw materials for the industrial chain remaining stable, the surge of new things and industries was sufficient to offset the endogenous inflation generated by the Alliance’s proactive debt.

Luo Xia Province and Brocade River Province, which supplied industrial raw materials, were able to absorb some of the excess industrial products being produced.

The future would see price reductions for more than just bionic prosthetics.

If it weren’t for Mosquito himself boasting over drinks, not even the tavern would be discussing this seemingly trifling matter.

The hot topic in the entire Dawn City of late was another issue.

Recently, a group of special residents joined the Alliance - they were all bionic humans, and there were as many as 110 of them!

While the number might not sound large, in Dawn City with a total population of twelve thousand, it already accounted for nearly one-thousandth of the population!

A considerable proportion among them were experts in physics and engineering, while another part had extensive experience in engineering management.

Since most of the shelters previously excavated were engaged in biotechnology research, the Alliance had always been short on personnel in physics and engineering.

The addition of these bionic humans greatly improved the scientific expedition team’s efficiency in technology recovery in the fields of physics and engineering.

And their rich experience in engineering management also provided a lot of help to the construction teams the Alliance had to rush into action.

These bionic humans were usually active near Camp 101, some were employed by the educational institutions and laboratories at Camp 101, while others guided construction teams onsite, instructing them on how to operate the "Buprestis" engineering armor and spider robots excavated from Shelter No.100.

They were all bald and their skin was a dull gray, much easier to recognize compared to Frost and Solar Eclipse, who had given themselves skin. The local residents didn’t dislike them much—after all, the Alliance had people coming from all over.

The most they did was express curiosity.

These individuals neither drank alcohol nor smoked, their clothes were never changed, and for sleep, they simply stood next to their charging stations.

They had none of the needs of humans.

What exactly did they work for money for?

...

"Those bionic people have really been a big help!"

In Shelter No.101, it was still that café.

When he saw Dr. Method again, Chu Guang couldn’t stop praising them as soon as he sat down.

Just to speak matter-of-factly, standing from the perspective of an Alliance Manager, he couldn’t find any fault with those 110 new bionic resident citizens.

Their professional skills were not only urgently needed by the Alliance, but they were also extremely passionate about their work. In the matter of efficiency, even the players couldn’t outpace them!

What was most outrageous was that such excellent employees didn’t even ask for a wage!

All they needed was a regular recharge.

However, that being said, even though Gugel said they didn’t want money, Chu Guang still followed Alliance rules and had the employing units pay them wages and triple overtime pay, as per regulation.

This was also for their own good.

Otherwise, they might do a lot of good work but get "mysteriously" pelted with bricks by other laborers while walking down the street.

The Alliance didn’t advocate for unpaid work but insisted that labor must be compensated; otherwise, the liberation of the serfs would be meaningless.

However, Chu Guang still seriously considered the sincere requests put forth by Gugel on behalf of the other residents.

Under his direction, the Alliance Bank set up a special supervisory account for these bionic people and, according to their wishes, regularly transferred the surplus from their wage cards to the supervisory account and then used the money in the account to invest in the infrastructure construction of Dawn City.

In this way, they who fulfilled the wishes of their deceased compatriots attained spiritual redemption, while the residents of Dawn City gained actual benefits from their donations.

It’s fair to say that it was a win-win!

To be honest, after Gugel accepted this proposal, all that remained in Chu Guang’s heart besides emotion was admiration.

Working hard without consuming any goods, only requiring the basic electricity to sustain life, putting every penny earned into the development and future of the Alliance, sustained only by spiritual satisfaction and joy to start the next task energetically.

What a noble and selfless spirit that was!

Of course, he would not, as a manager, encourage others to emulate them—it was all too easy to plant another huge landmine.

Yet after seeing Xiao Qi’s report on those bionic people, Chu Guang couldn’t help but indulge in a bit of wishful thinking.

If only we could produce more of these work-only, consume-nothing bionic humans!

Looking at Dr. Method, who was smiling without a word, Chu Guang knew this clever person must have guessed what he was thinking and went straight to the point.

"Why not produce more of these bionic people with their own personalities?"

In fact, he had an even better idea.

There was no need to make them bear such a heavy past; simply making them start out with a debt of a hundred million or so would also make them work with vigor.

As if waiting for Chu Guang to ask this, Dr. Method curved his lips into a smile and said.

"I know what you’re thinking, but I would advise you to give up on that clever trick. Memories can indeed be manufactured through computer technology, and even personalities can be solved with algorithms. However, such bionic people will not become persons in the social sense, and their involvement in social production would introduce various issues."

Chu Guang furrowed his brows slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Method said with a smile.

"Literally what I said. You must have realized a little bit of it too. For instance, bionic people who don’t need a salary at all would be problematic, which is why you’d rather have that money circulate through your financial system and symbolically pay them that wage."

It was a matter of course.

Chu Guang asked, puzzled.

"What’s the connection between the two?"

"The connection lies in the fact that personality isn’t something that can be produced but is naturally born within society. A clone just out of the cloning chamber, let alone receiving modern education, won’t even perform as well as a trained monkey on an assembly line. It’s not because he isn’t smart enough but because he hasn’t acquired social attributes."

Without waiting for Chu Guang’s detailed questions, Dr. Method sipped his coffee and continued in a low voice.

"This topic was once debated as a sharp social issue in the early Prosperity Epoch, concerning what constitutes a person."

Chu Guang asked,

"Does this really need to be debated?"

Dr. Method replied as if it were self-evident.

"Of course, there are. Every era has its issues, and radical and conservative views always coexist. For example, in the old era, the definition of a person was the unity of a natural person with social identity, a consensus between radical and conservative thinkers. Even if they argued red in the face about identity, race, or land issues, no one cared about this ridiculous topic."

"However, during the Prosperity Epoch, with breakthroughs in information technology and biotechnology, people could easily transform themselves into another appearance or even graft their minds onto a more perfect species. The once indisputable consensus began to waver... Simply put, what could only be imagined before can now be accomplished."

"Radicals believe that a person should be defined by their social identity, whether they are a natural person is not that important. As long as there is a complete chain of evidence to prove the inheritance of personality, it doesn’t matter if the personality is transplanted into a cat or a robot, he is still a citizen of United Human."

"However, the conservative view remains the same as before, like the racists of the old era and the royalists of even earlier times. Their view is that only the unity of a natural person with a social identity can be called a person; otherwise, no matter how human-like it is, it’s just ’human-like.’ Based on this view, a minimal amount of prosthetic modification is acceptable, but the use of a large number of mechanical parts for non-medical purposes and altering genetic information is not."

Looking at the thoughtful Chu Guang, Dr. Method continued,

"Both sides have their logic, but aside from these issues, you can find that there is actually a common ground between them."

Chu Guang nodded with interest.

"They both agree that social identity is an essential attribute of a person?"

Dr. Method nodded approvingly.

"Exactly."

After a pause, he set down his coffee cup and continued in a serious tone.

"The personality you mentioned is actually one part of social attributes. Radicals wouldn’t think a vending machine should have citizen rights, no matter how long it has lived in United Human. However, a bionic person whose ’AI core’s logical algorithm was naturally formed within the society of United Human and who can participate in the society’s production’ is considered by most radicals as eligible to be someone’s son or daughter."

"If we fabricate a non-existent identity for it, give it a set of memories that never happened, and endow it with human emotions through an intelligence plugin, even if it’s hard for our society to distinguish it from a crowd, it can only exist as someone’s pet or dependent."

"They are like an extra puzzle piece; if it’s just doing some simple repetitive, mechanical work, there’s no problem and might even do better than an average person but a little worse than a pure machine. However, if it is to be more deeply involved in the functioning of society, such as independently engaging in creative work or even dealing with public affairs, they easily give themselves away and make incomprehensible mistakes in the most unthinkable places."

"The residents of Shelter No.100 are all naturally born within an actual society. Whether they upload their thoughts to circuit boards or transfer them from circuit boards back into real bodies, they can, based on their self-awareness and understanding of society, behave almost the same as other people in this society, which is why they please you so much."

"In a rather mystic way of speaking, their souls are truly real, and souls, unlike programs, cannot be simply copied."

Chu Guang rubbed his temples and took a moment to digest this complex content.

"I think I get it... Simply put, only when a bionic person’s logical algorithm is formed within Society A can he spontaneously participate in the social activities of Society A."

Indirect deduction would mean that in societies A and B, where there are similarities or mutual acceptance, they can also integrate into Society B. However, in a completely opposite Society C, such as the mutant tribes, they would show obvious discomfort and subjective resistance.

Does this feel the same with people?

Dr. Method smiled and nodded.

"Exactly that. So back to your original question as to why not produce more -- purely from the cost of materials and labor, the cost-effectiveness of bionic people is far less than that of clones. Clones can become experts or scholars in a field through learning, while bionic people, even if you stuff all knowledge into their brains, at most can only serve as walking encyclopedias, knowing neither how to use that knowledge nor what to research."

Chu Guang reflected.

"I see, that’s enlightening."

He came from another world before the Prosperity Epoch and couldn’t say that he was entirely ignorant, just completely unfamiliar with these things.

Including how to treat bionic people and Xiao Yu, he was feeling his way across the river, making decisions while referencing the opinions of other residents of the Alliance.

As long as you recognize the end of the Wasteland Era, let alone bionic people, even Variants he would try to unite to see if they share the same thoughts.

Looking at Chu Guang’s eager-to-learn expression, Dr. Method suddenly burst into laughter.

Chu Guang looked at him with a bewildered expression.

"What are you laughing at?"

Not understanding is just not understanding, what’s so funny about that?

Dr. Method suppressed his laughter and said,

"It’s nothing... It’s just that discussing these things from the preface of textbooks with you is quite interesting, hahaha!"

Chu Guang: "...?"

Where exactly is the fun in that?