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墨書 Inktalez
“Damn it!”
Seeing the three stern notifications, Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment. So this was the trick of those Kangaroos and Crows! It was truly underhanded.
They knew he wasn't a Mercenary, so they reported him. If he had to apply to become a Mercenary because of this, he would need a Mercenary Mission to assess his application. However, to complete that mission, he would have to leave the g-715 Sub-base. Once he left the Sub-base, those guys could act freely against him.
Even if he applied to become a miner, it would be the same situation. There were no mines within the Sub-base; all work required traveling thousands of kilometers away, giving those guys another opportunity to strike.
If Lin Yuan completely ignored these notifications, after three Yellow Warnings, he would be expelled from the g-715 Sub-base, thus fulfilling those damned hyenas' expectations!
What made it worse was that this method was entirely legal and in accordance with the laws of Mechanical City. Lin Yuan couldn't retaliate; his only option was to apply to become an official Mercenary and inevitably leave the Sub-base for missions, ultimately falling into their trap.
What a clever scheme, tightly interlinked!
With a cold laugh in his heart, Lin Yuan looked at the last notification, which had been sent fifteen days ago. At that time, he had been fully engrossed in researching the Energy Conversion Generator. It was likely that someone had intercepted these notifications, resulting in him not receiving them.
But so what?
Let those Kangaroos and Crows fuss about; he still had twenty days to prepare!
Casually dismissing the notification, Lin Yuan set a countdown for twenty days in his Intellect and then completely ignored it as he strode toward the Trading Platform within the Maintenance Center.
Finding an automatic Trading Platform, Lin Yuan entered his identity information. After a quick verification, the Three Million Mechanical Coins reward was credited to his account. However, he did not purchase any parts for assembling the Energy Engine on the Trading Platform; he already knew that the materials sold there were outrageously overpriced. According to his assembly plan, Three Million Mechanical Coins were merely a drop in the bucket.
His target was the Scrap Recycling Area within the Assembly and Repair Center.
Just like everything else in the universe, where there is life there is death, where there is new there is old; where there is assembly and repair, there is also scrap recycling. With classic craftsmanship comes mass production; excellence exists alongside mediocrity, perfection with filth, goodness with evil—these dualities always appear together.
So it was easy to imagine how bustling the Scrap Recycling Area in this assembly center was. No one was foolish; seeking bargains wasn't unique to Earth Humans; it was a trait shared by nearly all Intelligent Life in the universe. Thus, there was no distinction between good and bad.
The Scrap Recycling Area was a designated space. When Lin Yuan arrived here, what first caught his eye were countless piles of various scrap materials and Mechanical Bodies stacked together—some as large as massive Starships and others as small as Cargo Ships—along with various discarded Battle Machines and aircrafts; tanks and other vehicles made it look like an enormous junkyard!
Countless intelligent mechanical arms buzzed around like locusts, busy cutting and dismantling everything. The air was filled with harsh cutting sounds and clanging impacts.
Yet here, customers were everywhere; no one seemed impatient. They rummaged through scraps like scavengers searching for various materials and parts. If they found something satisfactory, they would proceed with intelligent payment and simply take it away.
The atmosphere was bustling and lively, which made Lin Yuan feel a twinge of self-mockery. He had thought he was the only one aware of the true value of these discarded materials, but who was really the fool here?
The Scrap Recycling Area had no staff or managers to maintain order; everything was automated. No one could steal even a single screw; if you wanted something, you simply paid for it.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Yuan dove headfirst into the pile of junk. It didn't take long for him to grasp the rules here: if you wanted a particular item, you couldn't dismantle it; you had to buy it as a whole. Once sold, there were no returns.
However, the scrap materials and Mechanical Parts here were indeed cheap—at least three to five times less than the brand-new Parts sold on the Trading Platform, and sometimes even tenfold. If one had a discerning eye and found a Part with potential value, making profits of a hundred or even a thousand times was quite possible.
Of course, no one was foolish; the owner behind this Scrap Recycling Area was surely an expert who had already estimated most of the old materials' prices, significantly increasing the difficulty of treasure hunting.
Lin Yuan wasn't focused on rummaging through the mountain of scrap materials just yet; he needed to quickly select components for assembling an Energy Engine. Fortunately, Energy Engines were common among discarded parts since almost every old item had various models of Energy Engines attached.
Thus, Lin Yuan worked swiftly. In less than half an hour, he had selected several hundred different components. Although they were all worn and torn, with his assembly and repair skills, he could restore them to about seventy to eighty percent new condition.
During this time, Lin Yuan also considered searching for a wreck similar to the Falcon Fighter that Slime had once brought him—a complete wreck that looked like an iron egg. Unfortunately, such a situation didn’t exist here, and he wondered where Slime had stolen it from in the first place.
"Hey! Brother, can I interrupt you for a moment? Are you preparing to assemble an Energy Engine? That's impressive! To be able to put together an Energy Engine from a pile of junk takes courage that not just anyone possesses."
While Lin Yuan was busy, a Mechanical Warrior nearby who was also digging for treasures suddenly spoke up. This was an elderly figure—though in Mechanical Life there was no concept of age, only strength and weakness.
However, this Mechanical Warrior's body was in terrible shape; it looked as if it were assembled from a heap of junk—chaotic and unrecognizable. It resembled neither a Brute Assault Specialist nor a Swift Hunter nor even a Heavy Shield Defender. Many parts seemed completely meaningless in their assembly. From Lin Yuan's perspective, this fellow's Mechanical Body had at least ten percent excess weight; even if all its Parts were removed, it would still be unnecessary.
So in some sense, this fellow could be considered a freak among Mechanical Life. Due to his poor Mechanical Body, it was difficult to discern his level or classification.
Nevertheless, the fact that he could immediately recognize what Lin Yuan intended to assemble showed considerable insight.
But Lin Yuan wasn't in the mood for banter with this character; he continued selecting various scrap Parts without acknowledging him. The peculiar Old Mechanical Warrior seemed very interested in Lin Yuan and kept watching his actions and selections. After some time, he suddenly asked, "Brother, what do they call you? You seem like the leader of a Mercenary Group. Do you need new Mercenary companions? I'm the best cannon fodder and vanguard; I’m not afraid of death! When danger arises, just throw me aside and run—I guarantee I won't complain! And all this will only cost you one hundred thousand Mechanical Coins per Mechanical Year!"
Lin Yuan found this amusing but chose to ignore him. What a joke! He didn't even have an official Mercenary identity—how could he qualify to form a Mercenary Group? Just based on this guy's unreliable words alone, even if he were the leader of a Mercenary Group, he would never hire him.
After paying for his items, Lin Yuan turned to leave. The Parts here were indeed cheap; he had gathered enough components to assemble two Energy Engines for less than two million Mechanical Coins—a fantastic deal! In light of his good mood, he casually replied, "Thanks! But I'm not a Mercenary yet! Please seek someone else!"
"Oh, that's fine! But you're definitely going to become a Mercenary someday! So you'll need a real companion. Don't worry; I'll make sure you're satisfied—you won't regret it."
The Mechanical Warrior wouldn’t let Lin Yuan go so easily and continued to follow closely while holding onto his own pile of Parts. At this point, Lin Yuan didn’t even have any interest in exchanging pleasantries.
The two walked out of the recycling area together. At the security line, Lin Yuan passed through without issue while the old fellow was stopped by a piercing alarm—he hadn’t paid yet!
"Hey, hey, hey! Brother, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda! How about you hire me for a year? At the very least, help me pay my debts. Don't worry, I will definitely repay you!"
The Old Mechanical Warrior shouted, while a mechanical voice sternly echoed nearby: "You have already committed the offense of stealing the inherent property of g-715 Sub-base for the third time. Please pay the fine; otherwise, you will face a third Yellow Warning and become an unwelcome individual in this base, leading to your expulsion."
"Yellow Warning?"
Lin Yuan, walking ahead, felt a slight stir in his heart. He had just learned about the implications of a Yellow Warning. Turning back to glance at the old fellow, he thought for a moment and decided to pay off his bill. After all, it was only a little over one hundred thousand Mechanical Coins—not much really. The key issue was that he wanted to see if this old guy was just pretending to be weak because not every Mechanical Warrior could easily identify the components he wanted to assemble.
"Thanks, brother! Are you planning to hire me as your Mercenary companion?" The old man seemed quite excited.
"No, I just wanted to ask if you can assemble an Energy Engine?"
"Assemble an Energy Engine? No, no, no! I don't have that capability; otherwise, I wouldn't be in such a predicament. I can only serve as cannon fodder and the vanguard."
"Oh, then forget it. Goodbye!" Lin Yuan said nonchalantly. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he noticed the Troll Captain approaching with Thomas and Shield Warrior Bison. Fat Three was also coming from a distance; clearly, they were preparing to enter the Scrap Recycling Area to collect old Parts.
Upon seeing Lin Yuan, they all paused for a moment before the Troll Captain rushed over like a whirlwind. While Lin Yuan was still in shock, the captain kicked the old man beside him away.
"You old scammer! Where's my One Hundred Thousand Mechanical Coins? You were supposed to join my Troll Squad as cannon fodder and vanguard! Where have you been? From k-849 Sub-base to g-715 Sub-base—you didn't think you'd escape my notice, did you? Pay up, or today I'll chop you into pieces!" (To be continued.)
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