This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 319 - 173: A Show of Skill【The Ring of Genetic Warrior】_2

Chapter 319: Chapter 173: A Show of Skill【The Ring of Genetic Warrior】_2

Everyone was guessing who the daring person was, but people already mentioned that these few shops had all sent someone to the same new Mechanical Repair shop today.

Ya Ro dropped what he was holding and hurried back to his shop.

"Where’s Li Ming?" he grabbed Kay and asked anxiously.

"Just went upstairs." Kay looked clueless and pointed towards the metal staircase.

He hurried upstairs, found Li Ming, and asked urgently, "Was it you who did it?"

Li Ming glanced at him and shrugged.

Ya Ro hesitated, after confirming the matter, he didn’t know what to say.

The thought crossed his mind that Li Ming seemed to fit into the Land of Stars all too well.

"There won’t be any trouble, right?" In the end, that was all he could ask.

"According to the unwritten rules here, I should be fine." Li Ming said, feeling a bit sentimental inside.

Not having to worry about leaving traces, surveillance probes, or the feeling of the technique was indeed very satisfying.

"As long as there are no bodies, it’s fine." Ya Ro added, having spent a long time in the Land of Stars, he knew there was no truly safe place here.

Collectors wouldn’t bother investigating for a few ordinary life forms as long as one superficially respected their rules.

"What’s that in your hand..." It was only then that Ya Ro saw the purple ring that Li Ming was fiddling with in his hand.

"Just a small gadget." Li Ming casually stuffed it into his pocket.

This was an Intelligent Assistance terminal, which had been upgraded and was now a B-class item.

During the slaughter, he had an additional harvest, discovering two Mother Ore blocks and some precious metal materials in those stores.

One of them, named "Duoweiya Glass Ore," was used to enhance the Intelligent Assistance terminal, which after being strengthened, consumed five hundred thousand metal energy to be upgraded to B-class.

[Smart Star Ring--B-class: A multi-intelligence information processing terminal.

...

Control Effect: Profession--Hacker

Control Ability--Intelligent Assistance: Capable of Mimicry within 50000m of the host environment’s information, assist in processing, and can penetrate same-level disguises.]

The range was greatly increased, and it acquired the ability to see through disguises.

...

Meanwhile, in the center of this area, inside a palace isolated by towering metal walls,

a figure held a broken and shattered mechanical blade, with eyes magnified through custom high-power lenses.

He wore a black and red tailcoat, tall and straight in stature, with a pale red skin tone.

A sharp red tail swayed ceaselessly, and two bent horns on his head resembled the demonic figures from some interstellar native myths,

"Holtli, Element engraving craftsmanship, should be the battle blade of the Knight Legion, a shame it’s broken too severely." He spoke indifferently, "Sixteen million."

"Collector Sir." A Vigo standing below changed expression, all four eyes flickering, "To bring this broken blade here, my team lost two-thirds, sixteen million is too..."

He hadn’t finished speaking when, in a blur, the broken blade was stabbed into the floor right in front of him.

"If you don’t want to sell, take it away. No one in the Land of Stars can offer a higher price than me; if you want to sell it outside in civilization, I won’t stop you."

The Collector folded the high-magnification glasses on his face, quickly shrinking them to the size of a small lens piece and then tucked them into his right pocket.

The Vigo carefully reached his arm toward the broken blade on the ground, the veins in his arm bulging as he seemed to attempt to pull it out, but no matter how hard he tried, the blade wouldn’t budge.

"Eighteen million, final price." The Collector added two million with a slight frown.

The Vigo’s throat moved as he nodded difficultly, covered in cold sweat, "Deal."

He made the transfer payment on the spot, and after the Vigo left, a middle-aged human dressed like a butler standing behind the Collector said in a low voice, "The Vigo are indeed keen calculators, actually thinking of taking it away."

Raising his hand, the Collector had the broken blade back in his grasp, "Now that’s interesting."

"Huo Tan, what’s the matter?" he inquired.

"Sir, three Mechanical Repair shops have been cleaned out," he replied softly.

The Collector’s movements paused slightly, and his gaze took on a fiery intensity, "Who did it?"

"It’s a peer, take a look..." Huo Tan passed over an Intelligent Assistance terminal, "Very clean work."

The Collector appeared slightly surprised as he took the intelligent terminal. The flame in his eyes gradually faded, "An outsider driving a Sela royal ship?"

"Is there any news about this matter?"

"I’ve checked," Huo Tan responded, "Around more than half a month ago, Duke Bai Ye of Sela and an executive of the Star Hunters, Atom, died on the same unnamed planet while they were tracking down a cargo."

"It must have been this guy’s doing as well, but we don’t know the specifics."

"Two B-level life forms?" The Collector was even more astonished as he continued to review the information, "He seems to be quite capable, huh. He spent five million to rent unit 131 in zone B and opened a Mechanical Repair shop?"

The Collector chuckled, "Interesting, eh?"

His smile ceased and became inscrutable as his gaze lingered on an image—the name of Li Ming’s shop, along with a few lines of annotations.

"Only undertakes repair and customization of C-grade or higher weapons, with no upper limit?" The Collector’s eyes flickered.

"That’s right. He talks big. Would you like to go take a look? You’ve been looking for an impressive Mechanic, haven’t you?" Huo Tan said.

"Just a gimmick," the Collector shook his head, still calm, "Could he possibly be a Grand Mechanic?"

Huo Tan paused, then continued, "Additionally, those Dukes have invited you to discuss how to handle the United Fleet from Yitelan."

"This is the third invitation. Will you accept?"

The Collector frowned and scoffed, "Have they contacted Torch?"

"All communication channels for the Torch Organization have closed," Huo Tan shook his head, "They refuse all external communication."

The Collector spoke coldly, "Refusing communication? They’re the ones who did the killing, and yet they expect us to take the fall? Damn it!"

"Forget it, in the end we’ll just hide away in the Red River Star Stream. Once the United Fleet comes up empty, they’ll naturally leave."

Huo Tan hesitated, stepped forward, and said in a low voice, "This time, the United Fleet may not let things go so easily. Asimara’s experimental base is suspected of also being attacked by the Torch Organization, and her fiancé is a high-ranking official of the Star Abyss Empire..."

The Collector’s expression darkened, "Such an unwarranted calamity. Tell them I’m on my way."

"Yes," Huo Tan nodded.

...

"What a decisive fellow," Saber muttered as he fiddled with the intelligent terminal, his mood fluctuating, "And not weak in power either."

Right then, the door opened, and Saber’s pitch-black eyes fixed intently on Li Ming, "What are you here for? To clean me out as well?"

"Your Excellency has misunderstood," Li Ming shook his head, "I’m here to ask for your assistance in formulating a potion."

"A potion?" Saber frowned, "Do you have the formula?"

"Yes," Li Ming nodded, bringing up the formula, the one Old Wu had given him to suppress the activity of the sublimation particles.

Saber looked it over for a while and said indifferently, "Come pick it up after six hours."

"That quick," Li Ming raised his eyebrows, pondered for a moment, then took out a small transparent particle, "Have you ever seen this kind of material before?"

This was something Li Ming had managed to saw off the golden vertical pupil after considerable effort, intending to find someone to inquire about it.

"Time Gel, this is an exceedingly special material," Saber stared at the particle in his hand, hesitating, "Over time, it becomes harder and harder. A long time ago, I saw it at an exhibition of some ruins."

"You really recognize it?" Li Ming suddenly perked up, "Is there a way to dissolve it or something?"

"Yes," Saber eyed Li Ming, "But why should I tell you?"

Li Ming sighed, "I really don’t like killing."

Saber let out a snort of amusement, "Doing business means not turning customers away at the door. Just wait..."

He went into the back room, came out with a tube of green liquid, "Gel-eating Worm, this thing can break down gel structures, five hundred thousand."

Li Ming paid immediately, eager to return to his shop, he ascended to the third floor, closed the door, took out the metal vertical pupil, and then placed it in a container.

He carefully poured the green liquid into it, and upon close observation, one could see that the liquid was actually writhing little crawlers.

Before long, the golden vertical pupil indeed melted, revealing a ring.

Li Ming took it up, a flash of keen light sweeping across his eyes.

[Genetic Warrior’s Ring--Consumable: A broken path of evolution.

Control Conditions: Five million metal energy

Control Effect--Inheritance: Consume Controlled Objects, gain the profession--Genetic Warrior.]