Above the Blood Moon

Jockley hadn't forgotten his promise to Big Yellow yesterday, and he also felt that for someone like him who had absolutely no combat experience, it would be better to first build up Big Yellow's body.

He silently compared their fighting strength and thought, "Well, at this stage, one Big Yellow should be able to take on ten guys who are completely lost."

"A new body?" Huang Shuangyan repeated, "For you, a partner who's only got a head?"

Jockley nodded, and Yellow's vision sensor flashed, the golden halo appearing especially warm in the dim room.

Huang Shuangyan watched as Da Huang rested his chin on his hand and pondered for a moment, seemingly gossiping about the relationship between Da Huang and Qiao Keli.

In Forgotten City, almost no one will contribute their precious Star Alliance Coins to another unless that person is their partner, but even that is not guaranteed.

"This is interesting. Come with me."

She pushed open an inconspicuous wooden door behind the shelf, behind which was a downward metal staircase, with exposed concrete walls on both sides.

Huang Shuangyan stepped down first, her Taoist robe trailing behind her with a soft rustling sound. Qiao Keli hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to follow her.

The stairs were deep, about thirty steps. As Huang Shuangyan pushed open another door, Qiao Keli gasped.

What appeared before him was an underground warehouse, about 100 square meters in size, filled with exposed pipes and wires, and the walls were covered with iron racks, which were densely packed with things.

Those are prosthetics, countless prosthetics.

The left wall was covered with arms: metal arms, carbon fiber arms, hydraulic arms, robotic grippers, multi-tools...

The right wall is covered with mechanical legs.

Some of the mechanical legs were still wearing shoes, and one high heel was even hanging crookedly on a mechanical ankle, which made Jockley think to himself that it was probably just taken directly from a dead person.

The largest wall was directly in front, where torsos, complete exoskeletons, half-body armor, and so on were hung, while even more items were piled up on the ground.

Huang Shuangyan stood in the center of the warehouse, hands on her hips, the wide sleeves of her Taoist robe hanging down her sides. She turned to look at Qiao Keli, a smile typical of a cunning businessman on her face.

"Choose one. Don't be fooled by the fact that these items are all secondhand. Some of them have even changed hands countless times, but they are all definitely usable, and they are much cheaper than new ones."

Jockley remained silent. This was the choice he intended to make for Big Yellow; let it choose for itself.

Big Yellow's vision sensor band began to flash violently, and the golden halo flickered like a heartbeat. It climbed down from Jockley's shoulder, its four mechanical legs moved rapidly, and the data stream on the panel rolled wildly.

It scanned back and forth in front of the torso, finally stopping in front of a yellow and black exoskeleton.

This is a simple frame structure with four ports on the back.

Big Yellow stretched out its front leg and gently tapped its chest, producing a deep, heavy clang. Its sensors flashed with satisfaction, and it quickly selected two mechanical arms and a combat chip before climbing back onto Jockley's shoulder. An emoticon popped up on the panel.

.ﾟヽ(*´∀`)ﾉﾟ.

Jockley nodded, trusting that Da Huang wouldn't pick something useless. Huang Shuangyan looked at what Da Huang had chosen and raised her eyebrows.

"Your companion has good taste."

There was a hint of admiration in her tone.

"This is the Silver Wolf series robotic arm, a product of Yadea Technology from three years ago. Although it is not the latest, it has a stable structure, strong output, and good compatibility."

This fusion core is a Furnace 2-330 model, and its standard output power can last for at least three months. The combat chip is a Hound E200 series, a basic model, but it's sufficient.

She paused, her gaze falling on the exoskeleton torso.

"As for this..." She reached out and touched the surface of her torso.

"Shadow Warrior exoskeleton frame, black market goods, no manufacturer markings, but the workmanship is very good. It should be a high-quality replica from a small workshop, but the quality is no less than the genuine product."

After Huang Shuangyan finished speaking, she raised her left hand, and the bracelet lit up with a blue light, causing a virtual screen to pop up.

She moved quickly across the screen, her fingers slicing through the air.

She raised her left hand, and a virtual screen popped up on her wristband, quickly calculating: "A pair of Silver Wolf mechanical arms, the second-hand market price is 40, I'll give you 35; the Furnace Core is 25, so I'll give you 20; two Hound Chips, one is 8, two are 16; the Shadow Warrior Frame is 30, so I'll give you 25; that adds up to 96. I think you're pleasing to the eye, so I'll give you a discount to 68.7 Covenant Credits, I can't go any lower."

After Huang Shuangyan finished speaking, she felt a little guilty. After all, most of the items displayed here were of dubious origin, many of them taken from the scene of gang fights. If the gang saw a familiar prosthetic body and came knocking on her door, then the buyer would have to pray for the best.

That's why she sells them so cheaply.

Jockley remained silent, staring at the number on the virtual screen; he had no money in his account.

As Huang Shuangyan watched his expression, the smile on her face slowly faded.

"What? No money?"

Jockley took a deep breath, and then he said.

"I have no money."

Huang Shuangyan narrowed her eyes, her gaze instantly shifting from that of a shrewd businesswoman to that of a predator.

"No money? Then what are you doing here? Are you trying to make fun of me?"

As soon as she finished speaking, eight pairs of robotic arms instantly lit up in the shadows of the four corners of the warehouse. Four of them had rocket launchers at their ends, with their dark muzzles aimed at Jockley. The other four were high-speed rotary machine guns, their barrels already preheating and rotating.

Huang Shuangyan took a deep drag on the e-cigarette she had just pulled out from somewhere, and slowly exhaled the smoke from her nostrils, forming a twisted white spiral under the dim light.

With her other hand, she lightly tapped the virtual screen, and the weapon systems of the eight robotic arms simultaneously clicked as they were cocked.

"What? Trying to dine and dash?"

Jockley felt a cold sweat seep down his back, the sweat running down his spine. He glanced at Big Yellow, who, without the slightest hesitation, was about to put the prosthetic body he was about to get back in its original position.

Chokley took a deep breath and laid out the countermeasure he had already thought of.

"I don't want to dine and dash; I want to offer something as collateral."

Huang Shuangyan raised an eyebrow.

"Mortgage? What do you have to mortgage? The most valuable thing you have is that nervous system, which is outdated and worth at most two or three Covenant coins."

"I won't mortgage my exoskeleton, I'll mortgage my organs."

Huang Shuangyan was stunned. She stared at Qiao Keli for two seconds, then laughed again, as if she had heard something very funny.

"Organs? Kid, do you know that in Forgotten City, although organs are a form of hard currency, there are people selling kidneys, livers, corneas, and even half a brain all over the place, as long as the price is right?"

She stopped laughing and wiped her eyes.

"Besides, how can you prove your organs are healthy? What if they're diseased or damaged? Wouldn't I be at a loss if I accepted them?"

"You can get it checked, with something like a medical scanner."

Huang Shuangyan stared at him from head to toe for several seconds before finally nodding.

"Fine, I'll see what you can mortgage."

She pulled a handheld medical scanner from the inside pocket of her robe.

"Stand up straight, don't move, let me give you a proper check-up."

Jockley immediately straightened his body.

Huang Shuangyan turned on the scanner, and the instrument emitted a low hum. A green beam of light began scanning from above Qiao Keli's head and slowly moved downwards.

The data on the scanner screen jumped rapidly.

[Head: Intact, no implants, no lesions, normal brain tissue activity, estimated value: 15 Star Alliance Coins]

[Neck: Intact, no cervical spine injury, normal thyroid function, estimated value: 5 Star Alliance Coins]

The scan continued downwards, pausing briefly when it reached the abdomen.

"Do you have an injury to your abdomen?" she asked.

"It was just stitched up, but it doesn't affect organ function."

Huang Shuangyan didn't say anything and continued scanning, the scanner emitting a continuous beeping sound.

[Kidneys: Left kidney normal, right kidney has been pledged (third-party company record), total valuation: 5 Star Alliance Coins (left kidney only)]

[Reproductive system: intact, but testicles have been pledged (according to third-party company records), estimated value: 3 Star Alliance Credits (affiliated organizations only)]

Huang Shuangyan put down the instrument, looked at the data on the screen, remained silent for a few seconds, and then quickly tapped her fingers on the virtual screen while muttering to herself.

"Your total estimated value in perfect condition is 75 Star Alliance Credits, but some of your organs have already been pledged as collateral, so the actual value available for pledging is..."

She lowered her head to calculate again.

"Subtracting the right kidney and testicle that have already been mortgaged, it'll probably be around 70 Covenant Credits. But I want ready-made organs. I'll need to find someone to perform surgery on your current body, and the surgery fees, anesthesia fees, and post-operative care fees all need to be factored in."

She thought for a moment, and then said.

"Therefore, I can only give you a maximum of 68 Star Alliance Coins."

Jockley shook his head.

"68.7," he said. "The price you just mentioned."

Huang Shuangyan stared at him for two seconds.

"Okay, 68.7. This is for the sake of the priest and that bastard, but the repayment period is one week. If you can't repay the money after one week, I have the right to dismantle your body and recycle all your organs."

She took a black metal collar out of her Taoist robe pocket.

The collar was thick, about two fingers wide, with a matte black finish and a small red indicator light in the center, which was flashing slowly at the moment.

"You need to wear this. It's a bomb collar, remotely detonated. If you try to escape or try to disarm it..."

She smiled, a very gentle smile.

"Bang."

Jockley looked at the collar, the red indicator light flashing.

"it is good."

Huang Shuangyan walked over and put the collar around his neck. The collar automatically tightened and adjusted to the right size, then locked with a soft click, and the indicator light changed from a slow flashing to a steady red.

Huang Shuangyan clapped her hands, and the eight robotic arms retracted into the shadows at the same time, extinguishing the red lights.

"Alright, transaction complete. Welcome back."