Above the Blood Moon

The aroma of braised pork rice filled the small room, mixed with the slightly burnt sweetness of synthetic soy sauce and a hint of artificial meat flavor.

Jockley sat cross-legged on the floor, his back against the edge of the bed, holding a lunchbox in his hands. He ate very slowly, chewing each bite for a long time, as if it were some kind of delicacy that needed to be savored.

In reality, he was just thinking.

The blood moon had set outside the window, and the Forgotten City had once again fallen into night.

The braised meat in the lunchbox was almost gone, leaving only some thick sauce and a few grains of rice stained dark brown.

He scraped the rice together with a plastic spoon, piling it into a small mound, but then hesitated to put it in his mouth, staring blankly at that small mound of rice.

Until Big Yellow's voice came.

"If you keep looking at a lump of rice with that 'deeply affectionate' expression while you're eating, I'm really going to vomit. 눈言눈"

Chokley snapped out of his daze and turned to look. He saw that Big Yellow was also sitting cross-legged on the ground, with a thick cable connected to its back, the other end of which was plugged into a charging port in the corner of the wall.

Charging is a strange way for Big Yellow to relax. As an AI robot equipped with a core, it doesn't actually need an external power source. The amount of energy it consumes in standby mode is less than what it would consume in standby mode.

But Dahuang insists that the current pulse during charging makes its thought process clearer, just like a human taking a hot bath.

"You don't know anything. I'm thinking, and I have my own pace."

As he spoke, Choklee finally put the last spoonful of rice into his mouth and slowly swallowed it.

"What are you thinking about?" Big Yellow's optical sensor flickered.

"Why does the meat in this braised pork rice taste like a mixture of discarded tires and expired nutritional paste?"

"No, that's not it." Jockley put down his lunchbox and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"I'm thinking about what to do next."

He activated his nervous system, brought up his account interface, and a string of numbers appeared:

276.5 Star Alliance Credits

Jockley stared at the number for a while. He remembered that when he woke up three weeks ago, he didn't even have half a Covenant coin in his pocket and owed Daikiri 22.2. He was almost dismantled and sold for parts. Now he actually had more than two hundred.

"240 more," said Big Yellow, who could also see Choklee's account information through neural connections.

"Atlantis gave each of us an advance payment, I swear, it was a huge sum of money, including my $120."

Jockley nodded. This way of giving money was very "Atlantic". Although the guy seemed stingy and greedy, he was also very decisive at times. Jockley didn't know how to describe Atlantic.

There's a small surplus in the account today, 2 Star Alliance Coins. That was 2 Star Alliance Coins that Att swindled from him under the guise of rent. Jockley managed to get it back from Att by using the surplus from several purchases.

This is clearly his money!!

Jockley leaned back against the edge of the bed and closed his eyes.

"Big Yellow, what do you think would happen if we took these two hundred-plus Covenant Credits and ran away right now?"

The room was quiet for a few seconds, then Big Yellow's optical sensors flashed wildly, and a series of complex calculation results popped up on the panel.

"[◉‿◉]" An emoji pops up first, followed by the text.

"Master, you are indeed quite a beast, but why am I tempted? Should I plan out an escape route?"

"Stop, stop, stop," Jockley interrupted. "I was just saying."

"But your heart rate rose by 18% when you asked the question just now. You're tempted, aren't you?"

Jockley didn't deny it; he was indeed moved, for a fleeting moment, but only for a fleeting moment.

He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.

"There's no way I can escape. First of all, Art, Daikiri, and the priest are the only people I know in this world. We've been together almost every day for the past three weeks at the tavern, training, eating, drinking, and chatting."

"You know, that kid Daikiri seems like a good-for-nothing, but if you really dare to run away with At's money, he'll chase you to the ends of the earth, just like At's son."

"Tianya is alright, but Haijiao is out of the question."

"And there are still many things I haven't figured out: Yadea Technology Company, that blue tissue fluid, that space station, and the way home."

At this point, Jockley sat up straight, his eyes becoming serious.

"Big Yellow, why do you think that bigwig at Yadea Technology Company would hire us mercenaries to do dirty work?"

Rhubarb's optical sensors turned toward him.

According to publicly available information, Yadea Technology Co., Ltd. is jointly owned by the six major conglomerates of the Olympus Ring and is their sole agent in the deep space graveyard.

"This company effectively controls over 60% of the industrial production and 45% of the mineral resource development in Forgotten City..."

"I know," Jockley interrupted.

"What I mean is that they're practically local tyrants here. They have money and manpower. There are definitely superhumans and fully modified combat personnel within the company, even the Red-Clad Men. Didn't Pixius's team take orders from Yadi's president back then?"

He frowned, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the floor.

"If they really want to get rid of Floyd, why don't they do it themselves? Just mobilize a squad of Red Men, or send a few of the company's cyborg warriors, and the problem would be solved. Why spend five thousand Covenant Credits to hire outsiders like us? And it's not just us."

Dahuang was silent for a while, and then the processor emitted a slight hum.

"I don't think that big shot is necessarily the president of Yadea Technology. It might just be a private operation by a mid-level manager, or Floyd has some kind of leverage or resources that prevents Yadea from openly breaking ties with him. Moreover, this operation needs to be completely clean and leave no trace related to Yadea."

Jockley nodded. He had considered all of these possibilities. Silence fell in the room again. The blood moonlight from outside seeped in through the gap in the curtains, casting a dappled light on the floor.

In the distance came the faint sound of gunfire, and the low rumble of some kind of heavy machinery operating—the ever-present background noise of the Forgotten City.

Jockley rubbed his temples, feeling his head start to throb again.

During this period, he spent almost all his free time thinking about these problems, but the clues were like a bunch of scattered puzzle pieces. He tried desperately to put them together, but he was always missing the most crucial pieces.

He didn't even dare to inquire.

After all, in the Forgotten City, information is a commodity, and you never know what kind of trouble a seemingly harmless clue might lead to. What if he really posts a bounty on the public internet, or inquires about the blue tissue fluid on the black market?

Those men in red might actually sneak over via the internet and raid Atlantis's tavern.

Jockley rested his head against Big Yellow's body, his voice full of exhaustion.

"Sometimes I really want to rush into the downtown office district, break into Yadea's headquarters, grab the president, and hold a gun to his head to make him explain everything."

What exactly are they digging in that development zone? What's its connection to the space station? What is that blue fluid? And how did I even get to this godforsaken place?

A "[╮(￣▽￣)╭]" emoticon popped up on Big Yellow's panel.

"Master, based on your current combat strength assessment, the success rate of this plan is almost zero."

"You couldn't even beat Pixius's squad, let alone break into Yadi's headquarters."

"I know," Jockley waved his hand. "I was just saying."

He paused, then turned to look at Big Yellow.

"But you're right, we need to get stronger. With our current abilities, we might not even make it back alive from this mission, let alone break into Yadi's headquarters. Although Yate said it was a clever strategy, I have a bad feeling about it. I have a bad feeling that we might have to do it ourselves in the end."

Big Yellow's optical sensor flashed.

"The most effective way to enhance your physique is, of course, cybernetic modification. You can install combat-type cybernetic bodies, implant auxiliary chips, and replace the energy core with a more powerful one. If you're willing, I can design a modification plan for you. With your current funds, you can at least get two commercially available robotic arms and two hearts..."

"No." Jockley shook his head, his tone resolute.

He closed his eyes, concentrated, and felt a familiar burning sensation between his brows. He guided the warm current, letting it circulate slowly within his body, sensing the thin, almost imperceptible flow of strange energy in the air.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes, and his superpowers were deactivated.

"Look, I can use my powers now, although they're weak, but I can definitely use them. The priest said I might be the type who awakens on my own, not someone simulated by a chip. What if I get a prosthetic body now and my powers disappear?"

He couldn't take that risk. In this world, his superpower was one of his few advantages. Although it was only a level one support type, his ability to sense heat sources and observe weaknesses had saved his life several times.

In comparison, two robotic arms or a faster reaction time may not be worthwhile.

"However, exoskeletons are something to consider, and so are you."

He looked at Big Yellow.

"Your memory needs an upgrade, and so does your weapon system. If we could equip you with a heavy firepower system or a cyberattack module, wouldn't our combat effectiveness increase by several levels?"

Big Yellow's panel lit up.

「[!!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ]」

"Holy crap, you actually thought of upgrading me!"

It then began to list various weapon models and parameters at length, its optical sensors flashing like Christmas lights. As Jockley listened, a smile unconsciously crept onto his lips.

But as he was laughing, his smile suddenly froze, and Big Yellow also stopped. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds in the dimly lit room.

"Huang Shuangyan," Qiao Keli whispered.

"Huang Shuangyan," Da Huang repeated.

They both remembered that after rescuing Huang Shuangyan in the warehouse area that day, Da Huang had put a bomb collar around her neck. It was agreed that it was a temporary measure and that it would be removed once it was safe to do so.

Then they forgot about it.

Jockley covered his face and let out a painful groan.

"We're doomed. We put a collar on her that's going to explode, and then we didn't contact her for two whole weeks."

The rhubarb's optical sensor flickered wildly, and a series of garbled characters popped up on the panel.

"[´･ω･`]" This expression finally froze on the screen.

"Master, do you think Aunt Huang might want to kill us now?"

Jockley imagined the scene: Huang Shuangyan wearing her filthy Taoist robe, a bomb collar around her neck, holding some kind of homemade explosive device, and wearing a sinister grin that said, "I'm going to take you all down with me today..."

He shivered.

"Probably not?"

As Jockley spoke, his tone suggested he didn't quite believe it himself.

"She should understand that we were too busy at that time, and the collar has a timer, right? She could untie it herself... right?"

Dahuang remained silent for a while.

"After she took the collar off your neck, I changed the access code so that only I can send it. Also, I forgot the timer settings, which means that thing never exploded."

Jockley: "..."

The room was deathly silent. Then another gunshot rang out outside the window, this time very close, as if it were coming from the next street.

"...Go to sleep." Jockley suddenly stood up and started taking off his coat. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. It's too late tonight. Let's go to sleep first."

"Master, it's only nine o'clock at night."

"sleep!"