Above the Blood Moon

It's still raining.

Fine, acidic rain fell under the blood moon's glow, landing on the ruins of the wrecked town and splashing up tiny droplets. There were hardly any pedestrians on the streets.

In this kind of weather, most people would stay at home or in any place that can provide shelter from the rain.

Only those who are truly homeless are forced to huddle under eaves or in the cracks of rubble heaps, barely covering their bodies with tattered cloth, watching helplessly as rainwater erodes their only shelter.

Jockley held up a tattered umbrella, with Big Yellow walking beside him. The mechanical body made a slight hissing sound in the rain, the sound of acidic liquid corroding the coating on the metal surface.

However, it didn't seem to care, its optical sensors scanning the surrounding environment warily.

"Master," Big Yellow said through the neural connection.

"According to the weather forecast, this kind of acid rain usually lasts for five to seven hours. I suggest we stay at Huang Shuangyan's place a little longer and wait for the rain to stop before we leave."

Jockley nodded; he didn't really want to spend too much time in this kind of weather either.

The two walked through one dilapidated street after another.

The scene on the road was even more desolate than yesterday, with more and more people crowding into places that offered shelter from the rain, their eyes vacant and their faces filled with despair.

Some people didn't even have anything to shelter them from the rain; they just sat there, letting the acidic rainwater corrode their skin, as if they could no longer feel the pain.

Jockley looked away, forcing himself not to look. He couldn't help them; he was struggling to make ends meet himself.

Huang Shuangyan's shop is near a waste disposal plant, and that area looks particularly gloomy on rainy days.

When the two arrived, the shop door was still closed, and the iron bars welded in the gaps were beginning to rust under the erosion of rainwater, making the whole shop look completely abandoned.

But Joker knew that Huang Shuangyan was inside; his superpowers wouldn't lie.

He walked to the door, hesitated for a moment, and then raised his hand to knock.

"Aunt Huang?" he called out. "It's me, Qiao Keli."

There was no response, only the sound of rain hitting the metal door. Jockley knocked a few more times, this time with more force.

"Aunt Huang, I know you're inside. We...we've come to remove your collar."

There was still no response, and Jockley and Big Yellow exchanged a glance.

Big Yellow's optical sensor flickered, and an emoticon "[´･ω･`]" popped up on the panel.

"How about..." Jockley whispered, "we just break in?"

Before the words were finished, the iron gate suddenly opened, and a face peeked out from the crack in the door.

Huang Shuangyan was pale, and her hair was messily tied back.

What's most striking is her neck; the high-necked sweater is tightly wrapped around it, but the outline of the metal choker underneath is still visible.

She looked at Jockley for a long time, and then she said.

"roll."

The door slammed shut again.

Jockley: "..."

rhubarb:"……"

The man and the machine stared at each other for a few seconds in the rain.

Jockley took a deep breath, raised his hand to knock on the door again, and spoke loudly through the crack in the door to make sure everyone inside could hear him.

"Aunt Huang, I'm so sorry, we really didn't mean it. We were just too busy at that time, and we really forgot about the collar. I apologize to you, I sincerely apologize."

A cold laugh came from inside the door; Huang Shuangyan's voice came through the metal door.

"Apologize? If apologies were enough, this thing on my neck would have exploded long ago! Do you know how I've been these past two weeks?"

Jockley felt a dull ache in his conscience.

"We were really wrong, so we came here today specifically to remove your collar."

There was a moment of silence inside the door, then the iron door opened again, this time wider enough for one person to squeeze in.

Huang Shuangyan stood inside the door, arms crossed, coldly watching them.

"Come in, but don't bring rainwater in. I just mopped the floor."

The warehouse was even more crowded than when Jockley last came. The space, which was already filled with various second-hand prosthetic parts and discarded electronic devices, now had a lot more new stuff.

Huang Shuangyan walked behind the counter, took out a key from the drawer, opened a locked iron cabinet, and took out a small decoder from inside.

"Come here," she said to Big Yellow in an annoyed tone.

Da Huang walked over and stood in front of her. Huang Shuangyan looked up at him and extended several data cables to connect to the decoder.

"Click."

The metal collar sprang off her neck and fell onto the counter with a dull thud.

Huang Shuangyan immediately reached out and touched her neck. There was a clear mark on her skin. She took a long breath, as if a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Finally..." she murmured.

Looking at her, Jockley felt even more guilty, but as for him to pay money to make amends, that was out of the question.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Huang."

Huang Shuangyan waved her hand without saying anything. She picked up the collar, weighed it in her hand, and then suddenly turned around and threw it forcefully into a waste bin in the corner.

"Alright." She turned around, her expression softening slightly, but still without much of a smile. "The collar is off, you can leave now."

"Wait, we have something to do."

Huang Shuangyan raised her eyebrows.

"What is it?"

Jockley opened his Star Alliance account balance.

"We want to upgrade our equipment, for ourselves and for my partners."

"You should have said so earlier." Huang Shuangyan's tone suddenly became light and cheerful, as if the angry and aggrieved woman from just now was not her at all.

"What do you want to upgrade? Just say the word, I have everything you need, as long as the money's right."

For the next two hours, the store was filled with arguments and haggling.

Jockley first replaced his external nervous system.

The old one was bought from a secondhand shop owner by mortgaging his genitals. Because it was a basic model, its functions were very limited, and the interface had started to have poor contact problems.

Huang Shuangyan rummaged through the warehouse and found a set of second-hand, latest-model items. Although they weren't brand new, they were in excellent condition.

Most importantly, it can be easily removed from the interface at the back of the neck, unlike older models that required specialized tools for disassembly.

"This model originally costs at least 60 Star Alliance Coins," Huang Shuangyan said as she helped him install it. "Since you had a change of heart and came back to remove my collar, I'll give you a 30 yuan discount—a friendly price!"

Jockley knew this was definitely not a friendly price, but 30 Star Alliance Coins was indeed much lower than the market price, so he nodded and accepted.

The moment the new nervous system connected, a cool sensation spread from the back of my neck, as if countless tiny electric currents were climbing up my spine and surging into my brain.

A few seconds later, a brand new operating interface popped up in my field of vision. It was indeed much simpler than the old system, and the response speed was several times faster.

Jockley could feel a closer connection being established between his mind and the system.

"Take your time to adapt," Huang Shuangyan said. "The new system needs time for your brain to synchronize. You might feel a little dizzy at first, which is normal."

Next was Dahuang's upgrade, and Dahuang himself put forward a long list of requirements.

The memory was expanded to 128TB, a Shadow-III hacker chip was added, the weapon systems of both arms were replaced, the load-bearing structure of the leg joints was strengthened, and a small missile launcher was added to the back...

As Huang Shuangyan listened to the long list, her eyes widened.

"Wait, wait, wait," she interrupted Big Yellow.

"Do you know how much these things cost? The Shadow-III chip alone costs 110 Covenant Credits."

And missile launchers, those are military-controlled supplies. I don't have any in stock, and a lot of the ones I have here are things that other people have listed for sale through me. If you get them from the black market, the price starts at least 100 Covenant Credits!

Jockley glanced at his account balance. 276.5 Covenant Credits sounded like a lot, but according to Big Yellow's list, it probably wouldn't even buy half of that.

"First, address the most urgent needs: memory and hacking chips. We can replace a portion of the weapon system."

Dahuang's optical sensor dimmed slightly, clearly indicating some disappointment, but it did not object.

Huang Shuangyan nodded, turned around and went to search in the warehouse. A dozen minutes later she returned with two metal boxes.

The first box contained a chip board covered with circuit patterns. It was deep black with dark gold etched lines on the surface, giving it a cold, eerie glow under the light.

"Shadow-III, genuine 99% new, used by a beautiful woman. Its previous owner was a professional hacker who was beaten to death by company security guards in Jinghu District last month. The item ended up on the black market and I bought it. It is fully functional and has no Trojans, viruses, or backdoors."

She handed the chip to Dahuang, who took it.

Its mechanical fingers deftly open the maintenance panel on its chest, remove the old memory chip, replace it with the new 128TB expansion module, and then insert the Shadow-III chip into the special slot on the side.

"Click".

As the interface locks in, the indicator light on the chip surface begins to flash, gradually changing from red to a stable dark blue.

Big Yellow's optical sensors flashed wildly for a few seconds, a large stream of data rolled across the panel, and then it raised its head, its voice carrying an unprecedented smoothness.

"Memory upgrade complete, hacker chip activated, damn it, this is awesome! Now I can try to crack most civilian firewalls, and some low-level corporate security systems. (≖＿≖)✧"

Jockley nodded; this was already a significant improvement.

"How much?" he asked Huang Shuangyan.

Huang Shuangyan crossed her arms and thought for a moment.

"I'll give you thirty for the memory module, and one hundred for the chip."

"That's 130 in total. This is really a friendly price. Go ask around on the black market. A Shadow-III of this quality would start at least at 110 Covenant Credits."

Jockley didn't haggle. He transferred the Star Alliance Coins to Huang Shuangyan, leaving her with 146.5 Star Alliance Coins.

"Anything else?" Huang Shuangyan asked. "What else do you want to buy?"

Jockley thought for a moment.

"An exoskeleton, lightweight, preferably one that can be hidden under clothing and is not conspicuous."

There are also some useful gadgets, like smoke grenades, EMP jammers, and portable energy shields.

Huang Shuangyan's eyes lit up.

"I'm good at this," she said. "Wait a minute."

She turned and walked deeper into the shop, pushing open a hidden door.

Qiao Keli and Da Huang waited outside for a few minutes, only to hear the sounds of rummaging through drawers and cabinets inside, as well as Huang Shuangyan muttering to herself.

"Lightweight exoskeleton... Ah, found it!"

She came out dragging a metal box that was half her height. Huang Shuangyan placed the box on the counter and opened it.

Inside was a neatly folded, silver-gray metal frame. It was very thin and looked like it was made of some kind of lightweight alloy. The joints had sophisticated hydraulic devices and miniature motors.

"Shadow Warrior - Light Type II Exoskeleton"

Huang Shuangyan explained.

"It can cover the whole body, but the total weight is only eight kilograms. The maximum output can reach two hundred kilograms, and the continuous working time is four hours. It has a built-in micro energy core, and a six-hour charge can last all day."

She picked up a section of the frame and showed it to Jockley.

"Most importantly, it can be folded into a small package and stuffed into a backpack, and can be put on in 30 seconds when needed."

Jockley's eyes lit up; this was indeed what he wanted.

"How much?"

"This..." Huang Shuangyan hesitated for a moment, "The original price was at least 50 Star Alliance Coins, but this is old stock that has been sitting there for several years without being sold. I'll give you 35, or I'll lose money."

Jockley glanced at the remaining money.

"I bought it."

Huang Shuangyan smiled as she folded the exoskeleton back up, put it back in the box, and pushed it in front of Qiao Keli.

Then she turned around and pulled out another smaller box from under the counter, which contained all sorts of odds and ends.

The items included thumb-sized smoke grenades, button-sized EMP jammers, palm-sized folding energy shield generators, and even several vials of different colored injections—all stimulants.

"These are all included in the package, twenty yuan," Huang Shuangyan said. "They're all practical items, they could save your life in a critical moment."

Jockley nodded. Two hours and a half had taken up 276.5 Star Alliance Coins, more than half of which had been spent, but Jockley felt it was worth it.

The new nervous system, Big Yellow's memory and hacking chip, the exoskeleton, and a box of useful gadgets—these are the keys to surviving in Forgotten City.

Huang Shuangyan packed everything up, put it into a large backpack, and handed it to Qiao Keli.

"Alright, the transaction is complete." Her smile became much more genuine. "Since you spent money so generously today, I'll let bygones be bygones and not hold it against you for what happened before."

Jockley breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, really."

Huang Shuangyan waved her hand without saying a word. She turned around and began to tidy up the tools and parts on the counter, her movements swift and efficient.

As Jockley slung his backpack over his shoulder and prepared to leave, he glanced back at the door and his gaze fell on the object covered by a canvas in the corner.

"What is that?"

Huang Shuangyan followed his gaze and paused for a moment.

"That one..." She walked over and lifted a corner of the canvas, "is my precious treasure."

Under the canvas was a metal cylinder about one meter high and half a meter in diameter, with a striking logo painted in white on its body.

Jockley stared at the sign for a few seconds, then his brain suddenly went blank.

He recognized it; it wasn't some big treasure.

That's a fucking nuclear bomb.