Zongman: Evolution Paradise

Otherwise, the beginner quests he encountered in the workshop only involved killing ghosts. What kind of good person would randomly end up in a place like the City That Never Sleeps and do whatever they want?

Jolyne was too lazy to ask because Kanoko was in charge of this matter anyway. If something really happened, it wouldn't be his place to stand up for her. Just like the conversation just now, Kanoko and Nakano Maruo clearly knew what roles they were playing. If Jolyne was going to be curious about everything, he might as well ask Kanoko what she wanted in return.

Compared to the little Nakano Maruo, he is the one who has received far more gifts from the Deer God! This gift is something that even joining Chiba Zoo as a subordinate cannot repay. When will I be able to repay Lady Kanoko's kindness?

"Hey, you should go back now."

Kanoko turned the mirror around and said to Jolyne inside, "Because of Nakano Maruo's matter, I will owe Hengyu Workshop a favor. Since I'm already indebted, you might as well take some benefits as well. However, you must keep your player nickname a secret, otherwise it will cause some trouble if the instructor from Hengyu Workshop finds out."

Despite his many debts, Jolyne vowed that his loyalty to Lady Kanoko was as clear as day and night.

What kind of trouble might there be?

He certainly remembered that he had stolen his "Darwin" from this mentor, and had also given him the particularly humiliating nickname "Curly-haired Baboon." More importantly, the [weekly] actually reported on it, which made the mentor's face a laughing stock.

What kind of trouble might there be?

"Hmm... I'll probably meet you once. He'll be amiable on the surface but can't hide his arrogance. He'll use a superior attitude to offer you a bargaining chip that you can't refuse, forcing you into a bizarre mission that he came up with without knowing whether he ate expired deer crackers."

Then wait for you to complete the task.

Perhaps it's some frozen, snowy plain?

He will appear before you and say,

Kanoko exaggeratedly pulled at her cheeks, forcing a superior and amiable expression, and lowered her voice to declare in an unquestionable tone: "Jolyne, no, my little Darwin, I will allow you to use my name to travel throughout the eternal universe..."

The mentor sounds quite normal. After all, who wouldn't be superior if they had the ability? If ability isn't for being superior, what's the point of training? Does he really want to be a bald, caped hero?

"Kanoko, you've been through this?"

Jolyne asked.

"Not actually."

Nonoko denied this.

"That's settled then. I'll be careful to keep player nicknames confidential." Jolyne waved goodbye, as he was heading back to the City That Never Sleeps to check on the situation.

With Kanoko's help, he no longer needed to concern himself with the Nakano Five Sisters' affairs. All that remained was for Kanoko to say, "Since you've already done me a favor, you might as well reap some benefits in return."

"What a wonderful start!"

Jolyne turned off the camera, comforted Jorogumo for a while, and then disappeared again.

……

The city that never sleeps.

The blessed land, transformed by the players, carries the mission of the paradise, preventing it from appearing in the daily life of the main world and forcing players to break the peace. For some unknown reason, the flow of time in the blessed land is 24 times that of the main world, just like in other worlds.

Both Cayman and Nikaido were very casual. Faced with Jolyne's offer of amnesty, they didn't think for long before deciding to give it a try. Then, under the guise of being companions, they put their arms around each other and asked for normal food.

This is not ancient society after all. The Cayman and Nikaido, who grew up in the simple and dark atmosphere of cyberpunk, do not have the idea of ​​"a loyal subject does not serve two masters". So they don't need to care too much about "choosing a master". They can try it first and then switch if it doesn't work.

That transcendent charm certainly made them take it seriously.

Because of the vast difference in their values, Nakano Satsuki had nothing in common with the two of them. She took out her notebook and asked for a cyberpunk-style local delicacy, intending to complete her promise with Kanroji Mitsuri to "write a review guide recording all the delicacies in the myriad worlds." The result was obvious: the mushy mess of food that had been crushed, frozen, and plated was disgusting.

There was no good food in the Dust Zone, and the gingerbread witch that Jolyne had specially summoned didn't like to talk much. Looking at the old-fashioned TV in the Empty Stomach Bug Bar, Nakano Satsuki fell into deep thought about why she had experienced all of this.

power?

She has a full set of equipment and a luxurious interface.

consciousness?

After special training and honing her skills in the previous world, although she no longer had the awareness to face death, she was no longer that rich young lady. At least she was now a formal player who could stand on her own, right?

"Gingerbread witch, you say..."

Just as Nakano Satsuki was about to ask a question, Jolyne's voice rang out, "I'm back."

Chapter 438 The Evil Enterprise of Doofenshus

"Don't worry, the problem is solved."

Jorogumo was really annoying. Jolyne looked around to make sure that nothing had happened in the night when he left, then looked at Nakano Satsuki. Once Kanoko's people arrived, the two of them could leave the Dust District and head to the Upper City.

To his surprise, Nakano Satsuki seemed a little downcast. "Jolyne, I..."

She didn't know how to start, opened her mouth but then closed it again. Nakano Satsuki lowered her head and immediately replaced Nakano Nino with her. Nakano Nino, who didn't keep her feelings to herself, said ominously, "We thought this time... we could act like players, but the outcome of this game still has nothing to do with us."

"…Indeed."

Jolyne didn't know how to comfort her.

I trained hard and finally mustered up the determination to leave behind my daily routine and wait for the park to send down its invitation to welcome my growth. But what came was a predetermined ending.

It's like finally memorizing a chess manual and coming to the park to find someone to play a game with, only to be surrounded by a group of old men spitting and gesturing wildly, not allowing anyone to say a word.

Although the two are very different, and the amusement park is not without its dangers, the feeling of watching one's fate being arranged by others is truly terrible. The five of them were only a little disappointed, but if it were Mo Tong, he would be shouting, "My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens!"

"May, don't think so much." Jolyne placed her hand on her hair.

"I am Nino."

Nino Nakano blushed slightly, and her chaotic thoughts were inadvertently overheard by her four sisters inside her body, who were watching the drama unfold. If it were Miku Nakano, she would probably be blushing and shutting herself off right now.

"I know."

Jolyne said, “Nino, May, or Ichika, Miku and Yotsuba, their fates are in the hands of others, yet they are also under our feet. It’s just a temporary powerlessness. There’s no need to doubt your abilities. Even now, I would find your mission extremely troublesome. So believe in your ever-growing self, listen, see, smell, and feel until one day we transcend and challenge the heavens.”

Time flies so fast in the park that it's easy to forget that Nakano Quintuplets only became a player last week. Faced with this situation, what can you do without asking for help from others?

Even Ultraman, when faced with difficulties, doesn't he need to rely on the power of his predecessors to defeat powerful enemies?

After this message was conveyed, Nino Nakano's face grew increasingly red, and finally, her breathing quickened as she clutched her head and took two steps back to cool her brain.

"Of course I know all that. As for the future, well, that's another story... There's really nothing we can do right now, so let's just accept our fate..."

Cayman and Nikaido watched in amazement, after all, there was no subtle romance in the Dust District, only the direct approach of walking up to people and asking what the prices were today.

Just then, a deafening roar, like thunder from the heavens, echoed from outside the bar.

Nikaido felt a jolt in the back of his neck and, in disbelief, clutched his lower abdomen, trying to restart his malfunctioning spiritual root. However, the spiritual root did not respond, making Nikaido realize that some superior being had descended upon this area.

At the same time, Jolyne also raised her head.

He sensed the other person's presence as well.

Unlike the distorted divine pressure of the Kelp world, which is unbearable to behold, the being that descended upon this region was more like a macroscopic, immense force that, while not fatal, made people feel invincible.

"come yet?"

Jolyne stepped out of the bar, where a chaotic crowd was shouting and yelling, because a mechanical mountain was descending upon the mortal world above them.

"Heavenly Gate! Gate to Heaven!"

"Hahaha! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Tianmen must be here to pick me up! It must be my spirit of persisting in doing practice problems even in the wasteland that impressed the company! As the saying goes, 'Rising from the mud unsullied, cleansed by the clear water unblemished,' 'Heaven will entrust great responsibilities to this person'..."

"I'm going to become an immortal!"

Looking at the massive, overwhelming mechanical structure overhead, Nikaido remembered the company's name and instantly understood the origins of Jolyne and Nakano Satsuki.

"Someone from the amusement park?"

"Yes."

Jolyne put away the strange tales around her, pulled Nakano Nino over and waved to the Mechanical Immortal Mountain, then complained to Nikaido and Cayman, "Want to sneak into the amusement park? Mayor Penguin's immigration voucher costs you five million credits, but I can give you a 20% discount."

"It sounds like a good business opportunity."

Cayman: "Does this mean our future business will involve using these channels to smuggle people across borders?"

"...No, your mission is simply to improve your strength and become legends of this city that never sleeps."

Jolyne was just complaining; she didn't actually intend to charge for smuggling people across borders, since the value of credit points was given by the "credit" of the strong.

Being short of money simply means being weak.

Since this was a favor from Kanoko, and Jolyne didn't know the details of Hengyu Workshop, Cayman and Nikaido obviously couldn't go together. Fortunately, Jolyne didn't care much about them anyway. "I have something to do this time, so your onboarding process will stop here for now."

Cayman: "...Are you kidding me?"

Nikaido: "...How careless..."

……

Night City has an extremely high level of technology. As the spatial transfer was completed, Jolyne and Nakano Nino opened their eyes again and found themselves in a reception room. The reception room did not have any obvious technology, but rather resembled an ordinary company in the main world. The only unusual thing was the two women dressed in business attire serving them.

As a regular in the 3D area, Jolyne immediately recognized their faces as Tifa and Neil. They were clearly androids, and their appearances were just templates. However, androids are still people, and it is not inappropriate to treat them as real life.

Moreover, the aura emanating from them was astonishing.

Neil and Tifa bowed respectfully upon seeing Jolyne and Satsuki Nakano. Jolyne, looking at Neil's long hair, commented, "Not bad taste, huh?"

"Thank you. I'm Fei Ge. I will be in charge of ensuring your safety during this period."

Neil said softly, and Tifa introduced herself from the side: "My name is Little Buddha, and I'm in charge of your journey with Phineas."

Jolyne: "..."

"Feige and Xiao Fo?"

Nino Nakano asked in surprise, "Why do these two beautiful women have such names?"

“I take back my compliment on their good taste.” Jolyne asked them, “This company isn’t called Dofenshus, the Evil Corporation, is it?”

"Yes."

Neil, whose real name is Phineas, confirmed this.

Nino Nakano: "How evil?"

"Well, it's not exactly evil, it's just that the place is called Dofenshus's Evil Enterprise."

Chapter 439 The Evil God of the Black Network

Since players are prohibited from entering Night City, there are naturally no players here openly. The people left in Night City by Hengyu Workshop or other major forces are all followers, using this identity to control various affairs of their forces.

Dr. Doofenshus in Phineas and Ferb is a follower who joined Hengyu Workshop.

Nonoko didn't tell Jolyne who would be picking him up. When Jolyne saw this person, he was more curious about where the real Flynn and Little Buddha had gone.

Could it be that they all stayed at headquarters, and only Dr. Doofenshus was sent abroad?

Two androids named Feige and Xiaofo took Nakano Satsuki away. They were going to devise a plan for Nakano Satsuki to quickly become famous in the night capital. Jolyne, on the other hand, opened the gift from Hengyu Workshop.

Equipment - Mechanical Spirit Root

Description: Um, you might ask why I would install a self-destruct function in a mechanical spirit root? Well, that requires me to tell you about my childhood experiences...

Effects: Awaken mechanical power, refine mechanical power, and break through the Mechanic certification level?

Usage conditions: Avoid triggering the self-destruct function.

It was a soft, bluish-purple object, only two or three centimeters long, resembling a dragon's fingernail. It was still pulsating in Jolyne's hand, trying to pry open his skin and burrow inside.

Mechanical Spirit Root.

The path to becoming a mechanic.

This is the most important and powerful power system in Night City, mainly derived from the two science fiction worlds of [Taiqing Heavy Industry] and [Universal Wonders]. Its application of technology has reached its limit. The core mechanical power can not only enable mechanics to grow into mechanical gods, but also allow them to control strange technological objects from other worlds at will without any barriers, just like a universal key.

It can be called the great road of technology.

Neil, the short-haired man who delivered the mechanical spirit root, opened his terminal to display detailed information. "This is one of the top mechanical spirit roots in Night City. The advanced knowledge it contains includes, but is not limited to, large-scale complex mechanical technology, high-density matter compression technology, advanced materials technology, high-energy weaponization applications, interstellar travel technology... It can be said that this mechanical spirit root can be used from the awakening of mechanical power all the way to the [War Mechanic] stage..."

"What about cutting-edge technology? This doesn't sound like the most advanced model?"

Jolyne asked.

The introduction to the amusement park was too brief, while the introduction on the terminal was much more detailed. The parameters and abilities of each stage of the mechanical spirit root were all in front of Xu Lun. This equipment was practically a man-made cultivation system with extremely high growth potential. No wonder the people in the Dust Zone called it the path to heaven.

Neil glanced at him. "To advance beyond the level of a War Mechanic and enter a higher realm, the cutting-edge knowledge required is extremely valuable. Only by joining forces like Taiqing Heavy Industry or Hengyu Workshop, which possess such advanced knowledge, can one apply to the higher-ups for it."

"...Then let's forget about it."

It's an obvious technological monopoly. Even though he comes from Chiba Zoo, Hengyu Workshop can't easily give him the cutting-edge knowledge that he can rely on for survival. Or rather, it's precisely because he has a background that they can't give it to him. Otherwise, what if it gets cracked? For ordinary people in Night City who have to buy knowledge on a mortgage, such an opportunity to directly upgrade to [War Mechanic] is really wonderful, but for Jolyne, it seems a bit of a waste.