Chapter 613 - 603: Bionic Entity

After they disembarked from the ship, the sight before them left the group completely stunned.

Even after so many rounds of the game, they considered themselves worldly and well-traveled, but they were still stunned by the splendor of Apexia.

The group was like a bunch of bumpkins visiting The Grand Arboretum, gaping in wonder at their surroundings. And then...

A large screen nearby flickered a few times, and a heartfelt declaration of love began to play...

"Moira Lynch..."

When Hugh Finch and the other two heard the voice, they all whipped their heads around to look at Moira.

Seeing her blank, slightly sour expression, they wisely kept their questions to themselves.

The declaration on the big screen continued, now accompanied by a photo of Moira.

The photo was a bit blurry, but anyone who knew Moira could still recognize her at a glance.

Moira touched her face. ’I’m kind of glad my appearance has changed. Otherwise...’

"Otherwise, this would be a huge embarrassment, right?" Kai York added from behind her.

Moira nodded, her expression impassive.

’The first person from Caelus to be embarrassed on an interstellar scale,’ Moira thought. ’This black mark on my record will be a lifelong stain.’

"Maybe I should go change my name."

Moira watched the person in the video continue their heartfelt declaration, calling her name again and again. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin. ’Ugh, my name,’ she thought in disgust. ’It’s been sullied.’

"From now on, don’t use my full name when we’re in public," Moira told the others.

To this, Shane Rhodes and the other two men completely understood.

After all, if they were in her shoes, they probably would have been too mortified to show their faces. The fact that Moira could restrain herself and not lose her cool on the spot was already deeply impressive.

Moira first had Patience contact Ellers. When she learned he still needed a little more time to get there, she decided to take Shane and the others to a hair salon first.

When they arrived at the salon, the clean interior was a pleasant surprise. Most importantly, no one approached them to ask if they had an appointment.

"Doesn’t look like anyone’s here," Shane Rhodes remarked, peering inside.

Moira had already tasked Patience with looking up how things worked, so she calmly directed the three men to take a seat before sitting down herself.

The moment they were seated, a translucent screen materialized in front of each of them.

A three-dimensional model of their head appeared on the screen.

They could use this simulated 3D model to try out any hairstyle they wanted. The salon also offered hundreds of pre-set styles to choose from. Customers could take as long as they liked to pick the perfect one, and no one would ever rush them.

The service was incredibly thoughtful, to say the least.

Moira wasn’t picky about her hair. She thought her current long, straight black hair was perfectly fine, so she just opted for a trim to make the ends look more natural.

The whole process was over in less than five minutes.

When she stood up, she saw Shane Rhodes, Kai York, and Hugh Finch huddled around a screen, pointing and gesturing. Their grave expressions made it seem like they were making a life-or-death decision.

Seeing this, she could only think, ’And who says men don’t care about their looks?’

’They’re not going to be done anytime soon,’ she realized. ’Rather than just sit here and wait, I might as well go out and look around.’

"Patience, save the location of this shop so I don’t get lost and can’t find my way back."

Abilities were forbidden on Apexia; otherwise, she could have just used Instant Teleportation to get back.

Okay.

Since she was out for a stroll, it only made sense to head toward the livelier areas.

As she was walking, Patience’s shocked voice suddenly rang out in her mind.

They’re actually selling bionic bodies here!

At Patience’s exclamation, Moira turned her head and saw a shop specializing in the sale of Intelligent Brains.

Compared to the other stores, this one only had a handful of customers and looked quite deserted, yet its decor was the most luxurious on the whole street.

What Patience called a "bionic body," in layman’s terms, was a physical form that allowed an Intelligent Brain to have a body of its own and act independently of its owner.

However, to the people here, an Intelligent Brain was like a smartphone—utterly indispensable. This made the concept of a bionic body seem rather redundant.

Besides, bionic bodies were incredibly expensive, far beyond the reach of the average person.

Even for those who could afford one, they typically had to be custom-ordered six months or even a year in advance. The fact that this shop actually had models in stock was why Patience was so excited.

Seeing how excited Patience was, Moira stepped into the shop.

"Hello, I’d like to take a look at your bionic bodies."

Seeing a customer enter, a clerk approached and said warmly, "If you’d like to learn more about our bionic bodies, please follow me."

On the way, the clerk continued, "Do you have a particular type of bionic body in mind?"

Bionic bodies came in many forms, as they were almost always custom-made.

Moira looked at the clerk and said, "You have some in stock, right? I don’t want to wait."

Hearing this, the clerk’s face instantly broke into a wide smile.

Everyone has their own preferences, and while it wasn’t a rule that bionic bodies had to be custom-made, those who could afford one certainly weren’t short on cash for a bespoke model.

The few bionic bodies they had in the shop weren’t returned custom orders, but rather one-of-a-kind pieces created during a designer’s sudden burst of inspiration.

The designer may have had their fun creating the piece, but selling it became a real problem.

After all, these were meticulously crafted works of art. In a way, these bionic bodies were even more expensive than a typical custom order.

And "expensive" meant their pool of potential suckers (crossed out) target customers was even smaller.

’This young woman in front of me may be dressed plainly,’ the clerk thought, ’but that face, with its pure Human Race features... she might be the young miss of some great family out on an incognito tour.’

And so, Moira was led into a private room.

Inside stood three humanoid bionic bodies. Each one could be described as a work of art, with especially beautiful faces.

The first bionic body had short golden hair, light blue eyes, bronze skin, slender limbs, and delicate facial features, with a faint smile on its face.

The second bionic body had long, silver hair and pale gold irises. Its gaze was somewhat fierce, its expression serious. Dressed all in black, it gave off an extremely stern impression.

The last one was the only female model of the three. It had black hair in pigtails, aqua-blue eyes, a doll-like face, and a brilliant smile.

"Which one do you like?" Moira asked Patience.

Patience fell silent for a moment before saying slowly, Um, actually... I kind of like all of them.

"My thoughts exactly," Moira said.

’Only children make choices,’ she thought. ’An adult takes them all.’