Master of the Stars

Chapter 56: Black Jack (Part 2/2)

Luo Nan saw this person’s features very clearly. He was a Caucasian; they were rarely seen in Xia City. He looked to be just under 40, or maybe he was a bit older. The scars on his face showed that he was a veteran.

Of course, this person’s left eye gave him a deeper impression. It was a robotic eye. Upon careful observation, Luo Nan saw that the eye had not undergone any cosmetic modifications; it had an ice-cold metal composition. And in the middle lay a red glow that caused one’s mind to feel terror. An ordinary mind would find it hard to face that eye.

“This fellow isn’t an ordinary human……”

Luo Nan’s mental senses were constantly covering this target. He discovered that there was more to this man’s body than just the left eye. This person’s body had far more metal components than the ordinary person.

“It has to be an Altered Human! Cough cough. I was careless!”

Crag Burst’s voice transmitted through the HexaEar. He had been knocked off the road roller by a fist and then showered by the destructive shrapnel of a grenade. If he was an ordinary person, he would have long been dead. The first thing he did was to notify Luo Nan of his wellbeing and of his realization of the enemy. His sturdy physique and veteran experience were displayed in this manner.

“Altered Human1?”

Luo Nan had somewhat of an understanding towards this concept. He saw that there would be some time until Crag Burst would catch up to him, so he carefully gave a more detailed scan with his senses while he exchanged information with Crag Burst:

“So you’re saying he’s like a cyborg soldier of the military?”

“What do you mean cyborg soldier. He’s an Altered Human. There’s no other word for it. And this sort of alteration has been prohibited for nearly twenty years now, at least on the surface…… How old is he? Over forty?”

“Yes. Sounds about right.”

“He has to be an Altered, one who has been through the military. He’s quite skilled at deception. But this sort of fellow would certainly need to be granted special privileges by the SCA2. He would have to register at the SCA every year. Why would he be here?”

Crag Burst felt that there was something incomprehensible about this and Luo Nan felt the same way.

The gangsters of the Recycling Stratum lacked laws and morals. They were simply a tiny military weapon house with their various weapons, guns, and grenades. This was due to the government abandoning administration over the Recycling Stratum.

Actually, the overwhelming majority of these people were heavy criminals. Their privileges were so low that it was scary. The strict control of credit and privileges via the internet made it so that these people could only become kings in the Recycling Stratum. As soon as they leave the Recycling Stratum and enter a public location, they would become strictly monitored. Autonomous law enforcement would appear over their heads and send them to prison the moment they perform any sensitive actions.

It was hard to imagine that a special soldier altered by the military would come here to eke out a living. His special privileges were as striking as a lighthouse under the monitoring of the SCA network. The government absolutely wouldn’t permit such a dangerous element to act together with the gangsters of the Recycling Stratum.

For people who were in the special circumstances of gargantuan legalities, it would be better to escape into the wilderness rather than to stay here.

“It doesn’t matter. This fellow has angered me. I’ll have a nice talk with him!”

Crag Burst was gnashing his teeth in anger. Soon he slapped his thigh: “I found it. It’s here. You keep an eye on him. I’m coming asap.”

He found the high-power motorcycle in the middle of the road and he turned around to chase after it. In about half a minute, he would be able to truly re-enter the battlefield.

Luo Nan focused his attention on the Altered Human.

Now that he found out more about this person’s identity, Luo Nan’s grew even more interested in this person.

After knocking down Crag Burst, this Altered Human went atop the heavily deformed jeep. He ripped the roof off to enter the cockpit whose original form could no longer be made out.

Then the Altered Human smashed the control console with a fist and reached his hand inside to scoop out something.

As Luo Nan watched, he recalled how the jeep’s AI had lost control. He recalled the effects after Yan Yongbo had launched a metal bug.

Certainly, Yan Yongbo had done something to the jeep, and it was closely related to the metal bug that had merged with the vehicle. The car had deviated from its normal operation ever since that happened

And this Altered Human seemed to be connected to this. He was retrieving the metal bug like a recycler.

This sort of action matched quite well with the Recycling Stratum.

And in this sense, perhaps the metal bug was a super crucial item. Perhaps it involved some deep secret of Yan Yongbo?

Luo Nan’s mental senses turned even more refined upon thinking this far. Even though his soul body couldn’t really do much at the present, he still wanted to ascertain the enemy’s objective and think of the next step in his plans.

From Luo Nan’s observations, he could tell that the Altered Human could sense the bug in the same manner as the reaction towards the Siege Hammer. But this time the Altered clearly craved for the bug far more than anything else. He just looked up and shot a glance, but he didn’t lock onto Luo Nan’s position. He continued to search with a lowered head.

Then the Altered Human’s hand within the console suddenly slowed. His face changed from its cold and hard expression into a clear and malevolent smile.

Then he pulled out his hand and pinched between his fingertips was a metal beetle the size of a grain of rice. He remained still for a time, looking at this instrument as if it were a work of art.

The Altered Human raised the metal beetle up to his eyes and he sized it up carefully as if he was gazing at a treasured object. The more he looked, the deeper the smile on his face became and the red glow of his robotic eye continued to grow in intensity.

When the metal bug appeared in the open, Luo Nan took this chance to continually scan this bug from top to bottom with his mental senses, trying to analyze its internal structure.

But then he discovered that it wasn’t easy to balance between distance and precision. He was separated by over a hundred meters. The precision of his senses had a maximum resolution of a millimeter. It would be very hard to analyze further inside.

Right when Luo Nan was debating whether or not to get closer, the high-power motorcycle rumbled from behind the road roller. Soon it bypassed the side blades of the road roller once again and ran side-by-side with the deformed jeep.

Crag Burst gave a provocative hand gesture to the man inside the cockpit from atop the motorcycle: “Hey! Do you have to guts to go for another round? I’ll give you a free hit!”

The Altered Human somewhat collected his smile and his cold robotic eye swept over to Crag Burst. He didn’t respond immediately.

Crag Burst continued his provocations, but he used something else: “I, Crag Burst, served as coast guard in Area 55. Tell me your name. I’ll burn some incense for you later!”

The Altered Human within the jeep opened and closed his lips slightly. He first spat to the ground in what seemed to be in a ridiculing way:

“A soldier……”

“You’re not?”

Crag Burst discovered that there was something wrong with his assumption, and so he stopped being polite. But right when he was about to launch an attack, the enemy did something bizarre

The Altered Human opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, placing the metal beetle ontop of it. The tongue rolled back in his mouth, bringing the small toy along with it. Then the Altered Human clearly swallowed.

He actually swallowed the metal beetle!

Crag Burst watched in shock and the Altered Human revealed to him a smile: “My name is Jack…… However, you can call me Black Jack in the future. I am top dog around here!

Altered Human. The first mention of Altered Humans was mentioned in Chapter 19. They were implied to be altered for military purposes.

SCA, Social Credit Administration. They administer credit and manage access privileges. They were introduced in Chapter 46.2.