There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Twelve noon, outside the Glazed Tower.

Although there were no official rules, the mercenaries still ceased fire at this time to rest and repair their Equipment, count the dead, and prepare for consciousness downloads to reconstruct their bodies.

Luminous Heavy Industry rarely treated people like human beings, but this time, for the sake of their stock price, they made a rare show of generosity.

For a corporation, the stock price is everything.

Executives might not care about human lives, but they absolutely could not afford to ignore the stock price.

All weapons would be reimbursed, and death came with free consciousness downloads and body restoration services, all to ensure the mercenaries could do their jobs properly.

Thus, the mercenaries who had made the cut began to unleash their firepower without restraint. They recklessly sent their old bodies to their deaths, using artillery and flesh to fleece Luminous Heavy Industry, all while giving the citizens of the entire planet a spectacular show.

But unlike the frenzied mercenaries, the staff responsible for cleaning up the battlefield had it much harder.

Their pay had only increased by a tiny amount, but their workload was three times the usual. They could work until their power cores were smoking and still not finish the cleanup. An hour’s worth of effort made barely any difference.

A maintenance worker, whose body had been mostly modified into a cargo hold, moved numbly through the battlefield. Mechanical arms hovered around him, constantly feeding dismembered limbs from the ground into his abdomen.

Most of the parts were damaged, and he couldn’t extract the core chips, which left him with almost no under-the-table income.

The intense labor, low pay, and an idiot for a boss had driven the maintenance worker’s morale to rock bottom. He was on the verge of going on strike at any moment.

As he was working, full of resentment, someone suddenly grabbed one of his mechanical arms and took the torso it was holding.

After probing it with a tool, Hyena, who was also dressed in a maintenance worker’s uniform, tossed the torso back. But a small chip from it was now clutched in his hand.

The entire chip was only the size of a fingertip, but it was the core component of the whole body, its value a hundred times greater than all the other parts combined.

Upon seeing Hyena, the maintenance worker heard an ID recognition alarm, indicating that the other man was not a certified maintenance worker.

He quickly drew his weapon. The dark muzzle aimed at Hyena as a cold, synthesized electronic voice rang out: "Warning. You are stealing property belonging to Luminous Heavy Industry. Please put that item down immediately and leave the area. Otherwise, under the Corporate Law, I am authorized to terminate you. This warning will be repeated three times. This is the first warning."

"If you want to get rich, turn that thing off."

"Warning. You are..."

Holding up a finger, Hyena said seriously, "I don’t want to repeat myself. If you want to get rich, turn it off."

"Please immediately..."

The alarm cut off abruptly.

The maintenance worker’s headlamp focused on Hyena. The cold, synthesized electronic voice spoke again: "Explain. In detail."

"As you can see, I’m not one of the maintenance workers here, but I can remove these chips. We’ll hit five out of every ten bodies. Of the chips we collect, I’ll take two, you take eight. How does that business sound to you?"

The terms Hyena offered were so generous that the maintenance worker was momentarily stunned.

But he didn’t know that Hyena had already seen millions in ’morality,’ and couldn’t be bothered with such petty cash.

If not for the need to take a cut to avoid suspicion, he would have just given it all away.

The maintenance worker was tempted, but he still said with restraint, "I’m an employee of Luminous Heavy Industry..."

"And does Luminous Heavy Industry know that? Or rather, do they even treat you like an employee? Do you have workers’ comp? Do you get four hours of personal time a day? Don’t make me laugh. You’re a slave, so stop pretending you’re a person."

"...Warning. You are stealing property belonging to Luminous Heavy Industry. Please put that item down immediately..."

"Don’t just start reciting that broken record every time your defenses are down. I’ll ask you one thing: are you in or out? If we succeed, you can get a new body, and maybe even a liquid nitrogen joystick—the kind with speeds high enough to send you spiraling into the heavens."

The maintenance worker understood instantly. He pictured the scene and was lost in a daze for a moment.

Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, he asked, still a little worried, "If we get caught..."

"Could it be any worse than this?"

"You have a point."

Extending his mechanical arm, the maintenance worker shook Hyena’s hand seriously, sealing the deal.

After showing off his special skill, Hyena held up an electric screwdriver and said, "This is still a bit inefficient. Get some more people over here, and I’ll give you a few more percentage points."

"No problem, Boss!"

Before long, almost every maintenance worker had heard the secret news: a certain ’guest’ had arrived, bringing with him a way to get rich.

They had a tacit understanding, exchanging meaningful glances. A single look was all it took to confirm that others were on the team. They were all accomplices.

Half the chips were extracted. In just a few minutes, they had collected more than a month’s salary, and the money was both fast and discreet.

The work they had just been complaining endlessly about instantly became enjoyable. Every arm they collected meant another deposit into their accounts, bringing joyful smiles to their faces.

When night fell and the mercenaries ceased fire, the maintenance workers went out again. They meticulously swept the battlefield, handing over most of the parts to Hyena to dismantle for the precious chips inside.

As it grew dark, most of the maintenance workers started to head back to recharge. At that moment, Hyena made a request of his own.

"I’d like to stay in the Glazed Tower for a night. Is that possible? Don’t worry, I won’t cause any trouble. I just want to see the inside of the Glazed Tower."

The maintenance workers knew Hyena must have his own agenda, but they hadn’t expected this.

According to the Corporate Law, they should have refused his request.

But thinking about how they would still need Hyena’s help in the coming days, they hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing.

"Don’t wander around. We’ll set you up with a temporary maintenance worker’s ID. And if anything happens, we will absolutely deny that we were the ones who brought you in."

"Don’t worry, I definitely won’t cause any trouble."

’But the same couldn’t be said for the others.’

Dismantling Hyena’s mechanical body, the maintenance workers carried the pieces inside separately and then reassembled him.

Once Hyena was fully assembled, the maintenance workers handed him a badge. "This is a temporary access pass. It’ll let you move around inside the Glazed Tower without being shot on sight. Okay, we have to go recharge. Be back before six tomorrow morning, or we won’t be able to get you out."

"Alright, thanks."

After seeing the maintenance workers off, Hyena saw the hallucination standing three meters behind him, still muttering to itself, "Luminous Heavy Industry, safe, number 3187, password RX-3324."

And within his shadow, the Lone Ranger lay dormant, waiting quietly along with Duan Fei and the others.

Knowing his companions were all there, Hyena bolstered his Spirit and began to explore the Glazed Tower.

The night was still young.

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