Chapter 9: Scavenger? Little Bro Step Back_2

"I've seen all your efforts, everyone. Keep up the good work, and once the agency is set up, I won't shortchange any of you. Persistence leads to victory; we will change the world."

Lin Miao knew that just offering platitudes wouldn't satisfy these players. At the very least, he needed to fish the chicken out of the soup so they could see it and work with enthusiasm. He also wanted to test the so-called cognitive filter effect.

"For now, stop what you're doing and help me with something. There are two items in the car, help me move them to the basement."

As he spoke, Lin Miao opened the rear door of the car, and a long-accumulated stench of burnt meat hit them. Two bodies, entirely charred from the waist up and missing half their skulls, appeared before the four players. One had a left chest that was smashed to a pulp, with the flesh burned to charcoal.

As if on cue, the bighead with an intelligence of 3 was the first to gasp in surprise,

"Damn, did we go on a wild monster hunt?"

"But why bring the bodies back?" Wildman was puzzled but then had a flash of insight, "Are you asking us to help dispose of the bodies? Is there a task reward?"

Brother Ni even nudged the bodies with a wrench he had on hand, "Look at that hand, it's metal. Is this a cyber world prosthetic?"

The four of them looked at the deformed bodies, each reacting differently but without the slightest physiological discomfort. Instead, they wore expressions as if this was a matter of course, which made Lin Miao relieved. So he said,

"These are two Night Wanderers, who I discovered as they tried to approach the camp. They have some prosthetics on them. Dismantling them might contribute to our cause."

Potato realized, "Damn! That means killing monsters can drop loot? This game's beginner's tutorial is something else. Where's the monster respawn point? Can we give it a try?"

The other three, upon hearing this, were immediately itching for action, especially Wildman, who held a hammer as if ready to crack open skulls at any moment.

"Ahem..." Lin Miao almost couldn't hold it together, "It's more or less like that, but help me get them to the basement first. Use the bio-modification pod to remove their prosthetics before anything else. As for Night Wanderers, there will be opportunities to encounter them in the future."

This also reminded Lin Miao that he had to impose restrictions on the players. Otherwise, this group might kill people on the road, disembowel them for prosthetics, and turn into scavengers, or worse.

Brother Ni seemed to remember something suddenly and shouted, "I have a cart, I built a pushcart!"

With that, he ran back to the gas station and came out with a flat four-wheel cart. It had no bearings, no gears, not even rubber—just four iron wheels with two iron pipes stuck underneath the board. Pushing it was quite a shameful task.

Luckily, the passengers had no opinions whatsoever.

While transporting down the stairs, though, the passengers accidentally rolled down, but the kind Wildman immediately carried them into the basement, stripped them, and tossed them into the modification pod. Their heads accidentally banged against the pod door, spilling some brain matter onto the floor.

Embodying the virtues of thriftiness and waste not want not, Lin Miao picked up the bits of brain matter from the floor and tossed them into the modification pod, as wastage wasn't permitted at this stage.

Even though the expressions on the user's faces were unseen, Lin Miao and Wildman didn't receive any negative feedback from them, so they took it as tacit approval.

Then, under the eager gazes of the four players, Lin Miao activated the biomass extractor.

The system description said that this thing could dissolve organic biological bodies completely, skin and bones included, into biomass containing minerals, carbohydrates, fats, inorganic salts, and water, like how the modification pod created players, only the process was reversed. Using human bodies was a last resort, as future opportunities might allow for a meat farm or affordable real meat, making such extremes unnecessary.

A full biomass container was used up in manufacturing the four players, consuming four units, and after a whole day's power generation, the storage tank was nearly half empty.

The fervent gazes of the players made Lin Miao feel a bit uneasy. The most notorious gang in Night City was the scavengers because this northern Myanmar gang loved harvesting kidneys to sell, and their surgeries were crude, often disregarding the victim's survival. Rumors even suggested they sold human meat.

But at least they didn't consume flesh and bones completely like Lin Miao did. Soon, the title of the lowest gang in Night City would change hands.

Scavenger?

Who do you think you are?

It's a crime, an absolute crime. Looks like Lin Miao should make frequent visits to the Saint Louis Cathedral to burn a few sticks of incense and knock on the electronic wooden fish to accumulate cyber karma.

Accumulating cyber karma in a cyberpunk world, that sounds about right. Just can't be sure if there are cyber Buddhas or cyber Bodhisattvas.

Unknown liquids filled the modification pod, completely submerging the bodies of the two Night Wanderer customers within it.

At this moment, Brother Ni, unable to contain himself, actively asked Lin Miao,

"In this world, when we die, will there be resurrection or death penalties?"

The other three also clearly had this in mind, and Lin Miao responded, "There are, but specific circumstances depend on different conditions."

The bighead hurriedly asked, "What conditions?"

"Normal death, such as dying in battle or during a mission, the resurrection time depends on the completeness of the body we recover, ranging from 1 to 3 days." Lin Miao warned them with a cautious look, "But if it's due to malicious behavior or disobeying my orders, then it's at least a seven-day ban, or in severe cases, permanent revocation of play privileges. Specific regulations can be found on W Info, which will also be available on the website in the future."