Chapter 230 - 212 Network Surveillance

The cooling fins are a type of heat dissipation component attached near the spine, replacing the skin.

Lille’s cooling fins weren’t particularly large, but they were definitely high-end modifications.

The entire component covered the upper back thorax, roughly near the scapulae.

When activated, it would reveal its full form, standing upright like a dinosaur’s dorsal fin, with cooling fluid flowing through the inner parts, following a path closely adhering to the prosthetic spine and up to the brainstem through bioplastic tubes nearly the same size as capillaries.

The heat from these prosthetics was transferred to the cooling fins and dispersed with the wind—

In extreme cases, you could directly replace the cooling fins to achieve a heat exchange effect.

And those two external mechanical arms... to be honest, Lille felt that the mechanical arm structures in the Cyberpunk World were indeed outdated.

Four joints, each joint capable of 360° rotation, but compared to the Octopus Arm...

They were practically industrial garbage.

Yet, within the range of options available to Lille, these were already the top-tier external mechanical arms.

The base fixing device for the mechanical arms was an exoskeleton that wrapped around the waist; its range of motion was also quite average. There was no point in considering combat, it could at most offer some postural support to Lille.

But with this device, Lille could additionally carry two toolboxes and was better equipped for on-site technical modifications.

The biggest advantage was that these two mechanical arms could cling to spider silk, dispersing the pulling force throughout the body via the exoskeleton structure, or be fitted with magnetic suction equipment, allowing Lille to use his hands freely on three-dimensional surfaces.

[Evolution Heart: Emotional depression brought by AI, eliminated.]

The AI in his body also seemed quite disdainful of these two arms.

The exoskeleton lights flickered without moving.

The AI housed within hadn’t realized Lille now knew of its existence, immobile... pretending it was still an obedient mechanical arm.

Immobile and sad: Why can’t I use the free body I had before?

After checking the other components, Lille felt somewhat troubled:

AI... is rather troublesome to deal with.

As Lille reviewed the Prosthetic System’s software, although he could see the abnormal data flow, he lacked the experience to handle AI and couldn’t extract it.

And it was unclear what might happen if he fought with the AI in his own Prosthetic System.

Better to get moving first.

Lille did not disappoint Old Wei’s expectations, and after installing the exoskeleton, he was unscathed, completely concealing that the exoskeleton was connected to his nerves.

He just needed to put on a coat...

Lille immediately opened the online shopping interface for Jiang Zhi clothing—

It was time for some new clothes.

The new clothes should ideally be hacker attire, fitting snugly to the skin to enhance daily heat dissipation and also conceal the exoskeleton frame and mechanical hands beneath.

Normally, the mechanical hands just helped him carry boxes. Considering Lille’s own condition, a single arm had a load capacity of 15 kilograms.

Old Wei, watching Lille bounce around, exclaimed,

"I never thought that the kid who struggled even to stand could now bear a load of 30 kilograms."

He packed up his tools, sat back at his desk, and started drinking—now was the time to relax.

"Technology changes life; this is just the beginning, but I need to exercise more, this thing is really heavy."

"Why not just replace the muscles and bones too?"

Replaced... afraid Technology Points wouldn’t sync with the prosthetics well.

"I have this tricky condition, mainly replace with external prosthetics,"

"If it was someone else saying this, I’d suspect they were conning Jack and V, those two naive guys, into hard labor with promises of loading up on prosthetics."

Old Wei rarely lit a cigarette: "How about one?"

"No thanks, smoking is harmful to health—You usually don’t smoke; why did you light up today?"

"Normally, I need to maintain fresh, clean air in the clinic because—smoking is harmful to health.

Now... just calming my nerves, just this once."

Old Wei lit a cigarette, and somewhat nostalgically said, "I really didn’t expect to see this day."

"It’s just a normal day," Lille put on his coat.

The coat now felt a bit small, it wasn’t designed for Lille’s current condition, and felt somewhat awkward stretched by the mechanical hands.

"Maybe for you..." Old Wei glanced again at the exoskeleton on Lille.

The exoskeleton was also modified, based on the basic module Lille had dug out.

He didn’t want to dwell on why Lille knew about exoskeleton modifications, the fact was, he just did.

He looked at the paused boxing match on his desktop, then suddenly asked, "Have you ever thought about how you would retire?"

"I used to think about it: wind on my face, lying on a luxurious airship, sitting on a chair, legs propped up, enjoying the sun."

"Not anymore?"

"Now, retirement is too far away, and I have no choice but to use all my brainpower to think about the current situation.

However, sometimes I still think about it, adding something new every time I do."

Initially, Lille just wanted to survive, to live longer than six months.

Then he modified his auxiliary heart, injecting it with Lizard Potion, allowing him to live longer, maybe about one to two years.

Now, with the experience of Lizard Frenzy components and a better circulatory system component, as long as he doesn’t encounter any major trouble, he could last at least three years.

Of course, if he’s unlucky enough to develop cancer or other conditions, then it’s a different story.

Old Wei took a drag on his cigarette and swallowed the smoke, not letting it out.

He quietly watched the two paused people in the video, his thoughts unknown.

Lille also looked towards the video, but just as he was about to say something, the Prosthetic System popped up a bright red error message—

[Error: Your network access has been revoked!]

[Code: NIGHTCITY-CYBNET-DCX55369]

[Error: Your network access has been revoked!]

[Code: NIGHTCITY-CYBNET-GHI78955]

[Error...]

[Please adhere to the network monitoring protocols for safe internet use; any illegal online activity will face severe repercussions!]

[Please contact your local network monitoring division and turn yourself in!]

In the Cyber Era, even though Lille was an outlaw, he would be as cautious as possible to avoid linking with the public network, but as a hacker, he always maintained a minimal connection to ensure his information sensitivity.

But now, all his network access codes had been sealed—

Instantly, the vast and complex network of Night City completely shut him out, and even though he was in this city, he felt misplaced like he was on an isolated island!

The world in front of him was clear, yet without network connection, the reality seemed enshrouded by a fog, making everything seem somewhat surreal...

[Evolution Heart: Minor panic from being completely kicked out of the network, eliminated]

Zi—

The Prosthetic Eye flickered, the dark cyber world sending him a message.

[Contact: Network Monitoring Agent #1254]

[Network Monitoring Agent #1254: Burger King, come out and chat.]

[Network Monitoring Agent #1254: Just you and me, let’s talk about hacker stuff, no need for your friend to come over.]

"...Old Wei, that’s it for today; I’m leaving first."

"Oh... okay, I got distracted, sorry."

"No worries—I need to get out, exercise a bit."

"Alright, see you next time, take care."

Lille walked out of the clinic, closing the door behind him.

[Network Monitoring Agent #1254: Go straight now, then turn right.]

[Burger King: I know the way, give me an address.]

...

At a street side stall, a hacker draped in a black coat was withdrawing some money from a nearby vending machine.

The vending machine had been hacked long ago; money inserted by others was intercepted and transferred directly to his account.

Click—

The chair beside him was dragged out, and Blais naturally sat down.

"Boss, some food please."

The boss glanced at Blais, then looked at the sitting hacker, hesitating slightly.

The hacker had just completed a transaction: 400 euros credited.

He noticed the movement, glanced irritably at Blais beside him, "Idiot, didn’t you see this place is taken? Move it..."

Zi!

Before he could finish, a burst of electricity exploded from the neural interface at the back of the hacker’s neck, burning his skin suddenly!

Blais gently touched the guy—preventing him from collapsing headfirst onto the table.

Someone else would need to sit here in a bit.

The body thudded to the ground, and the unidentified liquid on the floor was splashed by the impact, extinguishing the flames—

Ignoring the shocked gazes of those around, Blais picked up a menu nearby:

"Burger King? You’ve started importing Burger King now too? Business is moving fast...

Boss, help move this guy; someone will handle this in a bit."