Chapter 218: Ying Duo: Take Me to Grind Monsters!

Soon, Ying Duo finished checking off the list of supplies he needed and handed it to Bai Mu Yun.

Yang Yixie, adhering to the principle "don't take what's free, and if you take it, don't make it free," almost checked every material on the list that looked useful, might be useful, or simply seemed rare.

The crisp clicking of the mouse echoed especially clearly in his small room, and Ying Duo's fingers swiped across the virtual interface at lightning speed.

When Ying Duo handed this "wish list" to Bai Mu Yun, the latter just glanced at it, then raised a hand and slapped the virtual interface back in front of Ying Duo.

"Only select core materials you will definitely use; at most we'll let you add one or two types of upgrade materials. We're not here to set up a personal material depot for you."

Ying Duo's expression didn't change much; he simply began reviewing the list again, this time moving considerably slower.

"High-density alloy plates?"

"....... Sure."

"What about an invisibility coating?"

"Unnecessary."

"High-frequency oscillating cutting blade?"

"Aren't you trying to turn your robot into a gunner?"

"Then just add a signal simulator........"

"What are you trying to do?"

"We might need it when we infiltrate." Ying Duo's face remained unchanged.

"....... Only the basic model is allowed."

"Oh."

After a round of haggling with Bai Mu Yun, Ying Duo ultimately managed to obtain some extra materials as he hoped; although Bai Mu Yun slashed the quantity by more than half, it was still an additional gain.

In Tianmian City there are no mechanics secretly stationed in the Dome, and although some of these rarer components are stockpiled, the amount is limited; lacking enough, one can only go to the black market and try one's luck.

These components might not be obtainable, but firearms are easier to acquire; Bai Mu Yun additionally requisitioned a batch of guns from the inventory and gave them to Ying Duo to modify for the small robots.

The guns arrived before the components, but when Ying Duo picked up a few and examined them, Yang Yixie's expression turned somewhat odd.

The energy circuits etched inside these guns......... why do they look so familiar?

Aren't these the batch he previously had Cai Mao sell?

So after all that circling, they ended up back in his own hands?

The Dome's supply chain is still........ closed-loop.

Who cares, isn't that just public funds transferred to his own account?

Once someone delivered the materials, Ying Duo immediately got to work.

He first installed the potentially useful reconnaissance function onto a few existing small robots, then began using the surplus materials to start fabricating more new robots.

This time, he doesn't intend to rely on his own energy to power these small robots; doing it for one or two is fine, but with larger numbers the Blue Bar would truly be unsustainable.

He took out a few Aberrant Species cores from his backpack, each radiating Mutation energy fluctuations.

Yang Yixie personally likes using this as a power source; adding it when crafting Explosives also boosts their lethality, but this thing can only be obtained by killing Aberrant Species.

Since he rarely goes outdoors to kill Aberrant Species, he has obtained too few of them.

However, he could later purchase them in bulk; Aberrant Species cores aren't very expensive in Tianmian City, and almost no one seeks to buy them specifically. For Ying Duo, Aberrant Species cores are indeed a good energy source, but the downside is they contain too much Mutation energy.

During the energy release of an Aberrant Species core, Mutation factors inevitably disperse; a single person cannot be in direct contact with Mutation factors for long, as it may cause Mutation Features to appear on their body.

If multiple machines run simultaneously, the accumulated released Mutation can cause the Mutation concentration in a small area to rise sharply, potentially affecting nearby ordinary residents or low-level Special Ability Practitioners.

Therefore, avoiding Aberrant Species cores as energy sources is virtually a consensus among all humans to preserve their lives.

However, after undergoing elaborate processing to extract the pure energy inside, Aberrant Species cores can be utilized; initially Shen Zexi worried Ying Duo would misuse them, but after finding his Mutation Value was stable, he stopped interfering.

Ying Duo was completely indifferent to this.

His backpack is constantly stocked with a wide variety of items that various factions have given him for different purposes, all capable of lowering Mutation Value.

Mutation Value too high? Just take some drugs and it's solved.

Anyway, he hasn't noticed any abnormal fluctuations in his Mutation Value to date; sometimes it nears 20, but a sip of holy water brings it down.

For Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu, who have long since become fully 'Aberrant Species', a high ambient Mutation concentration is not only harmless to them but actually makes them feel more 'comfortable'.

When they saw Ying Duo stuffing Aberrant Species cores into the robots, they didn't stop him; Lu Mu even leaned over to watch, though he couldn't understand a thing.

His background can't compare to those two; one hasn't even joined the Dome yet is already a renowned up-and-coming designer outside, the other comes from a family all working for the Dome, having been born and raised there.

If he hadn't luckily survived the experiment, Lu Mu wouldn't even qualify to work for the Dome.

He scoffs at the Dome's rhetoric that 'Mutation is humanity's true path of evolution' and 'they are not Aberrant Species, but a new kind of human', and rather than striving for the so‑called 'path of evolution' pursued by the Dome, he'd rather just have fun.

Anyway, whether you die early or late, it's still death; he chooses to entertain himself to death, thanks.

Thus, after a day passed, Ying Duo logged another huge batch of 【modification】 proficiency gains.

Following the previous method, most likely he'll get stuck on skill levels because his rank hasn't increased.

Hmm........

No good; if the next departure for an outdoor mission comes, who knows how long he'll have to wait.

He must take proactive measures; he can no longer rely on the Mercenary Corps for missions.

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The night has now fully fallen; Tianmian City's lights resemble an inverted Milky Way, while the Slum on the ground hasn't sunk into deeper shadows, and the bars on the streets have just begun their nightlife.

Bai Mu Yun and Lu Mu have already changed into attire suitable for night operations and are conducting a final equipment check.

Having completed his disguise, Ying Duo walked straight up to Bai Mu Yun, lifted his face, his golden pupils shining especially clear under the base lights, and the words he spoke nearly made Lu Mu choke on his own saliva.

"After the mission, take me to grind monsters and level up."

Bai Mu Yun's hand, which was adjusting his clothes, froze; he slowly lifted his gaze, his golden horizontal pupils fixed on Ying Duo, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

"........ What monsters to grind?" he asked, almost biting his molars.

What 'monsters' could keep this kid thinking about them for so long?

Just mentioning it brings to mind that troublesome affair concerning the Black Stone Mountain Range.

Ying Duo's expression remained unchanged, yet at this point he became unusually easy to talk to.

"Anything works; heading out to the wild to find an Aberrant Species nest is fine—plenty of them, steady experience, and they also drop Aberrant Species cores and various ores."