Fatal Shot

Three days later, a BY-747 large passenger spacecraft from Silvermoon City landed slowly on the runway in Storm City.

After the orange jets ejected from the spacecraft thrusters were completely extinguished, the five silver-gray spiral ramps were lowered, and the heavy alloy door slowly opened. NPCs with their briefcases or luggage and players who exhibited excitement and fatigue alike spilled from the ship.

On a large screen several floors above the landing point, a commercial was being broadcast. A beautiful female NPC with a size 36E bust, wearing a camouflage combat uniform, held a heavy gun with a caliber of over 10mm and was using it to blast a Level-40 Elite Mutant Sand Scorpion into pieces with one shot. When she finished, she licked her golden hair, then rotated the pistol in her hand a few times before inserting it into a holster on her long leg.

“Welcome to Storm City,” said the commercial. “The ‘Union Weapon Shop’ is open today with big sales. All equipment is 10 percent off. A D-class blood supplement valued at 50 credits will be given away with any purchase of 999 credits. If you spend 1,999 credits…”

Then a subtitle was displayed on the background: “Union Weapon Shop, Quality Assured!”

“The Thunderfire P-2 looks cool and all, but its level is only 25, and there are design flaws with its terrible specs,” Feng Luo jested bitterly while walking down the ramp. “How could that gun possibly headshot a Level-40 Elite monster? This advertising fraud is too much. There should be a management team for this!”

He lifted his head and stretched his back, sucking in some murky city air as his eyes swept over the endless metal buildings and flying cars outside the landing point. As a giant city with a player population of over 10 million, Storm City’s facilities were much more advanced than Silvermoon City. In addition to these high-rise metal towers and floating automated taxis, there were “sky-eye” surveillance systems and fully automated weapons densely packed throughout the city. If any player dared to use weapons to commit crimes in the city, the fully automatic defense weapons under the control of the systems would reduce him to slag.

In the automated floating car, a soft, electronically synthesized female voice sounded after Feng Luo sat down. “Welcome to Storm City. May I ask where are you going?”

“The Appraisal office, please!”

Feng Luo had come to the Storm City for two main purposes. The first was to look for Master Roland, as recommended by the middle-aged appraiser, to identify the chip from the beetle boss. The other was to contact “Green Plum Boiled Wine,” who Red Wine Coffee had told him would sell the chip that contained the “Extreme Shooting” skill. However, compared to buying the skill, he was still more interested in learning what was in the chip from the Beetle Boss, so he decided to go to the appraisal office first.

At a speed of more than 70 km/h, the floating car shuttled between Storm City’s buildings. It took less than ten minutes to reach his destination. Feng Luo paid 20 credits through the interface on the terminal with a swipe of his card, then the door of the floating car opened, and one of the landmark buildings of Storm City—the appraisal office—appeared in front of him.

This appraisal office would have been more accurately called an appraisal “center.” It was a luxurious building with an area of more than 100,000 square meters and a height of more than 130 floors. There were countless floating cars in the area, as well as countless players entering and leaving at every moment.

Master Roland’s appraisal room was located in Room 99 on the 108th floor. After Feng Luo registered on the first floor, he took the internal maglev elevator and arrived within a minute.

Ding!

Feng Luo pressed the retro copper doorbell. After a few seconds, the double doors—built from a whole piece of golden Nanmu wood—slowly opened on both sides. Gorgeous silver chandeliers decorated with amethyst hung from the ceiling. Handmade rugs were on the floor, and thousands of paper books lined a rosewood bookcase in delicate patterns. These decorations told Feng Luo that the owner was a person who highly fancied classical culture.

A white-haired old man sat between a variety of instruments behind a huge red wooden table. He wore high-grade identification glasses glowing with purple light and held a silver-colored vintage magnifying glass in his hand, studying a pen-like antique.

Seeing Feng Luo, Master Roland raised his head and smiled under his appraisal glasses. “Please, sit down!” he said.

******

A minute later, after carefully observing the silver chip in his hand, Master Roland raised his hand, and his wrinkled face revealed a sly smile. “This is the kind of chip I imagined I would discover, but I didn’t expect an adventurer like you to get it.”

“Nice!” Feng Luo said, feeling better.

“But…” Master Roland suddenly changed his tone.

Damn! Feng Luo cursed in his heart. He knew that trouble was coming when he heard the word “but.”

“I am sorry to tell you that this chip has been damaged,” said Master Roland. “If it is not repaired with special materials and special techniques, it has no value.” He gently rubbed the lines on the chip with his thumb and gazed at it with a nostalgic face.

“What? It has been damaged?”

Feng Luo spoke in an impression of an astonished tone. Talking to an advanced NPC, the player had to try to be consistent with the context.

“Yes, it’s damaged, and it’s very serious.” Master Roland nodded. “But… I have a way to fix it because one of my professions happens to be a Chip Expert.”

“Chip Expert?”

No matter how much Feng Luo thought about it, it was impossible to imagine how this room—decorated like the chamber of a medieval aristocrat or an archaeologist—could be the studio of a Chip Expert. The Chip Experts was a life profession at the forefront of federal technology. There were many types of equipment, weapons, or large mecha that used chips, and Chip Experts specialized in the design of these chips.

This old man named Roland was a master of appraisal and a Chip Expert. Like players, NPCs could also have varied life careers but generally only considered one as the main occupation.

“What do you need to fix this chip?” Feng Luo asked, prepared to spend more money.

“Oh, there is not much that I need,” said Master Roland. “I have most of the materials here. I only lack one special material, but I also know where to get it. So you need to help me to get some of it—and something else, too.”

Obviously, this is another mission! Feng Luo thought, but out loud, he said, “No problem. Can you first tell me the purpose of this chip? It’s from a Level-45 Beetle Boss.”

Master Roland raised his appraisal lenses and looked at Feng Luo. “That’s right. And how do you think the rebel forces control those unruly and aggressive mutants?”

“You mean…?”

A thought popped into Feng Luo’s head, and he was suddenly shocked.

“Yes,” said Master Roland. “This is a biochip that can affect the brainwaves of mutant organisms after being injected into the body. It even enables them to understand the simple words of human beings. This is… an amazing chip.”

Master Roland once again showed an inexplicable look in his eyes, as if marveling at the power of this tiny chip.

After Feng Luo heard this, his heart raced with excitement. Although the words of Master Roland did not directly indicate as much, the word that crossed Feng Luo’s word was a single noun: “pet”!