"Boss Leon, is this really a new type of synthetic skin?"
Leon looked at the short Geneform who was looking at his skin with clear curiosity and excitement and smirked. "Are you doubting my abilities?"
"No! Of course not!" Rex responded in a flustered manner. "I dare not, you're boss Leon! You can do anything!"
"That's right". Leon nodded, shamelessly taking the praise. Teasing Rex was quickly becoming one of his best hobbies.
Kain threw a glance at Leon in disdain and snorted. Till today, only he and Talia knew the truth that Leon was a true human, the first pure human, or betterstill the last pure human.
Maybe Ghostwire and Brick already had their guesses, but if they did, then they tacitly decided to keep quiet about it and not ask.
As for the Wastes, it was just as Talia expected.
People who live here are more focused on survival and getting a single daily meal than paying attention to people's skin.
It was hard to care about aesthetics and looks when you're not only suffering from radiation disease, dying slowly, but when you're also starving.
This is why no one paid attention to Leon.
After Talia and Ghostwire left to complete their mission, Leon also led Rex, Kain, and Daren out as they aimlessly walked into the streets of the community.
Leon didn't immediately go to find a place to erect his workshop, his focus was first entirely on exploring this community to take in all its important sights.
He wanted to learn more about this world. And since the Wastes was the first destination where he found himself, he wanted to learn as much as possible.
During this time, Leon already learned most of what he wanted about the community. Apparently, in these parts, this community was just one of dozens that were formed in this part of the Wastes.
The Wastes is not a single destination; it is the culmination of ADE corruption and Omnicore's ruling of this world.
Every region in the world had their own Wastes- from the frigid expanse of the Northern Reach, to the hot Southern Biome, to the Western Fringe, and then the Eastern Expanse, and even the Twin River Grid, there are Wastes where people who could not live in the cities gathered.
For this specific Lost Zone, according to Kain, there are at least 9 communities, and the number keeps on increasing.
This community is closest to the fringe of the Wastes where the ADE corruption is completely inhospitable, and it's called Community G.
Every community has a local Warlord and a gang ruling it. Parasite and his Zmer gang were the sharks at the top of the food chain in Community G.
Apart from learning more about the Wastes generally, Leon also learned more about Community G as he explored, including the signboard that corresponded to the 3 other metallic buildings that he saw earlier.
[Gary and Mary's Restaurant]
[J & J Pleasure Motel]
[Ariana's Gambling Den]
Of the 3, what surprised Leon the most was the restaurant.
In a community this depressed and degraded, he was not surprised by the presence of a pleasure motel. Afterall, it was human nature to vent sexual urges.
Synths may not be able to do it having given up their biological traits for a fully mechanical form, but Geneforms were still active sexually like normal humans.
Leon also learned from Daren that most male Geneforms even undergo surgery and biological modifications to become stronger and to have more stamina down there.
Daren proudly and zealously explaining it made Leon tremble in fear; his robust imagination easily imagined a pee pee 10 inch or even 20 inch long.
'Pure thoughts… pure thoughts…'
The presence of the gambling den was also not surprising. Afterall, what community didn't have a charlatan-like reward for passion system?
Leon's confusion was what exactly the residents bet on and Kain explained it to him. On this exploration stroll, Kain was his tour guide.
According to Kain, despite the tense nature of the world between the factions, they still have time to engage in various extreme sports. The most popular sports in this era is combat sports, and there is even a section for Ascended to participate in.
It is one of the easiest and also the hardest way to make money in this era, not just for the competitors, but also for the gamblers.
Every youth in the Wastes dreamed of turning their fate around from a wildly successful bet.
As for the restaurant, Leon never expected to see a restaurant here. Afterall, 9 out of 10 people here in the Wastes were literally starving, so how could they afford to eat in a restaurant?
But according to Kain, Gary and Mary's setup is more of a charity work from the couple to help the poor in Community G.
According to him, the couple were both F Rank Ascended!
That explained how they were able to maintain such a civilized business in such a lawless zone.
They were both master chefs, and they made city food available to the peasants of the Wastes at very affordable prices. According to Kain, between 8 to 12 on Saturdays, the couple also give free food to people.
Leon was yet to meet them, but he already admired the couple.
Talking of money, Leon finally asked to clear his doubts.
"Can you guys explain the currency system to me?"
As soon as he asked, Daren was stunned as he stared at him with a flabbergasted expression on his face. "You don't know money?"
Leon chuckled; he already prepared an explanation. He already learned to not perform unprepared around the Geneform whose mouth never seemed to stay shut; Daren always had something to say.
"Hehe, I'm not a brainless Cyber Gladiator. I actually use my brain for important things. I study a lot of Mechanist knowledge and applications. Currency is the least of my problems, so it's normal if I forget the currency at times".
"Really?" For some reason, Rex seemed like he was in awe.
Leon's smile froze. 'I can't predict this guy at all'.
Daren also froze. "Oh, okay". He nodded. 'But why does it sound like he insulted me though?' He stared at Leon suspiciously.
Leon chuckled again. "Don't overthink it man". He patted him on the shoulder.
In the end, Kain who understood Leon's true situation explained.
"We have three currencies. The number 1 major currency in the world is Neo Credits. Following it is a Pound, and then a Cent".
"10 cents make 1 pound, and 100 pounds make 1 Neo Credit".
"If you have 1 Neo Credit, you're essentially a rich man in these parts, and its value holds even in the cities though you won't be nowhere near a rich man with 1 Neo Credit there".
Leon thought of going to eat at Gary and Mary's Restaurant to feel the ambience there, but since they didn't have any money on them, he could only give up on the thought and focus on what brought them out here.
With that, they finally walked back towards the open market.
The open market was the same as the first time that Leon saw it. There were hundreds of sellers with goods spread about in their open stalls, including those who had shade that was provided by tarpaulin covers.
Leon discovered even more now as they toured the open market. Among the sellers, there were those who also sold local food.
The ones aimed at Geneforms looked like soups that were randomly mashed together. Leon didn't taste it yet, but he already felt like vomiting.
For the Synths, it was synthetic oil of different types that were mixed with various ingredients that were apparently good for mechanical lifeforms.
'What a novelty experience'. Leon thought and continued forward.
They soon found an open space, but then Leon realized something.
He coughed. "Um, we don't even have a table, so where exactly am I supposed to work if a customer comes?" He held back the instinctive urge to scratch his head. "We don't have a signboard too".
"Is that important?" Rex looked at him.
"Of course," he nodded seriously. "The open market is too big, so we have to create something to draw the attention of potential customers to ourselves".
"Besides, none of the other sellers have thought of doing the same, so this can make us unique from the others, drawing attention to us".
Kain nodded thoughtfully, then he asked. "So, how exactly are we going to get a table and a signboard?"
Leon frowned, but then his expression eased up as he looked at Kain and Rex in reproach. "Are you sure the both of you are Mechanists like me? You're Mechanists, but you think like a Cyber Gladiator".
"…" Kain's mechanical face twitched.
'Huh?' Daren felt like he was being insulted again.
Leon ignored him as he focused on the two Mechanists. "If you want to truly grow as a Mechanist, you have to think like one. You have to be creative and be innovative, don't always look for ready-made solutions".
Kain frowned, but he didn't say anything.
Leon smiled. "Creating a table is simple. All we need is wood, nails, and a hammer. I can create it myself".
"This is the creativity of a Mechanist". He emphasized.
"As for a signboard, it's simple too. All we need is a stick that's long enough, then a white board and something to write on it".
"I can draw a signboard for our mechanic workshop".
Leon looked at Daren. "You can help us get wood right?"
Daren nodded, then Leon looked at Rex, telling him to go with Daren to get enough wood to build a wooden table.
As for him and Kain, they walked around in search of a stick and a board to draw the signboard of the mechanic workshop.
As they walked, they passed sellers who avidly promoted their goods.
"Silk cloth from Canyon Hub! Cotton clothes too!"
Leon thought as he walked past them. 'I wonder which part of this world this Canyon Hub city is. It has to be a city, right?'
He and Kain soon found a stick and a dirty white board that was already turning brown. As for the color to draw with, Leon remembered something else. 'I can use the black resin that I found on the rubber trees outside the community'.
Just as he and Kain were walking out of the open market, he heard something else that attracted his attention.
"A rare Ascended Artifact for sale".
'Artifact?' That keyword made him pause.
Leon quickly walked towards the stall. The seller was a Synth with a vigilant look in his eyes; he looked at them with hawk-like eyes like potential customers and also potential thieves.
This Synth's stall only had one good for sale- a blue glove with fish-like scales that was nearly transparent.
The cautious Synth explained. "This is an Ascended Artifact. It was gotten from one of those deadly Neon Beasts at sea. With it, you gain the ability to swim fast in water, and the ability to breathe underwater for 15 to 30 minutes".
Leon was surprised. "How much is it?"
The Synth flashed a mechanical smile, a smile that left Leon feeling uneasy, then he said. "23 Neo Credits".
Leon almost choked on his own spit.
He didn't even try to bargain, he directly walked out on the merchant. As he left, he looked at Kain. "Artifacts?"
"Yes," Kain nodded. "Artifacts are different from Mechanist constructs. They're tools that are created from the uniqueness of Neon Beasts or Ascended".
"Or Ascended?" Leon was alarmed.
Kain nodded seriously. "It's not unheard of for Ascended to kill each other, and then fuse the remains of their enemy into an object, turning it into an Ascended Artifact. The object gain certain powers of the Ascended when they were alive, the same thing for Artifacts that emerge from the remnant powers of Neon Beasts".
"They gain powers from the Neon Beasts' powers when they were alive".
Leon felt like a whole new world was opening up before him and instinctively, he smiled at Kain. "Can you tell me more about the world? What I don't know".
Seeing his overly eager expression, Kain sneered. "In the end, you're just a smelly human who knows nothing about the world".
Leon chuckled. "I know, but still teach me". Leon was shameless.
Kain snorted.
…
[Henry's Inn]
While the others left, Brick simply came to the lower floor, the bar area of the inn and sat while ordering a bottle of synth-beer.
On one hand, this was something that he wanted to do since the siege of the cargo trailer. On another hand, he was gathering information. Afterall, what better place to gather information than in an inn's bar area where travelers and locals with the ability to survive and thrive loiter?
As for the money to pay for the synth-beer, well, he was waiting for Talia's group or Leon's group to come back with money so he could pay.
In the next 2 hours, he already ordered 3 bottles of synth-beer and just as the third one was about to finish, his ears pricked up.
At a corner of the bar area, a group of 4 people discussed in hushed voices.
"Really?"
"Of course! Why would I lie to you?" One of them, a Geneform hissed in displeasure. "I obtained this information from my friend who's a member of the Zmer gang. Lord Parasite is looking to recruit new gang members!"
This Geneform's voice was clearly excited. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm surely going to apply to join".
"Finally, I can live life like a true man!"
Quietly, Brick finished the third bottle of synth-beer.
…
Back in the open market…
DING!
~----~
[You have displayed the ingenuity of a Mechanist!]
[You have created a work table and a signboard!]
[You have gained +23 Ascended Essence!]
[Ascended Counter: 821/1000]
~----~
Leon grinned, then he asked. "What should we name our mechanic shop?"