"What do you mean?"
Alertness rose in Lu Xun's heart.
Old Octopus's current state seemed off, a hint of madness in his demeanor.
It was as if he were a gambler who had put all his chips on the table, ready to go all in.
"Come with me first, I'll show you something."
Old Octopus didn't directly answer Lu Xun's question, but instead left a sentence behind and turned to leave with his hands behind his back.
"What's going on? I still need to go home for dinner, don't be so mysterious."
Lu Xun followed him, turning corners left and right, and arrived at a secret room, beginning to feel somewhat impatient.
Click—
Old Octopus opened a hidden compartment on the chamber floor, and with all eight mechanical arms exerted force to lift out a very heavy and huge safe.
The safe was nearly as tall as a person.
When opened, inside were stacks of neatly piled cash, amounting to nearly ten million.
The land rent in the Underground City was exorbitantly high, not to mention the wages for workers, taxes, utility bills, garbage disposal fees, and a heap of other expenses.
This slaughterhouse didn't make any money at all, sometimes even running at a loss.
It was purely a cover for the black market clinic.
The black market clinic was the real source of profit!
It's almost unthinkable for a civilian from the Outer City District to have a savings of ten million.
Old Octopus's life's savings were all here.
Though he's quite a terrible person, even Lu Xun had to admire him in certain respects.
For example, Old Octopus's persistence in saving money!!
Over sixty and still single.
Yet obsessed with money, possessed by a kind of obsession, willing to risk his life to make it.
Earns money but doesn't spend it, just keeps saving, saving, saving...
The ultimate hoarder!
Initially, Lu Xun thought he was saving for his grandchildren or younger relatives.
Because Old Octopus had a pendant he cherished greatly, inside it a photo of a little boy.
Lu Xun often saw him open the pendant and stare at the photo.
Obviously, that was someone very important to him.
Lu Xun had asked Old Octopus about the boy's identity.
But the other party said that the boy in the photo had died over thirty years ago, and didn't elaborate on their relationship.
Later it was understood that Old Octopus had no relatives left in this world.
He was likely saving for his own retirement.
Wanting to have enough to live out his days worry-free, to retire in peace.
But he's too greedy!
Is ten million still not enough to retire?
To earn so much and still be unwilling to stop, truly blinded by greed.
"What? Are you trying to boast about your little treasure trove to me?" Lu Xun teased.
"No, I wanted you to see this."
Old Octopus retrieved an item from the lowest compartment, silver-white, and handed it over.
Lu Xun took it, examining it in his hand.
This thing shimmered with a bony luster, had an ivory-like texture, and obvious metallic structure, feeling heavy in the hand.
"This is a prosthetic body... why does it look so strange?"
Lu Xun couldn't help but be surprised.
He had never seen this type of prosthetic body.
He could recite backwards all the civilian-grade prosthetic body styles and models available on the market.
But momentarily couldn't identify the item in his hand.
Its appearance resembled a section of a spinal bone. To be precise, it was a section of a cervical vertebra, but it was too thick, clearly not a human cervical vertebra.
"Interesting, a prosthetic body made by fusing special biological bones with machinery? When did this new product appear?"
Lu Xun pretended to talk with Old Octopus.
But in fact, his right hand quietly initiated an analysis.
[Analyzing… 5%… 20%… 38%…]
[Analysis Complete!]
[Trait Points +58!]
[Recorded: Biological Illustrated Guide x1 (Incomplete), Non-Biological Illustrated Guide x1 (Incomplete).]
["Illustrated Guide: Red Orge·Special"]
[Guide completeness: 0.45%, Branch: Red Orge. Life Level: Special. Part: Cervical Bone. Magic Attribute: Fire. Racial Divine Techniques… Lifebound Talent… Year of Biological Death…]
["Illustrated Guide: War Ghost Type-8 Military-grade Exoskeleton"]
[Guide completeness: 4.8%. Material composition ratio… Operational principles… Involved technology… Effect performance… Other functions… Side effects…]
[Special-level Orge Race Gene detected!]
[Gene Compatibility 99.84%, reaching perfect compatibility standard!]
[Guide completeness 0.25%, does not meet minimum projection conditions!]
...
"Holy shit!"
Lu Xun's eyes widened.
The compatibility between the Orge Race gene and himself reached 99.84%!
This is precisely the compatible gene he had been searching for thirteen years!
Although it's just a piece of cervical vertebra, not reaching 10% of the Illustrated Guide's completeness.
But the direction is right!
Once the Illustrated Guide's completeness is slightly improved, trait points can be used for projection.
Fuse the perfect gene and achieve super evolution!
'So the Orge Race is my destined connection!'
Lu Xun was filled with shock and joy.
But immediately, as he calmed down, a chilling sensation rose on his back!
He realized a very serious, fatal problem:
This isn't a normal Orge Race cervical vertebra, but a military-grade prosthetic made with bone as the embryo, utilizing dozens of precious materials combined with top human scientific technology!
It's not just any military-grade.
It's the eighth generation of top-notch goods!
He suddenly threw the cervical vertebra piece in his hand away, as if it was a hot potato!
"Old man, are you trying to get me killed?"
After grabbing his backpack, Lu Xun turned and left: "If you're tired of living, find a tree and hang yourself, don't involve me. My family is waiting for me to go back for dinner, I don't want to die."
If all the previous orders were just some big or small waves.
Then this time, they will be facing a tsunami!
A small fishing boat might withstand storms, but facing a tsunami, survival is hard and likely to be torn to pieces.
"Wait, listen to me first."
Old Octopus carefully picked up the prosthetic, then hurriedly chased out, grabbing Lu Xun's arm to explain:
"I know this is extreme, my initial reaction was the same as yours, but do you know why I took this business deal?"
"This is taboo, a red line that cannot be touched for any reason." Lu Xun's expression turned serious, shaking off his hand.
Both are prosthetics, but military-grade and civilian-grade are completely different concepts.
In comparison to the previous life, a civilian-grade prosthetic is like a sickle, hoe, hammer, steel fork... Although it also has lethality and can be used as a weapon to kill, its essence is still an ordinary tool.
Even the top civilian-grade prosthetic is at most considered as a strong bow, sharp crossbow, or small caliber firearm.
What is the concept of military-grade then? It's a vehicle-mounted machine gun, artillery, bomber, tank!
A lethal weapon made for the purpose of high-efficiency killing.
The most inferior military-grade prosthetic has a terrifying power.
Even in a legitimate, legal operating prosthetic hospital, a military-grade prosthetic can't appear... unless it's a military hospital.
Every military-grade prosthetic in Jinghai City has a detailed serial number.
Because they contain the core secrets of urban defense technology, they can't just flow into the civilian world.
The vast majority of prosthetic doctors will never have the chance to touch a military-grade prosthetic in their lifetime.
"War Ghost Type 8" should be a complete spine with 24 vertebrae, including 7 cervical vertebrae, 12 thoracic vertebrae, and 5 lumbar vertebrae.
The client only gave Old Octopus one cervical vertebra.
This indicates that the other party is just testing.
Testing their depth to see if they have the capability to take on this job.
So currently, nothing has been decided, and there's still a chance to refuse.
"Turn down this deal, Old Octopus." Lu Xun sighed and advised him, "Listen to my advice, the waters here are too deep, you can't handle it."
"Turn it down? Are you kidding, do you know how much the other party offered?"
Old Octopus's eyes burned with enthusiasm: "Eighty million!!"
"How much?"
Lu Xun paused, suspecting he had heard wrong.
"Eighty million base!"
Old Octopus's voice trembled, adding:
"The other party is in a rush, if we can complete the surgery within four days, they will add another twenty million, that's one hundred million, we can each split fifty million!!"
Lu Xun fell silent.
One surgery, one hundred million.
There's an unwritten rule in the prosthetic doctor's field that surgical implantation fees are roughly 10%~20% of the prosthetic's own value.
What is the concept of a one hundred million surgery fee?
It's outrageous!
"It's true, the other party promised payment first, then surgery." He feared Lu Xun's disbelief, so he added another sentence.
Riches move people's hearts.
Old Octopus was already greedy for money, how could he withstand such a temptation of extravagant riches?
No wonder he felt his emotions were a bit manic today, almost becoming delusional.
After all, even Lu Xun himself was tempted, feeling the impulse to take a risk.
He installed nanowings on a Centaur, working from daytime till dawn. Exhausted, he only earned a hundred thousand.
This is even after splitting eighty percent of the profit.
He would need to perform hundreds or thousands of such surgeries to match this single deal!
Even setting aside the consideration of money completely.
The remaining 23 undeciphered Red Orge vertebrae hold enormous temptation for Lu Xun.
Once the Orge Race spine is fully deciphered, the corresponding illustrated guide can reach over 10% completeness.
At that point, he could fuse the Orge Race gene and step onto the path of power.
In fact, Lu Xun's interest in prosthetics far outweighs money.
Compared to his dream of "becoming a Muscle Bully and tearing apart mechas", what does money amount to?