Chapter 6: Control the Mechanical Lathe, The Mechanical Arm on the Back!
[Intelligent Sightpiece--F: Dismantled from the Reed Heavy Sniper Rifle.]
Control Conditions: 30 points of metal energy
Control Effect: Perception Enhancement--80%
Control Ability--Tactical Sight: You can conduct observations with up to a 5x visual distance and adjust for night vision and infrared.]
As expected, Li Ming wasn't surprised; he knew the sight was a treasure at first glance.
Checking the sniper rifle, indeed, the energy points required for control had dropped to 770, though the burst from [Charge Strike] had decreased from 200% to 190%.
The wardrobe had been damaged by him and could not close on its own, yet he managed to close it by pushing from both sides.
Sitting on the bed, Li Ming fell into deep thought; opening this door had indeed reaped significant rewards.
This also inadvertently gave him another idea—could there be more in this room?
Switching to the intelligent terminal, he activated the [Intelligent Assistance] mode; although a bit dizzy, he persevered and began to meticulously search the room.
"There really is..." Li Ming said, looking at the bed he had pushed aside, beneath which was a circular metal cover. This time there were no passwords, and it was easily lifted, revealing a dark opening below, leading to an unknown destination.
"Judging by this position, it should lead to the kitchen on the first floor," he said, quite hesitant about whether to go down or not. He found a lighting device—it wasn't very deep, and he could see to the bottom, where there was also a faint fishy smell.
"Could this connect to the sewer?" Li Ming speculated.
This place was somewhat central in Silver Grey Star; his grandfather was, after all, a first-generation immigrant who had reaped some benefits. Almost no blind spots existed in the surveillance nearby, with entries and exits continually recorded.
"The city's sewer network is extensive; in theory, it could lead almost anywhere." Li Ming decided to close the cover. The repeated use of various abilities had left him feeling weak.
Sitting on the floor and leaning against the edge of the bed, he massaged his temples; the secrets of Li Changhai didn't need urgent exploring.
The priority was to enhance himself, "Better materials would allow me to gather more metal energy in a shorter time."
"The metal energy contained in this room's door should exceed 100 points. After absorbing it, I should be able to control two F-level objects."
He pondered, "By then, my physical condition should also have greatly improved; moreover, exercising could promote the absorption of the Tenglong Potion."
There was actually a shortcut he could take—absorbing the metal material from this sniper rifle, which should bring a substantial amount of metal energy.
However, it felt somewhat wasteful; the things in his possession weren't worth squandering the sniper rifle for.
"As for the gene seed matter, perhaps... it might relate to this passage."
Silver Grey Star was not stable, ever since the Blue Star Civilization sold a 50-year mining license to the Star Creation Company, Silver Grey Star had been on a decline, with over-mining drastically lowering its commercial value.
The outer city area was quite chaotic, also being the origin of the Fierce Tiger Gang. The gray industry thrived there; perhaps it was a good place to earn Star Coins.
Heading to the outer city outright was too conspicuous; using this passage, he could be much more concealed.
Having organized his next objectives, Li Ming felt a surge of motivation, struggling to pick up the piece of metal alloy plate from the ground. He now needed to touch the material to extract metal energy.
But this did not deter him. Lifting the metal plate above his head, he began doing squats. The flow of heat through his body also increased considerably.
Days and nights passed, and three days later.
In the room, Li Ming panted heavily, his body heaving up and down. The alloy plate the size of a palm atop his head had been disassembled from the door days ago and was now nearly fully absorbed.
Metal energy had also reached an impressive 88 points, a significant change from three days ago, having bulked up considerably, his muscles now more symmetrical.
However, since his original physique was rather frail, the change wasn't too noticeable with clothes on.
After spending most of the day, the alloy above his head was completely absorbed, bringing the metal energy up to 93 points, while the heat flow in his body neared non-existence, with the Tenglong reagent having shown its most prominent effects in the previous days.
Combined with his incessant exercise, most of it had been absorbed. Without precise measuring equipment, it was impossible to directly see the difference in his body's data.
But Li Ming could now lift one corner of the four-arm machine tool placed at the center of the first floor, a machine that weighed a full four tons.
Three days ago, he had struggled just to pick up a pneumatic hammer.
"Phew…" After washing off the sticky sweat, the cool water flowed over his body, Li Ming pondered,
"Currently, with the metal energy, I can upgrade the chip and the pneumatic hammer, even the intelligent terminal, but I can only control two at a time."
"The chip is too low-end. The security system still needs it, so I won't consider that for now. The pneumatic hammer is mainly for bursts, but it needs to be charged… The intelligent terminal is for assistance…"
"Right, there's also that machine tool… With four mechanical arms enhanced, it should have solid sustained combat capability." Li Ming thought to himself.
He approached the machine tool but didn't start controlling it immediately. Stroking his chin, based on his recent experiences, the items he could control were not fixed.
Post-modification was possible. The mechanical arms of the machine tool held various maintenance devices, mainly fixtures, cross vises, spiral shafts… The direct lethality wasn't significant.
"If I were to modify it…" Li Ming thought and acted immediately, first controlling the security chip to acquire some basic mechanical repair techniques.
Then, he dug out steel drill bits and metal saw blades from the corner, which he had deliberately saved when absorbing metal materials previously.
The base was welded to the two spiral shafts on the mechanical arms, with internal wiring. As for the other two mechanical arms, they remained as cross vises with a clamping force of up to half a ton.
Upon another inspection, there indeed was a change.
[Taiwei Four-arm Mechanic Repair Machine (Modified Version)—Grade F: A basic maintenance machine produced by Qingtai Company, capable of dealing with ordinary alloys, and further modified by the repairman Li Ming into something quite unique.
Control Conditions: 53 points of metal energy
Control Effect: Mechanical Repair—Beginner
Control Ability—Assistive Repair: Derives four tool-carrying mechanical arms to assist from the side.]
"Quite unique?" Li Ming's face darkened as he muttered a few words, then his hand reached out to the machine tool, beginning to control it.
It wasn't long before the large machine tool before him simply vanished from sight, suddenly leaving a vacuum behind and even speeding up the airflow around it.
"Truly shocking…" Li Ming was stunned for a moment. Previously, he had controlled small items, but the abrupt disappearance of this huge object felt entirely different.
Suddenly, a flood of knowledge came to him, and more information about repairs filled his mind. He felt like an experienced repair shop master, possibly already on par with Li Changhai.
Even the images of his recent machine tool modification floated up in his mind, and he immediately thought of several better replacement schemes.
After adjusting for a moment and standing in front of a mirror, he couldn't wait to use[Assistive Repair].
Soon, a strange sensation rose within him, as he heard a clicking sound from behind, four silver-white mechanical arms inching out.
Like four metal snakes, their folded bodies unfolded, and at the tips were various tools modified by Li Ming.