Chapter 45: Intelligence on the Ruins—The Roaring PRO Limited Edition!

"Done," Su Cheng said, putting down the large wrench.

The prosthetic limbs of the Bear Federation, much like their traditional weaponry, were notoriously rugged and durable. Their internal structure was relatively simple, far less intricate than the Grade-A combat prosthetics manufactured by the Lumitech Corporation. Their philosophy was to conquer through sheer force—subjugating ten techniques with raw power!

The malfunction in Rose's Alpha Holy Hammer prosthetic was merely a lack of maintenance for its internal micro-wave engine, which had caused unstable operation. It was not actually broken. However, because the Waste City was once a city of the old Huaxia, no one here understood Bear Federation prosthetics, leaving them unable to maintain them.

"So fast?" Old Chen asked in surprise.

It had barely been any time at all. Their usual repairs took ages. First, they had to inspect the internal structure of the prosthetic, the energy system, the sensor system, and so on. Lower-grade prosthetics were manageable, but high-grade prosthetics were extremely precision-engineered equipment. Yet Su Cheng had fixed it like he was repairing a toy, using those crude tools of his in the blink of an eye!

"I memorized the structure of prosthetics long ago. Just a glance tells me where the problem is, so of course it's fast." Su Cheng slotted his tools back onto No-Brain. He didn't mention that he had merely performed routine maintenance; after all, he still expected payment.

Old Chen didn't dare to snap back, afraid of making a fool of himself again. He looked toward Rose, wanting to see if it had really been fixed.

Rose stood up and clenched her hand. Immediately, the gears in her arm spun at high speed, and her hand—normally of standard size—rapidly transformed into a specialized, fist-sized heavy prosthetic! Four micro-wave thrusters ignited on the back of her hand! The entire transformation process was extremely smooth, without the slightest stutter!

"Whew, fantastic!" Rose swung her fist a few times; it felt infinitely better than before!

She clenched her fist to charge it up, and the differential gears around her knuckles spun at breakneck speed! The rotation accelerated rapidly. Just as the whirring sound reached its absolute limit, Rose instantly released her grip.

*Hiss...*

The pressure relief valve opened, venting a powerful rush of air.

"The power is even stronger than before, and the charge threshold has been raised." Rose was overjoyed. "Great, absolutely wonderful! You're definitely much better than those good-for-nothing cowards at the arena!"

Old Chen's face flushed red, then turned pale. Wasn't he one of those arena good-for-nothings? Seeing that Su Cheng really had fixed Rose's prosthetic, he could only offer an awkward smile. "Miss Rose, I just remembered I left the kettle boiling at home, so I'll be heading back first."

With that, he scurried away with his assistant robot.

"Pay him no mind." Rose waved dismissively and walked over to the lounge area. "You've really done me a huge favor. I owe you one. I still hold some sway in the Waste City Arena, so if you ever need anything in the future, just come find me."

She sat down on the sofa and looked at Su Cheng. "Now, tell me what else you want. Name it."

Su Cheng glanced at No-Brain. "Do you happen to have a domestic robot around? The kind from eight centuries ago."

If he didn't have to venture into the ruins, that would naturally be better, considering the unknown dangers lurking there.

Rose frowned, walking around No-Brain to inspect him.

"Hey, what are you doing? I'm not wearing any clothes, you know, staring at me like that." No-Brain hastily covered his body with both hands.

Rose cracked a smile. "Nope. Too old-fashioned, long since phased out. That kind of junk can only be found out in the ruins; they might still have early-model tech preserved out there."

No-Brain muttered, "I am old, sure. I'm this old, and nobody's ever called me grandpa."

Smirking, Rose grabbed No-Brain's hand. "Even though your master fixed my prosthetic, that doesn't mean you can talk to me however you please."

Sensing that Rose meant no harm and was just playing around, Su Cheng didn't intervene, happily standing by to watch the show.

No-Brain shrieked in feigned terror, "Hey, boss, save me! This woman's mad, she's terrifying!"

Rose let go of his hand. "Your robot is quite amusing, but I don't have one here. So, pick a different reward."

"Then tell me about the ruins. I don't know much about the place." He was planning to take No-Brain into the ruins shortly. Of course, No-Brain would only provide backup on the periphery; he wouldn't let him risk entering the deep zone.

Rose looked somewhat surprised. "You're not thinking of going into the ruins, are you?"

Su Cheng nodded directly.

"I strongly advise you not to go," Rose said earnestly. "Your repair skills are top-notch. It would be an absolute waste if you died in the ruins. If you're willing, I can introduce you to a job at the arena. You'd undoubtedly be the hottest and best mechanic there, and you'd get plenty of resources, money, and women!"

She held his technical skills in extremely high regard. Old Chen was genuinely one of the best mechanics in the arena, yet he couldn't even recognize her prosthetic model, whereas Su Cheng had fixed it effortlessly. Such insight and craftsmanship meant he certainly couldn't be just a junior mechanic!

Su Cheng smiled faintly. "I'm just asking out of curiosity."

Rose pondered for a moment, resting her legs on the coffee table as she recalled, "You should know that there are immensely powerful, unknown entities inside the ruins, and only the trains manage to pass through, right?"

Su Cheng nodded.

Rose continued, "The bizarre thing is that no matter who's on board—whether they're VIPs, ordinary refugees, or powerful cyborgs—they might all mysteriously vanish! In the end, only an empty train arrives at the next city. People have gone inside to check, and every single vacant train is covered in terrifying claw marks, with blood and chunks of flesh splattered everywhere. Only a tiny fraction of lucky individuals manage to reach the next city safely. The danger level is astronomical! Not even our arena or the garbage processing plant will send people in there. No one has ever crossed the ruins, and no one has ever come out of there alive. Remember—absolutely no one!"

Hearing this, Su Cheng fell into deep thought. Did he count as the only person to have come out of the ruins? Granted, it was just the edge, but it was still part of the ruins.

"Where the ruins connect to the city, there is a stretch of wasteland called the Border. People have explored this area with robots, and aside from mountains of trash and sand, there's a randomly shifting radiation storm!"

Rose went on, "The radiation storm orbits around the ruins, so it doesn't appear constantly. It follows roughly a five-year cycle; the last storm was two and a half years ago. Of course, even the Border isn't safe! Only by crossing the Border can you enter the ruins proper, and once inside, all communication signals are cut off. That's about all I know."

She looked seriously at Su Cheng. "So I advise you not to go. Your current assistant robot is quite unique, but it's not worth risking your life over. You can just buy a new one, or I can help you buy one right now."

"No need, thank you." Su Cheng declined Rose's kind offer.

Getting the information he wanted was enough. Based on the clues Rose provided, there were very likely mutated beasts inside! They were immensely powerful, capable of boarding high-orbital trains to slaughter passengers, and they even possessed a certain degree of intelligence—because they only killed the people inside the trains without destroying the tracks, ensuring a steady stream of human passengers kept traveling through the ruins!

With his Gene Tier-1 ability and S-Grade Symbiotic Armor, heading into the Border should pose no major problem. He had no intention of venturing deep into the ruins anyway, since he had found No-Brain right near the periphery.

"We'll be going now." With that, Su Cheng signaled No-Brain and prepared to leave.

"Wait, I can't let you leave empty-handed." Rose said, nodding to Savitelina.

Savitelina immediately understood, walking into an adjoining room in the lounge and returning with a small briefcase.

"You came in Lori's vehicle, didn't you? A mechanic as skilled as you deserves a ride that matches your status."

Rose opened the case, revealing a collection of car keys. She picked out a white key and handed it to Su Cheng. "This is the Roar PRO Limited Edition sports car. It has full autonomous driving, so it doesn't matter even if you don't know how to drive, and nobody will dare give you trouble about it."

Then, she pulled out an exquisite brooch. "This is the access key to my lounge in the arena. With this, anyone in the arena who sees you will treat it as seeing me, and you can enter my private lounge whenever you want. Others aren't allowed in."

Su Cheng took the car key and the brooch. After servicing a single prosthetic, he had acquired a car worth tens of thousands. This payment was far too generous! A vehicle like this was something he wouldn't even have dared to imagine before.

The Roar PRO Limited Edition was only one tier below Remi's Roar EVO, both being exceptionally rare luxury cars worth over 25,000 Alliance Credits! He had saved up for several years and only managed to scrape together a few thousand! Yet Rose casually handed over 25,000, and her case still held several more keys like it!

What a missed opportunity! Su Cheng felt a twinge of regret—he hadn't charged Zhang杰 enough when he serviced his prosthetic before!

"Well... even though the car is nice, I still wouldn't mind trading it for a Grade-E mechanical prosthetic instead."