This is really not mechanical ascension

The money was borrowed fair and square, so it could certainly be spent in the same manner.

"Hmm, upgrading the gene detection device needs 30 points of metal energy, I only have 10 points, I still need to buy some metal materials…"

Li Ming pondered, and added to himself, "And some slightly advanced nutrient fluids, otherwise my body can't handle it."

Having set his budget, Li Ming first went to buy nutrient fluids, and this stuff even had a specialty store—Old Zhang's Nutrient Fluids.

The various brands of nutrient fluids were dazzling, even having flavors, red berries, purple berries… or some other odd tastes.

Li Ming previously always bought the cheapest, unflavored ones.

"I want that one…" Li Ming looked around and finally settled on a tube of purple nutrient fluid displayed at the very top of the counter, which contained a smattering of little stars, very beautiful.

"Good taste, sir, this is the newest product from Lengjing Biotechnology, made with Purple Sea Star juice…" The owner introduced a whole lot, finally piling up a smile, "Ordinary people can last three days with one drink, a special offer of a thousand Star Coins per tube."

"I'll take ten tubes…" Li Ming stated the quantity, the owner's eyes lit up, not expecting such a big customer. After some bargaining, Li Ming even got him to throw in an extra tube.

Afterward, he didn't go to a regular material supplier but hailed a small aircraft.

"To the recycling center," he said.

...…

"A thousand Star Coins for one visit, a maximum of three hours, and you can't take away more than a ton, no refunds."

The cement walls were five meters tall, and even so, you could still see the mountainous pile of scrap inside. The gatekeeper, potbellied, with features nearly squished together, spoke lazily.

Li Ming had thought he would have to spend a lot of effort talking here, but upon hearing his intent, the guard named a price and rules offhand, clearly not the first time someone had done this.

This was a recycling station, mostly filled with junked various household appliances that were either too old or broken and too lazy to fix, they were just thrown out.

Yet among them were still some useful electronic components, attracting the attention of quite a few people, who could indeed make a good profit if they were lucky.

Isn't this my Mecca?

Maybe he would even find some controllable items. Li Ming's eyes were aflame, hardly able to wait.

He straightforwardly paid, the iron gate rolled open with a clang, and Li Ming stepped inside. A few figures moved about, sorting and picking, pulling along small carts.

Li Ming looked around. The place thoughtfully provided small carts, and he pulled one too.

However, moments later, the fire in his eyes subsided quite a bit because most of the things here were worthless.

There wasn't a single controllable item, the truly valuable stuff had already been taken away by the recycling center's internal operations.

"However, three hours here can still allow me to absorb quite a bit of metal energy, and take away quite a lot…" Li Ming began to act. Most of the materials here were metals, and since they were already rusted, he could absorb without cleaning them out completely, almost leaving no trace.

For a full three hours, his fingers never left the metal materials.

After the elevation of his life level, his metal energy absorption rate and range had each doubled.

In just three hours, he absorbed 20 points of metal energy, and he also picked out some more "sturdy," absorbent-resistant metal materials to take with him.

He estimated that if he absorbed it all, he could easily reach over 30 points.

"A thousand Star Coins, 30 points, the cost-effectiveness is three times higher than buying materials on the dark web, but it takes a lot of time," Li Ming decided that he would come here every day after work.

Checking the time, it was not yet five o'clock, so he sent a message to Old Yang saying he was dining with colleagues and not to wait for him for dinner.

Afterward, he added two thousand more Star Coins, making it a total of nine hours, three tons of rust-ridden materials. By then, even the guard's gaze had changed.

Others were out to make money, but he was in it for the love!

He spent almost a hundred Star Coins to have the guard arrange a transport aircraft, to take these materials home, himself included.

"So, little brother, your home is a repair shop..." The transport flyer, about five meters in length, perfectly stopped on the long, narrow street under the night sky, with hardly anyone around.

The driver, upon seeing the sign, suddenly realized, and Li Ming handed him a bottle of water. After the driver helped unload the items, he disappeared from Li Ming's view with the roar of the engine.

Opening his smart terminal, there was a message from Yang Yu; she hadn't gone to bed yet.

"You're coming back so late?"

"Yeah."

"What were you doing?"

"Picking up trash."

"..."

Li Ming closed the rolling shutter door and first upgraded the gene testing device. 30 points of metal energy flowed out, and the device in his hand became even more refined.

[VK-2 Gene Testing Device--Grade F: An advanced version of the gene testing device with even smaller errors.

...

Control Effect: Development Speed Bonus--30%

Control Ability--Potential Enhancement: Increases gene seed development speed by 60%]

After the evolution, the effect was more potent, and when stacked, it nearly doubled the development speed bonus.

Li Ming prepared the electrotherapy tub and then placed the metal material next to the tub, his fingers just touching it, as he switched to the development dual-set of explosion-proof shield and testing device.

Once inside, he directly activated the ability stacking and the intensely pleasant sensation was beyond compare, feeling like many soft hands passing through his skin, massaging every single cell.

"Whew..." Li Ming sighed deeply, enjoying the electrotherapy while absorbing the metal material without skipping a beat.

This state found a balance between agony and comfort, aptly named painful joy, which gradually lulled Li Ming into a deep sleep, or perhaps it was more fitting to say he was numbed by the electricity.

Until five in the morning, he suddenly jolted awake, splashing out from the tub, famished with crimson eyes, every cell in his body seemed ready to devour him.

He hurriedly grabbed the nutrient solution he had bought the day before and gulped down two tubes to gradually relieve himself, even feeling a bit full in the end.

A strong force surged within his body, he could feel a very noticeable enhancement, far stronger than he had been the day before.

"Why did I fall asleep? I should have drunk it before sleeping." Li Ming complained and took out the gene testing device, a drop of blood upon it.

Drop—8%

How much?

Li Ming's pupils slightly dilated, and after confirming, a flush of excitement appeared on his face. It was only 3% the day before, and now it was 8%.

In one night, it had increased by 5%, whereas the previous two nights had only totaled 3%.

"No, not one night, less than five hours..." Li Ming exhaled, is this the joy of a pay-to-win player? That expensive development potion, one gulp and the speed is just about the same.

It took some time, but he absorbed the rest of the metal material, and his metal energy reached 72 points.

It was quite late, but Li Ming still went to the nearest store to buy a basic smart terminal.

He wasn't late, but he was the last one to arrive, and everyone's expressions were strikingly different, marked by solemnity and seriousness.

Soon, Yang Peng came down in the elevator, brisk and efficient, and as he walked, he said, "Old rules, first, hand over your personal terminals. Lao Dao..."

Following closely beside Yang Peng, the slightly short middle-aged man with yellow-stained teeth stepped forward, holding a large bag to collect the terminals one by one.

Li Ming also handed over his newly bought one, which was clean with only the Star Network on it.