This is really not mechanical ascension

```

Li Ning awoke slowly, the bright white light before his eyes so dazzling he couldn't keep them open. After a moment of confusion, he suddenly let out a heart-wrenching cry, "Old Qi!"

Struggling to his feet, he paid no heed to the comforting attempts of the logistics personnel around him and strode out of the temporary tent, where he saw Yang Peng and rushed over.

"Captain Yang, Old Qi, he…"

"The condolence payment won't be missed." Yang Peng's face was equally grave. Li Ning, struck as if by lightning, stood stunned in his place.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he blurted out, "Li Ming, Li Ming! Captain Yang, Li Ming, he…"

"Brother Li…" A familiar voice came from behind. Li Ning swiftly turned around and there stood Li Ming, unscathed, not far away.

"Li Ming, you... it's good you're fine." Li Ning rushed forward and embraced Li Ming, crying bitterly.

"It's all my fault, all my fault. I almost dragged you down with me. I shouldn't have been impulsive, we should have retreated... but I don't know what happened..." Li Ning lamented.

"Brother Li, what are you talking about, I should be thanking you." Li Ming pulled Li Ning off him, pointing not far away and said, "Look over there..."

With his eyes bloodshot, Li Ning followed the direction of Li Ming's pointing. At first glance, he saw nothing clearly, but after rubbing his eyes, he suddenly dashed forward.

"Pang Wenlong's corpse! He... he's dead!?"

The body was wrapped in a body bag, only the head exposed. Li Ning failed to notice the complex looks the others were giving Li Ming at that moment.

The kid's luck was like no other's, to gain such a big accolade on his first mission—that was Pang Wenlong's body after all.

But then, they shook their heads in secret. Given the choice, they wouldn't want to trade places with him.

No one knew whether they would end up the fortunate Li Ming or the unfortunate Qi Zhengyuan.

"Old Yang got lucky this time, his team secured the credit for the first success." Not far away, Wang Zhiheng pursed his lips, "This kid named Li Ming, he's really lucky."

Next to him, Zuo Ling, with bandages wrapped around his arm, stared at Li Ming, "Lucky? Maybe..."

Wang Zhiheng then said, "This is a big case, especially before the investigative team from the Interstellar Alliance arrives. Definitely, there will be a press conference, and maybe Li Ming will be commended…"

"They won't promote him directly, will they?" He muttered to himself.

What followed were the mop-up operations, which would be handled by specialists. There was nothing more for these field agents to do.

"Hand in your guns and get some good sleep," Yang Peng said with a wave of his hand, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to board the transport ship to return.

However, the smile on Yang Peng's face gradually vanished and, without knowing when, Lao Dao's figure had appeared behind him,

"Captain Yang, someone checked, the smart terminal IP address that logged into Li Ming's Star Web account, was not present at the crime scene that day."

"It wasn't there? Maybe I've been overthinking," Yang Peng breathed a sigh of relief.

"Moreover, at the place where Pang Wenlong died, the environmental damage is too severe to form a 3D model." Lao Dao added, "And the wound on Pang Wenlong's chest, it seems to have been made by a tiger paw style combat prosthesis."

"Was it really done by one of their own?" Yang Peng frowned tightly.

.....

On the transport ship, the atmosphere was gloomy, no one spoke. Despite the twists, the mission overall was a success, and many people were rescued.

There were also numerous casualties, supposedly caused by an unexpected enemy.

Back at the city guard headquarters, everyone handed in their equipment and completed their registrations, and only then was the mission officially finished.

Although it wasn't even noon yet, thanks to the regulations, they were already off duty.

Many chose to grab a meal in the canteen before leaving, and Li Ming and Li Ning did the same. Li Ning wolfed down his food expressionlessly, not as talkative as usual.

After finishing, the pair split up. Li Ming didn't go home but made his way to the junkyard again. Another 3,000 pieces, nine hours, 60 points of metal energy, and three tons of materials taken.

After absorbing it all, the metal energy should be around 140 points.

By the time he got home, it was close to ten o'clock at night.

```

Just as he greeted the driver to unload the items, Yang's shop opened its door, with Yang Yu supporting Elder Yang, dressed in pink strawberry pajamas.

Seeing Li Ming safe and sound, both relaxed slightly. Elder Yang grumbled as they walked,

"You young rascal, you've only just gone in and they sent you out on field duty, treating you like a beast of burden?"

Li Ming explained, "Uncle Yang is just looking out for me; he just wants me to earn some merit as soon as possible."

"There wasn't any danger, was there?"

"No worries, I was just on the periphery," Li Ming lied kindly.

Elder Yang stopped himself mid-sentence and sighed, "Becoming a regular city guard is nearly impossible. Don't push yourself too hard; prioritize your safety."

To "become regular" meant to join the Blue Star Civilization's city guard system, where pay and benefits were substantially better, and internal assessments allowed for steady advancement.

In the city guard division, those who were regular guards were less than half.

Li Ming's fighting spirit was commendable, but Elder Yang didn't want him to lose his life in pursuit of that. He knew well how difficult it was to become a regular city guard.

And Li Ming hadn't even completed compulsory education.

"Why have you been coming back so late these days? You haven't been messing around with those people, have you?" Yang Yu asked suspiciously, sniffing around then frowning, "Why do I smell rust?"

"I went to the scrapyard a few times. I can't let my dad's shop fall into disuse," Li Ming said somberly, glancing back at the shop sign.

Sure enough, when the subject arose, neither Yang Yu nor Elder Yang pressed further.

They soon went back to rest, and Li Ming closed the rolling door, rubbed his face, and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

The gain from taking down Pang Wenlong was significant—100,000 Star Coins. If he bought the same alloy as last time, that would be a thousand points of metal energy, enough to control a heavy sniper rifle.

However, he didn't immediately access the Black Hole Network; instead, he lifted his right arm and with a thought, something astonishing happened.

Li Ming's right arm had transformed into a thick metal limb, with a dull yellow paint job and a dark metallic coating that bore friction marks left by a cross wrench.

"It's really... incredible," his metal fingers clenched and unclenched with his thoughts, and the metal claws on the back of his hand retracted and protruded without causing him any discomfort.

This was "armoring," covering the corresponding limb with a mechanical prosthesis which seemed to merge with him, drawing on his physical strength as its power source.

As a Controlled Object, it could also stack abilities with other items.

With a thought, the mechanical arm disappeared, and his flesh arm was unscathed.

"Is it just the prosthetics that can do this…" Li Ming speculated, seeing the immense advantages of such an ability.

Indeed, because it was difficult for life forms to enhance their own biological level further, some chose mechanical transformation to boost their combat power on their existing basis.

In the case of this mechanical arm, the materials used were far more robust than his flesh and blood arm.

However, after mechanical transformation, the body became extremely resistant to gene seeds, making their development even harder and in some cases, impossible to assimilate.

Familiarizing himself for a moment, Li Ming proceeded with the routine. He changed into his gene development suit for electrotherapy, absorbed the materials he had brought, and browsed the Black Hole Network.

As soon as he logged on, he saw that Red Rose had accepted his friend request and sent him a message--

"Do you know about the city guard's secret operation today?"

"Ten thousand," Li Ming responded with his price.

Red Rose sent a link. Clicking it, he found it led to the intelligence board on the Black Hole Network--

[Today's secret operation by the city guards, three squads were deployed, any detailed info? – 5000]

The 5,000 Star Coin reward had already been claimed.

Li Ming's eyebrows arched slightly, noting that the reward had been posted only in the late afternoon, long after the operation had ended.

It seemed that he wasn't the only city guard with a Black Hole Network account. Since the operation was over, it didn't count as a secret anymore.