This is really not mechanical ascension

He felt as if he had gained four additional arms, and with a mere thought, the grey drill at the end of one of the metal arms began to buzz, spinning rapidly and even generating a slight breeze.

If it were to land on a person, it would likely drill a bloody hole instantly.

"This is just too..." Li Ming struggled to express his feelings at the moment, but as he felt his strength draining away, he had no time to think about anything else and started to quickly adapt to the mechanical arms.

Soon, through experimentation, he discovered that the mechanical arms could extend up to two meters, which was no different from the data on the mechanical arms of the original machines.

However, when the mechanical arms were operating, his physical energy was being consumed at a terrifying rate; within a maximum of five minutes, he would be completely exhausted.

But without a doubt, the increased strength they provided was immensely powerful.

I wonder if I can beat that Zhang Hu... Li Ming envisioned his opponent's hulking body, as well as his mechanical arm, an armed prosthesis that was an exclusive privilege of the Fierce Tiger Gang's officers.

His own strength must be at least of F-level, and when combined with that...

As this thought crossed his mind, the excitement in Li Ming's heart cooled down somewhat, and looking at himself in the mirror, he said, "I have a long and weighty path ahead."

After deducting 53 metal energy points, he had 40 left, which was just shy of enough for upgrading the hammer, but there was enough to accommodate the aiming scope.

"With these four mechanical arms to support me, there's no rush for the hammer – my own physical strength can't keep up and won't be that effective. If I'm going to move through the sewer next, observation is key..." Li Ming pondered and ultimately decided to first master the scope.

The scope required only 30 points to accommodate, and when he switched to the scope, Li Ming immediately felt an unusual sensation; it seemed that no movement in his vicinity could escape his perception.

The sharpness of his senses was greatly enhanced, which could be of significant use against sneak attacks.

Then, he activated the "Tactical Eyepiece," and the world in front of his eyes began to magnify. At its limit, he could even make out the grooves in the varnish of the table's surface.

With a slight thought, he adjusted to night vision and infrared modes, states which did not consume much physical energy, allowing him to maintain them for quite a while.

"It's so powerful..." Li Ming marveled again, realizing that postnatal mechanical modifications could even make one's eyes achieve such effects, but it would require replacing his eyeballs with mechanical ones, and that would have a great impact on his body.

When going to certain special regions, one would be a key subject for observation and might even be denied entry, but he had no such concerns to worry about.

Only 10 metal energy points remained, and he was scraping the bottom of the barrel, but he had transformed immensely in the less than five days since he had arrived in this world.

Pat pat! Pat pat!

Sounds like pebbles hitting glass interrupted his thoughts as he frowned slightly and his face grew cold. He walked over to the window and saw several figures waiting outside the door.

They were members of the Fierce Tiger Gang, but the one named Zhang Hu was not among them. The leader was someone Li Ming had seen before, a minion of Zhang Hu's.

But now, that person stood in the back, far from the servile obsequiousness of the other day; instead, he took the lead.

In the past few days, members of the Fierce Tiger Gang had often come to cause trouble, clearly wishing to drive him away as soon as possible. According to the repayment schedule in the contract, Li Ming still had more than a month's time.

But the sooner they got the house, the sooner they could get their money back. Facing Li Ming, a weak and lonely orphan, they were eager for a fast resolution.

Breaking windows was a childish tactic, but the neighborhood had decent security, and they didn't dare to go too far.

Li Ming had ignored them in the past few days, while Elder Yang often came out to scold them.

However, Elder Yang wasn't home today, and one of them knocked on the door nonchalantly, shouting, "Li Ming, come out and see an old classmate, it's been years. Brother Ma has something he needs to talk to you about."

"Wang Bo..." Li Ming recognized him; back in school, he had always been a troublemaker, often extorting money from several people, including his predecessor, and regularly resorted to punching and kicking.

It seems he has now joined the Fierce Tiger Gang.

Wang Bo thought Li Ming wouldn't dare to show up today, but to his surprise, the electric motor hummed to life, and the rolling shutter door rose to reveal the familiar figure of Li Ming standing behind it.

However, something was different, the messy hair was now neatly combed, his clothes were tidy, and most notably, those deep and profound eyes.

"Yo, you finally dare to show your face?" Wang Bo was unfazed, and instinctively reached out to grab him.

He often did this before, then would look at Li Ming with a smirk and say some threatening words, which would make the other tremble with fear.

Li Ming remained calm and took a step back, causing Wang Bo to grab at the air, his face changing slightly with annoyance, "You little..."

"Get lost." A large hand reached out from behind and pushed him aside, belonging to the flunky.

This scene seemed familiar... Li Ming couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.

"Dare to laugh at me?" Wang Bo got even more annoyed at the sight of Li Ming's slight smirk.

"Shut up." The man with a pointed face and monkey cheeks scolded coldly, his chilly, droopy eyes making Wang Bo close his mouth, only glaring at Li Ming.

Turning his head, he forced an ugly smile, "Young man, my name is Ma Wu, my big brother is Scar-faced Tiger, you've met him."

"So?" Li Ming looked at him.

Ma Wu couldn't see any cowardice or unease on Li Ming's face and cursed inwardly, this kid looked nothing like how Wang Bo had described him.

"In such hot weather, you're going to make us stand here?" Ma Wu's tone was amiable, lacking the recklessness of the other day, "I have a matter I want to discuss with the young man."

"A matter?" Li Ming was surprised, various speculations arising in his mind, he had originally thought that the other party would try every means to drive him away.

Now it seemed, there was a hidden story.

"Come in and talk." He stepped aside, Ma Wu nodded and walked in, while Wang Bo subconsciously tried to follow but saw Li Ming shake his head, "You need to stand outside."

"You motherfu..." Wang Bo was furious with embarrassment, when did this coward dare to speak so loudly to him?

"Just stand if you are told to stand." Ma Wu's voice came through, Wang Bo stood stiffly in place, then said with a strained smile, "Yes, Brother Ma."

Li Ming didn't pay him any attention and turned to Ma Wu, "You can speak, whatever it is."

Ma Wu motioned with his lips, and Li Ming glanced at the rolling shutter door, the other indicating him to close it, interesting... was he planning to attack me?

He shouldn't be so stupid, Yang's son is with the city defense force.

His own strength had improved to the point of incomparability with the past, and this was in his own place, so he wasn't afraid, he simply closed the door. He wanted to see what this guy was really after.

"Your old man sure has guts." Ma Wu sneered, not bothering to find a seat, he just stared at Li Ming.

Li Ming's eyes narrowed slightly, as soon as the other man spoke, he knew what was going on, whatever Li Changhai had done, it had blown up.

Seeing him remain silent, Ma Wu thought he didn't believe it and scoffed, "Serving two masters, he deserved to get killed, selling the house for more than a hundred thousand Star Coins, and tricking eighty thousand from our Fierce Tiger Gang, do you think you can still stick around Silver Grey Star?"

"Dare to deceive our Fierce Tiger Gang, you really think this crappy Silver Grey City is a good place?" His voice increased by several degrees, staring coldly at Li Ming.