Chapter 8

Link's nearly collapsing voice echoed in the desert, answered only by the merciless wind.

"Xiaobao, is the sand mouse really gone?"

The treasure mouse sniffed hard, but whether it was because the distance was too great or the sand mouse had no scent due to the sand, it couldn't find it.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

Link's heart sank. He finally understood what the so-called "triggering unknown issues" meant.

The sand mouse's ability was extremely useful when crossing the Gobi, but now it was gone, all gone!

Afu, who was standing beside him, hadn't yet felt the atmosphere of despair and was still stretching his neck to look around: "Boss, why hasn't the sand mouse come back? Is it because it's too curious about the desert after just being born?"

???

Puff!

Listen,

The heart-wrenching sound.

"Afu, let's prepare to set off!"

Afu was a bit dazed: "Boss, aren't we waiting for the sand mouse to come back?"

Link's tone was melancholy: "To celebrate the birth of the sand mouse, I gave it a big gift."

"What gift? When did you give it, and why don't I know?"

Afu saw Link turn around, look at the desert a few times, and then hurriedly follow, asking: "Boss, what did you give it?"

"Freedom..."

This time, the pet running away also taught Link a lesson. The success rate and material compatibility are still very important.

After staying in the city ruins for more than half an hour, Link didn't plan to stay any longer. Since the Wasteland Gang had already issued a warrant for him, the helicopter might already be on its way. There was no need to waste time and increase the risk.

Link walked ahead with a satellite phone, and Afu followed closely behind with a backpack.

The treasure mouse stood on Link's shoulder, serious like a little sentry, sniffing the wind from the Gobi and carefully analyzing its components and scent.

Link quickly shook off the awkward atmosphere of the sand mouse's escape and focused on the [Attributes] interface.

After synthesis, he only had 7 HP left, which wasn't enough to synthesize other pets, so he decided to level up.

[lv1→lv2 requires 400 experience points, do you want to level up? Yes/No]

Yes!

Link chose to level up without hesitation, and his health and energy were fully restored.

Name: Link

Race: Human

Level: lv2

Experience: 400

Occupation: None

Identity: Slave

Health/Energy: Strength 3, Agility 3, Endurance 6, Intelligence 4, Energy 2, Charisma 1, Luck 1

Potential Points: 3

Talents: None

Skills: None

Equipment: Sharp Short Dagger (White), Glock 17 Pistol (White), Bezos T1 Micro SMG (White)

Specialties: Basic Driving (40%), Basic Shooting (11%)

Evaluation: You are truly a "lucky one."

———

In [Fate], you get 3 potential points for each level up.

Potential points can be added to any of the seven attributes.

Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Intelligence are common in most games, and their functions don't need much explanation.

They correspond to attack, movement speed, and attack speed, health, and energy, respectively. The conversion ratio of Endurance and Intelligence to health and energy is 1:10.

The Energy value represents the affinity for energy. If the Energy value exceeds 5, you are considered an energy user in the game, capable of manipulating and using energy for attacks, such as controlling various elemental forces, telekinesis, illusions, etc.

In the [Fate] game, there are four main classes: Martial Arts, Energy, Mechanical, and Mystical.

Under these four main classes, there are many specific occupations, and after reaching level 20, you can learn a secondary occupation, so there are many combinations and playstyles.

But the most critical element in the game is undoubtedly experience points.

Experience points can be used not only to level up players but also to level up skills, specialties, and even pets.

These details will be explained later. For now, let's look at Link.

After leveling up to level 2, Link received 3 potential points to allocate, but after considering, he didn't add any points.

"Full health and energy are enough for the escape for now. The 3 potential points can save my life in a critical moment."

On one hand, keeping the 3 potential points can serve as a trump card.

On the other hand, Link, who had been reborn, had received a golden finger, and he hadn't yet decided which class to choose, so he didn't rashly add points.

Link exited the [Attributes] interface and checked the GPS coordinates on the satellite phone every ten minutes to correct their direction.

Walking in the vast Gobi is a rather tedious task, let alone doing it on foot.

So this time became an opportunity for Link to get to know Afu better.

"Afu, how were you captured?"

"Our tribe originally lived in the desert. Later, the Wasteland Gang swept through the desert, annexed our tribe, and all the tribespeople were sent to the slave camp. Boss, our tribe actually had energy users in the past, but one person can't fight many. An energy user can protect the tribe, but facing the Wasteland Gang's hundreds of guns, there was only one way to die."

Afu's tone became low and sad.

Once upon a time, energy users were a symbol of a tribe's strength, and each tribe was proud to have one.

But when the Wasteland Gang's steel tide swept in, the once-proud energy users either died protecting their tribes or were lured by the Wasteland Gang with heavy rewards and betrayed their tribes in battle.

"How did you go from a laborer to a cook? You're so fat, don't the mercenaries say anything?"

Your size, even if you say you didn't steal food, no one would believe you.

Afu smiled sheepishly and scratched his head: "At first, I only stole a little, and no one would notice. But one night, I was really hungry and stole a chicken leg. Unfortunately, I was caught, and then..."

"What happened?"

"Then I was caught by the mercenaries, tied to a cross, and exposed to the sun in the desert for two days and two nights. They only gave me water, no food, just enough to keep me alive. After they untied me, they made me eat a few pounds of sand before letting me go."

Afu patted his sturdy belly: "I wasn't fat before, but after eating sand and having a stomachache for a few days, my belly slowly swelled up, and my body became bloated."

Link was silent after hearing this.

Two days of hunger, a few pounds of sand, intestinal blockage, bloating, and swelling...

These beasts!

After a moment, Link comforted him: "It will be better when we reach Sand City. We can buy an enhancement fluid in the black market to expel the sand from your body."

"Boss, how much does that enhancement fluid cost?"

"Ten thousand dollars per bottle."

Afu's eyes widened, and he gasped: "So expensive, how long will it take to save up?"

"What did you do in your tribe before?"

"I carried coffins. My father and a few relatives and I did funeral services. We only made a few hundred dollars a month. A ten-thousand-dollar enhancement fluid, I'm afraid I can never afford it in my life..." Afu's tone was dejected. Ten thousand dollars was an astronomical figure for him, something he could never earn in his lifetime.

"It's not necessarily so. Sand City has more opportunities and more ways to make money, unlike your isolated and poorly connected tribe."

The two talked and walked, and by sunset, they found a large boulder in the Gobi.

Link and Afu gathered some dead branches nearby, lit a campfire, and huddled in their linen clothes to survive their first night in the game.

The next morning, Link felt his cheeks being shaken. He opened his eyes and saw the treasure mouse using its little paws to shake his head, trying to wake him up.

Link rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at Afu, who was snoring on the ground.

"Xiaobao, wake him up."

The treasure mouse jumped onto Afu's body and used his belly as a trampoline.

After trying for a while with no response, the treasure mouse ran to Afu's collar, took a solid stance, and punched his face with its little fists.

Afu immediately woke up, covering his face and yelping.

The two and the mouse had a light meal, and Link looked at the remaining pure water, which was about one liter, and then at the data on the satellite phone.

"We walked twenty kilometers in half a day yesterday. Today, we aim to walk fifty kilometers. If everything goes well, we should reach the Goria Grand Canal this afternoon. Then we can resupply and find a place to rest. Tomorrow, we'll push through one more day. As long as we cross the Valley of Tears, we'll enter Sand City by night, and then we'll be safe."

Hearing Link's words, Afu's eyes sparkled with hope and excitement.

At the latest, by tomorrow night, he could say goodbye to the Windy Desert and the barren Gobi forever.

He would be free!

Link was also full of confidence.

As long as they crossed the canal and resupplied, the rest of the journey would be much safer.

Although the barren Gobi to the Valley of Tears was the territory of the Mechanical God Cult, their activities were mostly concentrated south of the Goria Grand Canal, and they rarely patrolled north of the canal.

The distance between the Valley of Tears and the canal was more like a buffer zone.

Although 42 years had passed since the Reckoning Day, both Sand City and the Mechanical God Cult were forces that emerged after the Reckoning Day.

They had accumulated some strength but were far from ready for a large-scale war.

After the Reckoning Day, the old order was completely overturned, and new forces gradually rose.

This was accompanied by a change in thinking, reflections on the future of humanity, and the birth of energy users, which led to the emergence of various extreme ideologies and gained many followers.

The Mechanical God Cult was such an organization, believing that the integration of humans and machines was the direction of future evolution.

Low-level cyborg soldiers fought using implanted chips, and higher-level ones were cyborgs, combining flesh and machines. The highest level was the mechanical rebirth plan, which retained only the human brain, with the rest of the body replaced by replaceable mechanical parts. As long as the brain didn't die, mechanical immortality could be achieved.

At the same time, the Mechanical God Cult developed bio-energy technology, converting the bio-energy of ordinary people into electricity. Captured ordinary people were placed in nutrient solution containers, becoming part of a giant battery, sinking into a dream they believed to be reality until their last bit of energy was drained.

Perhaps because they were about to escape the desert and the Gobi, Link and Afu's steps were much lighter today.

They even didn't sit down to rest for lunch but ate on the go.

"Alright, we're heading due north now. Another twenty kilometers, and we'll reach the Goria Grand Canal."

Link said, feeling the gun belt under his clothes: "Xiaobao, time to work!"

The treasure mouse stretched in the empty gun belt, lazily climbed out of the clothes, and yawned with its mouth open.

Link didn't want any trouble as they were about to reach the canal.

The treasure mouse had been on guard all night and hadn't slept, so Link let it rest in the morning.

A human can be dazed after staying up all night, let alone a young mouse.

"Are you rested? If you are, you need to work hard now."

The treasure mouse squeaked twice and patted its chest, indicating it was all set.

The Goria Grand Canal runs through the barren Gobi, but other sections have rapid currents and heavy military presence. Only the northwest middle and upper reaches, due to the terrain during excavation, have a slow-moving protrusion. This area is also in the middle and upper reaches, with the fewest patrolling mechanical soldiers.

In the past, when players couldn't afford helicopters or cars, they would wade across the canal here.

Link was no exception. Although the memory was six years old, he still clearly remembered the coordinates (232, 093, 723).

Using the satellite phone to calibrate the direction, Link led Afu north.

Link held the satellite phone to check the coordinates and charge it with solar power, while chatting with Afu.

At this moment, the treasure mouse on his shoulder suddenly squeaked urgently.

When Link looked up, he saw a mechanical city at the end of the Gobi, slowly moving on the horizon.

Afu, seeing his boss stop, followed his gaze and also saw the massive object on the horizon.

A city made entirely of metal, moving at a visible slow speed.

The ground at the end of the Gobi, baked by the scorching sun, had steam rising, making the distant space appear distorted.

The mechanical city "danced" in the distorted steam, silently moving in the distance.

"Is this the mirage in the Gobi? I finally saw it!"

Afu smiled, having heard about mirages in the desert but never seen one. He didn't expect to see one on the escape route, and it was even a moving mirage.

Rare!

On the contrary, Link stared at the distant scene with a serious expression, and after a long time, he said, "That's not a mirage, that's the core of the Mechanical God Cult, the Mechanical City!"

"What? That's the Mechanical City?"

Despite the scorching sun, Afu felt a chill.

"But boss, how can a city move? It must be a mirage, right?"

Link put away the satellite phone, took out his pistol, and said seriously, "It's because it moves that it's the real Mechanical City."

"The Mechanical God Cult's greatest achievement—theMechanical City, a city that can move."