Igdrasir's alloy skeleton has strength adjustment.

It's somewhat like an automatic transmission in a vehicle; when the strength threshold is met, the values switch—the more advanced the prosthetic body, the more complex its built-in adjustment programs and functions, capable of both crushing a skull and gently caressing the skin.

It's mainly to help the implant user get through the adaptation period.

John didn't have such a complex process, since Black Light would fine-tune the data after prosthetic synchronization, directly erasing the original program and recompiling it.

The implants on him, including Igdrasir, are all managed by Black Light, with data adjustments fully automated unless personally overridden, much like the control logic of advanced neural centers.

John raised his hand and picked up Hercules.

The heavy, sharp-edged advanced alloy exudes a feeling of reliability and solidity just by hefting it.

Maya said its firepower is as trustworthy as its appearance.

John had a piece of soft metal in his palm.

[Prosthetic: Kingston-Radium Point Grip I3]

This was the hand prosthetic Ryan had given him initially, meant to connect with the smart module on the weapon's grip.

John received the weapon's built-in program, released control, and his arm automatically started changing the magazine.

Click, swish—

Hercules is slightly shorter than a regular rifle, but its caliber is doubled, with a rectangular magazine slot below the barrel and a semi-circular customized magazine module beside it.

"More like a shotgun."

John wasn't about to test the new gun in the room.

Maya called over caviar to start loading the spare magazine.

The Rift Party is already sizable, equipped better than the newly risen street thugs, and around Du Remon's core circle, large-scale prosthetic modifications have even begun.

The armament is mainly supported by two sources.

First is initial funding from Raqi Industry, and second, after old Du's comeback, absorbing the remnants of the Exile from Eden City.

Ironfoot Kelp's death marked the end of large-scale Exile development.

Part of the supplies hoarded at Silver Port was divided cleanly by the net supervisors, corporations, Wanderers, and intermediaries according to their respective proportions, but many high-end resources remained hoarded at scattered transport stations and underground networks in the wasteland.

Du Remon assumed the role of inheritor.

Through violent means, he confiscated experimental-grade weapons and prosthetics left over at Plato's Warehouse and rewarded them to members who played vital roles in urban terrorist attacks.

The Rift Party emerged from an atmosphere of terror.

Members are social extremists or, to put it more accurately, living monsters filled with hatred and violence. Recently, they've seized a vast amount of material, starting to popularize a heavy modification style internally.

Maya was keen on Hercules MAX because this gun is well-suited for dealing with chaotic modified thugs.

Its original design aim was for suppression of internal unrest during the reclamation of Old America, hoping for a weapon that could crush out-of-control armed parades in the streets.

It provides excellent firepower support in solo combat and is equipped with an overload combustion design that releases toxic substances from the implant, causing small-scale group damage through burning vaporization when killing or severely wounding enemies.

A single magazine holds ninety rounds, which, combined with assault rifle-level firing speed, rapidly stacks the above effects.

While busy with her hands, Maya also started syncing with John on her investigation findings.

"Why does this sound so creepy?"

John seemed to realize this task was challenging too. "How many people does Du Remon and his Rift Party have?"

"Several times more than you imagine."

Maya sighed deeply when discussing the topic, even putting down the auxiliary loader in her hand.

A cloud hung over the heads of the citizens of Eden City.

They've persisted too long amidst gang conflicts and corporate exploitation, previously only able to vent violence by joining a gang or becoming street mercenaries and taking desperate measures.

But Vito once said:

The development of gangs and power divisions are, in a sense, inseparable from corporate sponsorship; every group that can rise in Eden City generally has capital interventions behind them.

The Nocturne Bar on the East District street is an example.

The Madox Gang could be wiped out in the blink of an eye by the Harbor, while the White Motorcycle Gang could stand up again within a week.

The citizens, going round and round, could only release their stress through illegal Super Sensing Chips and indulgent clubs.

Cases of cyberpsychosis increase dramatically every year.

The outbreak of gang wars once again shrouded the already tough lives of ordinary citizens in the shadow of gunfire.

Maya's family was just a microcosm of the city's chewing process, even one of the luckier ones.

More ordinary people who experienced family ruin and drastic life changes could only fall into despair and madness.

The Rift Party threw a bomb into that dark cloud.

Perhaps the first to notice this force was Raqi Industry, but they underestimated the long-suppressed anger of this city.

Those extreme, unrestrained rages transformed into some purer form of evil that began to fester.

Even Du Remon likely didn't expect to develop to this extent.

People, many people, continued to join the Rift Party in a constant stream.

And these who've lost, who've suffered, are even more frenzied than the Exile, especially when they left the West District, and began spreading throughout the city; the number willing to join this carnival exceeded expectations.

This city is in revolt.

"Now the corporate executives have noticed, and the savvy underworld should also be feeling the pressure..."

Maya shook her head with a bitter smile.

"In the short term at least, the Rift Party is likely to become the third major force, rivaling the Black Gold Gang and the Owl Town Gang."

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