When Wang Ye opened his eyes, he was convinced he had transmigrated the wrong way.
In the upper-left corner of his retina, a blood-red box was flashing at him frantically.
[Host: Wang Ye.]
[Profession: Physics Taoist of Longhu Mountain.]
[Survival Bandwidth Balance: 00:47:58 (Shutdown upon Arrears).]
[Status: Vision auto-downgraded to "Power-Saving Mosaic" mode.]
The world before him was full of jumping white dots, like a broken TV from the last century that needed a few whacks to show a picture.
This Noise was devouring his senses, a reminder from the corporate backend: Poor wretches don't deserve to see the world clearly.
"Awake? Save your breath; your current bandwidth is so low that even a fart might cause a system lag."
An old freak with a face half-covered by white porcelain (Old Jack) was sizzling a soldering iron on his shoulder.
Wang Ye instinctively tried to lift his right hand, but his shoulder felt as heavy as a lead-cast heavy motorcycle.
He looked down, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
His right hand was gone.
In its place was a thick, clunky, paint-peeling metal pillar.
And it was in a maddeningly flamboyant Barbie Pink.
No fingers at the front, just three rusty steel claws that looked like they were salvaged from a claw machine.
"What... what the hell is this? Where's my Kirin Arm?"
Wang Ye's voice carried a Parkinson's-style electronic tremor due to sheer terror.
" 'Power Brand' industrial-grade special gel stirrer arm." Old Jack blew on the soldering iron. "Second-hand, but at least it's offline."
"Pops, isn't this color a bit too flashy? My destiny is allergic to pink!"
Wang Ye wanted to cry, but his tear ducts were forcibly shut down by the system due to the bandwidth arrears.
"Stop complaining. Two thousand survival points. If you don't have the cash, I'm taking your left eye for debt."
Just as he finished speaking, the clinic's battered iron door exploded into dust.
"Wang Ye! Get out here and pay up!"
Three cyborgs looking like Resident Evil rejects burst in, led by "Steel Jaw" of the Iron Skull Gang.
His entire lower jaw had been removed and replaced with a gleaming hydraulic metal jaw.
Looking at that massive iron mouth capable of biting through rebar, Wang Ye had only one thought:
System, can I transmigrate again? Even sweeping the lab floor would be fine!
"Wang Ye, no money to pay? Then we'll take your sister Wang Xiaomong to settle the debt."
Hearing the word "sister," the fuse of cowardice in Wang Ye's brain hissed and snapped.
Though he was a transmigrator, the instinct to protect family completely bypassed his rational STEM-major brain.
"Touch my sister? Have you asked my ancestors!"
Wang Ye shouted with false bravado while his legs shook uncontrollably.
Steel Jaw laughed, launching a heavy hydraulic punch at Wang Ye's face with a whistle.
Wang Ye screamed, closed his eyes, and raised his pink arm to block.
In a panic, he grabbed a conductive pen from the table and scribbled wildly on the arm's exposed wiring.
"Mommy! Help! Ohm's Law protect me! Swiftly obey my commands!"
Sizzle—!
Perhaps that random jabbing accidentally short-circuited the motor's highest RPM loop.
The pink mechanical arm suddenly let out a shrill shriek, like a pig being slaughtered.
It didn't rotate; instead, it began a frantic forward-backward thrusting fifty times a second!
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—!
The moment Steel Jaw's fist collided, Wang Ye felt like he was hugging a runaway drill.
The hydraulic force that should have shattered bone hit a "pink pile driver" going fifty times a second.
This unreasonable physical resonance instantly turned Steel Jaw's alloy arm into "popping candy."
Crack, crash!
Metal shards exploded everywhere, and Steel Jaw's entire arm was reduced to scrap on the spot.
"Retreat! This maniac is consecrating a stirrer! He actually knows sorcery!"
The three thugs scrambled out, forgetting even to finish their threats.
Wang Ye slumped on the ground, watching the pink arm still thudding away, feeling as if his soul was being vibrated out of his body.
"Old Jack... pull the plug... I'm vibrating into hallucinations..."