Lying on the bed, Jack Spencer looked down at his sliced-open abdomen, watching as those crab-leg-like mechanical arms swiftly and precisely disinfected every gruesome wound on his body, leaving not a single gap untouched.

　　Once the cleaning was done, the arms began to suture rapidly—even the stitches were as tight as a zipper, the surgery as delicate as embroidery.

　　During the whole process, he felt no pain at all, as if that flesh belonged to someone else.

　　Once again, Jack Spencer was shocked by the technology of this world. Such severe injuries were treated as easily as a common cold.

　　He had thought that with wounds this serious, plus being caught in acid rain, he was as good as dead. He never expected to be saved so easily.

　　“How about it? Pretty awesome, right? Bro, I got us the premium package.”

　　Also lying next to Jack Spencer and enjoying the same treatment, Paul Harris somehow pulled out an e-cigarette and started puffing away. His previously shriveled head had, at some point, returned to normal.

　　“So, what do you think? I’m not totally useless now, am I?” He seemed quite sensitive about Jack Spencer’s earlier complaints.

　　“Where are we going now?” Jack Spencer looked around at the minimalist, snow-white interior of the medical ship.

　　Paul Harris flicked his dreadlocks. “Of course we’re heading to the Metropolis. What, you thinking of crossing the nuclear blast radiation zone to go to Gomorrah?”

　　Seeing the look on Jack Spencer’s face, {宋6pus} asked in surprise, “Looks like you’re not a local? Where are you guys from?”

　　“No comment.” Jack Spencer flatly refused to answer. With no idea about anything right now, making something up would only expose him.

　　“Hahaha, whatever. Doesn’t matter where you’re from, you still saved my damn life. In our line of work, it’s all about loyalty. Once we get to the Metropolis, I’ll give you a proper welcome.”

　　As he spoke, Paul Harris tapped his e-cigarette lightly on a button on the wall. With a “swish,” the left wall turned transparent.

　　It was still raining outside, but the ground was no longer littered with trash. Instead, it was a forest of ruined concrete structures.

　　With the rain and the scene outside, everything was cast in gloomy tones—a post-apocalyptic landscape unfolded before his eyes.

　　The bleakness outside contrasted sharply with the clean, tidy interior of the floating vehicle.

　　No one needed to explain; Jack Spencer understood that these must be remnants of the world before the AI crisis. No one had repaired them—they’d been abandoned and forgotten, just like himself and Brian Carter.

　　He was about to truly enter this world, and Jack Spencer started to feel a bit anxious again. He waved gently at Brian Carter, who moved closer, and the two began to whisper.

　　“Help me look up what kind of place this Metropolis is, and whether it’s safe for the two of us to go there as undocumented people.”

　　As Brian Carter nodded slightly, a string of ellipses began to appear repeatedly on his screen.

　　“Metropolis has a permanent population of 30 million, with a huge flow of people coming and going. It’s a mixed bag—every kind of person you can imagine. According to my calculations, there’s a low probability we’ll attract attention from other factions.”

　　“Are you sure? With the way you look, you won’t draw attention?” Jack Spencer eyed Brian Carter’s all-metal body, clearly skeptical.

Chapter 12: Metropolis

　　“Relax. If anyone sees me, they’ll just think I’m a human with full-body cybernetic modifications.” Brian Carter was much more optimistic than Jack Spencer.

　　“Besides, in the Metropolis, countless people come and go every day. No one cares about us.”

　　“As for traces from the space station, the impact when we landed, and the mercenaries’ rough search afterward have already covered our tracks.”

　　“Let’s hope so.” In a place this unfamiliar, all he could do was take it one step at a time.

　　He didn’t know if it was the mercenaries or the company, but right now Jack Spencer couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was always out to kill him.

　　“There have to be normal people in this world, right? It can’t be that everyone’s crazy except me?” he thought to himself.

　　Just as Jack Spencer was lost in thought, Paul Harris interrupted him. “Look, we’ve arrived at the Metropolis.”

　　Following the direction of his e-cigarette, Jack Spencer saw, far off on the gray skyline, a bright rainbow of color piercing through the gloom outside the window.

　　“The Metropolis?” As Jack Spencer sat up, the mechanical stretcher beneath him automatically moved closer to the window, giving him a better view.

　　As the ship rapidly approached, a dazzling three-dimensional neon city unfolded before Jack Spencer’s eyes.

　　Rows upon rows of skyscrapers interspersed with vibrant nightlife districts, all kinds of ships weaving through dazzling neon billboards and massive 3D projection ads, the sky and ground both teeming with traffic.

　　All the ads were vivid and constantly changing. There seemed to be no restrictions here—guns, sex, every kind of explicit ad Jack Spencer could imagine (and some he couldn’t) played freely on every street.

　　Some of the ads Jack Spencer could recognize, but he couldn’t understand their content.