Chapter Nine: An Accurate Judge of Character

The heavy gate of the machine factory was locked tight.

In the Simple and Normal difficulty settings, there was no way to open this door. Now, however, the circuit indicator light next to it was glowing. He pulled the switch, and amidst a roar, the alloy gate—fully a meter thick—slowly rose to the height of a man before jamming and coming to a halt.

The scene of the factory's ground floor was revealed before him.

Shipping containers were stacked like hills; towering cargo racks stood like city walls; the stagnant assembly lines resembled rivers; and overhead, a web of cables crisscrossed like dense vines.

It gave him the impression of a forest, though the environment was far from fresh or pleasant. The air was thick with the suffocating, pungent stench of dust, paint, oil, and rust.

Lin Bo casually lifted a tarp to find a wooden crate filled with mechanical gears. He picked one up to weigh it; it felt solid and reliable, with no signs of rust on its surface.

These environmental props within the dungeon could be taken out, and they were replenished every time the dungeon reset—a source of infinite resources. Lin Bo now knew where he would get his raw materials for practicing mechanical manufacturing skills in the future.

The seven mechanical guards lying in ambush within the complex factory floor did not have fixed positions; they changed with every dungeon run. Throughout the journey, whenever he encountered traps or ambushes, he would pull out his modified electromagnetic rifle and fire two shots to draw the aggro of the hidden melee guards, luring them out one by one to be dispatched.

There were no major risks or setbacks during this scouting run. Only two ranged snipers posed a significant threat; their positioning was quite vicious, perched atop the stacked containers. They covered each other in a pincer formation, creating intersecting lines of fire. Had he not observed carefully and walked blindly into their field of fire, he would have easily been picked off by a sneak attack.

Lin Bo flew up and struck them with two spears, ending the battle instantly.

[Skill check successful, [True Word Control Art - Flow] base proficiency +1]
[Exquisite coefficient ×1.8 (Ingenious)]
[Health status coefficient ×1.4 (Excellent)]
[Combat proficiency (Defeating the enemy +0.5) (Cruel sweep +1)]
[Final calculation result: [True Word Control Art - Flow] proficiency +4]

Lin Bo looked at the long list of information on the Universal Network prompt board and was quite satisfied with the result. Real combat yielded higher gains than practicing against a target alone.

"The problem is, according to this calculation, the final proficiency should be 4.02. Why did they truncate the decimal? Stingy," he muttered, expressionless.

[Dungeon clearance conditions met, calculating rewards]
[Your rewards for this dungeon run: 50 Universal Network Disaster Coins, 300 General Experience, Mechanic's Work Shoes (Gray)]

Another piece of clothing dropped. In Lin Bo's mind, this dungeon was becoming like a department store; he visited it three times a day.

The [Machine Factory] produced five pieces of equipment with the "Mechanic" prefix. Their effects were identical: they increased the base proficiency of mechanical skill training. They were a trench coat, a vest, trousers, shoes, and underwear.

Mechanic's underwear even came in male and female versions. Wearing multiple layers did not stack the effects—a fact proven by fellow users in the dungeon chat channel. This set of equipment with the same prefix had no set bonuses, as they were only of Gray quality.

[Countdown to the opening of the teleportation portal...]

A deep purple spacetime vortex swirled in the open space. Lin Bo hurriedly gathered the remains of the mechanical guards. The portal had a time limit; exceeding it would result in a forced death penalty for the player.

Therefore, if one wanted to collect resources in the dungeon, one needed to prepare storage tools, such as "chests enchanted with Undetectable Extension Charms," "cultivators' Qiankun bags," or "boxes with built-in spacetime generators."

An Undetectable Extension Bag was considered a relatively cheap storage item, but a pocket with an internal space the size of a wardrobe still cost over a thousand Disaster Coins on the Multi-Link Trading Platform—a price Lin Bo felt was not worth it.

The portal closed, leaving a hum in the air.

[Universal Network Prompt: Dungeon [Abandoned Ancient Machine Factory] "Very Hard" difficulty has been unlocked. Please check the invitation information for details.]

Ten mechanical guard wrecks were scattered across the second floor of the lighthouse, crowding the already narrow living area until there was nowhere to stand.

Lin Bo went online and contacted a friend.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: I've managed to get some mechanical guard wrecks. Are you still buying?
[Scavenging Makes Me Happy]: I can never have too many of these.

Don't let the clunky appearance of these mechanical guards fool you; their level of technology was actually quite high. At the very least, the Earth technology of Lin Bo's past life had not yet reached the point of producing such intelligent robots. In the hands of a professional, a little repair made them as good as new, saving both time and money compared to assembling them from scratch.

[Scavenging]: Wow, ten wrecks all at once? Did you run a Hard dungeon?
[Lighthouse Keeper]: It was a tough fight.
[Scavenging]: Impressive! I'll settle the payment for you right now~
[Lighthouse Keeper]: It's a gift.
[Scavenging]: Whoa, what's going on? Why so generous? Do you need a favor?
[Lighthouse Keeper]: Yes.

Lin Bo's bluntness left the other party silent for a moment before they replied, "Go ahead. But I'll state in advance: I don't agree to everything."

"I'm planning to learn some mechanical techniques. I'm looking for a mentor," Lin Bo replied, sticking to his direct style.

"Oh, the young man has a good eye, knowing who the expert is. Fine, let's learn and progress together."

The enthusiastic netizen [Scavenging] was not one to hoard knowledge. They immediately recommended the general skills needed for mechanical manufacturing, which could be purchased from the merchant Agelone, and shared relevant textbooks and academic materials for free.

[Scavenging Makes Me Happy]: You study these first. If you run into anything you don't understand, come find me anytime. Self-study is difficult, but I hope you won't get discouraged.
[Lighthouse Keeper]: Understood, I'll listen to my teacher.
[Scavenging]: (Happy) (Happy)

Lin Bo put away the physical materials sent by his netizen friend and stored them properly in a cabinet.

He lost no time in running the dungeon again. He breezed through the Hard difficulty once more, bringing his total Disaster Coins to 106. Meanwhile, his professional level experience reached 675, getting closer to the 1350 required for an upgrade.

Once he reached Level 3, Lin Bo would have to find a way to obtain higher-level dungeon invitations. The level penalties for dungeon rewards were strict; once a player reached the maximum level allowed by a dungeon, the income of Disaster Coins and experience points would be cut by more than half. Beyond the maximum level, the drops would cease entirely, though the drop rates for equipment and items would remain the same.

Therefore, high-level players running low-level dungeons usually did so to farm for equipment and knowledge fragments. Some special items produced in certain dungeons were very valuable, yielding higher returns than the Universal Network’s completion rewards.

Lin Bo sat cross-legged on his bed to meditate, recovering the spiritual power of the True Word Art consumed by his continuous runs.

Three hours later.

[Black Snake Meditation Technique] proficiency +1.4. Lin Bo had a premonition that this would be the first skill he leveled up to 2.

The [Machine Factory] had one challenge attempt left for the day.

The "Very Hard" difficulty had been unlocked. The rewards for clearing it were 100 Disaster Coins, 500 General Experience, Gray quality gear (medium probability), White quality gear (low probability), and knowledge fragments (low probability).

The guide noted that the Very Hard difficulty opened up the factory's second floor. Unlike the complex terrain of the first floor, the second floor was spacious. Ten mechanical guards stood their ground right in front of the stairwell, and they would coordinate their attacks rather than giving the player a chance to pick them off individually.

Without a rational strategy, a frontal assault would force the player to face multiple melee guards while under fire from snipers. The danger level was significantly higher.

Lin Bo had long realized that the increase in difficulty did not match the increase in rewards. Eliminating one guard gave 5 Disaster Coins, while ten guards attacking at once gave 50; the unit reward was the same, but the latter was far more difficult.

Still, he intended to try. With only three attempts a day, constantly lingering in low-difficulty dungeons was a waste of time.

"Death in a dungeon only results in a weakened state. With the True Word Control Art and the Frost Heaven Style, I have at least a sixty percent chance of success. There's really no need to be timid."

Lin Bo prepared a meal to replenish the calories consumed during his meditation. After eating and resting, he checked the wear on his electrified short spears—they were still as sharp as ever.

[Dungeon Selected — Abandoned Ancient Machine Factory]
[Current Difficulty: Very Hard]
[Countdown to the opening of the teleportation portal...]