Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Chapter 519 - 53: Punk Revolution

On the sea, a steam-powered ship with a smoking chimney is sailing.

At the bow, a Difference Machine is ticking away, continuously spitting out sheets of paper filled with data such as wind speed, speed of travel, and route distance. In front of the Difference Machine, a scribe is diligently copying down these figures, which will be sent to the Difference Machines located throughout the ship, allowing the vessel to adjust its course automatically.

Even though it is a steamboat, it is an autonomously navigating steamboat—aside from the hundreds of scribes on board, there are no other crew members.

This scene, although wondrous and steampunk in style, does not astonish the passengers, for after the first steampunk revolution, such steamboats have appeared across the seas, and even as far away as the Far East, there are imitations of it.

On the bow, a young girl wearing a wide-brimmed lady’s hat and a black dress stands silently gazing at the sea; her graceful figure attracts the eyes of many young men, but none succeeded in striking up a conversation.

Finally, a handsome young nobleman straightened his chest, stepped forward, and approached her with a radiant smile:

"Beautiful lady, I am Baron Burke of the Holy City of Terria. May I have the honor of getting to know you?"

The girl silently glanced at him, saying nothing.

"Miss, outside the Holy City, I have three estates and a Difference Machine factory. If you are willing, I could show you around."

"I’m afraid she won’t be interested."

The nobleman turned angrily, his gaze shrinking sharply, only to see a middle-aged man in a black felt cloak and a bowler hat standing behind him. What was most horrifying was his left eye, which was replaced by a rotating ’pocket watch,’ and from his scarf, gears and bolts faintly protruded. This was a ’Holy Separation person.’

Holy Separation people, the crystallization of the first steampunk revolution, possess great power and a body impervious to matchlock guns. More importantly, he is certainly a high-ranking member of the Church.

"So—sorry, Bishop, I—I have something else to do..."

The young noble stammered a few words before turning and fleeing without a shred of dignity.

The Holy Separation person looked in the direction the nobleman fled, where stood a colossal ancient city, not inferior to any modern architecture, bathed in the sunset, with faintly visible clock towers and huge gears rotating on the city walls.

The Holy Separation person walked to the girl’s side, remained silent for a while, and then said, "I have to leave. The frequency of sea monster sightings is increasing, and soon, this city will be destroyed like how it happened in history. Even so, will you still go?"

The girl softly replied, "The first steampunk revolution originated from the Holy City of Terria and then spread globally. Afterwards, the second steampunk revolution erupted in the East, giving birth to the future empire. As for the third steampunk revolution, it occurred on the other side of the globe, within the Alliance."

"Three revolutions, three subconscious worlds, these worlds are the most resilient, as many ancient remnants are scattered across the globe. Their obsessions form the most formidable barriers of the subconscious world."

"However, the Pan-Asian region from the second steampunk revolution has already vanished, and Terria from the first steampunk revolution has met a similar fate. We can no longer pretend nothing has happened."

The Holy Separation person shook his head, "In Cyber Space, there’s a famous saying: don’t delve into the secrets buried deep in data, because it is likely to be Database 0."

"Are you really sure you want to leave? You’ve been managing this subconscious world for a long time. Once you leave here, the outside world is indeed very dangerous."

"I’ve already reached a deal with some flesh traders in the Black Market. Soon, I will leave Cyber Space and return to reality."

The girl opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.

"However, since we’ve worked together for so long, if you want to investigate, then go ahead. Some of my connections in this world might be useful to you."

The Holy Separation person handed over a thick manila envelope and then turned to leave. When the girl turned back, the Holy Separation person had already vanished without a trace.

"I never thought that after dealing with him for so long, this guy actually has an emotional template."

The girl muttered under her breath, just about to open the manila envelope when a scribe interrupted her, saying fearfully, "Ms. Clock, there’s a sea monster ahead. Please go hide in the cabin!"

"I understand."

As soon as the news of the sea monster spread, a panic ensued among the various people onboard, with noblewomen hastily lifting their heavy dresses, nobles losing hats, and walking canes being used as tools to scramble for seats, resulting in chaos.

No one noticed that a few individuals disappeared into thin air.

During the first steampunk revolution, or rather, the Age of Exploration, sea monsters were the only creatures that technology couldn’t explain. No matter how powerful the fleet, encountering a sea monster meant certain death.

On the distant sea, a gigantic tentacle emerged, striking the sea surface with a blast like a cannonball explosion.

But to the girl, the gigantic tentacle was actually composed of countless Hyperlink Protocols, meaning that being struck would result in instant teleportation.

Clearly, this was a method used by the hidden enemy to invade this subconscious world.

Time was running out. The girl tightly sealed her lips, remaining silent.

...

At the outer harbor of Terria, accompanied by the loud hiss of steam, a steamship slowly docked at the shore.

Ms. Clock, or rather, the female player Dida stepped ashore.

Having made it through such a perilous journey largely unscathed was likely due to this subconscious world’s spontaneous resistance. By sheer coincidence, they encountered a unit of the Holy Separation Navy. In game terms, it was a level 20 steam robot troop. After a fierce battle, the sea monster was driven away.

"First, let’s find him!"

Dida opened the manila envelope, glanced at a certain location, hailed a steam carriage, and departed.

The place she was heading is the Holy City of Terria, and the individual she was seeking was the Guardian of this world, or rather, the Cyber Assassin stationed in this world.

As the girl’s figure gradually disappeared, a screen dimmed down. On the opposite side of the screen, Gao Gong muttered to himself in surprise.

"It turns out to be her."

In the later stages of the Planet Plot, there weren’t many players who boarded Noah’s Ark—he was one of them, along with the girl.

One was a Neural Programmer, and the other an Advanced AI; their relationship was quite good, and Gao Gong managed to entirely ’AIify’ with her help.

Later, they experienced many things together, and ultimately, after Gao Gong transitioned to being a mainframe and prepared to officially start his clip-selling business, they formally parted ways, and their relationship grew distant until they completely lost contact.

Later, Gao Gong heard she joined an Advanced Civilization and became a somewhat famous civilizational consultant. Afterwards, the three Celestial Calamities fell, and they lost contact completely.

Gao Gong didn’t expect that his search would coincidentally lead him to a familiar face from a past life.

More coincidental was the fact that he gleaned a clue about the ’Cyber Test Field’ from her.

Data analysis indicated the source was a super Cyber Space force called the ’Earth Net Group,’ or rather, a large-scale internet group of this era.

"Interesting, since it’s an old acquaintance, I should lend a hand. By the way, according to the timeline, Director Du should have received my gift by now."

Gao Gong turned his head, looking at a particular screen showing the infinite ocean.

...

On a small island, Director Du was wearing her trademark white lab coat, her hands tucked into her pockets, her signature ponytail blowing playfully in the sea breeze.

Beside her stood Ms. Qiao from the Holy Brain Group, who also bore the title of the former Project Leader of Biological Project No. 2134.

"Are we really just going to rescue them?" Ms. Qiao asked anxiously.

In truth, it was more of a snatching operation than a rescue mission. As a mid-level official relegated to a small island, she felt quite insecure. Even though, under company procedure, she was indeed responsible for Biological Project No. 2134, her authority crumbled as others deliberately intervened.

This was also the primary reason Director Du was able to persuade her.

"Just wait a moment," Director Du said without turning around.

Suddenly, she squinted as several Marubeni Warriors appeared on the ocean surface, treading the waves as they approached.

"Th—this—"

Ms. Qiao stammered in shock; even with her limited knowledge of mechanical bodies, she could sense the terrifying presence of these purely mechanical warriors, over three meters tall with massive samurai swords nearly four meters long, emanating an almost tangible aura of oppression.

"Look, they’ve arrived," Director Du said, a faint smile forming at the corner of her lips.