An hour later.
Old Octopus returned with dozens of pages of examination results.
Lu Xun pretended to read through them.
Then he put down the folder, stretched out his right hand to the burly masked man, and said, "The final step, place your hand on the table, I need to take your pulse."
"Take my pulse?"
The masked man was stunned.
He had undergone dozens of prosthetic body implantation surgeries before, but had never encountered a situation that required pulse-taking.
"You don't understand, do you?" Old Octopus crossed his mechanical arms, and said proudly,
"My companion here has a unique secret skill. He can use pulse-taking to detect body secrets that instruments can't, improving the success rate of the surgery.
It's said to be a mysterious ancient Chinese medicine inheritance from the ultra-ancient period."
Even though he didn't understand the mystery of Lu Xun's "pulse-taking mastery," the facts were as they were.
He remembered once when a client's examination results appeared normal, yet Lu Xun confidently asserted that the client's body wasn't fit for the surgery, and the examination results were wrong.
Initially, Old Octopus didn't believe it, but after recalibrating the equipment and conducting another check, they indeed found a serious heart problem, making surgery deadly!
After experiencing several similar incidents,
He had unwavering faith in Lu Xun's "pulse-taking mastery."
"Is it really that magical?" The masked man skeptically placed one arm flat on the table, palm up.
Lu Xun began "taking the pulse" with a calm demeanor, putting on a serious act.
'Analysis!'
[Analyzing 10%…25%…38%…]
[Analysis complete.]
[Recorded: Biological Illustrated Guide x7, Non-Biological Illustrated Guide x23!]
[Trait Points +1225]
[Illustrated Guide: Humans - Low, completeness 72.8%. Life Level: Low. Enhancement times: 9. Age: 32...]
[Illustrated Guide: Iron Lung Type 3…civilian…]
[Illustrated Guide: Mantis Arm Blade Type 4…military…]
[Illustrated Guide: Blazing Fire Shoulder Cannon Type 3…military…]
[Illustrated Guide: Inspection Net Drive Type 1…military…]
[Illustrated Guide: Pain Editor…military…]
...
"Holy shit!"
Lu Xun couldn't help but curse in his heart.
He wouldn't have known without the analysis, but it nearly shocked him into trembling.
This guy had used the enhancement needle 9 times, raising his Life Level to low.
But his true combat power was definitely not just at this level.
He had a total of 23 prosthetics implanted throughout his body, mechanically replacing nearly 30% of his physical tissues, so the illustrations were incomplete.
Most critically, nearly half of these 23 prosthetics were military-grade!!!
In a real fight, even advanced life levels from other races might not stand a chance against this super modified person!
Lu Xun felt a chill on his scalp.
He almost instantly realized this guy's identity—the other party was most likely a professional soldier.
This was because the analysis showed that all the DNA on these prosthetics belonged to one person, and none were second-hand goods.
If it were those prosthetic robbers, armed smuggling organizations, other race raiders, or black forces, it would be almost impossible to obtain so many brand-new military-grade prosthetics.
Even if those people could get the goods, the source wouldn't stand up to scrutiny, as they were basically all extracted from the dead.
For a moment, Lu Xun finally understood the feeling of "a thief encountering a soldier."
Why would a dignified professional soldier come to a black clinic for prosthetic installation?
Were you blacklisted by the military hospital?
Or are you here for a sting operation?
Using the enhancement needle 9 times, more than ten military-grade prosthetics.
This kind of formidable person, the Underground City's security guard team probably wouldn't stand a chance, they'd be wiped out!
But what puzzled Lu Xun was.
Analyzing a low-life level organism, plus 23 military, civilian-grade prosthetics, earned less trait points than analyzing a single "War Ghost Type 8."
"Is the War Ghost Type 8 really that powerful?"
Even though they are both military-grade, its power far exceeds the others.
"So, can the surgery begin?" The masked man pressed impatiently.
Lu Xun paused, probing with a tentative question: "Are you in danger right now? That's why you're in such a hurry."
"That's none of your business." The other's gaze turned fierce, and his tone became unfriendly, "I pay, and you do your job. Don't ask anything else!"
"Mm, sorry, it was my mistake."
Lu Xun smiled and confirmed again: "Are you sure you want to have this surgery at our clinic? This is not a military hospital; you could very well die."
Old Octopus felt very strange and baffled.
He also sensed something was off about Lu Xun after the pulse-taking, talking too much.
Did this kid discover something?
The client can't handle the surgery?
Old Octopus's heart fills with panic, worried that Lu Xun would refuse this business again.
"I've paid, and you're still questioning? If I were afraid of dying, I wouldn't have come."
The masked man hammered the table with a bang and said in a deep voice, "Let's start the surgery."
"Yes, yes, let's not ask anymore, let's begin."
Old Octopus frantically signaled with his eyes to Lu Xun.
Lu Xun looked at him for a few seconds, then withdrew his gaze and nodded: "Alright, I've got the surgical plan in mind. I'll go prepare what we need for the surgery, and you come to the operating room in 10 minutes."
He then got up and left the room.
"Hehe, please come with me, I'll take you to the changing room," Old Octopus said eagerly.
...
'He's not here for a sting operation, but because he can't go to the military hospital, he has no choice but to come to a black clinic, risking his life to install prosthetics.'
'His situation is dire, as if his enemies could find and kill him any second… But in Jinghai City, is there really someone daring to hunt down a City Defense Iron Guard?'
'And an active-duty one at that, because if he's a retired soldier, the military-grade prosthetics would be recovered, the numbers deleted, dismantled, re-forged, and reassembled somewhere else.'
Lu Xun prepared the required tools, medications, plasma bags, and some universal supporting materials for prosthetic implantation while pondering.
He already had a rough guess about the masked man's identity in his heart.
This is a wanted City Defense Soldier!
Did he commit a very serious crime in the military and fled in fear of punishment?
Is that ultra-powerful "War Ghost Type 8" Orge Race Spine something he stole or robbed?
'Tsk tsk, this surgery fee of hundreds of millions is certainly not easily earned.'
Lu Xun couldn't help but smack his lips, lamenting internally.
Risk and reward coexist.
But having come this far, abandoning the surgery was no longer an option.
Moreover, he can now project and fuse a Special-level Orge Race Gene!
Once the surgery is over, he'll immediately find a hidden place to start evolving!
The "War Ghost Type 8" may just be a spine, but it's already so powerful.
But the gene fusion through projection, which breaks human limits at the life level, definitely won't be inferior to prosthetics.
...
Lu Xun soon had the operating room ready.
Then he saw Old Octopus escorting the masked man inside.
The man was unclothed.
His massive frame was composed of bulging, layered, pulsating muscles.
His physique was extraordinarily robust, with a mighty force seemingly hibernating beneath his skin. Just standing there, he exerted an oppressive aura like a wild beast.
Scars of various sizes, old and new, crisscrossed his chest, back, and limbs.
On his arms, back of the head, shoulders, knees, and ankles… multiple parts of his body had exposed mechanical structures, gleaming with cold metallic luster, perfectly integrating flesh and mechanics.
When the masked man was clothed, this wasn't so obvious; he merely seemed like a big guy who had bulked up.
But now, stripped down, the overwhelming visual impact hit Lu Xun like a tidal wave.
Lu Xun looked down at his own scrawny arms and legs, then at the other's explosive muscles, mighty physique, and beast-like aura… He couldn't help but feel envious.
Gosh, that's the physique he's always dreamed of!
That's what a real man should look like!!
Sadly, at a mere 1.75 meters tall, he's destined to fall short of such size and stature.
...Unless he can grow taller after projecting and fusing various racial genes.