This is really not mechanical ascension-Chapter 45 - Reward Reversal!

Once the bounty task from the Rose Society was reviewed and completed, another 70,000 Star Coins would be credited to his account, making it 320,000 in total.

Li Ming was satisfied, but unfortunately…

whether it was buying an E-class gene seed or upgrading a D-class Controlled Object, he was far from the required amount.

He decided to save up for now.

Back at home, he flipped through the records from the surveillance probes with great interest.

The majority was pornographic content; it seemed that the Rose Society catered to both men and women.

It was somewhat interesting at first, but he quickly grew tired of it.

He didn’t know if there were any important figures among them, so he copied everything to his smart terminal and destroyed the hard disk.

……

“Captain Yang, a few more people died this morning—Black Dog, Rose, and a few small fry; those Bounty Hunters are becoming more and more brazen.”

In the office, Lao Dao was reporting.

Yang Peng listened, then suddenly looked up, “Who did you say?

Rose?”

“Yes,” Lao Dao nodded.

“This morning, Rose was found naked in her bedroom, along with one of her minor henchmen.”

“The bounty has already been claimed by a Bounty Hunter called Ghost Shadow, who recently took care of several bounties.”

Once a public bounty is claimed, the completer’s codename is displayed.

“Tsk…” Yang Peng frowned.

Rose was the one who sold Li Ming’s information to the Fierce Tiger Gang.

Somehow, he was reminded of Li Ming’s question from yesterday.

Impossible…

he dismissed the notion internally.

Rose’s gene seed development process had already surpassed 90%, on the same level as Scar-faced Tiger, not someone Li Ming could handle so casually.

Moreover, he hadn’t explicitly mentioned Rose yesterday, only casually referred to the Rose Society.

With so many people in the Rose Society, how could Li Ming possibly identify Rose within less than a day?

He shook his head and continued to listen to Lao Dao’s report.

…

By afternoon, a bombshell dropped: four more high-value bounties were added—the City Guard Security Director, the Intelligence Director, the Logistics Director, and the Internal Affairs Director.

A series of team leaders, including Yang Peng himself, were now on the bounty list.

At the same time, the hefty bounties on Tu Zheng and his two companions were withdrawn, though canceling a bounty required a fee of 50% of the bounty amount.

This shocking turn of events came suddenly, and just half an hour later, the City Guard Security Director—Wang An was assassinated.

An armor-piercing bullet tore through the Heavy Armor Hover Car he was in, grazing past his cheek!

The entire City Guard was in an uproar, with mid to high-level management being bountied, and the Security Director assassinated—it was a severe provocation!

All mid-level and above management were called to a meeting, and soon a notice was issued—Silver Grey City triggered a Level 3 alert; all City Guards, effective immediately, were to suspend leave, patrol day and night, schools were suspended, and all residents were advised not to go out unless necessary.

Furthermore, support had already been requested from Blue Star.

“Pretty vicious strategy, using high bounties to lure Bounty Hunters first, and then targeting the City Guard.

Even if Blue Star responds, it will take time,” Li Ming assessed, quite surprised.

“And the Bounty Hunters have already arrived, they won’t just leave without a fight, they will inevitably shift their targets to the City Guard.”

The setup was good, but the cost was not small; canceling three million-bounty tasks—that’s one and a half million Star Coins just gone.

The water had become thoroughly muddled, and it kept getting murkier.

Now, no one knew what was hiding beneath its surface.

Citizens of Silver Grey City were in a panic, each tapping into their networks, trying to figure out what had happened; those with means were buying interstellar ship tickets, temporarily leaving to avoid the fallout.

Yang Peng came back from a meeting with a gloomy expression and called everyone together, speaking in a somber voice:

“Groups of four for patrols, split up the areas, arm yourselves, wear combat suits and bulletproof vests, with 24-hour logistical support.”

“If you encounter Bounty Hunters, kill them without mercy!”

Old Diao, Li Ning, Li Ming, and a guy named Bai Yu, not too old—just two years senior to Li Ning—always wore glasses and had a smile on his face.

The four of them were a group, patrolling the eastern district of Silver Grey City, the Golden Mountain area, which spanned a dozen or so vertical and horizontal streets, mainly residential.

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With a level three alert, there were very few people on the streets.

They split up, each piloting a shuttle flyer, hovering in the skies above.

“Brother Diao, how do we usually exchange gene seeds in our department?” Li Ming asked over the channel.

“Can’t hold back, can you?” Old Diao teased, “Have you trained your body enough?”

“Yeah, it should be soon.”

“You young folks always aim high…” sighed Old Diao.

“Enough with the nonsense,” Li Ning interrupted, “Exchanging for a Grade F gene seed isn’t too difficult, you just need to achieve merits, like solving at least fifty Grade G cases…”

As Li Ning explained, Li Ming roughly understood; to complete a Grade G event meant making a contribution of over 50% in ordinary cases that didn’t involve Grade F life forms.

There was a special evaluation system within the City Guard’s internal affairs.

Making over a 50% personal contribution sounded difficult, but this was reality, not a game.

Contributions couldn’t be measured directly and were influenced by many factors.

So many people in the entire City Guard, and yet, there were only twenty Grade F gene seeds allocated each year.

The share for the Security Division was only five.

Moreover, the City Guard was still recruiting every year, and with nepotism factored into the distribution of rewards…

Even if you performed admirably, you still had to wait in line.

The City Guard really treated them like workhorses.

“What about exchanging for a Grade E gene seed?

Does it require solving fifty Grade F cases?” Li Ming asked.

“Grade E…” Old Diao laughed, “You’re not even a Grade F life form yet.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, even Li Ning is patiently waiting.

Even if you have connections, it’ll take at least a couple of years to meet the criteria.”

“Right, the allotment for Grade E gene seeds is even sparser.

Our department only gets two a year, and with different departments vying for credit, the actual difficulty is much higher.”

“However, since you received the Rookie Badge before, estimating generously, you could say it counts as twenty,” Bai Yu spoke up over the channel, “If there are special commendations from higher-ups, they could also be factored in.”

“Often, what seems difficult to us is just a matter of a few words to those big shots,” Bai Yu said with a helpless laugh.

This was also why Yang Peng had recommended him for the Security Team; without external help, it would take ages to meet the criteria, Li Ming mused.

“Actually, pursuing these things isn’t necessarily good,” Old Diao sighed, “Becoming an advanced life form means being on the frontline of battle; sticking with your wife and kids is nice enough.”

“Quit with the talk, old man.

We young guys have plenty of drive and eventually we’ll get our turn, becoming Grade F life forms…” Li Ning was full of confidence, and even reassured Li Ming:

“Don’t let this old guy get to you; I’ve got your back when the time comes.”

Li Ming’s lips curved into a slight smile, “Sure, no problem…”

Once Yang Peng’s submitted data was approved, he would be able to use the City Guard’s special training room.

His target was already a Grade E gene seed.

At this thought, he grew even more eager, the thrill of evolution indescribable.

The daytime patrol was uneventful, but as night fell, they grew more vigilant.

“Bounty Hunter attacks always happen at night; stay sharp.” Old Diao’s voice was serious, but just as he finished speaking, the roar of an explosion shattered the tranquility of the night, smoke and flames rising high into the sky.

The channel immediately erupted into chaos.

“Patrol teams near the New City area, please take heed and quickly move to coordinates 1425, 2367 to provide support.

Enemy armed with light weaponry, incident evaluation—Grade F”

“Repeat…”

“Damn it, did I jinx it!” Old Diao cursed, but didn’t hesitate, “You three, follow me, move!”

Four small flyers swiftly headed toward the source of the blaze.