Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"What kind of ferocity?" The boss half-emerged from the shadows, his heroic, willow-leaf eyebrows raised slightly with interest.

"Actually, it wasn't that fierce..." Wang Wenbo said nonchalantly.

After surgical modifications, there were many formidable men in Grey Iron City. Seeing muscle-bound men perform every day had desensitized him.

Another player, Wang Wenyan, added, "…it was just a bit strange."

"Strange?"

"The brutes we've seen before all used their fists, but it was the first time I'd seen one use a bow and arrow—he downed a Flame Beast with a single shot, utterly ferocious! Moreover, of the two brawlers with him, one didn't seem to have much physical change; that woman's figure... was quite slender, about the same as yours, boss. But she could still knock down a Flame Beast with a punch, fiercely so."

"You haven't seen them before either?" The boss pinched his own fair chin, murmuring with curiosity, "You two roam around all day, and there's still someone in this area you haven't seen?"

Then he asked, "Where did you see them?"

"Right down there by the foot of the volcano… on the northwest side out of the city, also on the northwest side of the volcano."

"No reason for that…" The boss immediately noted something odd, "Who'd normally run off in that direction?"

Even if you're going up the mountain for resources, you'd just head north after you leave the city. Why take such a big detour toward the shady side of the mountain?

Unless… the others also wanted to avoid crowded places.

"Didn't you talk to them?"

"We did," Wen Yan nodded earnestly.

"What did you say?"

"They said, 'Are you alright?'" Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire

"And then?"

"Then we ran away…"

"..."

"..."

The boss stared at them with his clear black and white eyes, "They saved you guys, and you didn't even think to thank them?"

"Who thanks NPCs..." Wen Bo grumbled, "Especially since we're both 'unregistered', how could I dare to just chat with anyone?"

What if someone found out about my 'unregistered' status? Wouldn't I be sent to the surgery table for a tribulation within minutes?

Scratching his head, Wen Yan said, "I was too scared being chased by the Flame Beast... didn't catch on at the time."

"..." The boss rubbed his chin to himself, speculating, "Hey, do you think this could be the beginning of some quest?"

"Hmm..."

"emmmm~"

The two brothers were cluelessly dumbfounded, looking into each other's eyes, their faces blank.

"Surely our city can't stay like this forever?"

Although not very familiar with other players' starting areas, they at least knew that other players didn't have to face such harsh conditions from birth.

First of all, you had to become acquainted with the environment. Any player who didn't acquire the "Adaptive Breathing Enhancement" trait within three days of birth was doomed.

You could either shell out money for a doctor to boost your trait proficiency or try to improve your physical constitution or stamina over time—all part of Grey Iron City players' "main quest."

The first thing was to survive; only by staying alive could you play the game.

And even survival wasn't the end of it; the world's malice was just beginning to show.

Granted, players from other cities had their struggles, but those often came from environmental challenges or from overt maliciousness driven by certain NPCs' self-interest.

But this city was different...

The city itself was the greatest malice.

Players from other cities could freely choose their own advancement paths.

They could specialize in martial arts, relying on strong physiques and combat skills to overcome everything.

They could also master the use of equipment. Early on, firearms posed a lethal threat to the players' fragile physiques. Possessing weapons that mixed sci-fi with magical elements could diversify their combat styles significantly.

Furthermore, one could cultivate Spiritual Energy, reshaping the world with willpower like a powerful sorcerer.

Each path required players to find their own ways forward.

There were no career mentors, set quest lines, or even a clear promotion system.

Everything was free, filled with unlimited possibilities. Every player's exploration of the game content was wonderful and varied, with the same scenario triggered under similar conditions, potentially leading to entirely different outcomes.

Even a villager you rescued by the roadside could share the technology for a controllable nuclear fusion reactor.

This was the charm of the game world.

That's how the official supplements described it, and how other players played after entering the game, but why was it that in their Grey Iron City, the only way to advance was through bodily modifications, and not just any modifications, but compulsory ones?

If the periodic census found any 'unregistered' people, they were first taken to undergo surgery.

If the surgery was successful, that was good news. Not only could you gain a powerful trait, but you could also significantly improve your physical quality—much faster than by training on your own. The players whose surgeries were initially successful thought they had struck gold, finding themselves in a welfare city beyond the wildest dreams of others.

However... the nightmare was just beginning.

Surgeries had a considerable failure rate.

Failed players either died on the operating table or were left gasping for life, thrown aside like rubbish, not knowing which part of them was missing, and then forced to fend for themselves in this survival of the fittest 'jungle'.