"Panel?!" Joe's pupils shrank suddenly. A torrent of ecstasy, absurdity and grasping at the last straw instantly overwhelmed the severe pain in the body. He almost instinctively screamed in his heart: "Attribute panel!"
Buzz——
A translucent, deep blue light curtain, as deep as the night sky at the bottom of Zaun, unfolds before your eyes, full of a cold sense of technology, yet strangely blending in with this alchemical punk environment filled with gears, steam, and filth.
[Zuan Test Subject No. 008 - Joe]
Race: Runeterra Human (Zuan Low Level)
"Panel?!" Joe's pupils shrank suddenly. A torrent of ecstasy, absurdity and grasping at the last straw instantly overwhelmed the severe pain in the body. He almost instinctively screamed in his heart: "Attribute panel!"
Buzz——
A translucent, deep blue light curtain, as deep as the night sky at the bottom of Zaun, unfolds before your eyes, full of a cold sense of technology, yet strangely blending in with this alchemical punk environment filled with gears, steam, and filth.
[Zuan Test Subject No. 008 - Joe]
Race: Runeterra Human (Zuan Low Level)
Template: Special NPC (Countdown to the arrival of Runeterra heroes: 358 days, 11 hours and 03 minutes)
Total level: 1
Experience: 0
Secondary occupation: Zaun Rat Citizen Lv1 (0/50)
Main occupation: None
Health: 18/30 (multiple electrical injuries, sprains, [Glimmer Corrosion])
Stamina: 36/36
Personal attributes:
Strength 2 (Weak) - Hard to break the guard's grip.
Agility 2 (Slow) - Avoiding Barlotta's baton is a luxury.
Stamina 3 (slightly improved) - Glimmer makes you slightly more durable than a normal Rat.
Intelligence 3 (average) - Has no problem understanding Zaunese jargon.
Psychic 1 (Weak Senses) - Almost insulated from magical or psychic forces.
Charm 2 (Inconspicuous) - Throw into a crowd of Zaunites and they will instantly disappear.
Lucky 1 (Zaun Standard) - It's a miracle that I'm still alive today.
Free attribute points: 0
Special Power: None
Energy Level: 1~2 (roughly equal to an angry Zaun Rat)
Rank: F- (slightly stronger than the Zuan Rat, but still in the category of being easily crushed)
Expertise:
[Low-level Glimmer Resistance]: Slightly resists the erosion and pain of the Glimmer Potion, allowing you to hold out a little longer in Singed's experiment.
[Low-level Mental Toughness]: Mental resistance +3, willpower judgment gains a slight advantage. Perhaps the faint light burned some pain nerves?
Skills: None
Potential Points: 0
Occupational Knowledge Tree: Not enabled (Weak mechanical affinity fluctuation detected...)
Influence: None
Legend: 0
Equipment: Worn-out linen prisoner uniform (defense +0.1, better than nothing)
[state]:
[Electric Paralysis] (Agility -1, lasts 10 minutes) - Moves slowly, like a rusty robot.
[Glimmer Corrosion] (Life recovery speed reduced by 50%) - The inside of the body seems to be slowly corroded.
[System Evaluation]: "A ditch rat that luckily survived a few thrashings in Singed's waste barrel. The next swing of Barotar's baton will easily teach you the deepest rules of Zaun's underground - silence, or turn into minced meat."
NPC template? Countdown to the arrival of heroes? Joe's heart sank into Zaun's deepest, coldest sewer pipe. This is not a game! It is a breathtakingly realistic Runeland where the strong prey on the weak! The mortality rate of Singed's glimmer experiment was frighteningly high, and the original owner of this body was obviously one of the failures. And Barota... the leader of the law enforcement team who enjoyed torturing test subjects and regarded screams as music!
"Bang!"
The iron door of the confinement room was roughly opened by a huge force, and the strong alchemical light with chemical dust pierced into the darkness like a searchlight.
Several figures stood with their backs to the light, like silhouettes walking out of the abyss. The leader was tall and graceful, with long wavy wine-red hair that looked like a strange burning flame in the polluted air, covering half of her face. The tight dark purple leather armor is like a second skin, outlining a breathtaking curve. The waist is slender but full of explosive power, and the legs are long and straight, like a beautiful venomous snake lurking in the shadows, ready to strike. Even in the dim light, Joe could feel the scrutiny from those eyes outlined in thick black eyeshadow, cold and sharp, like a scalpel.
"What's the status of the test subject?" Her voice sounded with a unique hoarseness and magnetism. Her laziness revealed an unquestionable iron will, like thick honey wrapped around a sharp ice cone.
"Report to Commander Wei! The manic period seems to be... over?" An old researcher wearing an even dirtier white coat and with greasy and sparse hair as if corroded by acid (Singed's assistant, Dr. Lin Weixian) hurried forward, his cloudy eyes flashing with undisguised greed, and his gaze swept back and forth over Joe, as if evaluating a newly unearthed alchemical antique containing secrets. That look sent a chill down the back of Joe's neck.
"Wei?" Joe's heart trembled. The law enforcer of Piltover? How did she end up in Zaun's black laboratory? And his temperament... seems a little different from the straightforward "Iron Fist" in his memory? Colder, more...dangerous?
"Who am I?" The red-haired woman - Wei, took a step closer, and the oppressive feeling mixed with gunpowder smoke, cold metal and a faint trace of rose perfume almost suffocated Joe. She was looking down at him, her shadow casting over the cowering Joe.
Joe's throat was dry and burning, and he uttered hoarse and broken syllables: "I... don't know..." He tried hard to imitate the numb and dazed state of the original owner in the memory fragment.
"Amnesia?" Wei's brows furrowed, like a cold crack appearing in the carefully painted distant mountains.
"Type III Glimmer has a strong irritant effect on the cerebral cortex, and short-term memory disorder is a common side effect." Lin Weixian immediately responded, his cloudy eyes almost overflowing with morbid excitement, "Commander Wei! This is a great opportunity! I suggest that you immediately perform a craniotomy and take samples to observe the activity changes in the frontal lobe and hippocampus! This is definitely a major breakthrough in the history of Glimmer research! His name (referring to Singed) will be engraved..."
Craniotomy? ! Joe felt a chill in his heart, as if he saw the surgical saw flashing with cold light in Lin Weixian's hand.
"He is the first test subject to survive Type III dim light." Wei's voice was as cold as iron, directly cutting off Lin Weixian's delusion. "Before you squeeze out all his value, don't do your destructive research. Brainwash him and implant basic instructions. Now."
brainwashing!
The word was like a basin of alchemical waste mixed with ice slag poured over Joe's head. Being brainwashed means completely losing yourself and becoming a walking corpse that only knows how to follow orders, with even your screams filtered out by the program!
He forced himself to remain calm, his eyes quickly scanning the attribute panel floating in his field of vision. Intelligence 3 points, [Low-level Mental Toughness] provides +3 Willpower judgment. A total of 10 intelligence points are required to be completely immune to Zaun's primitive and brutal sound and light brainwashing method! There are still 4 key points missing!
The maximum free attribute a civilian (Zaun rat people) can get when they level up is 1 point, which is a drop in the bucket. The only hope...professional knowledge! Victor's mechanical knowledge!
At this moment, two guards as silent as iron and with numb eyes (the same "Three Hundred Thousand" and "Constipation Face" from before) roughly lifted up the weak Joe and dragged him out of the confinement room like dragging a bag of sandbags. At the corner of the corridor, inside a half-open iron door, there were piles of discarded parts, broken pipes and rusted tool boxes, emitting a strong smell of motor oil and metal rust.
Joe's eyes were like an accurate probe, instantly locking onto a half-open, dusty and oily old metal toolbox in the corner. Right next to the toolbox, there were several scattered notebooks and books with torn edges and suspicious stains!
On the cover of one of the books, the title was stubbornly printed in almost faded blue star ink:
Introduction to the Basic Principles of Hextech (fragment) - by Victor
Victor! A work by a mechanical pioneer! Mechanical knowledge! Life-saving straw!
Opportunities are fleeting!
The guard was carrying him and was about to pass through the door with an expressionless face. Joe's heart almost beat out of his chest! He suddenly burst out with all the remaining strength in his body, like a live fish thrown into boiling oil still struggling, twisting his body violently, and staggering towards the half-open door, dragging the heavy bodies of two strong men!
"Looking for death?!" "Three Hundred Thousand" roared, and his right hand instantly pressed the Hextech compressed pistol on his waist. The black muzzle exuded a deadly chill.
"Don't shoot! Idiot!" Lin Weixian's sharp and piercing cry sounded in time, with a hint of ecstasy, "Look! His target! What is he doing?!"
Despite the excruciating pain of the guard's gun pointing at his back and clamping his arms, Joe rushed to the pile of debris regardless of anything. His fingers were like the scratches of a dying person, and with desperate determination, he grabbed the "Introduction to Hextech Fundamentals (Fragments)" tightly! The cold metal edging of the cover hurt his palms, but it also brought a strange sense of reality.
He almost tore the heavy, musty pages open. Inside are densely packed, complex formulas that are twisted like tadpoles, structural diagrams that are so precise that they make people dizzy, and analyses of energy circuits that flicker with a faint light... It is as obscure and profound as a heavenly book. But Joe didn't care. Like a drowning man grabbing the last piece of driftwood, he forced his bloodshot eyes to scan the distorted symbols, cold lines and complex geometric shapes as quickly and greedily as possible!
[You have come into contact with the fragments of Victor's mechanical knowledge (Hextech direction)...]
[Intelligence test in progress...Intelligence 3, test passed! (Successful access to knowledge)]
[You have completed a compulsory reading of basic mechanical knowledge! ]
[Due to your intelligence attribute, the learning progress of [Basic Mechanical Theory] is 1.5%! ([Low-level Mental Toughness] expertise increases learning efficiency by an additional 30%, current progress is 1.95%!)]
efficient! Joe roared in his heart, like seeing an oasis in the desert. The pages were turned faster and faster, making a rustling sound. He was completely immersed in a selfless, almost insane state, as if the scolding of the guards around him, the cold muzzle of the gun pressed against his back, and Lin Weixian's greedy gaze had all gone away, and the whole world was left with only this page of tattered paper in front of him that carried strength and hope.
"He's... studying?" Wei's voice was filled with a hint of imperceptible surprise and scrutiny, and she waved her hand to stop the guard from taking any further action. Her sharp eyes were like a hawk's, staring at Joe's almost greedy and absorbed reading posture.
Lin Weixian's breathing became heavy and rapid, like an old bellows: "Incredible! It's wonderful! The Glimmer III type... actually enhances cognitive and learning abilities?! Commander Wei! Did you see that? This is worth far more than a hundred cannon fodders! I must study his synapses in depth..."
"That's enough." Wei interrupted his frantic chattering coldly, and turned her eyes to a bulky machine in the corner of the room filled with complex copper pipes, gears, and crystals flashing with unstable phantom light. In the center of the machine is a helmet-like device covered with electrodes and sensor tentacles, connected to a sound wave generator that emits a low hum, high-frequency vibration, and a turbid crystal plate that constantly changes into strange, dizzying geometric patterns. "Brainwashing device, ready?"
"It can be started at any time! The energy crystal has been charged!" Lin Weixian said hurriedly, with a strong sense of unwillingness and regret in his eyes. His gaze towards Joe became even more scorching, as if he was looking at a piece of rare metal that was about to be sent into a furnace.
Brainwashing is in this room! Joe's heart almost stopped! The pages of the book turned faster, leaving afterimages and the slight sound of paper tearing.
[Learning progress 15.6%!] …32.1%! …67.8%! …]
[[Low-level Mental Toughness] continues to take effect! Concentration breaks through the critical point! Overclock your mind! ]
[Learning progress 89.9%…90.0%…95.0%…]
"Start the brainwashing program." Wei's cold voice sounded like a death knell, ringing loudly in Joe's ears.
The two guards immediately carried out the order like puppets and roughly dragged Joe away from the pile of books that exuded the "fragrance" of knowledge. The huge force made Joe feel that his arm was almost dislocated. He was pressed hard against the cold machine seat that exuded an ominous aura. The heavy metal shackles "click! click!" locked his hands and feet. The cold metal brackets were like torture instruments, forcibly holding open his bloodshot and extremely sore eyelids, forcing him to look directly at the turbid crystal slab in front of him, which began to flash strange lights wildly and rotate at high speed with mentally breakdown-inducing triangles, circles and infinity symbols!
A sharp, intermittent noise like fingernails scratching a blackboard erupted from the speakers, mixed with meaningless devilish whispers and frantic, chaotic electronic drum beats. It was like a physical tide, madly impacting and tearing at his eardrums and brain!
Severe pain! nausea! The world is spinning! My mind was like being thrown into the most chaotic gear crusher in Zaun!
[warn! You are suffering from [low-level sound and light brainwashing]! ]
[Perform a mental saving throw...Intelligence 3 + [Low-level Mental Toughness] feat plus 3 points of Willpower = 6 points of judgment! ]
[Test failed!] You are not completely immune to the effects of brainwashing! The spirit suffered a severe shock! Health -1! ]
Just one last bit! Joe's eyes were bloodshot and his gums were almost bleeding! All the willpower and the desire to survive were like a spring compressed to the extreme, concentrated on the "Introduction to the Basic Principles of Hextech" that was about to be completed in my mind! The exquisite and powerful structural diagrams on the last few pages flashed and burned wildly in my consciousness!
[Learning progress 99.1%…99.5%…99.9%…100%!] ]
[You have completed the forced comprehension of Victor's "Introduction to the Basic Principles of Hextech (Fragments)"! ]
[You have unlocked the career knowledge tree——[Mechanical Department (Introduction to Hextech)]! ]
[You obtain a new profession——[Hextech Apprentice Lv1]! ]
[Strength (Hex Energy Affinity) +10! Intelligence +1! Stamina +1! ]
[Get 2 free attribute points! Gain 1 potential point! ]
[You have learned the skill: [Basic Hextech Affinity Lv1] (0/1000) - Slightly improve your understanding and control of Hextech technology! ]
[[Simple Hextech Device Repair Lv1] (0/400) - Can perform emergency repairs on basic hextech devices! (low success rate)]
[[Basic Hextech Component Assembly Lv1] (0/600) - Can assemble the most basic Hextech functional modules! (Tools and materials required)]
An indescribable cool torrent, like a clear spring but with the stimulation of a weak electric current, instantly washed over Joe's limbs! Those formulas and exquisite structural diagrams that were originally as incomprehensible as the Book of Heaven suddenly became clear, orderly, and full of logical beauty, and were deeply engraved in the depths of his consciousness like a brand! The severe headache and dizziness were forcibly suppressed and dispelled by this powerful torrent of information!
[Intelligence +1!] Current intelligence 4! ]
[Free attribute points +2!] ]
Without hesitation, or even time to feel the power of the new job, Joe took the newly acquired two free attributes, which were like a life-saving straw, and heavily hit the intelligence attribute.
[Intelligence +2!] Current intelligence: 6 points! ]
[Mental immunity judgment value updated: Intelligence 6 + [Low-level Mental Toughness] feat plus 3 points of Willpower = 9 points! ]
[Perform the [Low-level Sound and Light Brainwashing] immunity check again...]
[Test passed!] You have successfully resisted the mind control effects of this brainwash! [Mental confusion] status lifted! ]
In the field of vision, the wildly rotating geometric figures and the piercing noises still existed, as did the physiological nausea and eye pain they brought. However, the terrifying feeling that one's thoughts were forcibly distorted by an invisible giant hand, one's consciousness was covered by an icy program, and one's self was about to be completely erased, had disappeared! The core of the brain regained the cold clarity that belonged to "Joe"!
He maintained the posture with his eyelids forced open by the bracket, staring dully at the changing light and shadow in front of him, as if he was an alchemical puppet whose soul had been completely sucked out and only an empty shell remained. Only he himself knew that deep in those seemingly empty and confused pupils, there was a sharp light belonging to "Time Traveler Joe", like quenched ice, like a faint blue phosphorescent fire quietly ignited in the deepest mud and waste of Zaun. It was fixed on the wrinkled, greasy, and fragile neck of Dr. Lin Weixian, Singed's assistant, who was trembling slightly with excitement beside the seat.
The cold metal stent dug deep into my eye socket, causing constant dull pain. The twisted and rotating geometric shapes on the crystal plate in front of me gave off a sickening feeling of dizziness, and in my ears there was a never-ending, piercing noise like rusty gears rubbing against each other in my skull. But all these physical pain and discomfort were forcibly suppressed by Joe beneath the surface of his consciousness, as if separated by a thick, cold layer of frosted glass.
The core of his brain, as if immersed in the depths of a cold pond at absolute zero, operated coldly, precisely, and efficiently, analyzing the desperate situation before him.
"Number Zero."
A voice penetrated the noise barrier with unquestionable penetrating power and cold texture. It was Wei. She had walked to the front of the brainwashing chair without knowing when, and a few strands of her long burgundy hair fell down, almost touching Joe's bloodless cheek that was propped up by the bracket. The deadly scent mixed with gunpowder smoke, cold metal and a faint trace of rose perfume once again enveloped him like a substance, bringing with it a suffocating feeling of oppression.
"Tell me, who are you?" Her voice was deliberately slow and long, with a hypnotic, snake-like rhythm. Her red lips were close at hand, and her warm breath brushed across Joe's cracked lips, but only brought a deeper chill.
silence. There was only the monotonous and loud hum of the machine and the piercing noise that was enough to drive an ordinary person crazy as the background, echoing in the small room.
Joe mobilized every controllable muscle on his face, freezing his expression into a complete blank. His eyes were completely empty, losing all the spirit and focus that a human should have. He "looked" straight at the empty point in front of him, as if he was completely deaf to the fatal temptation that was so close that it was enough to make any man's heart beat faster, and to the words in his ears that sounded like the devil's whisper. His performance at this moment was more realistic than any puppet in Zaun's underground theater.
"From this moment on, your code name is 'Zero.'" Wei's voice was close to his ear, like the whisper of a lover, but it was filled with the coldest venom in the world. "Zaun is your furnace, and Dr. Singed's will is the only cornerstone of your existence. You were born for the evolution of alchemical technology, and you died for the doctor's orders. Your thoughts, your flesh and blood, every inch of your bones, belong to this great furnace of evolution! Your loyalty is higher than your breath, higher than your heartbeat, and higher than your insignificant life!"
Lin Weixian couldn't wait to move forward. His wrinkled, greasy and crazy face forced out a creepy smile, and he added in a shrill voice like the cry of a night owl: "Remember, Zero! You are the doctor's experimental subject when you are alive, and you are the doctor's dissection material when you die! Even the residue in your bones belongs to this laboratory! Everything you have is the doctor's property!" His skinny fingers with dirty nails almost poked Joe's nose, and his saliva splashed on Joe's face with a foul smell.
"Zero," Wei's voice sounded again, with an irresistible meaning like the final judgment, "Now, tell me, who are you?"
Time seemed to have stood still. The hum of the brainwashing machine reached a teeth-grinding peak, and the light of the crystal plate flashed wildly.
A series of meaningless, extremely dry and hoarse hoarse sounds came from Joe's throat, as if a dilapidated clockwork device with stuck gears was forcibly started. His lips moved extremely slowly and with great difficulty, each syllable being drawn out and dull, like the turning of a rusty hinge:
"I... am... Zero..."
Lin Weixian's eyes instantly burst into ecstasy, as if he had discovered a rare treasure. He turned to Wei abruptly and spoke as fast as a string of cannonballs: "Success! Commander Wei! Did you see it? The glory of Valoran is above! The combination of the Glimmer III and the brainwashing program has perfectly reshaped his cognitive core! Although the emotional module and language center seem to have suffered irreversible minor damage and are slow to react, this is precisely the perfect tool! An efficient, perfect alchemical weapon embryo without unnecessary thoughts, complaints, or fears! The doctor will definitely be satisfied!"
Wei's gaze lingered for a few seconds on Joe's face, which had completely lost its spirit and looked like the most delicate and empty puppet. His empty eyes only reflected the strange light spots that changed on the crystal plate, nothing else. Finally, she nodded slowly, her red lips slightly parted, and uttered a cold order that would determine Joe's fate:
"Take him to the rest area on the lower level. Give him the minimum nutritional paste and water. Starting tomorrow, Barlotta will personally 'teach' him how to become a qualified and useful consumable."
The heavy shackles were roughly untied by the guards, and the harsh sound of metal friction was particularly clear in the silence. Joe was roughly picked up by the guards and dragged out the door like a real, soulless puppet. When passing by Lin Weixian, the old madman's undisguised greedy gaze, as if he was watching a rare experimental animal, was like a real lick, making the hairs on the back of Joe's neck stand up, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
"What a perfect material... Number Zero... Sooner or later... Sooner or later you will be lying on my dissecting table... I will soak your brain in the most exquisite preservative fluid..." Lin Weixian whispered morbidly like a dream in a voice that only he could hear, and his skinny fingers twisted nervously.