At this moment, there wasn’t even a single guard outside the courtyard.

Chen Xuan put on a hat and a mask, and along with Liu Shuyue and Lin Qing, they climbed over the courtyard wall. There were still cameras outside, and although Lin Qing couldn’t hack them, she could detect their locations and thus choose a route that was hidden under their blind spots.

The only one who took the main entrance was Amy—because it couldn’t climb over walls.

Compared to the bustling scene two days ago, the number of pedestrians within New Paris City had significantly decreased today, with an air of tension seemingly enveloping the atmosphere. From the direction of Louvre Palace, one could faintly see black smoke billowing.

The attack happened in the morning, and now it was just past noon, it seemed the impact of the incident was still spreading.

Walking along the roads into the city, Chen Xuan noticed there were even armed soldiers posted at the intersections, while military vehicles kept passing by on the streets.

Fortunately, they didn’t check the identities of pedestrians, just preventing anyone from taking advantage of the chaos for unauthorized purchases.

The TV screens hung by the roadside were also reporting the incident at Louvre Palace: "...The First and Third Corps of New Paris City have taken over the city’s defense work, and we urge all citizens to minimize outings to avoid accidents."

"We can see... The fires outside the palace have been extinguished by firefighting robots, but internal flare-ups continue..."

"Thirty-five deceased have been carried out, two seriously injured, and one lightly injured..."

"According to survivors’ accounts, this was not a mere AI malfunction, a massacre occurred within the Louvre Palace. Details are still unclear, General Hans has led a team to personally enter the fire zone, hoping we can learn the truth soon."

"The enemies are quite formidable." Chen Xuan remarked, giving Lin Qing a glance, "Holding out for three to four hours, and still not completely eradicated."

"Why are you looking at me?" Lin Qing questioned, puzzled.

"Nothing."

Chen Xuan averted his gaze, this was likely the downside of individual equipment advancing significantly. Dozens of people equipped with advanced technology sometimes possessed combat capabilities rivaling those of an army, creating an almost insurmountable problem for city security, as it’s harder to prevent continuous pilferage than it is to perpetrate it continuously.

Renting a place in New Paris City was simple, not even requiring a meeting with the landlord. You could arrange everything through a mobile app or a personal guide. All available properties were registered on a dedicated program, making the selection process quite convenient. Through Amy, Chen Xuan quickly found a small apartment on the tenth floor near the commercial district, paid the rent and considered the contract established.

"How did these vacant homes come about?" He was slightly curious.

"According to the statistics, the total population of New Paris City has been declining year by year, combined with ongoing construction, vacant rooms are quite common." Amy answered.

"Isn’t the rental market small then?"

Seeing such a convenient and mature rental software, he had assumed New Paris was overcrowded.

"Not necessarily." The guide robot replied, "The ownership of these houses belongs to the construction entity Angel Alliance and several large companies under its jurisdiction. Most people rely on renting, and if they don’t work, they’ll lose their rental privileges. So you should quickly find a job to avoid ending up with nowhere to go."

"The rules... are somewhat inhumane." Liu Shuyue muttered.

"Companies, after all, are all like this." Lin Qing was indifferent, "Even if tomorrow is the world’s end, these people will tightly hold onto their assets rather than distribute them to the poor."

Chen Xuan couldn’t help but recall the protest march he encountered.

Could their urgent desire to return to the surface also stem from a wish to escape such constraints?

Having settled the accommodations, the Ability Store now had a stable foothold here.

Chen Xuan then took the two along with Amy to the Atom & Electron store.

Fortunately... it was still operating normally.

It seemed the earlier minor incident hadn’t affected their business.

"Two guests!" the same clerk greeted Chen Xuan, evidently remembering Liu Shuyue quite well, "Didn’t see you yesterday, I thought you wouldn’t come."

"Scheduling conflict, so we came today." Chen Xuan smiled, "Why did the power suddenly go out?"

"Probably some cables bitten by rats." the clerk said helplessly, "Though New Paris City boasts advanced technologies, many buildings have been constructed for decades, aging is unavoidable."

Apparently, the mysterious item hadn’t been damaged.

Chen Xuan pointed to the Class A repair room, "Still that one?"

"No problem, no one’s in there." the clerk nodded, "Please, go ahead."

The three entered the narrow room, Lin Qing suspiciously looked around and asked, "Are you sure this is a repair shop? You can’t even see any repair tools."

Liu Shuyue was also a bit worried, "Is it okay for the mysterious item to repair Lin Qing? Wasn’t it asking us to leave before?"

"It was telling the scanning gun to leave, what’s it got to do with us?" Chen Xuan said indifferently.

"Hello, customer, I’m the Class A repair assistant. Please listen to my repair instructions next." A programmed female synthesized voice came from the speaker.

"That’s enough, I know, agreed." Chen Xuan interrupted directly.

The sound abruptly stopped.

Then the gate opened, and a tray was extended.

"What’s this all about?" Lin Qing asked with a puzzled expression.

"Just place the item that needs repair on it and wait," Chen Xuan explained the repair method simply, "I remember your weapon prosthetic can be detached, right?"

"Huh? Have the odd thing repair me?" Lin Qing exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, since the Dimensional Limit Mechanism can obtain advanced technology here, it’s likely related to odd things. Although it didn’t fix the scanning gun, it strongly rejected the gun itself, which means it at least knows its stuff."

"How do you come up with this understanding?" Lin Qing was taken aback but agreed, "Okay, if you say so, I’ll give it a try. Turn your head away."

"I can’t watch?" Chen Xuan was greatly disappointed; he wanted to see what the prosthetic looked like when detached.

"No... I’m embarrassed."

"Just turn around already." Liu Shuyue directly helped turn his head 180 degrees.

Only two "clicks" were heard, and Lin Qing breathed a sigh of relief, "Done."

Chen Xuan turned back, finding the other holding a segment of the right forearm, while her other hand was already tucked into her sleeve.

"The whole hand can be detached?" He marveled.

Liu Shuyue lamented, "That’s why you can’t use spells; the Spiritual Qi cycle is completely blocked."

"I’m a warrior, so the modification is naturally thorough. This arm can penetrate 5 millimeters of steel plate at full power; ordinary bones can’t withstand such force." Lin Qing explained, "Spells are indeed magical, but it takes years from learning to mastery, right? Whereas this prosthetic operation only takes two hours to transform someone from a citizen to a soldier."

"I don’t understand; what’s embarrassing about taking off a hand?" Chen Xuan was puzzled, "Isn’t it acceptable to walk the street naked in the future..." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Only a lunatic would walk the street naked!" Lin Qing glared at him, "A shortened arm, bare... just looks ugly."

Ugly? He couldn’t help but imagine what she might look like with both arms and legs detached...

No, thinking like this is inappropriate. Chen Xuan coughed twice, "Alright, alright, I won’t look. Put your hand on the tray."

"It won’t swallow my hand, will it?" Lin Qing complied, still full of worry, "I don’t have any spare parts now..."

"At most, it will return it as is if it’s not fixed."

The tray retracted, and the gate closed immediately afterward.

The three of them waited for about half an hour until they finally heard an electronic voice broadcast, "Hello, guest, the product repair is complete. Please take your item and pay the corresponding fee at the counter."

As soon as the announcement finished, the prosthetic arm was sent out, and it appeared slightly different.

"Is this... my hand?" Lin Qing picked up the arm and examined it with some doubt.

Chen Xuan identified the differences in its appearance—on the previous hand sent in, there were visible interfaces and heat sinks, and at the tiger’s mouth, there was fiber material resembling skin texture. But on this hand, those features had disappeared; if not for the locking mechanism at the severed part, he would have thought it was a real broken arm.

Moreover, not just that, he found there were even nail art on the five fingers!

Is this part of the repair?

"Uh... want to try hooking it up?" Chen Xuan turned his head somewhat nervously, as he had suggested coming here to repair the prosthetic.

Lin Qing tried connecting the arm, activating the self-check program while ramping up the virus protection level to its maximum, but within a minute, a shocked expression appeared on her face.

"It’s really fixed!"

"Is it? That’s great," Liu Shuyue truly rejoiced for her.

Now Chen Xuan turned to doubt instead, "Are you sure?"

"Watch!" Lin Qing rolled up her sleeve, spun her wrist, then with a snap, a folding curved knife shot out from the top of her forearm, the blade glowing with a faint blue light.

"Plasma Knife, functioning normally."

Then she flipped her palm, and an opening in her palm revealed a dark gun barrel.

"Electromagnetic emitter, functioning normally."

Finally, Lin Qing straightened her five fingers, and her nails instantly extended into ten-centimeter claw blades, still in the nail art style, "Finger hooks are fine too. All three weapon systems are functioning normally!"

Chen Xuan and Liu Shuyue were astounded.

Neither of them could have guessed that such a short segment of her arm concealed so many weapons!