Miles away from Sasha’s place.The parrot vehicle landed on the parking spot next to the road. It waited for him to step out.Minutes passed, but he didn’t step out.It gave a warning message to Tucker, saying he needed to step out in three more minutes, or he’d be charged another nex.The four-seater parrot rides were the cheapest, costing just one nex per ride no matter where one traveled within the city.Tucker opened his eyes.He read the notification of his sync rate increasing from 0.97 to 0.98.His eyes narrowed. “I was expecting to cross one percent sync rate after absorbing Steel Jackal’s core energy, but this is disappointing.”Tucker believed that Steel Jackal’s soul energy wasn’t the problem. It was likely his own limitations of being an X-grade.“It seems getting past the one percent sync rate won’t be easy. That’s the first biggest wall I need to cross.”The parrot gave another warning and started a timer at the last minute, with an increasing beep sound.“Stop,” Tucker

The Black Ring was managed by the Black Rose guild situated on the twelfth peak in one of the twelve peaks.The robots that were currently active in the Circuit would avoid fighting here. The reason was simple.The risk of losing the robot’s core was high.Any robot with potential was also scouted by the Black Rose guild, and those who refused to join them would be mercilessly destroyed.So, Black Ring was just another way for the Black Rose guild to find the diamonds in the rough and recruit them. The number of robots participating in the circuit was barely fifty percent compared to the ones that were made in total, so it was possible to find capable robots outside the circuit as well.Tucker was unaware of all this information because this wasn’t found anywhere online.Everything related to Black Ring existed only offline. Even the betting was also strictly offline.A female robot wearing a bikini guided Tucker through various hallways and stairways and eventually took him to a room

About fifteen minutes later.One of the referees approached Tucker and whispered in his ear, “You’ve been given the green signal to continue fighting. Be prepared.”“How much money will I earn?” Tucker asked.“The amount will double with every match,” the referee said. “You already fought one match, so you can only fight two more matches since three is the limit per day.”“Can I bet on myself?” Tucker asked.“Of course.”“Great,” Tucker smiled. “Then bet my winnings on myself.”Because all the money was managed offline, Tucker’s first match rewards didn’t go to Sasha’s bank account. They were still held here.A few minutes later.Tucker’s token number 7 was called along with token number 88.Tucker passed by injured participants. “These machines are fighting however they want in these rings, and these fights are not watched by the world. The system governing all the robots is not as inflexible as I thought. This is a good thing. I can use this ‘inch’ to grow stronger.”This time, ther

Tucker was pushed out of the mansion.“If you come near this place again, you will be beaten to pulp,” the guards warned him while smiling like sick bastards.There were some people watching, but Tucker didn’t look the least bit embarrassed.Tucker briefly glanced over his shoulder and remembered the building and the name of the guild.“Black Rose guild… Just enjoy your time. When my time comes, I will crush you.”He walked down the road without looking back.“I told Sasha I’d bring 100,000 nex, but now I don’t have even a single nex. This isn’t good.”As he kept walking, one middle-aged lady saw him and approached him.“I haven’t seen an X-grade recently,” she smirked. “And you’re quite handsome. I like you. Let’s go to my place. I’ll pay you 10 nex an hour.”She touched his crotch and frowned.“Mm? You don’t even have a penis? Or is it hidden?”She kept staring at him. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t you have the ability to talk? Did they not install speech software for you?

The Ghost Edge technique caused the laser blade to emit microscopic vibration pulses millions of times per second, which extended slightly beyond the physical blade, allowing it to slice targets without making direct contact.It was an intermediate assassination technique that could slice through tough armor.Street Ghost had only used this against a handful of targets before. And he succeeded every single time.He expected the same tonight when he swung the sword at Tucker’s neck.However, Street Ghost's blade never reached Tucker's neck.Instead, the microscopic vibration waves carved a groove across the brick wall behind him. Chunks of concrete burst into the alley like shrapnel.Street Ghost's eyes lowered.Tucker had already stepped inside the swordsman's range. Most targets feared getting close to a laser sword, but this one was doing the exact opposite.Steel Ghost immediately twisted his wrist. The humming blade swept downward in an arc that seemed impossible to evade.Tucker