Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 734, Chapter 148: Tense
Carl was a complete novice when it came to climbing ventilation ducts—or to put it more bluntly, it was the first time in his life he had ever done something like this.

Although he had memorized every movement of crawling through the ventilation ducts in the virtual experience and combat training chip simulation, those narrow passages that shimmered with metallic luster always maintained just the right level of cleanliness in the world constructed by the data flow, and even the simulated dust would be neatly piled up in the corners.

In reality, ventilation ducts present a completely different picture.

Carl still vividly remembers how Oliver looked when he returned from the top of the hill. The usually jovial guy had an unusually serious expression, his brown hair was matted and tangled, and a few strands of dull golden hair could be seen through the gaps between the strands—they were now covered in black oil stains and gleamed eerily under the fluorescent lights, looking like a rag doll stuffed into a barrel of waste oil.

Later, Jack was also coaxed by Oliver to climb up the ventilation duct.

As for the ending? The jacket, rumored to be a gift from his ex-girlfriend, was completely soaked in the smell of rust, mold, and years of accumulated dust. No matter how much Jack scrubbed it, the filth seemed to have grown into the fibers. In the end, the poor jacket was thrown into the incinerator by Misty herself. The stench of burning made people wrinkle their noses even three meters away.

Although Carl wasn't a germaphobe, he still felt somewhat averse to this kind of behavior, which was practically like stuffing himself into grease and dust.

However unwilling he was, Karl knew that he was just making a fuss in his mind. In fact, he was quite adept at climbing the ventilation duct. Almost as soon as the gray-clad man followed his movements into the ventilation duct, Karl followed suit and climbed up.

According to his estimation, the gray-clad man climbing ahead should have already gone deeper, and it should take about the same amount of time for him to climb up.

Although it's unclear what the gray-clad man's purpose is in seeking out the slider, if he intends to harm the slider, then staging a rescue mission wouldn't be out of the question.

Touching the mask that disguised his white face, Carl curled up in the narrow ventilation duct, using his knees and hands as leverage, and slowly moved forward. The coolness of the metal duct walls seeped into his skin through his clothes, and each movement was accompanied by a slight metallic scraping sound.

Surprisingly, the ventilation ducts were much cleaner than expected, with no thick layer of dust as anticipated, only scattered specks of dust.

Carl speculated that there were two possibilities: either Slider's men had recently cleaned the passage, or the person in front had gone through first and taken away most of the dust—just like Oliver and Jack had done before.

This thought suddenly made Karl tense up.

If it's the latter, that's fine. But if it's the former, the ventilation ducts are so clean because the slide rails were specially cleaned when the new base was moved. Given that cautious hacker's personality, he would likely have laid hidden defenses in the ducts.

After all, infiltrating through ventilation ducts is one of the most basic and common infiltration methods in all Mewtwo training and virtual combat tutorials.

Miniature cameras could be hidden in any seam, infrared sensors might be installed around the next corner, and even his current body temperature changes might be being monitored by some kind of biometric system.

Carl's fingers tightened slightly on the metal wall of the ventilation duct, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. He held his breath, listening intently to every subtle sound in the duct—only the rustling of his clothes against the metal as he moved slowly, and the hum of the ventilation system operating from some distant place.

This is so abnormal.

If those devices really existed, the person in front of me should have encountered them before me. But so far, I haven't heard any sound of triggering the traps or sensing anything. Could it be that the person in front of me has already cleared them all out?
If the slider really had various defensive devices in place, and the gray-clad man in front of him cleared them away without making a sound, then the person crawling in front of him might be even more powerful than he imagined.

'Agile and nimble movements, seasoned experience, and not triggering any alarms throughout the entire process. Even Mr. Kenichi Shiro in his youth probably couldn't have achieved this level, right?' Karl quickly compared the known personnel list in his mind. With his current knowledge, among the masters he knew, perhaps only Li De and Kenichi Shiro at his peak could reach this level.

But when Li De first saw the man in gray, he was already certain that he couldn't possibly be here.

That guy might indeed break the agreement to come looking for Sliding, but he had just fought with him, and the gray-clad man's movements and rhythm were completely different from Li De's habitual posture.

As for Kenichi Shiro, although that person's behavior pattern was exactly the same as Mr. Kenichi Shiro's, Mr. Kenichi Shiro's experience was impeccable, but his physical functions could never maintain such youthful agility.

"Skills similar to Mr. Kenichi Shiro's. Could he be one of Arasaka's people, someone who went through the same training process as Mr. Kenichi Shiro?"

Karl was thinking quickly.

The Pheasant Faction doesn't have many elite troops to begin with, and the combat power that can be mobilized has already been brought out by him under the name of the "Wise Squad," so it's unlikely that he would send out personnel at this time.

Although the Pheasant Faction might not be holding back completely from him, after all, only Oda Sandayu truly appreciated him—judging from the sharpness of his movements, the gray-clad man's strength was probably even inferior to Oda Sandayu's.

If Hanako Arasaka truly possessed a master of this caliber, she would never have risked sending additional personnel after already dispatching the Akechi Squad.

So, what's the remaining possibility? Is it a mole planted by Sei-nobu? Or a shadow kept by Arasaka Michiko?
Carl's mind raced, but his movements didn't stop. He crawled forward along the ventilation duct wall, the metal pipe groaning softly beneath his knees. Just as he turned the corner and his head peeked out of the duct opening—

A ray of cold light pierced the darkness.

muzzle.

The dark muzzle of the gun was pointed straight at his forehead.

Clearly, the man in gray had noticed he was being followed and was now crouching in the shadows at the corner of the ventilation duct, waiting for Karl to peek out like a spider waiting for its prey to walk into its net.

The moment Carl saw the gun barrel, the man in gray fired without hesitation.

His gunshot was very soft, clearly specially modified, and the rate of fire was extremely fast. Almost the instant the trigger was pulled, Karl saw the object being fired already arriving in front of him.

This is something that moves so quickly even in a moment when time slows down.

The thing the gray-clad man fired
Tranquilizer bullet?
(End of this chapter)