Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 866, Section 76: Only Cleaning Up Remains
The group continued on their way, eventually arriving at a ruin that appeared outwardly normal.

Led by the man in the suit and mask, and under the watchful eyes of a hundred ninjas, Karl and his group carefully made their way across the rubble and arrived at a collapsed house that looked no different from its surroundings.

The man in the suit and mask glanced back at them, then took a small device from his pocket.

With a light press of their fingertips, accompanied by an almost imperceptible soft sound, the ground in front of Karl and the others suddenly began to ripple. The optical camouflage gradually faded, the disguise structure quietly moved away, and a hidden entrance leading to the underground was revealed before them.

Without saying much, the group followed the man in the suit and mask, carefully stepping into the hidden passage leading underground.

The walls on both sides of the staircase were made of cold alloy, the overhead lighting strips emitted a faint blue glow, and the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

At the end of the passage was a heavy, airtight door. With a low hiss of a hydraulic device, the door slid open to both sides, revealing a huge space before them.

The first thing that catches the eye is an extremely spacious underground training ground.

The underground training ground was large enough to accommodate a hundred people, and there were several combat robots and exoskeleton devices at the edge of the training ground.

To the side of the training ground was a space separated from the training ground by a layer of transparent bulletproof glass. In that space, one could see some people hurrying around. Judging from their equipment, their armaments varied, and the equipment worn by each person could not be attributed to any single company.

“Karl, those people.”

Jack's words on the channel were answered by Carl: "It should be them, the place is right."

"Move your things over there."

The man in the suit and mask waved his hand, pointing to the space next to the training ground, clearly indicating that Karl and the others should put their things there: "You have ten minutes to get everything done."

Almost simultaneously, a new instruction came through Karl and his team's communicator:
"You will be subject to unified control. After completing your mission, you will immediately proceed to the designated quarantine area for a 72-hour quarantine. Once the quarantine period is over and no abnormalities are confirmed, the restrictions will be lifted, and you will receive a reward for fulfilling your duties."

Clearly, from the moment Karl and his companions stepped into this underground space, the possibility of leaving had been completely eliminated.

Given the tight security and strict control measures in the place, it seems reasonable to arrange a three-day quarantine and review process. The so-called "special quarantine area" is likely a process that many people have gone through before.

The reason why Karl and his new recruits were transferred here was because the armory section was severely understaffed. It is said that after the previous batch of people in charge of the armory finished their mission, they were transferred to the upper floors of the Gemstone Blue Building to serve as guards. That was certainly a promotion, but wasn't it also a change from one kind of surveillance to another?
However, given Hansen's suspicious and cautious nature, if they can really hold out until the end, they might indeed be given important responsibilities.

The premise is that they can safely get through this hurdle.

Once taken into the isolation room, a full examination will be inevitable, including being asked to connect personal devices and have their memory data searched.
Ready to get started.

Needless to say, Karl and his team were already prepared.

Silently, the group pushed the cargo cart toward the large space on the side of the training ground, separated by transparent bulletproof glass.

Behind the glass, the smell of disinfectant seemed even stronger in the air.

"When the fighting starts, remember to find cover and protect yourself as soon as possible," Karl told the wounded "Ghost Hound" member in the channel. "You're injured, so take care of yourself first."

After saying this, just as they were about to cross the passage connecting the training field and the laboratory, Karl's gaze quickly met that of his companions.

“Give me four seconds,” Carl said. “Understood.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Jack and Oliver stumbled as if by accident and bumped into a person pushing a transport cart.

The vehicle lurched to the side, and the heavy cargo box crashed to the ground with a dull thud, scattering metal parts inside and creating a chaotic mess in an instant.

The person pushing the cart instinctively dodged, and Jack and Oliver, who seemed to be hurriedly regaining their balance, formed a temporary visual barrier, completely blocking the view of several of the most critical surveillance cameras on the wall.

"What's going on? Get it cleaned up!" A nearby man shouted as he walked over.

It's now.

Carl, with his back to the center of the chaos, seemed drawn to the unexpected event, but his gaze, taking advantage of the momentary obstruction, clearly saw everything around him, and then, he found it.

Breathe.

With a soft exhale, the world around him seemed to freeze instantly. The shouting of people, the flying metal parts, and the deliberately panicked expressions of his companions—all became slow-motion, almost still images.

In the midst of rapid thought processing, Karl's figure transformed into a blurry, almost imperceptible phantom, detached from its original position.

Instead of rushing towards the door, he suddenly turned sideways and lunged at an alloy wall behind him.

With a slight flick of his wrist, a monomolecular wire popped out, silently lifting a maintenance panel disguised as a structural seam, like a hot knife through butter, revealing a dense array of data cables and power interfaces flashing with various colors.

His movements were so fast that they left afterimages, and at the end of the movement, he connected the monomolecular wire to the interface.

Authorization commands: seize, power circuit, cut off, penetrate terminal, external communication line, cut off, backup power start, prohibit.

In an instant, Karl completed the intrusion by accessing the system, cutting off the power circuit, blocking internal and external communications, and issuing four commands to prevent the logistics power supply from starting.

The fact that he was able to perform such a terrifying computational invasion in an instant did not cause him any physical discomfort; on the contrary, he felt a strange sense of ease.

In less than four seconds, at most less than two seconds, just as the others heard the noise and were about to look in Karl's direction to divert their attention...

*Snap! Crack!*
The entire vast underground space was plunged into darkness when all the lighting systems went out at the same time.

The hum of the equipment stopped abruptly, the emergency red lights didn't even light up, and the dome simulating daylight on the training field in the distance went completely dark. The light in the eyes of the combat robots went out simultaneously, and they stood frozen in place due to the prohibition command from the program.

The absolute silence lasted only a moment before it was ripped apart by sudden shouts of surprise, with almost everyone instinctively letting out a sound of astonishment in the darkness.

In the darkness, Carl pulled out a neurotoxin knife.

Next, all that's left is to clean up.

(End of this chapter)