Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 43 Cyber ​​Mental Illness!
"Let's chat? What do you want to talk about?"

While Mercer was speaking, V and Panan had already entered combat mode—in fact, the moment the other side drew their guns, they both instinctively blocked Mercer behind them.

At this moment, Panan held up her pistol, her forehead slightly sweating. At such close range, with the enemy's firepower, she would be riddled with bullets after firing only a few shots.

V looked extremely fierce; she was holding a gun in her right hand and a grenade in her left, giving off a "you'll die if you dare to make a move" vibe.

Claire crouched down behind the bar and shouted, "Where's security?"

Several burly security guards were also rushing over, raising their weapons as they arrived and shouting with grim expressions, "Put the fuck down your guns! If you dare to open fire again, you're all fucking dead!"

Mercer merely stared coldly at the group of mercenaries, his focus actually fixed on the slender man—his Sianwistan was the greatest threat.

Neither Mercer nor the man spoke; they simply stared intently at each other, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense. But after a while, the man suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha!" His laughter was strange, like that of a robot.

At the same time, his eyes were flashing red, and his arms were trembling slightly, as if something was eager to spring out.

"Fenrir?" The burly mercenary noticed something amiss and turned to look. The thin man he called Fenrir was also trembling slightly, his prosthetic eye twitching as he stared intently at Mercer.

"Damn, this idiot cyberbully is about to have a psychotic episode!"

V, being knowledgeable and worldly-wise, widened his eyes, shouted, and grabbed Mercer, trying to walk away.

The security guards were on high alert, unlocking all their weapons and activating their cybernetic bodies. Even the other mercenaries who were watching the commotion nearby changed their expressions and retreated to a distance.

Mercer hesitated for a moment – ​​should he upload the program now to eliminate the other party?

Uploading the program would undoubtedly provoke this madman immediately.

If we can't hack him in a short time, then this madman's target will likely shift to him immediately.

The distance is now only five or six meters. For the wearer of the Sianwistan, once the Sianwistan is activated, the opponent can reach him in less than a second.

The opponent was equipped with military-grade ICE equipment. Without server support, Mercer would probably have to burn his brain to red-hot levels to have any chance of defeating the opponent in a short time.

In this situation, he didn't know if he had any strength left to move.

After a brief moment of thought, Mercer chose to immediately step back and create some distance.

"Fenrir! Damn it, quick, give him a sedative!"

The burly mercenary shouted, and one of his teammates, who was carrying a shotgun, immediately reached out and took out a syringe from his waist.

However, just before the teammate was about to inject the drug into Fenrir's body, Fenrir suddenly turned his head sharply—his hand gripped his teammate's wrist at a speed that even Mercer could only vaguely see.

"Spraying pesticides? No, we can't spray pesticides, we can't stop."

Fenrir's eyes began to tremble violently as he stared intently at his teammate, as if he were looking at a completely unfamiliar enemy.

The burly mercenary behind him suddenly reached out and gave Fenrir a bear hug. Although his arm was essentially a grenade launcher, his disguise as a gorilla arm wasn't just for show.

The muscle-enhancing components made the muscles in his arms bulge out at this moment, and deep black veins were visible beneath the faintly bluish skin.

At that moment, the burly mercenary used all his strength to pry Fenrir's arm open, holding him down while shouting, "Quick, administer the medicine! Quick!"

Meanwhile, Mercer also sensed an opportunity—taking advantage of the moment when the other party was restrained by their own people, he began to hack in.

Thanks to that provocative hacker, Mercer is now inside the other party's internal network, so instead of starting by cracking the network, he can directly upload the program for the prosthetic body's malfunction to Fenrir.

His brain was racing, and his head started to heat up almost the instant he sent the program.

All the computing power was put into the delivery of the program, and the ICE program in Fenrir's head began to run wildly.

The ICE program installed in Fenrir's brain is a specialized hardware covering the frontal cortex. This prosthetic form of military ICE is essentially a miniature server specifically designed for ICE countermeasures.

Mercer's eyes flashed with countless blue data. In that instant, his attention was highly focused, and he didn't even care about walking.

All the computing power in my mind has been used to break through the opponent's ICE and deploy the program inside.

three seconds.

He needs at least three seconds!

Mercer could sense that his brain could do more, but his body temperature was not supporting him in doing so.

If he were to accelerate further and fully unleash his brain's potential under brain-computer interface overclocking, he might faint before Fenrir or burn his own brain!

"Damn it... he crushed my wrist!" The mercenary holding the injection took a step back in pain, the injection slowly falling from his hand.

Just at this moment.

Fenrir's one eye was strangely fixed on the trajectory of the injected drug as it fell, while the other was staring straight in Mercer's direction.

"Whoosh!"

Just before the injected medicine hit the ground, a strange whooshing sound rang out, followed by a barely audible cracking sound.

The companion whose wrist had been crushed by Fenrir didn't even finish speaking before his eyes widened slightly, and he lost the ability to speak.

Two lines of blood appeared on his neck and waist, and the next moment, his whole body was cut into three pieces.

Fenrir spread his arms, and two mantis blades sprang out menacingly from his arms, now stained with blood.

"No! No, no, no!!"

Another mercenary companion, wielding a rifle, let out a desperate cry, raising his rifle high and aiming it at Fenrir, but Fenrir had already vanished from the spot.

At the same time, the two arms of the burly mercenary also disappeared.

His two massive prosthetic arms were first severed by Fenrir, who had activated S.A.S ...

"Fenrir!!!" the burly mercenary roared one last time, trying to bring his companion back to his senses.

But Fenrir burst into maniacal laughter. He seemed to say something, but in his accelerated state, his words sounded like incomprehensible noise.

The terrifying thing about cyberpsychosis is that after they go insane, they often become even stronger than usual!
Fenrir's cybernetic safety protocols all failed, and in his madness, all of his cybernetic devices were operating beyond their limits, causing his body's automatic protection mechanisms to almost completely malfunction.

Panan noticed that Mercer's steps suddenly slowed and his eyes were gleaming. Realizing that he was probably hacking, he immediately shouted, "V!"

Without hesitation, V immediately drew his pistol and aimed it at Fenrir in the distance.

Fenrir, meanwhile, had already taken a step toward Mercer.

Perhaps it was a fraction of a second—his figure left a trail of afterimages in the air as he flew toward Mercer, who simply stared expressionlessly at his approaching figure.

Panan bravely stood in front of Mercer, but Mercer suddenly reached out and pulled and pushed her towards the bar.

She was brave, but at her level, she was no match for the enemy equipped with S.A.R.S.A.!

Caught off guard, Mercer shoved her onto the bar counter, nearly knocking her over. Luckily, Claire reacted quickly and pulled her behind the counter. The bar's security guards opened fire, but their bullets were no match for Fenrir's incredible speed and elusive movements.

As it turned out, Mercer's actions towards Panan were absolutely correct. He grabbed Kenshin with one hand, pulled the trigger to build up power, and with the other hand, he hastily pulled out a monomolecular line and swept it outwards.

A blur flashed past him—Fenrir was forced back by the sharp monomolecular lines, and even now, his beast-like instincts still retained a certain fighting spirit.

But just as he charged toward Mercer again, a roar rang out from his side.

"die!"

Despite her poor prosthetics and lack of mercenary experience, V's amazing physical talent and the muscle memory she had accumulated during street fights allowed her to react even faster than Mercer at this moment.

Unlike Mercer's humble weapon, her guns cannot unleash their true power without charging.

V pulled the trigger, and the somewhat worn-out kinetic pistol in his hand, codenamed 'Freedom' and introduced by Constitutional Military Industry in the early 21st century, suddenly fired a large-caliber bullet.

Mercer had to admit that he had underestimated this seemingly ordinary gun.

At least for this moment, Fenrir, who had bypassed the monomolecular line and was trying to leap back to finish off Mercer, was hit by V's shot and was knocked to the side.

An unusually caliber special bullet was firmly embedded in Fenrir's temple.

Although it only embedded itself in his subcutaneous armor and failed to penetrate the metal skull that had been struck with a 'clang', the enormous impact still caused Fenrir to lose his balance.

But Fenrir still struggled, shaking his head before staggering and continuing to rush toward Mercer's original position.

V reacted swiftly, reaching out to pull Mercer, whose movements had slowed due to his focus on hacking, into her arms.

At that moment, Mercer's program finally broke through his ICE program and locked Fenrir's prosthetic body.

Fenrir's speed suddenly slowed down. His arms were still outstretched, and the Mantis Blade was determined to pierce Mercer and V together, but his two modified legs suddenly got tied in knots.

Because of the sudden malfunction of his prosthetic body, he rolled and slid off the ground.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of electromagnetic propulsion rang out at that moment. Mercer's pistol was aimed at Fenrir's head, and the electromagnetically propelled tungsten-tipped bullet accurately hit Fenrir's temple as he glided across the ground.

Unlike V's bullets, the fully charged tungsten-tipped bullets not only pierced the opponent's skull with their powerful penetrating force, but the electromagnetic energy they carried also triggered a small EMP explosion inside Fenrir's head.

Fenrir convulsed and froze on the spot, his body trembling, before finally collapsing to the ground, unable to move any further.

In the blink of an eye, this series of actions took less than two seconds!

Panan, who had rolled behind the bar, didn't even have time to get up and fire his gun before he saw Mercer and V kill Fenrir in the blink of an eye, as if they had rehearsed it countless times.

Mercer pushed her away and used a monomolecular line to force Fenrir back. V raised his gun and shot him in the head. Fenrir fell to the side, and after getting up and taking a step, he suddenly lost control of his body and slid to the ground towards Mercer.

Mercer's pistol was fully charged. As V pulled him away from Fenrir, Mercer delivered a fatal shot during the retreat, smashing his head in.
This scene unfolded so smoothly that not only Panan, but even many of the mercenaries who had just drawn their guns were secretly shocked.

Mercer was panting heavily, leaning against V—to be honest, he looked rather petite in V's arms, who was a good 1.76 meters tall.

His head felt a little hot and he felt a little dizzy.

His body temperature rose several degrees in just a few seconds, and Mercer gasped for breath, but his body temperature was still difficult to cool down.

His prosthetic body limited his ability to perform.

If he had a cybernetic suit like the Lark's, he might be able to break through Fenrir's ICE in just one second.

But now, in order to avoid burning himself into an idiot, he can only go this far.

Even though this scene was already astonishing enough—a hacker equipped only with Arasaka's Mk2, without a professional heat dissipation prosthetic—

In just 3.5 seconds, while multitasking, he took down a cyber madman wearing a military-grade ICE prosthetic body!
V was also taking deep breaths, but her eyes were full of excitement. She laughed loudly, one arm around Mercer, and the other hand fired three more shots at Fenrir with a pistol.

"Go to hell! What's the point of installing so much scrap metal?"

Mercer felt something soft and bouncy against the back of his neck, rubbing against him as V laughed.

That's a great height! It's so good that you haven't developed yet. It would be even better if you could be hugged by V from a different angle. Who says being short has no advantages?
"A, you're pretty awesome too! Your reaction time and marksmanship don't seem like those of a hacker!"

V's excitement hadn't subsided yet; she wrapped her arms around Mercer's neck, and they were so close that she forgot to let go.

She turned to look at the burly man whose arms were still gushing blood, and spat: "This is your boss? Idiot, call me over for another drink?"

The big guy could only let out low groans of pain, while the security guard beside him felt both relieved and troubled.

"Put all the guns away! I need to ask Boss Rogge what to do," a burly security guard said nervously, turning his head and pointing his gun at V, who was still holding a pistol and looked like he wanted to continue the gunfight.

V's confidence has returned considerably. Facing the menacing security guard, he shows no fear whatsoever, merely offering a disdainful smile before putting the gun back in his pocket.

Then, she saw Mercer in her arms turn his head and look at her calmly, leaning on her shoulder: "I said, V, I don't mind if you hold me like a girl in private."

V then realized his mistake, quickly let go, and gave an awkward laugh: "I got a little excited."

Mercer then straightened up and turned to look back—her attire was quite concealing, and it was hard to tell she was so well-endowed.

V looked left and right, pretending to be busy, and quickly changed the subject: "Hey, you did pretty well, right?"

"Not bad, looks like I didn't choose the wrong person."

Mercer nodded and gave a positive review.

In this world, ordinary people are often like lambs to the slaughter when faced with someone equipped with a Svenwissin prosthetic body.

Forget about counterattacking, they can't even see the other party's movements clearly.

If a mercenary without a reaction-type prosthetic body can clearly see what the opponent is doing when facing such an opponent, then he is already a very good mercenary.

But only someone like V, who has no prosthetic body but can not only see his opponent clearly but also fight against him, can be called a true genius.

Mercer turned his head and saw that the five-man mercenary team was completely destroyed. The hacker was still lying on the ground twitching, probably because his brain had been overheated by Mercer's actions.

Fenrir, on the other hand, was completely dead; his brain had been electrocuted by the EMP and turned into a smoking pig brain.

The burly mercenary's two large arms lay scattered on the ground, and blood was still spurting from his shoulders.

The one who initially tried to administer Fenrir medication with a shotgun was cut into three pieces and died instantly.

Only the last rifleman knelt on the ground, his face filled with despair, emitting what sounded like a sob—in the blink of an eye, a mercenary squad that would be remembered in the afterlife and revered as 'Big Brother' in the streets had vanished.
And so it came to an end.

Mercer shook his head, and his heart, which had been pounding rapidly, finally calmed down again.

Oh shit
This is Night City, a place where you never know when an accident might happen.

That's fucking awesome!
(End of this chapter)