Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 87 Wanted in the City
When the soldiers from the military science and biotechnology departments looked up, they only saw the bullets they had fired raining down on them again.

The miniature missiles instantly overturned the armored vehicles that the soldiers had used as their last cover, leaving only three Behemoths to barely protect the last dozen or so soldiers.

One of the Behemoth vehicles suddenly opened its rear door, and two burly men dressed in centaur armor raised handheld heavy machine guns at Mercer, who was attacking from the air. These machine guns had an astonishingly large caliber and were generally used on infantry fighting vehicles.

But with the help of the centaur armor, they stood firmly in place and began to fire continuously at Mercer in the air.

Mercer did not rush forward, nor did he activate the gravity device again. Instead, he used high-speed maneuvering in the air to dodge bullets.

He is waiting for an opportunity.

The soldiers on the ground finally had a chance to catch their breath. They shouted and organized a counterattack. One of them, a high-ranking agent equipped with S.A.S ...

Mercer had to activate the gravity device again to slow down the bullets, while the soldiers below began firing wildly, causing his battery to deplete rapidly.

If he didn't need to worry about the equipment being transported inside the vehicle, Mercer could simply dive down and use his hand-held gravity device to fire a few brutal gravity shots to end the battle.

Aside from enemies equipped with Sianwistan, no one can escape this area-of-effect heavy attack.

[Mercer: If we don't act soon, my buddy's going to be riddled with bullets.]

[V: Don't rush, don't rush! Aimed. Coming!]

Suddenly, a pistol exploded from the ground.

The high-ranking agent equipped with S.A.S ...

In the blink of an eye, a blood crater the size of a bowl was blasted out, and V, laughing loudly and holding a smoking pistol, charged in from the rear, a position completely unexpected by the military technology.

At the same time, Mann, Dorio, and Rebecca also raised their guns and fired from the disguised private cars, immediately putting the soldiers under direct fire with nowhere to escape.

V patiently waited for the gunfire to subside before charging suddenly toward the Behemoths. Two soldiers equipped with centaurs were already unable to stand up from the flank attack, and the weaknesses of the centaur exoskeleton were now fully exposed.

As a type of assisted exoskeleton, even with optional upper body armor, the soldier's upper body still doesn't receive much protection.

One of the soldiers braved the hail of bullets and began to fight back. His thick leather armor, helmet, and bulletproof vest withstood several heavy machine gun shots, but being able to withstand the bullets did not mean he could absorb the impact. He was knocked off balance and could not aim at all.

Until a bullet tore through his armor, and like dominoes began to fall, countless bloody holes appeared on his body in the blink of an eye, until the heavy machine gun shredded his upper body into dust.

As for Mercer—he took the opportunity to begin his dive.

Just as V was trying to take down a Centaur at close range, he shouted, "Get out of the way!"

V reacted extremely quickly, moving through the hail of bullets with ease. She could even see the bullets in the air and use her mantis knife to slash through some unavoidable barrages.

Ordinary soldiers couldn't even dream of stopping her, let alone attack her. And when Mercer fell like a meteor, this cruel ambush officially came to an end.

Mercer opened his palm, blue light surging from it, and the gravity device emitted circular gravity waves. The soldier equipped with the centaur exoskeleton didn't even have time to scream before being crushed by the gravity.

A circular cracked crater appeared on the ground. The soldier's appearance seemed relatively intact, but in reality, all his internal organs had been crushed. Only his tough bulletproof vest and exoskeleton held him up and prevented him from turning into a puddle of mud.

Then Mercer spread his arms, rose into the air, stepped on the hood of a Behemoth, and once again unleashed his gravity on the Behemoth that was trying to ram him and escape into the distance.

With precise control, the gravity circle only hit the cockpit, but it still slammed Behemoth's entire head to the ground, causing the entire vehicle to tilt.

Mercer quickly stopped: "V, it's up to you!"

Precision instruments are easily damaged by even a slight bump, and he can't get the original parts to repair them.

V immediately began to check the situation inside each of the Behemoth vehicles, clearing out the soldiers who were hiding inside and dared not come out.

Meanwhile, Mercer leisurely cleaned up the battlefield, and when he saw anyone still breathing, he gave them a quick death.

This ambush was even faster than dealing with another mercenary group. It has to be said that, given the element of surprise, such a scene is far too cruel in modern warfare.

Once it was confirmed that no soldiers had survived, Mercer immediately sent a message to Parnan.

[Mercer: Here to collect the goods.]

[Panan: Received, coming right back. I went and there was quite a commotion!]

Mercer didn't reply to her at first, but turned to look at Rebecca and Mann: "Are you two alright?"

He had just seen soldiers raising their guns and firing back at them.

"It's alright! I'm perfectly fine!" Rebecca smiled and raised her gun. Mercer looked closely and saw that although there were two tears in her clothes, her skin only had abrasions.

It's true that it's difficult for ordinary standard firearms to directly cause any damage to Rebecca, who is wearing advanced subcutaneous nano-armor and a bulletproof vest.

Mann remarked with some emotion, "This thing you've got is really unreasonable. What if Arasaka were to actually develop and deploy this thing on a large scale?"

"Forget about it. This thing might have even higher requirements for the human body than Adam's Hammer set, and the cost is outrageously high. Just this one gravity device is enough to arm a dozen high-level agents equipped with S.A.S ...

As Mercer spoke, he felt pain all over his body—constantly accelerating and decelerating, and the armor was so heavy, with the mechanical power coming in so slowly, that he felt like his internal organs had been on a roller coaster several times.

And to be honest, this equipment is okay against ordinary soldiers and firepower, but it's not enough against soldiers equipped with S.A.S ...

His opponent could easily keep up with his acceleration, and due to the delay caused by his equipment, he found it difficult to hit his opponent.

If you don't get close, the enemy can fire at you from a distance, but if you get close, you're not fast enough. It seems that in the end, you can only rely on wide-area firepower to take down the enemy, but unfortunately, this kind of high-area gravity attack has a delay.
What's even more deadly is that this weapon system is actually only capable of air-to-ground attacks, or more precisely, only gravity attacks from top to bottom.

It can only be said that the technology of gravity devices and flying armor is amazing, but its practical application is still too limited.

He can handle taking down some easy targets, but if he faces opponents like Adam Hammer or V, Mercer estimates that if he dares to land and fight head-on, he'll soon turn into Mercer-chan.

In the distance, Adcado's vehicle was already speeding towards them. Before they arrived, Mercer greeted V first, then immediately returned to the hacker car, took off his helmet, and disconnected the cable from the exoskeleton.

Lucy frowned and said, "Aren't we going to remove the exoskeleton now?"

“It’s not time yet,” Mercer said, sitting cross-legged on the ground, trying to calm his breathing.

Because the exoskeleton's coverage affected the heat dissipation function of his prosthetic body, he reached out and pointed to the water bottle on the car. Qi Wei understood and handed it to him. Mo Se drank a few sips and then poured the rest onto the exoskeleton.

The compressor at the back of the machine made a hissing sound, and white mist rose up.

Mercer didn't care at all. He simply stretched his body to make sure the exoskeleton wasn't damaged by the bullets, and then watched as V and Panan and the others began to quickly clean up the battlefield.

Panan and his team quickly moved the equipment out of Beamonli. To save time, they even rented an exoskeleton for construction work.

This allows them to quickly and manually transfer heavy goods onto their small trucks.

Once the goods were unloaded, the vehicles turned around and left the bad soil, having already found a road that could barely be traversed.

They would detour from the suburban landfill into the city, then switch to other transport vehicles, secretly sending the goods back to Badlands before transferring them to Dogtown.

This is to prevent biotechnology and military science from identifying them through screening methods later.

Meanwhile, Morning Star was also reporting to Mercer.

[Morning Star: Support vehicles for biotechnology and military technology have departed. Please evacuate the battlefield as soon as possible.]

Mercer: Understood.

[Morning Star: I suspect Faraday has already reported the situation to Arasaka. A hovercar has been detected moving out of the Arasaka Building, its target possibly being to confirm your identity and locate the exoskeleton.]

Mercer curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.

[Mercer: Arasaka, biotechnology, military science, Night City is quite lively tonight.]

[Morning Star: You should retreat immediately.]

Mercer: Understood.

[Morning Star: Dangerous targets have been highlighted on the map for you. To avoid exposing our permissions with NCPD, the blocking of alarm lines has been removed.]

Mercer: Understood.

Before everyone could catch their breath, they heard Mercer's voice coming from the squad voice chat.

[Mercer: The enemy's reinforcements have departed.]

[V: Received, currently delivering the bomb to Behemoth. If you can't manage, you can go with Panan and the others first?]

[Mercury: Ha, it's rare to get to fight alongside you guys head-on, I can't leave such an exciting thing for you.]

Mercer turned to look at Qiwei and Lucy, who were both sitting quietly in the back of the car watching him. Pila, with a cigar in her mouth, was sitting in the driver's seat, still fiddling with the captured missile launcher.

"Pira, it's time to go."

After he finished speaking, Pila gave a thumbs up and said, "No problem!"

After checking several cameras with her laptop, Lucy said, "There's nothing unusual in the safe house. We can proceed as planned, shake off our pursuers, change vehicles, and leave."

"Then we'd better hurry up."

Mercer said.

V: All done, let's go!

Mercer patted the driver's seat, and Pira nodded and started the car.

The vehicle returned to the highway.

Mercer knew very well that the Fire Seed Squad's identity could not be kept secret in this operation, which was why he had to go to great lengths to contact his inside contact within the Military Science Department in advance.

At this point, the mission was more than halfway complete. All that remained was to deal with Diana Kuno, and the military science investment would be completely wasted.

Despite offending biotechnology and military science in one fell swoop, and even being exposed to Arasaka's view because of this exoskeleton, Mercer was not worried.

To put it bluntly, in Night City, offending one or two companies doesn't matter. As long as you still have value to them, you can talk about anything by offering benefits.

"Just drive straight into the city like this?" Pila asked, looking at the route displayed on her prosthetic eye.

But from the driver's seat came Polaris's voice: "Yes, please don't worry about my driving plan."

At that moment, V and Mann followed in their previously disguised private cars.

While driving side-by-side, Rebecca, in the passenger seat, rolled down the window and grinned at Pila in the driver's seat of the hacker car: "Not bad today, you bastard."

"Ha! You don't need to tell me!" Pila had a blast today, sniping and shooting rockets.

Rebecca then asked, "Where's Mercer? Is he injured?"

"Damn it! I knew it! He didn't even chip a single piece of paint!" Pila said irritably.

Rebecca then smiled and waved her hand, rolling up the car window again.

At this moment, the Adka people who were blocking the road also began to retreat, but the roads out of the city were still congested, while the roads into the city were clear.

Mercer and his companions sat in the car and drove smoothly toward Night City.

In the sky, a hovercar emblazoned with a military technology logo sped past. Mann, sitting in his own vehicle, clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "We can just go like this?"

"Mercer blocked the cameras and alarm signals, so they probably only received a distress signal from a transport team."

V, sitting in the back seat, said, "They probably think the fighting is still going on."

Mann nodded, looking around warily. The two vehicles they were using, disguised as private cars, did not have autonomous driving capabilities.

But before they could even enter the city, a blockade line urgently formed by the NCPD appeared before them.

Several police cars were parked across the road into the city, and several NCPD officers were hurriedly setting up a border cordon.

Mann's expression changed slightly: "What do we do? They've blocked the road."

V's prosthetic eye gleamed slightly, and then Mercer gave him an affirmative answer.

"Charge!" V said simply and directly.

"Charge?" Mann looked at V in disbelief, but then he saw the hacker car next to him suddenly accelerate.

When the NCPD saw the hacker car rushing towards them without slowing down at all, they were immediately frightened and hurriedly dodged to both sides.

"Dispatch! Dispatch! This is 621, someone is breaking through the checkpoint! Need backup! Repeat! Need backup!"

Several NCPD officers raised their pistols in an attempt to intercept them, but instead were met with various rifles raised from the windows of several vehicles.

In particular, the sight of Rebecca laughing as she raised a heavy machine gun with one arm and fired it into the air immediately terrified the men so much that they didn't dare to lift their heads.

Earning only a few thousand euros a month, what kind of life are you living like this!
The NCPD chose to cower, and the cordon that hadn't even been set up became a joke. Pila drove her hacker car and ruthlessly rammed into two police cars blocking the road.

The van, which looked ordinary, had actually been modified with a new engine and thick armor, and it could easily smash through two police cars.

The private car carrying Mann and his companions sped into the city along the safety lane that Pila had created.

Once they entered the city streets, the traffic was surprisingly smooth – Venus had already controlled the traffic flow with traffic lights, providing Mercer with a high-speed passage.

[Morning Star: NCPD notified the military science personnel, and their hovercraft has turned back.]

Mercer: Understood.

He sat in the hacker's car, turning to look at Lucy: "Are there any drones left?"

“There’s only one reconnaissance drone left.” Lucy quickly checked the inventory.

Mercer smirked: "Then let's use this drone to give the military a scare and tell them not to come too fast."

Lucy understood immediately. After opening the car door and launching the drone, she plugged the brain-computer interface into the laptop, her prosthetic eye flashing as she connected to the drone.

The reconnaissance drone took off high and flew toward the road behind it.

On a military science vehicle in the distance, a senior agent was making a phone call with a grim expression.

"I know! I'm leading special agents to apprehend the suspect. I understand, yes, we will definitely catch him."

"Drone! I'm going to activate EMP!" the co-pilot on the hovercar suddenly shouted.

"Shoot it down with the vehicle-mounted machine gun!"

"Can't shoot it down! Damn it, I have to activate EMP! Prepare for an emergency landing!"

The car immediately erupted into chaos.

As the EMP device on the hovercraft was activated, the drone in the air burst into sparks, crashed to the ground, and burst into flames.

The pilot was taken aback, but instead of feeling relieved, he asked warily, "The enemy has confirmed our situation with reconnaissance drones! Where is the ground support?"

"Traffic jam! Damn it, Night City is a nightmare tonight, there are red lights and traffic jams everywhere!"

The co-pilot was cursing.

The agent sitting in his seat angrily clenched his fist: "What the hell is the NCPD doing? Where are the traffic control personnel?"

"The NCPD is refusing to cooperate. It feels like someone gave them a heads-up. Look at those guys blocking the road, there's not even an armored vehicle!"

The driver spoke with a serious expression.

Then, the others in the car exchanged glances and gasped: "Is it that idiot Arasaka again?"

"Idiot Arasaka! Idiot Spark Squad, idiot A, idiot K, damn it! Damn it! A bunch of idiots!" Faraday angrily flung the coffee cup in his hand away, smashing it to the ground and shattering it into pieces.

At this moment, news reports were already being broadcast on television. News media had received news of a large-scale gunfight outside Night City long ago and began heading straight for the highway outside the city.

Some people had received advance notice from the NCPD that a group of audacious individuals had wiped out a military science and biotechnology transport convoy, and were now brazenly driving into the city.

After obtaining the vehicle information through the NCPD, reporters all over the city were trying to find the vehicles and the identities of the group of people.

For a moment, the host on the screen spoke with a serious expression as he relayed the news received by the frontline reporters, making it seem as if war was imminent.

Faraday's eyes continued to flash with incoming call notifications. He took a deep breath, forcibly controlled his emotions, and answered the call.

Chris's voice was cold: "Faraday, I remember we agreed to settle the battle outside the city—do you know how many citizens witnessed a 'steel warrior' in the sky wiping out the military science and biotechnology transport convoy?"

"But the mission was still accomplished." Faraday spoke casually, feigning complete control: "We've taken care of the biotechnology and military science convoys."

Should I praise you?

Chris sneered, then suddenly raised his voice: "Your bunch of idiot mercenaries are running around the city right now! They're probably carrying our equipment!"
"If they get caught by military or biotechnology personnel, or if reporters photograph them in their exoskeletons, you're in big trouble! Faraday!"

Faraday was also suffering in silence, unable to express his bitterness—he wished Mercer and his group would die right now.

Faraday calmly replied, "They have their own evacuation routes. We just need to clean up their mess and then retrieve the exoskeleton."

"You'd better keep this in mind! I've already spoken with the director of the NCPD. Today, the NCPD will only pretend to sabotage the military science, but you must guarantee that the exoskeleton will be recovered later!"

Chris said in a deep voice, "We're not afraid of the Military Science finding out who made it, but this exoskeleton absolutely cannot fall into their hands. Do you understand?"

“Understood, I will retrieve this equipment immediately afterward,” Faraday said, narrowing his eyes.

After hanging up the phone, Faraday was no longer in such a hurry. He paced back and forth, lost in thought, and finally made a call to Mercer.

Thank goodness, he finally answered. [A: Busy, get to the point.]

[Faraday: Your exoskeleton has been exposed. Now Arasaka and the Military Science Institute are chasing you. Get out of danger quickly, then hand over the exoskeleton to me, and I'll take care of your pursuers.]

[A: Let's escape first.]

[Faraday: No, come now. Give me the stuff, and I'll help you disappear without a trace.]

[A: That depends on us getting out safely first.]

Faraday keenly sensed that the other party might have ulterior motives.

No, that's too calm.
This guy is so calm!

[Faraday: You think you can hide in Dogtown and Arasaka and the Military Science Institute can't touch you?! You're carrying Arasaka's experimental equipment!]

[Faraday: You don't even need Arasaka to lift a finger; the Military Science Academy will have Hansen skin you alive in Dogtown! Come find me now, I can help you!]

[Faraday: Where are you planning to evacuate to? Are you sure it's safe?]

[A: It's definitely safe. I'll contact you when I'm done with my work.]

Mercer hung up the phone immediately after speaking.

Faraday kicked out angrily again—he had a premonition that he had been tricked.

Should I wait until he's done with his work before contacting me? By then, he'll probably either ask for an exorbitant price or disappear without a trace!

No, we absolutely cannot wait until they are ready before we go looking for them; by then, we probably won't be able to catch them at all!

They can take the equipment and resell it to Kangtao, or even the Military Science, but what about him? He'll have to bear the wrath of Arasaka!
Faraday immediately began contacting his familiar mercenaries, loudly issuing requests.

"Capture the Fireseed Squad! Recover one exoskeleton suit, and the reward is three million euros! Whoever catches them gets to keep them!"

After Faraday finished issuing the commission, he was still not satisfied. He immediately sent messages to several middlemen he knew, with only one goal—to get back Mercer and the equipment he had!

He no longer expected to have a proper conversation with Mercer. Regardless of what the other party was thinking, he now wanted to take control of the situation!
Faraday, his face grim, even used his own channels to issue arrest warrants to various gangs.

As a result, not only mercenaries, but also various gangs received wanted notices for the Fire Seed Squad within minutes.

The Vortex Gang, the Animal Gang, the Voodoo Gang.
Suddenly, the entire Night City became lively.

Three million euros!

This sum of money might be nothing more than a casual remark to Mercer, but it was a huge amount of money for those gang members and mercenaries!

You can get three million just by capturing a small squad of mercenaries and recovering a set of equipment?

I've never seen such a profitable business!
The news of the Fire Seed Squad spread throughout the city in the blink of an eye.

Once he finished all that, Faraday immediately began preparing the hovercar and evacuation route.

He needs to prepare to flee.

If the exoskeleton can be retrieved successfully, he might be able to have a proper talk with Arasaka. But if it can't be retrieved, then Chris will be left to suffer alone.

He knew all too well how these corporate dogs behaved—if he were to spread the news so openly now, Arasaka would definitely know that the situation was out of control, and at this moment, he was just as dangerous as the members of the Fire Seed Squad.

Faraday had to ensure his own survival first.

Anyone who dares to criticize the company's products is practically asking for trouble!
Inside the Arasaka Corporation, Agent Chris was utterly dumbfounded.

He looked at the report from his subordinates and immediately called Faraday—but the outcome was obvious; Faraday simply told him that he would retrieve the equipment as soon as possible.

But Chris, who had already learned from his subordinates that Faraday had issued a 'kill order,' was well aware that the situation was already out of control.

Faraday Future, that idiot, hired a bunch of unreliable guys. Although they completed the mission, they couldn't retrieve the exoskeleton!

"Damn it! Notify the agents, we need to bring Faraday and those guys back!"

Chris immediately stood up, unable to remain seated in the office any longer: "Go, go request backup!"

Before Chris could even leave the house, his boss, Arthur Jenkins, called.

“If the stuff falls into the hands of the military, you’re finished, Chris.”

Arthur's words were cold: "You know the company's procedures very well."

"Boss, you have to help me," Chris pleaded humbly. "We still have a chance, as long as we can catch those mercenaries in time!"

“That’s your problem.” Arthur remained indifferent, simply stating, “I will grant you the authority to act, but that’s all.”

I told you not to work with those guys in the project's development team, but unfortunately, you didn't listen to me.

"If something goes wrong..." Chris didn't finish his sentence.

Arthur rudely interrupted, "Then you should communicate with the project leader. I only approved your mission to sabotage military science and biotechnology cooperation. The specific action plan is your responsibility as the senior special agent captain."

Upon hearing this, Chris knew he had been abandoned.

He hung up the phone with a deathly pale face, then gritted his teeth and immediately called the person in charge of the Prosthetic Body Project.

"Something went wrong! The mercenaries Faraday hired were unreliable; they ran off with the exoskeleton, and now we can't retrieve the equipment directly."

Chris waited patiently until the person on the other end of the phone finished hurling a few angry words before saying, "Yes, we need to leave now to arrest them. Don't worry, I'll do it as soon as possible. Yes, it's all Faraday's fault."

After finally hanging up the phone, Chris let out a heavy sigh of relief, then cursed under his breath and immediately began to move to arrest the person.

If we can't catch that guy today, he's finished!
[Morning Star: Congratulations! Our Spark Team has finally become famous!]

[Mercer: How much is the bounty?]

[Morning Star: Three million euros.]

[Mercer: Only three million? Faraday is really disappointing.]

Mercer gave a mocking smile.

[Morning Star: Your information and that of your team members have been leaked. Please be extra careful from now on. Also, I must remind you that Arasaka has deployed two more hovercars.]

[Mercer: No big deal. Once Faraday gets away, this bounty will be a joke. If Agent Arasaka wants to find this exoskeleton, then let them have a good try.]

[Morning Star: You should worry about your own situation first—your vehicle information has been exposed, and now you're in the news.]

At this moment, the Fire Seed team's vehicle was already on the expressway, heading towards the evacuation point they had prepared in advance in Santo Domingo.

The main reason for setting the location so far away was to use Mercer and his group as bait to cover Adcardo's people as they quietly moved the goods away.

Otherwise, if that group were to begin a thorough search, even the Adka people who fled from the Badlands would have no chance of escaping their sight.

If Mercer really wanted to conceal her identity, she would have already evacuated from the Badlands with V and the others. Why would she have forced her way through the checkpoint and headed towards the city?

He deliberately acted as bait, drawing the attention of the entire city so that Adcado's men could secretly send the goods away.

By the time military scientists and biotechnology researchers discovered that the equipment had not been completely destroyed, but rather that some of it had been taken away, the Adka people had already vanished without a trace.

"Holy crap! Mercer! A helicopter! Holy crap. I haven't seen one of these in years!"

Pila suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Lucy walked nervously from the back of the car to the front passenger seat and looked out the window: "It's News Channel 54's helicopter!"

"We're on TV!" Mercer laughed and picked up his laptop, playing news footage from Channel 54.

At that moment, what appeared on the television screen were two Mercer cars, one in front of the other, driving on the city expressway.

The female reporter in the news was still shouting loudly: "What you see on camera now is the robber's vehicle. The NCPD is currently doing its best to apprehend them, but due to traffic conditions, it is temporarily unable to restrict their movement!"
Judging from their direction of movement, they are most likely heading east of the city!

But just a few minutes into filming, a hovercar suddenly appeared on the hill. The helicopter pilot swerved to avoid it, nearly causing the reporters and photographers who had opened the cabin to film to fall out.

"Damn it! What are you trying to do?!" the reporter shouted in a panic.

The hovercars, however, stubbornly blocked their way.

How could Arakasaka possibly allow the news channel to broadcast Mercer and his gang live without restraint?

What if Mercer flies out in his exoskeleton?
That thing probably even has Arasaka's logo printed on it!
If News Channel 54 captures the news of 'Arasaka's Super Mech Sweeping Through Night City,' then it won't be long before the Military Science Department naturally moves the Demon Lizard into Night City!

Arasaka doesn't want the situation to escalate again, nor does he want the military science team to obtain irrefutable evidence that Arasaka was involved in this matter.

The best way is to capture Mercer and his group before all this happens, then retrieve the armor, and hold a press conference in advance to explain that Mercer and his gang 'stole' Arasaka's equipment to rob, and try to distance themselves from Arasaka as much as possible.

However, Arakasaka wanted to get ahead, and the Military Science Academy was even less likely to suffer in silence.

The female reporter's prosthetic eye gleamed slightly as she received a message from her superiors. Gritting her teeth, she turned to the camera and said, "We can see that Arasaka's hovercar has suddenly blocked our path."

This inevitably raises suspicions that these robbers might have some secret, unspeakable connection with Arasaka.

Meanwhile, the helicopter pilots had no choice but to grit their teeth and fly side by side with Arasaka's airship.

As the news continued to spread, the pressure on the NCPD gradually increased—although they were unable to pursue the case with full force due to Arakasaka's prior arrangements.

But now News Channel 54 is being so unethical, using a helicopter to follow Mercer's car and film him. They can't just not get a single shot of him, can they?
Even if the NCPD cannot truly protect the safety of the city and its citizens, it must make the citizens feel that they are 'protected'. If the NCPD is still taking advantage of such arrogant robbers, it would be a real joke!

As a result, on the minimap provided to Mercer by Morning Star, the red dots of the NCPD, which were originally moving at a snail's pace, all began to accelerate, attempting to surround and intercept the vehicles.

[Morning Star: We have detected the Sixth Street Gang in the Santo Domingo district gathering. I suspect they want both the three million euro reward and revenge for your previous work for the priest.]

Mercer hummed in agreement and glanced at the map: "We've arrived. Prepare to evacuate."

At that moment, Pila suddenly turned the steering wheel, and the car veered off the city expressway. The hovercar and helicopter had to turn and follow them into the construction zone.

But when the car suddenly turned and drove into the underground parking lot of a building, the camera could no longer capture their figures.

Without saying a word, Agent Arasaka immediately ordered the airship to land and rush in, but before the airship could get close to the entrance of the underground garage, a burst of fire suddenly appeared.

The driver had no time to react before the rocket struck the driver's seat of the hovercraft head-on.

With a loud explosion, the airship plummeted to the ground. Although the thick armor ensured the integrity of the interior structure, the driver was not so lucky. The entire cockpit was blasted open and burst into flames.

When the Arasaka agents, covered in dust and dirt, crawled out of the wreckage of the hovercar, they saw a helicopter suddenly take off in the distance. The reporter shouted, "They ran out from the other side of the underground parking lot!"

In the sky, the military's airship sped past at full speed. Agent Arasaka looked at each other, realizing that something was seriously wrong.

We must not let the military science department get ahead of them!

Therefore, they immediately contacted ground troops and other airborne vehicles to quickly rescue the personnel from the military.

"Boss, they suddenly sneaked into the parking lot. They might be trying to switch cars." An agent, clutching his broken arm, reminded him, "Since the car is broken anyway, let's go in and check it out."

“Okay.” Agent Arasaka nodded, clinging to their last hope, and formed a small team, guns drawn, as they began to enter the underground parking lot.

Unfortunately, the vehicle that was being chased earlier was nowhere to be found, nor were there any traces of people present.

The group, still unwilling to give up, opened their prosthetic eyes and searched several times, including finding the building's security room and checking the underground surveillance footage, but ultimately found nothing.

The only thing visible on the camera was Mercer and his group briefly stopping at the entrance, firing a rocket launcher at the back, then retreating back into their car and driving out through another exit of the parking lot.

Agent Arasaka had no choice but to give up. After reporting the situation, he continued chasing the two cars that were running wildly through the streets.

It wasn't until they had been gone for quite some time that the elevator doors suddenly opened, and Mercer and the others took turns getting out of the elevator.

Mercer had long since taken control of the elevators with the Morning Star, and they hid in the elevator shaft to evade Agent Arasaka's inspection.

As for the surveillance footage, it's even easier to handle. With editing techniques and AI background removal, no one can detect anything unusual.

Even if they discover something is wrong afterward, that there are traces of AI modification, Mercer will have already left by then.

"Holy crap, they actually fooled us?" Pila felt her hands trembling; the thrilling scene was driving her adrenaline wild.

Mercer said with some reluctance, "Sigh, what a pity about the equipment on my hacker car."

He was still wearing his exoskeleton, and when he walked, his footsteps made a clanging metallic sound.

"Alright, we need to get out of here quickly." V ​​also felt a bit like he had just escaped a disaster. Although there hadn't been any firefights along the way, the chase involving helicopters and hovercars was just as thrilling as it was in the movies.

Inside the parking lot, two unassuming vans had been waiting for some time. Mercer, Kivi, Lucy, and V got into one, while Mann, Dorio, Pila, and Rebecca got into the other.

Everyone got into the car and then drove straight to the highway leading out of the city on the east side.

Mercer wasn't going to the Badlands, but rather to Bruce's safe house, which he had visited before, for temporary repairs.

Although they hadn't said hello, Bruce hadn't contacted him once since they parted ways last time. Mercer had tried to send him messages, but hadn't received a reply.

Then we'll just have to use it first and see what happens.

After Mercer and his men drove from Badlands into a hidden mountain tunnel and abandoned the car deep inside, everyone returned and used the shipping container to open Bruce's safe house hidden in the cave.

It looked dusty inside, as if he hadn't returned since they parted ways.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief in the cramped safe house, finally able to sit down, rest for a while, and watch TV.

But Mercer did not let his guard down. Instead, he immediately began to contact the Morning Star to check on the situation in Night City.

Because the mission is not completely over.

There's one more person who needs to be dealt with—Diana Kuno.

At that moment, on the top floor of the biotechnology hotel building, Diana nervously watched television.

On television, News Channel 54's news helicopter was broadcasting live the spectacular scene rarely seen in the city of Night.

Both cars were flooring the accelerator, recklessly overtaking, accelerating, and drifting through the streets, speeding from Santo Domingo to the Watson district, and then into the Kabuki district.
In short, it's a crazy surge.

Gunfire continued throughout the journey, with NCPD members, company agents, and even a group of money-grubbing gangsters and mercenaries.

Surprisingly, this vehicle, relying solely on its horsepower and armor, managed to speed through the city for over half an hour, even with only one machine gun on board returning fire.

But that's it.

When Arasaka and Gunko received the message that "the use of heavy machine guns and bombs is permitted without worrying about the consequences," the car chase came to an end.

However, the first to make a contribution was actually a member of the Vortex Gang riding a motorcycle—he laughed wildly and threw a bomb at the tire of his vehicle, completely disregarding the fact that he was currently being filmed by the news cameras!

The car was blown up and overturned on the side of the road.

Then, the machine gunner from Arasaka in the air finally blew out the tires of another vehicle. The vehicle wobbled and drifted away, struggling to move a few steps before being completely destroyed by other weapons.

But before the vortex gang could excitedly open the car door to check if the person inside was their "walking 300 million," a bullet shot from Aragaka in the sky killed him on the spot.

As soon as Arasaka's agents landed, the military science personnel, not to be outdone, raised their guns and shouted, "What are you doing here! This group of people robbed and attacked the military science transport convoy, what are you doing here!"

"These terrorists stole Arasaka's critical equipment; we must retrieve our belongings!"

Arakasa refused to budge an inch. Things had escalated to this point, and he was determined to at least get his hands on the goods.

The two teams of agents were locked in a stalemate by the car, neither willing to back down.

But Diana Cuno breathed a sigh of relief.

She curled the corners of her lips into a smile, sat down on the sofa, and raised her glass of red wine: "Ah, insatiable greed."

Diana naturally assumed that the mercenaries were finished.

Even if some escaped the net, they wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.

Now they've been targeted by Arasaka and the Military Science Department at once. These guys have really messed up a lot. They're incredibly audacious. Do they really think the director of biotechnology is so easy to manipulate?
Moreover, the equipment has been destroyed, which provides even more reasons to delay the development schedule. Screw the Super Soldier program; she was just joking. In a few years, she can just find another program to declare a failure.

Anyway, she's already got the investment, hasn't she?

Diana Kuno watched the scene on the television with a smile on her face until an agent named Arasaka forcefully opened the car door—it was empty.

Diana's expression then gradually stiffened.

She tentatively sent a message to that mysterious Mr. [Name].

[Diana: I saw the news. How are you all?]

【? : (smiley face.jpg)】

The smiley face that the other party replied with instantly sent Diana tumbling into an ice cave, causing her to collapse into her room.

At this moment, the agents from the Military Science Institute and Arasaka were looking at each other with absurd expressions.

Where are the people! ?
[Polaris: Whoosh~ Racing is so exciting!]

(End of this chapter)