2077: V really knows how awesome he is

Are they androids created by roaming AI?!

A chill ran down Abernathy's spine, and he immediately ordered, "Go! Her chainsaw sword is broken; now is the best time to turn the tide!"

She ordered the security team to move in, while she secretly reversed in the command vehicle, intending to escape.

Vera looked at the weapon in her hand; it was indeed broken, the chains were snapped. There was nothing she could do; it was a cheap weapon bought on the roadside. It had first chopped 247 people to pieces, then severed 168 missiles. Although it had lasted this long, it was of excellent quality, Vera still felt that having her weapon broken by the enemy was a huge failure.

Feelings of guilt and shame welled up inside her at the same time. Vera activated the Sinwiss again, bypassed the Arasaka main force, and went straight into Abernathy's command vehicle.

To think my weapon could be interrupted...

"How embarrassing!"

With that, Vera snapped Abernathy's neck and threw her in front of the remnants of Arasaka's army.

"Let's turn back," Vera said with a sour face. "If one way is blocked, then we'll go through!"

Meanwhile, V on the other side said the same thing, while in front of her stood the stunned military technology support troops.

Seeing that the other party did not move, V was stunned for a moment, then patted his head and released his control over them.

Immediately, the military technology vehicle turned around and fled in a panic. It wasn't that they weren't brave enough, but that they had been completely hacked and controlled in just a moment. Neither their personal systems nor their vehicle systems were spared. Keep in mind that they were equipped with military ICE vehicles, and all their proud defenses had failed in front of one person, not even lasting a second.

Meredith Stock, as the commander, immediately realized that either she was dreaming, or the person in front of her was not human at all.

She ordered a retreat without hesitation, but unexpectedly, the person in front of her called out her name.

“Stock,” V called out.

The blonde, slicked-back-hair mature woman seemed to have been paused, turning her head like a puppet.

Am I going to be used as an example to deter others?

But V didn't make things difficult for her; he simply told her, "Be careful of Anthony."

Meredith Stock was completely bewildered, but V waved her hand, and she didn't dare to think about it too much, so she quickly led her team away.

V bought a can of beer from a vending machine by the roadside. He had just taken two sips when Vera arrived.

"Hey, this place is pretty clean. Did you kill anyone?"

"No."

Vera asked with a grin, "What's wrong? Getting older has made you more sentimental and more willing to go easy on people?"

You can't get over this age hurdle, huh?

V rolled her eyes at Vera: "The military technology team is led by Stock."

Vera immediately understood. She punched the vending machine, smashed it to pieces, picked up a can of beer from the mess, unzipped it, took a big gulp, and asked, "How's David doing?"

Which David are you asking about?

"Young David, I don't need to worry about the old one."

"He was delayed by Arasaka and the military personnel and failed to stop Faraday. Now Lucy has been taken to Arasaka Tower and he has caught up with her."

“Now we’re like lambs to the slaughter.” Vera shrugged. “The Heavy Hammer is in Aragaki Tower.”

“Not necessarily.” V looked up at the sky, where a hovercar was rapidly flying towards the Arasaka Tower: “David isn’t fighting alone this time. His older brother and sister-in-law, brothers and sisters are all still alive.”

Chapter 174 The Edge Traveler

On the tower of Arasaka, everything unfolded exactly as the original story had predicted: young David was no match for Adam Hammer. Even though he was in better physical condition this time, free from the afflictions of cyberbullying, Adam Hammer's years of accumulated combat experience and skills could not be negated by the talent of a young man.

Young David had given it his all, but he was still being knocked down repeatedly. He tried so hard to defeat his opponent, but instead, his opponent shot him in the stomach.

"Ugh!" Young David groaned and knelt down.

Adam Hammer walked up to him and cocked the gun again: "It's beyond my expectations that it has such combat power. It's just a pity that a toy is a toy. A useless thing that can only stand up by relying on an anti-gravity system. It ends here."

With a bang, the grenade was launched.

But it wasn't Adam Hammer who fired the shot; on the contrary, he was the one who got shot.

Young David looked in surprise in the direction from which the bullets had come, and saw a hovercar outside the Aragaka Tower. Familiar figures stood at the open hatch, making him gape in disbelief.

“Mann, Dorio, Pila, Qiwei, you…”

The tall and thin Mann was operating the machine gun on the hovercar. Although he no longer had a muscular body, his laughter was as hearty as ever.

"Haha, as the eldest brother, I will always take care of my younger brother!"

Dorio slapped him on the head: "What are you trying to show off for? If you keep dragging this out, Arasaka's main force will be here soon!"

Pila, who was driving the hovercar, nodded while drooling, "Abba aba."

Qiwei's eyes flashed with blue light, and she lifted Lucy's system paralysis: "David, take Lucy, let's go!"

"Nobody's leaving!"

Adam Hammer rallied and charged again, only to be violently knocked away by a charge from young David.

"You bastard!" Adam Hammer was incredulous, even though the enemy in front of him had just been beaten like a dead dog.

But just now, young David was fighting alone, but now all his friends have come, and all his strength has returned.

No, it's about becoming stronger.

Intense emotions can turn a person into a cyberpsychotic, and they can also cause the mind to supersede the body!

"Lucy, let's go!"

Young David picked up his lover and, while remaining vigilant, drove away with the hovercar.

He was no longer the naive young man he once was. Faced with the choice between defeating a powerful enemy and becoming famous, or protecting his comrades in obscurity, he chose the latter without hesitation.

"Tch, do you really think you can escape from me? Even though it's a piece of junk, it's now worthy of my attention."

Adam Hammer grinned, about to raise his arm to launch a missile, when he was surprised to find his arm being grabbed.

He looked down and saw a man wearing a terrorist squad uniform who looked very similar to David, but was more mature, grabbing his wrist with one hand.

Adam Hammer increased the power, but the military robotic arm, capable of lifting 12 tons, remained motionless. He looked at the man in surprise and asked, "Who are you?"

The man replied, "I am your father!"

With a loud bang, a violent explosion occurred in the middle level of the Arasaka Tower.

"What's going on?" Mann asked curiously from inside the hovercar.

“It’s none of our business,” young David said calmly. “Perhaps a military technology spy has infiltrated Arasaka Tower, but neither the military technology spy nor Arasaka is someone we can contend with. What we need to do now is go down and pick up Rebecca and Falco, then hide away to avoid trouble.”

Mann and Dorio exchanged a glance, both showing expressions of relief. They were able to calmly assess the situation and make the right choices, always putting the safety of their teammates first. The boys had unknowingly grown into men.

"It seems I really have to retire," Mann remarked.

“What can you do if you don’t retire?” Dorio glanced at Mann’s crotch and said meaningfully, “Little bean.”

Mann blushed instantly: "So what if it's small? The most important thing is stamina, and it's cute when it's small!"

Everyone immediately smiled knowingly, and the airship was instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere.

In contrast, Adam Hammer couldn't laugh at all.

He was punched away by the mysterious man, crashing through six walls and embedding himself in the seventh wall with a clang.

Unconvinced, he raised his hand and fired a missile, but the mysterious man simply reached out and grabbed it, squeezing it hard.

With a deafening roar, a violent explosion occurred in the middle level of the Arasaka Tower. When the smoke cleared, the mysterious man was unharmed. Instead, black "armor" began to emerge from his palms, like some kind of living tissue, and quickly engulfed his entire body, forming a tall and majestic "battle suit".

Adam Hammer had never seen such technology before and asked in surprise, "Nanotechnology?"

Yes, it is indeed nanotechnology.

After conquering the world of Vera, computing power increased dramatically. It wasn't just time technology that experienced a leap forward; the prosthetic body of the Kong also made a difference.

When Vera first arrived, David was wearing the ninth generation of Prosthetics. After ten years of development, Prosthetics has now reached the tenth generation.

The tenth generation cybernetic body was officially renamed Edgewalker NX-1.

Its core power source is a miniaturized deuterium-helium-3 controlled nuclear fusion reactor, only the size of a button, with a peak output power of up to 350 megawatts. When idling, it is equivalent to only a household lighting unit, making it extremely discreet.

Its main body is composed of tens of thousands of programmable nanounits, each unit measuring 5 nanometers x 5 nanometers x 2 nanometers, and possesses independent computing, energy receiving, and form transformation capabilities.

In its default dormant state, the Edgewalker NX-1 is a solid-state wrist-worn or chest-worn base measuring 20cm x 10cm x 2cm and weighing only 1.8kg. Once activated, nano-fluid energy completely covers the user's entire body within 0.8 seconds, forming a complete exoskeleton armor with a height of 2.1 to 2.5 meters.

Meanwhile, the Edgewalker NX-1 also possesses multiple transformation capabilities, including optical camouflage, weapon integration, tool generation, and environmental adaptation. Its nano-unit surface can accurately simulate ambient light and heat signals, achieving near-perfect visual stealth, and can last up to 45 minutes under full-load operation of the fusion reactor. The armor's limbs can be instantly reconstructed into high-frequency blades, kinetic energy impact hammers, high-energy laser emission ports, or electromagnetic railguns. It can also quickly generate various precision tools such as lock picks, data interface probes, and medical nano-injectors as needed. Depending on the combat environment, it can also transform into a diving thruster, an adsorption climbing structure, and an isolation layer resistant to extreme pressure and temperature, with no problem from -200 degrees Celsius to 1800 degrees Celsius. It even has the ability to survive and fight in a vacuum environment for up to 15 hours.

To put it simply, the reason why the cybernetic body was renamed Edgewalker NX-1 is because the new armor was designed entirely for space exploration, and it is completely different from the previous cybernetic body.

Placing space weapons within the atmosphere is essentially equivalent to a dimensional reduction attack, much like a military prosthetic body beating a civilian one. The parameters alone are enough to crush everything; they are pure numerical monsters.

Its neural connection method is the most advanced "enhanced neural network" in 2167. The delay between the pilot's thoughts and the armor has been reduced to the nanosecond level. It is also equipped with a LV.5 strong artificial intelligence co-pilot, truly achieving perfect synchronization between the human and the armor.

Simply put, the Edgewalker NX-1 is no longer an exoskeleton armor; it has become an integral part of David's body.

Under Adam Hammer's astonished gaze, David coldly uttered a single word: "40%!"

The nanoarmor began to writhe rapidly, and the black exoskeleton continued to expand, becoming increasingly robust.

David continued, "60%!"

The nano-armor continued to grow taller, its limbs expanding like human muscles, exuding power while also being extremely aesthetically pleasing.

But that wasn't all. David increased the power again: "80%!"

The nano-armor has reached 2.3 meters in height and has a streamlined shape. Each piece of armor perfectly conforms to classical mechanics and the golden ratio. Rather than a weapon, it is more like a flawless work of art. Just standing there, it is like a battle-hardened king of soldiers, full of an impeccable aura.

The high-speed nuclear fusion reactor released powerful electromagnetic forces, allowing the Edgewalker NX-1 armor to easily overcome gravity and float in the air, while the steel bars of the building were also stretched, and the entire Arasaka Tower began to rumble and twist continuously.

To reiterate, the Edgewalker NX-1 was never designed for atmospheric warfare!

Amidst the horrific sight of shattered walls and shattered glass, David looked down at Adam Hammer and asked, "Want me to flatten Arasaka Tower in 20 seconds?"

A bead of sweat trickled down Adam Hammer's forehead; his entire body was on high alert, both his human nerves and mechanical detectors were working overtime. But after the fear came boundless excitement. He let out a maniacal laugh and shouted, "I never thought there was someone like you in this world! Come, let me see..."

Before he could finish a sentence, he was punched away by David.

Adam Hammer's heavy steel body was like a piece of trash, blasted from the east side of Arasaka Tower all the way to the west, smashing through countless rooms and walls along the way. From the outside, it looked like Arasaka Tower trembled, a large hole punched through its waist.

Adam Hammer began his descent from the sky, landing directly above the company plaza. Rebecca, shrouded in shadow, looked up to see nothing but a massive metal figure. Though small in stature, she possessed a fiery temper and immediately raised her gun, pointing it at the sky and yelling, "Don't bother me..."

Before she could finish speaking, a jet-black suit of armor appeared beside her like a ghost, raised its hand and punched Adam Hammer, sending him flying back to the Aragaka Tower with a loud bang, smashing a large hole in it.

Rebecca gaped in surprise, looked at the black armor, and after thinking for a moment, said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I've wanted to do this for a long time."

After saying that, the black armor vanished instantly.

When he reappeared, he had returned to Arasaka Tower and stood before Adam Hammer.

Adam Hammer was bombarded with system error messages, but the series of blows only fueled his ferocity.

Cancel all alarms, supply all energy to the combat module, Steinway & Stein, activate!

With a hum, the whole world came to a standstill, including the mysterious man.

Adam Hammer didn't dare to be careless. He immediately circled around and popped a tactical dagger from the mechanical arm, stabbing it fiercely at the back of the mysterious man's head.

He couldn't help but reveal a sinister smile. The reason he hadn't used Sianwistan at the beginning was to catch them off guard, and now he had firmly grasped this opportunity. As long as he stabbed, he was confident that he could turn the tide and win!

This is the terrifying aspect of time-stop technology; a comeback from a desperate situation can be achieved in less than a second.

But Adam Hammer didn't know that there was something even more terrifying than time stop: your opponent suddenly moving during your time stop.

The dagger plunged down, but David suddenly turned and caught the fatal blow with pinpoint accuracy.

Adam Hammer was astonished, because not only did the mysterious man move during the time stop, but he also became frozen and unable to move.

"You idiot, my S.A.S ...

With a single "Up," David delivered a powerful punch to Adam Hammer's chin, launching the steel body like a cannonball, smashing through the ceiling with a deafening roar before crashing into a room on the top floor.

The room was covered in pink wallpaper and had many cat-shaped dolls. A woman wearing a cat-ear headband and a JK sailor uniform was sitting on the sofa playing a game with a controller.

Adam Hammer spat out streams of black engine oil, and as soon as he looked up, he saw a dazzling beam of light hurtling towards him.

David opened the chest of the Edgewalker NX-1, revealing the high-energy laser emitter inside. A surging, vast high-energy laser instantly erupted, blasting away walls, ceilings, everything in its path, and even the entire top of the Abandoned Tower. It drew a bolt of lightning in the pitch-black night, shooting straight into the sky and illuminating the entire Night City.

David was once obsessed with reaching the summit, but now he has seen a higher view, a brighter future, and a greater cause. The mere top of the desolate tower is no longer worthy of his ascent.

Adam Hammer was covered in cold sweat, as the beam of light had almost grazed his cheek. He leaned against the corner of the wall, the ceiling above him had vanished, and the entire top of the Aragaka Tower seemed to have been bitten by an invisible behemoth, leaving a circular gap.

David flew up in his Edgewalker and landed in front of Adam Hammer.