[Eden City - Mid-section of the Old Industrial District]
John tucked his gun away and closed the car door.
The Silver Rider activated silent mode and left on its own.
Bzzz~
A patrol hovercar appeared overhead.
The city's promotional news claimed that these things were important tools to alleviate the pressure on grassroots police, reportedly having a lot of resources invested in them.
The police really have dropped the ball.
It just routinely flew overhead while crimes were happening right under its nose.
An inverted cone-shaped beam of light shone down...
An abandoned factory with a brown roof, the concrete beams and roller doors covered in various styles of graffiti, the interior of the park littered with debris.
A flashlight beam flickered across the broken window.
[Mission Objective Update]
[Deal with the Madox Gang's Lackey (Not Achieved)]
John approached stealthily, hearing shouts from inside the factory.
"Hey, old man, get out here!"
"I can see you."
"Making us work this hard, we'll skin you alive."
Da-da-da!
The enemies were firing warning shots.
Sparks flew from two pipes over John's head, he halted his steps, and the mission information in his mind updated.
[Infiltrate the enemy's voice channel (Optional)]
[Infiltrate the factory surveillance system (Optional)]
John wouldn't be foolish enough to risk his life for Dr. Ryan, the number of enemies, their prosthetic body levels, chip strength...
He knew none of it.
Ryan said in a text that there were only a few lackeys, can that be trusted?
If there's a tough character in there, charging in with a gun would be a death wish.
John patiently observed the situation:
Two desert buggies arrogantly blocked the entrance, painted with the Madox Gang's emblem on the side in red paint.
The driver leaned against the hood smoking a cigarette.
He modified his eyes into night vision goggles, the red light blinking periodically, with an energy submachine gun hanging from his waist.
But this guy was extremely negligent.
Probably didn't expect anyone to come rescue a poor bastard.
Having checked the car's interior, John pulled out a silenced pistol and almost pressed it against the back of the driver's head before pulling the trigger.
The bullet didn't penetrate the skull, likely lodged between the prosthetic body.
The driver slumped forward, making a dull thud as he hit the ground.
John dragged the body to the corner to avoid detection and stripped his gear as fast as he could.
An armored vest was already obtained.
But the driver's pants were decent.
[Equipment: Nano Tactical Work Pants]
[Description: Street product, breathable, stab-proof, with magazine loops.]
John also found two magnetic grenades.
He set a time delay and tossed them under the two cars in succession, the doors were locked, and there was no time to search.
He pulled out a data cable and plugged it into the corpse's data port.
The driver's head was blown into mush, the neural conductance device and chip were completely destroyed.
After fiddling for a while, John couldn't connect to the voice channel.
"A bit of a shame."
He surveyed the abandoned factory.
Based on his knowledge of the company — corporations are reluctant to waste fixed assets; externally dilapidated doesn't matter, fundamental circuits are likely intact, at most they locked the power box.
John climbed the rickety ladder to the second floor, pried open the control room, and flipped up the auxiliary power switch before inserting the data cable.
[Old Factory Surveillance System (Hacked)]
The mechanical probe in the corner of the factory stealthily came to life.
In shared view, John identified eight armed individuals, based on their body size and the maximum load of the vehicles to deduce...
Most likely, they were all here.
John had previously upgraded the control system.
[Atlanta Virtual Network] allowed remote access to the factory's surveillance.
But without ocular implants, he couldn't synchronize the information, having to switch between two views continuously.
"Makes me pretty damn dizzy."
The enemies inside the factory were seriously searching, sneaking close would walk right into their guns.
John opted to take the initiative from a higher vantage point.
Bang, bang-bang!
The modified Alligator felt superb.
He fired several shots at one enemy, the ballistic correction chip doing its work, all bullets accurately struck the opponent's head.
In an instant, blood spattered everywhere.
The uncontrollable body fired randomly.
Ratatat~
Screams erupted instantly in the warehouse as bullets flew wildly.
John didn't wait for the enemy to fall before quickly shooting the next target. Bullets whistled through the warehouse but hit right on target.
Three armor-piercing bullets pierced the upper limb.
But the guy, like a superman, grimaced and endured it, even firing back a few shots before falling.
"Damn, subdermal armor!"
John cursed through gritted teeth.
The thugs from Nocturne Bar were tougher than street gangs, each of them upgraded with prosthetic bodies, needing several bullets to take down.
John now only had the advantage of information.
He rolled to dodge in the pitch-black warehouse, switching perspectives to find suitable targets through the cameras.
He had to take out those with night vision first!
John made up his mind, moved closer, and immediately raised his gun to shoot, turning a henchman's head into pulp from the side.
"Over here!"
"We're from Nocturne, do you have a death wish?"
"Damn it, kill him."
Curses and gunshots mixed together.
The cargo box behind John was turned into a sieve.
He was convinced his gun was better. As long as he was careful, he stood a chance against a group of thugs.
John continued maneuvering in the corner.
He crouched low to find an angle, then raised his body to shoot another prosthetic-eye thug.
Unexpectedly, all the enemies became alert.
Even as he quickly backed against cover, bullets still whistled past, gunfire continued, and the number of bullet holes in the wall in front grew.
John felt his scalp tingling, his heart pounding.
A stinging sensation came from his cheek.
In the next second...
Warm blood flowed down his neck, soaking into his inner shirt, sticking clammy to his neck.
It was as if Death was breathing in his ear.
[Find Ryan Randall. (Not completed)]
John closed his eyes and waited.
Boom~
A vehicle outside the factory exploded, its steel frame wailing as it rolled into the wall.
In an instant, flames shot up to the sky.
The enemies in the warehouse were all distracted.
Seizing the moment, John crawled and rolled towards the stacked containers.
The space in the middle looked empty.
Following the text message, John fumbled awkwardly on the ceiling, tearing off the camouflage fabric, revealing the curled-up man inside.
Dr. Ryan, holding a rusty steel pipe, shivered.
He was tense but didn't break, jumping down immediately.
The two of them clambered through a broken window, running desperately, moving away from the warehouse while heading towards a small intersection.
Silver Rider had been waiting there.
John climbed into the driver's seat. Before the doctor could snap his seatbelt, a barrage of bullets grazed the vehicle's frame.
"Drive, drive, drive!"
Ryan Randall couldn't hold back a shout.
John drifted on the spot, accelerating towards the nearest exit. Just as they were about to leave the old factory district, two thugs suddenly appeared beside the gap.
They raised their guns to shoot.
Ratatat~
Dense white spots appeared on Silver Rider's front glass.
John and the doctor both ducked down, then floored the gas, the sports car roaring as it charged out.
An industrial district river lay ahead.
John decelerated sharply, force-turning the car, leaving a semicircular tire mark on the ground, just avoiding a roll-over.
Before he could catch a breath, the car body suddenly shuddered.
Bam!
A burly man descended from the sky.
His legs were obviously modified, jumping from who-knows-where, landing squarely on the hood.
This guy held a comically large gun.
Ratatata!
The gun in the passenger seat fired first.
Dr. Ryan instinctively grabbed the snub-nosed gun from the console, firing directly forward, emptying a burst from the extended magazine without releasing the trigger.
The windshield shattered instantly.
John just felt his right ear swell.
Glass shards and bloody limbs rained down on his head, a mess scattering around the driver's seat.
The burly man was shot to shuddering.
John couldn't see the road ahead, operating solely on instinct.
The tires of Silver Rider screamed, the engine still roaring, the car's momentum knocked the body off the hood.