After leaving the bar, Roland broke into a genuine smile.
Spending all his Blue Essence—and gathering intel on the area—had been worth it.
The Viper Gang and the Black Bear Gang had long been at odds, though they'd always kept things contained. Recently, however, the Black Bear Gang had acquired a new batch of weapons, forcing the Viper Gang onto the defensive.
Roland's choice to involve these two gangs was simple: neither wielded much influence. They had some power but not enough to attract major scrutiny—perfect targets, and likely seen that way by the corporations too.
In Roland's mind, the Black Bear Gang almost certainly had corporate backing. Many gang members mocked corporations as corpo dogs, but that was only because they could never become corpo themselves.
Now, by supplying the Viper Gang with a weapon of advanced tech, Roland was pretending to represent a major corporation. Naturally, they'd assume he worked for Kang Tao.
In truth, he'd never claimed that—he simply wanted to avoid drawing Kang Tao's attention. His goal was to sell, not to provoke.
By nightfall, the Viper Gang was ready. They marched toward a bar recently taken by the Black Bear Gang.
At the entrance, several Black Bear lookouts spotted them and dashed inside.
"Viper Gang's here! Move it and waste those bastards!"
"What?! They actually dared to show up?!"
"Watch me turn these punks into paste!"
Moments later, the Black Bear Gang poured out armed to the teeth. Roland stayed hidden, observing. When he saw them bring out heavy ordnance, he knew for sure they had corporate support. The only question was whether the gun he'd given the Viper Gang would perform as hoped.
He trusted it would—PROJECT tech was leagues above standard Cyberpunk hardware. Especially anything from the PROJECT Corporation—true top-tier monopoly tech.
Zhao raised the weapon Roland had provided. After a quick calibration, a cruel grin spread across his face.
"Target lock-on."
The instant he spoke, Zhao pulled the trigger. Inside the bar, many Black Bear members were still grabbing their guns when the windows shattered.
A storm of rounds tore through the glass with pinpoint precision, drilling straight into skulls. The onslaught annihilated dozens in seconds.
"Holy shit..."
Even Roland flinched. He hadn't expected that kind of firepower—it was a dimensional drop against everything else on the street.
The magazine emptied fast. Zhao whooped with excitement.
The surviving Black Bear members, stunned, peeked outside. Seeing the shooter's weapon run dry, a few drew pistols and fired back.
Bang!
Before Zhao could react, the Milus II Rifle fired on its own, killing the attacker instantly. The returning bullet only grazed Zhao's ear.
"Damn it!" he yelled, ducking behind his crew and clutching the weapon protectively.
The Milus II Rifle vented a puff of white vapor.
"Beep~ Automatic defense system depleted. Please return to company for reset."
Zhao groaned in frustration, then stayed in cover, firing manually. Even so, his display had been nothing short of spectacular.
...
At the same time, the corporation backing the Black Bear Gang had taken notice.
Shuda Xu watched the feed on the monitors, his eyes narrowing.
"You've all seen it—the tech level on that smart firearm."
The engineers around him nodded.
"Indeed. Incredible power, high rate of fire, minimal recoil—and that targeting system! Without question, a breakthrough in smart-weapon design."
"Could this be an Arasaka product?"
"Impossible. This isn't Arasaka territory. They wouldn't risk testing something like that here."
"Either way, I want every scrap of data on that weapon—especially its creator. If possible, bring that person to Kang Tao."
Shuda Xu slammed his palm on the table and pointed at the blurred figure on screen.
With his order, the vast machine of Kang Tao began to move.
...
Back at the Viper Gang's hideout, Victor Huang admired the weapon, unable to hide his excitement. Its performance was astounding.
Just as he reached for his phone to call Roland, a deafening crash shook the entrance.
"Who the hell's that? You got a death wish?!"
Every gang member jumped up, weapons ready.
But when they saw who it was, all color drained from their faces.
"Black exoskeleton armor trimmed with orange stripes—and the two unmistakable characters of the company logo. No one could mistake them."
In seconds, a flood of armed Kang Tao personnel poured into the bar.
A man in a black suit stepped out from their ranks, took a drag from his cigarette, and spoke evenly:
"Tell me where you got that weapon."
They didn't care about making a scene; this was their turf, and no one else had the right to interfere.
Victor Huang turned pale, trembling as he stepped forward. Now he understood—the weapon wasn't Kang Tao tech at all. Inside, he cursed Roland bitterly, though he didn't even know what the man truly looked like.
He told them everything he knew.
Shuda Xu's eyes flashed. Once just a marginal figure within the Xu Family, he now saw a path upward.
"Hand over that business card," he ordered.
Victor obeyed instantly. Shuda Xu passed the card to a subordinate, who quickly pulled the owner's data and transmitted it back. Shuda Xu nodded, waved his hand.
They turned to leave. Victor exhaled in relief—
—just as a hail of bullets erupted, fiery serpents consuming everything in the room.
"Clean up the scene," Shuda Xu said coldly, then turned and walked out, heading straight for Roland's apartment.
He still had questions—why the man had no safeguards, which faction he belonged to—but those could wait.
Once he met the man, he would have his answers.
In Shuda Xu's eyes, the likeliest truth was simple: the guy was just another disposable pawn.