"Oleg!"
Dexter's words carried anger. The Bodyguard's silence made him feel a slight terror; now, everything abnormal made him think of the one thing he least wanted to encounter—the company's retaliation.
Pfft!!!
The moment Dexter's hand touched Oleg's shoulder, the incredibly bizarre scene that followed almost made Dexter fall to the ground.
As the sound of viscous flesh hitting the floor, blood splattered, and a pungent smell instantly made Dexter's body tremble.
His Bodyguard, Oleg, along with the door in front of him, had suddenly shattered into countless large pieces, like building blocks, and crashed to the ground.
"Damn it!" Dexter's fat, dark face turned pale with fright. He stumbled backward and landed on his butt, looking at the horrifying scene before him with extreme terror.
"My apologies, I applied a little too much force. The scene is a bit unsightly." At the doorway, where shattered door pieces and Oleg lay scattered, a pair of greave-clad legs stepped in.
The owner of the greaves stepped disdainfully over the body parts on the ground and entered the room. First, he shook his helmet, surveying the small room, finally settling his gaze on Dexter, who was sprawled on the floor.
Dexter, at this moment, looked at the strange intruder with fear. Dressed in peculiar red samurai armor, holding a katana with fresh blood, he was clearly not a normal person, neither in behavior nor in attire.
This person was none other than Akechi Mitsuhide, who had previously escaped from Hammersmith.
And now, he had come for Dexter.
If I can't deal with Hammersmith, can't I deal with you?
Berry maliciously thought to herself.
Berry, who was behind the scenes, was still in the car on the way to Viktor's Clinic. The room's layout in front of her was identical to the game, and she felt a strange sense of nostalgia looking at it all.
It was in this room that Dexter, that old scoundrel, tricked the surviving V into washing her face, after which he would escape Night City with her.
The result was that V, after washing her face, was knocked down by his Bodyguard with a punch and a kick, and then Dexter, that old bastard, shot V in the head, effectively kicking off Cyberpunk 2077's official opening with that single shot.
If you think about it carefully, this guy is a transitional character.
But now, this ill fate seems to be falling upon him. She wondered if this guy had a relic chip in his brain that could save his life.
But Berry guessed he didn't.
"What the hell do you want? Are you from Arasaka?" Dexter looked at the samurai in front of him, finally recovering slightly. As soon as he came to his senses, he began to beg for mercy with a panicked expression. "I know who killed Saburo, you can't kill me, I know who the killer is, yes, I know..."
Dexter stretched out his hand, swallowing, still pleading. "Just don't kill me, I'll take you to them. They're a group of Mercenaries, there's one named V, Jackie Welles, yes, and one named Berry... I know all their information."
It must be said that this Dexter did have some skill. Facing imminent death, most people would be scared to wet their pants, but after his initial panic, this guy could still clearly think about selling out his teammates to save his life.
If it had truly been an Arasaka Agent, perhaps he really could have survived.
But unfortunately, the Akechi Mitsuhide in front of him was Berry.
Moreover, this guy was a complete coward, always talking about being famous or a nobody, yet when facing death, he trembled like this.
He was nothing, a cybernetic waste of a blade.
Without responding to Dexter, Mitsuhide shook his sword, flicking off the blood from 'Jue'.
In this suffocating oppression, he silently advanced, and seeing Mitsuhide's silence, Dexter's face grew even more panicked. He was finally scared out of his wits, stammering and raising his hands, unable to speak, his terrified eyes fixed only on the gleaming sword in Mitsuhide's hand.
"A samurai who suffers humiliation, who faces an inevitable defeat, should commit seppuku to preserve personal dignity and avoid falling into enemy hands to suffer torture and humiliation."
"And seppuku should be performed on a mat of bulrushes, dressed in plain clothes, with the wakizashi used also cleaned with fresh water."
"Finally, the sword is raised and plunged into the abdomen from the side, cutting through to the other side. At this moment, the soul is released from the wound with the flesh and blood, returning to nature."
"But you, Dexter, famous or a nobody?" Mitsuhide spoke Dexter's famous quote. "Such an ugly display before death, not even a shred of human backbone. I see you're nothing but a coward!"
Berry utterly detested this greedy, boastful Dexter; she wanted to humiliate him before killing him.
"No~!" Looking at the raised blade, Dexter's eyes widened sharply. The next second, with a crisp test-cut sound, his fat, large head, still maintaining its horrified expression, suddenly fell to the ground, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
A moment later, his headless body spurted a torrential rain of blood from the gash and collapsed, losing all strength.
And Akechi Mitsuhide, having completed all this, left as silently as he arrived, already vanished.
Only the mutilated bodies of the two remained in the room, with the television still flickering, broadcasting news of the accident at Konpeki Plaza.
But less than half a minute later, another pair of leather boots stepped into the room.
The newcomer stepped over the pool of blood and entered the room, standing, frowning as he surveyed the surroundings, especially the two mutilated bodies.
"Clean cuts, sword wounds, and the killer is a master swordsman."
As the man spoke, authentic Old Tokyo Japanese was heard.
The man in the long trench coat glanced at the clean cuts on Dexter's head and body, arriving at this judgment.
This person was Goro Takemura.
Goro Takemura was the head Bodyguard of Saburo Arasaka, but unfortunately, his master, Saburo Arasaka, had died just half an hour ago.
And the process of his death was full of unanswered questions.
Goro could not accept the explanation of the young master, Yorinobu Arasaka; he decided to find the truth himself.
The assassin who "assassinated" Saburo Arasaka had escaped, and Goro Takemura stole information from Arasaka Security to track them down.
According to the intelligence he obtained, the leader of those assassins was the middleman, Dexter DeShawn, who was before him.
But this guy was dead now.
The clue ended here.
However, Goro Takemura was not discouraged, because the person who killed Dexter was not from Arasaka; Arasaka's people didn't operate this way.
Goro knelt down, his finger touching the gash cut by the blade near Dexter's neck.
Fine, smooth, the blade line was perfectly straight, with no tremor during the swing.
It seemed that next, he would have to find a master swordsman.
The person who killed Dexter would definitely know something, Takemura was certain.
"Goro Takemura!"
But just as he was about to take the next step, a communication suddenly came through. It was from Arasaka Security in Night City.
"You are involved in serious violations of company regulations. Return to the company immediately to accept all inquiries and interrogations from the company. Do not resist!"
Facing the angry voice from Security, Goro Takemura did not waver.
"I only obey Master Arasaka. The company is not who I serve."
"You will regret..."
Takemura hung up the phone.
He had no more time to waste. Yorinobu Arasaka was very suspicious, and Saburo's death was probably not as he claimed, poisoned by someone. Takemura had to take action.
"Uh..."
However, the next second, Takemura suddenly collapsed to his knees in pain, his body sparking with electricity.
All his cyberware had failed.
Goro Takemura struggled to raise his arm, only to find that his combat cyberware had completely lost its function.
It was the company; the company had locked down his combat capabilities.
No, I can't stay here any longer. He has a company tracking device on him, and this place will quickly become dangerous.
Takemura endured the pain, stood up amidst the erratic electric sparks, and struggled to leave the hotel.
"Goro Takemura! Surrender immediately!"
"Do not resist!"
This is bad!
Goro stumbled toward the hotel entrance, only to find that Arasaka's Agents had already arrived.
The wind from the engines scattered trash across the ground. Several avs circled down, and Agents wearing heavy black armor rushed out of the hatches, weapons in hand.
As the electronic surrender message played, several blinding white lights hit Takemura's face, forcing him to shield his eyes with his hand.
Must leave.
Takemura gritted his teeth, pulled out his pistol, and opened fire on the approaching Agents.
"You traitors! This is the real betrayal of the Arasaka Family!"
But Goro Takemura's words failed to sway anyone. Instead, seeing Takemura resist, the Agents with external cyberware eyes raised their guns and opened fire.
"Target resisting! Kill without mercy!"
Intense gunfire erupted, muzzle flashes everywhere. Takemura had to pull his head back to avoid the onslaught.
Bullets struck the wall, kicking up plumes of white dust. Takemura gritted his teeth; he couldn't drag this out.
"You forced my hand!"
Takemura suddenly charged out. Even with his cyberware disabled, he was far beyond what these Agents could handle.
His figure shot out like lightning; the Agents didn't even have time to react.
Takemura grabbed the muzzle of the nearest Agent's gun and fired his pistol directly into the man's head.
The gun roared, and the head exploded.
His eyes cold, Takemura didn't stop.
He moved like a ghost among the Agents, using his hands and feet to strike them down one by one.
Before long, the Agents were all lying on the ground, writhing in pain and incapacitated. Only Takemura stood there, not a speck of blood on him.
Although he had dealt with the Agents, he didn't leave. Instead, he looked toward the shadows at the alley entrance.
"Who are you? Please come out!"
Speaking with a Colonel's accent, Takemura struggled to shout in English.
Although Takemura's accent in the game was funny enough, hearing it in reality still made Berry chuckle inwardly.
Following Berry's manipulation, Akechi Mitsuhide's figure emerged from the shadows.
After killing Dexter, Akechi Mitsuhide, who had come out, noticed Takemura entering and temporarily hid. He hadn't expected to witness the scene of Agents pursuing Takemura.
Now that he was discovered, Mitsuhide simply walked out.
"You killed Dexter," Takemura frowned, looking at the strangely dressed Akechi Mitsuhide. When he saw the katana at Mitsuhide's waist, his expression suddenly turned savage.
That was—Saburo Arasaka-sama's beloved katana, "Jue."
He couldn't be mistaken.
This person definitely had something to do with Saburo-sama's death.
Takemura clenched his fist, ready to strike.
He could not tolerate Saburo-sama's katana being so disgraced.
Berry manipulating Akechi Mitsuhide to hide was naturally not for the purpose of catching up with Takemura.
She intended to kill Saburo's loyal dog while Takemura's entire cyberware system was locked down.
The man and the Chassis looked across the street at each other, their fighting intent growing intense.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 40 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
👉 patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!