Chapter 163 - 147: The Stone Falls on the Lake Surface

"Attention all NPCD outsourced members, a suspected case of Cyber Psychosis at the No. 3 highway intersection..."

The machine gun turret instantly turned the thugs in the car into sieves. The squad leader had just let out a sigh of relief and was about to curse the big guy when he saw the big guy walk directly to the machine gun turret and ripped off the MK31 machine gun!

Bang bang bang bang—

The heavy gunfire instantly took out the unresponsive team members. The squad leader turned and hid behind a concrete block, but the MK31 bullets were gradually chipping away at the cover—

Military Technology Law Enforcers, these types of units focus on enhancing physical strength and defense, specifically positioned as firepower handlers.

As an opponent, the squad leader couldn’t even lift his head under the terrifying firepower of the MK31!

He looked over to see a Law Enforcement Guard trembling as he picked up a rifle from the ground.

"#8959, hurry the hell up and fire! Can’t you see he’s got his back to you?"

The soldier with the number 8959 was jolted awake, raised his Ajax Rifle, and popped his head out from behind cover—

The bullets flew out, but the Law Enforcer was a firepower-enhanced type and naturally had decent Subdermal Armor!

Bullets pierced through the bulletproof vest and hit the Subdermal Armor, causing a series of clinking sounds. The Law Enforcer turned and blew his colleague’s head off!

The squad leader immediately lifted his head to attempt a sneak attack—

But the Law Enforcer’s reaction speed was much faster than he imagined—excessive Stimulant use significantly enhanced his physical abilities and speed!

He lifted his head and saw that the Law Enforcer was always shooting the MK31 with one hand, with the Crusher shotgun aimed at him with the other!

Bang!

Half a corpse fell heavily.

The mad Law Enforcer scanned the chaotic surroundings, his mind even more muddled—

It seemed like he was there for duty, not for a massacre... how would the company handle him...

The terrible consequences made him instinctively unwilling to face it; a peculiar interaction between his body Prosthetics and brain ensued—

It’s said that when people are facing things they don’t want to face, the brain initiates a protective mechanism.

In that instant, the Law Enforcer’s surroundings turned into a battlefield, and his fallen comrades were killed by enemies; the burning civilian vehicles became armored vehicles!

He shivered and hid behind cover, nervously scanning around—

Then, from a distance, came the roaring sound of an engine, strong and high-pitched—like a sports car... no, an agile combat vehicle!

He lifted his head and saw a fully armed armored vehicle speeding towards him!

Bullets fired from the turret turned and arched in the sky, bypassing cover and hitting his body!

These bullets didn’t hurt but seemed to have eyes.

They instantly reminded him of Kantao’s smart weapon bullets; those "enemies" immediately had Kantao’s gear appear on them—

He raised the MK31 and was about to shoot, but the hydraulic joints, Stimulant injectors, and Prosthetic Eyes all malfunctioned together, freezing him on the spot!

Bang!

The incredibly fast armored vehicle broke through the wreckage and crashed in hard!

From the wreckage, a blood-covered man struggled and fell off his burning car, staring blankly at the scene.

The cyber psychotic was sent flying; smart bullets sparked an Electromagnetic Pulse mid-air, with his entire prosthetic body emitting currents and black smoke...

But even so, the crashed cyber psychotic stood up, his joints twisted abnormally.

Bang!

A powerful bullet blew apart the fragile joint.

...

Not far away, Navi was perched on a window with his raccoon dog sniper rifle, completing his first sniper shot, the huge recoil causing his shoulder to ache.

Jack patted his shoulder, "Well done, target hit."

In the communication channel, Lille said to the driver: "Did you hear that? The target has lost its ability to resist, let’s not bother with the rest of the road."

"Got it, you guys did a clean job. Military Technology is probably going crazy right now. Just a few minutes and the cyber psychotic is handled."

Columbus Freight drove in through the breached opening, the driver swiftly loaded the half-dead cyber psychotic into the truck and drove away in a hurry.

Lille didn’t waste any time either. He turned around to leave—before leaving, he scanned the scene and did spot a bystander hiding in the dark, recording the scene.

Hacked his Prosthetic Eye, erased the footage, and drove towards the Evil Land.

"Is that it?" In the passenger seat, V retracted his personal link, somewhat disinterested, "Cyber psychotic?"

"What else?"

V thought for a moment, then sat up straight and started counting on his fingers for Lille:

"Think about it, what kind of cyber psychotics have we encountered lately: Notte—maybe, and that James Norris, both of them like monsters, fast and strong.

Especially in Atlanta, if Notte hadn’t suddenly gone berserk, none of this might have happened.

And this Military Technology guy... how is he so defenseless?"

Lille shrugged and listed a bunch of Prosthetics on the cyber psychotic’s body.

Military Stimulants, hydraulic human-motion transmission systems, Subdermal Armor, Tactical Prosthetic Eye, recoil dampening...

The level of prosthetization wasn’t low, but all were cheap but effective ones. Like hydraulic transmission, a low-cost prosthetic that could grant the implant receiver great power.

But hydraulic systems in humans replace a lot of muscles and joints, greatly differing from native biomechanical tissues, thus prone to causing issues.

Typical standardized equipment traits: cheap, effective.

In fact, Military Technology’s style often caused its employees to frequently fall into cyber psychosis.

"This isn’t some low-end mercenary but a Military Technology meticulously designed military unit. You’re getting pretty cocky lately, aren’t you? Want to look up how much these Prosthetics cost?"

"Tsk, just say it directly." V held his head, not wanting to calculate it himself.

Lille glanced at V: unlearned and ignorant.

"... Military Technology quotes around 40,000 to 90,000 euros per soldier for such equipment. Adding training costs can spike it to 180,000 euros, though this price is likely exaggerated, otherwise, they couldn’t raise contract prices.

But even the best cyber-enhanced person can’t withstand a two-ton vehicle hitting them at 50 mph."

Not all cyber psychotics are invincible killing machines.

At least not for Lille and his team.

This Military Technology Enforcer died quickly for many reasons: cheap prosthetics, no hacker support making them easier to hack into, the car’s deadly crash, and the critical hole his colleague carved into him.

That one shot left a hole in his body, drastically reducing his resistance to external Electromagnetic Pulses. Yinglong’s Electromagnetic Pulse deeply interfered with his internal prosthetics.

High cost-performance prosthetics often prefer micro-motors over bionic fibers and mechanisms, making them easily affected by Electromagnetic Pulses.

Reading through Lille’s annotations, V said:

"So we ran him over."

"...Just consider him run over. This car is indeed exceptional; the Old Captain wasn’t exaggerating."

"Absolutely." V looked contentedly at the car’s impressive interior, "By the way, stop calling it ’this car’; it has a name!"

"What’s its name?"

"West Tuan—I used to only see this model on TV, but actually sitting on it... it’s like—a dream come true!"

V raised his hand in excitement like a little girl, then quickly retracted it because it triggered his nerves, gasping loudly.

"Yes, yes, a dream come true."

Lille chuckled, stepping on the gas, disappearing into the Evil Land.

...

minutes later, Military Technology Forces arrived at the scene, looking at the carnage; the soldiers were at a loss.

The squad leader, expressionless, submitted a field report to his superiors—no cyber psychotics left, only piles and piles of corpses.

Military communications channel.

Contact: Military Technology Captain #5620

Military Technology Sergeant #7877: "Sir, the squad at the No.3 road checkpoint lost eight members, and Enforcer unit #8030 is missing."

Military Technology Sergeant #7877: "Squad leader #7890’s tactical equipment footage shows #8030 seemingly entered cyber psychosis, catching them off guard."

Military Technology Captain #5620: "...Missing? Only 20 minutes after the anomaly report, and the cyber psychotic is gone? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Military Technology Sergeant #7877: "Sir, I misphrased."

The superior sighed in relief: dead would be acceptable, but before he could fully relax—

Military Technology Sergeant #7877: "...His signal was jammed, presumably taken away; there are traces of technical weapon fire on the ground, larger than the squad leader’s handgun caliber; someone else was here."

Military Technology Captain #5620: "He went mad for just 20 minutes and someone kidnapped him?! Are you sure he wasn’t ambushed? Like hacked into cyber psychosis?"

Military Technology Sergeant #7877: "Currently—no evidence, no signs of hacking before he went mad."

Military Technology Captain #5620: "...Understood, secure the site, ensure no information leaks out."

Military Technology Sergeant #7877: "Roger that."

The captain had a bad feeling—

Not many in Night City act so decisively, dealing with a cyber psychotic that killed eight Military Technology soldiers, which in Night City units equals 16 NCPD incompetents...

Not just a rampaging bionic pig.

In such short time?

He immediately decided to flag the information red to higher-ups and swiftly contacted Military Technology’s government relations director.

Contact: Military Technology Director #0034

Military Technology Captain #5620: Cyber psychotic kidnapped from road checkpoint #3 containment.

Military Technology Director #0034: Useless, NCPD is already preparing news releases.

Military Technology Director #0034: Guard your Evil Land, it might be those guys again.

Military Technology Captain #5620: Understood.

Those guys?

Military Technology Captain was already somewhat frantic—the site commander had to work late when his subordinates did.

Plenty of minor conflicts in recent days, and now a major one—subordinate in cyber psychosis.

But mention "those guys," and his stomach churned, an intense physiological reaction: tension, focused attention, brain overdrive, etc.

No choice, many officers dealing with them had fallen, now it was his turn...

How could he ensure he wouldn’t fail here?

But soon, he received new information, making him relax and almost faint.

[Military Technology Dispatch Order]

[Highway Checkpoint Shift Swap]

Obviously, the news struck like a stone in a lake.

A stone causing ripples upon ripples.