Chapter 254 - 235: Much Drama

Not far from the Westbrook blockade area.

An NCPD police car was parked by the roadside, flashing its lights, but the officer sat on a stone bench not far away.

His prosthetic eye locked onto the battle on the overpass.

"...after adding half a month’s worth of shifts, with three months of overdue overtime pay, they still have the nerve to ask us to work extra hours."

The rookie cop standing next to him had a more solemn expression, utterly shocked by the explosions and flames he saw there.

This was his first month with the NCPD.

Everything he had experienced tonight seemed too fantastical.

"Boss, did you see those things that are spreading around the station right now?"

"I saw them, so what?" the officer said unfazed.

"If it’s true..."

"If it’s true? It probably is, which is why we got moved over here. No more skyscraper duty, no triple overtime pay... whoever wants to muddle through can go ahead."

The rookie was profoundly shaken.

The officer stood up and saw the Tiger Claw Gang’s vehicles being pushed off:

"Good job! Damn it, I’ve been sick of those dumbasses from the Tiger Claw Gang for a while now, acting all high and mighty. If I wasn’t a cop..."

"Boss, ’cop’ seems like a derogatory term... derogatory towards us."

The officer looked at the rookie and repeated, "If I wasn’t a cop."

But then he stopped short.

And then what?

He didn’t say what followed—if he wasn’t a cop, he would just go work in a factory.

Are you kidding me? The people tearing it up on the overpass don’t even look human, so could he do that kind of work if he wasn’t a cop?

But the helicopter was about to arrive...

Even if those three people really had superhuman abilities, how would they break through the aerial and ground blockade?

With helicopters in the sky and the ground blockade line even utilizing Arasaka Mecha, it’s not something that brute force could break through.

"Alas, even heroes face twilight..."

Bang!

Before he could finish the sentence, there was a sudden explosion on the bridge followed by a loud noise!

The officer and the rookie both turned their heads—and then both of their mouths fell open:

The plane’s machine guns fired, orange-yellow bullets flying through the air like meteorites...

But what shocked them was Mackinaw!

Mackinaw was flying!

The machine gun fire grazed the armor of Mackinaw, sparking out bursts of sparks, bursting like fireworks in the air—

As the car and helicopter rapidly approached each other, an even more incredible event occurred:

As they passed each other, the helicopter suddenly shook, and the fall of the car seemed to slow down...

It was as if the car had bitten the helicopter!

The helicopter, bitten, tilted its body and crashed toward Westbrook, while Mackinaw maintained its speed, its nose slightly turned, making a short yet earth-shattering arc through the air!

Towards...

Towards the two of them!

Boom!

The helicopter, spinning out of control, smashed into the overpass, bursting into flames!

Mackinaw landed on its side and, under the effect of inertia, tumbled and slid...

Finally, it came sliding toward them in a sideways flip!

The officer and the rookie turned pale, their legs heavy as if filled with lead. They wanted to run but didn’t know where to run, completely at a loss!

Hiss——————

Bang.

Mackinaw straightened out, sparks hitting both officers in the face, the air filled with the smell of incompletely burned fuel, the black smoke blackening the interface of their prosthetic eyes...

They were just a bit away, and Mackinaw would have collided with the police car, would have touched the two of them.

The two cops were sweating profusely, motionless.

About a second later, Mackinaw honked its horn—beep beep beep beep beep!

Like a road rage driver blocked in traffic.

The two officers looked ahead of Mackinaw; it was their car blocking the way.

The rookie was still stiff, and the officer, as if waking from a dream, immediately moved the car from the roadside using the police car’s wireless central control—

Even having to cram it into a pile of trash because the road was too narrow.

Mackinaw revved its engine, hissing as if nodding in acknowledgment, and then leisurely drove off.

[NCPD Operator: NCPD... suspect... suspect...]

[NCPD Officer: Suspect has taken down a helicopter! Repeat, suspect has taken down a helicopter!]

[NCPD Officer: Suspect has broken through the elevated blockade!!!]

...

"My hand!! My hand ah, my pecs ah!! My abs ah!!!!"

Jack screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

The damage was indeed quite severe. The force at the moment of pulling down the helicopter could tear a person in half, and even an average cyborg couldn’t withstand it.

But Jack was no ordinary guy. Lizard muscle fibers were extremely durable in such situations. A slight muscle tear was no issue at all; it was his Boxing King’s Arm that was a bit overloaded.

Of course, this was also due to Jack’s excellent sense of rhythm. Under those circumstances, for every second longer he pulled, the tension increased dramatically to a level hard for carbon-based life forms to endure and could even interfere with Mackinaw’s flight trajectory.

Looking at the results, Jack had achieved his task perfectly.

"Enough with the screaming, it’s not severed. I’ll adjust it for you. Your physical damage can be healed with some food intake."

Lille opened up the Gorilla Arm for a quick inspection, then lay back in the access chair to enter Cyberspace and survey the network environment.

"Oh."

"Damn that feels good!" While Jack was busy yelling, V was still savoring the sensation of flying, chattering away like a machine gun, "That was f*cking awesome, the car really flew! When will Mackinaw release a Floating Car?

I wonder what it feels like to sit in a Floating Car. Wait... we seem to have ridden one before...

You think it’s possible? Lille? LILLE! I’m talking to you! Can you whip up a Floating Car for me?"

Lille disconnected, saying with a dark face, "Stop yelling, we don’t have one now! Drive! We must take down Jotaro today!"

"Alright, alright—so we’re just charging in like this? The streets are swarming with cops! What about the car after we storm in?"

"What about the cops, what about them? Charge in, park the car downstairs when it’s time."

That was indeed a problem.

But not a big one.

Once they got to the location, they could leave the car for a while. If worst came to worst, they could just leave the car in NCPD’s custody for a little while and pick it up after the job was done.

Although the car was still operational, aside from its durability, it wasn’t much different from a regular Mackinaw now.

Just park it downstairs.

V frowned, "Park downstairs? You’re a real joker. Come up with another plan! I don’t want NCPD touching my precious Mackinaw!"

Lille reluctantly said, "Your precious Mackinaw? You were the one who complained about this car the most!"

"I don’t care. Find another way."

"Fine..." Lille glanced at the quiet streets, "Then let’s park here, switch gear, and approach the skyscraper from the elevated floors."

"That I can do—are there automatic defense systems in the car, something that blasts anybody who gets close with a shot?"

"We don’t have that! Turn into the alley at the next intersection."

"Right, isn’t our car a bit conspicuous now? Wouldn’t someone report us?"

The car drove on the deserted streets, but the lack of people here was because no fool would wander into an area heavily cordoned by NCPD for a stroll.

However, pushing forward might introduce new challenges. Westbrook was thriving, and the fact that people had stayed away from this place following such a big incident indicated the gravity of the situation.

The outer armor of the Mackinaw was battered and tattered from the machine gun fire, making it obvious to anyone that this was no ordinary vehicle.

"So, the car does have a stealth mode—have to say, the company’s customization service is pretty good, though Thunder Power is just a second-tier car manufacturer."

The car slowed down and the damaged armor began to fall off, soon littering the ground with hot pieces.

Stripped of the large armor pieces, the Legend Mackinaw suddenly seemed to transform into an ordinary Mackinaw, heading toward the alley.

The three got out of the car, which then deployed a double-layer concealed cover on top. The outer layer was Optical Camouflage, automatically generating a visual cover by reading the surrounding scenery from the car’s Crystal Ball; underneath was an electromagnetic shield to avoid detection.

These were pretty much top-spec equipment—Thunder Power really valued this experimental car.

Parked next to a pile of trash, it was almost impossible to see that there was a car there.

V affectionately patted the car’s cloak, which flickered with the Optical Camouflage, "Little Mackinaw, you stay here for now, sis will take you for an upgrade after the job is done."

"..." Lille slapped V impatiently, "Can you cut the drama and extend your arm? I need to adjust the electromagnetic adhesion component!"

"Oh." V looked at Jack, who was still fussing over whether his Gorilla Arm was busted, continuously feeling it, "Jack, cut the drama! Come adjust your gear!"

"..."

Lille took the tool handed over by the mechanical arm and noticed the mechanical arms stopped in front of him, lowering slightly.

It was as if a little dog had come up to him and then lowered its head slightly, looking up at him.

A twitch formed at the corner of his mouth, and Lille said, "What are you doing?"

[µÈÐ: What are they doing?]

"I don’t know. Some kind of initiation ritual, I guess."

[Õß: Get me in on that (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧]

Lille showed an exasperated expression and patted the mechanical hand.

V just caught this moment, her face showing amusement, "Why are you being so dramatic, too?"