Chapter 256 - 237: Fierce Battle at the Skyscraper

"Hey, keep guard, stop taking your drugs."

"If I don’t take my drugs, my hands shake. I still have some, do you want some?"

"Me? I’m not like you."

Two Tiger Claw Gang members stood by the window, one of them taking a deep breath from his inhaler.

"Nice!"

Wham!

The Mantis Blade pierced through the chest, the Tiger Claw Gang member who just exclaimed that it was nice was disemboweled. His companion was about to speak but had his head blown off by a massive fist!

Three individuals entered through the window—this was the public area of the skyscraper.

Jack threw the two corpses into the trash bin, V retracted the Mantis Blade, frowning as they pondered while looking at their weapon.

Lille asked with a puzzled expression, "What’s up?"

"...I regret it."

"Regret what?"

"We should have just driven straight in. This sneaky stuff isn’t as satisfying."

The three exchanged glances and silently nodded.

Lille shook his head, "I told you, this is the best way."

"Aaargh!"

"Keep your voice down!"

V stomped ahead angrily, "Why didn’t you stop me?"

"I... sigh, never mind, there will be another chance soon. I’ll find an access point, keep an eye out..."

He had not finished speaking when footsteps from the Tiger Claw Gang echoed around the corner.

"...Calling us here with such fanfare, those three must’ve found a hiding spot long ago."

"Yeah, who’s got the guts to barge in directly?"

Lille and Jack remained calm.

But V—Lille noticed her expression had twisted up—so he gestured to Jack and silently walked over to the property panel.

"...If you want to fight, just do it. The previous plan is still usable."

[Contact: Blais]

[Lille: We’re in, need some network support.]

...

A group of Tiger Claw Gang members patrolled inside the building in threes and twos while mocking:

"I bet those three guys outside, bragging their asses off, are already half-dead begging for prosthetic doctors at some black clinic!"

"Hahaha... ugh!"

At the corner, a cold flash streaked by, and in their stunned gaze, the laughing companion was instantly sliced into pieces!

"Enemy—"

Boom!

A heavy punch landed on a sumo wrestler’s head, the immense force splattering his skull like a watermelon!

News of the attack spread through the skyscraper, and the NCPD received the report simultaneously, rushing towards the entrance—

But the steel door slammed down abruptly!

[Beep—]

[Skyscraper Property: Dear residents, the skyscraper is currently experiencing technical issues and has entered lockdown mode.]

[The elevator system has been temporarily sealed, residents are advised to use the stairs.]

[External communication links have been restricted, some security doors have been activated to ensure the safety of each floor.]

[Please, residents, stay calm and remain in your homes until the issue is resolved. The estimated resolution time is -32,768 hours.]

The ambushed Tiger Claw Gang members fell to the ground, terrified by the bloody scene and the aura of the two intruders, faces soaked in their companions’ blood!

He looked up at the stairs, seeing a few hurried companions... bang, the security door crushed them into pulp!

The lights went out, leaving only the dim red warning lights reflecting on V’s grimacing face—

"I was going to let you die peacefully, but you chose the hard way..."

"Spare me...!"

Thunk thunk thunk thunk!

The Mantis Blade slashed, leaving gaping wounds on the Tiger Claw Gang member’s body!

The commotion attracted more Tiger Claw Gang members from the opposite floor, one of them waved his arm toward his companion, "Over... over on our floor!!!"

Boom!

A shot from Achilles blew apart the body of a Tiger Claw Gang member across the floor—

Jack shouted in horror, "Me cago! Lille, I’m losing accuracy! I’m shooting all over the place! I meant to hit his head!"

On a higher floor, a Tiger Claw Gang member set up his machine gun on the railing to suppress, but electromagnetic bullets blasted through the concrete barrier, blowing off his head!

V turned the gun towards the next threat target, "I got it! Stop whining!"

"It’s only temporary, just shoot the targets I highlight for you, they’re all just huddling there." Lille also took cover, pulling the trigger continuously, unleashing a stream of bullets!

Yinglong’s bullets precisely targeted every enemy behind cover using the skyscraper’s internal camera system, footsteps echoed from both sides of the corner!

It happened that the three had just emptied their magazines!

"Jack! East side, V, west side!"

Jack and V each fired a shot, then dropped their long guns, throwing punches and blades simultaneously at the Tiger Claw Gang members stepping out from the corner!

Coincidentally, they faced opponents of their own type: Jack encountered a sumo wrestler, V faced a female ninja!

Sharp Mantis Blades and heavy punches found their respective targets, the enemies’ prosthetic systems failed to withstand the onslaught, though they tried to counterattack, but their prosthetics were no match!

Taking down the leaders, the rest were like chickens and dogs—

Bloodbath!

Mechanical arms lowered the tactical boxes, releasing four hand grenades, two in Lille’s hands, two in the mechanical arm’s—

The mechanical arm aimed and threw the grenades directly towards the higher floors’ hand grenades. Lille tossed his grenades upward, pulled by spider silk, they were hurled straight into the passage above!

Boom!

Jack and V turned around and retreated to cover, Lille grabbed magazines for Raccoon Dog and Achilles from the box, sliding them on the ground towards them—

Catching the magazines, the three began reloading simultaneously.

"My leg... my leg!"

"I feel numb..."

"Help!"

The gunfire inside the building abruptly stopped, leaving only the screams of those injured by the grenades.

The Tiger Claw Gang members huddled behind cover, looking at their collapsed companions’ corpses, breathing heavily, eyes filled with fear.

Three people had genuinely suppressed thirty elites!

High-level suppressors could be breached by tech sniper rifles, cyber-enhanced individuals were no match in close combat. Thinking about hiding, they were chased by smart bullets, while EMPs disrupted communication, amplifying their fear...

Even those thinking of taking a breather in the overhead passage were killed by precise grenade bombardment!

What should they do?

Thus, this rabble missed their short-lived opportunity to subdue the trio.

Lille’s eyes glowed with streaming data, "Cloud Peak is located on floors 12-22, prepare to ascend."

Jack and V leaped high, sticking to the wall, flipping up to the second floor, still seeing a few Tiger Claw Gang members crawling on the ground.

Lille shot out spider silk, quickly moving to the opposite building’s wall.

"ばか野郎!撃て!このまま隠れて殺されたいのか?"

(Damn it, attack! Do you want to hide and get killed like this?)

Suddenly someone screamed in Japanese through the communication, and the Tiger Claw Gang members, driven by fear, raised their guns—

But this pressure was way beyond before!

The trio had completed their positioning, forming a triangle on the plane, with slightly staggered heights, watching over each other’s covered floors!

In the dark H8 skyscraper, gunfire bursts, EMP crackles, and electromagnetic bullets traced faint blue paths in the air, while hand grenade explosions lit up red flashes—

Revealing three ghostly figures moving between floors, sometimes magazines and weapons flew midair, and blood and prosthetic parts mingling with unknown fluids splattered together.

The sounds of automatic rifles and tech rifles mixed, with loud thuds of concrete falling, explosions, and screams creating a chaotic symphony...

Drowning out the occasional sound of bones breaking, fists pounding on concrete, and Mantis Blades clashing and snapping.

The Tiger Claw Gang members’ adrenaline surged, pain editors and rapid injection devices pushed their prosthetics to near-overload under intense emotional spikes, screaming as they fired blindly into the dark at the three.

But the gunfire grew quieter and quieter, the fallen grew more and more...

The first person began to abandon their gun and flee, some couldn’t bear the fear and leaped to their deaths. Soon, what was supposed to be a shootout turned into a massacre.

The chaos finally ended with an explosion.

After that explosion, there was no more gunfire.

Reaching the 20th floor, V irritably fired a shot—

Bang!

"Why is there no one left!!!"

The voice echoed through the building, the only response was the intermittent skyscraper broadcast.

A man in a purple suit hid behind a wall, trembling.

The skyscraper was locked down, power went out, he just wanted to check the situation inside...

Only to witness such a horrifying scene.

[Please, everyone... stay calm, remain in your residences... until... the issue is resolved, estim... estimated... time is -32,768 hours...]

The skyscraper broadcasted intermittently.

A fist appeared before the glass window—

Crash!

Jack and V climbed up from below, their mechanical arms gripping the wall and hoisting Lille inside from above.

Jack and V stood firm, holding their guns, excitedly high-fiving each other:

"Nice!"

"It was nice, but we’re out of ammo. Switch to handguns."

The mechanical arms took the weapons from their hands and started disassembling them, placing the parts into the empty tactical box.

Jack and V shook their heads in satisfaction, "That was one heck of a fight."

Lille remained silent, but the heat radiating fins on his back turned red-hot, popping out noisily and dropping to the ground.

There were two sets of heat fins, the one that popped out was done for.

Lille began replying to Blais.

[Blais: You’re in? What’s in?]

[Blais: Speak up? Never mind, I’ll check the news myself...]

[Blais: Bro, what are you doing!!!]

[Blais: Are you nuts! We agreed to investigate the Tiger Claw Gang and assist NCPD in enforcement!]

[Blais: Not to expose political corruption or storm NCPD!!!]

[Blais: Stop now, let’s re-evaluate the plan!]

[Blais: Stop!!!]

[Blais: Burger King—Lille!!!! Do you think the NetWatch is too lenient!!!]

[Blais: Aaaaargh]

[Blais: Bro, I’m begging you, say something!]

[Blais: Bro?]

Although this net watchdog was quite talkative, Blais provided network support to Lille as soon as the battle started, helping him control the skyscraper’s network.

Throughout the process, Lille caused eight mobile disruptions, 22 prosthetic and weapon malfunctions, 14 prosthetic eye reboots, and 10 prosthetic overheat warnings.

These Magic Dolls were optimized by Lille in cyberspace, but adding the computing power for Little Octopus’s mechanical arm control and battlefield coordination was taxing his brain.

Without Blais’s support, maintaining control over the skyscraper network would’ve been impossible.

[Lille: Killed them all. We’re heading to the Cloud Peak database; you can get whatever you want, even the sex dolls are all inside.]

[Lille: But I feel something’s off, seems too easy. Could Arasaka set a trap for me?]

Somewhere in Taiping State, Blais felt his heart skip a beat, unsure of how to respond to Lille’s remark.

Yet he remained professional.

No way he could tear up the contract now and ask Lille to return, right?

Moreover, the situation... seemed beneficial to him at the moment.

Thinking about it... NCPD and Night City’s politics were none of his business, although NetWatch’s style was covert...

But no one said it had to be covert, right?

And causing a ruckus, even if it was Burger King’s doing, had nothing to do with him, right?

Blais leaned back, closing his eyes, convincing himself, exhaling deeply.

[Blais: Bro, do whatever you want, I’m backing you up.]

Steam behind Lille gradually diminished, "Alright, our employer commended us, let’s proceed..."

He said this, then noticed a tearful man in a purple suit groveling in front of him.

V squatted in front of the man, poking his face with a gun, while Jack stepped on his leg—crushing it.

Lille asked, "Who’s this?"

V replied, "He claims to be Cloud Peak’s... person in charge? Calls himself Woody.

Doesn’t look like it though; I thought he was a lunatic from some gutter. How do we handle him?"

"Blais, you heard that, he’s yours."

[Blais: Bro, I heard. There might be an access point in the nearby room, get him in, I’ll guide you on deep diving for data.]

[Lille: Why are you calling me bro?]

[Blais: Because right now, you are, bro.]