Chapter 301 - 280: One-Hit Kill

[Network Monitoring High-Level Program List: Evil Dragon]

[Type: Anti-Invasion]

[Description: A software specifically designed to detect Demons and Ice-breaking programs, this antique software has been in use since the old net era. Not only is it outstanding in anti-invasion capabilities, but it is also widely studied and utilized by AI hunters due to its targeted recognition of Demon program groups.]

[Blais’s Notes: An antiquated program, yet also a very useful one.]

[Since the collapse of the old net, wild hackers’ skills have plummeted. Although this program has been overused by hackers from the old net, new era hackers rarely get the chance to study them.]

[We’ve laid out some paradigms on the network and specifically monitor hackers who use these types of programs.]

[Now, if someone pulls out this kind of program, they are either on the monitoring list or hackers from major corporations, educated through systematic training.]

[Of course, there’s another possibility: it came from the other side of the Black Wall.]

Evil Dragon!

However, it was not that formidable—

Little Octopus appeared in cyberspace at the first opportunity to grasp the Evil Dragon, which seemed attracted and bit at it in response.

This is why it’s said that programs in cyberspace appearing lifelike doesn’t necessarily mean they possess high intelligence.

Because, if it had intelligence, it would have felt awe when facing this Octopus nearly ten times its size—

The flames of Evil Dragon smashed onto Little Octopus, causing almost no damage. Instead, Little Octopus enveloped the program set and leveled it with a massive stream of information.

[Little Octopus: Urgh!]

Afterward, Little Octopus opened its tentacles and spat out a mosaic-like red and black Data Block—

Data Blocks in cyberspace no longer possess an offensive nature.

However, these Data Blocks are almost impenetrable to hacking, like stubborn spores with no offensive power, but if touched actively, one would become contaminated with data from the Black Wall.]

Lille looked at Little Octopus’s data body.

On the tentacles of Little Octopus, the flames of Evil Dragon had actually caused substantial damage, leaving behind a large area of dark red scars.

And these scars seemed to spread continuously; Lille could feel how tough this program was to deal with. It’s just too bad... Little Octopus could handle attacks similar to the Black Wall.

Firstly, the scale of the program was too small; its possible attack speed was far less than Little Octopus’s processing ability.

Secondly, Little Octopus seemed to have gained experience from being smacked by the Black Wall.

[Little Octopus: Big bro, I feel...]

Suddenly, Little Octopus started throbbing vigorously, making Lille’s eyebrows raise.

[Little Octopus: I feel like I’m going to evolve!]

Its tentacles flared out wildly, and the black scars began to shrink, with the speed of the recovery getting faster and faster.

[Lille: Don’t be so dramatic, where did you learn that?]

[V: Damn it, military technology’s unmanned mecha! Lille, what are you doing!]

[V: The unmanned mecha has gone haywire!]

Little Octopus disconnected the excess computing power to shrink down and then perched on Lille’s shoulder, blinking its eyes.

[Little Octopus: Big bro, I’m heading back.]

Then it disappeared, reappeared on a small ICE in cyberspace symbolizing V.

Lille twitched the corner of his eye and also exited cyberspace.

...

The Bimong Armored Vehicle contained an unmanned mecha firing in a manner reminiscent of an Arasaka Mecha, but its dual large-caliber technical weapons had been replaced with twin-linked four-barreled machine guns!

(For size reference, see the Arasaka Mecha, do a quick test.)

Just as Little Octopus scrapped the Evil Dragon, the entire mecha suddenly erupted in electric sparks, its joints jerked violently with unnatural force, breaking its own limbs!

Murky liquid seeped from the joints, and the mecha shuddered uncontrollably, leaving Brick beside it terrified—He was familiar with this; Hackers burnt out would spark electrically, and if machinery were involved, it would burst into flames!

Unfortunately, the military technology’s unmanned mecha used flame-resistant components, hardly enough to catch fire at this temperature.

In other words, the mecha had barely made two movements before it was blown to scrap by the hacker!

But in the next second, the mecha Brick thought was scrapped suddenly entered combat mode, its indicator lights flashing erratic, dangerous red lights as ammunition poured out!

The exaggerated firing rate propelled bullets like lasers towards Bimong’s cargo hold, creating a cacophony of ’dinging’ and ’dangling’ on impact, the whole armor heating up, glowing red, then warping and bursting!

Bang!

Suddenly bullets flew wildly without care!

Jack and V, seeing this, took cover behind a rock, but the deranged mecha seemed to regain consciousness, gradually turning its gun barrels—

Bullets in a laser-like stream cut through Bimong’s armored vehicle cargo hold, sweeping step by step toward the rock Jack and V were hiding behind!

Without a doubt, even the rock couldn’t stop this kind of assault!

[Jack: Lille, think of something quick!]

[Lille: Use the other gun.]

[Jack: You’ve marked too small a weak point, I’m afraid I’ll miss!]

[Lille: Afraid of what, just hit it!]

Jack pulled out from under his clothes that golden mean piece equipped with a long adapter sleeve, now looking even more like a sawed-off shotgun...

He touched the gun and immediately raised it to aim at the unmanned mecha that was about to break out of its shell:

Having gone through so much had conditioned him to trust Lille unconditionally.

But holding such a short gun in his hand, his body instinctively made him aim with one hand—it was just a pistol, after all.

The specially made bullet was loaded into the chamber, and Jack stood up to shoot!

Bang!

The immense force changed Jack’s facial expression in an instant; he felt as if he wasn’t using a pistol but a hand cannon!

The moment the bullet left the barrel, the entire adapter burst into flames as it was forced out with the bullet, the explosion slightly altering the bullet’s trajectory, but its exit velocity was so fast that it barely had an impact.

The recoil instantly shattered Jack’s already unsteady wrist, and his expression shifted from surprise to terror as he saw the exploding adapter and the pistol flying towards his face—

The bullet penetrated the yellowed armored plate, and in a clash of internal and external forces, it pierced through 150mm of reactive armor in an instant!

The kinetic energy, carrying the metal that had turned liquid, scattered as the bullet completely penetrated the unmanned mecha’s sensors, skimmed past the central processor, and exited through the other side!

Boom!

Sparks flew in every direction!

For the onlookers, it seemed just a flash of sparks before the bullet shot out from the Bimong Armored Vehicle, hitting a distant rock and kicking up a bit of dust.

What was left behind was a fist-sized hole that had completely penetrated both the vehicle’s armor and the unmanned mecha.

Jack got hit squarely on the bridge of his nose by the golden projectile that had been flung into the air; he quickly snatched back the out-of-control gun and covered his nose, staring at the scene.

The scene was left with only the scrapped mecha making sizzling sounds, accompanied by the wind and the crackling of flames, even the Vortex Gang underlings missing limbs and arms made no sound.

Exaggerated, way too exaggerated.

That vehicle wasn’t just some roadside pick like the Canary G240, and the mecha wasn’t some little man’s toy.

Brick, with one arm component malfunctioning and dangling beside him, stood still as the underlings on the ground looked at him, not knowing what to do.

In the end, Brick was still the first to step forward; after all, he was still the boss.

"Hey!"

Jack and V looked at him, and that look made him shrink, "You..."

Words reached his mouth, but as part of the Vortex Gang crazies, he still wanted to save some face in front of his underlings.

However, the sight of Jack in the desert, especially with blood and mechanical fluid mixed on his body, just didn’t allow him to stay tough...

Everyone says the Vortex Gang is crazy, but who knows that madness is just their camouflage—

At least for Brick, when his life was in others’ hands, he could still tell what was more important.

He was trembling—

because the look in Jack’s eyes was clearly one that spelled death for him.

So Brick dodged Jack’s gaze and turned to V:

"Do you need us to send the merchandise back for you?"

This question even amused V, who shook the dust from her body, "Robbing the vehicle?"

Brick nodded, "Robbing the vehicle."

Soon V received a message from Lille.

[V: What do you say, kill them? Is this the boss of the Vortex Gang? Doesn’t look so tough to me.]

[Lille: Let them go—have them move out the merchandise we want.]

[V: Let them go? Are you sure? This guy’s got a 20,000 euro bounty on his head... just 20,000 euros?]

[Lille: Let him go, get the merchandise first.]

Jack clicked his tongue and glanced at V, then turned to walk in the direction where the motorcycle had uncontrollably flown off to.

He had nothing to say to the Vortex Gang.

"No worries, keep on robbing, we’ll just take what we need," V beckoned, "You guys, carry some stuff out, the rest is all yours."

Brick swallowed hard.

Damn, I’ve met a Living Bodhisattva.

"Sure! Brother, may I ask your distinguished name? From now on, the Vortex Gang’s got your back..."

He’d barely gotten the words out when Brick suddenly remembered that bastard Royce had betrayed him and run away!

If he returned too late, would the Vortex Gang still be his?

Thus his expression abruptly changed, "Hero, have you considered taking a commission? I..."

V shook her head, "Get moving with the goods first."

"Damn, right now I..."

Brick was about to say he didn’t have the time, but V raised her eyebrows and he immediately corrected himself, "I’ll start moving it now!"

With that, he turned and hurried towards the underling Doom Doom trapped under the vehicle, straining to pull him out from beneath it.

Had this been at any other time, both Jack and V would’ve commended the boss for his prosthetic strength.

But times had changed.

It was Brick who had to marvel: Cyber beasts in Evil Land.