Chapter 341 - 316: Mercenary

Jimmy Black, a famed producer of the "Black Superdream" series, held a highly acclaimed series called "Outsider."

This series primarily documented the combat madness of cyborgs with intense battles that shocked the viewers’ nerves, usually ending with the most thrilling deaths.

Nothing in "Super Dream" was as intense as a "Black Superdream" ending in death, after which many other films could no longer stimulate people’s nerves; people gradually became addicted.

"This time, our target is to take down this master of ’Black Superdream’, David, you take it from here."

V spoke while glancing at Lille, who sat dazed in the car and looked like someone whose brain had been fried.

Although she had grown accustomed to Lille’s condition, this time was different—

They had dragged the man out, and yet he remained the same.

So she directly instructed David to explain the situation.

"Uh... Jimmy’s films sell widely, I’ve bought them before, even sold them at school; the guy is rich, also very rich in the ’Black Superdream’ circle."

David spoke a few words, then hesitated and looked at V, who was leaning against the car.

It’s not the big sister’s job to plan the operation, right? I’m just a junior!

Besides, upon reflection, he didn’t know what they were doing seeking Jimmy. Were they aiming to take down Jimmy’s black market operations?

Thinking it over, he decided to bite the bullet and continue: "Jimmy should be alone in the Ashen Club now. I’ll go up and distract him while Man kidnaps him from behind."

"That sounds like a thorough plan," Man nodded repeatedly, "Let’s do that then."

So David led the squad into the car and drove towards the underground garage of the Ashen Club—

It’s worth mentioning that they were also driving a Mackinaw, Adkaduo’s same model setup, only with a more vibrant graffiti, Night City style.

Meanwhile, in another temporarily used Mackinaw, V stared with dead fish eyes and gently fanned Lille’s face, though Lille still looked like a dead fish.

Jack said, "They’ve gone in, shouldn’t we follow them?"

"Let them handle this minor matter as a training." V began to shake Lille, "Wake up! Don’t tell me your brain is actually fried!"

[Lille: Stop nagging, I’m working on something.]

...

[David: Scan Jimmy, carefully, there might be something we don’t know about on him.]

[Man: Are we being too cautious? Didn’t you say you’d distract him and we attack directly?]

[David: Being cautious doesn’t conflict with the plan. Jimmy is rich, and rich people have access to advanced equipment.]

Jimmy wore a fashionable fur coat, with soft, fur-like synthetic hair embedded in the fabric, and his nose and chin had polished prosthetic implants that gleamed under the light.

You could see his shining metallic prosthetic pectorals through the widely opened neckline of his leather jacket—

Metallic nose bridge, chin, various earrings, facial ornamental studs, and a pair of emotionless prosthetic eyes, which did not resemble human pupils but slowly moved with a ring of electronic light circles.

Just as he was about to get into his sports car, a Mackinaw chugged into the garage...

The light rings in Jimmy’s prosthetic eyes suddenly froze.

What, a Mackinaw drove into the Ashen Club?

[Jimmy: Something’s off.]

[Phantom: You can tell. Is this really Night City’s latest popular car? Such a tacky ride.]

The window of the Mackinaw opened slightly, and David’s scanner transmitted Jimmy’s image data into the network. Two hackers then bridged this data into the OCT domain to match it with the appropriate intelligence databases—

The match revealed something interesting.

Hidden beneath Jimmy in an inconspicuous position was a device with various dials and buttons, and his prosthetic eye model had also been recorded...

[Suspected Equipment: EMP Power Adjustment Valve]

[Description: A small control device to adjust the power and range of EMP.]

[Suspected Prosthetic Eye: Qilusi "Panorama Sight" Prosthetic Eye]

[Description: Qilusi’s high-end prosthetic eye with special panoramic processing software that allows a Transhuman to receive a 360-degree view simultaneously.]

[Note: This is a set of unconventional number of prosthetic eyes, which might be implanted in unexpected locations like the back of the head, back, heels, and legs.]

With this knowledge, David parked right beside Jimmy’s car, but as he opened the car door, the scanner suddenly detected Jimmy placing his hand on the EMP adjustment knob...

And his eyes, marked by differently colored circles, swiftly ceased their movement and coldly watched the car...

Something was off, the enemy was alert!

In an instant, David made a decision, slamming the car door shut, raising the car’s bulletproof armored windows, and shutting down all communication lines—

[David: Turn off the comms!]

Hiss—

A harsh electrical noise erupted in the minds of everyone in the car. The body armor formed an imperfect Faraday cage, which, although it couldn’t completely isolate EMP, could block most frequencies.

They immediately felt nauseous and dizzy, but it was not enough to make them lose consciousness or their ability to counterattack.

The two hackers suddenly lost all communication, confused, David immediately shouted to the people in the car: "Take action!"

Bang!

The doors of the Mackinaw swung open at the same time, and Jimmy’s expression showed a hint of surprise...

Despite the slight nauseating feeling in his head, David activated Si Anweisitan, intending to overpower Jimmy in a swift move. However, in the slow-moving world, he saw Jimmy’s sports car door swing open, and two handguns were already aimed at him and Man!

"Tsk..."

He could only muster all his strength, change his path, and push Man away!

Bang!

The bullets shot out and ricocheted off Mackinaw’s armored plate, the shooter was slightly surprised, but she had no time to continue being surprised...

Because those in the Mackinaw also revealed their guns, all of which were powerful shotguns!

Bang Bang Bang Bang!

The sound of gunfire echoed as bullets clinked against the car door. Jimmy quickly ducked back into the car, the engine roared to life!

Boom!

The tires screeched against the ground, and the sports car shot out of the garage!

[Communication Restored]

[David: Jimmy ran away! He has bodyguards!]

Man lifted his head off the ground and, seeing the sports car about to exit the garage, raised his left arm—

The skin on his thick left forearm swiftly peeled back, revealing the Bullet Launcher system...

Boom!

The projectile ejected by the launching system struck right below the car’s exhaust pipe, the explosion’s flames surged through the pipeline, igniting the leaked trace ethanol fuel, and sent the car flying up!

"Nothing beats a genuine Bullet Launcher; even though it’s secondhand."

Man glanced at his Bullet Launcher, thinking that if it were that old antique he had before, it would probably jam or break down after an EMP pulse.

...

Bang!

Guarding the entrance, V and Jack looked up, just in time to see the car flip and fly out!

"Such a big scene?"

Jack moved from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat, and V forcefully slapped Lille’s face: "The idiot ran away! Move it!"

But just as the vehicle started, outside on the street next to the parking lot, in a G240, a burly man also raised his arm—

It was a cybernetic limb, visibly mechanical and rugged compared to biotic arms, especially Man’s Bullet Launcher.

Wrapped around the wrist of this limb were six mini-launch pods, accurately aiming at the Mackinaw...

The pods launched what turned out to be a 30mm high-explosive rocket!

Whoosh!

V’s ears caught the sound of the rocket’s whistle approaching!

Boom!