Chapter 382 - 354: Encirclement

[Kase: "What the fuck do we do now? We’re completely surrounded!"]

[Authentic: "Two more minutes."]

In reality, two minutes was just an approximate number; he had no idea how much time was actually left.

But he had to give a definite number now.

The situation was overwhelmingly unfavorable: perhaps the mercenaries had taken out a few Six Street Gang cars, but very few were actually killed, and they could continue the chase with a new vehicle.

Each of the mercenaries had been hit to the point of being incapacitated, and now there were only nine of them left who were still operational out front.

The good news was that according to the plan, they had successfully diverted the Six Street Gang’s attention to the ones who were already exposed, and the defense area had been significantly reduced—

This allowed them to take control of the circuits in the outer area.

It was hard to say whether the mercenaries on the Six Street Gang’s side had fallen into their trap, because what they were about to do next was unimaginable:

The hacker behind the scenes would use the civilian power grid of other areas of the Coronado Farm in Saint Domingo to create a massive-scale EMP specifically targeting Woodhaven Street.

Civilian power supplies were designed to transmit electricity steadily. To achieve such an effect, it was necessary to break through the security defenses of the entire area’s power grid, control the distributed energy resources of the power system, and make them work together to generate enough energy for an instantaneous release.

This method was a favorite technique of seasoned hackers; the higher the specifications of the power grid, the larger the EMP that could be created.

In a region like Saint Domingo, to produce such an effect would require the integration of a power grid scale that almost covers the entire Coronado Farm area, which is half of Saint Domingo.

Their main goal was to help the employer break the stalemate, controlling the Six Street Gang was one method, attacking civilian facilities...

Barely counted as another method—as a widespread power grid would burn out, Night City’s municipal government would always have to re-tender and rebuild.

And Authentic, as an accomplice, could also make a big name for himself.

Once those annoying electronic devices went offline, these highly skilled mercenaries could then maximize their combat abilities.

In this way, they might even manage to take out the Six Street Gang’s leader and complete two missions at once.

"Ye Group’s going to be in big trouble..."

The man known as Authentic inserted a certain small energy storage device into the distribution box at the substation and then quickly left the place, rushing towards the next target.

The RF antennas on some civilian buildings began to rotate silently...

Thick black clouds enveloped the sky above Night City, with light raindrops falling from the sky.

The signboard symbolizing Ye Group flickered slightly.

...

In Saint Domingo, inside a low-rise apartment building.

This was an apartment building inhabited by quite a few people, and compared to the numerous wooden houses at Coronado Farm, these apartments were even more expensive.

The reason was nothing else; it was corporate property and closer to the factory area of Saint Domingo, convenient for commuting to work.

In other words, most people living here were wage-earning working-class with a regular job.

The Six Street Gang’s raucous voices could even penetrate the light raindrops and reach here—if he didn’t close the window, that is.

In one of the homes, a woman took out a reheated ready-to-eat meal from the microwave and brought it to the man sitting at the table.

The latter was dissatisfied: "The Six Street Gang again... because of the Six Street Gang, the factory says security costs have gone up, and they’ve reduced wages, now they’ve even stopped production!

God damn it, the Six Street Gang!"

In fact, it wasn’t just him who thought this way; anyone who could afford to rent an apartment felt the same.

The Six Street Gang was like a shadow; although they hardly operated in this area, all the factories had to adjust their salaries because of them.

They didn’t care what the Six Street Gang was fighting for; in their eyes, the Six Street Gang was just the thing that caused them to lose their wages.

"Can’t they let NCPD come here? I do pay taxes, after all!"

The man shook his head and began to eat.

Just then, he noticed the window starting to vibrate slightly, a strong and powerful sound penetrated the glass—

Boom...

It was the sound of an engine!

The thick engine noise kept getting closer, shaking the man...

Please, don’t come over here!

...

"He said two minutes!"

"Two minutes?"

A Colby Mule was racing down the street, a small pickup truck; presently there were two in the cab and one in the bed.

The mercenaries in the truck were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. After they were discovered, the only instruction that Authentic gave them through the comms was to stall!

Compared to the detailed action instructions given before, such advice made them feel abandoned!

But the three of them didn’t mention it—what they should only talk about now was how to escape!

The man in the bed of the truck was operating a heavy machine gun, the muzzle flash obscuring his expression as the bullets kept the Six Street Gang’s cars from getting close—

The machine gun suddenly stopped, its bolt slamming back against a metal component with a crisp clang.

"Reloading!"

"He’s out of ammo!"

Both sides screamed out at the same time. A member of the Six Street Gang, carrying a rocket launcher, poked his head out, but the man was faster—

The man raised an arm, which quickly split open to reveal a bullet launcher inside!

Boom!

Fortunately, the driver reacted quickly. The car screeched to a halt, nearly causing the rocket launcher to misfire.

Enraged, a Six Street Gang officer yelled at the driver to start the car again and continue the chase, but the Colby Mule had already turned the corner and taken off.

Of course, the advantage of fighting on home turf was having plenty of people; one after another, Six Street Gang cars passed by, chasing after them with shouts and jeers.

If seen from a God’s-eye view, the mercenaries had already been cornered within an area with a radius of about 1000 meters.

They would eventually converge on a main road closest to the waterfront; by then, they would have no way to escape, and the gang would carry out the annihilation on this main road.

In the eyes of the Six Street Gang, they were like turtles in a jar. With hundreds of members surrounding a few, firing at random could turn them into mincemeat.

And the frantically fleeing mercenaries also realized they had fallen into an ambush. In their minds, they were counting down—

One minute, thirty seconds. Finally, two groups of mercenaries converged. Each side raised the cannons and machine guns they had at the followers behind the other, executing a cross-fire.

It might have appeared well-coordinated, but in reality, it was fraught with danger as they were right in the zone of overlapping fire!

The scene became immensely chaotic in an instant: Mercenaries from both sides and the Six Street Gang opened fire!

The entire street was filled with flying bullets, so dense that they made one almost forget it had begun to rain from the sky:

On this street, bullets were denser than raindrops!

The terrifying hail of bullets swept indiscriminately across the street, sending shards of metal flying everywhere. The adrenaline surge was enough to make fear inevitably bubble up in the gunmen’s minds!

In the midst of this tempest, all they could do was forcefully exhale the last bit of air from their lungs or crank up their voice synthesizers to full power, as if drowning out the sound of gunfire with their shouts would scatter their fear—

But the bullets howled like a fierce wind, whistling past their vehicles and bodies, and their shouting abruptly ceased!

Several cars either couldn’t withstand such a barrage, had their tires blown out, or the drivers were killed on the spot, resulting in immediate explosions!

Boom!

Forty-five seconds, only forty-five seconds remained; they couldn’t stop.

The mercenaries in the car gritted their teeth and injected themselves with more stimulants, completely ignoring their wounds. The car, already starting to burn, spun around without any pause and continued on:

They still had pursuers!

The explosions and gunfire on the street hammered at the hearts of the residents and homeless nearby, with the grim reaper just a step away!

In the midst of such a battle, it felt as though they lived on the battlefield.

Even in Night City, battles like these were rare, and even in Saint Domingo, the presence of the Six Street Gang had improved the security situation quite a bit.

All they had heard about was the gangs taking over factories, skyscrapers, and engaging in shootouts in shady corners.

But today, the battle was happening right under their noses!

David had already used a broken car to block the road, creating a barricade, and lay prone beside it, propping up a machine gun.

He placed the two badly damaged mercenaries off to the side. His mind was in disarray: It wasn’t his first time killing, but before, he had only dealt with the vilest of scum.

This time was different; these two mercenaries were a pair, in another sense just like him:

A couple of idle youngsters looking for trouble on the streets, eventually becoming mercenaries licking blood off blade edges.

But suddenly, he also saw a homeless man in the corner, clutching his head, hiding in a box, and he remembered his former self:

He believed the homeless man was also someone with personality, but without a weapon in such a situation, there was only one pose left—

Trembling in terror.

No, that’s not right... David glanced beside the box. There actually was a gun, a pink plastic pistol.

The man wasn’t weaponless; he was simply broken by fear, too scared to act.

Suddenly, he thought: If he hadn’t had the courage to hold a gun, he would have ended up just like that homeless man.

This city was crazy and cruel; tenderness was only for one’s own. If he didn’t want to end up like those two mercenaries...

He needed to clear his mind of distractions and hold tightly to his weapon.

The wide main road, the remnants of burning cars, whizzing bullets, and increasingly heavy rain, with neon lights casting the scene in a kaleidoscope of color—

Around the corner, car after car bolted out, and the torrential rain couldn’t extinguish the flames engulfing them!

[Lucy: They’ve arrived—]

[Zzzt—]

Piercing noise filled the entire communication channel, and the bright neon lights went up in flames—

White noise pierced David’s brain, leaving a void, and the once-vivid and colorful world turned to only black and white...

EMP!