Chapter 514 - 485: Anxious

The light rail to Company Square was wrapped in neon lights, and the neon lights had been reduced to a broken mess due to the "power theft" that had swept through most of Haywood.

Sparks continued to fall from the tubes, and the formerly synchronized but unimpressive lights became fragmented and shattered...

Instead, the sky was dominated by another form of unity and coordination.

That was the 1500 degrees Celsius energy-gathering cannon shells.

The coils heated their surfaces to a plasma state, exceeding 3000 degrees Celsius—not much of it, but as the shells glided through the air and ionized the atmosphere, they left a faint blue trail.

But that blue trail was hardly worth mentioning compared to the heated metal—

These shells uniformly radiated a brilliant orange-red, akin to streetlights on this strange night.

Of course, only to those who had activated Si Anweisitan did they look like streetlights.

A total of six energy-gathering cannons fired from the crisscrossing flyover, each hitting the path of the iron torrent.

Accompanying the falling shells were formidable rockets, hand grenades, and bullets, along with eight modified Centaur mechs—

It was said that the NPCD’s first procurement included 36 units, and the first armored division would equip only six units, completing training and deployment within a month.

Yet these mercenaries... effortlessly had eight at their disposal, enough to pin the NCPD armored division to the ground.

It was like rain.

Iron rain.

In the slow-motion world, those equipped with Si Anweisitan reacted first, adjusting their stances, but the disparity in prosthetics determined the real-world outcome.

V was the fastest because her jumping speed nearly reached human limits.

Avoiding the iron rain, she pulled on spider silk, her heartbeat seemingly stopped as she ascended against the torrential gunfire.

Again and again, she pulled on the silk, utilizing the explosive turbines in her exoskeleton, moving so fast that even she struggled to control it—

Explosions erupted behind her.

V crashed into the flyover, shattering glass and framework, observing the stunned energy-gathering cannon operator being decapitated—

Even casually snatching a hand grenade from his shoulder.

Boom!

The entire street was engulfed in an explosion, turning Valentino into a chaotic mess, and the legendary Mackinaw wobbled in the blast, but it was too fast, too heavy!

The Centaur mechs slammed to the ground, drawing massive blades from their backs and moving at high speeds thanks to the pulleys—

Whoever emerged first from the explosion zone would face the blade!

And the first to emerge was...

Shockingly, a blade!

The blade, entangled with spider silk, was flung at high speed, slashing through the air in an exaggerated arc, severing a dodging Centaur mech in half!

The legendary Mackinaw spun out of the smoke, Jack’s gear fastened him securely to the out-of-control spinning Mackinaw, and he was almost instinctively wielding that massive blade!

No threatening shell hit the vehicle directly, which was now dazed and spinning in the explosion, yet it still moved forward!

The first Centaur mech was cut in half, the blade’s speed sharply reduced, continuing to strike a second target who smartly deflected the blow with his own blade.

But this defensive move cost him the chance to attack the Mackinaw, and the ten-ton vehicle rammed into him!

Bam!

The driver roared, resisting with all his might, the ground cracking under the Centaur mech’s legs.

He felt he could stop the vehicle!

"Arghhhh—"

Bam!

Jack seized the moment to smash his head, then swung the massive blade toward the cannon-mounted flyover!

The sword plunged in, instantly destroying an energy-gathering cannon!

In just the first round of conflict, two energy-gathering cannons and two Centaur mechs were wrecked on the spot!

Both the cannon operators and gunmen were bewildered:

What was happening?

Weren’t they the ones in advantageous terrain?

The Centaur mech operators were equally baffled, but they had reached the point of no return, as these heavily-modified machines couldn’t stop quickly once they built up speed.

Moreover... that Mackinaw hadn’t stopped?

A scorching long blade was drawn from behind, and the operator charged with a plain but deadly sword at full speed—

But they weren’t the only ones charging!

Bam—

The second Valentino, the third Valentino, the fourth Valentino emerged from the blast zone, charging forward under the hail of bullets!

It was terrifying because some of the passengers on those vehicles were already dead!

Night City offered these foreign mercenaries a chance at fame, which they cherished.

But witnessing this scene made them suddenly fearful:

They came for fame, for money, for a way out...

Not for risking their lives as performance artists!

One Centaur mech suddenly jammed its blade into the ground, skidding to a halt in terror, colliding head-on with its comrades, while some ambush gunmen on the flyover started to flee—

Something was wrong.

Terribly wrong!

"What the fuck are you doing!"

The driver of the knocked-over Centaur mech also panicked—someone had gone cyber-psycho!

Bam bam—bam—bam!

The sound of steel clashing echoed down the street, and the battlefield’s tide turned!

Ambush gunmen began to retreat, Centaur mechs crashed to the ground, and their overwhelming advantage disappeared in an instant!

The mercenaries at the front had no intention of retreating, navigating skillfully through the iron torrent with their modified Centaur mechs and expertise, dispatching more foes.

But...

But they didn’t feel like fearless heroes, rather more like pathetic clowns.

Why was that?

Jack was puzzled: why had his usually sharp Haywood brothers suddenly become reckless?

Still, he felt the surge of power—

"Ah—"

Jack kicked away the trapped Centaur mech, immediately switching to a motorcycle and charging forward!

He picked up a fallen War Blade from a Centaur mech, matching their speed and charging at them!

A perfect frontal encounter, a perfect engagement spot, powerful gear, and ostensibly correct strategies.

Yet the outcome was this—

In the sky, V used spider silk, mini-thrusters, enhanced Achilles tendons, and electrostatic adhesion gloves, coordinating with her Blast Ride, moving so fast it was hard to discern, hunting down cyber-enhanced Eclipse users.

On the ground, Jack’s oversized gauntlets continually fired at distant enemies, while his red-hot War Blade claimed the lives of those nearby, resembling a high-mobility anti-infantry vehicle.

Mercenaries and fame-seeking punks who should have been on the offensive were now being pursued.

The Mackinaw moved steadily through the iron torrent, its pace slow, even extending robotic arms out of the side windows to flip off recording drones.

Mistaken observing Munemasa, his head—correction, his CPU and running memory began to overheat.

He couldn’t understand why, despite an obvious advantage, things turned out this way?

Why? Why did these brain-dead fools get so frightened under such circumstances?

Could they not see the enemy’s dwindling weapons, equipment, and manpower!

His masterpiece, his design, his weapons, had not realized their potential!

He really... he was really anxious! Very anxious!

He really couldn’t comprehend, he really wanted to win!

"Munemasa: We... we lost..."

"Munemasa: They lost! I didn’t lose!"

"Munemasa: Start the workshop, I’ll handle it myself!"

"Munemasa: If they are scared, I’ll ensure they won’t fear anymore!"

"Munemasa: Activate all transmission devices!"

"Munemasa: But..."

"Shhhhh—"