Chapter 681 - 652 For Whom?

Bang—

After firing a round of mini bombs, Jack had taken the shield again. Lille’s wheelchair had already turned into a lightweight model; although it was still heavy, it was much better than before.

The wheelchair hit the ground with a thud. In the darkness, lights flickered, and damaged circuits buzzed.

Rushing into the basement, the temperature around them dropped sharply. The oxygen content in the air was significantly lower than outside, but without the interference of thick smoke, V immediately caught the familiar scent:

The smell of Lille’s burnt brain mixed with the scent of burning machinery, making him look like a scrapped robot.

Seeing this scene, V’s heart missed a beat:

It looked like he was dead.

Click.

The wheelchair’s light came on, but it was for V. Lille’s biological eye and prosthetic eye were both damaged; in fact, his senses were reduced to a heightened sensitivity for sound.

"Keep moving forward; these lines are on the surface. The Black Wall can already affect this area, but we can’t find what we need here."

A completely mechanized, broken voice squeezed out of the wheelchair, accompanied by a distinctly non-human tone, like a voiceless phonograph.

The sound was so creepy that it made V shiver: "Your voice..."

"The Black Wall has locked onto me."

"But isn’t the Black Wall supposed to attack only AIs?"

"Theoretically, yes. But it seems like Network Watch has found a way to make it target me, or they’ve found some way to expand its attack range...

Maybe helping them against the Soul Killer gave Arasaka leverage, and now, Network Watch is using it against me.

Now we know why Network Watch is so obsessed with the Soul Killer. There’s more to it."

"Network Watch, Arasaka? Those damn bastards! We worked for them, battled Arasaka for them, and now they’re teaming up to screw us?!"

"They paid us, and we did the work... Companies don’t operate on sentiment. This is no joke this time: Military Technology, Arasaka, Network Watch..."

V kicked the stuck wheel of the wheelchair, making it move smoothly, pushing Lille forward in the dark.

"You don’t sound very confident?"

"Honestly..." Lille sighed, "Back in Atlanta, when Notte was chasing us, I thought we had no chance, but then we have the famous V with us, after all."

V felt flattered.

But then, looking at Lille covered in sparks, she couldn’t be happy.

Lille continued, "This time... honestly, I don’t have much faith in the gangs either. The corporations are too powerful. Even though I’ve done everything I could, betrayal remains a very likely... possibility.

I thought the Vortex Gang would be the first to betray, then the Valentinos, the Tiger Claw Gang, and the Six Street Gang...

But the Vortex Gang turned out to be the most solidly standing in Dog Town."

"What do you think the reason is?"

"I don’t know." Lille shook his head, "No one can control the world, and I’m past the age of having such fantasies."

"Every time you say that, you sound so old."

"Because I am... very experienced." Lille said, hacking into the elevator door in front of him and looking up at V, "But it’s been a long time since I felt this thrill. I have to say, you really reignited my passion."

V felt a bit awkward, trying to guess what Lille meant while moving toward the circuit breaker.

Click—

"...Quite unlike you, Little Li Zi."

The armored door to Little Beidou opened, revealing a shattered office to the two of them.

Little Beidou was a massive underground research facility with a maze-like layout. Most rooms stored high-spec servers and generators, with cables tangled and sparks flying.

The moment the door opened, Lille’s brow furrowed slightly...

Someone was inside.

A massive black man.

V’s expression instantly turned ice-cold, pushing the wheelchair forward slowly.

"I’m Riddle." Behind the man was a hastily constructed defensive line, equipped with heavy machine guns, rifles, hand grenades, pistols... all the necessary gear.

But only low-tech weapons, not the high-tech drones or mechas.

"So your target is indeed here, but you won’t win this battle with what’s here:

All corporations have blocked the communication frequency, and in half an hour, the troops will be fully deployed, grinding your people to dust.

Once you and those audacious terrorists are dead, the corporations will conduct a joint investigation on everyone connected to you, everything related..."

"V."

Zzz—

The Mantis Blade shot out instantly, stabbing into the heating tank behind Lille!

Riddle’s brow furrowed, his posture tightening, as he quietly moved towards the nearby cover...

"...Have you heard of a type of ideological terrorist in Europe? You’re at that level now.

Everyone connected to you will die—your prosthetic eye doctor, your friends, family, friends’ families, friends of friends, everyone who helped you..."

Swish!

The red-hot Mantis Blade pulled out from the heating tank, glowing like a Light Saber in the dim basement!

"You should consider those people and join New America!"

"Enough talking!"

V suddenly burst forward, slicing through nearby steel bars and wires with the Mantis Blade, sending a shower of bright sparks flying. The high-voltage wires and heated bars shot out!

Bam!

Riddle wasn’t slow either, immediately diving behind cover. Hand grenades and bullets fired simultaneously!

Boom!

Every grenade was deflected by V, and every bullet missed. Even though he knew the exaggerated combat abilities of these three main terrorists, Riddle still felt the touch of death:

This was their combat ability after being on the defensive for so long!

Boom!

Landmines hidden in the floor exploded instantly, forcing V to change direction, taking cover while dodging Riddle’s shots and looking for an opportunity to strike back!

Throughout the battle, V’s abilities nearly crushed the agent from New America. But Lille didn’t understand how he got in or how he planted so many landmines and weapons here—

Relying on combat experience and the advantage of the terrain, he actually held off V’s attacks in this open space and fought back and forth!

Lille wasn’t surprised: V’s condition was also very poor, with severe damage from the shock waves caused by the stabilization rounds.

Jack, with his lizard prosthetics making up most of his body, withstood the impact while rapidly self-repairing, but V didn’t have that luxury!

At this moment, however, Lille could only trust V to win—

In reality, V still had a good chance of winning; it just required time.

Lille maneuvered the wheelchair slowly forward. Riddle was forced back by V, opening the path, watching helplessly as Lille rolled past his defenses—

The wheelchair even lifted off the ground, clearing the barriers!

Boom!

Riddle was once again forced to detonate explosives, creating distance from V, sprinting towards a machine gun: "Burger King! Join New America; it’s the only way to protect the people around you! Even if not for you—"

Lille didn’t even look at him, saying, "Sometimes I tell myself it’s for others, or for the world, but I’m clear about my own motives:

It’s all for myself."

Swish!

The Mantis Blade pierced through the flames. Riddle’s pupils contracted sharply, watching as the heavy machine gun he just grabbed was cut in half!

The red-hot blade sliced through his combat suit, cutting through flesh, aiming straight for his head!

"You bastard—" V endured the shockwaves and heat from the explosions, "You talk too much!"

Boom—

The heavy machine gun exploded again!