Night was falling.
The sky over Watson North was stained a murky, muddy orange.
“Boss, the kid turned in there.” The man in sunglasses slowed down, pointing at an open shutter door ahead.
It was an abandoned warehouse surrounded by desolate, weed-choked ground.
He had watched the grass-green Thorton Galena drive straight into the dark warehouse.
“Don’t go in.” The bald leader glared at the pitch-black doorway, his brow furrowed.
“Huh?” Sunglasses blinked.
“We’re not chasing?” The bald leader’s tone was resolute.
“The kid led us here the entire way.
There’s definitely an ambush inside.” Both off-roaders stopped around the perimeter, and the 6th Street gang members filed out.
The bald leader stared at the darkness, sensing something hiding within—like a crouching beast waiting patiently for prey to walk into its jaws.
“Vroom—” The roar of engines echoed from a distance.
Everyone turned at once.
Three more off-road vehicles clad in stars-and-stripes paint rounded the intersection, gravel crunching under their tires before pulling up alongside the others.
Doors slammed open, and over a dozen men stepped out.
Leading them was a burly man with a full beard, a full head taller than the bald leader, with shoulders built like a barn door.
He wore a scuffed, shiny leather vest that exposed his heavily tattooed arms.
His left eye was a crimson military cybereye, glowing dark red in the dim light.
“Brick.” The bald leader recognized him and forced himself up from the seat.
“What are you doing here?” “Heard you got messed up by some kid?” Brick walked over and glanced down at the wound on the bald leader’s chest.
“Ho, that’s a nasty one.” “The kid’s not simple,” the bald leader gritted out.
“He…” “Enough.” Brick patted the bald leader’s shoulder.
“Take a rest.
I’ll take my crew in and drag that little brat out.” “There’s an ambush in there!” The bald leader grabbed Brick’s arm.
“Be careful.” Brick glanced down at the hand on his arm, then looked back up at him.
“Relax.” “We’ve got nearly thirty guys.
That kid is dead meat.
Not even God himself could save him—I said so!” Shaking off the hand, Brick turned and yanked a light machine gun from his off-roader, racking the bolt with a sharp *clack*.
Behind him, over a dozen men raised their weapons in unison.
Brick led the group toward the shutter door.
Inside, it was pitch black, completely invisible.
He narrowed his eyes.
Before his red cybereye could automatically switch to night vision mode— “Vroom—!” A ferocious engine roar shattered the silence without warning.
Two blinding beams of light cut through the dark, shining straight onto Brick’s face.
Brick instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes.
Between the twilight and the backlighting, he squinted, trying desperately to make out what was behind the light, but saw only a dazzling white halo.
“Playing mind games!” He raised his LMG, aiming the barrel directly into the high beams.
Whatever was back there, it was going to taste his lead first!
Right then, behind the light beams, a dark silhouette slowly rolled forward.
Dark gray armored body, oversized rims, “K.B” and “43” decals on the side…
And two high-mounted military machine guns mounted right on the front.
*Gulp.* Brick swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.
He recognized it.
Militech MK.31 Heavy Machine Guns.
Vehicle-mounted variants with a rate of fire at three hundred rounds per minute, packing enough armor penetration to shred light armored vehicles.
Suddenly, the LMG in his hands felt like a ridiculous toy, and even the barrel felt soft.
“Uh…” Brick let out a forced chuckle, his feet backing up involuntarily.
“Sorry, wrong guy.” He turned to run.
But the only response he got was the roaring muzzle flash.
“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!” Two tongues of fire burst out simultaneously, a dense curtain of lead weaving bright arcs through the dusk.
Brick had barely taken half a step when his upper body exploded into a cloud of blood and shredded flesh.
The off-roader behind him was hit by dozens of rounds at once, its gas tank detonating on the spot.
“BOOM—!” A ball of fire shot into the sky.
Shrapnel flew in every direction as a wave of heat carrying the smell of burning flesh blasted outward.
“Fuck!
Fire!
Open fire!” “He’s got an armored vehicle!” “Kill that motherfucker!” The remaining 6th Street members finally reacted, raising their guns and firing wildly into the warehouse.
Bullets rained down.
As Brick had said, they had nearly thirty people, and their combined firepower was no less than a machine gun.
Yet facing such an onslaught, Jake Quinn didn’t make the slightest move to dodge.
Bullets pelted the vehicle’s windows with dense, metallic clinks.
David thought they were finished today and stared in horror at the glass—only to find not a single crack.
“CrystalDome bulletproofing is pretty sweet…” Jake felt quite pleased with himself.
It had been well worth driving all the way to Watson North.
David was stunned.
*CrystalDome?* Militech’s armored video screen display system?
He had seen references to it in Arasaka Academy’s internal files.
What appeared to be transparent glass was actually a high-strength armored display screen covering the car’s exterior, offering full visibility while completely deflecting light arms fire.
This car…
David finally realized.
Military machine guns, CrystalDome armor, heading straight north…
*This guy knew this vehicle was parked here right from the very start?!* Of course Jake Quinn knew.
[Dangerous Driving]—the very first free armed sports car players could acquire in Cyberpunk 2077.
Ever since leaving David’s apartment, he had been coming to Watson North to look for it just to test his hunch.
Not only was it bulletproof, but its twin military machine guns dealt massive damage with standard fire and even higher burst damage.
Compared to risking his life against 6th Street on foot, turning them into Swiss cheese with vehicle-mounted machine guns was by far the easiest solution.
Besides, it was worth a small fortune.
An armed sports car was worth at least seventy thousand eddies.
Converted, that was over five hundred thousand—enough to cover his mother’s surgery completely!
The thought alone made Jake click his mouse with even greater enthusiasm.
Under his control, the vehicle’s twin machine guns swept violently, weaving a tight, inescapable net of firepower through the dusk.
The car from [Dangerous Driving] charged out of the warehouse like a beast unleashed from its cage.
An off-roader tried to turn around and flee, but a volley of lead punched straight through its hood, wrecking the engine instantly.
The vehicle veered wildly before crashing into a stack of fuel drums.
“I surrender!
I surrender!” A 6th Street member threw down his gun and dropped to his knees, hands raised high.
A burst of bullets was his answer.
Lying in the back seat of his off-roader, the bald leader looked through the shattered rear window, watching his men being cut down like wheat.
He raised his head to look at the driver’s seat.
The young boy stared back at him emotionlessly.
His eyes held no fear, no anger—only an empty void.
As if he were looking at a corpse.
“Rat-tat-tat!” Bullets struck his chest and abdomen simultaneously.
The bald leader’s body jerked violently before going completely still.
[All hostile targets eliminated] Looking at the prompt popping up on the screen, Jake Quinn let out a long breath of relief.
“Now 6th Street shouldn’t be able to find the killer.” *Nonsense!
You killed every single one of them!* Amidst his internal complaints, David stared at the scorched, body-strewn ground before him, filled with terror and awe.
*Is this the fate of anyone who provokes an evil spirit?*