Um.
Did they say the organization’s name is ‘Tech Worm’?
I was slowly starting to remember this organization’s name.
After all, it had a lot in common with ‘bugs’.
“…Die!!”
Honestly, if they were human, they should have already been dead by now.
I didn’t see them as ‘humans’ when they were shooting at me with one arm and leg blown off.
Thinking they were bugs was the right call.
“Seriously tenacious.”
“Can I take a quick look?”
“…No way.”
I replied to Maya’s casual remark that didn’t fit the mood with some attitude.
When the gunfire momentarily stopped, I peeked my head out from behind the cover.
Of course, I had my head protected by a magic barrier.
“…Why, why aren’t you dying!”
Then the gunfire resumed.
Ugh, that’s loud.
I ducked back behind the cover again.
After a quick glance at the outside scenery, a horrifying sight right out of a B-grade splatter film unfolded everywhere.
I had only sent a few grenades back, yet the results were incredibly gruesome.
Anyway, there was only one left now.
If Catherine, Andrea, or Drake had come with me, I wouldn’t have to be hiding like this. They would have wiped them out in one go with their overwhelming firepower.
But that was too much for me.
If I dropped lightning from the outside, it might be okay, but then the NCPD or City Security Department would respond even faster.
I was more comfortable dealing with it little by little like this.
At that moment, Eve’s voice rang in my head.
[Now’s the time.]
As soon as I heard that voice, I sprang out from behind cover.
“Finally out─, damn, the ammo got jammed!”
The terrorist suddenly stopped his weapon and looked down at it.
I seized this opportunity. Channeling my gathered mana, I unleashed an electric shock from my fingertips.
Just like the ninjas I met in the sewage, there were very few who actually equipped themselves with electrical resistance in this cyberpunk world.
Most just used chrome materials that were resistant to shock or flames.
So…
Grrooowll─!!
It was only natural that the terrorist’s face planted into the ground with a strange noise.
I murmured a spell to resurrect the dead and looked around.
“Did I wipe them all out?”
…
Fortunately, no one was getting back up.
I guess that was the last one.
I let out a short sigh and stretched.
After all that, my body felt stiff from the rare exercise.
30. Post-Humanism (4)
The opponent’s firepower being ‘awkwardly’ good worked out in my favor.
No matter how much I tried, it would be hard to block an anti-tank missile. The impact was something else, and reacting to it was no easy task.
But using such weapons inside a building would be difficult from their perspective, so I could understand them to an extent.
At first, I thought about just closing my eyes and calling Catherine or someone else.
Luckily, I managed to handle it on my own.
A sparrow can fall when trying to chase a stork, but since my pants weren’t torn yet, I could manage.
After having seen the game’s ending, I wouldn’t have been able to lift my head in shame if I couldn’t solve such a simple problem.
Since I was cleaning up anyway, I should do it neatly.
Thinking that, I continued to enter the building.
After that, there were all sorts of struggles from various bugs.
However, the outcome didn’t change much from what I had expected.
I felt like a robot vacuum moving around aimlessly.
It never ends.
It felt like stepping into an ant hole.
Meanwhile, whenever terrorists showed up, I’d hide and fight, then head down again.
I kept repeating that action.
Like many crime organizations, this terrorist group was also based in the Lower-Class Area.
Since most buildings in the Lower-Class Area were illegal constructions, the interior was very complicated.
“No end in sight, no end at all.”
“Right?”
I glanced back at Maya, who answered me.
…
Was it really just my feelings that were off earlier?
Maya looked perfectly fine and normal as usual.
I secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Then, I softly called out to Eve.
“Eve.”
[Confirming.]
“Are the remaining members of the crew all in front of me?”
[According to signals, yes.]
Then we were nearing the end.
Having been underground for so long, I felt a bit stifled. The air was oppressive, characteristic of the Lower-Class Area.
…It turns out this was a larger organization than I thought.
Ugh, I’m tired.
The cyberware joints I exchanged with Drake are top-notch, but mentally I was drained, while my body felt light in contrast.
Still, I should wrap this up and head home─.
Just as I began to think that, I realized I had probably become complacent in peace.
How could I let my guard down in the enemy’s den?
As we passed through a corridor, Eve’s urgent voice rang out.
[Sudden biological signal from behind!]
By the time I turned around at that voice, it was already too late.
The concrete wall behind us collapsed.
For people with incredibly powerful (artificial) muscles in this cyberpunk world, the existence of a wall was as light as air.
I’d known about this fact long ago but had overlooked it, which was my mistake.
Having possibly borrowed the power of optical camouflage, I saw a light with discolored and distorted colors enveloping a genderless monster.
The first impression? An octopus.
Mechanical tentacles wriggled behind it.
This was a creature that could easily become a villain in a low-budget spider hero movie, and it reached out with a perfectly normal person’s hand to grab Maya.
Therefore, I couldn’t shoot out an electric shock. It might also affect Maya.
I couldn’t read its expression due to the face being obscured, but it didn’t hide the glee on its face.
It seems it successfully ambushed me, great.
The air around me stirred according to my emotions. I prepared to shoot compressed air at its head.
“…Stop!”
A man’s voice I didn’t recognize rang out.
The voice came from the direction we had been walking towards, where Eve had mentioned the remaining crew was.
The man continued in a voice that sounded like metal scraping.
“I don’t know who you are, but I can see through the camera that you’re using power that defies physical laws. If you move even a little, I can’t guarantee the hostage’s life.”
“……”
A blade glinted at the fingertips of the octopus monster gripping Maya.
What a mess.
This was exactly why I wanted to send her home. But now that it had come to this, it was clear that I had made a mistake.
What was Eve doing? Was she unable to react due to the decrease in performance from not having her body? Using optical camouflage, she could’ve easily concealed biological signals.
In the end, I should have been more cautious.
A million thoughts flashed through my mind.
However, the deed was done.
I needed to stay calm in a situation like this.
I spoke in a rather nonchalant tone.
“Alright, I won’t move. But is it fine if I raise my hands and turn around?”
In any case, the moment my intentions became clear, the importance of Maya would change.
The man spoke to me.
“…Fine. Drop the gun in your coat.”
“Of course.”
I took my time, but I didn’t stop pulling out my gun from my coat. I dropped it on the floor and kicked it aside.
I raised my hands above my head. Then I slowly began to turn around.
There stood a peculiar man.
He was bald, certainly.
He looked completely unlike those I had seen on the way here. The man seemed to have physical issues, as he was watching me from a wheelchair with a frail body.
Considering I had plenty of friends with bald heads (Drake, Smith, Four Eyes, Tom), I didn’t want to judge him based solely on his hairstyle.
But it was clear at a glance that he looked like a third-rate villain.
“Are you the boss of ‘Tech Worm’?”
“…It’s more accurate to say ‘representative’.”
Boss or representative.
I almost called him bug leader but held back.
It looked like he wasn’t just riding the wheelchair for fashion; he seemed to struggle simply to keep his body upright.
However, Maya’s life depended not on him, but on the octopus monster behind him, so I didn’t do anything reckless.
With his head tilted like a bent pipe, the man looked at me.
He wiggled the fingers resting on the handles of the wheelchair.
It didn’t seem like a meaningful gesture; it merely looked like a thinking habit.
The man slowly opened his mouth.
“…What the hell are you? Your face isn’t registered in the city’s identity database. And what’s with the cyberware? Spitting flames and shooting lightning? That must be physically impossible for a body like yours.”
You talk a lot.
But there was something strange about his words.
I was also a regular citizen who paid taxes in the city.
There shouldn’t have been any reason for me not to be registered in the identity database.
As if Eve could read my confusion, she quietly answered without me asking.
[…I’ve strengthened the security.]
…Oh, I see.
In any case, I didn’t respond directly to the man’s question. I maintained silence as if I were continuing to think.
But the truth was, I was waiting for Eve’s words. Eve, is there any way we can handle this right now?
[The hacking firewall is sturdy. If my body were there, it might be different, but with the configuration installed on ‘Siwoon’s’ data module, there could be risks in saving subject ‘Maya’.]
Eve spoke far faster than usual.
The rope I had leaned on snapped.
I didn’t spend time pondering “Why can’t that happen?” at this point.
A professional mercenary must be good at differentiating what’s possible and what’s not.
I excluded Eve’s help at this moment. As it was tough to get help from anyone else, I had to purely rely on my own strength to get us through this situation.
“……”
Hence, I felt an unfamiliar tension for the first time in a long time.
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