The basement was pitch black, with only a few weak rays of light emanating from its deeper corners. Even before entering fully, Lin Mo could
The basement was pitch black, with only a few weak rays of light emanating from its deeper corners.
Even before entering fully, Lin Mo could tell this basement was far from ordinary.
It was spacious, with a maze-like layout of corridors—the kind of place once used for shady business long before the factory was abandoned.
Now that it had fallen into the hands of the scavengers, it was a match made in hell.
A stench drifted from afar—rot and chemicals—the sour, rancid blend of meat soaked in formaldehyde. It was the smell of rotting flesh and synthetic preservatives.
Lin Mo and Sasha lowered their steps, silently advancing through the damp, suffocating air.
Since descending the stairs, Lin Mo's hand hadn't left the hilt of his Black Unicorn.
He expected to encounter a few unlucky scavengers. Perhaps he'd once again activate the implant that slowed time to a crawl and deliver swift, ruthless justice to the guilty.
But they encountered no one. Not even a shadow. His tension, his killing intent, felt wasted—like punching into fog.
There was no need to worry about mistaken targets here. The very ground beneath his feet was soaked with the proof of endless crimes. Blood caked the coarse concrete. It wasn't hard to imagine how many corpses had been dragged across this hellish corridor like cargo.
The further they went, the darker the bloodstains became.
It was like a road to purgatory, yet there were no demons in sight.
"This is weird. Not a single person? Did they all go to the party outside?" Sasha whispered, frowning.
Lin Mo shared her unease.
He didn't feel reassured, didn't believe the enemies had fled in fear. He felt only uncertainty—a sense that something was out of his control.
A sudden attack would almost be a relief. With enemies visible, at least he could act. But now? This silence was maddening.
"Sasha, what quick-hacks do you have loaded in your deck?" he asked suddenly.
"You don't have to tell me everything. Just a general idea would help."
If a fight broke out, knowing what his netrunner could do would be critical.
"Quick-hack plugins? I've got one. 'Cyberpsychosis,' that's it," she replied casually, finger tapping her chin.
Lin Mo raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected such a direct answer. Revealing your hacks was like showing your cards—rare, even in a squad.
But "Cyberpsychosis"—he was familiar. In the game, it caused enemies to lose all distinction between friend and foe, attacking wildly in a temporary frenzy.
His curiosity grew. "Out of curiosity, how much RAM would it take for you to puppet me?"
"Depends on your ICE defenses and whether you have any self-ICE systems. Everyone's different. For example, Mann and the others don't guard against me, so I can slip into their systems no problem," Sasha said with a shrug.
"Why don't they?"
"It's a failsafe against enemy netrunners. If someone attacks them, I need to respond fast. Wouldn't make sense to waste time breaking through my own squad's defenses."
"And how exactly do you counter enemy netrunners?" Lin Mo asked.
This was all outside his knowledge. The game had never explained such intricacies.
"Well, say someone hits you with a cyberware malfunction. As a counter, I might overheat your cyberware. That overloads the implant temporarily without doing fatal damage, letting you recover. It's just one method. There's more, but now's not the time for a lecture."
Sasha trailed off. Clearly not in the mood to teach.
Lin Mo nodded. He got what he needed for now.
As they spoke, they found themselves at the heart of the basement.
They knew it was central because a large room stood before them—much bigger than anything else they'd seen.
Through the glass windows, Lin Mo saw crude operating tables lined against the walls. Small, unused carts were scattered across the floor.
Curtains hung around the tables—not for privacy, but to stop blood from spraying everywhere. The bloodstains on them said enough.
They slid the door open and stepped inside.
Sasha scanned the room. "This must be their processing center."
A euphemism. Scavengers would just call it a slaughterhouse.
Lin Mo inspected the room carefully. Still no enemies.
The only light came from standing spotlights over the operating tables and faintly glowing monitors.
He moved to one of the terminals and accessed its message archive. Dozens of logs appeared, each with the same format:
[Extraction Log No. XX - XX/XX]
He clicked one.
[Today's Harvest: Dinara TX-31 high-zoom cyber-eyes, Dinara RV-21 super kidneys, Biodyn Gen-II muscle bundles, Biodyn Big Cannon (latest model), Biodyn CM-23 calf enhancement...]
[Not much product today, but the good news is we tricked a few pretty ones in. Sent them to the processing center already. Their screams were delightful. Might extract their vocal cords and replicate them. Some clients love that kind of soft tone.]
[But Misha and Gilshi have a thing for these girls. Both of them. Chicks messing around with chicks. Disgusting.]
The air felt heavier.
Lin Mo stared at the screen in silence, his eyes slowly narrowing.
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