"Local network established. ICE temporary firewall set. Facility switched to friendly mode. Door access permissions shared. Visual link chain complete. Done."
"There are two subsystems—surface and underground. Looks like this facility hasn't renewed its security services in ages. Once you breach the entrance, plug into a network port. Chain in with the Spider Drone. I might be able to crack the built-in firewall."
"Roger. Nice work. Team A—prepare to breach. Team B—start looting. Make it look like a locust swarm! If you can carry it, take it. If you can't, smash it!"
The Akiyama family wasn't present—Li Pan had already confirmed that before the op. Akiyama Ayako was hospitalized at the Five-Cart Academy's affiliated hospital, with Masako accompanying her.
With the dojo empty, Li Pan left Team B topside to ransack the place, while Team A followed Shiba-18's marked route into the dungeon. First, the Spider Drone's Vulcan rotary cannon and depleted uranium AP rounds rattled away, blasting open the elevator shaft entrance. Kotarō kicked into overdrive, leaping like a grasshopper into the shaft to scout ahead.
Truth be told, the Oda family's secret ninja gear was top-tier—neural acceleration enhancers, active sonar scanning, optical camouflage, ceramic bulletproof plating, monomolecular filament, lynx-pads for silent movement. A flick of his eyes sprouted six micro-cameras from beneath his skin, scanning for ports while SEM analyzed environmental composition. Alone, Kotarō could provide the vision of an entire recon battalion. Absolutely worth the price tag.
After all, though Kotarō was a ninja, as heir to the clan he wasn't meant to die on the frontlines. As an Oda family spy, his augmentations were tailored less for brute combat than for recon, infiltration, and covert ops.
"Port confirmed. Elevator maintenance access."
"Use it."
No need for the Spider. Kotarō fired a monofilament line, jacked into the underground subnet remotely, then relayed chip permissions to Shiba-18, acting as a hub.
Shiba-18 wasted no time—flooding the system with puppets, paralyzing defenses, disabling alarms and failsafes, flipping the entire network to friendly mode.
"Done. Firewall's at least fifty years old. This antivirus is older than me."
Ding.
The damn elevator came up on its own. Talk about arrogant…
Li Pan exchanged a look with the Spider Drone, shrugged, and together they rode the elevator down.
In the comms channel, Kotarō darted back and forth through shafts and stairwells, scanning every lab, showing off his worth.
Meanwhile, Rama and Ah Qi argued about whether a jar was worth money, or if that bowl was authentic.
And Shiba-18? She'd switched channels to watch the concert stream.
No organization. No discipline.
"Eighteen, can you Photoshop the Akiyama Dojo plaque at the door—make it look like someone kicked it to pieces?"
"Roger."
Ah, what a lovable bunch of employees.
Ding.
They reached the underground facility. Li Pan and the Spider stepped out, surveying quickly.
Between Kotarō's intel and Shiba-18's system mapping, Li Pan could tell this base had once been vast. A nuclear-hardened bunker—layer upon layer of reinforced concrete, lead, and alloy steel, with office zones, rec halls, cafeterias, warehouses, garages—even a dock.
Yes—a dock. Kotarō's sonar and SEM confirmed it. Besides the dojo's freight elevator, there was a hidden submarine bay connecting to the sewers and ocean, plus sealed passages leading toward the subway.
But the reason for its abandonment was simple: obsolescence.
As Shiba-18 said—the tech was outdated.
Back in Neo-Tokyo Eight, the Demon King Project bunker had been cutting-edge—built for corporate wars, hardened to nuclear standards, running independent systems.
But now? In the era of Night City, after countless corporate wars, endless hacker onslaughts, and iteration upon iteration of QVN, sealed systems like this were fossils. What was once flawless was now impossible to upgrade.
The Demon King base—an ancient tomb.
So where was the coffin?
"Found it."
Kotaro shared video of exposed external pipelines.
"Biotank nutrient lines. Sloppy installation—laid across the floor. One end drains into waste pipes, the other… the coffin."
Li Pan's suspicions were confirmed. The facility was abandoned, unsupported by any corporation. The Akiyama family had been trying, alone, to revive the Demon King Project's scraps.
Li Pan slipped on the Pyroxene & Gabbro Beads.
Even through his insulated combat suit, agony shot up his arm like a red-hot vise crushing bone. His chest burned as if an invisible furnace raged inside him.
"Manager, your vitals are spiking. Heart rate critical."
Sweat poured off him, each breath scalding, but he steadied himself, rifle raised.
"I'm fine. Dosed up. Team A—combat ready. Spider leads, I follow. Kotarō supports."
The Spider activated optical camo, skittering across the ceiling with guns primed. Li Pan followed.
The pipeline ended at a sealed lab—polyethylene walls forming a cleanroom, blowing filtered air. Inside: six coffin-shaped biotanks.
They resembled Huang Dahe's home unit, but offline, standalone—like single-player DreamNet rigs. Each worth millions, with nutrient solutions pricier still. Maintaining six at once explained why the family was broke.
"No enemies detected. Spider, link in. Shiba-18, it's yours. Kotarō, watch the perimeter."
"Roger."
Spider extended a serpentine probe, jacked into a biotank.
No alarms. The Akiyamas were skilled at blade and apology, not tech. Six tanks was already beyond their league.
Shiba-18: "Whoa, a Level 6 bio-cybernetic body. Superhuman class. Male, but brain-lock sealed. Needs genetic key."
Another tank, same deal. Sealed by multi-tier ICE she'd never seen.
Kotaro: "Those are the Oda clan lords' battle-bodies. Each shrine keeps a full set. That matrix program is their Divine Palanquin—Takamagahara's most advanced encryption. It holds consciousness backups in sealed servers. Without specialized gear, it's uncrackable."
Generations of Oda heads—six coffins. From Neo-Tokyo Eight through Thirteen… Wait—wasn't the Thirteenth not even buried yet? Oda heirs were still fighting over the estate!
Li Pan: "Check for a female body—Akiyama gene code."
Shiba-18: "Got one. Level 5. Female. Wait—it's unlocked. No—she's awake!"
From the feed, Li Pan saw it: the female surged upright, drenched in green-yellow nutrient sludge, cables tearing from her spine, sprinting naked for escape!
That ass—it was her!
Li Pan roared:
"Disable her!"
"Authorization confirmed."
The Spider lit up the cleanroom—golden tracers shredding walls and poly barriers, sparks flying, concrete shards spraying.
She ran fast, but not faster than bullets. Ricochets ripped silicone flesh, exposing ceramic armor beneath. Still, she pressed for weapons. But the Spider closed, shotguns booming, blasting her legs apart until nothing remained but a ruined torso twitching in the corner.
"Recover the consciousness chip."
Spider clamped the remains, sawed open the skull, extracted the brain-implant. With Shiba-18 in control of the system, she had no chance.
Li Pan followed in, rifle raised. Green fluid flooded the lab, wrecking the other biotanks. Without nutrient support, the bodies would rot into husks.
These were Oda battle-bodies—dangerous even as corpses. Not worth provoking Akainu or Takamagahara's wrath. But the Akiyama one? Her artificial spine and neural enhancers were worth tens of millions.
Li Pan switched off Spider's feed, drew his blade, and began butchering—packing up the spinal implant himself.
A sudden splash behind him—
Another Oda biobody sat up from its tank, locking eyes with him.
"…Yo. Playing zombie, huh?"
It glanced at the butchered corpse, at Spider, then bolted!
"Kill authorization!!"
Gunfire thundered. Nutrient fluid erupted. Even after direct hits, the Level 6 biobody held together, ceramic armor stopping most rounds. But Li Pan's rifle finished it—emptying a mag into the skull until only shredded bone remained.
Then—crash! Two more Odas awoke, bursting free!
"The fuck!?"
Li Pan cursed, whipping out Tonbokiri. He slashed one across the back—blade skidding, only a white scar left on ceramic plating. Even Tonbokiri's edge dulled!
The other raised an arm—plasma beam lanced into Li Pan's chest, hurling him into the wall, armor slagging.
Damn—arm-mounted plasma cannon!
But he lived—thermal immunity from the Beads saved him.
"Hit me? You're all dead!"
Spider reloaded and opened fire, pinning them. Li Pan burst from the wall, armor shedding, Headband tied to blade. The edge flared blue, cleaving a biobody in half—true death strike.
The last Oda panicked. Even under fire, even against a madman charging through bullets unscathed, it faltered—eyes wide with terror, like it had seen a ghost. It fled, but Li Pan pursued relentlessly. A shot crippled its leg. Li Pan stomped its chest, blade flashing—head severed in one stroke.
"Impossible… the Divine Palanquin… how could it activate…"
Kotaro finally arrived, trembling at the carnage. The GM's skin burned crimson, blade steaming blood, as he carved spinal implants from corpses with terrifying skill.
"Don't just stand there! Finish them! Crack skulls, pull chips!"
Li Pan kicked open more tanks, dragging bodies out, ordering decapitations. Kotarō hesitated, but under his command began slicing faces and eyes away, packing remains.
Sweating, Li Pan glimpsed a red-robed woman flicker past the doorway. Spider registered nothing. His right arm was charred black. Quickly, he stripped off the Beads and Headband.
Damn. These artifacts worked—killing Level 6s like dogs. But they burned him alive in the process.
.
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⚠️ 30 CHAPTERS AHEAD — I'm Not a Cyberpsycho ⚠️
The system says: Kill.Mercs obey. Corporates obey. Monsters obey.One man didn't.
🧠💀 "I'm not a cyberpsycho. I just think... differently."
💥 High-voltage cyberpunk. Urban warfare. AI paranoia.Read 30 chapters ahead, only on Patreon.
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