"This dam is an artifact of the old era. Level 5 special weapons cannot be used, or the structure could suffer irreparable damage."
"Smart munitions are out too. The tunnels are monitored, but to prevent hackers from triggering a flood release, the dam's entire control system is overseen directly by the Security Bureau. With the QVN offline, we'd need gateway authorization from the local Bureau to tap in."
"Then we're limited to active visual lock mode—close-range engagement only…"
"Can't the spider drones break through the front?"
"No time to retrofit now. They're too heavy to leap the current, and the torrent is too fierce. The enemy also has ECM/ECCM gear—we can't rely on drones alone."
"More than that. They've got anti-armor weapons and Level 5 biobeasts. Forcing a crossing would be devastating."
"Are there other exits in the dam? Could we seal them in?"
"Our schematics are outdated, but maintenance conduits definitely exist. If they're retreating this way, they'll have planned it. Underwater extraction is possible too."
"Any way to flank?"
"The downstream outlet is ten kilometers away. We're short-handed as it is—splitting forces means only a feint at the front. Send too few downstream, and if those beasts are really there…"
"This must end quickly. If the enemy escapes, fine. But if they blow the dam, half the district drowns."
"Commander, we need a decision."
The Cornelius Knights fell silent, eyes turning to their leader.
K, armored head to toe, opened her eyes. Her pupils blazed blue, her pale skin shining like silver dust beneath the lamps.
"Frontal assault."
"Sir!" The knights saluted, fists pounding their chests like driving spikes into their hearts. Without another word, they vanished into the rain to prepare the charge.
Li Pan entered the tent, finding K still bent over schematics. He rolled up his sleeves.
"Let's do this."
K glanced up but didn't move.
"What's wrong? Not drinking? Didn't you call me here? Are you hurt?"
She tilted her chin.
"What do you think I should do?"
Li Pan didn't hesitate.
"Let them go. Not worth dying for a paycheck. You'll never kill all the Akainu."
She shot him a sharp look, then stepped outside to take a blood pack and gear from a Nightwalker.
"Chasing Akainu isn't my mission. I'm hunting something not of this world. We call them Lycans—werewolves. Our ancient enemies. By rights, they should be extinct.
"I don't know how they crossed over, but if they join the rebels here, it'll be a catastrophe."
She keyed in 10,000 credits and began drawing his blood as she spoke.
"Their bites and blood are fatal to vampires. But when I tested on an injured comrade, your blood neutralized the curse…"
She stopped, frowned, and yanked him closer, sniffing his neck.
"Why do you smell like a woman?"
What the hell—she had a dog's nose? He'd been drenched in rain for hours! Li Pan broke into cold sweat.
"Oh—uh—maybe because a vampire woman came to our company earlier. Her scent was too strong."
"Who?" K's eyes narrowed.
"Uh… Emilia?"
K didn't let go.
"Every woman in the Emilius Clan can be called Emilia. What did she look like? Why was she there?"
"Tall, long legs… cough! Strictly business. She came on behalf of your prince, purely professional!"
"Using perfume that cheap? Pathetic whore."
She finally let go, stabbing a needle into his vein.
"Lycan wounds can be lethal. Losses may come. I'll take more—just in case."
Li Pan shifted uncomfortably. K loomed in full armor, twin greatswords strapped to her back, watching him in silence.
"You're hot?" she asked flatly.
"Haha—yeah. Must be stuffy in here, right?"
"Hmph. Don't say I didn't warn you—never trust an Emilius. Seduction is their birthright, and their restraint is weak. They'll turn blood-slaves into living blood bags once the fever takes them."
The tent flap lifted. Cold air rushed in, making Li Pan shiver.
"So, what about the Cornelius temperament? Would you turn me into a blood bag?"
K looked toward the dam across the torrent, tracer fire and smoke lighting the storm.
"Of course not. Our clan seeks blood that burns, not the dregs of despair.
"Most humans, most worlds—their blood is thick with misery. Undrinkable. Artificial plasma tastes better.
"But yours… yours has rage in it. Like a fire burning inside."
She turned, icy blue eyes shimmering like a frozen lake, reflecting his face.
"Once, I had that fire too. But it's gone forever. Don't let yours die, Li. It would be a waste."
He blinked, chilled, then muttered:
"Could we… close the flap? I'm freezing."
"Hmph."
K snapped the flap shut, pulled the needle free, and spoke like a nurse.
"That's enough. I mixed it with artificial plasma. Press for three minutes. Eat protein."
Nurse cosplay suited her too, Li Pan thought.
K's eyes lingered on his wound. Struggling visibly, she accepted his arm when he offered it.
"Want a taste? Consider it thanks."
"I just need to verify quality," she snapped.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't be shy."
She glared once more, then knelt beside him, brushed back her hair, and bit gently into his arm.
Li Pan felt a catlike, icy tongue swirl over the wound, lapping every drop, then soft lips sucking, swallowing.
"Mmm… mmm…"
Her lashes fluttered as she savored. She lingered long, then took a second draw, lips trembling with pleasure.
Li Pan's eyebrows shot up. What the hell flavor is 'fire in the blood'?
Curious, he bit his own finger to taste.
Peh—blood tastes like blood.
"Mmm—?"
K's eyes snapped open, furious to see him wasting it. She yanked his wrist away, glaring.
"Hey! My blood, my business!"
"Hmph!"
"Fine, fine. You drink."
A soldier burst in.
"Commander, the troops are ready!"
Panting as if drained by battle, K rose, licking blood from her lips and fangs. She wiped her mouth, then suddenly seized Li Pan's face between her hands. Her eyes shifted from blazing blue to molten silver as she whispered incantations.
Li Pan stared, stunned by her fierce beauty.
"Uh… are you cursing me? Did you just mutter 'Emilia'?"
She released him.
"Just leaving a warning. In case they come sniffing around you."
"What warning?"
"That if they touch you, I'll gouge out their eyes and skewer them like meat on a spike."
Li Pan swallowed, imagining Emilia's face in that fate.
Don't leave messages in people's eyeballs, damn it!
K stormed off, donning her helmet and striding into the storm, vanishing in a shriek of steel and rain.
Though drained, Li Pan felt the fire in his chest blaze hotter.
Damn that woman. She stoked the fire but never quenched it.
Gunfire thundered outside, drowning even the storm.
The assault had begun.
Night Clan mercenaries and thralls, armored vehicles and spider drones unleashed barrages. The Cornelius Knights led the charge.
Earlier, in cloaks, they were blurs of shadow. Now, clad in heavy knight-armor, they moved faster still—vaulting through the storm like bats, gliding across the torrent under fire.
But they couldn't use Level 5 weapons, not near the dam. So the assault relied on civilian and Level 4 munitions, suppressing fire until knights closed to melee.
The enemy fired back—plasma bolts, anti-armor rounds, crackling arcs sweeping the river. Spider drones and APCs were shredded, mercenaries burned to ash. Dozens were swept into the flood, gone forever.
Still, under the Knights' shock assault, the defense broke. The enemy retreated into the tunnels, their barricade crushed.
But the cost was steep—spiders, three APCs, and scores of men lost to the flood. Bodies unrecoverable. Families left with nothing.
Such was war.
Technology may advance, but without infantry seizing ground, no victory is real.
Why not just use drones? If minimizing loss was the goal, wouldn't it be better to lose drones than men?
That was the old system's logic. Soldiers were citizens—expensive to kill, to compensate, to retire. The system valued them most.
Now the Public Safety Council's reforms were different: replace soldiers with bioweapons, synthetic infantry. Humans shifted to officers, engineers, medics. Was that better or worse? Depends whether you see those bioroids as people—or tools like drones.
"Sir, the vehicle is ready. Commander ordered me to escort you."
"Good. Let's go."
His escort had half his face and an arm blown off—still alive, though it might take decades in a coffin pod to regenerate. Night Clan medicine lagged far behind Monster Company's.
Their elders weren't truly immortal. Bodies strengthened but also aged, minds eroded. The longer they lived, the longer their hibernations. Ruling princes rotated in cycles of waking and slumber.
Perhaps the ultimate vampire wasn't a perfect body at all. Li Pan wondered idly—if he threw one into a data archive, would it reset as human? Or monster?
He followed his escort toward the APC. Four coffin pods were already loaded, full.
"Yo, nice dogs. What's this one called?"
The escort froze.
"…Dog?"
He turned. From the tunnel crawled a hulking beast—green eyes blazing, jaws packed with razors.
"Wolves!"
The monster struck, smashing the vampire aside like a rag doll, shredding him in its jaws.
Howls erupted. Seven, eight more burst from the pipes, tearing through the camp—ripping apart wounded bloodsuckers and mercenary thralls alike.
The Lycans. K's quarry. Pure bioweapons, no implants, no signals. Their stench hidden by the sewer reek.
And they were stronger than armored Knights. Teeth and claws ripped spider drones apart, shredded Level 5 plating. Only a Fabius beast could match them in melee.
"Oh, hell no. Tactical switch, mid-game…"
Drained, weakened from blood loss, Li Pan bolted, messaging K:
"K! They're raiding your camp!"
Her reply:
"I know. Leave. Don't get in the way."
Like hell he would stick around—Night Clan wasn't paying extra.
He sprinted for the APC. A wolf landed atop it, glaring.
Shit.
He froze, hand on his gun, staring it down.
"Good dog. Move aside, or I'll smack you."
The beast sniffed his suit, his face, then his bloodied arm. Its jaws split in a mocking grin of fangs.
Rage surged in him, the fire K spoke of.
Without thought, he swung. CRACK! His fist smashed the wolf off the APC, sending teeth flying.
"Bad dog. Out of the way!"
Pain flared. His hand shattered, bones cracked from the blow.
No time to linger. He ducked into the APC.
"Go, go, go!"
The vehicle roared forward, tearing down the tunnels, leaving the battlefield behind.
.
.
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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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