The next day, in the afternoon, a car departed from Chinatown, heading east towards Westbrook.
Jackie was driving, his small eyes still heavy with sleepiness, as he yawned and mumbled, "The intel from the Father is very detailed. Do we really need to go so early?"
In the passenger seat, Arthur had pulled his gambler's hat down over his face, his voice muffled from beneath it. "That's intel from several days ago. Who knows if there's been any unexpected changes? Maybe the item is important, and Arasaka has secretly gotten involved. We can't just walk straight into a trap."
In the driver's seat, Jackie held the steering wheel with one hand, freeing the other to forcefully tap his forehead.
He didn't mean to argue; instead, a smile spread across his face.
"We shouldn't have drunk so much last night if we had work today. My head feels like it's full of bees."
Mentioning yesterday, the three of them had their conversations opened by alcohol, more talk led to more drinking, a vicious cycle that only stopped in the middle of the night.
Perhaps thinking of yesterday's scene, Jackie's smile broadened completely, and he added, "Even though I'm a rough guy, having a brother like you to lend a hand really makes me feel much more at ease."
Arthur's face beneath his hat was also filled with helplessness. He racked his brain but couldn't understand why, after living a lifetime over again, he had become the steady one once more.
Forget it. He just hoped no crazy person like Micah would come along in the future.
At this moment, the traffic on the highway was moving fast, and Jackie also perked up, driving east with the flow of cars.
Just then, a booming sound erupted from ahead on the overpass, accompanied by explosions and thick smoke.
"What's happening!"
Jackie exclaimed, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
Hearing the explosion, Arthur also jolted upright, his gaze fixed on the front.
His ocular implant's external attachment was the latest model Viktor had pulled strings to get, and its function at this moment far exceeded expectations.
Following his thoughts, the situation ahead continuously zoomed in and became clearer.
Several cars had crashed together. Due to the high speed, they had completely lost control, tumbling forward amidst loud crashes.
The first few cars exploded, thick smoke and flames rising into the sky. Arthur looked closely and realized that what was on fire were not cars, but seven or eight motorcycles.
Seeing this, Arthur had some idea of what was happening.
"It's probably the Tyger Claws causing trouble. I don't know what happened, but they're definitely not directing traffic."
"Looks like someone's causing trouble ahead of us," Jackie replied. Arthur was about to pull his head back in.
But the next moment, from the thick smoke ahead, where the situation was unclear, a luxury car shot out in reverse, completely out of control, tumbling and smashing towards their car.
"Damn it! Driving against traffic on the highway!"
In this critical situation, Jackie's mouth didn't stop.
At that speed, it was clearly too late to avoid it. The two immediately opened their car doors and jumped out.
After rolling a few times to dissipate the force, Arthur and Jackie got up almost simultaneously.
Fortunately, the cars behind them had noticed the accident early and had all slowed down, otherwise they would have definitely been crushed under the cars behind.
Over there, the car Jackie had borrowed was already flattened, but the luxury car was largely undamaged, without even obvious deformation.
"I hope your car has insurance, or pray that this rich person, driving a luxury car and speeding against traffic on the highway, can compensate you handsomely," Arthur said, walking towards the luxury car that had crashed onto Jackie's car.
As he got closer, Jackie also exclaimed with lingering fear, "Holy moly, good thing we reacted fast, otherwise we'd be the filling in that metal pancake."
The luxury car's wheels were even still spinning idly. Arthur crouched down and looked inside through the window.
A figure was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious. This person was wearing the yellow uniform of a Trauma Team outer member.
Arthur frowned. The person looked like the thief he had encountered on the monorail a few days ago.
He kicked the car door a few times, and seeing no response, Arthur asked Jackie on the other side, "How do you open this thing?"
Jackie pulled the handle on his side, replying helplessly, "For high-end stuff like this, if it doesn't want to open itself, even a cannonball would take some effort."
As the two were talking, the car door on Jackie's side was kicked open by a slender leg.
Two black, form-fitting combat boots extended out, and a pair of long, pale hands also reached out, grasping the edge of the overturned luxury car's undercarriage.
Immediately after, a figure flipped out.
Beneath the short, choppy pinkish-white hair, a pair of bright, foxy eyes stared at Arthur, full of surprise.
It seemed she also recognized him.
But the young girl quickly recovered, rushing from above the overturned car's undercarriage to Arthur's side.
She anxiously pulled out the connection cable from her wrist and directly inserted it into the interface on Arthur's car door.
As her eyes flickered a few times, the car door automatically opened.
At this point, the car door had just opened, and less than half a minute had passed since the accident and Arthur and Jackie jumping out of the car.
A strange howling sound, accompanied by the roar of motorcycle engines, came from beyond the thick smoke ahead.
The next moment, six motorcycles burst out of the smoke, heading straight for Arthur and the others.
There were no questions, no communication, only erratic, strange cries.
They immediately drew out various weapons and attacked Arthur and the others who were standing by the car.
Arthur reacted quickly. He grabbed the girl and moved to the front of the car, using the luxury car as cover.
The other person was bending down, trying to pull the unconscious young man out of the car, but now was clearly not the time to save someone.
A volley of bullets pattered against the car like rain, but left no damage, scattering away.
The three riders in front had now circled the vehicle. Two of them were holding katanas, and another had even let go of his handlebars, two sharp blades extending from his forearms.
These guys raised their sharp blades high, their faces contorted with savage and wild smiles, propelled by the motorcycles' immense power, they rushed towards Arthur and them like demons.
Arthur's left hand was still gripping the girl's collar, but his right hand had already reached his waist, his index finger touching a cold object there.
The pistol was large and cold. It was the one Arthur had snatched from the Scavenger when he woke up.
It was a kinetic revolver produced by Malorian Arms. It was simple yet powerful, and people had given it a beautiful name—prelude.
Beneath the gambler's hat, a pair of eyes narrowed slightly, lips and nose exhaling a turbid breath, and his heartbeat, at this moment, skipped a beat.
The world's time seemed to have been cut short.
So, in the next moment, the prelude played, roaring like firecrackers.
When he looked again, the man who had drawn the gun was slowly returning it to his waist, and he even casually shook his numb wrist.
But clearly, the gun had only fired for an instant, as if only one shot had been fired, the enemies had not yet been completely eliminated, and the battle was far from over.
The few people belatedly looked across and saw the enemies lying on the ground, with six neat holes in their foreheads, emitting silence and blood-red into the air.
One gunshot, six lives.
Seeing the girl sitting on the ground, staring blankly ahead, Arthur had no choice but to walk to the car door himself and reach in to pull out the still unconscious young man.
Seeing Jackie also staring blankly, Arthur called out to him, "Hey, Jackie, our car probably won't run anymore."
Saying that, he also turned his head and gestured behind him.
Perhaps because of the accident, or perhaps seeing the shootout happening here.
Many car owners behind had already abandoned their cars and fled. There were several cars scattered haphazardly, doors wide open, some even still on fire.
Hearing Arthur's words, Jackie shook his head as if waking from a dream, clearing his mind of thoughts.
"Wait a minute."
He dropped the words and ran over there.
Jackie quickly picked a car and drove it up to Arthur. Arthur then naturally got into the passenger seat.
But to his surprise, the girl who had been sitting on the ground also followed, and even put the still unconscious young man in the back seat.
"You... what are you doing getting in? We have important business to attend to," Arthur said, turning his head with a strange expression, looking at the girl whose face showed an expression of 'it's only natural'.
"Hello, sir, my name is Lucy. It's fine, you just go to your destination."
A joke, who knows if there are more Tyger Claws coming...
Lucy's thought flashed and vanished.