Chapter 87: You Have No Authority Here
So, which one to pick?
Rhys hesitated in the car. All four enchantment options were incredibly powerful. The first three gave him raw, visceral stat boosts—the kind that made you feel like a walking demigod.
But in the end, Rhys chose the fourth option.
[Shadow]: Copy ranged and melee attack modes.
At first glance, it seemed redundant. What merc didn't carry a few different weapons? If Rhys had had time to prep, he would have brought a whole arsenal in a duffel bag. And if Vick and Pilar could build a gunblade, imagine what a top-tier corporate weapons expert could do. Pilar was talented, sure, but compared to the real pros, he was strictly street-level.
So, picking [Shadow] seemed like a bad choice.
But Rhys saw it differently. Reading the description carefully, he realized [Shadow] had the highest potential ceiling.
Power scales with user stats.
Even if it wasn't a 1:1 conversion... even at 80% efficiency... that was still insane. Because Rhys's stats were going to keep climbing.
In five years, he'd pushed most of his attributes close to 10, with Body breaking past that limit. As the gigs got more dangerous, the rewards would only get better. My Heart is Fire had just given him a free attribute point!
If he ever hit 20 Body... how many weapons in the world could actually handle that kind of power?
Wakako's Byakko, Oda's Jinchu-Maru, the Satori hidden in Konpeki Plaza... those were iconic weapons, sure. But they were fixed. V used them because they were the best available, the peak of current technology. Oda was Hanako Arasaka's bodyguard, Adam Smasher's counterpart. His weapon was obviously top-tier.
But Rhys? Was he going to rely on Vick and Pilar to forge him a weapon that could match a legend?
Don't make me laugh.
That's why [Shadow] was the best choice. Its floor might be lower, but its ceiling was limitless. It would grow with him, perfectly adapting to his increasing power. [Star], [Edge], and [Glow] were powerful, but specialized. They weren't versatile.
And Rhys didn't plan on being a one-trick pony.
He selected [Shadow].
[Gunblade Enchantment Complete]
[Data Accessible]
When Rhys looked at the gunblade now, a data window appeared in his vision, clearer and more detailed than any Kiroshi scan.
[Gunblade: Shadowsong]
Quality: Iconic
Tier: Scaling
Power: High
Type: Hybrid (Firearm/Blade - Mutable)
Modes: Handgun / Assault Rifle / Sniper Rifle / Dagger / Katana / Spear / Club / Hammer / ...
Condition: User Locked (Rhys)
Back in reality, Rhys gripped the weapon resting on his lap. He squinted, feeling a strange connection forming. It felt like the gunblade had become an extension of his own arm, linked directly to his nervous system like a piece of smart-linked cyberware.
It felt amazing. A thought formed in his mind.
Black lines surged from the weapon. The blade extended, the gun barrel blurred and dissolved into shadow...
"Should we try to punch through?"
Rhys was pulled from his reverie by Maine's voice. He thought for a second, then slapped the gunblade. It vanished from his lap. A sleek, black dagger appeared at his hip, humming with dark energy.
He looked up. "It's all customs agents ahead," Maine said grimly. "We haven't even hit the checkpoint yet. Looks like they figured out our route."
Before Rhys could respond, several armored APCs roared into view, blocking the road ahead.
"Fuck! Hang on!" Maine yelled, knuckles white on the steering wheel.
Just outside the industrial zone, and they were already blocked by customs—NCPD jurisdiction. Breaking through was going to be messy.
"Pilar, stay close!"
"I'm on it!"
Pilar's voice crackled over the comms as his car swerved violently, following Maine off the main road.
In the back seat, Rhys and Kiwi grabbed the overhead handles. Lucy had nothing to hold onto. As the car lurched, she was thrown sideways, instinctively grabbing Rhys's arm to steady herself.
"?" Kiwi noticed, her eyes flashing. Why didn't she grab my arm?
The APCs were closing fast. A turret mount on one of them deployed. No, it didn't deploy—it erupted from the hood. A heavy smart-weapon, locking onto the rear of Pilar's car.
"Kiwi!" Maine shouted, seeing it in the rearview.
"I'm already on it!" Kiwi shoved the window open, leaning out into the wind, her hair whipping around her face like a banshee. Her eyes went wide as she jacked into the weapon's system. "I'm in! Fuck, it's got high-level ICE! I can jam it, but I can't trigger a misfire!"
"Good enough!"
Maine slammed the accelerator, driving the car straight into the industrial ruins. Pilar followed close behind.
Fifteen minutes later, the two cars emerged from the ruins, having lost the APCs in the maze of debris. They were finally approaching the border checkpoint.
The noise of their approach alerted the guards. Red lights flashed, and sirens began to wail.
"Rhys, you're up!" Maine yelled.
Unlike the APCs, the checkpoint's automated turrets were hardwired with military-grade ICE. Lucy and Kiwi had warned him—cracking them would take equipment and time they didn't have. Hacking was off the table.
So... brute force it was.
Only Maine and Rhys could pull this off. Maine with his Sandevistan, Rhys with his perpetual reflex boost.
Rhys unbuckled. He knew what to do. Maine opened the sunroof.
Rhys climbed out. Ahead, the checkpoint was fully alerted.
"Hup..."
He vaulted onto the roof, his left hand punching into the metal to anchor himself against the high-speed maneuvers. Maine was driving like a maniac; without a grip, Rhys would be thrown clear.
Dorio was ready to hand him the rocket launcher, but Rhys didn't take it. He stood on the roof, squinting against the wind, extending his right hand towards the cluster of guards ahead.
Inside the car, no one could see what he was doing. But Pilar, driving behind them, saw everything.
He saw Rhys standing on the roof, reaching out with an empty hand. Then, a shadow snaked from his waist, coalescing into a pitch-black assault rifle in his grip. It looked like an Arasaka model.
Pilar's jaw dropped. Where did he pull that from?!
But there was no time to think. In Rhys's heightened perception, he'd already aimed and fired.
DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!
Gunfire erupted.
"Ramming speed!" As they neared the barrier, Maine took a deep breath, wrenched the wheel, and floored it. He leaned hard to the left, his massive body looking comical as he tried to shift the car's weight.
Dorio leaned with him.
Kiwi grabbed the handle for dear life, Lucy wrapping her arms around Kiwi's waist to keep from flying around the cabin while she scanned the rising bollards ahead.
The car tilted onto two wheels, smashing through the barrier arm and narrowly avoiding the massive steel pillars shooting up from the ground.
Blade Runner maneuver? What the fuck?!
Behind them, Pilar gritted his teeth and followed Maine's line, praying Rhys and Kiwi could clear the path.
The moment the car smashed the barrier, Rhys leaped. He landed in front of a turret that was swiveling to track them.
The black rifle vanished. He clasped his hands together as if holding a hilt.
"Blade!"
Shadows swirled between his palms, forming a pure black katana with a trailing afterimage like a comet's tail.
He swung with all his might at the glowing red turret.
BOOM!
The turret exploded. Rhys was thrown back by the blast, landing perfectly on the roof of Maine's car as it plowed through a line of shooting guards.
Inside, Kiwi's eyes rolled back in her head, sparks flying from her ports as she fried the remaining systems. The rear bollards retracted instantly, allowing Pilar's car to slip through.
The whole sequence took seconds.
"We're out!"
The two battered cars sped into the open Badlands. Maine's voice was jubilant.
"What the hell was that? Rhys, what was that weapon?" Pilar's voice was shaky but loud over the comms.
Rhys climbed back into the car, about to explain, when Maine's expression changed.
Ahead, just past the checkpoint, several AVs were blocking the road.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Is this ever gonna end?" Maine growled.
"Don't be naive. You think it would be that easy?" Dorio said calmly, picking up the rocket launcher.
Rhys looked at the blockade. High altitude, fast, heavy weapons... this wasn't a fight they could win.
Rhys was strong. One-on-one, with Potential Overdrive, almost no one in Night City could beat him. But... the world was full of things stronger than a single man. A kid with a smart-gun could kill a solo with a twitch of a finger. Top-tier military vehicles? Forget it.
The lead AV had its doors open, a heavy machine gun trained on them. No merc could solve that problem.
But Rhys was ready. He calmed himself.
He'd been prepared for this since he spoke on the rooftop. Even if it was just the Night City branch, it was still Arasaka. One of the most powerful corps in the world.
He never thought he was truly ready to fight Arasaka. Unless he reached V's level, ignoring conventional weapons and elite squads, no individual could truly challenge a corp. An enemy had to be a threat. What threat was Rhys to Arasaka?
Killing Tanaka? Bullshit. Tanaka was just one mid-level manager among thousands. His death was an inconvenience, not a threat.
The real threat... was Rhys's words.
Potential Overdrive.
Rhys leaned out of the sunroof again. He didn't know what the side effects of using the skill multiple times in one day would be, but he had no choice. It was do or die.
He prepared to activate the skill, turn the gunblade into a grappling hook, and launch himself at the AVs for a desperate last stand.
But then... a deafening sound tore through the desolate air.
HOOOOONK!!!
A massive horn blast.
Then... a colossal AV appeared. One second it was a speck on the horizon, the next it filled the sky, trailing fire and turbulence.
It was significantly larger than the Arasaka pursuit vehicles. It instantly blocked their path—an AV-9 Combat Transport. The same model used by the legendary solo Smasher.
A magnified voice boomed from the behemoth.
"Attention all personnel! Lower your weapons and power down your vehicles!"
A pleasant, commanding female voice repeated the order.
"I repeat: Lower your weapons, stop your vehicles, and stand down!"
The door of the military AV-9 opened. A woman with animal ears, dressed in a military uniform and holding a heavy gold-plated weapon, stood there, looking majestic.
Rhys blinked. "..."
"What's going on?" Maine and the others were confused. Stop? Like hell! Stopping was death.
Maine kept driving.
But from the military AV, two blinding spotlights locked onto Maine's car. It was a clear warning: Target locked.
"Stop! Or I will open fire!"
"Stop the car, Maine," Rhys said, patting Maine's shoulder.
"Are you crazy?"
"I think... Rogue pulled a string," Rhys said.
Hearing Rogue's name, Maine hesitated, then slammed on the brakes.
He was still suspicious. Rogue was powerful, the Queen of Fixers, but... could she really call in a military-grade combat AV? Arasaka agents used civilian models. Military hardware was strictly controlled. This wasn't just a vehicle; it was a weapon of war.
But rumors said Rogue had corpo connections...
The cars stopped. The crew got out, looking up at the hovering behemoth. The four Arasaka AVs were frozen in place, clearly intimidated.
The military AV moved towards the Arasaka craft. Its hatch opened, and a white man in a black suit—the Arasaka agent—started shouting angrily.
"You sure this is Rogue's people?" Maine asked Rhys.
Rhys nodded.
Beast ears, military uniform, high-end chrome, stunningly beautiful, and an AV-9. There was only one group that fit that description—the Dangerous Girls.
And who owned the Dangerous Girls?
Michiko Arasaka.
Who had saved Rogue during the nuke incident? Michiko Arasaka.
Rhys recognized the connection. But he didn't relax. Even if Rogue called them... they were still Arasaka.
He narrowed his eyes, looking up. As the military AV neared the corporate one, its speakers picked up the conversation.
"What is the meaning of this? Interfering with the apprehension of an Arasaka fugitive? Do you know the consequences?" the suit in the commercial AV yelled.
The response was a cold, arrogant, and utterly dismissive female voice.
"You have no authority here."