To put it simply, in Night City, it's okay to offend one or two corporations. As long as you still have value and speak the language of profit, everything is negotiable.
"Just drive straight to the city?" Pira looked at the route displayed on her prosthetic eye and questioned suspiciously.
But it was Polaris's voice coming from the driver's seat: "Yes, please don't worry about my driving plan."
At this moment, V and Mann, among others, were also following in a disguised private car.
Driving side by side, Rebecca rolled down the car window from the passenger side and grinned at Pira in the hacker car's driver's seat: "Did well today, didn't you, asshole bro?"
"Ha! Like I need you to say that!" Pira was exhilarated, having both sniped and launched rockets today.
Rebecca then asked, "What about Mercer? Is he hurt?"
"Damn it! I knew it! He didn't even lose a bit of paint!" Pira replied with exasperation.
Rebecca chuckled and waved, rolling the window back up.
At this moment, the Adcardans blocking the road started to retreat, but the way out of the city remained congested. Nevertheless, the way into the city was clear.
Mercer and his team just sat in the car, cruising unobstructed toward Night City.
In the sky, a hovercar marked with Military Science's logo flashed by at high speed. Mann, sitting in his car, clicked his tongue in wonder: "Can we just leave like this?"
"Mercer jammed the cameras and alarm signals, so they probably only received a distress signal from a transport team."
V, sitting in the back seat, said, "They probably think the fight is still going on."
Mann nodded, warily looking around. The two vehicles they used, disguised as private cars, had no autopilot.
But before they could drive into the city, an emergency blockade by the NCPD appeared in front of them.
Several police cars were parked across the inbound lane, and a few NCPD officers were hastily setting up a perimeter line.
Mann's expression changed slightly: "What now? They've blocked the road."
V's prosthetic eye flashed, and then he received confirmation from Mercer.
"Charge through," V said simply and directly.
"Charge through?" Mann looked at V in disbelief, but then he saw the hacker car beside him suddenly start to accelerate.
A few NCPD officers, seeing the hacker car charging without slowing down, immediately scrambled to dodge to the sides.
"Dispatch! Dispatch! This is 621, someone is breaching the checkpoint! Need support! Repeat! Need support!"
A few NCPD officers raised their pistols in an attempt to intercept, only to face several rifles raised from the car windows.
Rebecca, especially, was laughing as she hefted a heavy machine gun with one arm and fired into the air, scaring them into not daring to lift their heads.
Only earning a few thousand euros a month, why risk your life?
The NCPD chose to be cowards, and the incomplete blockade line quickly became a joke as Pira drove the hacker car straight through, crashing into and pushing aside the two police cars blocking the road.
The van, appearing ordinary in shape, had its engine and armor modified, easily pushing aside the two sedan-style police cars.
Mann and the others in their private car swiftly followed through the safe passage created by Pira into the city.
Once in the city streets, the traffic was unexpectedly smooth—Venus had already controlled the traffic lights to create a fast lane for Mercer.
[Venus: The NCPD has informed the Military Science people, their hovercar is turning back.]
[Mercer: Understood.]
He sat in the hacker car and turned to look at Lucy: "Still have drones?"
"Only one reconnaissance drone left." Lucy quickly checked the inventory.
Mercer smirked: "Then let's use this drone to give Military Science a scare, make them come slower."
Lucy caught on quickly, opened the car door to release the drone, then connected her brain interface to the laptop, her prosthetic eye flashing as she linked to the drone.
The reconnaissance drone flew high, heading toward the road behind them.
On the distant Military Science hovercar, a senior agent with a gloomy face continuously made phone calls.
"I know! I'm leading agents to apprehend suspects... I understand, yes, we'll catch them..."
"There's a drone! Activate the EMP!" The copilot on the hovercar suddenly shouted.
"Shoot it down with the onboard machine gun!"
"Can't shoot it down! Damn it, I have to activate the EMP! Prepare for emergency landing!"
Inside the car, chaos ensued.
As the hovercar's built-in EMP device was activated, the drone in the sky sparked and crashed, burning as it hit the ground.
The driver was stunned, but instead of celebrating, he remained alert: "The enemy used a reconnaissance drone to confirm our situation! Where's ground support?"
"Traffic jam! Damn it, Night City seems cursed today, red lights and traffic jams everywhere!"
The copilot cursed.
The agent sitting in the seat punching the air in frustration: "What the hell is NCPD doing? Where are the traffic management people?"
"NCPD's not cooperating... Feels like someone tipped them off, just look at those guys blocking the road, not even one armored vehicle!"
The driver's expression was serious as he spoke.
Then, everyone else in the car exchanged glances, collectively gasping: "Is it those damn Arasaka again?"
...
"Damn Arasaka! Damn Spark Team, damn A, damn K, shit! Shit! A bunch of fucking idiots!" Faraday angrily threw the coffee cup in his hand, shattering it on the ground.
At this moment, the television was already broadcasting news updates; the media had received word of the large-scale gunfight outside Night City early on and were rushing to the highways outside the city.