"The centaur exoskeleton mech, on an abandoned truck by the west bank. I've sent you the location and password; find people to retrieve it yourself..."
Stott, that old woman, sent a communication.
Large items naturally couldn't be delivered to the door; Berry had to send people to retrieve them herself, and this task, of course, fell to the veterans.
Seeing that there was work, those guys slapped each other on the shoulder, guaranteed the job, and drove off, very enthusiastic.
As for Berry, she was busy with another matter.
There was a reason Stott delivered the goods so readily; she had a commission for Arno.
And Arno was already on his way to the destination.
"The target is Lieutenant Mo'er, a Militech Agent. Not long ago, she suffered a cyberpsychosis outbreak and is now slaughtering NCPD Officer who are trying to apprehend her."
"Do you need me to take her out?"
"Take her out? No, take her out and destroy all traces." Stott's cold words came through.
"The company has already sent a team of Agents to do this, but I've checked Lieutenant Mo'er's background; she's probably not that easy to deal with." Stott paused, then continued. "If she dies at the hands of the pursuit team, then fine. If they can't handle this mess, then you step in."
Berry, listening from behind the scenes, was very displeased by Stott's words. So, she was being called to be a Scavenger? What did this old aunt think of her? Her time was very precious, how could it be wasted on this?
"Handle the matter cleanly, and the reward is ten thousand."
"Deal!"
Hey, you should have mentioned such a high reward earlier.
Hearing the word "money," Berry's eyebrows shot up; she simply couldn't refuse those stacks of green bills.
A corporation is a corporation; they pay so well even for dirty work, much more generous than those stingy middlemen. No wonder so many people in Night City curse the corporations while simultaneously wanting to be their dogs.
The car stopped at the intersection.
The target was in a clearing inside an alley. The intersection was already filled with Militech SUVs, and a squad of corporate Agents, armed with firearms and wearing military green combat gear, was rushing down the alley.
"Eliminate the target!"
The Agents poured into the alley.
It seems I arrived too late, Arno thought as he watched the scene.
However, he still crossed the police tape and walked in.
A Cyberpsychosis patient is not so easy to deal with; it was still uncertain who would win.
Sure enough, before he even entered the alley, screams rang out one after another, and blood mixed with severed limbs sprayed out from the alley entrance.
Something was wrong; the speed at which the Agents were being defeated was too fast!
Berry frowned and quickly controlled Arno to rush down the alley.
The narrow passage was filled with blood and the incomplete corpses of the Agents. A group of living people who were lively just three seconds ago were now steaming bodies.
Screams came from the clearing inside, and Arno rushed out of the passage like the wind.
Tall buildings were tightly packed on all four sides, leaving a cramped small clearing in the middle. In the clearing, a woman with a distorted face, wearing the same green combat gear as the Agents, was stepping on an Agent and violently tearing at his arm.
"Ah!!!!"
Before Arno could take action, the crazed woman roared and instantly tore the Agent beneath her in half, starting from the abdomen.
A rain of blood flew everywhere. Mo'er was covered in blood, still tearing at half a person, looking utterly manic, a sight that would horrify any normal person.
"Ah!!! I'm going to rip your spine out of your chest!!!"
As if she saw Arno, Mo'er roared wildly, electricity sparking all over her body as she charged toward him.
Watching the sparks flash around Mo'er, Berry knew this was Sandevistan, a type of spinal cyberware that greatly enhanced the user's neural and muscular reaction speed, achieving an effect similar to time stoppage.
In the user's eyes, time slowed down after activating the Sandevistan, while to bystanders, the enemy's speed suddenly increased so fast that the naked eye couldn't react.
Electricity flashed, and in less than half a second, Mo'er's afterimage had already rushed to a position less than five meters away from Arno.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Arno didn't dare to be careless, firing several shots from his shotgun at the charging afterimage.
But Lieutenant Moer, whose body was flashing with electricity and whose movements were too fast to clearly discern her physical form, used just a few Iron Mountain Shoulder Charges to dodge all the bullets and shrapnel.
In her eyes, where the surrounding time had slowed down, these bullets were sluggish and easy to avoid.
Arno was about to fire a fourth shot, but the electrified afterimage instantly rushed in front of him. The powerful momentum, carrying electrical sparks, slammed into him, making Arno stagger backward repeatedly.
With a loud crash, Arno's massive body fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Die!" Straddling Arno, Mo'er's crazed face was even more distorted under acceleration, and the sound coming from her mouth was almost torn into the roar of some beast.
A heavy punch carrying electrical sparks struck Arno's face, generating a shockwave.
"Hmm?" Although she was in acceleration, the frantic Mo'er still appeared stunned for a brief moment.
That blow should have directly shattered this guy's skull, so why didn't it work!?
However, having completely lost her sanity, Mo'er didn't think for long. Driven only by fighting instinct, she subconsciously decided that if one punch wasn't enough to kill him, she would throw a few more.
Electricity flashed as she pulled her arm back again, bombarding Arno's head repeatedly like a jackhammer. Her rapid movements turned into afterimages, creating sonic booms.
Arno's head deformed and shook like rubber between the concrete floor and Mo'er's fists, but it did not explode as Mo'er had expected.
The frustration made Mo'er even more volatile, and the speed of her strikes increased, causing sonic booms that could almost pierce eardrums.
This one-sided assault finally ended when a powerful hand suddenly shot out, clamping around Mo'er's throat like an iron vise amidst the electrical sparks.
Finally got you!
Berry grinned.
Mo'er, with Sandevistan activated, was as slippery as an eel. If she had escaped, that would have been trouble, but now that she had walked into the trap and was firmly held by Arno, there was no way she could get away.
Mo'er was still struggling, desperately trying to break free from Arno's control, grabbing Arno's arm with both hands, trying to tear his hand off.
Still not cooperating!
Arno frowned, closed the fingers of his other hand into a heavy fist, and smashed it into Mo'er's face, stunning her for two seconds.
Without stopping, Arno grabbed Mo'er's arm and slammed her onto the ground like cracking a whip.
Mo'er no longer looked as spirited as before. cyberware joints sparked with electricity, and she was covered in dust and dirt, twisting painfully on the ground.
Not letting go, Arno stood up, dragged Mo'er back with one hand, and then his two cannon-like hands firmly squeezed Mo'er's soft throat, which was not encased in cyberware, using force to lift her straight into the air.
Watching the pain on Mo'er's face, the steel hydraulic press inside Arno's arm roared into action. His closed hands dug deep into her flesh, depriving her of her last bit of oxygen.
The Sandevistan stopped. Stripped of electrical sparks, the dusty Mo'er looked agonizingly pained. Her hands weakly grabbed Arno's arm, and her feet continuously kicked him, but it was all useless.
Slowly, the force of her struggles lessened. Mo'er, wearing Auxiliary Optical Cyberware, went limp, her consciousness plunging into darkness.
Only then did Arno lower the unconscious Mo'er to the ground.
Just as he placed her on the ground, Arno frowned. His neural sensors transmitted a strange odor signal.
Looking down, a large patch of dark wetness was clearly visible on Mo'er's dark green combat pants.
This person had actually become incontinent during suffocation.
A hint of guilt arose in Berry's heart.
But she had no choice; how else could she save this person's life?
"Damn, is the target dead!?" A surprised voice came from the passage.
Arno looked up at the sound, and was startled when he saw the person who arrived.
Damn, why is V here.
V stood at the entrance of the passage, gun raised, staring at Mo'er lying on the ground with a look of shock. When she saw Arno, her mouth dropped open even wider.
"Damn, Brother Arno, what are you doing here?!"
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