"Cherish your life, don't wait until you lose it to realize how precious it is."
After a full two seconds of silence, Johnny sighed.
Patting the Mercenary's back of the head, Johnny stood up.
He was tired of bearing the lives of others.
There had been too many senseless deaths.
He had had enough.
But guilt, maybe he had it, maybe not, but even if he did, he wouldn't admit it.
Just like that, Johnny Silverhand opened the manhole cover alone and crawled out into the cold moonlight and the distant sound of gunfire.
...
When the three figures in black with mirrored visors came rushing back clutching their necks, Berry knew something was wrong, but hearing what had happened from their own mouths, Berry still jumped up from the chair she hadn't even warmed yet.
"F*ck!"
Berry couldn't help but curse.
Silverhand, what the hell is wrong with your brain?
Berry knew that betrayal was impossible.
This was clearly just that old guy Johnny having a psychotic episode.
Berry just felt a headache.
At this critical juncture, Johnny really knew how to give her trouble.
If the team had just looked out for each other, even if the assassination plan didn't succeed, they could have safely retreated.
Johnny just had to play the lone hero.
Acting in an American blockbuster.
Great, now he's probably run off far away, and sending people to chase him definitely won't catch him.
For the sake of stealth, Johnny was in silent mode again, and no one could contact him.
Johnny better not die there.
His body was already gone; if the relic chip was also gone, then only the Emperor could save this reckless idiot.
Berry felt a wave of impotent rage inside, but on the surface, she maintained a composed demeanor.
"It's fine, everything is still under control."
Berry tried her best to keep her expression indifferent, reassuring her subordinates.
As the commander of the army, anyone could panic, but she could not.
Under the current circumstances, she had no other choice.
She could only choose to trust Johnny.
She could trust him.
Right?
...
"It's fine, everything is still under control."
Jotaro comforted his subordinates with these words, but it sounded as if he was trying to comfort himself more.
It was one o'clock in the morning.
Two hours.
A full two hours had passed since the fighting began.
This was only an hour away from the celebration time Jotaro had scheduled.
And far from reaching the Hive stronghold, they hadn't even passed through Kabuki.
The complex streets of Kabuki gripped them tightly, as if they were stuck in a quagmire, unable to move.
Even though their numbers far exceeded the Hive's, in such a complex urban environment, their numbers became a disadvantage. The massive force was split across various blocks, exhausted from dealing with the Hive's numerous, though small, firing points.
The Hive's army really acted like bees, breaking into smaller units, stinging the massive Tyger Claws from time to time. While not fatal, it was truly painful.
The frontline troops led by Jackie had converged with the Third Column according to the scheduled time and had reached the final defensive line; they could not retreat another step.
They had to hold their ground on this narrow defensive line and prepare for a counterattack.
But at the same time, they gradually felt the difficulty, and the pressure grew heavier as time passed.
Although relying on the "Crusader" mobile defense, the fluid defense line at various firing points remained stable, but as the defensive area increased, their lack of manpower gradually became apparent.
Not to mention that the Tyger Claws were also constantly figuring out the battlefield situation, starting to tentatively probe for weak firing points and gathering forces for focused attacks.
The widened battlefield, while giving the Hive more room to maneuver, also seemed to allow the Tyger Claws to partially utilize their manpower advantage.
In short, although the Hive held the advantage on the front line, that advantage was slowly waning.
Now, it was time for a decision.
Looking at the situation on the holographic map, Berry decisively issued an order.
"V, deploy the MaxTac, it's time!"
"The direction of the attack is at 3 o'clock, where the Tyger Claws' defense line is the weakest."
"Yes!"
V's resonant reply and the roar of motorcycle engines came from the other end.
The pre-ambushed MaxTac finally moved out.
Berry had long prepared weaponized motorcycles in several underground garages in Kabuki. She believed that this MaxTac unit, equipped with armed motorcycles, would cut through the Tyger Claws' defense like a sharp knife and capture the weakly defended bridge behind them.
The Tyger Claws wouldn't expect the thinly-spread Hive to dare to launch a counter-offensive, as they were fully focused on their own attack.
Berry wanted to teach them a lesson.
The enemy's flaw was Berry's chance to win.
The way of a general is to adapt to the situation and win.
"All troops, prepare."
In the dim underground garage, lights turned on one by one—these were the headlights of the armed motorcycles, illuminating the road ahead.
The rolling door slowly rose, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the road outside, illuminated by the moonlight.
V was fully armed; her purple "Phantom" armor made her look like a phantom, like a ghost in the dim light.
Astride the bright purple armed motorcycle, she twisted the throttle, and the engine roared like a bull, causing the chassis to vibrate.
The rear wheel screeched against the ground, kicking up clouds of blue smoke, like an irritable horse anxiously waiting to gallop.
It wasn't just V; Jessica and Moer of the "Phantom" squad, the Hive Mercenaries, Panam, the Aldecaldos Nomads... the roaring sounds merged into one, like a chorus of demons.
Finally, the rolling door rose to a height sufficient for them to pass.
"Charge!"
V let out a low roar, released the brakes, and the impatient motorcycles roared out, leaving a trail of purple phantoms in the air.
On both sides of the empty street, black shadows flew out from the ramps of the underground garages, landing one after another on the street—these were the motorcycle warriors.
Amidst the deafening, continuous roar, the motorcycles converged into a sharp triangular arrowhead, with V's purple vehicle at the vanguard, charging into the nearby battlefield with unstoppable momentum.
"What is that!?"
"Enemy!?"
The sound arrived before the figures.
A group of Tyger Claws, who were engaged in an intense firefight with the Hive's firing points ahead, noticed something wrong. A certain sound was getting louder and louder, even drowning out the gunfire, forcefully attracting the attention of both sides.
The difference was that the Tyger Claws were stunned, while the Hive was pleasantly surprised.
"The MaxTac has been deployed!"
"Quick, set up the planks!"
In a rush, the Hive people ignored the Tyger Claws opposite them; several planks were placed on sandbags, forming a simple ramp.
The Tyger Claws' confusion had only just arisen, but it was quickly answered.
As the roaring sound reached its peak, suddenly, like flying fish leaping from a calm sea, one, two, three... a dozen motorcycle tires rolled over the ramp and soared into the air.
Just as the Tyger Claws stared in astonishment at this seemingly frozen moment, a voice came like a demon.
"Fire!"
As if the command had reality-bending power, the two vehicle-mounted cannons in front of the motorcycles, which seemed frozen in the air, rotated and aimed at the Tyger Claws below who were looking up.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!!!"
Blue light flashed, and the sound like a tearing fabric shattered the silence. The scorching plasma ammunition smashed the Tyger Claws into pulpy flesh, as easily as striking tofu with a stick.
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