Chapter 14

A listless man was leaning against a pile of boxes, not moving at all.

"Hey... is that you, Brick?"

Roche's spirits lifted, and he gently knocked on the door.

"Hey, you! Hey, hey! Come and get me out of here..."

A muffled sound came from inside, but the man had indeed seen him.

Infrared detection landmines, a door lock code, and a person who couldn't move—it was Brick, who had been ousted by Royce.

The code was in the room next door.

Roche slipped in with remarkable familiarity, opened the laptop, first took the monitoring program offline, and then found the message Royce had sent to his two trusted aides, Tommy and Dum Dum, at the bottom of the received messages.

[Brick got sent to watch the cages

Password is 9691

Don't fucking spread it]

"Hehe..." Roche smirked, closed the laptop, and quietly stole the detonator on the table.

9691, done.

The door "click" opened at once.

"Be careful! If I move even a centimeter away from this laser, no one will be left in human shape. It's connected to a landmine." Brick hurriedly warned.

Roche smiled, pulled out the detonator in his hand, and turned off the laser under Brick's anxious gaze.

"Damn... I thought my hair would turn white from waiting."

Brick's body went limp, and he quickly moved away from his position.

"I'm curious, how long have you been locked up by Royce?" Roche asked.

"I can't remember, more than a week. A few loyal guys slipped me some food, then Royce threw them in the microwave and forced me to watch." Brick said bitterly, "Who are you? Who sent you?"

"Me? Nobody. I came with my brother." Roche said casually, "Little baldy, Dexter paid up, but Royce went back on his word."

"Damn... that sick bastard." Brick spat fiercely.

"How many of your men can you trust now?"

"Less than half can be trusted. If I go out now, maybe two-thirds of them will follow me." Brick, with five eyes, confidently said, "That damn mutt Royce, the gang is afraid of him, not loyal to him. This place is my turf."

Help what him? (facetious)

Roche really wanted to joke around, but now wasn't a good time.

"Alright, we'll take care of Royce." Roche said, "A military-grade tech virus will hack in soon. They have a lot of people. You better hurry and take your men to escape."

Brick looked at Roche, his eyes replaced by optical prosthetics flickering.

"Why do you want to help me?"

"It's simple." Roche plunged his katana into the ground, "First, compared to a lunatic like Royce, you're somewhat more normal. Second, you're a man of loyalty, and I trust that. Lastly, if I ever encounter some unreasonable Vortex Gang members in the future, you might be able to help."

"Alright, I won't forget you and your brother. If we meet again, I'll definitely have your backs."

Brick patted his chest.

Having been with the Vortex Gang for so many years, he valued the code of the streets, and his style was very different from other Vortex Gang branches.

Although they were all a bunch of scum, at least they were somewhat normal scum.

Click—

In an instant, the surrounding lights and equipment went "whoosh" and turned off completely, plunging the area into darkness.

"Quick! Military-grade tech is hacking in! Take the men who are willing to follow you, and don't use the back door!"

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"

Royce ran with gritted teeth.

He never imagined that the seemingly clueless duo would dare to tamper with the chip and hack their system.

The hacker subordinate who was connected to the entire food factory network while lying in his chair was burned to death on the spot, with smoke rising from his body's nerves.

He hadn't taken over the Vortex Gang for long, hadn't really enjoyed being the boss, and hadn't fully experienced the thrill of having absolute power over life and death. And now, he was infuriated by a sudden, heavy blow. The feeling of anger and humiliation filled his brain.

He wanted to get into his stolen mech and burn those two annoying guys to ashes with a high-caliber thermal cannon!

"Bang!!"

He kicked open the door.

"Get my mech started quickly…"

His shout stopped abruptly, and his bright red eyes stared in disbelief.

Ahead.

Three identical, cold gray mechs stood in a row, their pitch-black cannon muzzles aimed at him.

"Surprise, Motherfucker~"

On the mech in the middle stood a smiling young man.

How could military tech not have mechs stolen from them?

Roche slipped out of the back door and ran into the landing military tech forces. After a "communication" session (one-sided questioning) with the furious woman, Mercedes Stott, the military tech forces quickly launched attacks from both the front and back doors.

And he, without hesitation, put on the mech stolen from the Vortex Gang, preparing to give Royce a surprise.

Danger Royce Danger

"Fire." Stott crossed her arms and said coldly.

Two military tech soldiers wearing cool helmets emotionlessly pulled the triggers.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

"Whoosh!!!"

Two rectangular long waves shot out, melting the fence and iron gate, and burning the fleeing Royce into a pile of rotten flesh full of holes.

He didn't even have time to scream.

"Ah ba ah ba ah ba…"

Roche was stunned.

"Damn, good thing we changed the plan."

Roche took a deep breath, still a little shaken.

Because he had just realized that if he hadn't done this surprise move, the three of them would have had to face such a brutal mech.

Though it had no armor, the unbreakable red shield and rigid alloy frame were definitely not something ordinary handguns or swords could handle. This was reality; once someone was hit by such a shot, funeral preparations would be in order.

"¿Madre mía!（My God!）"

A familiar voice came.

Jack, who had just peeked his head out, was startled and didn't recognize who the substance on the ground was.

"Don't shoot, friendly."

Roche immediately stopped the surrounding military tech soldiers.

"Hey! Jack! V! I'm here." Roche climbed out of the mech, stood on it, and waved.

"Oh, it's Lucky!" Jack exclaimed in surprise, "That military tech woman…"

V emerged from behind Jack, and after confirming that there was no danger, jumped down with a "plop."

"You know? I appreciate your methods. Are you willing to continue helping us?" Stott casually smoked and waved, signaling her subordinates to take over the entire factory.

Fully armed soldiers ran past V and Jack with a "whoosh," including the two mechs. A few bodyguards were originally watching Roche's mech warily, but Stott called them to the side for guard duty.

It's best to stand far away when the boss is discussing confidential matters; otherwise, this good day might come to an end.

"Alright, we can consider it," V looked at Roche and nodded meaningfully.

"See you next time. The company is very satisfied with your work," Stott said with an appreciative tone, also full of meaning. "I heard that we lost a bald guy, probably fell off the car... and a mech was scrapped. I'm afraid military tech won't be able to get it back."

"We had a pleasant cooperation."

As she said this, she glanced at Roche and narrowed her eyes.

The half-smoked premium cigarette was thrown on the ground and crushed under her high heels.

Stott took off with a domineering stride, leaving them behind.

The two bodyguards, taller and stronger than Jack, stared at Roche and his friends for a while with their invisible eyes behind the sunglasses before finally escorting away.

"Damn, Lucky, you really did it," Jack slapped Roche's shoulder hard, looking at the mech with sparkling eyes. "This is fucking cool, man."

"By the way, what happened to Royce? Did you let that bastard get away?"

"No, the corpse you guys stepped on just now was him," Roche pointed at the body at the entrance, which V and Jack each stepped on, and said, "He was shot by this thing."

"What do you mean? How did you persuade that woman to give you a military tech mech?" V asked.

"Anthony Gilkrist... The Vortex Gang was able to intercept an entire military tech convoy for a reason," Roche said with a grin, climbing into the mech happily. "And I gave her that reason."

"You helped them find the mole?" V said in surprise.

"Yes, and that unlucky guy was forced by Heavy Hammer."

"Heavy Hammer? You mean Arasaka's Heavy Hammer?" Jack said in astonishment, not expecting that one day he would be involved with one of the legends of the mercenary world.

Being Lucky's brother→Lucky and Stott had a quid pro quo→Stott competing with Gilkrist→Gilkrist being threatened by Heavy Hammer.

Rounded off, it's like knowing Heavy Hammer himself!