Chapter 6 Warehouse No. 7_2

Like sniper rifles and assault rifles, all long guns are considered military equipment nowadays and are strictly controlled. Once you are caught on surveillance footage carrying a long gun, you would be tracked and monitored, or at the very least, fined.

After all, no one can guarantee whether what you're holding is an antique blunderbuss or a gauss magnetic track cannon disguised as a cello.

So, without security system registration or a special permit, even the NCPA has no right to use heavy vitality equipment; smart assault rifles are the limit. Otherwise, these gangs wouldn't bully them to such an extent.

On the other hand, the black market arms within the gangs are constantly being upgraded. The Whirlpool Gang even owns a bunch of military factories, piecing together all sorts of light and heavy firepower from scrap.

Thus, Li Pan turned and ran. The opposing firepower was too damn fierce— at least a reinforced platoon; he couldn't get past them from the front.

What was even more annoying was that these Cyber Lunatics from the Whirlpool Gang, after a random barrage of gunfire, actually didn't pursue!

Not only did they not chase him into the alleyways, after shouting for a while, they voluntarily withdrew to continue blocking the road. They even called in reinforcements—two entire vans of them! A large group hunkered down, defending rigorously as if digging trenches for war. Made, they didn't provide any opportunity at all!

He was doomed! How come these maniacs suddenly developed a sense of discipline?

Now, Li Pan was truly stumped. If he couldn't lure them out for a sniper shot in the alleys, he wouldn't stand a chance against so many guns; even if he could score headshots with each bullet, he likely wouldn't have enough ammunition.

It seemed he had to risk the sewers.

Having seen the blueprint of Warehouse 7, Li Pan knew Monster Company had left secret passages inside the warehouse, based on Night City's old sewer systems—just like a crafty rabbit with multiple burrows, ready to evacuate assets in case of a siege.

It seems this was why the sewer-dwelling vermin from the Whirlpool Gang got an opportunity to target him.

Whether manipulated from behind the scenes or simply emerging from the sewers, they found a large warehouse and decided to hit big.

In any case, there were likely loads of Whirlpool Gang members down in the sewers. Although the sewer system had a complicated terrain, running into them would mean being trapped in a confined area amid chaotic gunfire, where Li Pan would no longer have the chance to shoot and run as he could above ground.

But he had no choice but to take the risk, not just because of the inherent risks from monsters but because Big Bear, built up from a military prosthesis, was considered a treasure in the eyes of the Whirlpool Gang. If he was too late, Big Bear would be dismantled before he could even get there.

Li Pan wasn't really a good person, but having mingled in Night City for so long, after sending so many resumes and begging so many people, only Big Bear had stepped forward to help him.

Whether he was pulling him into a fire pit was another matter, but given that the other side had offered help, shouldn't he go and see for himself whether his friend was dead or alive?

Either see him alive or find his body; otherwise, the system would mark him as missing and he wouldn't be able to apply for any compensation.

So, Li Pan dug out a piece of tattered canvas from the trash pile, smudged his face with mud, dabbed some engine oil, disguised himself as a vagrant, and entered the sewers, following the route map he had seen at the company.

Though called sewers, they were not typical drainage channels but rather spacious flood discharge tunnels with maintenance paths on both sides for drones to pass through. Being near the Pacific Ocean and located in a seismic zone, the construction underground was incredibly robust.

Reportedly, planning for the sewers began during the era of the first Neo Tokyo. At that time, Earth 0791 was amid a Cold War between two factions, and the sewers also served as air raid shelters and nuclear defense bunkers. Hence, apart from normal drainage channels, there were numerous secret military and civilian passages and civil defense works.

And later, after various disasters—volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear wars, and biohazard crises—the repeated destruction and reconstruction led to frequent changes of contractors vying for this profitable project, making the sewer terrain even more complex, and even the public safety systems couldn't control it.

In rebuilding Night City, Ye Corporation felt that Neo Tokyo was just too damn chaotic. So, they decided to start from scratch, purposely building a new alloy artificial island to serve as the Downtown District, which also acted as a safeguard against the pests that could emerge from underground to cause trouble.

As a result, various marginalized members, rejected by mainstream society, could now boldly take refuge in the sewers, effectively becoming part of the Inner World of Night City, the Underground City of Tokyo.

And Celestial Company was even older; can you believe it was established at the end of the twenty-first century? Literally the oldest batch among the Celestial Companies.

That's why here at Branch 0791, though Celestial's office area could be relocated to the corporate park in the Downtown District, those old warehouses housing monsters could not be so easily moved; all forty-two warehouses remained in the old city area.

Li Pan, having also grown up in the poor districts, though within the neighborhood and the military academy, his only other experience was working in a junkyard. As for the real 'Inner World' like the New Tokyo Sewers, he had never dealt with anything like that.

Not exaggerating at all, here in this place, cyber lunacy and the like were small cases. Every person hidden in this darkness was a big, murderous case lying low to avoid the safety system's surveillance. Otherwise, just popping up would mean a devastating attack from a regiment of Cerberus — mechas with no questions asked.

Li Pan also cautiously advanced through the maintenance tunnel used by the engineering robots, with partial access to the Xingtian System and limited drainage and lighting system guidance. He wasn't likely to get lost, and his luck wasn't that bad. Not only had he found the entrance to the secret passage, but there were also no members of the Whirlpool Gang guarding the door nearby.

But strictly speaking, his luck still wasn't great.

At the entrance of the secret passage, there was already a 'monster'.

However, it wasn't the type of 'monster' that TheM was interested in; it was purely a live... well, a dead monster.

Li Pan aimed his gun and crouched for a while before confirming that the creature was indeed dead.

How to put it, at first glance, this thing looked like a huge rat, but on closer inspection, it somewhat resembled a person. From another angle, it also resembled a dog, covered sparsely with black fur, emitting the stench of rotting innards, sickeningly foul.

Li Pan covered his nose and mouth, cautiously moving closer to inspect it.

If the creature stood up, it would have been about 1.8 to 2 meters tall, with eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and body size roughly similar to humans, but its facial features and limbs were severely twisted. The structure of its claws, ankles, and knees was grotesquely deformed. Rather than resembling a human, it was closer to some kind of carnivorous animal. Its body was all muscle, with rotting skull and nasal positions protruding outward, which again, gave it a somewhat dog-like appearance.

It seemed the creature's death was due to a blade wound. No apparent bullet holes were seen. From the diagonal shoulder to the abdomen, skin and innards were cleanly sliced open. The area was now swarming with a layer of flies and maggots, and a sharp stake was stabbed through the heart, deeply into the ground, nailing the monster alive in the sewers.

What the hell is this? A bio-monster? A modified human? Why would it die at the company warehouse's secret passage entrance? And who killed it?

If the innards were still there, it probably wasn't the handiwork of the Whirlpool Gang. But a stake in the heart? What kind of psychopathic murderer does that...

Hiss... Could it be that the murderer had already entered the warehouse through the secret passage? Most likely, they were after something in Warehouse No. 7?

Li Pan became more cautious, stepping over the rotting flesh and swarms of insects, holding his pistol attentively as he entered the drainpipe, his heart pounding wildly.

What a mess on my first day of overtime, and it looked like dealing with the Whirlpool Gang was the easiest part. His civilian little pistol couldn't even penetrate proper armor; likely useless, alas. If only he had chosen the Muramasa Level 4 Mantis Blade during the prosthetic modification earlier...

But now, he could only make do with what he had at hand.