Frankenstein

[Jackie: Uppercut!]

[Jackie: How badass is that?!]

[Jackie: Damn, why don't they allow motorcycles in boxing matches? That's discrimination against motorcycles!]

[V: My bones feel a little sore. Should I get a cyberware diagnostic?]

[Panam: Guys, that was some insane teamwork!]

Leo sat in the vehicle, reviewing the scene displayed on his HUD.

After the MaxTac team arrived, the chaos quickly died down.

With the centaur mechs destroying the AVs—and losing a few operatives in the process—those AVs started moving rapidly toward Brick's position.

Technically, NCPD should be stepping in to clean up the scene by now. Unfortunately, this wasn't a normal situation—the primary threat still wasn't neutralized.

That meant the Aldecaldo convoy was the only capable force left to secure the site.

The Aldecaldos, who had been hiding in the alleys, now drove out, heading straight for the battle-scarred factories and warehouses.

Leo gathered countless kill confirmations and intercepted factory production data, painting a true picture of North Watson—something no public database could reveal.

That was the real treasure.

Kang Tao Pharmaceuticals, Kang Tao-Zuli Arms, Revered Logistics, Biodyne… The secrets hidden behind these corporate factories came into focus as the intelligence connected the dots.

The true foundation of Maelstrom's power was laid bare before Leo.

Sometimes, the truth was just that simple.

"No wonder they got this big—it actually makes sense."

As for that woman, Zaria, when V severed her spine with the Mantis Blades, Leo attempted a quick hack—

The result? Completely unreadable data. If not for the Little Octopus extracting some fragments, the attempt would've been a total failure.

That, in turn, suggested Zaria's cyberpsychosis was far from ordinary.

That could be dealt with later. Right now, the focus was on the immediate situation.

The HUD displayed the status of two centaur mechs, Jackie, V, various equipment, and vehicles.

Brick and Carter were both at their limits—not just running on fumes, but their bodies were in bad shape.

Centaur mechs were designed as heavy riot control units, relying on plasma cannons and shields as their main assets.

Their linear frames weren't particularly robust, but under Sandevistan's control, their peak output constantly surged to four or five times the rated power.

Only high-end full-body conversions and linear frames could handle a Sandevistan, and even then, these centaur mechs only endured because they were demo models—built tougher than the standard. Otherwise, they would've long since exploded.

And in extreme conditions, all of Sandevistan's operating data had been fed into the Little Octopus as AI training material—finally triggering V's spinal cyberware activation.

So far, the results looked promising.

Though activating Kerenzikov at the same time put an immense strain on V's nervous system—something that would need gradual optimization.

[Leo: Brick and Carter have stormed the All-Foods Factory. MaxTac is heading there too.]

[Leo: Leave the bike outside.]

[V: Can I ride it inside?]

[Leo: ?]

[Leo: You might as well upload your brain into the damn bike. Just get inside and pull Brick and Carter out.]

[V: Not just kill them?]

[Leo: Alive is preferable, dead works too.]

As an honest businessman, Leo could have remotely shut down the mechs, but NCPD and MaxTac weren't stupid. Making it too obvious wouldn't do any good.

So instead…

[Data purge complete.]

[Signature overwrite finished.]

[Connection terminated.]

All data was wiped clean. Leo then implanted signatures into the mechs matching the Maelstrom cells he had been tracking—ensuring there would be no trace back to him.

The motorcycle idled outside the abandoned All-Foods Factory as V placed Zaria onto the seat. The bike slowly pulled away.

Panam's ride was nearby—she'd handle getting Zaria out.

The factory gates had been blasted open, molten metal still dripping from the breach.

The entryway bore clear impact and claw marks, with corpses littering the area.

No time to waste. V and Jackie hopped off their vehicles and moved inside.

The moment they stepped through the hole, they were greeted by the sight of Maelstrom's remnants splattered across the walls and ceiling.

Blood, synthetic fluids, scattered cyberware, and severed limbs. Some areas had taken heavy hits—dented craters housed the shattered remains of heavy machine guns.

Mine explosions, plasma scorch marks, bullet-ridden surfaces—

Everywhere spoke of a brutal battle.

V suddenly muttered, "Brick must've lost it."

Jackie nodded.

No matter what, Brick still saw himself as Maelstrom's rightful boss.

Seeing their "badass leader" return, Royce's lapdogs—no matter how defiant—would have to fall in line.

Some people here were bound to die, but this level of indiscriminate slaughter?

Something wasn't right.

They hadn't seen a single living person since they entered.

Bang!

A muffled explosion echoed from deep inside the factory.

V and Jackie spotted a blown-open passage and vaulted up the wall.

"Boss…"

Bang!

Carter had just discarded his deformed riot shield.

His linear frame's exposed arm—designed to hold the shield—had lost its safety limiters. With a sudden burst of strength, it crushed both his hand and the head of a nearby subordinate.

Brick crouched nearby, his plasma cannon and shield already removed.

They had encountered extreme resistance on the way in—

Gun turrets, mines, grenades…

Their gear and bodies had been torn to shreds.

Brick gazed at the looted equipment in the warehouse, gripping a thermal blade.

Then, without hesitation, he drove it into his ruined cyber-leg.

The blade sizzled as it carved through the linear frame, cutting deeper with each forceful push—

Bang!

A burst of electricity flashed. Brick ripped off his mangled leg and grabbed a sturdier replacement from the loot pile, jamming it onto his socket—

He was performing cyberware surgery on himself.

Carter's body also convulsed as his last opponent fell.

Then—boom!

His balance actuator in the leg exploded, spraying electrolyte fluid everywhere.

"That fat bastard Royce isn't here," Carter muttered.

"Like you need to say that? Sit down already, let's get you a new leg. Remember this? That military tech we stole back then? Never got to use it all these years.

Bunch of cowards, afraid to replace this, afraid to replace that."

"Quit yapping and get to work! We still need to crush Royce!"

Many shady ripperdocs had such terrible skills that their operations were described as "butchery"—but that was just a figure of speech.

Right now, though, Brick was performing an operation that was literal butchery, no exaggeration needed.

Without a doubt, they had fully descended into cyberpsychosis.

No cybernetic operation should be done like this.

And yet, somehow, they were still capable of basic conversation, making the whole scene eerily surreal.

Brick's twisted cyberware system scanned both himself and Carter. The scanner returned nothing but distorted, glitched-out data—complete gibberish.

Yet, in his scrambled mind, these errors and garbled signals led to completely nonsensical actions…

…that miraculously made the haphazardly slapped-together implants and enhancements function.

It was like watching Frankenstein's lab:

A doctor fueled by sheer conviction, following the philosophy of "I think I can stitch a living person together like this," mindlessly grafting organs onto what he believed were the right spots.

Not enough power? Grab a charging cable.

Needs high-energy fuel? Dump in some ethanol.

Balance off? Add counterweights.

Lacking mobility? Install a motor.

And so Brick kept adding and modifying, until he failed to notice—

He had accidentally connected his own neural interface to the leg he had just installed on Carter.

Then, with a swift motion, he severed the nerve link—

And collapsed sideways.

"...Still need another leg."

Smack.

Jackie and V arrived at the scene.

Inside the empty hangar stood two monstrous figures—

Two mechanical Frankensteins.

(Just a bit shorter—about 2.2 or 2.3 meters tall. You can imagine the rest.)

[TN:This is around 7.5 feet in freedom units]

"Well, damn." Jackie flexed his gauntleted fists. "And here I thought our gear was some real handcrafted shit. These guys take it to another level."

V flicked out her mantis blades—

"Looks like a piece of junk to me!"

Brick and Carter, having lost all ability to distinguish friend from foe, snapped their heads around, violently tearing out every last cable connected to them.

Their cybernetic voice mods amplified their roars to deafening levels—distorted beyond recognition, drowning out any trace of human emotion.

All that remained was a sizzling, crackling electronic screech!

The mismatched motors and components groaned, filling the warehouse with the screeching of metal and the deep hum of electrics—

A true heavy metal concert!

The fight was about to begin!

V lunged at Brick, pushing off the ground just as she was about to clash head-on.

The thrusters in her boots ignited, launching her over Brick's head!

She thought she had him—her mantis blades swung down toward his shoulder—

Only to see his shoulder and elbow joints twist in an inhuman motion, blasting out compressed gas!

Brick dropped his stance, while his fist shot toward V!

She barely managed to tuck in her abdomen and dodge!

BOOM!

Jackie charged in, meeting Carter's punch head-on!

The impact sent a visible shockwave through the air, dispersing the thick smoke in the warehouse.

A deadlock!

Both took a step back before launching another strike!

"Try this!" Jackie adjusted his stance—

The turbines in his reinforced knuckles roared to life!

The explosive thrust maximized his punch's power—

Jackie felt like he was flying!

CRASH!

But Carter's fist was just as tough!

Jackie gained no advantage—he was forced back a step from the collision!

The first exchange ended in a near tie!

V, using her aerial momentum, latched onto a metal beam, while Jackie stood his ground.

Carter and Brick stood back to back, staring down their respective opponents.

But mere staring wasn't enough—Jackie and V had their own tactical support.

They immediately scanned their enemies' exposed cybernetics—

The Sandevistan still boosted their reaction speeds.

But actual movement speed depended on their hardware.

Brick's arms had greater flexibility—one of them even had four omnidirectional joints.

Judging by the compressed air bursts from his punches, he had probably repurposed double-jump thrusters into his arms.

That's why he could change attack angles so quickly.

Carter's arms, on the other hand, were built purely for durability.

Four massive reinforced support rods were bolted onto his limbs, making his punches unyielding—

But also completely inflexible.

He could react, but if V was agile enough, he had no way to counter her.

In this case—

[Leo: Switch targets.]

Jackie and V didn't even need to speak.

Both stabilized their footing—

And charged again!

The turbines in their limbs roared to life, their augmented muscles bursting with energy.

Their enemies did the same!

But this time—

They switched opponents!

V, hovering midair, paused her thrusters for just a moment—

Just enough to flip over Brick's head, lunging toward Carter!

Carter, despite being in Sandevistan mode, could only see her—

Not match her speed!

His rigid arm swung toward her—

But it was no threat at all. She slipped past effortlessly!

And V, seeing the exposed mechanics in Carter's arm, grinned—

Her mantis blades stabbed straight for his spine!

Carter could do nothing but watch as the blades sliced through his arm like butter, piercing his neck from the side—

At the same time, Jackie once again met Brick's punch head-on—

But Brick's cybernetics weren't as solid!

His twisted joints buckled instantly, oozing synthetic fluid under the pressure—

BOOM!

Brick's arm was blasted backward, completely out of control.

Meanwhile, V stood atop Carter's arm, mantis blades buried in his spine.

The signal cut off.

Carter's cybernetics shut down.

He collapsed to his knees.

Clink. Clatter.

Liquid and spare parts rained onto the ground.

Brick, seeing his brother fall, let out a monstrous screech, his red cybernetic eyes glowing even brighter—

And charged at Jackie!

But Jackie was unfazed.

One arm blocked, while the other—BOOM!—fired up the turbine punch and slammed into Brick's gut!

The impact pierced straight through!

Jackie felt his fingers wrap around Brick's spine—

Snap.

The spinal column shattered.

Brick's cybernetics shut down.

Both brothers knelt, heads bowed, their bodies trembling slightly.

V retracted her mantis blades and stood beside Jackie.

"The hell is with these cyberpsychos? This shit's cursed."

"Yeah, no shit." Jackie shook his hand, flinging off an unknown fluid.

"These lunatics… sure as hell weren't shy about upgrading themselves."

[Leo: Trauma team's inbound. Extract the target.]

[Leo: Panam's marking your evac. Take down the AV and scram.]

They knew the drill.

Jackie pulled out his golden Carnage shotgun, now equipped with a fresh adapter.

This thing could easily punch through the hangar roof and take down the AV—

But with his turbine-enhanced knuckles, he couldn't handle a weapon this precise.

"Sigh." Jackie shook his head, handing the gun to V.

V grinned—

She had been wanting to try this thing.