Wrapping Up

In general, David's crew was just making deliveries. If the Maelstrom gang started a fight, they'd fight back. If they found an abandoned territory, they'd cautiously enter and copy the data.

Not too difficult—

But there were always surprises.

On a chaotic night like this, Watson North was practically deserted. Nobody should've been out driving, because anyone bold enough to do so had already joined the Maelstrom gang—and they were busy with their civil war.

David's group was holed up inside their vans, parked in a side alley—

Why? Because right next to their original drop-off point, the MaxTac unit was carrying out an indiscriminate assault.

No one could survive that kind of gunfire. David couldn't even begin to imagine what could withstand it—

Cyberware?

Even less likely.

He was too young to remember the Unification War, but his generation's understanding of it was simple: a bunch of heavily cyber-enhanced soldiers tearing each other apart on the battlefield.

But this was different. The MaxTac operation showed no traces of personal skill—

It was pure equipment superiority.

David swallowed hard. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he had to face these terrifying bastards himself.

MaxTac wasn't just a squad or two—they were backed by the entire Night City government!

No matter how much someone believed in individual strength, seeing this kind of overwhelming firepower and ruthless enforcement would shake anyone's faith.

Sure, a lone NCPD officer might be useless, but with gear like this, who wouldn't reconsider their actions when the possibility of MaxTac intervention loomed over them?

Maybe one or two squads weren't invincible, but—MaxTac was a whole department.

Inside the two vans, the group shivered in silence, praying the AVs would fly off soon and not mistakenly target them.

The gunfire didn't last long. The AVs quickly received new orders and veered off toward another location.

Maine patted David on the shoulder. "See? MaxTac. Lucky night—we got to witness something most people never do."

"Lucky?" David muttered. "I used to hear all kinds of stories about them."

"Well, now you've seen them in action. Time to get to work."

Lucy tapped David's shoulder. "David… there's a van."

A van?

The group froze for a moment. Sure enough, a van was parked by the roadside.

Above, the Scorpius-class AVs continued their aerial sweep.

Inside the van, Royce sat in complete silence, waiting for the AVs to leave.

As soon as they were gone, he floored the gas, speeding toward a nearby wall and jumping out, slipping into an abandoned factory.

Technically, it was a bankrupt company's former site—no one had bought the land yet.

His target? The antenna system.

Sabotage the antenna, then upload a wipe program into the database.

The place was littered with corpses. Occasionally, a lucky survivor twitched on the ground, letting out an eerie, static-filled scream.

But on closer inspection—those poor bastards barely had half a head left.

Some were just two skulls and nothing more.

"Shit… Brick, you stubborn old bastard. Why couldn't you just roll over and surrender? Now I don't even have a place to go."

[Upload Complete.]

[Recipient: D@nt3_InF3rn0]

[Royce: It's done!]

[D@nt3_InF3rn0: Good job. Head to Lockdown Gate 4. I've opened the way for you.]

[Royce: Gate 4? Arasaka?]

He looked up and realized that Gate 4 was in Arasaka's territory.

[D@nt3_InF3rn0: Yeah. I hacked Arasaka's security here. We'll exit through this route and head to Pacifica.]

[Royce: Got it.]

Royce jumped down from the third floor and swiftly made his way back to his car—

The engine roared to life, ready to take off.

Now, the choice was up to David.

The streets were eerily empty—there was no way to tail him unnoticed.

"We should follow him," Maine said immediately.

"I know—" David agreed at once. "Guns out!"

In the silent streets, three engines roared to life. Royce noticed them immediately!

Everyone knew—there shouldn't be cars on the road at this hour!

"Fuck, just my goddamn luck."

Royce floored the gas, his car shooting forward, with David and Maine close behind!

But just as David and Maine leaned out of their windows—Royce already had his gun raised!

Sandevistan!

David activated his cyberware at the same moment!

In the slow-motion world, David clearly saw Royce's red handgun crackling with electricity—a tech weapon!

Both had equal reaction speeds, and David knew he had to land his shot.

If he missed, that gun was aimed right at Maine!

Maine wouldn't be able to dodge!

Tech weapons needed to charge. Kinetic ones didn't. David fired first!

Bang!

To outside observers, David and Royce appeared in their windows simultaneously, raising their guns and shooting almost at the same time!

Blood blossomed from Royce's side, disrupting his aim. His shot only grazed Maine's shoulder before burying into the car!

That one miss put Royce at a complete disadvantage.

Rebecca, Maine, and Dorio were all armed with heavy shotguns!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Shells shredded through the windshield—some even blew out the tires!

Royce, clutching his head, lost control of the wheel. The car flipped over, skidding and rolling across the asphalt!

Screeeech—CRASH!

Royce's car was totaled. David and Maine stopped as well.

But they knew—Royce wouldn't go down that easily.

After all, he was once Maelstrom's second-in-command, even ruling as leader for a few days.

True to his reputation, Royce didn't disappoint—he kicked the warped car door clean off and stormed out!

His clothes were in tatters, and through the shredded fabric, they could see something glowing in his abdomen—

A power core, right where his stomach should be, radiating a blinding red light.

Royce's entire body steamed, like a machine running at full capacity!

[David: Lucy, Kiwi, can you hack his system?]

[Lucy: Need time.]

[Kiwi: Trying.]

Which meant—it had to be a direct fight.

This was going to be a brutal battle. David braced himself.

He shrugged off his jacket, knowing that with Sandevistan, he'd be the main fighter. Stretching his limbs, he stepped forward.

But then—

Screeech—!!

Royce froze in place!

Two motorcycles drifted around the corner, engines spewing flames as they charged straight at him!

His eyes filled with terror!

Before he could react, V's mantis blade sliced straight through him—

And Jackie grabbed his head like yanking out a weed—lifting his upper body clean off!

As the world spun, Royce's fading vision caught something nightmarish—

Brick's severed head was strapped to the back of a motorcycle, grinning at him with a twisted smile.

No words were spoken, but Royce could read his expression perfectly—

"Hell yeah, this feels great!"

The motorcycles appeared and vanished in an instant.

David's discarded jacket hadn't even hit the ground before it was all over.

Lucy stepped up behind him, picking up his jacket and handing it back.

"Put your jacket on."

David silently put it back on.

[Leo: Mission complete.]