Chapter 32: This Job Was Done Way Too Sloppily!

Chapter 32: This Job Was Done Way Too Sloppily!

Doom adjusted his cybernetic eye device, locking onto Lucius' figure. The thermal imaging function revealed Lucius' exact position.

"Boss, that fat guy's running pretty fast, but it's no big deal. We've blocked off all the escape routes on this floor!"

Royce sneered twice and nodded in satisfaction. "Good job. Now hurry up and bring him to me. We need to act quickly to avoid drawing the NCPD or Trauma Team's attention!"

As he spoke, Royce glanced at the bloodied corpses strewn across the floor and the mangled cybernetic bodies with exposed wires. He couldn't help but frown.

"This job was done way too sloppily! Remember to remove that guy's Trauma Team chip so they can't track us."

"No problem, boss!" Doom grinned, leading his men to pursue Lucius with enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Royce stayed behind to monitor the situation, ready to pull everyone out at the first sign of trouble.

Just as Lucius was cornered with nowhere to run, Doom prepared to pounce and restrain him. But suddenly, his vision became blurry.

"What the hell? Is there something wrong with my cybernetic eye?" Doom stopped in his tracks, cursing loudly.

Soon, he realized it wasn't just him. His nearby street gang members were experiencing the same issue.

"Damn it! There's a hacker here! Our cyber-eyes have been hacked!" Doom reacted quickly but was already too late.

Inside a hidden room on the same floor, Kiwi and Pilar were connected via neural cables to their computer rigs, hacking into Doom and his gang's cybernetic eyes by breaching the ICE protocols.

For the next three minutes, Doom and his gang of thugs were effectively blinded—a window of time more than sufficient for Maine's team to act.

[Doom… successfully breached! Acquired a detailed list of his cybernetic implants!]

[Cortical Area: Visual Cortex Support Implant. Vision System: Modified and cracked Kiroshi Eye Type-1. Circulatory System: Bioplastic Vessels…]

[…]

"Doom is neutralized. The rest is up to you. Move quickly—Trauma Team will be here in two minutes."

Wearing a metallic breathing mask and sporting blonde hair, Kiwi said coldly, "NCPD officers from the nearest precinct will arrive in six minutes."

"Nice work! Leave the rest to Rebecca and me!"

Maine stretched briefly before charging out with Rebecca. In the blink of an eye, he reached Doom.

The unlucky Doom could only see a massive, blurry object flash before his eyes, followed by a tremendous impact on his chest.

"Thud!"

With just one powerful punch, Maine crushed Doom's cybernetic systems and internal organs, leaving him coughing up bits of shattered implants and tissue.

That single blow was restrained—Maine had intentionally left Doom half-alive. Others weren't as fortunate.

Rebecca, light on her feet, wielded two oversized Gorilla Arms and dual Type-31 Heavy Machine Guns, unleashing a hail of bullets.

The lightning-fast projectiles pierced the thugs' weak subdermal armor with ease, pulverizing their titanium-reinforced skeletons.

Rebecca dispatched Doom's gang with almost no effort. Just as she prepared to finish off Doom and send him to the Cyber-God, Maine stopped her.

"Hey! Calm down, Rebecca. Don't forget the boss's orders. We need to take this guy to him alive."

"Oh, right!" Rebecca pouted and playfully stuck out her tongue. "It was just getting fun—I really wanted to shoot a few more rounds!"

Outside, Li Ang, observing through his holographic glasses, gave Rebecca a directive.

[Rebecca, remove the masks from these thugs. I want to see their faces.]

"Got it!"

Rebecca began unmasking the bodies, while Maine and Dorio moved on to clear Royce's group.

Without their masks, Doom's gang was revealed to be a diverse bunch—Asian faces, cybernetically enhanced Maelstrom members, and professional cleaners carrying city-wide bounties.

"Wow! Looks like this job's got some serious backing. All the big predators of Night City are here!" Rebecca chuckled, then glanced at Lucius, who had fainted from blood loss and terror.

"This fat councilman is still alive. Trauma Team is almost here and looks ready to break through the windows to extract him."

Watching a hovering Trauma Team AV drawing closer outside, Rebecca updated Li Ang on the situation.

[Good. Take Doom away. Maine should be able to handle things on his end.]

Li Ang finally felt relieved. The mission had gone smoother than he anticipated.

Lucius' life was saved, Trauma Team got their moment of glory, the Tyger Claws' framing plot was foiled, and they even captured Doom as a key witness.

---

Royce, realizing communication with Doom was cut off, immediately sensed trouble. As he prepared to lead his men to investigate, he encountered a towering, muscular figure—Maine, who had come to eliminate his team.

"Kill him!"

Before Royce could finish his order, Maine's G-58 Dian Smart SMG sprayed bullets, taking down his lackeys. They didn't die but lay on the ground convulsing.

Maine's smart SMG wasn't just equipped with homing bullets capable of instant target acquisition—it also delivered a powerful electric shock that disrupted cybernetics.

For the Maelstrom gang, fanatics for cybernetic modifications, their heavily metal-laden bodies left them especially vulnerable, going down after just one shot.

"What the hell kind of weapon is this?!"

Cursing, Royce quickly tried to escape. Blending into the crowd to flee, he was unaware that Pilar had already locked onto his position.

"Boss, Royce is 50 meters to your upper left. He's heading for an escape route. You need to move fast!" Pilar's voice came through.

"Got it!"

Maine looked in the direction Pilar indicated, locking eyes on the fleeing Royce. Slinging his SMG onto his back, Maine activated his Sandevistan. His muscles tensed as he bolted toward Royce like a predator chasing its prey.