Chapter 47: Exoskeletons and Nekoma

"What happened?"

The gunfire from downstairs naturally alerted the attackers on the fifth floor. They weren't stupid—they could tell the difference between the sounds of the ongoing battle below and gunfire coming from inside the building.

"Did someone make it up here?"

"Impossible! The mines and detection devices from the first to the third floors haven't been triggered!"

"Three is down—no vital signs! Someone's on the lower floors!"

"Get to the stairwell, now!"

There were three attackers on the fifth floor. Besides the now-empty RPG launcher at their feet, each of them was armed with a Shingen Smart SMG. They had been gleefully spraying bullets down at the struggling mercenaries below—until someone had snuck up on them.

"Forget about the mercs! We need to deal with whoever made it up here first!"

Just as they were about to move, the floor beneath them bulged suddenly—then exploded, sending a shockwave rippling upwards.

The moment the gunshot rang out, the attackers took a second to assess the source. Then, they needed another second to confirm that Number Three was dead. Two more seconds passed before they finally decided to head to the stairwell.

Four whole seconds wasted.

And four seconds was more than enough time for Karl to get creative.

Like using his monomolecular wire to smash open a ceiling light, pulling the pin off a grenade, and tossing it directly into the lighting fixture above them.

"An eye for an eye. You blasted me with an RPG? I'll just return the favor with a simple grenade."

Karl considered himself to be a truly righteous person.

In the explosion that engulfed the fifth floor, two attackers were instantly killed.

Karl honestly hadn't expected that.

"They were standing too close together. One dies, they all die."

The only survivor was lying on the ground, barely breathing, his right hand blown off and his Shingen nowhere to be found.

Just in case the guy still had any fight left in him, Karl raised the very same Shingen he had just looted.

"Only three of them? That's fewer than I expected."

Another gunshot. The last attacker on this floor sank into eternal sleep.

"Oliver, they're all down."

Keeping the squad updated, Karl immediately reported his good news to Oliver and Jack.

"We're using the vehicles and buildings as cover to return fire, but Karl—there's a sniper on the third floor of the apartment across from you. He's already popped three mercs with a Nekoma. Can you take him out?"

"A Nekoma sniper rifle, huh?"

[Tsunami Nekoma]: A highly precise tech sniper rifle. Though it requires frequent maintenance, its tungsten-core rounds can penetrate the thickest armor and walls, shattering titanium-reinforced skeletons. Nobody can truly feel safe when facing this weapon. Due to its extreme lethality, its sale is tightly regulated. Unless you're working for a corporation or government, getting your hands on one is nearly impossible.

In other words, anyone using a Nekoma was likely backed by a corporation or the government.

Karl thought back to the expensive smart weapons like the Shingen, the RPGs, and now this sniper rifle.

These attackers were seriously overequipped for a simple mercenary takedown.

With this kind of firepower, why weren't they waiting until the mercenaries got closer to the corporate security detail?

Unless... there was another group meant to handle the corporate security, while this one was meant to eliminate the mercenaries?

Pushing those thoughts aside, Karl moved to the blown-out balcony of the apartment and spotted his target on the third floor across the street.

The sniper was cloaked, his cybernetic eyes glowing red as he methodically locked onto mercenaries below.

Wait...

Wasn't a sniper supposed to change positions after each shot?

Why was this guy staying put?

As Karl was puzzling over this, he saw several bullets strike the sniper's body—only to bounce off harmlessly.

Something's off.

Through the bullet holes in the cloak, Karl got a better look at what was underneath.

The metallic gleam, the dented plating, the way the sniper's body absorbed gunfire—

This guy was wearing a full-body exoskeleton combat suit.

Karl had seen exoskeleton outfits in North Watson's fashion shops before. Those were overpriced, impractical, and required additional cyberware modifications to even function.

But this—what the sniper was wearing—

This was on a completely different level.

"Definitely another piece of military gear."

Fuck. Even if every merc here knew this mission was a death trap, did they really have to stack the odds this badly?

Just as Karl was debating whether to lob a grenade at the sniper, another mercenary below had the exact same idea. He unhooked a grenade from his belt, sprinted out from cover, and hurled it toward the sniper's position.

His bravery was rewarded with instant death—the moment the grenade left his hand, his head and upper body were obliterated.

As for the grenade itself, the sniper's cybernetic eyes locked onto it mid-air, and with a single precise shot, detonated it before it could reach him.

And in that split-second movement, as the sniper raised his rifle, his gaze naturally traveled upward.

His glowing red optics flashed.

He spotted Karl.

"Shit!"

Without hesitation, Karl threw himself backward into a roll. A fraction of a second later, his balcony was obliterated.

A two-meter-long, one-meter-wide slab of reinforced concrete shattered into pieces, crumbling under the sheer force of the bullet impact from the Nekoma.

That bullet didn't just destroy the balcony. Its penetrative force punched straight through the fifth-floor ceiling.

Lying on his back from the roll, Karl glanced upward—he could see straight through the gaping hole into the pollution-choked sky of Night City.

"Oliver! That sniper's got a military-grade exoskeleton!"

"What?! Military-grade?! I fucking knew this job was gonna be a nightmare!"

Gunfire crackled over Oliver's mic. From the sound of it, they were still engaged in a shootout.

Then Jack's voice cut in.

"Karl, if that guy's got a military-grade exo, just focus on staying alive. Me, Mann, and Oliver are already moving toward his building. We'll take him out once we're close—you just stay put and cover us from above."

"The stairwell is rigged with mines and sensors—it won't be that easy. And Jack, your subdermal armor won't stop that sniper round."

Karl shoved the Shingen back into his waist holster and drew his Kenshin.

"Let me try something first. I've already taken a shot before I could even fire back—I'm not letting that slide."

"What the hell are you planning, Karl?"

Jack didn't like the tone in his voice.

Karl's reply?

"A classic Wild West duel."

If getting hit means instant death, then the answer is simple.

Just don't get hit.

No big deal. Just a flawless, damage-free run.

Karl jumped down through the broken floors, dropping all the way to the third level.

He listened.

Waited.

The Nekoma's deafening boom rang out again.

Karl moved.

And did something insane.

He raised his Kenshin and shot out the balcony railing, shattering the obstruction—

Then he sprinted forward.

Stone debris scattered beneath his feet as he leapt off the balcony's edge.

Mid-air, he locked eyes with the sniper.

"Hey there."

And Karl's Kenshin—

Was already aimed and firing before the sniper could even raise his rifle.