Chapter 88: Triggering the Alarm

James Norris!

Karl hadn't expected to actually run into him so soon.

"Oliver, Jack, get ready—I found the target."

As he sent the message, Karl saw James Norris slowly walk toward an NCPD cruiser, reach over his shoulder, and pull out a 'DB-2 Satara Tech Double-Barrel Shotgun.'

[DB-2 Satara Tech Shotgun]:

A chargeable tech shotgun capable of delivering devastating shots. There's a saying—where Satara strikes, even steel bends. If you ever find yourself facing it, you'd better pray your bones are made of reinforced titanium.

As soon as Norris pulled out the shotgun, his triple cyber-optics flared with an eerie red glow—a glow that Karl immediately recognized.

That overheated radiance, the kind produced when cyberware runs at its absolute limit...

He'd seen it before.

On cyberpsychos.

'Shit. In this rain, with military-grade jamming in effect, will Oliver even be able to get a clean shot?'

Even as anxiety crept in, Karl rushed past the police barricade.

"Karl?!"

Officer Johnson was still processing Karl's sudden change in expression when Karl grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backward.

"Call your guys and get them the fuck out of here! That guy's not right—he might be cyberpsycho."

"Not right... Cyberpsycho?!"

The exhaustion from overtime work immediately left Johnson's system as his eyes darted toward his men.

What he saw made his stomach drop.

Inside the barricade, a massive man had approached a police cruiser, pointed a shotgun through the window, and aimed it directly at an NCPD officer sitting inside.

"Huh? The hell you doing?"

The officer in the car—who had been in the middle of a radio conversation—turned just in time to see the twin barrels of the shotgun aimed right at his face.

At that exact moment, his radio crackled with a desperate order from his superior.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE! HE'S CYBERPSYCHO!"

'Cyberpsycho?'

The thought barely registered before—

BOOM!

The window shattered.

Shards of glass flew in all directions, flames of impact flared against metal, and the officer felt a sharp sting tear into his face.

The pain registered before the fear.

'I... I'm not dead?'

"Dumbass! Get the hell out the other door and RUN!"

His superior's furious yelling over the radio snapped him back to reality.

His body reacted faster than his brain.

He slid across the seat, slammed his back against the opposite door, and rolled out onto the wet pavement, collapsing into the rain.

He was still alive.

James Norris didn't pursue him.

He wasn't interested anymore.

Something far more dangerous had just entered his field of perception.

A soldier's instincts, sharpened by countless battles, were screaming at him.

If he stayed fixated on killing that cop, he would get injured.

And if he got injured in the face of that incoming threat...

He would die.

"Red. Black. Fire."

Muttering incomprehensible words under his breath, James Norris turned toward the source of the high-level threat his instincts had picked up.

And in his cyber-optic's flickering display, he saw Karl—black-haired, gun raised, aiming directly at him.

'Kenshin. That's...'

The moment he saw the gun, his battle-hardened instincts kicked in, and for a brief moment, his scattered, frenzied thoughts were overridden by raw firearm recognition.

As Norris turned toward him, holding a now-cracked and damaged shotgun, Karl let out a quiet breath.

'Good. At least I reacted in time.'

Had he hesitated for even a second, breaking that shotgun mid-action wouldn't have been so easy.

He didn't know if Norris—clearly in the middle of cyberpsychosis—could even comprehend his words, but Karl called out to him anyway:

"Forget the others. How about playing with me instead?"

At the same time, Karl sent a message through his comms to Jack and Oliver.

To Jack:

"Flank from the side. Don't get too close. Suppress him with your Saratoga—I need to gauge his Sandevistan's speed first."

To Oliver:

"Hold your Cat Mew steady. My life's in your hands."

Then, he contacted Officer Johnson.

To Johnson:

"Pull your men back. He's a former New U.S. Army Lieutenant, fully loaded with military-grade cyberware. Your guys' Lexingtons won't even scratch him—don't throw your lives away. Just provide covering fire from a safe distance."

Karl's mind processed the data stream, then added one final request.

"Oh, and... call in MAX-TAC. If I can't take him down, I'll hold out until they get here."

"Karl, I'll back you up!"

"No. Stay the fuck back, Johnson."

Karl stepped forward into the rain, droplets splattering against his face, which—subtly but unmistakably—held a faint trace of excitement.

"I can't afford to protect you in a situation like this. Just trust us—we're professionals."

Then, Karl flashed him a grin.

"And besides... if I couldn't protect my friends, I'd be heartbroken."

"...Friends?"

For a moment, Johnson froze.

Then, he laughed.

"Well, shit. Guess I'm honored."

He didn't hesitate anymore.

Johnson began retreating, and at the same time, barked orders through the NCPD comms channel.

"ALL UNITS, FALL BACK! Keep your distance and suppress with gunfire! That guy's loaded with military-grade implants—DON'T get close! Call in MAX-TAC! Let those lunatics handle their own kind!"**

As Karl's data stream found an opening, he initiated a breach into James Norris's system.

The 'Puppet' daemon kicked in—

And instantly—

Karl's Arasaka Type-3 cyberdeck hit its processing limit.

'Fucking hell.'

Arasaka had boasted about their Type-3 in their ads, saying it could handle top-tier data warfare—

But one single 'Puppet' daemon had already maxed it out?

Karl sighed internally.

'To be fair... this is military-grade security.'

It was already a miracle his cyberdeck was even breaching at all.

Hell, if his deck could talk, it'd probably be cursing him out for running against a full-blown military firewall.

Karl's 'Puppet' daemon wasn't meant to fully disable Norris.

It was just meant to slow him down—

Because right now, time was everything.

Whether it was giving Jack and Oliver time to get into position,

or ensuring those cops got the hell out of there,

Every second counted.

Karl hadn't expected this fight.

But honestly?

It saved them the effort of tracking Norris down.

And now, with NCPD's body cams recording everything,

There was no longer any doubt.

This guy was cyberpsycho.

Now, there was only one thing left to do.

Fight.

Kill him.

That was the only thought left in Karl's mind.

Distance: 22 meters.