Chapter 129 - One of a Kind

"You bastard—!"

Tanaka instinctively wanted to turn around, but the gun pressed tightly against his back stopped him midway.

If he turned, the other party might shoot. He wasn't willing to take that risk.

Realizing he had walked into a trap, Tanaka glared at Jimmy Kurosaki, his eyes filled with anger.

"Kurosaki, you son of a bitch."

"I'm sorry, sir. I was forced into this too."

Tanaka knew that blaming Jimmy Kurosaki was pointless at this moment, so he simply turned his gaze toward the man emerging from behind Kurosaki—Mann.

"Do you even know who I am?"

"Of course we do. You're our target."

Oliver stepped up beside Tanaka, sizing up the corpo dog. "And don't bother trying to call for help. This place is jammed—whether you want to contact the corp or reach out to a gang, it's not happening."

"You bastards—"

"Oh, and by the way, we also disabled Trauma Team's biometric monitoring for you. No need to thank us."

Tanaka glared at Oliver and tried to reach out to the outside world, only to find that, just as Oliver said, the jammer had cut off all signals.

"The corp will notice my disappearance soon enough. When they do, they'll track my last signal."

"We know. That's why this won't take long."

Oliver smirked, holding a set of restraints. "It'll all be over soon."

At that moment, Tanaka made one last attempt to bargain. "How much were you paid for this job? If you're willing to return me and provide detailed intel, the company will pay double."

"Sorry, but we don't break contracts. Now, just behave."

A large hand clamped down on Tanaka's shoulder. At the same time, as he turned his head slightly, he saw another person reaching out toward him—

A burly guy, his muscles looking solid as hell, a small braid tied at the back of his head. He looked like someone you wouldn't want to mess with.

The moment Tanaka laid eyes on him, he felt a sense of familiarity.

Or rather, the blond man beside him holding the restraints also seemed oddly familiar.

Thinking back for a second, Tanaka suddenly realized who they were.

"Jack... Oliver... Mercs from the city."

The moment he recognized them, Tanaka also figured out how his location had been exposed.

"The Kabuki job… That wasn't just an accident, was it?"

"Sharp. No wonder you've survived in Arasaka this long."

The voice of the person pressing the gun to his back sent Tanaka's heart sinking into the abyss.

Jack and Oliver—two mercs with rising notoriety in Arasaka's records. But right now, they weren't the ones Tanaka feared the most.

It was the person behind him—the one who hadn't shown his face yet.

"Karl... You're merc KK, aren't you?"

"Looks like my reputation precedes me."

"If it's you… I have nothing more to say."

Tanaka slowly raised his hands.

"Ask me whatever intel you need. As long as you let me live, I—"

Just as they were waiting for Tanaka to utter the word "surrender," their guard lowering ever so slightly—

The moment Tanaka raised both hands in surrender, his palms suddenly began to shift.

His palms shed their skin and opened up. Accompanied by the mechanical sound of unfolding components, a dense array of needle-like projectile launchers appeared within the exposed sections of his hands and the backs of his palms.

[Needle Projectiles]: A deployable firing system that can be installed under the skin, unfolding at critical moments to launch deadly steel needles.

Both the back and palm of Tanaka's hands had needle projectile launchers. With his raised hands, the entire room—except for the person crouching beneath his arms—was within the attack range of the steel needles.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!"

As the launchers fired the steel needles in all directions, time seemed to slow down from Karl and Jack's perspective.

They could clearly see the steel needles being ejected from the launchers in Tanaka's hands, scattering outward.

'Corpo dog. Figures. Even his surrender had a hidden kill move.'

In that slowed-down moment, both Karl and Jack knew exactly what to do.

Jack grabbed Oliver and pulled him behind himself. The power of these hand-launched steel needles wasn't enough to penetrate his subdermal armor, but Oliver wouldn't be so lucky.

Karl dodged the incoming steel needles and raised his Midnight, aiming at Tanaka's outstretched arm.

Since he still wanted to struggle, he might as well lose those hands.

"Bang, whoosh."

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The sharp metallic sound of steel needles clashing against subdermal armor was followed by a piercing scream that echoed through the secret hideout.

"AAAAAHHH!!"

"Why struggle when you were done for anyway?"

Karl calmly lowered his Midnight, looking at Tanaka, who was now on his knees, wailing in agony. Both of his hands had been severed, leaving only half-limbs behind.

"Huh. This guy doesn't have a Pain Editor?"

[Pain Editor]: A neural co-processor that suppresses pain signals from reaching the brain's parietal lobe, preventing the user from feeling pain. Some models are even said to alleviate fatigue.

Karl and his crew didn't have one installed—they were mercs, and the added burden on the body wasn't worth it. But a corpo dog of this level, someone who didn't even need to get his hands dirty, should've had one.

"Black Braindance junkies are freaks. He was probably chasing that pain stimulation. If he had a Pain Editor, he wouldn't have been able to feel the 'experience' properly."

Mann, who had easily tanked the steel needles with his subdermal armor, walked over and glanced at the kneeling Tanaka. "Though I'm not sure if a Pain Editor would interfere with BD pain modulation."

"If you wanna know, why not ask our BD director..."

Karl turned to look at Jimmy Kurozaki—only to find him already on the ground.

A BD director with a small EMP implant and barely any cyberware… Would he have installed subdermal armor?

Obviously not. After activating an EMP, his flesh-and-blood body wouldn't be able to support the weight of a metal shell.

Tanaka was the shooter, Oliver had Jack covering him, and Karl had dodged the attack. Of the four people without subdermal armor, Jimmy Kurozaki was the unlucky one—no protection, no ability to evade, and no chance to tank the damage.

His body was riddled with steel needles, the wounds turning his flesh into a pulpy mess.

Karl shook his head and walked over to the barely-breathing man.

"Any last words?"

"Unblock the recording… kill me… You can keep the tape for yourself."

"Alright."

Karl nodded. A stream of data flowed as he unblocked the segment of Jimmy Kurozaki's brain that was linked to the BD recording. Then, he raised his Midnight and aimed it at him.

Blood seeped from the corners of Kurozaki's mouth as he smiled.

'Damn shame… Could've edited it a little more…'

"Bang."

Karl put him down.

"What a waste."

After finishing him off, Karl muttered those words.

Whether he regretted not stringing the guy up for a beating or something else, no one could tell.

"Buzz—click."

A chip ejected from the back of Jimmy Kurozaki's neck, recording complete. Karl caught it in his hand.

It was only a few seconds of BD footage, but it was definitely worth keeping.

The Cyberpsycho Chronicles had reached its conclusion.

The final, one-of-a-kind edition—now in Karl's hands.

.

.

.

📢 Important Announcement! 📢

From now on, there will be 20 chapters ahead available on Patreon for early access! 🎉🔥

Also, we're excited to announce our new translation of the Harry Potter fanfiction: The Rebirth of Harry Potter! ⚡📖

🔗 Join here: www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus

Thank you for your support! 🙌