Chapter 152: The Target and the Exoskeleton

"Crack."

Karl snapped the neck of a Netrunner in front of him, who had his back turned. Then, he sent a message through the squad comms:

"Successfully entered the cave, enemy neutralized."

"Same here, all clear."

At the same time Karl made his move, V had also snapped the neck of another Netrunner inside the cave.

"That should be the last one in here."

"Let's hope the Netrunners don't react too quickly and come back to check the cave."

Karl nodded at V, who stood not far away. Their mission was to infiltrate the cave and extract the potential target. Meanwhile, Jackie and a nomad wielding a Crusher shotgun remained at the cave entrance to intercept any Netrunners trying to enter. Supporting them from outside were Oliver, armed with a Nekomata, and another nomad carrying a Saratoga SMG, ready to assist and execute a pincer attack when necessary.

After a brief discussion, this team formation had been settled on—a well-balanced setup. And in practice?

Karl could only say: It felt damn good.

No need for excessive communication—V understood him perfectly and synchronized with his movements. They had taken down enemies in perfect coordination, snapping necks simultaneously without a single word exchanged.

"You're pretty damn good at this. I think if you ever go full merc, you'd make it big."

V shook his head at Karl's words.

"Right now, I just want to be a nomad, running free across the Badlands. Feels more liberating."

"Being a merc can be pretty freeing too. If you ever find yourself with nowhere to go, consider it. Our crew always welcomes skilled people."

"Nowhere to go, huh..."

There was something unsettlingly certain about Karl's words, as if he knew something.

V thought about it for a moment before giving a non-committal answer.

"If it ever comes to that, I'll think about it."

Truthfully, things weren't looking great within his clan. If they couldn't pick a proper leader, the family would either split apart or be forced to join the Snake Nation. V himself wasn't even sure what he'd do if that happened.

Maybe becoming a merc wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Clank."

As Karl and V moved deeper into the cave, a strange sound echoed from within.

Heavy. Mechanical. Footsteps.

Karl's instincts immediately went on high alert. That sound—it was one he recognized all too well. The last time he'd heard it was during an escort mission.

Giant mechanical legs stomping against the ground.

"Boom!"

Just as Karl tensed up, a burst of fire erupted from the darkness ahead.

Emerging from the flames, under Karl and V's watchful eyes, was a towering humanoid construct—standing nearly 2.3 meters tall.

The humanoid mechanical construct, assembled from a mess of random parts, had a rotary machine gun mounted on its left arm and a long blade attached to its right. Below the blade, there was a flamethrower.

Through the gaps in its patchwork armor, Karl could see a middle-aged man with messy hair and oil-stained clothes operating the machine from within its encasing. The moment the man spotted Karl and V, his expression shifted—his face lit up with rage.

"You fucking Scavs! You're dead!"

Shit. This guy… He looks kind of familiar. Don't tell me he's the rescue target from the contract.

And what the hell is he wearing? Is that a makeshift exoskeleton? How the fuck did he manage to build this thing right under the Scavs' noses? This thing is almost the size of a mid-tier ACPA!

Who the fuck does he think he is, some genius inventor kidnapped by terrorists?!

Karl was about to explain that they were here to rescue him, but the Militech engineer had clearly suffered too much at the hands of the Scavs. The second he saw Karl and V, he pulled the trigger on the rotary gun.

"Shit!"

Karl ducked and shouted while dodging, "We're mercs! We took a contract to get you out of here!"

"You Scav bastards think I'd fall for that?!"

Hearing Karl only seemed to enrage the engineer more. The bullets tracked Karl's every move as he rolled behind cover.

"You assholes already tricked me once before! You think I'm that fucking dumb?!"

"You actually are a fucking idiot!"

Karl shot back without hesitation, rolling behind a metal crate as bullets slammed into the other side.

"He's the target, V! Be careful not to kill him!"

"Kill him? The fuck do you expect me to do against this thing?! Is this an ACPA?!"

V, also taking cover behind a piece of machinery, was already losing his shit. This was way too much.

"It's just an exoskeleton. Okay, fine—it's big—but it's still just an exoskeleton. We need to shut it down and get this half-crazy bastard to listen."

"Yeah? And how do we do that?"

The gunfire inside the cave had already drawn attention. A few seconds later, shots rang out from the cave entrance—Jack and the others were engaged in a firefight with the Scavs.

"This is the first time I've been screwed over by the target I'm supposed to save! The Scavs shoot at me, the guy I'm rescuing shoots at me—how the fuck is this mission fair?!"

Karl grumbled but kept thinking of a way to stop the engineer without turning him into paste.

For now, he decided to give diplomacy one last shot.

"We're really here to help you! A blue-eyed middle-aged guy hired us!"

"Blue-eyed middle-aged guy? Never heard of him! You think I'd fall for that? You're trying to play me for a fool—ME, a top-tier Militech engineer?! I'll fucking kill you!"

"I'm KK! Do you know me? Blanca—do you know Blanca? I know her!"

"KK? Who the fuck is that? Blanca… You mean that bitch who just climbed her way up in the ops department? So she's the reason my route got leaked! You Scav fuckers are her people?! When I get out of here, I'm putting a bullet in her head!"

Great. He hates Blanca.

Well, so much for talking. He won't listen to reason.

Karl took a deep breath and sprang out from cover.

"V, toss me something for cover—I'm shutting him down."

That was all he needed to say. V instantly understood.

"You're a fucking lunatic, KK!"

V pulled a grenade from his belt, yanked the pin, and tossed it.

"Catch!"

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