"Oh oh!"
"Suzuki Group is the strongest!"
"Follow Boss Katsuragi!"
Their responses were sporadic, only the living would speak differently; the robots could only repeat the same voice.
"Fight! Fight!"
"Attack together!"
"Kill!" The Gang robots played the combat sound effects in a fixed rhythm.
Xu Yang observed carefully and noticed that among these 200 Gang members, only about 50 were alive; the rest were robots.
The distinction was that the Machine Gang all wore sunglasses to cover their mechanical eyes, with only their black uniforms being uniform.
"Loyalty, discipline, win the battle! Totally eliminate the Toshiaki Family Group!" Asa Katsuragi announced.
"Fight!" The hundred-plus Gang robots raised their arms and shouted in unison.
Asa Katsuragi led the way at the front, taking the Gang members of the Suzuki Group from the gate of the Suzuki Springs.
They marched quickly towards the distance, forming a long line in the streets.
Almost all of Kyoto Infinity's gangs were like this, and Xu Yang had some understanding. They made extensive use of mechanical combat personnel as gang members, controlling areas not covered by corporate security services.
Residents who could not afford to buy corporate security and intelligent defense systems flocked under the wings of the big gangs.
In places like Aizu City, big companies were indifferent, and various gangs emerged endlessly.
In the Xia District, where Xu Yang previously belonged, Gangs were insignificant, and he did not understand them well.
However, in his view, so-called companies were but gangs that could legally join the Corporate Alliance, and when a Gang grew to a certain size, it could also be recognized by the Corporate Alliance.
In areas under the jurisdiction of giant corporations like Lighthouse Core, Rainforest Wanwu, and Songhai Cyber, gangs mostly engaged in illegal transactions and arms dealings, much more ruthless than the likes of the Suzuki Group and on a far larger scale.
"What implants do you have in your body?" Xu Yang, noticing Asa Katsuragi's silence as she moved swiftly and skillfully barehanded, assumed her physique must be enhanced by implants.
"None," Asa Katsuragi said.
"What?" Xu Yang overturned his previous thoughts, "Did you... train all by yourself?"
"I don't believe the metals that pierce our bodies can be of much use. A powerful physique, a resilient will, and an indomitable belief are the foundation for surviving in this bizarre era."
"I don't know what to say."
Without technology and tools, humans are an incompetent race.
"Look at this big blackout, Rats rampant, corpses everywhere, that's the result of over-reliance on technology! Without power, people wait to die in their homes, without even the strength to run away. I grew up on the streets, only the weight of muscles can give me peace of mind." Asa Katsuragi pointed towards the dark Underground City.
Xu Yang saw two Ratmen dragging a body in the street, leaving a long trail of blood. Seeing the large group approaching, the Ratmen hastened their actions, quickly dragging the body away.
"This..."
"Accustomed to sofas and beds, to playing in game pods, to working at the company's desk, these lifestyles breed people who are extremely fragile and have no chance of surviving in chaos."
"If they had bought the most expensive corporate security annual membership, they would have been rescued by emergency rescue Shuttle Machines by now, regardless of how fat or shut-in they are."
"The prerequisite is being able to earn that much money."
"...Indeed."
"And relying on the 'Company'? Is the 'Company' really that trustworthy? Based on those contracts and regulations? Certainly, some will run away; I've heard it's very common for Companies to torment their employees."
"That's true." This was irrefutable.
"In contrast, our Gang, our big family, is like relatives, like family! Trusting each other, fighting together, sharing meals and drinks—these emotions cultivated day and night are unbreakable bonds. And these robot comrades, will never betray you, will never fear the danger ahead, always charging forward, willing to work tirelessly, more trustworthy than those of flesh and blood."
Asa Katsuragi's philosophy was indeed novel.
Crossing the street, Xu Yang heard a piercing scream.
Several figures scampered out of a low-rise apartment ahead, stumbling away in the distance, with two skinny, frenzied Ratmen running wildly after them.
"Come here!" Xu Yang shouted at them.
These people were dressed plainly and looked like ordinary residents of Aizu City's Underground City.
A few of them glanced back, but instead of coming towards Asa Katsuragi's direction, they ran towards another lit-up area.
Indeed, looking back, our side had a large group of black-suited thugs and a towering woman leading them, hardly inspiring trust.
"That's Toshiaki Family Group territory ahead," Asa Katsuragi said, "the Toshiaki Family Group is ruthless in their dealings; I'm afraid they're in for a bad end. They probably don't know the area well."
In the blink of an eye, the Ratmen and the escapees had vanished from sight.
Xu Yang and Asa Katsuragi led their people onwards, approaching a large building standing in the square.
About five stories tall, it was a rather prominent robot marketplace, its top lit with different company logos—Zhu Huo Machinery, Tianmu Intelligence, Qintian Metals, Gosheng Robotics, and other small and medium-sized robot companies' advertisements were clearly visible.
The whole building was of an old design, with flying eaves at the window edges, indeed resembling a Heavenly Guardian Pavilion, with sentry turrets facing outward at every window, truly a post-modern fortress protected by intelligent machine guns, large-caliber firepower, and automated equipment.
The area around the square was flat, and metal floors were strewn with an indeterminate number of suited robot corpses, Rats, and civilians, blood flowing freely, arrayed in a ring around the robot store.