Outside Impala Automatics.
This place is on a small hillside, following a winding road all the way up. Other than this car assembly plant, there's no other building in sight.
Further up the road, you can see Arasaka Estates—a very exclusive and wealthy residential area.
Usually, the peaceful environment here is refreshing, and the view of Night City from this hill outside the city is unique.
But today is different—
The roar of engines echoed across the hilltop. The security on the walls spotted the wanderer convoy recklessly charging toward them from a distance!
"The nomads have gone mad! Open fire! Get the mechs online, now!"
The person in charge of Impala Automatics, Lamar, shouted orders to get the staff into combat mode!
Red alarms blared throughout the factory as Red Ocher vehicles roared forward, braving the firepower from the sentries on the walls and heading straight for the gate!
"They've lost their minds!"
Bullets easily pierced through the Red Ocher's battle-worn, beat-up cars; some bullets even passed through holes that were already there.
This should have been a difficult assault.
But under the first wave of the nomads' fearless charge, the surprise attack maximized its effectiveness, completely stunning Impala Automatics, despite their terrain advantage!
The lead vehicle suddenly exploded just meters from the gate, but the force of the explosion propelled the car straight into the gate of Impala Automatics!
"To hell with Biotechnica!!!"
The nomad driving the car had their flesh and skin burned away by the flames, exposing raw muscle and even bone!
Finally, they were completely consumed by the fire!
Boom!
The flaming car smashed through the gate, knocking aside several soldiers who had just set up their shooting positions!
And it wasn't just one car like this!
Bullets struck the cars, but the wanderers didn't flinch. Some even leaned out the windows, rocket launchers aimed at the watchtowers, their eyes red as they burned in the light and flames!
Boom!
Several rockets were fired at point-blank range, blowing up the watchtowers on the walls!
In the rear of the convoy, a Delamain taxi followed closely behind—the members of Maine's squad inside were deeply shocked by what they saw.
They were mercenaries.
The circles they moved in, the people they met, the enemies they fought, even themselves—they were all in it for the money, drifting around Night City.
If they were about to die, they would use any means necessary to find a way to survive.
Maybe there were a few people in this cold city willing to sacrifice their lives for something else, but they were rare.
But here, the nomads were truly burning themselves for the sake of others!
The suicide assault instantly threw the compound's defense into disarray—or rather, such an attack was impossible to defend against!
In an instant, the surprise attack broke through the defenses, and Maine's squad took advantage of the chaos, charging into Impala Automatics under the cover of continuous explosions and collisions!
Screech—
"Imminent threat detected. PPS (Passenger Protection System) will provide you with the most comprehensive support until you reach your destination."
Delamain's navigation was accurate to the meter, cutting through the gunfire and chaos, instantly reaching the deepest part of the warehouse!
"You have arrived at your destination. Considering the current environment, please exit the vehicle with caution."
"He's reminding us to be careful getting out of the car!" Pilar found it amusing, only to be smacked by Rebecca.
"Idiot, now's not the time for that. Get moving!"
The car stopped in the warehouse, and the team jumped out, just in time to see the rolling door slowly rising.
Inside the warehouse were several huge industrial robotic arms; it really did look like a car assembly plant.
A few people in blue work uniforms were adjusting an Arasaka mech. Seeing the car race over, screech to a halt, and then several people jump out, they were stunned.
But the mech wasn't stunned.
Screech—hiss—
The massive machine stood up, its indicator lights suddenly turning red—
Maine's entire team felt a chill run down their spines.
"Threat detected, neutralizing target."
Bang!
A car revved up and rammed into it at the last second!
The huge Arasaka mech was pushed against the wall by the car's kinetic force, but that was its limit.
The mech quickly adjusted its stance, bracing against the car, then turned its gun, aiming through the windshield at the red-eyed nomad—
"Get the hell to work—"
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The heavy machine gun shredded the nomad to bits, but the car's gas pedal was still floored—the pedal had been set to max from the start!
The engine's power held the Arasaka mech in place, the tires screeching against the ground!
The group snapped out of their daze, and Maine, with one arm, was the first to move, immediately pulling out a killing shotgun and firing!
Boom!
The bullets that could blow apart a human body only left a few scratches on the Arasaka mech's armor!
As the team's hacker and tech specialist, Kiwi and Pilar, after regaining their composure, ran into the warehouse!
Kiwi spoke into the comm channel:
"Only specialized armor-piercing weapons can penetrate the Arasaka mech's armor! Cover me!"
It wasn't that Kiwi suddenly had leadership and command ability, nor was Pilar that strong in self-initiative.
But Leo's mission manual had covered everything in such detail—
[Attention Point 1: The Arasaka mech must be attacked with specialized armor-piercing rounds. Most weapons available on the market do not have this capability.]
[Attention Point 2: Humans will panic when facing such weapons, leading to instinctual actions, which may include reckless firing.]
[Attention Point 3: Once facing an activated Arasaka mech, focus on dodging, find subnet interfaces, and flexibly use environmental elements to buy time!]
As soon as Maine fired, they remembered these points.
Luckily, Mann's shot didn't make him a bigger threat than the car holding back the mech, so the mech was still battling with the car—
But it probably wouldn't hold out much longer.
Maine gritted his teeth and exchanged a glance with Dorio. They immediately found cover outside the warehouse, blocking and trying to fend off the security reinforcements.
Rebecca shot and disabled the legs of two technicians trying to run away—these were mission targets, they needed the staff alive.
Inside the warehouse, there was a small office, clearly visible from the outside, with servers in view. Kiwi made a beeline for this room.
However, the Arasaka mech broke free—
Two long machine gun arms extended to the side, blowing out the car's hubs, causing it to lose its wheels and drastically reduce its power—
The Arasaka mech, with its two powerful mechanical legs, kicked the car aside!
Luckily, by this time, Pilar had reached the control panel for the mechanical arms and immediately entered the prepared account to control the industrial robotic arms!
The Arasaka mech had just freed itself from the car and took two steps forward, ready to fire, when a mechanical arm suddenly swung at it with incredible speed!
Bang!
The overloaded industrial robotic arm even sparked with electricity as it smashed into one of the Arasaka mech's machine gun arms, bending the connection!
Such a powerful blow did indeed damage the mech, but it also increased its threat level—
A micro-missile bay popped out, simultaneously locking onto every member of the squad—
Thankfully, Kiwi had already found the control terminal and immediately entered the employee account!
Inputting the employee account, uploading their team's information—
The Arasaka mech's missiles had just ejected from the missile bay, ready to fire, when its indicator lights quickly turned yellow and then green.
"Threat targets neutralized."
The mechanical voice announced, as the missiles retracted into the weapon bay, everyone felt like they had just escaped from the Grim Reaper.
Kiwi's hands were trembling slightly—one second later, and they'd all be dead.
But it wasn't over yet; they still had to fully take down Impala Automatics.
Sweat dripped down Kiwi's forehead as she located the Arasaka mech's security files and deleted all information related to the original Impala Automatics personnel.
The mech's indicator lights turned red once again.
Outside the warehouse, Maine and Dorio were being pinned down by gunfire, unable to catch their breath, but suddenly, they heard the heavy sound of machine guns behind them—
Large-caliber bullets poured out, effortlessly shredding the boxes in the compound.
What had served as cover for Maine and the others was nothing but a piece of paper in front of the Arasaka mech.
The original staff in the compound looked on in terror at the machine—that machine that used to belong to them, their strongest security measure.
They were done for.
Kiwi finished everything, took out the prepared jamming device, and approached the screaming, legless workers on the ground.
"Which one of you is Lamar?"
The workers all pointed to one person, who was so bewildered that he even forgot to scream in pain.
"Spare me, I'm just an employee, whatever you want..."
"You're asking the wrong person for mercy. I'm just an employee too, so let's try to understand each other."
Kiwi set up the jamming device and inserted it into this person's slot.
Then immediately contacted Leo.
"It's done here. The hijacking device is in place."