Kiwi and Lucy simultaneously scanned the two uninvited guests, and the results were identical.
Even a preliminary scan revealed chaotic brain-machine interaction signals.
Coupled with their highly purified cybernetic bodies, it was clear they were running in overdrive. Their incoherent ramblings and indiscriminate massacres showed they were out of their minds.
These were two highly dangerous cyberpsychos!
Why had the gunfire outside grown weaker and then stopped entirely?
Because in the brief seconds of explosions, these two cyberpsychos had wiped out everyone outside!
Their movements were so fast that to ordinary people, they were mere blurs, clashing incessantly.
Ducking bullets, Akuhara sped toward the veteran, eyes fixed on the veteran's finger resting on the trigger.
Just as the veteran was about to fire, Akuhara positioned himself behind the van.
Bang!
The bullet struck the vehicle. From behind the van, Akuhara retrieved a handgun hidden in a small compartment under his skin.
Coincidentally, the veteran also stepped forward, pulling out a dagger from his clothes.
Akuhara raised an eyebrow as he heard the enemy approaching.
But their speed was too fast—both too fast—leaving no time to change attack strategies!
He darted out from behind the van, aiming his handgun at the veteran, who was already right in front of him—
The bullet and the dagger hit their targets simultaneously!
The bullet pierced the veteran's neck, while the dagger slashed across Akuhara's shoulder, leaving a wound.
In terms of depth, the bullet struck deeper, lodged tightly in the veteran's reinforced cybernetic neck.
The dagger wound, though large, barely damaged any muscle fibers.
Normally, this kind of exchange would take 6–10 seconds per round. But with the aid of Sandevistan and advanced combat augmentations, they completed eight such exchanges in just six seconds!
There was no clashing of blades; every strike hit its target, every aim was at a vital spot.
Knives reflected the alley's flickering lights, bullets whizzed past, and David could only lie flat on the ground, waiting for the fight to end—
The pressure these two exerted was equivalent to that of twenty Tyger Claws earlier, or even greater!
David saw Maine and the others trying to flee, but in six seconds, they couldn't escape the alley. Stray bullets from the cyberpsychos took them down one by one!
David gritted his teeth, his eyes falling on his pistol and the katana on the ground—there was no choice but to gamble.
Standing up and running would only make him an easier target!
Better to wait for an opportunity!
"David! David! What are you doing?"
Lying prone on the ground, he closed his eyes, shutting off his comms to focus on the sounds around him.
The gunfire and footsteps slowed, growing fainter—
One set of footsteps grew heavier and slower, the other lighter.
Bang!
David joined the fight!
His bullet struck Akuhara, causing some interference, but the veteran was already on the back foot.
Akuhara intentionally drew the veteran into a side confrontation. David crouched and followed, though he was still slightly slower.
Slash!
The katana pierced the veteran's abdomen, but the veteran's gunstock struck Akuhara's jaw with brutal force—
Their final exchange.
Steam rose from their bodies, and the mechanical joints on the veteran's cybernetics glowed faintly red from the heat.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, his body physically unable to sustain his cybernetics' intense operation. Vital signs rapidly declined.
Error messages faded one by one. He struggled to lift his head.
As he raised his head, he saw the dismembered bodies in Ho-Oh Nightclub and instinctively lowered his gaze again.
"...Are you fighting for someone too? Yet you have not attained insight, nor passed the test.
All tragedies are but illusions—neither born nor destroyed."
His cybernetics gradually cooled, their joints moving fluidly again. Akuhara raised his katana.
"You must grasp life and death and react accordingly. Too bad..."
Bang!
A bullet pierced Akuhara, hitting him squarely and penetrating his subdermal armor.
He swung his katana back at David, joints creaking audibly.
Click—
Not just his joints, but David's pistol also clicked empty!
"Damn—"
Akuhara was upon him instantly, katana raised high.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Blood splattered as Lucy appeared, bullets riddling Akuhara's body.
Akuhara turned, slashing her gun in half and startling the girl, who fell to the ground in fright.
If not for Lucy's quick reaction, she might have lost her hand to that swing!
Akuhara raised his cybernetic arm, its movements producing grinding noises. Out of nowhere, David found the strength to grab the katana from the ground and thrust it forward!
He didn't even dare think:
Could he really be faster than Akuhara?
But he thrust the blade anyway.
Akuhara froze. The faster he had been with the Sandevistan, the slower his movements now.
His open wounds and bullet holes oozed a mixture of synthetic fluids.
David quickly understood: Akuhara's cybernetics had overheated and lost too much vital fluid, such as lubricants and bio-energy exchange liquids, which were essential for their operation.
Without these fluids, and with his cybernetics cooling, many components had seized up.
He was truly spent.
Akuhara's stiff limbs continued to swing the katana, but too slowly.
David twisted the blade, kicked Akuhara to the ground, reloaded his pistol, and aimed at him.
But he couldn't understand.
"…Was it worth it for the Tyger Claws?"
Akuhara lay on the ground, his eyes devoid of emotion. "It wasn't for the Tyger Claws. It was for me."
Akuhara was already a cyberpsycho.
But what had driven him to this state? What had pushed him to become this way?
David was overwhelmed with complicated emotions.
Akuhara suddenly spoke again: "I have one question for you: Why did you choose auditory augmentations? Or rather, why did you choose cybernetics?"
"…Sandevistan is fast, but it can't break the speed of sound. That helps me somewhat track your movements.
As for cybernetics, I once knew someone amazing who died tragically because they lacked them."
David glanced nervously at Lucy and the others lying on the ground.
Akuhara took note of it all.
"I see. One last question: If you had cybernetics like mine if you were me, would you do the same?"
Akuhara finished speaking, the light in his eyes dimming as he died before David could pull the trigger.
David's mind swirled with questions.
What did that mean?
Lucy, lying on the ground, also appeared puzzled. The Tyger Claw madman had transmitted a lot of information to her.
"…He pulled out the ICE and left nothing but bombs in Ho-Oh Nightclub. But he transmitted fragmented Tyger Claw data to me. It needs repairing.
That veteran was the father of the girl in Ho-Oh Nightclub. The Tyger Claws wanted him to fight us, but he refused.
So, they devised this way to provoke him."
David fell silent, looking at the alley filled with corpses and the neon-lit sign—
Ho-Oh.
His mind raced with thoughts.
"Well done."
David turned toward the voice and saw Maine's crew giving him a thumbs-up—
Reality snapped back: he had overachieved the mission.
[David: Boss, Ho-Oh Nightclub has been cleared, but there's nothing left—just bombs.]
[Leo: That good? Woohoo—don't cheer!]
Cheering could be heard over the comms.
David allowed himself a brief smile. But as he looked up, he saw drones firing relentlessly above the slums' overpass.
Bullets rained down like a storm, targeting something racing across the overpass, while micro-missiles exploded like thunder.
And the target on the overpass returned fire with equal ferocity! Drones fell like raindrops!
Was this a war?!
Boom!
Another explosion shattered the overpass railings. Several micro-missiles veered off course, one striking the roof of Ho-Oh Nightclub!
Steel beams and sheet metal fell, crashing into Ho-Oh Nightclub and triggering some sort of detection mechanism—
Boom!!!
The explosion obliterated Ho-Oh Nightclub! Flames roared, glass shattered, and the building collapsed!
A fiery wave surged.
Through the overpass's broken railings, David saw Mackinaw speeding away—
[Leo: Guess we're not heading down there.]
[Leo: Remember Regina? Contact her to handle this.]
[Leo: Nice work. Keep it up.]
David swallowed hard.