"AHHHHH!!!"
A horrific scream echoed through the abandoned factory as Leo and his team arrived on the scene, only to be met with a bizarre sight.
Navi got out of the car, closed the door, and involuntarily shivered at the sound.
"That doesn't sound like Cedric."
Leo glanced around but remained silent.
Indeed, it was unlikely that the voice belonged to Cedric.
Given the circumstances, it seemed that when a cyberpsycho's combat implants reached their theoretical performance level, it was common, and surpassing that was even more frequent.
If Cedric was a skilled member of the Red Ochre family, then as a cyberpsycho, taking down a few Biotechnica soldiers should be relatively easy.
The "Carnage" shotgun was one of the few "reliable" products among affordable firearms, renowned for its formidable kinetic power as a shotgun.
Unfortunately, its designers prioritized firepower and size over the comfort of the user, making it a weapon only those who wanted high-quality gear but had little money would dare to buy.
Nevertheless, it could still penetrate most of the subdermal armor on the market. With carefully selected cyberware and some adjustments to the firearm, it remained a lethal weapon.
Bang!
The deafening sound of the "Carnage" echoed, and the four immediately turned toward the source of the gunfire, quickly moving in that direction.
"Look..."
"Look!"
"This is Andre now. You wanted to see, so take a good look!"
The scene they encountered was gruesome.
Despite only two bodies on the ground, Cedric's frenzied voice made the crime scene feel like something straight out of a horror movie.
Navi swallowed hard, his hand trembling as he gripped his Ajax rifle.
That was Cedric's voice, but it sounded more like a demon.
The three exchanged glances, and Jackie unstrapped his Satara from his back, holding it as he led the way.
"Look!"
Squish.
Upon seeing the scene clearly, all three uttered the same words: "Oh, damn..."
They saw Cedric pressing a Biotechnica soldier's head, repeatedly smashing his face into Andre's corpse.
The force was so great that he was shoving the soldier's face into Andre's body.
Bones crushed against Murphy's skull, the mush of flesh smothered him, and blood even seeped into his mouth.
"I...gluh...let go...me...ahhh—"
Gag! Navi immediately threw up.
Andre and Cedric were both his kin, and this scene was a shock to his system.
The situation also caught Cedric's attention. He paused and looked in the direction of the four.
"Navi? Why are you here—damn it!"
Cedric suddenly erupted in rage.
In his visual system, the three appeared as cyber-modified nomads.
The scene around him was no longer a dilapidated factory but a Biotechnica apartment building engulfed in flames.
He saw the tattoos on the nomads' bodies—
"BOWEN!!!!"
Cedric roared in fury, flinging Murphy aside. His enhanced tendons exploded with power, his ankles twisting into extreme angles, and the muscles on the tops of his feet even snapped!
Leo could only see Cedric disappear in an instant, as if he had activated a Sandevistan.
But almost simultaneously, V appeared in front of the three, her Mantis Blades extending, pinning Cedric by the shoulders.
The immense force drove the Mantis Blades through Cedric's shoulders, continuing to push him back. Jackie reacted quickly, raising his gun and aiming at Cedric's left cybernetic limb.
Bang!
The entire cybernetic arm shattered under the impact of the Satara's bullet!
Seeing the fluorescent blood spurting from Cedric, Leo suddenly shouted at V, who was about to retract her Mantis Blades.
"Don't retract the Mantis Blades! There's something wrong with his blood!"
As he spoke, Leo also began attempting to hack into Cedric's system.
Cedric was blown back by the Satara's terrifying kinetic energy but immediately bounced back up—
However, Jackie wasn't idle either. Following Leo's instruction, he punched Cedric in the chest, slamming him back to the ground.
Cedric's chest caved in, significantly reducing the oxygen entering his lungs, weakening his cyberware's performance.
Jackie pinned Cedric's remaining hand and head, pressing his legs down on Cedric's feet, fully restraining him.
But then something terrifying happened:
The frenzied Cedric twisted his body, his muscles pulling his bones in uncontrollable spasms, writhing on the ground in an exaggerated, impossible manner!
It wasn't until Leo fully breached his system—taking about three seconds—that Cedric's ribs had already shattered.
His cybernetic eyes, tendons, cyberlimbs, and other auxiliary implants were temporarily locked down. The human-machine interface loosened, and Cedric's movements slowed considerably.
Leo put on his cyberdoc gloves, cutting into Cedric's wounds to manually shut down his combat implants, removing the external cyberware.
After stabilizing Cedric, Leo pulled out a pneumatic injector filled with a tranquilizer from his bag and stuck it into Cedric's neck—but even that didn't calm him down.
Leo frowned and pulled out another dose of neuro-relaxant, injecting it as well, finally calming Cedric down.
But even as he drifted off, he was still muttering that name.
V approached Leo, disgustedly examining the blood on her Mantis Blades. "What do you mean by his blood is toxic?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but it felt suspicious."
As Leo spoke, he carefully took out a roll of disinfectant bandages from his pocket and wiped the fluorescent blood off the Mantis Blades, spraying them with disinfectant as well.
V held her Mantis Blades up to the sunlight, examining them carefully before retracting them with satisfaction.
"...Fascinating. I bet plenty of people would be interested in this stuff."
Leo studied the bloodstains on the bandages with keen interest before sealing them in a plastic bag.
After all this, the three of them felt a strange tension in the air.
Cedric was skilled, but in terms of combat ability, he was no match for them.
But that kind of madness exerted immense pressure.
Just then, a weak voice came from the other side: "H-h-help me..."
The three looked over to see a charred figure crawling next to Cedric's car, his face blackened with just a glint of light showing—the reflective glint of reinforced bone.
The blood from the corpse seemed to have some special property, corroding his face as their blood mixed together.
V was stunned and touched her hand nervously. "Damn... good thing we had an expert here. What's wrong with this guy?"
"Don't know. Let's ask." Leo approached Murphy, who was crawling on the ground. "You're from Biotechnica? What happened?"
"Yes! I... I'm Brandon Murphy... damn the company, help me, please!"
Murphy reached for Leo's foot, but Leo quickly stepped back.
"Don't rush. I ask, you answer—" As he spoke, Leo pulled out two syringes and a bottle of about 50ml of liquid from his pocket.
"This is a painkiller, this is a hemostatic agent, and this is a biocide. You answer a question, I'll give you a shot."
Murphy gritted his teeth, his head hitting the ground. "Okay! Damn it, just ask! Please, hurry!"
"This is the biocide, consider it a reward for cooperating." Leo opened the bottle and poured the liquid onto Murphy's face, washing away a layer of charred blood and flesh.
Murphy didn't mind at all, writhing against the ground in relief.
"What did Biotechnica tell you?"
"They said to come here and retrieve the experimental subject's body. Damn it! Who knew it was a cyberpsycho! I know what you're going to ask. My superior is Diana Kuno!"
"Smart move. Here's the painkiller." Leo gave him a shot.
The pain subsiding, Murphy calmed down considerably and managed to turn over.
Once he was on his back, he gritted his teeth and continued, "Don't ask pointless questions. I'm willing to testify—damn the company, they're all bastards."
Leo looked surprised. "You're just going to betray the company like that?"
"Cut the crap—they screwed me over first! Diana Kuno, that bitch, tricked me into thinking this was routine work. But now people are dead, and I'm not taking the fall for this!"
"Decisive."
Murphy took a deep breath. "Listen, I really understand how this works. The company won't help me—they'll say I didn't follow protocol, didn't take precautions against biohazards, blah, blah, blah... In the end, I won't even get workman's comp! I don't know who you're working for, but whoever it is, I can be useful. Helping me helps you make money—honest truth.
And if you're looking for a way to make money, I know a guy—a journalist named Manuel Mendoza. He's been bugging me to leak something big. I ignored him before, but things are different now. Look, we're not enemies—really, I've got nothing against that crazy nomad. I was just doing my job. I don't even know what Biotechnica did!
But now, we're on the same team!"
Leo rubbed his chin, studying Murphy with interest.
V gave the same look.
Murphy's face, now showing signs of hope, gave a stiff smile, "Lady, I used to be a merc like you, thinking I could retire as a security guard at Biotechnica. But those bastards gambled with my life, so tell me, could I just take that? I never thought I'd be back to this gig... damn it."
V was amused by Murphy's rant. To be fair, the guy sounded convincing.
However, the final decision rested with Leo—after all this time, V had developed a clear understanding of her own limitations in decision-making.
Leo eventually glanced at the corpse in the car and then at the unconscious Cedric.
"Looks like you're back to the merc life, Murphy. I guess this is what they call Murphy's Law."