"Haha, you're something else. Scamming idiots with trash!"
V had seen Leo put that thing together. Once they got in the van, she could not help laughing.
"That's not scamming. That's the essence of sales. There's still a little real stuff inside. Besides, they're just sitting around anyway."
Continuing to wait for NetWatch had actually been one of Sasquatch's options, but an organized gang was like a factory that had started running. Every second it stood still was a loss.
Contract spirit was important, sure. But in the current situation, NetWatch had completely lost contact, and Leo had activated NetWatch's equipment. This high-tech comms van had not burned up either—
So it should, probably, most likely, have been sent by NetWatch.
And he was pretty rich. Work was work, no matter who paid.
But…
Knock knock.
The door and window were tapped. Leo opened the window. "What?"
"Confirming one last time. You're from NetWatch, right?"
"Close enough."
"Close enough…"
"Close enough means no one from NetWatch will say you violated your contract spirit over this."
"That's fine then." Sasquatch stepped away from the window. "These days, if you wanna go big, you still gotta care about contracts… Fuck, that big bomb was really something. Wonder which corp lost its mind this time.
"I wanna know the actual job. Talk."
"Right now…" Leo thought for a moment. "First, I need to investigate someone. A netrunner called Dante. Since he's a netrunner, I figure the Voodoo Boys might have traces of him."
The Voodoo Boys controlled what few information devices Pacifica had. If there had been any movement on the Net, they should have records.
According to Maekawa, the Dante who had previously investigated Holt had already been trapped by Soulkiller. Leo needed to confirm one thing:
Whether this current Dante was the same Dante trapped by Soulkiller.
If it was the same person, the same body, then that meant the Dante currently active was actually a human who had been… replaced by Soulkiller.
That would help Leo judge which parts Arasaka might have tampered with.
Sasquatch nodded, indicating she understood completely.
"Got it. Smash the Voodoo Boys. I suggest we hit them right now. Those netrunners are probably busy fixing their gear."
"Another day. Not today. Right now their home base is probably under the tightest defense. We hit when their equipment and databases are basically back online."
"Got it. When they're most relaxed. But that's also when their gear's back at peak. Their net tech isn't simple. You sure this isn't picking up sesame seeds and losing a watermelon?"
"Choom, that's the least problematic problem in the whole plan."
Besides, Leo needed a little time. The three of them were in bad shape.
Jackie had eaten a lot and had narrowly beaten Sasquatch in the arm-wrestling contest, but he was actually already at the absolute limit.
The Lizard Berserk component had filtered too much Lizard serum. Its bio-filter would fail soon—
Actually, there were already signs of failure. Leo could see that Jackie's neck muscles had changed significantly, which had also helped him become tonight's toughest meat shield.
He had taken the most explosions, and then there was that final human pressure-core move. Anyone else, even with enough strength, would have ended up with at least a concussion. Without that bit of Lizard serum enhancement, he would probably have passed out long ago.
But Jackie was a fighter. He had better psychological control in battle, so he would not completely lose control just from a little seepage failure.
Besides, his Gorilla Arms were basically totaled. If not for the immense strength brought by the Lizard serum being enough to drive the depowered cyberware, he would already be disabled.
Next was V. V had a lot of high-tech in her body, like that Reality Distortion Sandevistan.
A nuclear EMP had limited damage against devices inside the human body, but there was definitely still damage. For equipment like a Sandevistan, that was trouble.
Everything needed inspection.
And lastly, Leo.
Tumor proliferation was the most obvious problem. Lizard serum had offset the rapid death of his cells, but it also increased the number of cell divisions, significantly raising the chance of cancerous mutation.
Finally, regeneration at such speed was actually overdrawing cellular potential. Once the telomeres in his cells completely declined after repeated divisions, his life would basically be near its end.
Not to mention the large number of components inside his body had basically all failed, to the point where he had been reduced to using a tablet and a child as a relay to process information.
That's right. Myat had now become Leo's humanoid cybermodem.
The kid did not even dare speak. The Voodoo Boys were mysterious and scary mostly through rumors; the Animals were different. They were all muscle freaks!
Of course, he actually kind of liked the Animals.
That also proved from the side that these three big shots holding him hostage, these three big shots who had fallen from the sky—
These three big shots who had flown out of a nuclear explosion really were…
Really something else!
Myat sat upright in his seat and suddenly blurted out, "Are you… are you Burger King Fuck-The-Little-Dicked-Bigshots?"
The three people in the van froze at the same time.
Leo looked at Myat strangely. "You, uh… where did you hear that name?"
"It's all over school! Uh, ever since Corpo Plaza got wrecked. Holy shit, I was home back then and saw a Manticore smash into the building next door!"
"We…" Leo shook his head. "No. That name is way too vulgar. We're Burger King Trading Dumbass Bigshots."
"Whoa!" Myat shot up from his seat and slammed his head against the van roof. "It really is you!"
"Sit down!" V glared at Myat in irritation. She looked to be in a bad mood. "Don't fucking jump around."
"Yes, boss!"
Myat immediately sat back down, his previous terrified trembling swept away, replaced by proactive terrified trembling.
Leo glanced at the kid, hesitated, then stopped.
Forget it. This was fine. Quieter was better.
"That's it for today." Leo said to V. "Rest a bit. I'll have the Animals bring some stuff over, then we'll do basic refit."
"And then?" V lowered the seatback, putting both legs on the console. "I mean after we deal with the Voodoo Boys."
"We go into Dogtown."
"I hear people who go there are either desperados or real bigshots. Which are we?"
"The latter. But I need to make preparations. Sherman left behind about 18 billion eurodollars' worth of stock…"
Leo glanced at V. In the past, hearing that number would have made her yell loud enough for the Animals outside the Grand Imperial Mall to hear. Sure enough, she had already fallen asleep.
Tonight's battle intensity and duration had been unprecedented. Passing out once safe was normal.
Their clothes were all in tatters. Jackie looked like he had only a pair of three-point shorts left, his upper body basically bare.
He did not care about that, directly finding a bunk and lying down. He was too tired, mentally tired.
V's clothes were also clearly far from intact, full of holes everywhere. Her jeans looked like rags. Once she put her feet up, those rags slid down under gravity and gathered around her knees, fully exposing two calves whose artificial skin and subdermal armor were half-damaged.
Her top was also torn to shreds, strips of fabric only barely covering her body. But there was no especially erotic sight, because V's body was covered in wounds. Synthetic cyberware lubricant and blood mixed together, coating the injuries, making her feel more like a machine than… an exposed human body.
Still, it really was a perfectly proportioned machine. The warped subdermal armor just ruined the beauty a little.
Leo immediately started cutting, removing all the burned-out subdermal armor. V kept sleeping soundly.
After those deformed armor plates were removed, she seemed to sleep even more comfortably, even talking in her sleep:
"Mmm… AVs are really nice… Leo, I want that one…"
"She sleeps like a corpse."
Leo draped his netrunner coat over her. The NetWatch special material really was good. It was only slightly scorched, perfect as a blanket.
He looked at the two who had already fallen asleep and continued network calibration.
The faint hum of motors sounded softly, mixed with gentle snoring.
People looked up at the sinking moon and realized this unbearable night was finally about to end.
The sun was about to rise.
[Cross-Dimensional Consciousness Transfer Ended.]
[Tech Points Deducted: 500]
[Current Tech Points: 21,500]