"Subdermal armor, grounded plating, experintal military-grade Sandevistan, military-grade neural processor, military-grade frontal cortex, enhanced reflex Kerenzikov, a custom projectile launch system in his left arm firing high-explosive rounds, and mantis blades installed in his right arm and leg. Tsk tsk tsk."
Oliver read through the intel while shaking his head. "This guy's loaded to the teeth. At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if he turned cyberpsycho. Honestly, it might not even be the Sandevistan that set him off."
"A 150,000 eddies bounty... No wonder. He's practically a walking armory of military-grade implants, including an experintal model. Damn, he's gonna be a tough one," Jack compared himself to the target and realized his own implants barely amounted to a fraction of what this forr lieutenant was packing. Sure, more implants didn't always an victory in a fight, but this was an overwhelming gap—one that felt downright oppressive.
"With Kerenzikov enhancing his reflexes and Sandevistan boosting his speed, one wrong move and he could wipe us out in a second."
Karl nodded in agreent and looked at Oliver. "We'll need your sniper rifle for this one. A clean shot to the head should do it."
"You're not even gonna try talking first? The client did say we should attempt communication if possible."
"What, gamble my life on the off chance he hasn't gone cyberpsycho? No thanks."
Karl made the call. "Once we locate him, I'll approach—but from a safe distance. Jack, you'll be recording everything. The mont he so much as twitches with an aggressive expression, Oliver, you take the shot. We'll send that footage to Blanca as proof that he snapped."
Oliver's newest rifle, the Nekomata, was a Tech sniper rifle manufactured by Tsunami Defense Systems. With its electromagnetic acceleration, it could pierce even reinforced exoskeletons—so a re subdermal armor wouldn't stand a chance.
"Karl, you're really gonna be the one to approach him? Isn't that too dangerous?"
"That's why I said I'll keep my distance. Relax, if shit hits the fan, I'll run like hell without hesitation."
At least he had the reflexes to keep up with a Sandevistan user. If anyone was gonna do it, it had to be him.
"So now, the only issue is finding Jas Norris."
Oliver scanned the corporate district, bustling with suits. "A forr military officer should stick out like a sore thumb. I know military types—I can tell if soone's a soldier at a glance."
"Where do we start looking?"
Karl asked, and Oliver imdiately pointed in a direction.
"Corpo Plaza."
[Corpo Plaza]
Rebuilt after the Fourth Corporate War, Corpo Plaza is now one of the most iconic locations in Night City. Its signature circular morial park serves as a tribute to those lost in the war.
Karl followed Oliver's gaze and imdiately understood.
In a district where land is worth more than its weight in eddies, a rogue ex-military officer who just gunned down his own company's contact could only go sowhere anyone had access to.
A public morial park.
It's not like he could just stroll up to another corporation's headquarters and loiter around. Any corpo security would kindly greet him with a friendly shock baton.
"So, we'll—"
Karl started, but mid-sentence, he felt a cold drop hit his forehead. He glanced up.
Rain.
The pollution-heavy sky of Night City released its toxic drizzle, covering the city in filth.
"Let's find so cover first. Sure, we won't get sick from it, but I'd rather not sll like rotting chro for the rest of the day."
Lifting his sleeve, Karl sniffed the raindrops soaking into the fabric, then pointed toward the morial park.
"There are so bio-trees over there—we can use them for cover."
"Hiding from the rain while scoping out the holess who stay in the park even during bad weather? Yeah, that's a solid plan."
With Jack casting his vote in favor, the three of them stopped standing around like idiots in the rain and made a run for Corpo Plaza.
When they arrived, however, they saw that the NCPD had already set up a cordon around the central morial park.
Judging by the scene, sothing had gone down.
The three exchanged glances before moving to a bio-tree near the NCPD's periter, looking toward the restricted area.
Because of the rain and the distance, Karl couldn't see clearly past the cordon. He turned to Jack, who had cybernetic eyes.
"What's going on in there?"
"I see a corpo stiff lying on the ground. Big hole in his head."
"Blown to bits?"
"Nah. Just a clean hole—judging by the size of the wound, probably a shot from a Lexington."
A Lexington, used to pop a corpo's skull?
Karl didn't quite understand what had happened.
Could this be related to our target?
Just as he was pondering this, his gaze landed on a familiar figure among the officers inside the cordon.
"I know soone here. Gonna go say hi."
Leaving Jack and Oliver under the tree, Karl stepped out into the rain and jogged over to the NCPD officer.
A few seconds later, while Johnson was busy handling the murdered corpo case, he heard a voice from beyond the police barrier.
"Officer Johnson, what happened here?"
Hearing his na, Johnson instinctively looked over.
He paused for a second upon recognizing Karl, then handed his current task to a subordinate before walking toward the holographic cordon set up between police cruisers.
Stopping just inside the barrier, Johnson greeted Karl with a nod.
"Long ti no see, Karl. How's life?"
"Not bad. Officer Johnson, did you guys get a cyberpsycho here? Need so help?"
"Cyberpsycho?"
Johnson turned to glance at the dead corpo behind him and quickly pieced together Karl's reason for showing up.
Looking for work again, huh?
Unfortunately, today wasn't his lucky day.
"Nope. Just a standard revenge killing. We already caught the perp on the spot—just cleaning up now."
Johnson shrugged. "Not the kind of action you're looking for."
"Damn."
Karl was disappointed. He'd thought he might've stumbled onto a lead.
After a brief mont of regret, he was about to thank Johnson for the info when his peripheral vision caught sothing.
A massive, bare-chested man with short golden hair, a pair of guns strapped to his back, a cybernetic visor over his eyes, and a physique like a war machine, was walking slowly toward the cri scene.
"That guy is..."
Karl's pupils widened.
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