From the shadows of the surrounding shipping containers, a group of Maelstrom gang members emerged.
Their appearances were downright terrifying—no eyes, noses, or any normal facial features. Instead of standard cybernetic eyes, their faces had been carved out and fitted with grotesque, protruding cyberware glowing with a menacing scarlet light.
Looking only at their faces, you'd almost think they were machines rather than humans.
In a way, these cyberpsychos could hardly be called normal humans anymore.
To put it bluntly, standing next to them, even Riku's wild getup didn't stand out much in Night City. No surprise there—Night City's residents had seen it all, from every kind of monstrous modification to straight-up yokai-level weirdness.
"Looks like the boss here knew we were coming," Riku quipped, crouching behind a container.
They'd probably been spotted the moment they arrived. These cyberpsychos were ready, just waiting for them to walk into the trap.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted from the other side of the container, mixed with angry shouts.
"Dammit! What the hell are you doing?!"
"There's a hacker! A pro! They breached our network defenses!"
One Maelstrom thug started spraying bullets wildly at his own crew before being quickly tackled to the ground.
"Take out the cameras!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The cameras were obliterated in seconds. These Maelstrom goons were no rookies—they knew exactly what was up.
"They're all rocking subdermal armor," Lucy said, her eyes dimming as she pulled back from her hack. She hadn't taken anyone out, but she'd scoped out their setup.
"No surprise there. It'd be weirder if these bastards didn't have it," Jack Welles growled. Subdermal armor was practically standard for these lunatics.
He and V started swapping magazines. Dealing with subdermal armor wasn't impossible—otherwise, if everyone had it, the world would've gone to hell ages ago. The simplest solution? Bigger guns. Electromagnetic rifles, for example, could punch through walls or armored vehicles with ease.
Pair an EM rifle with tungsten rounds, and cheap subdermal armor might as well be tissue paper. Even top-tier armor couldn't take more than a few hits.
Defense always lagged behind offense. As soon as new subdermal armor hit the market, you could bet there'd be a bigger, badder weapon to counter it. Against increasingly terrifying firepower, armor just couldn't keep up.
Of course, not everyone could get their hands on those heavy-hitting weapons. Arms dealers kept a tight leash on that stuff.
So what do you do if you're up against someone with subdermal armor? Just give up and die? Nah. Switch to armor-piercing rounds. For low-grade armor, standard AP rounds were enough. They might not punch through in one shot, but keep firing, and eventually, you'd get lucky—assuming you didn't get cut down first.
Jack Welles and V, of course, had AP rounds ready. Most firearms were built to handle both standard and armor-piercing ammo anyway.
Arms dealers knew the game: supply and demand. They'd sell you the AP rounds, and your gun better support them. A gun might be a one-time purchase, but ammo? That's the real cash cow—use it up, buy more.
"I'll take point. You three provide covering fire and watch your backs," Riku said, drawing his katana and rolling his shoulders. He took a deep breath, feeling every cell in his body buzzing with excitement.
"Let's go! Tear 'em apart!"
V grinned, hefting her Ajax rifle, her face lighting up with the same thrill. Bang! Bang! Bang! She leaned out, unloading a hail of bullets like they were free.
V's Ajax swept through the eight Maelstrom goons, forcing them to scatter. They didn't dare tank the shots head-on—not after one poor sap got his arm blown through by V's AP rounds. He survived, barely, thanks to his armor holding up elsewhere.
Clearly, their subdermal armor wasn't exactly top-shelf.
"Damn! These guys are loaded, burning through AP rounds like candy! Don't kill 'em too quick!" the wounded Maelstrom thug barked, his scarlet cyber-eyes glowing. His face showed no pain—just more crazed excitement.
That was thanks to a pain editor, a neural co-processor that blocked pain signals from reaching the brain's parietal lobe. With it, you could push past human limits, fighting on like nothing hurt. Problem was, people with pain editors often didn't realize they were about to die.
"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance."
Riku shot forward, his movements fluid and unpredictable, like a winding stream. He was using the technique as a mobility skill, zigzagging in a serpentine pattern. If he got lucky, he might even dodge a bullet or two.
At his current speed, dodging bullets outright was tough, but once he got moving, no one without auto-aim cyberware could track him easily.
Surprisingly, the Maelstrom goons didn't shoot. Instead, two of them charged forward to meet him. Click! Their forearms snapped open, revealing gleaming mantis blades.
"You wanna play close-quarters with me?! I'll slice you to pieces!" one of them roared.
Clearly, the Maelstrom thugs were confident in their combat skills. And why not? Two-on-one seemed like a guaranteed win.
"Cyber-eye reboot!" Lucy's eyes flared with light, colors swirling in her irises. As Riku charged, she and Jack Welles covered him, tossing a basic daemon into the network. The Maelstrom goons' ICE systems were low-grade—no match for her.
Zzt! Zzt! Zzt!
The two charging thugs froze as their crimson cyber-eyes sparked and fritzed out, their vision going dark.
Clang!
Riku closed in on one, his katana flashing as he slashed at the thug's neck, sending him flying. Boom! The goon's head lolled as he crashed into a container, denting it inward.
Riku didn't stop. He grabbed the second thug's head, slammed it into the ground, and stomped hard, driving it into the dirt.
"Holy crap! Is Riku getting even stronger?!" V blurted, her eyes wide as she watched him send a guy flying with one swing.
The Maelstrom crew flinched, but instead of backing off, they got even more feral.
"Kill 'em!" one shouted, raising a flamethrower and unleashing a blaze at Riku, not caring if he roasted his own crew in the process.
Second update coming later~~~
(End of Chapter)