Chapter 106: End
Donnie looked utterly destroyed.
His face was covered in blood, and where his cybernetic eye had been was now just a deep, gaping socket. A gruesome gash ran down his abdomen.
One of his arms had been blown off somewhere, and he limped toward Lionheart, dragging his mangled leg.
"I'm the ultimate winner."
"And you're destined to be nothing more than a pathetic loser!"
"Hah...hah!"
Lionheart roared like a wounded animal, trying to stand, but the moment he moved, he tore open the penetrating wound in his chest, and blood gushed out.
"You'll die screaming!"
"Haha...ha!" Donnie laughed maniacally.
"My talent is indeed inferior to yours, but after so many years of calculated moves and secret maneuvering, I've finally managed to climb up to Lord Ridley's good graces. As long as I complete the job he assigned me, and then add the merit you just delivered on a silver platter..."
"Tsk tsk, it won't be long before I can leave this shithole Lower District and obtain permanent residency in the Mid-City!"
Donnie laughed wildly and patted Lionheart's cheek mockingly. "All thanks to you!"
"Let me tell you another secret. You know how I got my current position?" Donnie leaned forward.
"After all, the Gear Gang controls many territories. Why should I be in charge of the Gear Gang's most profitable zone in the Lower Districts?"
"Because I delivered an Enhancement Compound!"
"Ah!"
Lionheart's eyes widened with fury. Boundless rage exploded in his chest. He couldn't help but let out a shrill roar, choking on a mouthful of blood, and nearly collapsed.
"Even that pulse grenade I just used was obtained by trading that enhancement compound!!"
Donnie slapped Lionheart hard across the face. "Good brother, you really are my lucky charm. You always help me like this. I almost can't bear to kill you now!"
Donnie shoved the pistol into Lionheart's mouth. "Goodbye, Lionheart."
"I hope you won't be this stupid in your next life!"
"BLAM!"
After a gunshot, Donnie screamed and collapsed. His hand holding the gun was obliterated, and the weapon clattered to the ground.
"Who! Who the hell is it?"
With both hands destroyed, Donnie endured the pain and struggled up from the ground, warily staring at the direction the bullet came from.
In the darkness, a tall figure slowly emerged. The person held a gun, a faint smile on his lips, and his eyes were cold and sharp as they fixed on Donnie.
"Boss Donnie, you don't seem to be in peak condition right now."
"Mason!"
"It's you? What the hell are you doing!" Donnie's entire skillset depended on the guns in his hands. With both hands shattered and his body riddled with injuries, he had almost nothing left.
In fact, in Mason's original plan, he'd still favored Donnie. According to his calculations, Donnie would most likely emerge victorious.
However, he hadn't expected Lionheart to go completely insane, basically throwing the entire Blood Source Society into this war—totally unhinged and reckless, solely to kill Donnie.
"I'm your boss. Everything's been arranged. As long as we take down Lionheart and absorb his territory, it won't be long before I get promoted to Mid-City and become a mid-level officer in the gang!"
"And you can take over my position and become the head of the Gear Gang in the Lower Districts!" Donnie took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm, and tried to bargain.
"Think about it. Killing me doesn't benefit you. Without my backing, the higher-ups will just send someone else to replace me, and you'll never get another shot at moving up!"
"BLAM!"
Mason's merciless bullet was Donnie's only answer. The round struck Donnie's intact right knee, the fragile kneecap shattering with a sickening crunch. Donnie screamed in agony, completely losing mobility.
Only then did Mason relax.
Donnie's devastatingly powerful pulse grenade had completely exceeded Mason's expectations. He never imagined someone would conceal such a lethal weapon inside their cybernetic eye.
"Boss Donnie, we're both grown men. There's no need for this bullshit." Mason stepped forward, grabbed Donnie by the collar, and hoisted him up.
"You want to kill me, I want to kill you—what's there to negotiate?" Saying this, Mason grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. In the flickering firelight, he looked like a predator ready to devour its prey.
He leaned forward and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "I went through so much goddamn trouble to lure you here. Tell me, do you really think I'd just let you walk away?"
Donnie's eyes widened in horror. He was stunned for a moment, then seemed to realize something, and despair flooded his face.
"It was you, it was you all along!"
"You bastard! You son of a bitch!!"
"CRACK! CRACK!"
Mason punched Donnie in the mouth twice in rapid succession. With his current strength and the metal gauntlets, the two punches shattered Donnie's jaw completely.
A powerful wave of resentment filled Donnie's chest. He had betrayed his best friend and clawed his way to his current position.
He'd been on the verge of promotion to mid-level officer in the Gear Gang, poised to enjoy unprecedented prestige and status, but all of that came to an abrupt end at this moment.
"Boss Donnie, don't act like I've wronged you so badly."
"That shipment you had me deliver was an Enhancement Compound. That kind of black market biotech is forbidden by all the corporate oligarchs. After I delivered it for you, you probably weren't planning to let me live anyway, right?"
Hearing Mason's words, the expression in Donnie's remaining eye went beyond mere terror. His mouth tried to form words, but only muffled whimpers escaped his mangled jaw.
"Curious how I knew?" Mason smiled and leaned closer to Donnie.
"Because that compound is now in my bloodstream. While you were fighting for your life, I injected myself with the Enhancement Compound a block away, and now I'm an Enhanced Operative!"
Patting Donnie's shoulder, Mason concluded, "Rest in peace. Thanks for everything!!"
Donnie's eye was bloodshot, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner, endless rage choking him. He finally understood how Lionheart must have felt all those years ago.
Lionheart's vision was blood-red, his consciousness fading. In his hazy state, he sensed someone approach. He tried desperately to open his eyes, but even this simple action was impossible.
"Thud!"
Mason drove the shield fragment deeper through Lionheart's chest, binding Donnie and Lionheart together, arranging them in a mutual kill pose.
Large pools of blood stained the ground beneath them. Donnie convulsed and quickly died, while Lionheart, in his dying moments, finally regained clarity.
His eyes widened as he watched Donnie breathe his last before him, a faint smile of relief appearing on his lips before he fell silent.
Mason remained vigilant, meticulously examining every corpse on the battlefield. He found several still breathing, finished them off, and confirmed everything was clear before quietly leaving.
This world was like that—seemingly technologically advanced, yet filled with cold-hearted brutality and a broken system. Sometimes, the line between humans and animals, or humans and machines, became blurred.
Technology made humans increasingly monstrous, while making animals and machines increasingly human.
Mason was no longer the ordinary young man from Detroit who had first arrived in this nightmare world.
To survive, he'd been forced to do things he never would have done before—to kill people—but he wouldn't make excuses for himself.
He'd done it. What was there to be ashamed of?
No matter who wanted him dead, they wouldn't stand a chance!
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