"That's all the information I have. Once you take down Du Remon, it'd be best to check his computer. He had secret contacts with those terrorists, perhaps some clues remain as a buyer."

[Mission Objective Updated]

[Retrieve Du Remon's computer data. (Not achieved)]

Text messages suddenly appeared before him.

John frowned, not showing any additional emotional fluctuation—this wasn't Maya's mission being triggered, but the main storyline he almost forgot about.

[Main Mission: The Assailant]

[Description: Investigate what the assailant did to "Chavez" and the "goods," trace it further to uncover who you truly are.]

[Reward: Prosthetic Limb [Model-T01]]

John fell into contemplation.

The cabinet didn't speak again, focused on sipping, lazily looking at the hanging TV screen.

The news about gang wars had already been broadcast.

The entertainment talk show played on time, the loss of hundreds of lives did not disrupt the rhythm of the city's operation. On the screen at that moment—a popular athlete was promoting a new jump-assist prosthesis to the camera.

The cabinet sneered, quietly mocking.

"Ever since prosthetic body modifications became widespread, the Paralympics were canceled. Poverty is now the only incurable disease in the world."

John, at this moment, had packed his magazine, ready to raise the rolling door, but paused before leaving, hesitating for a moment before asking.

"Why did you make a point to remind me?"

"I just like you, buddy. Hope that when I return to Eden City, you haven't become a street legend."

The cabinet half-heartedly shooed John out the door, resting hands on the rolling door, chuckling.

"Let me give you a skill of reading people."

"Go on."

"In Eden City, both on the right and wrong sides of the law, the longer you live, the more dangerous it gets. If someone's asset scale doesn't match their income source, they're likely hiding something, don't trust them easily, nor provoke them."

Clatter—

The rolling door slammed down, cutting off the blue LED strip lights, leaving only the dim yellow glow spreading in the underground passage.

John pinched his brow, swiftly left, intending to reorganize the intel after the mission ends.

Wanderer, Rift Party, unidentified arms dealers.

He seemed to sniff out the core elements of chaos in the city.

[Eden City - Abandoned Construction Site on the Loop Road]

[Time: 17:46]

John drove to the northernmost section of the loop road around Eden City.

The surroundings were ridiculously desolate.

The mountain stood like a deflated burger blocking the road, with rolling and uneven dirt mounds covered in wild grass.

In front was a deep, huge tunnel.

The cave's surroundings were extremely haphazard, lacking a structured dome and showing no signs of a tunnel boring machine being used, only massive pipes extending all the way to the deepest point, likely not a road construction project,

Armored vehicle tires crushed the gravel as the brakes screeched to a halt.

Recessed steel plates moaned in the wind, John left the driver's seat and surveyed his surroundings—everywhere were boxes of varying sizes, most of them damaged and old.

Huge equipment was buried in rubble and cement, as if they were firmly embedded there from the start.

Maya was leaning on a van nearby.

The location they agreed upon was about a kilometer away from the Rift Party gathering.

John learned from her that:

This is an abandoned collection site, whether it was for minerals or something else is unclear; the other side of the cave is the main entrance.

Maya took out two heavy bulletproof vests.

John began to arm himself, once fully dressed he looked like an overweight man sitting in a hovercar, his work jacket squeezed inside.

"If the bulletproof vest gets torn, just throw it away."

Maya said as she brought out Hercules.

While John checked the weapons, she attached a dedicated ammo belt to John's waist, equipped with slides for a 360-degree access to spare bullets.

"F*ck, I feel like I gained at least twice the weight!"

"It's not that exaggerated, brother, make sure to wear the bulletproof helmet too, there's no point of stealth on this job tonight, actually quite the opposite. We have to take down that beast before reinforcements arrive, then get out!"

"Just wait a minute..."

John brought up the cabinet's requirement.

Maya showed no signs of impatience and didn't consider "rescue" or "computer retrieval" to be unnecessary actions. She even took the initiative to modify the plan and reallocated tasks.

The main firepower was definitely entrusted to John.

Maya provided assistance from the side, helping to pinpoint enemy coordinates through equipment, offering intelligence support.

When John caught Du Remon,

Maya was responsible for rescuing hostages while searching for electronic devices, preferably to pack them up intact and take them away.

[Mission Objective Updated]

[Clean up the abandoned collection site. (Not achieved)]

John, fully armed, squeezed into the back of the van.

Maya revved up the gas, plunging into the depths of the tunnel, heavily worn tires kicking up gravel.

It traversed the uneven metal panels, sometimes even leaping on the spot, yet its speed remained unaffected.

John heard the noise and gunfire.

He knew the fight was imminent, so he maintained his balance, prepared to rush out at any moment, but unexpectedly...

The entire vehicle suddenly crashed into something and came to a halt.

"F*ck!"

John tumbled about in the back, cursing under his breath, he quickly got up and smashed open the sliding door with the front of his rifle.

Da da da da—

Amber bullets whizzed past.

The tunnel was shrouded in darkness, several heavily modified thugs were cursing violently, simultaneously raising their guns to shoot, seemingly eager to blow up the truck on the spot.

John turned around, pulled the trigger.

Hercules spewed forth despairing gunfire, dense bullets like tiny explosives, detonating on the thugs' bodies.

A mixture of blood mist and dark gray dust spread continuously.

Messiah's Eye had long switched to combat mode.

John forcefully joined the battlefield from behind the damaged van, reverse firing towards the incoming bullet positions, waiting for his vision to stabilize once more, instantly revealing several moving red cone-shaped markers.

Those were the enemy information located by Maya.

John turned the muzzle over, and a wave of screams was immediately drowned out by gunfire.

He gritted his teeth, focusing entirely on counteracting the recoil.

Hercules was the most exhilarating weapon he had used.

Pum pum pum—

Flesh was blasted to pulp in the dense fog, concrete barriers were shattered with flying debris.

"Huff, huff~"

John panted heavily inside the sweltering helmet.

He surveyed the dim construction site through the bulletproof mask:

Spotlights scattered between various concrete obstacles and old storage boxes, red markers highlighted the contours outlined by gray shadows.

An amber beam flashed by.

Bang—

John's head was struck bluntly.

The surface of the mask was cracked.

He immediately turned the gun towards the iron construction, the stairs were instantly covered with bright sparks as if shaking loose glowing dust, and the sniper standing on them was shot to pieces.

Ammunition warning popped up in John's vision's lower right corner.

He released the trigger and retreated next to the burning van.

[△7/900]

The rapidly decreasing numbers finally settled on a single digit.

"Wow, huff, f*ck!"

John seemed to be gripping a scorching industrial drill, opening the magazine revealed white smoke.

Maya peeked out from a distant barrier, raised her rifle and fired, buying John time to reload.

The flames crackled behind him.

John felt his heart pounding vigorously, shaking his chest bones painfully, his forehead soaking in sweat unbeknownst to him.

His fingers twitched slightly but immediately steadied.

[Subcutaneous Armor: 97%]

"Goddamn exhilarating, damn, huff~"

John seemed still trapped in the crossed amber fire lines.

Bullets fired by the Rift Party thugs drilled into the bulletproof vest, and even slightly injured the flesh.

Poof, zzz.

An electric arc suddenly burst from John's feet.

The tunnel was filled with various old construction marks, with mobile power supplies every so often, connecting long lines lighting up mobile sources.

It only came to his attention when he got up to change cover:

Just now, Maya had rammed into the concrete pile with the van, the hood fully popped, and the twisted bumper bore a corpse burning brightly.

[Communication Channel Request/Default]

[They're coming through, aren't you ready yet!?]

Maya cried urgently.

Click.

"Huff, huff—"

John pulled back the bolt, adjusted his breath, and stood up from behind the cover.

In front of him gathered five or six gun-wielding thugs, covered head to toe in tattoos and protruding metal, their cheeks sunken inward leaving only lumps of iron emitting red light.

John immediately felt the crossed fire.

All those frightened muzzles were aimed directly at him!

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