Gino grew up on the streets, working as a hacker, engaging in illegal equipment modification for over twenty years, with experiences of being chased with a gun.

Either Macao would trouble Mr. Vito for rescue.

Or Angelica would help him sort out minor troubles.

Or Serum would arrange for the Wanderer Alliance to step in.

But this time?

Gino picked up the data cable, the metal port rubbed several times behind her ear without aligning.

She was shocked to find her fingers trembling.

"Hey, look at me, look at me, Gino."

John's gaze was very calm.

He sat amidst the flying bullet rain, reflected dense data in his pupils, yet said with absolute certainty.

"I'll get you out, I promise. Try to relax now, do what you're good at. If you're out of strength, just sit and wait for me. No worries, remember last time, who got you out of the Ghoul's pool?"

John was extremely calm.

This scenario didn't rank in his short mercenary career.

Gino managed a bitter smile, but did perk up a bit.

"This time I wasn't asleep."

[User Agreement/User Permission Login]

Gino plugged in the data cable, connecting to cyberspace in a semi-deep state, taking over the hacker position from Sisal Rope and began to maneuver against Source Equation's network security department.

Every member of the Wanderer Alliance has immense talent.

Tinfoil, Gino, Baseball Bat, Sisal Rope…

Each of them has some bottom-box tricks, and carries the puppet set up by Serum, which can be quickly released to save their lives through side programs.

Gino broke into cyberspace, discovering she and John were isolated within a data barrier.

It seemed like a kind of super firewall, dynamic, impossible to capture and lock, like a glass dome trapping the two inside.

Gino witnessed the Black Light that John spoke of with her own eyes.

From a technical perspective, this part in front should be a part of it, one could deduce the essence of the Black Light, it is actually a super program compiled according to some specific logic.

That's even stranger…

John never installed a network access pod.

Where is the data stored?

What are the mediums and carriers releasing it?

[Detected intrusion, prosthetic body restart, eye malfunction, control system overheating... rejected, intrusion canceled, intrusion detected...]

A series of red warnings pulled Gino back to reality.

The data in cyberspace is all materialized.

To describe with actual images, Source Equation's local network is fraught with danger, scrap puppets block the information pathways chaotically.

Black Light won't hold out for too long.

Or rather, John's body can't simultaneously sustain Black Light and worry about reality.

Gino attempted to take over defense, only to find she couldn't break out, only able to switch back to reality, shouting at John amid gunfire.

"Damn, I can't access your system!"

Gino continually slid on the firmware.

The activated puppet triggered a chain reaction, akin to grenades with pins pulled open, ready to explode anytime in her arms.

The network access pod behind her ear kept flickering.

[User permission application detected/default]

John saw the prompt message and silently granted her authorization.

[User Authorization Evaluation, Sandbox Mode Fetching, Data Invalid, Retry, Secondary Stripping, Access Terminated...]

A torrent of dense data streams flashed before his eyes.

Various red and yellow warning pop-ups appeared, then continually vanished.

The view in John's vision finally cleared, all the prosthetic bodies in his body returned to normal, feeling a sense of relief.

And behind the constantly flickering hacker jargon, was Gino resisting the attacks from the network security department in cyberspace.

She really managed it, at least managed it temporarily.

"We won't hold out for too long!"

Gino was working with gunshot wounds.

Her hair stuck to her forehead, speaking without turning back.

But in John's eyes:

Gino's voice suddenly slowed, the tone elongated, starting to become off-key.

"Think of a….way…"

Almost instantly.

A filter covered John's vision.

The world paused.

Bullets flying through the air, cobalt blue flames from brushes, the debris floating in the air, the white coat yet to fall by the wall...

Everything slowed to the limit.

Bzz—

John's eardrum felt sharp pain, his eyes sore, a tingling soared from his scalp to his spine.

He was too familiar with this feeling.

The Sianweistan high-level around activated, dynamic focus of the prosthetic eye too swift, causing tactile anomalies throughout the body.

Since the transplantation of [Sianweistan T17] at Silver Port, John hadn't felt such intense pain for a long time.

The enemy's spinal level is high.

At least it's high in slowing ratio.

Experimental grade product.

John quickly assessed in his mind, pupils intensely contracted, residual light from head movement carved a golden wave in the air.

He immediately sprinted toward Gino.

In the "paused" world, everything was slow yet clear.

Gino slowly turned her head, water droplets from shaken hair detached in mid-air.

A face suddenly appeared beside her.

Followed closely by a black tactical knife.

It brushed past Gino's carotid artery, the skin cut open blossomed into a blood line in mid-air, blood droplets splashed onto the adjacent floor.

Only a centimeter from a fatal wound.

John caught up with the rhythm in the near "paused" space.

He rudely pressed down Gino, avoiding the fatal blow, simultaneously flipping his body, fiercely striking the attacker with hard alloy joints.

Bang.

Very hard.

John felt like he hit a metal wall with flesh pasted on.

The attacker was forced into the corner, unscathed.

Klang.

A heavy dagger fell onto the floor.

The stagnant world restored to normal speed with this clash sound.

[Cease fire. (Russian)]

[Preparation to breach. (Russian)]

Shouts echoed from outside the narrow operating room.

More footsteps resounded in the corridor, judging by the stance, security department has surrounded here.

"Damn... Hiss..."

Gino scrambled to rise from the floor, somewhat bewildered.

She felt a slight itch and pain on her neck, hair stood up, cold sweat pouring, reaching hand found a faint blood mark.

Gino immediately curled up, clutching the terminal, distancing from John.

She didn't check the attacker's specific location, only wanting to return to cyberspace quickly— a hacker without adequate offensive plugins stood no chance against an advanced assassin with Sianweistan loaded.

As Gino retreated, firing frequency reduced.

John finally saw the attacker's appearance, Messiah's Eye contracted, scanned out the identity information.

[Name: Worven Sack (Iron Scorpion)]

[Power: Mercenaries [Gaia Cells]]

[Scan: Flying Knife Emitter, Auxiliary Heart, Sianweistan T-Cell Experimental Type, etc.]

[File: Gaia Cells Security Department Director, bears multiple terrorism charges, CIA internal records show Worven Sack suspected of murdering multiple company leaders, fifteen charges including illegal smuggling, multiple murders in Europe.]

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