[Eden City - Surface of Barren Wasteland B275]

The dark blue night sky gradually glimmered with light.

The silhouette of the wasteland was adorned with drought-resistant plants and various scrap vehicle frames, the tin roofs clattered loudly, and the towering wind power generators were unevenly scattered...

Dawn was approaching.

Sunlight would sweep across the yellow sands and skyscrapers, overshadow the brilliant neon lights, inch by inch crush the protective layer of darkness, and drag the numb souls out from harbors of alcohol and blood.

Silver Rider 577 traversed the highway of the wasteland and stopped in front of the checkpoint.

Bismarck pushed the door open and left.

A hovercar with the Plato logo awaited by the roadside.

Heavily armed company soldiers covered Bismarck as he boarded the cabin, and someone immediately took the suit he had taken off.

[Vehicle: V9 Doug Hovercar]

The vector engines spewed dust, receding into the bright sky.

Bismarck did not say goodbye, nor did he utter another word.

John ultimately did not pull the trigger to gun him down on the road.

The night was too exhausting.

But their return journey was not smooth.

[Eden City - Suburban Road Checkpoint]

An iron tunnel spanned the entrance of the city.

ECPD drones hovered in the sky.

The anti-riot armored vehicle flashed red and blue lights, blocking the road.

Heavily armed cops and strictly placed roadblocks indicated how severe the semi-zone lockdown was.

Last night's memories at Source Equation were too vivid.

They seemed to suddenly remember, besides Bismarck's hovercar plunging into the wasteland, a colossal beast "Raft Qi" directly fell in the densely populated city.

"Damn, didn't expect even the SAT to be deployed."

Gino bit his teeth, cursing lowly from the passenger seat.

Following her gaze:

A line of cars with varying designs passed the checkpoint in sequence, disappearing into the depths of the iron dome, with only rows of dim yellow lights and flickering holographic ads visible.

And at the forefront of the "steel giant's mouth," astonishingly parked a large armed hovercar.

The holographic projection dropped a red warning line, and the words "Key Inspection Zone" floated in the air, several fully armed Special Event Handling Action Team members stood there.

They donned familiar perforated tactical helmets.

Everyone held a large caliber blue-black rifle in hand, both bulletproof vests and subcutaneous armor were top-level, without needing cybernetic eyes to scan, it was obvious each person's prosthetic body was overly modeled, but of course, only a madman would dare to scan these bloodthirsty tyrants.

In fact, people like Gino were naturally afraid of the SAT.

Edge walkers and cyber hackers facing Special Event Handling Action Teams on city streets were scarier than ghost stories from illegal radio stations.

Who knew if they had an arrest warrant, attracting their attention just at the wrong time?

Eden City's checkpoints are divided into three.

One at the very outer edge of the wasteland, at the crucial bottleneck of the city walls, called the border checkpoint.

The inspections are more chaotic there, with an armed force ready to assist anytime, and various companies outsourced by the city hall stationed there around the clock; it's the city's shell, military-level combat capability, so individual dealings are not qualified.

Even the most well-known street middlemen must use groups like Ghouls, Wanderers, or company systems as a springboard to clear the path to transport certain gray "people" and "items" in or out.

The innermost checkpoint is on city roads.

Whenever an emergency like a criminal escape or gang conflict occurs, certain traffic arteries are temporarily sealed off.

Usually, it's ECPD officers stationed and screening.

Combined with police drones, armored vehicles, and external patrol posts, plus a few illegal individuals, they constitute the protagonists of the daily street frenzy.

Lying between the "border checkpoint" and the "city traffic network" is the "city entrance checkpoint" in front.

It is usually not strict.

There's even a set of affiliated buildings with service windows specifically open to collect protection fees.

No matter if it's edge walkers, company elites, or even ECPD members who want to get things done as long as the bribe is appropriate, they'll turn a blind eye.

But last night's hovercar crash evidently had a huge impact.

Now those windows specially used to establish connections are closed with metal barriers.

The familiar prosecutors and office workers usually are absent, let alone, the presence of SAT already indicates the official attitude.

Life has to continue.

So do mercenaries.

Those risky businesses always encounter similar "accidents."

While Gino and others were lost in thought, someone in the queued vehicles in front really had rotten luck!

A Calormen truck lit up a red light when passing the scanner.

The broadcast made it clear that the cargo in the compartment was illegal goods — de-numbered intelligence weaponry, all damn large caliber!

At such sensitive point of semi-zone lockdown, smuggling these things is madness!

Either they ignored the middleman's warning, or the seller wasn't sharp, maybe even pressured by creditors such as Ghouls; anyway, there's…

A link failed somewhere, someone had to pay the price.

The entire steel tunnel lit up rows of red lights, sirens shrill and piercing.

The duty officer didn't even get to put down his coffee before the driver hit the accelerator ready to crash the barrier, but the fastest responders were those SAT members.

They launched the Sianweistan, disappearing under the pale sunlight.

The heavy-breakthrough operator slammed a shield onto the Calormen truck's hood, lifting the entire vehicle, causing cargo in the trunk to snap the fastenings and scatter around...

The gunner in the passenger seat was shaken inside, dangling from the window in the wind.

They didn't even get to curse and scream before someone appeared on the side, pulling the trigger.

Large caliber bullets pierced metal sheets, leather seats, flesh, and bones, and by the time they emerged from the other side, it transformed into pure blood plasma.

The sensation was like piercing a juicer with a stirring rod.

The entire process took less than a minute.

This smuggling squad turned into crumbs under SAT's violent search.

Not only bystanders but even the officers on duty displayed complex expressions.

The language plugin installed within John captured several colloquialisms, all talking about "monsters," "cold-blooded machines," "legal cyber lunatics" and the like.

People spitting out the driver's window were more numerous.

Yet the Special Event Handling Action Team were colder than machines as if they hadn't heard, and when the compound eyes on their tactical visors swept over...

Everyone avoided them.

Buzz—ee—ah—

A noise resonated from the steel dome atop the checkpoint.

A lifting device shifted overhead the lineup of cars, descended heavily, like sweeping garbage, aggregated blood stains and vehicle debris to the side, then labeled municipal workers stepped forward for cleanup.

The main road was cleared.

The vehicles behind advanced, covering the freshly washed, wet ground.

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