My cyberpsychosis is a task prompt

Chapter 144: Past Events and Reminders
Problems arise.

If a family achieves unprecedented development in a certain city, should they abandon the resources that cannot be taken away and continue wandering, or should they settle down peacefully?
[Are people who live in cities still called wanderers? 】

John's mind went through what Talia had said.

Cabinet raised his chin and faced the TV with his metal mask - the news about gang wars was being broadcasted inside. The conflict led by the Owl Town Gang and the Black Gold Gang was still expanding. The death toll exceeded 100 last night, breaking the record. The congressman and the ECPD director were confronting each other from a distance.

"Gangs are local forces in the city. If the wanderers stop, it means they will have to compete with the local gangs, and negotiations are always accompanied by bloodshed and sacrifice."

What John heard was that the tribe that Nando belonged to had a conflict with the largest gang in the United States, and within the tribe, the concepts of "settlement" and "migration" were contradictory.

The settlers have to compete for survival resources.

The migration faction was unwilling to sacrifice too many people.

"Which one is Nando?"

"As far as I know, he is a settled person. Nando's wife died in childbirth during the migration. I have seen the girl before. She is so pitiful. The wind and sand and the fatigue of traveling by boat are not as romantic as imagined."

Major companies also needed to develop after the war, and the number of jobs remaining between cities decreased year by year.

Nando thinks they should stop.

But for some people, skyscrapers and bright lights are like cages, and compromising with companies in the city is as painful as reconciling with an enemy.

Nando was not the chief at the time.

The [tribe] he belonged to was composed of more than a dozen [families]. In order to seize resources, a brutal war broke out with the northern gangs in 75.

"A lot of people died."

In desperation, Nando gathered the remnants of the clan, formed the Damascus Family and became its leader.

"When we reviewed the situation afterwards, we discovered the betrayal."

"what happened?"

"Only Nando knows the truth, but afterwards, whether facing the Seven States Arbitration or the survivors' questioning, he never said who it was, or which people..."

Cabinet was smoking, his eyes distant in the mist, as if reminding John in a mumbling voice.

"Nando is a leader in the traditional sense. The Seven Wanderers want to nominate him as the leader of the tribe and absorb several wandering families."

But the cabinet said this might not be a good thing.

Nando is a settler.

Those families that have no place to belong for the time being are all migratory factions. Coupled with the current situation of Damascus in the City of Eden, it is already a headache just to deal with the emotions from all sides.

"First, I want to remind you that it is very worthwhile to gain Nando's friendship. You should interact more with the Damascus camp in the future. Secondly, I need your help. I received news that the Rift Party has two members of the Wanderers. Can you rescue them on your way to kill Lao Du?"

"Just tell me you rescued him, what's the reward?"

John kept his arms crossed.

"Go to the Damascus camp to ask for your reward. I just heard about it and asked you to help me on the way."

The cabinet frowned, lifted the boots onto the table, and took a deep puff of the e-cigarette through the metal mask, smiling with narrowed eyes.

"You seem a little unhappy?"

“They said you were actually pretty awesome.”

"Yes, I said it when we first met - the best second-hand supplier on Oil Drum Street."

The cupboard patted his sweat-soaked collar.

"Are you taking me for a joke?"

"..."

John was speechless for a moment, and began to ask about the oversized weapons in the cupboard.

The guy stroked his purple hair and laughed.

"Hahaha, the Eden City Ordinance? This has been trampled upon by super companies line by line. To be honest, it's not even as good as the reminder of illegal Mewtwo."

All major companies have the ability to smuggle super-standard weapons, otherwise how could there be a big ghost mecha in Plato's warehouse?

The ECPD can also drive power armor when on duty, not to mention the SAT and company weapons labs.

"They are so nervous because something got through the border wall without alerting any company. This is a premeditated terrorist act that is not affiliated with any municipal organization."

"So you... damn, you really can get tanks!? Did Du Raymond buy arms and place orders with you?"

John obviously cares more about the cabinet's true capabilities than the machinations of big companies.

The cupboard shook its head in denial.

"I'm not a professional arms dealer, man. The destruction of the transport ship of Fuki Industries has nothing to do with me. It has nothing to do with who smuggled those highly lethal weapons across the border or who resold them in the city..."

"Then why did you call me over?"

John felt that there was some delay.

The cupboard looked at him meaningfully.

"But it's about you, John. Now, the guys who are going to sell over-spec weapons."

"What do you mean?"

John asked.

The cabinet was smoking an e-cigarette and the respirator was making a rumbling whistling sound.

"I haven't found out their details. Their hacking skills are very powerful. They can move freely in the border wall and the municipal network. Until now, the bigwigs in Eden City are still confused..."

"What does it have to do with me?"

"First, they're dangerous, and second, based on what I've found... they're after you, John."

The cabinet had a smile on its face and a complicated look in its eyes, as if trying to get some information from his expression.

John's face revealed genuine confusion.

The cupboard shook its head and shrugged.

"I am planning to leave Eden City temporarily, mainly to seek refuge. According to unreliable rumors, there are three war-grade weapons in the city. The transaction has been confirmed to be successful, but the specific seller is unknown."

He sighed deeply.

"If they develop a nuclear bomb, we're screwed~"

The cupboard suddenly remembered something and said to John again.

"The above is all the information I know. When you kill Du Raymond, it would be best if you could check his computer. He has had secret contact with those terrorists. As a buyer, he might have some information left."

[Mission target update]

[Obtain Du Raymond's computer data. (Not achieved)]

A text message suddenly popped up in front of me.

John frowned, showing no extra emotion - this time it was not Maya's mission that was triggered, but the main plot that he had almost forgotten.

[Main Mission: Raiders]

[Description: Investigate what the attacker did to "Chavez" and the "cargo", pursue it, and find out who he is. 】

[Reward: Prosthetic limb [Model-T01]]

John was lost in thought.

The cabinet didn't speak again, just sucked attentively, looking lazily at the hanging TV screen.

The gang war news is over.

The entertainment talk show was broadcast on time. Hundreds of lives lost did not disrupt the rhythm of the city's operation. At this moment, on the screen, a popular athlete was promoting a new type of jumping-assisting prosthetic limb in front of the camera.

The cupboard sneered and grumbled.

"Since prosthetics became common, the Paralympics have been cancelled, and the only incurable disease in the world is poverty."

John had already put away the magazine and was about to lift the rolling door. Before leaving, he stopped and asked after hesitating for a moment.

"Why did you remind me specifically?"

"I like you, man. I hope you haven't become a street legend when I return to Eden City."

The cabinet half-drove John out the door, leaned his hands on the roller shutter and laughed.

"Then I'll give you a tip on how to identify people."

"explain."

"Eden City is full of both black and white people. The longer you live, the more dangerous it is. If a person's asset size does not match his financial source, he is probably hiding something. Don't trust him easily and don't provoke him."

slam-la-

The rolling shutter door slid down with a loud bang, blocking out the blue light strip, leaving only dim light spreading in the underground passage.

John pinched his brows and left quickly, thinking that the intelligence could be sorted out after the mission was over.

Wanderers, Rift Party, unknown arms dealer.

He seemed to have sensed the core of the unrest in the city.

[Eden City-Abandoned construction site of the bypass road] [Time: 17:46]

John drove to the northernmost section of the Eden City Ring Road.

The surroundings are extremely desolate.

The mountain stood across the road like a deflated hamburger, and the slopes were undulating and overgrown with weeds.

Directly ahead is a huge, deep tunnel.

The area around the cave was very sloppy, with no regular dome and no signs of a tunnel boring machine being used. There were only huge pipes extending all the way to the deepest part, so it was probably not a road construction project.
The armored vehicle's tires rolled over the gravel and braked to a stop.

The dented steel plate hummed in the wind, and John left the driver's seat and looked around - boxes of all sizes could be seen everywhere, most of them in broken and old conditions.

The giant equipment was buried in the rubble and cement, as if it had been firmly embedded there from the beginning.

Meia leaned against a van.

The place they agreed on was about one kilometer away from the Rift Party rally.

John learned from her:

This is an abandoned mining site. It is not clear whether it contains minerals or something else. The main entrance and exit is on the other side of the cave.

Meiya pulled out two heavy-duty bulletproof vests.

John began to arm himself, and after he was dressed he looked like a fat man sitting in a hovercraft, with his work jacket tucked inside.

"If the bulletproof vest is damaged, just throw it away."

Meia said as she brought out the Hercules blanket.

While John was checking his weapons, she installed a special belt around his waist, which had a built-in slide that allowed him to access spare ammunition at a 360-degree angle.

"Fuck, I feel like I've gained at least twice as much weight!"

"It's not that exaggerated, brother. Put on your bulletproof helmets. There's no point in stealth for this mission tonight. On the contrary, we must kill that beast before reinforcements arrive and leave!"

"Wait a moment..."

John put forward the request for the cabinet.

Maya did not show any impatience, nor did she think that "saving people" and "snatching computers" were unnecessary actions. She even took the initiative to modify the plan and re-divide the work.

The main firepower must be given to John.

Meiya assisted from the side, using equipment to help locate the enemy's coordinates and provide intelligence support.

When John caught Du Raymond.

Meiya was responsible for rescuing the hostages and searching for electronic equipment, preferably those that could be packed up and taken away intact.

[Mission target update]

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

John got into the back of the van fully armed.

Meiya stepped on the accelerator and plunged deep into the tunnel, her badly worn tires kicking up gravel.

It traverses uneven surfaces and metal covers, sometimes even jumping on the spot, without affecting its speed.

John heard noises and gunshots.

He knew the fight was about to start, so he kept his balance and was ready to charge at any time, but he didn't expect...

The whole car suddenly hit something and stopped on the spot.

"Fake!"

John fell back and swore a few words, then quickly got up and broke the sliding door with the front end of his rifle.

Da da da da——

The bright yellow bullet passed by.

The tunnel was completely dark. Several heavily modified minions were cursing and shooting with their guns. It looked like they wanted to blow up the truck on the spot.

John turned around and pulled the trigger.

Hercules spewed out despairing gunfire, and dense bullets exploded on the bodies of his minions like miniature explosives.

The blood mist mixed with dark grey smoke continued to spread.

Messiah's prosthetic eye had already switched to combat mode.

John forcefully joined the battlefield from behind the damaged van, shooting in the direction where the bullets came from. When his vision stabilized again, moving red conical arrows immediately popped up in front of his eyes.

That was the enemy information that Meiya had located.

John turned the gun around, and the screams were immediately drowned out by the gunfire.

He gritted his teeth and concentrated on fighting the recoil.

Hercules was the most powerful weapon he had ever used.

bang bang bang-

Flesh and blood were blasted into pulp in the thick fog, and even the concrete shelters were smashed into flying pieces.

"Hoo, hoo~"

John was breathing heavily in the stuffy helmet.

He looked around the dim construction site through his bulletproof mask:
Searchlights were scattered among various concrete barriers and old storage boxes, outlined by gray silhouettes under red markings.

A bright yellow light flashed.

boom--

John suffered a blow to the head.

A crack appeared on the surface of the mask.

He immediately turned the muzzle of the gun and aimed it at the iron building. The stairs were immediately covered with white sparks, as if glowing dust was shaken off, and the sniper standing on it was shot into a sieve.

An ammunition warning popped up in the lower right corner of John's field of vision.

He released his grip on the trigger and retreated back to the burning van.

【△7/900】

The rapidly decreasing numbers eventually settled in single digits.

"Wow, huh, f*ck!"

John seemed to be holding a hot industrial drill tightly, and white smoke could be seen when he opened the magazine.

Maya leaned out from a distant bunker, raised her rifle and fired bursts of shots to give John time to reload.

The flames crackled behind him.

John felt his heart beating so hard that his sternum ached, and his forehead was soaked with sweat.

His fingers twitched slightly, then immediately stabilized.

[Subcutaneous armor: 97%]

"It's fucking awesome, damn, huh~"

John seemed to still be standing in the intersecting lines of bright yellow fire.

The bullets fired by the Rift Party minions dug into the bulletproof vests, and even a small part hurt the flesh.

Puff. Sizzle.

An arc of electricity suddenly burst out at John's feet.

There are various old construction traces in the tunnel. There is a mobile power supply at regular intervals, and the cable reels are connected to long lines to light up mobile light sources.

When he stood up to change cover, he noticed:

Meiya had just crashed her van into a concrete pile. The hood had completely popped up, and the body of an unlucky guy was burning on the twisted bumper.

【Communication channel request/default】

[They are coming, are you still not ready! ? ]

Meia was screaming.

Click.

"Huh, huh-"

John pulled the bolt, adjusted his breathing, and stepped out from behind the cover.

There were five or six armed thugs gathered in front of him, their bodies covered with tattoos and metal piercing their flesh. Their cheeks were sunken, leaving only iron lumps emitting red light.

John immediately felt the crossfire.

All those frightened gun muzzles were pointed at him!

(End of this chapter)