My cyberpsychosis is a task prompt

Chapter 217: Checkpoint (Thanks to Alliance Leader "Her Malgob")
【Eden City - Wasteland Surface B275】

Light gradually appeared in the dark blue night sky.

The undulating contours of the wasteland are studded with drought-resistant plants and various abandoned vehicle frames.

The tin shack rattled and creaked.

Tall wind turbines stand at varying heights...

Dawn is approaching.

The sunlight will sweep across the yellow sand and tall buildings, overshadow the dazzling neon lights, and inch by inch crush the protective layer of darkness, dragging the numb soul out of the haven of alcohol and blood.

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

Bismarck pushed open the door and left.

A hovercar bearing the Plato logo was already waiting by the roadside.

Heavily armed company soldiers helped Bismarck board the hull, and someone immediately took his suit jacket.

Vehicle: V9 Dogfly

The vector engine kicked up dust, which receded into the distance against the completely bright sky.

Bismarck did not say goodbye, and did not utter a single word after leaving the source equation.

John ultimately did not pull the trigger and kill him on the road.

I'm so tired this night.

But their return journey was not smooth.

Eden City - Suburban Highway Checkpoint

A steel tunnel stretches across the city entrance.

ECPD drones hovered in the sky.

An armored vehicle with flashing red and blue warning lights blocked the road.

The heavily armed police officers and the strictly placed road markers all demonstrate just how severe the martial law situation in the half-area was.

Last night's memory of the source equation was too vivid.

They seemed to just remember that before entering that facility, besides the airship that crashed into the wasteland, there was another behemoth, the "Faki," that landed directly in a densely populated city.

"Damn, I didn't expect even the SAT would be involved."

Gino gritted his teeth and muttered curses under his breath while sitting in the passenger seat.

Following her gaze:

A line of uniquely designed vehicles passed through the checkpoint one after another and disappeared into the depths of the steel dome, leaving only rows of dim yellow lights and flashing holographic projection advertisements in sight.

At the front of the "steel maw," there was a large armed airborne vehicle parked.

A holographic projection descended, displaying a red warning line and the words "key screening area" floating in the air. Several fully armed special operations team members stood there.

They were wearing familiar multi-hole tactical helmets.

Each person held a large-caliber blue-black rifle, and their bulletproof vests and subcutaneous armor were top-of-the-line; you could tell without even scanning with a prosthetic eye—everyone's prosthetic body was supermodel-like.

Of course.

Only a madman would dare to scan these bloodthirsty tyrants.

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

The encounter between a marginalized individual and a cyber hacker with a special operations team on the city streets is more terrifying than any ghost story told on an illegal radio station.

Who knows if I have a warrant on me? By sheer bad luck, I just happened to attract their attention.

The checkpoints in Eden City are divided into three lines.

On the outermost edge of the wilderness, at a crucial juncture of the city's high walls, lies a border checkpoint.

The inspections there are even more chaotic. There is an armed force that can provide support at any time, and various companies outsourced by the city hall are stationed there 24 hours a day. It is the city's outer shell with military-level combat capabilities, so individuals are not qualified to deal with it.

Even the most notorious middlemen on the streets have to use groups of ghouls, homeless people, or corporate networks as stepping stones to smuggle certain shady "people" and "goods" in or out. The innermost checkpoints are located on the city streets.

In case of emergencies, such as criminals escaping or gang conflicts, certain major transportation routes will be temporarily blocked.

It is usually the ECPD officers who go to stand guard and conduct screenings.

Combined with police drones, armored vehicles, dispatched patrols, and a few lawbreakers, these constitute the main characters of the daily street racing sprees.

Located between the "border checkpoint" and the "urban transportation network" is this kind of "city entrance checkpoint".

It is not usually strict.

There was even a separate annex building with service windows specifically for collecting protection fees.

Whether they are outcasts, corporate elites, or even members of the ECPD, if they want to get things done, bribery will be tolerated.

But last night's airship crash clearly had a huge impact.

The windows that were used to pull strings are now closed with metal shutters.

None of the prosecutors and staff members we usually know showed up, and besides, the SAT score already speaks volumes about the official stance.

Life must go on.

This applies to ordinary people as well as mercenaries.

Those risky businesses always encounter similar "accidents".

While Gino and his friends were lost in thought, someone in the queue ahead of them actually had a terrible misfortune!
A Carlomont van turned on its red light as it passed the scanner.

The broadcast made it very clear that the prohibited items in the carriage were smart weapons with their serial numbers erased, and they were all large-caliber!

In such a sensitive area where the whole city and part of the district are under martial law, anyone who dares to smuggle this thing across is crazy!
Either they didn't listen to the middleman's advice, or the seller wasn't clever enough, or maybe creditors like ghouls were pressuring them too much. There's nothing they can do about it...

If something goes wrong, someone has to pay the price.

A row of red lights illuminated the entire steel tunnel, and the alarm blared sharply.

Before the on-duty police officer could even put down his coffee, the driver revved the engine and prepared to run the gate. The SAT members were the quickest to react.

They activated the S.A.S.A.S.S. and disappeared into the pale sunlight.

The heavily armored breakthrough fighter slammed his shield down on the hood of the Camormon, lifting the entire vehicle up. The cargo in the trunk broke free of its latches and scattered around...

The gunman in the passenger seat was so shaken that his internal organs trembled, and he hung on the car window, swaying in the wind.

Before they could even utter a curse or scream, someone appeared on the side and pulled the trigger.

Large-caliber bullets penetrate sheet metal, leather vehicles, and flesh and bones, turning into pure blood plasma as they exit from the other side.

It felt like piercing a juicer with a stirring stick.

The whole process took less than a minute.

The smuggling team was reduced to dust during a violent search by the SAT.

Not only the onlookers, but even the police officers on duty had complicated expressions.

John's language plugin even picked up several colloquialisms, including words like "monster," "cold-blooded machine," and "legitimate cyber madman."

Even more people spit out of the driver's side window.

But the special operations team members were colder than machines, seemingly deaf, until their compound eyes on their tactical masks swept over...

Everyone is avoiding it.

Buzz—Eee—Ya—

Noise emanated from the steel arch of the checkpoint.

A crane moved horizontally over the traffic and fell heavily, gathering the bloodstains and vehicle wreckage on the ground to the side like sweeping up garbage, before workers wearing municipal tags came forward to clean up.

The main road has been cleared.

The vehicles behind pushed forward, covering the freshly washed, wet ground.

(End of this chapter)