Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 932, Section 142: The AI's Reminder

"Mr. Carl, the target you are tracking has turned into the factory area. Please wait a moment, and we will send someone over to assist you immediately."

Listening to the NCPD's words over the phone, Carl declined their offer: "Just send a few people to clean up the mess. I saw where they entered; it looks like Vortex Gang territory. Don't come over yet. It wouldn't be good if it aroused unnecessary suspicion. I don't want to alarm them too much."

“I understand, Mr. Carl, but your safety is the most important thing. The Special Operations Team has dispatched a four-person squad to assist you. As you requested, they will remain on the perimeter for the time being. However, please be careful. If anything happens, the Special Operations Team will be dispatched immediately.”

I've now experienced what it's like to have bodyguards following me wherever I go.

The city is still in chaos because of Dogtown, and who knows how many criminals who escaped Dogtown have slipped back into the city—the Special Operations Team should be short-handed right now.

However, sending only four people is still acceptable.

Carl watched as the vehicle turned into the Vortex Gang's territory, then moved slightly and quickly passed several patrolling Vortex Gang sentries.

It's not surprising that the people behind SSI are colluding with the Vortex Gang.

The organizational structure of the Vortex Gang dictates that each team within the gang is independent. These teams may take on missions that even their superiors are unaware of, or they may engage in risky actions that are not reported to their superiors at all. These are things that the leader cannot control.

After all, if a gang leader is truly capable of controlling the entire gang, which is plagued by cyberbullying due to excessive modifications, then he could be compared to the original founder of the Vortex Gang, "Hammerbone".

Since the infamous founder of the Vortex Gang, "Hammerbone," died in the nuclear explosion of 2023 along with a series of high-ranking members who still controlled the Vortex Gang, the gang was destined to descend into chaos and disorder.

In this gang today, no one can expect to command these cyber lunatics who sometimes don't even know what they're doing.

Even the current leader, Brick, is no longer up to par.

This is also why Carl didn't plan to go to Brick to find out what was going on.

Although he wasn't Gotham's most outstanding detective, who would beat up the poor little penguin to extract information when he wanted to know something, he still had the face to ask Brick about minor matters because of their somewhat 'familiar' relationship.

However, if a leader doesn't even know what his subordinates do, then don't expect him to be of any help.

Carl entered the factory and quietly approached a room that might have been the factory's security room.

There were two Vortex Gang members watching the monitor in the room, so Karl took them down in an instant.

Carl didn't kill them. It wasn't that Carl intended to spare the lives of these Vortex Gang members. Although the Vortex Gang wasn't like the Cleaners who would kill anyone they encountered, Carl was still happy to do things that were convenient for him.

These guys basically all have several lives on their hands and related criminal records. The reason Karl didn't kill them first was to ensure that they could maintain contact with other Vortex gangs afterward, keeping it looking like 'nothing happened,' giving him more time to search the vehicle without alerting anyone.

He skillfully hacked into the system, and in the process, he casually erased the short-term memories of the Vortex Gang members—this would ensure that these Vortex Gang members would remain quiet for the time being and would not remember anything unusual even when they woke up.

After dealing with this minor incident, he immediately accessed the factory's surveillance network and began searching for the black vehicle in the flickering images.

It didn't take Carl long to locate the black vehicle in a corner of the surveillance footage—it was parked quietly in the shadows of the abandoned factory, looking completely inconspicuous. Carl retrieved the first five minutes of footage, watched it at high speed, and saw several people with their faces covered, their attire obscured, get out of the vehicle. After getting out, they walked straight to the other side of the factory, and the footage ended with them entering a warehouse.

'Did you contact your superiors when something happened?'

It seems they haven't realized they're being followed.

Did they think they could leave unnoticed because they were quick enough to escape undetected? Or perhaps they were planning to slip away unnoticed and continue their journey by changing vehicles?

Regardless, Carl had to go check on the car first.

There might be some intelligence in that vehicle responsible for surveillance and receiving information.

Carl left the monitoring room quietly, using a little nerve stimulation to wake the unconscious Vortex Gang members before leaving, and then took the opportunity to fix all the surveillance footage along the way.

"Did I drink too much last night? Why am I so groggy?"

From the monitoring room behind Carl came the mutterings of the gang member who was gradually regaining consciousness.

Having had his short-term memories erased and suffering from prolonged mental confusion due to excessive modifications, he and his companions were completely unaware that someone had infiltrated and checked the surveillance footage, attributing all the anomalies solely to their excessive drinking at the 'Dance of Death' the previous night.

The Dance of Death is a club controlled by the Vortex Gang in the city, and it can even be said to be the foundation of the Vortex Gang's existence. There is a signature drink in that club called 'Doomsday'.

The ingredients in that liquor were quite complex; it contained virtually every drinkable and undrinkable ingredient you could think of. It was so potent that even a transformation fanatic like the Whirlpool Gang could be brought to a standstill by just a small glass. Countless Whirlpool Gang members died every day from drinking this liquor, and being in a daze was perfectly normal. So this Whirlpool Gang member simply thought he had drunk too much the day before, causing his mind to become unclear.

It's just that my head is foggy, it's not a big deal, I'm used to it.

Completely disregarding the fact that they seemed to have lost some time of memory, the two members of the Vortex Gang assumed it was just a blackout caused by alcohol. They then watched the surveillance footage again, unaware that anything was amiss.

“I told you that the cup with alcohol di fuel and disinfectant was not good. You should have chosen hand sanitizer, and it had to be a fragrant one to have a good scent.”

While the two members of the Vortex Gang, who had regained their senses but were still somewhat disoriented, resumed their casual conversation, Carl had already left the factory where the monitoring room was located and arrived at the house near the black vehicle.

"Data scanning detected. Please be careful."

Just then, a calm AI voice came from the phone in Karl's arms.

Since acquiring this AI, Carl has changed its carriers several times. In the end, he inserted the component that carried its core action characteristics into a specially made phone, turning it into a smart companion that could assist him at any time.

Now, it has keenly sensed something and is giving Karl a warning.

(End of this chapter)