Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

The low-level thugs in Dogtown never believed in any corporate intimidation tactics; they only trusted the knives and guns in their hands and the euros they had.

In Roddy's eyes, Karen was just a fool who had read a few books, so foolish that he came to Dogtown to make a deal without keeping any backup plan.

Roddy could no longer hide the greed in his eyes and secretly gave a wink to someone in the shadows behind him.

The next second, eight figures wearing graffiti masks and imitation Tiger Claw Gang leather jackets slowly walked out from behind the scrap steel plate, deliberately making their steps arrogant and domineering, imitating the fierce aura of gang thugs.

"Things?"

The leader of the thugs lowered his voice and changed his tone.

"Take it out and inspect it. If there are no problems, transfer the money immediately."

Karen breathed a sigh of relief, letting his guard down for the last time. He took out the data chip storage box from his bag and raised his hand to open the encrypted clasp of the storage box.

Just as the latch popped open.

Roddy's expression suddenly changed.

"Make your move!"

The moment the shout landed, eight disguised thugs sprang up, pistols and melee cleavers flashing from their waists. Without any preparation, they charged straight at Karen, showing no intention of inspecting the goods or making a deal.

Karen's pupils contracted sharply, and a chill instantly ran through him.

Black eat black!

In his panic, he slammed the storage box shut, clutched it to his chest, stumbled backward, and roared angrily.

"You're not the Tiger Claw Gang! How dare you steal Zeta's things?!"

"Tiger Claw Gang?"

Roddy laughed wildly, all humility gone, his face now filled with malice.

"Fool, 500,000 euros is enough for us to take the risk! No one's coming to rescue you tonight, leave your things here, and leave your life here too!"

A chaotic battle erupted instantly.

Gunfire erupted from the abandoned open space, the ear-piercing roar of weapons tearing through the night, bullets striking rusted steel plates and splattering sparks everywhere.

The eight thugs, taking advantage of their numbers, surrounded and encircled Karen, with gunfire and blades clashing, tightly blocking his escape route.

Karen is a civilian R&D staff member who has only received basic training and has no combat experience or combat prosthetics.

He could only awkwardly dodge using his leg prosthetics, barely managing to stay alive by relying on the piles of old debris. In an instant, a deep, bone-revealing gash was slashed open on his arm by a cutting blade, and blood soaked through his work clothes.

And just as this chaotic battle was completely ignited...

A car headlight suddenly pierced the darkness.

Chapter 135 Mistakenly Caught in the Trap of Humanity

"Holy crap, Brother Hao Nan and his henchmen are also chopping up Ba Bi?"

Vito, sitting in the passenger seat, watched the chaotic battle ahead and couldn't help but sigh.

"The target was double-crossed, and the people who did it were very rough. Look at those guys, they don't look like mercenaries at all, they're obviously just a few thugs."

Vito took a closer look after being reminded by Li Ying and saw that the knife-wielders were slashing wildly at the air, showing only ferocity but no skill, while the gunmen were firing indiscriminately regardless of their teammates' positions.

"It seems so. Let's find a place to stop. The target still has the information that Old Tang wants."

Li Ying remained calm and controlled the car throughout, gripping the steering wheel steadily and skillfully. After her injury was fully healed, her driving sense returned completely.

She smoothly brought the car to a side stop in the best and safest firing position with optimal visibility.

Vito rested his elbow lightly on the edge of the car window, cocked the euro in his hand, and pointed it at the crowd in the melee.

"Nine thugs, no standard heavy armor, light weapons, extremely low threat level."

Watching the chaotic battle, Li Ying quietly reported the battle situation and was ready to adjust the parking position at any time. Long-term use of military technology training chips has made Li Ying a semi-expert.

"I see it."

Two crisp gunshots rang out in quick succession.

In the darkness, the bullet's afterimage precisely pierced the heads of two thugs amidst the chaos. Their movements came to an abrupt halt, and before they could even turn around to see their attacker, they collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless.

The few remaining people on the battlefield panicked instantly. The sudden, instant kill shattered their arrogance, and the rhythm of the melee was forcibly cut off in an instant.

In layman's terms, the mob was stunned by the beating, forgot to capture Karen, and stood there dumbfounded.

"Someone is trying to double-cross us!"

Roddy shouted that he was judging others by his own standards; the old cunning man thought everyone was sinister.

Before they could react and turn their guns around.

Vito slightly shifted his wrist, made a precise adjustment to the muzzle, and, relying on the vehicle's stable fulcrum, pulled the trigger again.

Several gunshots rang out, and all the thugs with guns fell to the ground.

The remaining three thugs with knives were in a dilemma. They weren't masters, and they couldn't outrun bullets. Moreover, Vito's marksmanship was both fast and accurate, and they were almost scared to death.

Vito paid no heed to the emotional journeys of the group, and the euro once again sounded the death knell.

Roddy, who had been so arrogant just moments before, froze, his legs went weak, and the sinister greed on his face turned to terror. He stood frozen in place, too afraid to move, and even the courage to run away was completely drained away.

Karen, who was in dire straits and on the verge of death throughout, seized the only chance to escape during this brief lull in the battle.

A resolute glint flashed in Karen's eyes.

His ankle-reinforced prosthetics activated instantly, concealed by his trousers, and he was ready to launch his powerful jump.

hum-

The faint mechanical resonance was extremely low, drowned out by the sound of the wind, but there was something unusual hidden in the sound.

The ankle prosthesis instantly unleashes super-powerful stored energy, with the mechanical structure tightening, pressurizing, and exploding.

Immediately, Karen became Kelsen and switched to a clever escape mode.

A muffled thud!

Karen was launched like a cannonball, his body suddenly leaping more than three meters into the air. Using the momentum of his super-long-charged jump, he jumped onto the square stairs in the known territory and fled rapidly towards the refugee area deep in the known territory.

The movements were swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

He knew very well that the gunman who suddenly appeared was of unknown origin. He had just saved him, but he might also be the one who was about to kill him. He might even be Zeta's assassin.

Staying put means either being silenced or having your goods robbed again; running away is the only way to survive.

In just a few seconds, Karen, who had activated his ankle prosthesis, completely disappeared into the darkness.

The smoke from the gunpowder slowly dissipated.

Li Ying raised her eyebrows slightly and spoke softly.

"He got away. He used his prosthetic body to charge up and jump. He's very fast. He's entered a refugee area. The terrain is complicated. It's hard to chase him by car."

Vito gripped the gun, his gaze sweeping over the eight corpses on the open ground and Roddy, the middleman lying limp on the ground, as he lightly twirled the pistol between his fingers.

"Is Zeta really that sloppy? Even Arasaka knows to shut down the prosthetic body before arresting his own people."

boom!

……

Karen mustered all his strength and circled around before rushing into the sprawling residential area next to the Long Beach stockpile. His lungs felt like they were being rubbed raw by sandpaper, and every breath was accompanied by excruciating pain.

Legendary runner Karen is going to participate in the Olympics.

The Long Beach stockpile area is a mixed bag of people and homeless people. Gangs are too lazy to manage it, and even Hansen's Ghost Hound soldiers disdain to set foot there. It is the best hiding place for the lower class to escape.

Karen stumbled into a deep, deserted back alley, her feet thumping softly over puddles and scattered trash.

He dared not linger for even a moment, rushing all the way to the deepest part of the alley, where he finally collapsed, completely exhausted, against the cold, damp cement wall.

Sweat soaked through his black work jacket, his back pressed tightly against the wall, the deep wound from the scalpel still oozing blood, mixed with dust and sticking to his skin, causing a stinging pain.

But he had no time to worry about his injuries. He held the encrypted storage box in his arms tightly with both hands, his knuckles turning white and trembling from the excessive force.

They survived.

The fighting and the escape had almost drained him of all his strength. If he had been a second later, he would have become a cold corpse on the open ground of the stockpile, eaten by Dog Town, leaving not even a trace of his existence.

Karen leaned back against the wall, looking at the faint light filtering in from the alley entrance. His chest heaved violently, his eyes filled with the relief of surviving the ordeal and lingering fear.

He secretly rejoiced that he had kept an extra trick up his sleeve.

As a researcher at Zeta Technologies, he spends his days in the laboratory, comes into contact with various materials on prosthetic modifications, and knows some of Zeta's secrets. He is more aware than anyone of the company's ruthlessness and greed.

So even at the risk of illegal modifications, he installed a backdoor in his ankle prosthesis, just so that the company wouldn't shut it down in the event of a crisis, giving him a better chance to escape.

"It's alright...we're safe now..."

He muttered to himself softly, as if trying to soothe himself, and his tense nerves finally began to relax.

If he can just get through tonight, he can leave Dogtown with this Zeta secret and trade this valuable information elsewhere.

He could then completely escape the lowly life of a Zeta researcher, earn a fortune, and fly away, never again trapped in this cannibalistic city, barely surviving.

Next time, he'll be more careful and won't let these damned lower-level people trick him again.

hum-

A very faint, almost indistinguishable mechanical hum suddenly rose from his ankle.

The sound was very faint; it would have been impossible to hear in a noisy street, but in this desolate and secluded alley, it was as clear as listening to a dog-shit neighbor playing the violin.

Karen's relaxed pupils suddenly contracted, his blood seemed to freeze instantly, and a bone-chilling coldness surged up his back.

The company has a hidden agenda within my own prosthetic body!

The next second, a tall, slender figure stepped into the dim light from the dark shadows at the alley entrance.

"Gotcha! Now it's your turn to be the ghost!"

Chapter 136 Someone Struggles at Midnight

"You must be Karen. How's Dogtown? Fun?"

Vito had one hand in his pocket and the other casually holding a euro, with the muzzle of his gun hanging down.

Karen froze, every hair on his body standing on end, an overwhelming fear instantly extinguishing any remaining hope.

He finally realized why he was being precisely tracked.

He modified and cut the surface program of the ankle prosthesis without authorization, but the tracking module under the prosthesis could never be completely removed.

His self-righteous backup plan was, from the very beginning, a chain around his own neck.

"No...it's impossible..."

Karen's lips trembled violently, her voice dry and hoarse, filled with utter despair.

He suddenly looked down at his ankles, which were hidden inside his trouser leg.

"Dogtown has a great local culture, right? Even the president was impressed by this place. To be honest, I've said it's awesome several times in just a few days."

Vito's ambiguous words caused Karen to instantly collapse, losing all the arrogance and toughness she had shown during the previous transaction.

He scrambled to his feet, daring not to resist in the slightest, clutching the encrypted storage box tightly in his hands, raising it high, his body trembling violently as he bowed to Vito, begging for mercy.

"Sir! I was wrong! Please forgive me!"

Karen's voice was choked with sobs.

"Data! All the classified information is here! Complete, authentic, without any backups or leaks! I haven't kept a single thing for myself! I'm giving it all to you!"

He held the storage box in both hands, extending it forward almost entirely, his posture extremely humble, having completely abandoned all pretense of dignity.

"Hey, hey, don't do that. I'm not a Japanese soldier. I don't do that kind of bowing and apologizing."

"I'm just a tool at the very bottom of Zeta, just trying to make some money to escape Zeta. I've never offended anyone!"