The Creators: From Night City

"So I think it's a good idea for you to join Anti-Entropy. Maybe we can even become partners." Vincent said this with ulterior motives.

Panam scratched his head in annoyance. "Let me think about it. Becoming a corporate dog all of a sudden is a bit too big a step for me."

Vincent wanted to chat a few more words when a mission message suddenly popped up from the [Anti-Entropy] employee contact terminal in the lower right corner of his artificial eye's head-up display.

The company's internal communication terminal, developed by Qiwei, the head of the network department, is still very simple in function, but it can handle basic uploading and downloading.

"What, are you here to work?" Panam asked when he saw Vincent suddenly froze.

"The bad thing about joining a company is that it's like being tied to a leash. You have no freedom."

Mitch chimed in, "Everything has its pros and cons. We can't have all the benefits go to one person."

"[Anti-Entropy] is pretty decent. At least it won't let you do anything that will get you killed."

Vincent stuffed the food into his mouth with a few chopsticks, waved goodbye to the two of them, and opened the mission message to learn about the details.

……

Modern warfare is a war of intelligence.

With the advancement of science and technology, the status of intelligence is increasing day by day.

Know thyself, ever-victorious.

Coronado Ranch North.

A Colby 'Shepherd Boy' was parked in the dark parking lot of the building.

Jack's strong body was huddled in the car, which was very uncomfortable. However, in order to hide, he could only try his best to bend his waist, which caused the tone of his voice to be distorted.

"I'm not saying, Frate (brother), is that damn old man going to come?"

Vincent fiddled with his new gun, a prototype weapon produced by Anti-Entropy.

【Standard Defender】

An electromagnetically accelerated shotgun.

It has a honeycomb-like barrel, and its unique design allows it to spray out a barrage of dozens of steel balls every time it fires, covering a large area of ​​enemies.

Of course, the most important thing about this gun is its high rate of fire.

The mature electromagnetic rail acceleration technology makes its firing rate comparable to that of an automatic rifle.

The smaller size of the steel balls also makes its bullet capacity larger than that of ordinary firearms, allowing it to obtain more sustained and continuous fire suppression at close range.

The suppressive power of this gun indoors is terrifying.

"Of course, intelligence indicates that he comes here almost every week to eat that 'Neijin Mori'."

Jack fumbled with the equipment box at his feet. "I have to say, these people are really perverted."

"Just eat, why bother with all this nonsense?"

"If it were you, I'd just bring a gun and poke it in..."

"shush"

A bright light shone into the parking lot, and then a car drove past the two people's car.

The parking spots of the Tingwei Colby 'Shepherd Boy' have been carefully selected to ensure that every car entering through the entrance will be clearly seen by the two people in the car.

"Oh my god, it's a Chevrolet Emperor 'Fortress'. Is it that pervert's?"

Vincent signaled his good brother not to get excited, and the two of them stared at each other's every move carefully through the passenger window.

Soon, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie with a big belly got out of the car. He was supported by his female companion and entered the elevator surrounded by bodyguards.

"Is it him?" Jack said with strong anticipation.

The two of them have been staying in this small car for two and a half days. If the target doesn't come, both of them will be dead.

Vincent simply compared the magnified image taken by the prosthetic eye with the photos in the mission briefing and came to a conclusion.

"It's him."

"We finally caught this estúpido (idiot)."

As the chief of the NCPD, Sarak Jellion would always be accompanied by bodyguards even when he was having fun in private or doing something shameful.

Although he went to the private club in the building to vent his desires, there was still a driver and bodyguard in the car in the parking lot, standing guard cautiously.

"What should we do?" Jack sneaked out of the car with the equipment box, squatted in the shadow of the corner, and asked Vincent.

"The original plan was to be careful not to alert the driver. The NCPD chief is a coward and would flee at the slightest sign of trouble."

Jack opened the box a crack and took a look at the disc-shaped magnetic bomb inside. "This is no easy task. Judging from the size of the driver, he's obviously a martial artist."

"It's going to take some effort to install this iron lump under the other car without alerting him."

Vincent touched the combat glove on his left hand, which was equipped with a stasis module. "Don't worry, I specially requested a secret weapon from the company for this operation."

Jack glanced at the unassuming device on the back of Vincent's hand with distrust, "It better be as magical as you say."

"Do not worry."

"Is the camera ready?" Jack was still worried and checked another preparation with Vincent.

"Don't worry, the puppet was implanted two days ago. It was the work of the head of the company's network department. There will definitely be no problem."

In order to avoid any unexpected trouble, the two men stopped talking and, relying on the cover of the vehicle, quietly approached the target car.

The Chevrolet Emperor 'Fortress', as the name suggests, is a huge muscle car. This car has obviously undergone protective modifications, making the body look even larger.

Looking at the thick car body, Vincent became more and more curious about the company's intelligence capabilities.

I don’t know how my colleagues in the intelligence department do their work, but they can even get the vehicle protection data that the target intentionally keeps confidential.

The defense capability of the Sarak Jellion's vehicle is strong enough to withstand rocket bombardment, and the strength of its armor is almost catching up with that of ordinary main battle vehicles.

Chapter 218: Smashing Waludo

The driver was sitting in the car, and the two were waiting not far away. It was not until Jack impatiently moved his numb calves for the third time that the driver opened the door and got out of the car, ready to stretch and smoke a cigarette.

Even so, the other party was still alert and did not move away from the vehicle, but chose to half lean on the hood of the car.

If he hadn't been scolded by Sarak Jerion for smoking in the car, he wouldn't have planned to get out at all.

Seeing that the time he had been waiting for had come, Vincent quickly signaled Jack to take out the magnetic bomb from the box.

"Jack, you only have 13 seconds, so make sure you count it carefully."

The good brother showed his bright big teeth and gave Vincent a thumbs up, indicating that there was definitely no problem.

The driver lit up a high-end cigarette that was said to have just come out of 'Dog Town'. He felt the mellow aroma and rich and delicate taste blooming in his mouth, and nodded with satisfaction.

Just as he greedily took another puff of his cigarette and flicked off the ash, a blue-white ball of stagnant energy hit him silently from behind, and the distorted time field that unfolded instantly enveloped him and the cigarette in his hand.

The ash that had already separated from the cigarette butt instantly froze in the air and fell slowly at a very slow speed.

Seeing Vincent's gesture, Jack immediately crouched down and ran from the side to the Chevrolet Emperor's "Fortress". He bent down and stretched out his arms, and with his veins stretched, he attached the very heavy magnetic bomb to the chassis of the vehicle, then stuck it in the driver's blind spot and returned the same way.

As 13 seconds passed in the blink of an eye, the blue-white energy field instantly dissipated without a trace.

Thanks to the enclosed space of the parking lot and the fact that the puppet temporarily blocked the entrances and exits before the operation, the driver, whose 13 seconds were stolen, did not notice anything unusual as the surrounding environment did not change.

He just felt that the space around him was blurred for a moment, but it quickly returned to normal. The feeling was so slight that he mistakenly thought it was affected by the smoke from the cigarette in his hand.

He patted the cigarette ash that had just fallen on his legs, looked back vigilantly at the vehicle behind him, and made sure that everything was normal before turning back to continue smoking.

The two men who completed their mission returned to the car in a flash, like weasels that had just stolen a chick.

"!Dios mío! (Oh my God), how can you be so domineering?"

Jack has been roaming Night City for decades, and he's seen and tasted a lot of things, and knows a lot about all sorts of strange gadgets, but this kind of high-tech gadget involving Grand Unified Field Theory, which doesn't even exist on the moon, is something he's never seen before."

"Impressive, right? This is just the beginning. There are so many tough guys in the company."

Vincent thought about the other tough guys he had seen in the Level III armory, and he wanted to show off to Jack, but due to the company's system, he could only swallow it back into his stomach.

"If you ask me, would you like to join Anti-Entropy and work with me, Jack?"

“It’s not a good idea to always be a marginal walker and run a small business.”

Jack scratched his head. "I'm going to be a big shot in Night City. Being a corporate dog won't cut it."

"Food and accommodation are provided, and all equipment consumed during missions is reimbursed. Injuries are fully covered by the company insurance, and there are regular physical examinations. You also get employee welfare meals."

Vincent stretched out his left hand, waved the stasis module in front of Jack, and patted his [Standard Defender].

"Most equipment companies on the market have them, selling them at a discount or giving them away. Their arsenals are full of high-quality goods that can't be found on the black market."

This series of rants shook the dam of stubbornness in Jack's heart to the point of collapse.

"The feeling of being exploited is not as free as being a mercenary." Jack had a hard time defending himself.

"This mission is a Level III mission, as assigned by the company. We've been given 100,000 Euros as funding. As you know, we've barely spent anything. I'll give you half when the time comes."

"[Anti-Entropy] is so generous?"

Vincent put on a smug smile, the corners of his mouth almost reaching his ears.

Thanks to the extremely high profit margins of Zhutian Trade, the capital reserves of Anti-Entropy have skyrocketed. As a people's entrepreneur, Boss Jiang naturally will not skimp on employee benefits. This means that even workers who follow Duke Lawson to repair the earth all day can get quarterly bonuses.

Although there weren't many of them, the Night City's cattle and horses had never seen this thing before. Their loyalty skyrocketed, and they were so motivated that they couldn't wait to swing their hoes to produce sparks.

Of course, judging from the market price, 10 euros is actually a bit too little to assassinate a high-ranking NCPD chief, but this matter needs to be considered comprehensively.

If a normal edge walker takes on this job, the market price is around 40 euros, and the middleman will pay at least half of it. Various intelligence needs money, equipment and ammunition need money, hacker puppets need money, and if you get injured, you have to pay for the treatment yourself. 20 euros may seem like a lot, but after spending all this, you are considered lucky if you can keep half of it.

Not to mention that the intelligence may be wrong, and if you encounter unreliable middlemen, you will be dragged into the vortex of competition among major forces.

When the operators of [Anti-Entropy] go on missions, all the losses of weapons and equipment, company equipment, etc. can be reimbursed by the company, not to mention the magnetic bombs produced by Jiang Bing, which are worth a fortune and are not available on the market.

The stagnation module cannot be measured by money.

"If you want to join us, we can probably get 15 yuan for the activity."

"Guay de mi (My dear), if you put it that way, I can consider it."

No wonder people always say that money is the lubricant of everything. Jack's attitude changed so smoothly.

Time passed quickly as the two of them teased each other, and Jack elbowed Vincent to indicate that there was something new.

Sarak Jellion came down from the elevator with a rosy face, a flushed expression, and unsteady steps. He looked very satisfied.

Thanks to the smooth movement of the two, the opponent had no idea that there was a big bomb right under their feet.

The Chevrolet Emperor 'Fortress' drove out of the garage, and the Thunderbolt Colby 'Shepherd Boy' followed closely behind, neither too far nor too close.

Jack sat in the passenger seat, his blond hair in his hands. "If it were you, we should have just detonated the bomb right after he got in the car. Why bother with all this?"

"If it were detonated in the underground parking lot, this bomb would bring down the entire building, believe it or not."

Vincent's face was filled with certainty.

"I don't believe it. It's already pretty good that such a small thing can blow through the iron coffin in front."

Vincent slammed on the brakes, kept his distance, and followed behind the other party. Although the parameters were written like this when he took the bomb, Vincent was still somewhat unconfident.

But even if he tried to hold on at this moment, he couldn't lose face in front of his brothers.

"The detonator is in the storage box. I'll show you some fireworks later."

Chapter 219 Someone Dreams of Flying to the Sky

The Chevrolet Emperor 'Fortress' turned off the street and took a road leading to the viaduct.

Night City's original urban transportation was very backward, but thanks to the nuclear explosion in 2024, most of the buildings in the downtown area centered on Company Square, Haywood, and the southern part of Watson District collapsed in the shock wave generated by the explosion.

Buildings that did not collapse also became dangerous buildings and had to be demolished and rebuilt.

Compared with the old plan from the 90s, the new urban transportation system built on the ruins is more scientifically designed, with wide roads and easy access. It is one of the few good aspects of Night City.

This place is considered one of the end points of the beltway, close to the Badlands. Coronado Ranch is remote and deserted, and now it is daytime on a weekday, so there is even less traffic.

Vincent braked the car and when the two were about 50 meters apart, he signaled Jack to detonate the explosion.

Without hesitation, the other party fastened the safety button to prevent accidental touch and pressed the button all the way down.

Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane, commonly known as CL-20, is mainly used as a component of high-end propellants. Of course, it is also one of the highest-energy and most powerful non-nuclear elemental explosives in use.

Liquid hydrazine, one of the common technologies of mankind in the 26th century in "Dead Space", has a maximum combustion temperature of 6000 degrees Celsius.