Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 224 83. Unaware

"Pong!"

Hearing the crash and shattering sounds coming from downstairs, No. 10 on the second floor clenched the double axes in his hands and made an urgent call in the team channel: "No. 3, what happened, No. 3, report the situation!"

What he welcomed was silence.

Was he killed?

So fast!
From the time you hear the sound to the time it ends, do two seconds pass?
"I'm already on number ten."

Number Four on the third floor came through the communication. His voice was calm but cold: "I will be exposed directly in front of him. It's up to you from now on."

"Are you planning to use yourself as bait?!"

"He is a strong man. To be strong, he must make sacrifices to win."

Number Four picked up the Saratoga submachine gun of military technology, bent down and hid beside the stairs that turned from the third floor to the second floor. The exoskeleton he was wearing was well hidden behind the wall. As long as the target stepped onto the stairs to the second floor, he would actively expose himself and use the sound of gunfire to cover up Number Ten who would fire electromagnetic interference bombs on the second floor for close combat.

The target's prosthetics are likely to contain Sianwestin. He has used it no less than six times since he launched the sniper attack. This level of Sianwestin usage should have been the limit even if the target was a famous mercenary in the entire Night City. The opportunity to use the opponent to cover for that bastard boss allowed him to use it so many times, which was really smooth beyond No. 4's expectations. What remained was a real fight.

Bullshit military technology, bullshit boss.

Thinking of the two companions who had already died, No. 4 thought of those companions who sacrificed themselves for them after discovering the truth and died on the way to Night City.

You actually treat us as waste, as testing and data collection objects. Don't underestimate us!

We are the elites, ten elites selected from millions of people. We are sharp blades, we are different, and we are destined to be above others!
If you use us in a wasteful way and treat us like waste, we will make you regret it sooner or later!

Everyone else is dead, and as bait, he will likely die at the hands of the mercenary. But as long as No. 10 is alive, it will be enough, even if only one person is alive.

No. 10 carries enough internal information on his body. Arasaka, Kantō, and all the companies involved in military industry will be interested in that information. As long as No. 10 can use that information to enter those companies, Military Technology will have to pay the price for betraying them!
The revenge of the elites will be terrible!

Although he was roaring inwardly, Number Four held the Saratoga steadily in his hands.

He couldn't let his emotions show on the surface, nor could he let them interfere with the battle. He was the best in the entire team at this kind of thing. Even the best and number one who had died at the hands of the target could not compare to him.

However, no matter how stable your heart is, it is bound to fluctuate as time goes by.

Nearly ten seconds had passed since the signal of number three on the first floor fell silent. Ten seconds was enough time for even an ordinary resident of Night City to slowly climb up to the next floor. How come I didn't hear any footsteps at all?

Apart from the initial collision sound, there was no other sound, no fighting sound, no roaring, no gunshots, nothing, only silence except breathing.

so quiet.

It was so quiet that even breathing seemed to become heavy.

Under the mask of the exoskeleton, No. 4 breathed filtered air through the mask.

'Whoosh. Whoosh.'

"call."

This is not the sound of the mask filtering the air, but the sound inside the mask that can only be heard clearly by No. 4.

The sound of breathing came from beside him.

His hair stood on end, but before he could move, two iron-like wrists had already clamped his neck in a naked choke.

The exoskeleton has an armored structure at the neck to defend against external attacks, but with the arm that locked No. 4 and easily broke the neck armor with force, that little bit of defense was completely useless.
The fragments of the exoskeleton parts that broke and cracked due to the pressure pierced into his neck, turning the difficult breathing into an almost undetectable hissing sound.

With blood bubbles filling his mouth, No. 4 was about to lose consciousness due to blood loss and lack of oxygen. However, in the last moments before he was sinking in the darkness, No. 4 still had a doubt.

How did this guy get behind me?
He understood this doubt as he gathered information from the corner of his eye through his artificial eye.

The third-floor balcony not far behind him, where he had previously sniped, was open.

After killing No. 3 on the first floor, exit the house and use these arms to climb to the third floor?
I didn't expect that this is something that even ordinary people with prosthetics can do easily.

There are always a lot of thoughts before death. At the last moment before stagnation, No. 4 sent a reminder to No. 10 on the second floor, the last person in their team.

"Run, run quickly."

"Click."

With the exoskeleton and neck completely shattered, No. 4 died.

On the second floor, No. 10, who received the signal from No. 4, had not yet reacted to what No. 4's message meant when he heard footsteps.

The footsteps that made his pupils shrink unconsciously came from upstairs and did not belong to an exoskeleton.

"Ha ha."

His chest felt suffocated for a moment, and a feeling of being unable to breathe made No. 10's body a little difficult to control.

The signal of number four also fell silent.

A person.

Yourself.

There is only one person left!
The ten most elite people chosen from millions of people, even if they were always comparing their rankings and abilities with each other, they were partners after all, the only nine people he had ties to in this world. Now, he was the only one left.

The loneliness that has always been around since he left military technology has truly come to No. 10 at this moment.

In the whole world, he no longer has anyone who can be called a companion.

"Asshole, come if you want to!"

Number 10 clenched his two axes and rushed to the stairwell: "Do you really think that we, the elite who can only be selected from a million people, are afraid of you?"

Is this fear, or is it the madness of not knowing what to do?

Carl, who was standing on the third floor, didn't know this.

But he didn't want to know.

Carl looked at the enemy who was rushing towards him with an axe and wanted to press the trigger on the axe handle to fire an electromagnetic interference bomb. He just raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

The bullet passed through the head. Without an exoskeleton to protect the head, there was no reason why it would not explode under the gun all night.

In an environment where red and white were mixed together, Carl looked at the chip that lit up in the air as his brain exploded, his eyes slightly lowered.

"Is this also a guy who has a control chip installed in his head without knowing it?"

(End of this chapter)