Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 440 53. Skill
"This is the stuff of the Terrorist Squad!"

A look of fear appeared on Oriona's face, and she was now filled with panic because of the box she had almost taken.

Everyone in Night City knows what the Terrorist Squad is. Can you just take their things?

I originally thought that this was just an easy job of carrying boxes, but now I see, it’s a life-threatening job!
"This is simply sending us to our deaths!"

Kiley was even more excited. He stood up and said, "Oleona, let's go. This thing is definitely not something we should touch. The job Cormac gave us this time is too hot to handle!"

"Why are you so excited?"

Compared to the two who panicked when they heard about the Terrorist Squad, Esson-Breen, who was sitting in front of them, seemed very calm. He said, "Do you think you can get away if you abandon the mission and run away right now?"

His words were very cold, and they froze the two people who had just moved.

Without looking at Oriona and Kilai, Esson-Breen tilted his head slightly, looking at the Badlands scenery outside the window and said, "Those lunatics don't care whether you are just involved or retreat when the situation gets bad. As locals of Night City, I think you are all very clear about their methods. They will find everyone involved and kill them. No one can escape."

Aeson-Breen's words silenced Oriona and Kilai.

He was right.

If it were any other mission, others might let them go because they were smart enough to give up the mission, but facing the cyber psychopaths of the Terrorist Mobile Team, who can expect them to be kind?

Ordinary gang members would try to kill others if they see someone touching their things, let alone the terrorist squad. I'm afraid they would even find the cockroaches they see passing by, chop them in half, and fry them in a frying pan.

"But it's better for us to run now than to be targeted by the terrorist squad with this thing."

Oriona stared at Esong-Breen and said, "Even if we can't escape, the person holding this thing will definitely be the primary target. It's not our turn to be dealt with first. We can definitely run away for a while longer."

"And then he was found and burned to death by the terrorist mobile team hackers who had dealt with the primary target? Don't be so naive, Oriona."

Esong-Breen grinned: "Why do you always think about the boring road of death? The way to live is in front of you, why don't you take it?"

"When you, a bastard, took out this thing, there was no way to survive!"

Kiley tried to lower his voice so that the others around him would not notice. He wanted to slam his fist on the table in anger, but his remaining rationality controlled him from doing so: "All of us involved must die. It's only a matter of time!"

"So do you think I'm the kind of person who wants to die?"

Esson-Breen's smile became more and more exaggerated, the corners of his mouth almost stretched to his earlobes, and the skin that expanded to both sides revealed the red flesh under his cheeks:

"Don't worry, we won't die, neither you nor I - as long as we hand this thing over to the right person, we won't die for the time being."

"In the right hands?"

Oriona frowned: "Old man, what do you mean?"

"A gentleman from the city council is the signatory for the goods that Cormac wants to deliver. You are just the delivery courier. You are not aware of the whole process and you don't know what is going on. Do you understand?"

Esson-Breen said, "Run, mercenaries, you can run now. It's a matter of life and death. Will you be found by the terrorist squad first and all of us die together at the hands of those cyber psychopaths, or will you hand the things over to the right people and put the matter on the table? It all depends on your speed."

Listening to what Esong-Breen said, Oriona understood. It turned out that the things of the Terrorist Squad were coveted by someone in the City Council, and obviously, once the City Council was involved, even the Terrorist Squad had no right to clean it up without authorization.

The Terrorist Mobile Squad only obeys orders from the City Council but not announcements. In other words, the Terrorist Mobile Squad can only be mobilized in emergency situations when the City Council issues a mobilization order. In normal times, the Terrorist Mobile Squad can choose not to obey orders from the City Council according to its own principles.

By the same token, the Terrorist Squad and the city government are relatively independent, and the Terrorist Squad has no right to take action against city council officials based on its own principles. Only after receiving an order jointly signed by the city council can it clean out those who suddenly "go crazy" in the city council.

Before this, even if people from the City Council took away the Terrorist Squad's things for some "purpose", as long as they were not caught on the spot, the Terrorist Squad had to endure it. After all, a disobedient cyber psychopath was not worth mentioning to the City Council.

If someone in the city council wants this thing, then until he gets it and fails in the power struggle with the city council, the Terrorist Squad can only endure this humiliation and not touch him as the mastermind;

Even the real personnel could not be moved, so there was naturally no reason for the citizens like Oriona and Kilay to move after the goods were delivered. Even if it was a terrorist mobile team, killing civilians without reason would trigger relevant regulations. Even the signatory was fine, which meant that there was no problem with the goods, so how could the delivery person be in trouble?

After quickly understanding their only way out of this incident, Oriona became suspicious. She stared at Esson-Breen and said with a vigilant look:

"Since you already know what to do, why do you need us mercenaries to escort you? I see you can run, right? Why do you have to involve others? You said you don't want to die, so if you had delivered the things earlier, your chances of survival would have been the greatest."

"Because I really want to see what you can do, Oriona."

Esong-Breen laughed dryly. "I really want to see your ability and see if you are as good as that man. For this, I can accept death, so I gave Cormac enough money to buy his life and yours, just to let you take this job."

Neuropathy!
This was the thought that came to Orionna's mind after she heard what Esong-Breen said.

Just because he wanted to show off his abilities, he dared to touch the things of the Terrorist Mobile Team, and even entrusted Cormac, that guy who valued money more than his life, to do it. What exactly is his relationship with him? Why did he sound so familiar with me in his words, and why did he want to show off his abilities?

"Do you and I know each other, you lunatic!?"

"It's just the first time I met you, and I just wanted to do this."

Esson-Breen did not give Oriona time to ask again. He looked at his watch and said something that made Oriona and Kilai beside her shudder:
"The loss of this thing should have been concealed from the Terrorist Squad until four hours later, but I think that's too long, so I set a timer to call the Terrorist Squad's reserved phone number in twenty minutes, and that phone number will kindly inform them that the 'thing' is lost."

"you!"

Kilay couldn't help it, he wanted to draw his gun, but at the moment he drew his gun, Esson-Breen used an extremely sensitive movement and put a golden scimitar to his throat.

Even though his heavy subcutaneous armor was enough to protect him from the blade, Killai still swallowed instinctively.

The speed was so fast and the movements were so agile that his neck was pressed against him in the blink of an eye. He had no time to react to the crazy old man's actions.

"It's no use trying to kill me. I've set a timer when I came. If you want to kill me, you'd better consider the time you spend entangled with me, young man."

Esson-Breen put away the knife, sat down again naturally, and then looked at his watch again.

"Now, you have nineteen minutes and fifty seconds."

　ps. This old guy is even crazier in the comics. Here's a spoiler for the comics. He and his sister were originally legendary partners, and then his sister couldn't stand the gang life and secretly faked her death to quit. He started to go crazy, and later when he found out his sister was still alive, he thought that his blood had betrayed him, and he wanted to kill his sister's family in the most vicious way to let his sister experience what he felt, and he did it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)