Chapter 99
The next moment, the hammer simultaneously pulled the triggers of dozens of guns, and bullets of various calibers swept through like hail.
The transmitted footage showed a scene of flying limbs and remains everywhere.
Magnetic Generator.
And this was the destruction caused by Adam Hammer alone.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Four deafening, hammer-like sounds echoed as the four Cybernetic Tyrant activated. "Authorized by: Vera Adelheid Director Russell. Agreement passed... Execute the Annihilation Operation."
Buzzing...
5x Gravity Field.
Rounds of crimson scanning lines outlined the buildings of the abandoned town, and in an instant, there was a tremendous roar that shook the earth, as if it would level the entire area.
Tremors... Roars...
The scene is so beautiful.
Chapter 102 An Unexpected Joy
A small, abandoned town on the outskirts of the Badlands, seemingly blending into the desert.
Blood and fire.
Dust and smoke.
Gunshots, explosions, and the roar of engines.
Debris from reinforced concrete flying in all directions, twisted and deformed vehicles and armored vehicles, and mangled bodies...
Beneath the five terrifying shadows hurtling by, crimson warning scan lines flashed before the release of five gravity fields.
In an instant, there was a tremendous tremor that shook the earth, and rings of compacted craters appeared.
The wall shattered, and more than a dozen enemy soldiers hidden inside the building were caught in the crossfire, turning into a bloody mist and exploding. Several high-speed, modified wasteland vehicles were also thrown into the air, their parts scattered across the battlefield within a mile radius, shattered into pieces.
Unbeknownst to them, the sound of the wind howling like a Badlands once again filled the audio.
The ferocious roars of the five prosthetic behemoths, which sent chills down one's spine, gradually subsided.
The heavily armored 'aRaSaKa' soldiers, clad in black, began to take over the battlefield.
"What a great show."
Turning her gaze away, Vera picked up the bone china cup containing black tea, took a sip, and murmured softly. Then, she stood up on the black marble floor tiles, which were intricately carved with the Arasaka Clover logo.
"Tanaka, I'm very satisfied with your 'Cybernetic Kong'. Well done."
She spoke to Shinichi Tanaka, who was standing respectfully to the side.
"It is my honor, Director—" Tanaka, who had a serious appearance and a stocky build, looked delighted upon hearing this and quickly bowed ninety degrees to express his gratitude.
The 109th floor of Arasaka Tower is a height that almost no mid-level research staff of his rank could ever reach in their entire lives. Today, he was fortunate enough to ascend it because of Vera's invitation.
"But."
Vera's sudden change of tone surprised Tanaka.
"You still haven't delivered on the original goals of the 'King Kong' project. The threshold is too high, and it doesn't have the widespread availability for large-scale deployment, so it can only be customized equipment for professionals like Adam Hammer."
"I'm so sorry!" Tanaka bowed again.
"Relax. This isn't a denunciation session." With a warm smile, Vera slowly turned around. "'Tyrant.' That's the mess I made for you. At least you finished the Cybernetic Kong. Adam Hammer accepted your proposal."
"You passed, Tanaka."
"Thank you very much." Tanaka bowed deeply and remained so for a long time.
"You will continue to be in charge of the ongoing improvement and optimization of the 'Cybernetic Kong 2.0' project. I will have Jimmy cooperate with you to deliver the new plan to me as soon as possible."
"Yes," Tanaka replied repeatedly.
Pointing to the holographic screen, Vera continued to point out the problems and defects that the 'Cybernetic Kong 1.2 Mod' has exposed in actual combat.
For example, frontline field operators reported that the image display in the tactical chain when the gravity field generator of the Cybernetic Kong is activated needs improvement...
In addition, Vera continued to make new demands, such as the 'Picatinny Rail Standardization' for the Cybernetic Kong, that is, the standardization of accessory installation platforms, and the modularization of the addition and disassembly of armor, airship Vector Engine, gravity field operation devices, Magnetic Generator, and heavy firepower.
There's also miniaturization.
Depending on the specific details, miniaturization can be categorized in various ways: miniaturization with reduced performance, miniaturization without reduced performance, miniaturization with appropriately reduced performance, miniaturization with increased load to improve performance and increase operational difficulty, and so on. In short, there are many detailed requirements.
As for the series of improvement requests that Vera, who was both the client and the superior, put forward, Tanaka took out his PDA tablet and wrote down a long list.
Finally, faced with Vera's seemingly irresistible promise of a "performance rating increase of at least one level this year" and the encouragement of a promotion and raise, Tanaka's expression was priceless—a mixture of excitement and melancholy. After gritting his teeth and accepting this time-sensitive and demanding task, he bowed and took his leave.
Eyelids popping.
The War Room fell silent again.
Vera continued watching the show... no, she was watching the live footage of a field mission.
There's really nothing much to see here.
What remained were only sporadic gunshots, the heavy, thunderous footsteps of the massive object crushing the gravel, the clattering of the wind through the wooden windows, the rustling of clumps of grass rolling across the dry sand, the crackling of fireworks burning old building materials, the booming sound of collapsing houses, and the low moans and sobs of the wounded...
Another loud bang, flames rose, and dust flew everywhere.
Through the vision transmitted back by the Cybernetic Tyrant, Vera could see the desolate scene of fire and smoke rising from the outer town, which had become a battlefield.
Beneath a three-story building that appears dilapidated and indistinguishable from other abandoned buildings in Badlands, one can see a spiderweb-like network of cracked staircases and elevator shafts, as well as sparking cables that have fallen from the half-shattered underground walls.
Look at the storm of metallic heat emanating from the built-in machine gun turret that spews forth flames and the rocket launchers.
Clearly, it's the basement.
Moreover, it is a basement of considerable size with fairly complete supporting facilities.
Although the Badlands and scavengers inhabiting this abandoned town wear a motley crew of clothes and carry no uniform weapons or vehicles, exuding a distinctly Badlands vibe, Nomads well-organized weaponry, comparable to, or even surpassing, military-grade cybernetic bodies, befits their long-standing rivals of over half a century—
After the frontline agents of the Arasaka Security Forces engaged in firefights, they felt a strange sense of familiarity. Damn! It was either Militech, the New United States Intelligence Agency, or the Lazarus Mercenary Group. At the very least, they had received training from the former and had some contact with them.
In Adam Hammer's words. "Baby, did you miss me?"
Undoubtedly, he is very familiar with Militech and the Federal Intelligence Agency.
The Lazarus Mercenary Group, aside from anything else, just the fact that its headquarters are in Washington, D. C. tells us about its composition.
Both parties knew each other very well; I could tell what you were going to do the moment you bent over.
This did not surprise Vera.
It would be strange if the Militech and Washington didn't engage in some underhanded tactics.
Although the discovery of this secret Militech intelligence communication station, located in the 'death zone' of Badlands, was an accident.
Badlands, this chaotic and lawless land, is so vast that, generally speaking, the farther away from the city, the weaker the company's control.
Including the city government, the NCPD, and numerous companies, their influence extends primarily along interstate highways, railways, and border outposts, and perhaps also includes some military camps and garrisons located in the Badlands.
Performing tasks in such a vast, desolate wasteland, identifying and screening everything is extremely time-consuming and laborious.
It's not that it's impossible, but rather that the expenditures and gains are severely disproportionate.
Just like how companies generally ignore the Nomads in Badlands, unless it's necessary and profitable.
Otherwise, if the company goes to great lengths to target the forces in the Badlands, the money earned from the trip will likely not even cover the expenses.
Vera knew that Militech had outposts in Badlands, just as Washington knew that Arasaka would definitely set up mobs all over the West Coast and reclaim and activate the remnants of underground weapons research institutes and secret agent societies left over from the last Corporate War.
The covert wars waged by both sides over these outposts and spies were countless.
As for this discovery, it stemmed from the "crackdown and rectification" campaign targeting the Lijiang scenic area, which was led by Vera.
After she leaked some of the New United States Intelligence Agency's secret intelligence to Kurt Hansen, causing an internal investigation storm in Dogtown, quite a few NUSA agents who hadn't cleaned up their mess were indeed caught and killed by the Hounds.
Some also escaped Dogtown.
One of them fled from Pacifica to Santo Domingo. Whether he was on a mission or not, he did not flee directly to the Badlands, but went to Heywood. Then, with the idea that "the most dangerous place is the safest place", he deliberately ran towards the Lishang area where Sheriff Arasaka patrolled.
In fact, he has already succeeded halfway.
Unfortunately, he sent the signal from an elevated rail train.
Because of her appointment as a member of the Director of Operations, Vera casually glanced at the administrative briefings of all departments of Night City Arasaka during the banquet at the Konpeki Plaza.
Among them, the report that numerous pickpockets had been found on the Heywood - Santo Domingo train line, and that a large number of company employees' communication chips and Separate Chip had been stolen, including students from the Arasaka Academy, made Vera pause for a moment.
Just then, Lady Wei decided to crack down on the construction of a 'model house' in the Lijiang scenic area, so she casually gave a hint.
That is, the "Report on Rampant Pickpocketing" was thrown to the Night City Security Department.
Upon receiving the order, the relevant management personnel of the Security Department attached great importance to it and immediately transferred a Special Rapid Response Unit security group that was patrolling the streets, demonstrating Arasaka's approachable attitude and promoting security services, to be stationed on the train line.
Then...
And that was it.
Having successfully boarded the train Militech Agent evaded the Ghost Hound's inspectors, passed Sheriff Arasaka's check at the station, and crossed the river bridge into Heywood. In a moment of relaxation, he sent a signal to the encrypted channel using the established code while on the moving train.
Ironically, the encrypted message was captured by cyber hackers from the Arasaka Security Team, who were on the same train but in different carriages.
Too close.
There was no need to decipher it at all; most of the video calls and phone calls on the entire train were identifiable. Suddenly, a message with an unusually high level of encryption appeared, and the train was moving. Based on the basic competence of the security personnel and the deterrent needs for completing the crackdown mission, the Arasaka security agents stationed on the train decided to take a look.
This level of encrypted communication is either from wealthy individuals or corporate professionals. Is it Cyberpunk? Or is it from unsuspecting hackers? They're not sure.
Upon seeing the Arasaka Heavy Soldier suddenly emerge from the aisle of the train carriage, the Militech agent misunderstood their intentions and subconsciously thought he had been exposed. He was fine as long as he didn't move, because as soon as he moved, he was locked on.
The veteran Arasaka Security agent immediately realized something was amiss!
A series of arrests and pursuits ensued.
When the Militech Agent's Mimetic Nanoweave Camouflage Suit and mask were destroyed, his identity as a secret agent was revealed.
They beat him half to death and then dragged him away.
Vera didn't need to know what methods the interrogator from Arasaka's intelligence department would use, even if it was extracting brain tissue to use the methods of creating Black Dream to obtain information, it didn't matter, because she had obtained the information anyway.
How did they get to Night City? From which direction did they come? What intelligence stations did they pass through?
Enter Night City from the Old Industrial Zone north of Watson, then infiltrate Dogtown via a transfer point, passing through an abandoned, remote town in the 'Death Zone' of the northern Badlands minefield.
There are many abandoned towns in the Badlands surrounding Night City, numbering in the thousands, but in the north, specifically in the minefield 'death zone,' they are much easier to find.
Just then, Adam Hammer was newly equipped with Cybernetic Kong, and several Cybernetic Tyrant were also fully tested. With the idea of 'let's see how they perform,' Vera issued the combat mission.
In hindsight, the results were quite good.
Boom—!
An exceptionally violent explosion shocked the scene, with miniature incendiary rockets leaving distorted trails, the gap in the basement being widened, and the damaged, upside-down machine gun turret twisted into a comical pose.
The chaotic underground space was already engulfed in flames, and the air was filled with black smoke and sparks from burnt components.
"You're just pieces of meat that I've fucked to pieces."
Amid Adam Hammer's manic laughter, hum—
Finally, a series of gunshots and explosions rang out, and under the gravitational field, the last few cybernetically modified cyborgs who resisted were crushed.
Blood blossomed, and the military-grade prosthetic body, which was incredibly popular in the civilian market, including the skin and flesh, from hair to skull, then to eyeballs and teeth, was instantly crushed into the ground like collapsing building blocks, becoming indistinguishable from one another.
Vera calmly watched as blood and gore splattered across the holographic screen.
The battle is over.
"Heavy hammer, retreat, mission complete."
"My eyes are sparkling with orange light, "Vera said.
"Hmph, is it over?" On the video channel, Adam Hammer's face, which looked like a pale corpse, revealed a ferocious grin. "That was satisfying, really satisfying. Director Russell, if there's another cushy job like this next time, remember to call me."
There will be an opportunity.