Beginning in Night City

At this moment, both sides erupted with astonishing speed.

The Katana and Mantis Blades moved so fast they were mere blurs.

Blade light and sword shadows surged like waves, one after another, ceaseless.

The blades tore through the air, emitting piercing shrieks.

Clang--!!

The Muramasa and Mantis Blades collided forcefully once more.

Neither side yielded this time.

Through the two weapons, Su Xiao could smell the stench emanating from the other man.

And in his peripheral vision, he caught sight of another pair of Mantis Blades slashing towards him from the side.

He quickly ducked his head.

The glinting Mantis Blades narrowly missed him, slicing over the top of his head.

Taking a few strands of hair with them.

Before the swung Mantis Blades could strike again, Su Xiao gripped the Muramasa's hilt tightly with his right hand, continuing to grapple with the man.

His left hand swiftly drew the Kinetic Handgun from his waist.

And aimed it.

He didn't deliberately aim for the head; this wasn't a game. Instead, he aimed for the torso, the area with the largest target, and repeatedly pulled the trigger.

At such close range, the man could no longer evade.

His chest and abdomen were hit, blood blooming forth.

However, Su Xiao's gun-wielding arm was also slashed by the returning Mantis Blades.

If he hadn't retracted his hand so quickly, his entire left hand would have been gone.

Seeing the Mantis Blades about to strike him again, this time a wide horizontal slash.

Su Xiao rotated the Kinetic Handgun in his left hand ninety degrees, using the gun's body to jam the joint of the Mantis Blades.

The two men, four weapons, were locked together, straining against each other.

The outcome of the battle depended on who exhausted their strength first.

Clearly, the man thought the same.

He strained with all his might, veins bulging on his face.

The man was equipped with a large amount of combat-type Military Cyberware, while Su Xiao was just an ordinary person.

In a pure test of strength, Su Xiao was at a disadvantage.

But he had never intended to win by brute force.

When he used the Kinetic Handgun to jam the Mantis Blades, he had deliberately rotated the gun body ninety degrees.

That wasn't for show; it was to point the muzzle downwards.

Bang! Bang bang bang!

Su Xiao fired the last few rounds in the magazine.

Dust and smoke kicked up from the ground.

The man's instep was also hit.

He couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

His balance faltered, and he lost his footing.

The pressure from the blades suddenly eased.

Su Xiao seized the opportunity and dodged to the side.

Then, he sheathed the crimson blade and assumed an Iaido stance.

However, his stance differed from a typical Iaido.

In a standard Iaido, the left hand supports the scabbard, while the right hand grips the hilt or is close to it.

But Su Xiao's right hand was a full shoulder's length away from the hilt.

"Die!"

The pain drove the man mad.

Knowing that even if he won, his chances of survival were slim, the man abandoned all defense.

Like a wounded beast, he lunged forward with a foul stench.

Even if he died, he would drag Su Xiao down with him.

Su Xiao's expression remained unchanged.

His left index finger, resting on the scabbard, pulled the trigger on it.

McCoy's heirloom blade had one distinct difference from other katanas: its scabbard was equipped with a launching device.

Muramasa shot out from within the scabbard!

He closed the five fingers of his right hand, gripping the hilt of the ejected blade just right. Using the force of the launch, he unleashed a slash too fast for the eye to follow.

The blade entered the man's lower right abdomen and cut upwards diagonally with the ease of a hot knife through butter.

The crimson blade finally emerged from the man's left shoulder.

Splitting him cleanly in two.

Watching the fallen man's eyes gradually dim, Su Xiao finally relaxed and let out a long breath.

A fine mist of sweat had long since formed on his forehead.

His back was also soaked through with sweat.

He finally understood why the Sheriff had sought someone to deal with this cyberpsycho instead of handling it himself.

After all, even if the town only had one Sheriff, America's Second Amendment guaranteed every citizen the right to bear arms.

In other words, when necessary, every civilian in town could be treated as militia.

Faced with a villain endangering the town, the Sheriff could easily gather a group and open fire with their guns.

It didn't matter if they were Miyamoto Musashi or Sasaki Kojiro; they would only die filled with regret.

But the Sheriff hadn't done that.

It was because this cyberpsycho was equipped with a slew of combat-grade military cyberware.

Sending a group of civilians without combat cyberware to kill him would be like throwing eggs at a rock.

It would only be a massacre.

Actually, Su Xiao didn't realize how fortunate he was.

Everyone equipped with military-grade cyberware wouldn't miss out on a piece of cyberware called "Sandevistan."

"Sandevistan" could greatly increase your neural reaction speed.

How much did it increase?

Enough to make you feel like time itself had slowed down.

Fortunately, the "Sandevistan" implanted in this man's body had already malfunctioned.

That's why the man had never activated his "Sandevistan" throughout the entire fight.

Although the battle had been incredibly dangerous, and he himself had almost died.

At least he had survived.

With that, the two thousand Eurodollar reward was as good as in his pocket.

Not only that.

As Su Xiao's tensed nerves relaxed, he discovered an unexpected bonus while checking his messages.

"You have killed an enemy, gaining 2 Potential Points."

Chapter 8: Sheriff: Thank You For Warming My Seasons

The potential points from one cyberpsycho were equivalent to twenty regular grunts?!

Su Xiao couldn't suppress his excitement, his face beaming with joy.

Damn it, it was finally worth all the exhausting effort.

After catching his breath for a while and resting enough, Su Xiao finally stood up from the ground.

He first returned to his car and saw the townspeople inside looking shocked.

He then tapped on the car window.

The commotion startled the townspeople.

"You... you actually killed that cyberpsycho?"

"Isn't he just some cyberpsycho? Look at you acting so cowardly... Since you saw it all, you'll have to testify for me when we get back."

Initially, Su Xiao had thought about taking an item as proof.

Like the cyberpsycho's cybernetic eye, or his Mantis Blades.

But...

It just felt too disgusting.

Anyway, this townsperson had seen the whole thing.

Having this witness was probably enough.

Before leaving, he thought about it and still went into the shack.

As he had expected, the room was a mess, and there wasn't even a light on.

All he could see was trash.

There was nothing worth scavenging.

He shook his head in disappointment.

Just as he was about to leave.

His peripheral vision caught sight of a laptop in an inconspicuous corner of the room, hidden beneath the trash.

Because it was covered by garbage and there was no light in the room, it was easy to miss if you weren't looking closely.

He took out the laptop.

By reading the information on the computer, Su Xiao learned the identity of the cyberpsycho.

This person was the executioner for Arasaka's secret unit, "Toroi."

His codename was "Zank the Decapitator."

Arasaka Corporation was the longest-running megacorporation in the world, with its founding dating back to the mid-20th century.

Today, Arasaka had become an arms manufacturing giant, their presence felt in military conflicts across every continent.

"Toroi" was Arasaka's secret unit, specifically tasked with eliminating traitors who had betrayed Arasaka.

Because Zank constantly eliminated traitors, it became a habit, and he gradually grew dissatisfied with killing only when he had a mission.

Due to the excessive killing, and possibly due to his implants, he could hear the cries of the people he had killed echoing in his ears.

Only when he killed could he temporarily feel peace.

When he defected from Arasaka, he was hunted by his former colleagues and barely managed to escape with his life.

But he was clever.