Starting From Night City

"The client is alright. They sustained secondary injuries from the fall, but as long as reinforcements arrive in time and they're taken to the hospital, there's still hope."

The captain felt a bit relieved and contacted headquarters via communicator to request reinforcements.

Just then, a scream rang out.

Two Katanas pierced the chest of a team member on guard duty.

The team member was lifted into the air, then the Katanas split apart.

Splash--

The team member's body was torn into four pieces.

Blood splattered all over the attacker.

The captain and the remaining team member's eyes widened.

A chill shot straight from their tailbone to the crown of their head.

The reason their hovercar had crashed.

It was this mercenary known as "Ripper," who performed a double jump, landing on their hovercar before they could gain enough altitude.

The two pilots reacted too late and were stabbed to death in the cockpit.

This led to the current situation.

And now, this guy had caught up again?

"Open fire!"

The captain and the remaining team member no longer hesitated, raising their guns and firing.

Trauma Team used only Smart Weapons.

And Smart Weapons could only be produced by the top-tier weapon manufacturers.

As they watched, most of the bullets hit the target.

But the target didn't fall.

"How is that possible?!"

The two were dumbfounded, their faces filled with shock.

Then, the remaining team member seemed to realize something.

"This lunatic must have Subdermal Armor and Berserk Cyberware all over his body!"

Subdermal Armor, as the name suggests, is armor installed beneath the epidermis, capable of providing damage resistance.

When impacted, Subdermal Armor temporarily gelatinizes, absorbing the impact of bullets.

Then it instantly solidifies, trapping the bullets.

There are also various models of Subdermal Armor, with the best models offering the strongest defense and being the least prone to damage.

As for Berserk Cyberware, it's similar to Sandevistan, both belonging to military-grade cybernetics.

If Sandevistan is an acceleration cyberware, then the effect of Berserk Cyberware is straightforward.

It makes a person go berserk.

When berserk, it greatly enhances strength and toughness, and further improves damage resistance.

The team member who had just sounded the alarm was charged by Ripper, his head split open like a watermelon, brain matter and blood mixing in the pouring rain.

Ripper, standing beside the corpse, was bathed in the rain.

He slowly revealed a cruel smile.

He raised his blood-stained right hand, pointing his blade at the captain and the female medic who had crawled out after hearing the commotion.

The implication was clear--

"It's just the two of you left."

In a short period, they had lost four team members.

Fear spread like a plague.

It gripped the hearts of the captain and the female medic tightly, making it hard to breathe.

The captain gritted his teeth and shielded the female medic behind him.

"Nadia, you take the client and escape quickly. I'll hold her off."

"No, Dobbs!"

"Go! Or it'll be too late!"

Nadia gave the captain a deep look, turned, and got into the hovercar, pulling the client away into the distance.

The captain nimbly replaced his magazine.

He aimed at Ripper and pulled the trigger.

The Ripper was like a cheetah sprinting in the rain, bullets striking his body, most of them being squeezed and deflected after hitting his subdermal armor.

Seeing the two katanas getting closer and closer, the captain wasn't thinking about himself.

Instead, he hoped Nadia could escape.

Just as the captain knew there was no hope of survival, several flashbang grenades were suddenly thrown over.

Blinding white light filled his vision.

The Ripper reflexively closed his eyes.

The two katanas, guided by memory, slashed toward the captain's position.

But this time, he missed.

His body continued to fall forward with inertia.

The Ripper jolted, quickly adjusting his posture.

He wildly swung his katanas around.

But he felt no impact.

It wasn't until his vision cleared that he saw clearly.

It was Su Xiao who had dragged the captain away, saving his life.

The Ripper's cybernetic eyes weren't genuine Overture products, but knock-offs from the black market.

Although not genuine, this overclocked and modified version had an effect comparable to the real thing.

Of course, the consequence was potential irreversible sequelae to the body.

When the Ripper saw clearly that it was Su Xiao

who had ruined his good time, the playful expression he had moments before, like a cat playing with a mouse, vanished.

It was replaced by vigilance and caution.

Chapter 46: You Are Already Dead

"Are you looking for death?"

"No, you are looking for death. You almost killed my people, do you know that?"

If this mercenary hadn't killed the Trauma Team's pilot, that AV wouldn't have fallen.

If Su Xiao had reacted even a fraction slower, Lucy would have become "Lucy-chan."

Saving these two Trauma Team members was just a side effect.

The main reason was that Su Xiao wasn't going to let go of this mercenary who had almost killed Lucy.

The Ripper stuck out his tongue and licked the katana, which was stained with blood and rainwater.

Then, he stomped his right foot down hard, kicking up the rainwater on the ground as he shot towards Su Xiao like a cannonball.

Su Xiao met him head-on without backing down.

Three katanas clashed, emitting a metallic ringing sound.

The Ripper wielded his two katanas into a whirlwind, tearing through the air and creating whistling shrieks.

While Su Xiao hadn't implanted Berserk Cyberware, the Potential Points he had gained from recent gigs had been allocated to his skills.

"Blade Mastery LV5," "Evasion LV5," "Block LV5," and the bonuses from the Power Gauntlets on his hands allowed him to hold his own.

He not only blocked and evaded every one of the Ripper's attacks but also returned equally fierce counterattacks.

Suddenly, the Ripper held a katana in each hand and slashed towards Su Xiao's neck from both sides.

Su Xiao ducked, letting the katanas take a few strands of his hair.

He then drew a blade light, slashing towards the Ripper's waist.

Subdermal armor could withstand the impact of bullets, but it couldn't directly face the might of a katana.

The Ripper's body suddenly pulled back like a taut bow.

He narrowly dodged the slash, avoiding being disemboweled.

The Ripper hastily retreated, trying to create distance.

But Su Xiao's pursuit was immediate.

The distance between them wasn't great, and with one step forward, Su Xiao could slash his target again.

The Ripper raised his katana to block.

He blocked the strike.

His other arm, however, deformed, and a dark gun barrel emerged.

Bang!

A bullet shot out, flying towards Su Xiao.

The Ripper revealed a cruel smile.

"You're already dead--Nani?!"

Under the Ripper's disbelieving gaze.

Su Xiao released his left hand gripping Muramasa, blocking with his arm held across his body.

The bullet struck the Power Gauntlet.

Scraping off a string of dazzling sparks.

Su Xiao smoothly retracted Muramasa, thrusting the blade again.

Muramasa turned into a stream of light, stabbing towards the Ripper's head.

The Ripper, who hadn't expected Su Xiao to be able to block even this move, hastily turned his head.

Barely dodging.

But Muramasa still left a wound on the Ripper's face.

Blood poured out.

A ferocious expression flashed across the Ripper's face.

Ignoring everything else, he fiercely slashed at Su Xiao's chest and abdomen with his dual blades.

He was gambling.

Betting whether his own head would fall first, or Su Xiao would be cut in half.

If Su Xiao flinched, he definitely wouldn't be able to defend against everything.

Su Xiao only had one blade, while he had two.

"You want to trade blows? Who wants to trade blows with you!"

Seeing through the Ripper's intentions, Su Xiao retracted Muramasa.