"How did you find Wooly Crawley?"
The news broadcast reported the mercenary's final fate.
WNS showed a close-up: the entire screen was mosaicked.
Lier wasn't sure what level of armor Holt had given Woolie, but he knew that Kanek's righteous blow from above had packed quite a punch.
A blunt strike to the head-even if it didn't smash the skull-could send the impact through the brain cells and blood vessels, those soft tissues inside.
A lot of people seemed fine after being hit by a blunt object, but in truth they were already close to death. That made protection against such impacts extremely difficult.
Woolie's skull hadn't just been slightly cracked open; he could even keep fighting afterward. That showed how strong the integrated Skeleton on his body was.
But it didn't mean much against heavy machine guns and missiles. Nor was he facing just one or two people or a mech.
Kanek briefly lost focus at the sight, then returned to his conversation with Lier.
"I was the one who carried him onto the stretcher. During first aid, I took over his Cyberware system. I knew he worked for Holt.
I saw on TV that the municipal government was holding a meeting today, so I figured Holt would definitely mingle with the Arasaka people afterward."
Lier shook his head. "But he didn't need to go to the Arasaka Waterfront. He could've gone to Konpeki Plaza."
"They wouldn't go there. Woolie was a dog who had to stay out of sight. Holt knew he'd go crazy sooner or later. If they met at Konpeki Plaza, the paparazzi would find out.
He'd definitely choose to meet him somewhere discreetly along the way.
As long as I could get my hands on an AV, I'd have the initiative."
Lier neither agreed nor