The warhammer stopped in front of the Joker's head, the massive Hammerhead less than half an inch from his nose.
Everyone in the hall held their breath, sweat dripping from the Joker's forehead into the muddy water.
Nobody knows what happened.
With a soft cracking sound, the massive hammer, powerful enough to smash a person into mincemeat, froze in mid-air.
Looking down the hammer handle, a fragment of a sunflower seed shell, slightly slick with saliva, was embedded in the kinetic energy transmission shaft in his hand. A small hole had also appeared in the middle of the warhammer, as if it had been pierced by something.
The heavy, high-pressure hydraulic hose burst open on the spot, spraying out a thick, pungent stream of green engine oil.
Chen Mo leaned against the cement pillar, took out another sunflower seed, and popped it into his mouth with a crunch.
"What are you looking at me for? Keep going, I'm just spitting out a shell."
Morok paused for a second, then suddenly let out a furious roar.
He simply abandoned the broken warhammer, swung the thick metal mechanical arm, and swept it sharply to the side.
The Joker had no time to dodge and was struck directly in the chest by the immense force.
With a sickening cracking sound, the Joker, gun and all, flew through the air and crashed heavily into a distant pillar.
Large patches of plaster peeled off the wall, Joker crashed to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He clutched his chest and could no longer get up.
"Boss!"
V's eyes instantly welled up with tears.
The Joker Gang members also had bloodshot eyes; none of them retreated, and they all simultaneously turned their guns on each other.
"Kill this monster!"
"Avenge the boss!"
A barrage of bullets poured out as if they were free.
But Morok didn't even try to dodge; his super-heavy armor far exceeded the protection level of conventional cybernetic bodies.
Electromagnetic and armor-piercing projectiles struck his chest and shoulders, only scattering bright sparks and leaving shallow white scratches before being deflected.
"You think you can steal my things with such meager skills?"
Morok twisted his neck, producing a grating metallic scraping sound, and grinned in a ferocious manner.
"Since you're so eager to die, then go ahead and die."
He suddenly straightened his chest, and the layers of armor on his back unfolded, revealing the launchers of miniature thermobaric weapons.
The red launch indicator light was flashing wildly.
Once this thing detonates, the entire first-floor hall, along with the open space outside, will be razed to the ground by the intense heat.
Seeing the blinding red light, none of the Joker Gang members turned and ran; instead, they all threw away their useless rifles at the same time.
Everyone pulled out high-explosive grenades from their waists, removed the pins, and launched a desperate charge towards Morok.
Even if it means death, I'll blast a few holes in the other person's body.
Just then, a slender figure suddenly darted out from the side.
V was moving at incredible speed, gliding along the muddy ground to avoid Morok's inaccurate barrage of fire.
Using the metal crates beside her as cover, she leaped up and raised her gun with both hands.
The trigger was pulled repeatedly.
Two gunshots rang out.
The bullets pierced through the gaps in the armor with pinpoint accuracy and struck Morok's two mechanical eyes.
Sparks and engine oil exploded around my eye socket.
Morok let out a miserable howl, his massive body arching backward uncontrollably, his mechanical arm instinctively covering his smoking eyes.
That was his only weakness.
Without any hesitation, V placed his feet on Morok's knees and used the momentum to climb upwards.
The instant Morok opened his mouth to howl, V shoved the high-explosive grenade, its pin pulled, into Morrock's mouth.
He grabbed his chin and forcefully made him shut his mouth.
Then, she pushed off with both legs, and her body flew backward rapidly in mid-air.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion resounded inside Morok's mouth.
Even the thickest outer armor cannot protect a fragile internal structure.
Half of Morok's head was blown off, and fragments mixed with metal parts and artificial blood were scattered all over the ground.
The massive body swayed twice, and finally crashed heavily to the ground like a collapsing iron tower, never to move again.
The thermobaric bomb launcher on the back, which had only been half-heated up, also emitted a plume of black smoke and completely crashed.
The hall fell silent instantly.
Everyone was panting heavily, staring in disbelief at the headless corpse lying on the ground.
"We won... we won? V did it? We didn't rely on Chen Mo?!"
One of the gang members slumped to the ground, his voice trembling.
After landing, V rolled twice before the impact dissipated. She gasped for breath and wiped the muddy oil off her face.
"Damn it, you bunch of idiots! Aren't you going to check on the boss?!"
The group of people quickly came to their senses, nodded, and rushed to the support pillar, hurriedly helping the Joker up.
The Joker coughed violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his face deathly pale, but he still waved his hand to indicate that he was not dead.
He pushed away the people helping him and staggered toward the metal warehouse door at the end of the hall.
They risked so many lives and shed so much blood, all for what was behind the door.
"Finally, finally, cough cough, let's continue with the plan. The blood of our brothers cannot be shed in vain."
The Joker pulled out a pre-cracked decoder from his pocket and inserted it into the control panel next to the gate.
The red light flashed a few times and quickly turned green, indicating that the passage had been completed.
The heavy metal warehouse door creaked and slid slowly to the sides.
Everyone crowded around with expectant faces, and V also walked to the door, still tightly clutching his pistol in his hand.
Cool-toned lights illuminated the warehouse in rows, instantly brightening the entire space.
However.
The Joker's initially ecstatic expression froze completely the moment he saw the internal screen.
V loosened his grip, and the pistol slipped from his hand, landing in a puddle at his feet and splashing up a spray of icy water.
In the largest All Foods Processing Plant in Night City, there wasn't even a single ounce of synthetic meat in its enormous warehouse.
There was no freezer, and no packaging boxes.
Hundreds of transparent culture tanks hung densely in mid-air, their cold blue light shimmering in the liquid.
Inside were humans whose limbs had been cut off, leaving only their brains and spines.
A profound silence fell.
Chen Mo cracked open another sunflower seed.
"Wow, that's so unexpected!"