From the location data, it was clear that Cedric was speeding toward an abandoned construction site in Santo Domingo.
Obviously, Biotechnica wasn't foolish—they chose to meet outside their corporate building.
This indicated that the deaths associated with Project Nightingale were unexpected.
Corporations don't care about the lives of the lower classes, but only if those deaths are within expectations. Unexpected deaths, especially in human experimentation projects, send bad signals to clients and, more importantly, to the market.
They may not care about the lives of the lower classes, but they care deeply about market reactions.
In the car, the three were checking their gear. V, holding her Nekomata, suddenly asked, "Why can we casually pull out the Nekomata now?"
Leo replied, "Mainly because we now have connections with two arms dealers—Chesson, who has corporate ties, and Rosanna, who's connected with smuggling nomads. They'll keep quiet about it—though, whether they talk or not, people will suspect they got this thing. Besides, I didn't say to just use the Nekomata to gun down the Biotechnica people as soon as we meet them!"
V, disappointed, put the Nekomata back in the trunk. "I thought I'd get to use this big baby again."
Leo didn't say anything, but he suspected they might indeed need that thing.
Leo's memory of certain game details was a bit fuzzy, but he vaguely remembered that Cedric might be a cyberpsycho.
At this point, Cedric had already stopped—he'd reached the meeting location.
Leo rubbed his temples—this might get complicated.
Ding-dong.
Suddenly, Leo's communication device rang—it was a call from Regina Jones.
Leo was momentarily surprised but quickly answered.
Regina: "Hello, Burgerking, I'm the fixer for the Watson district. You probably don't come here often, but I'm contacting you because you recently took down a cyberpsycho in the streets. Besides regular gigs, I also issue contracts related to cyberpsychos—I'm studying them. If you can subdue a cyberpsycho, I'm willing to pay for it."
Leo thought it was too much of a coincidence—he might just have a potential cyberpsycho on his hands!
"That's great, I might be chasing a potential cyberpsycho right now—can you take it?"
The person on the other end clearly hesitated.
Regina: "...I'm not sure. Can you explain in detail?"
Leo: "Biotechnica signed a cooperation agreement with a group called the Red Ochre family. Someone died as a result, and there's a sick guy who's really pissed off—he's dragging a corpse to confront them. I suspect he's going to snap."
Regina: "If you're certain he's a cyberpsycho, try to use non-lethal takedowns—didn't expect our first collaboration to be initiated by you."
Regina: "You already have an NCPD subcontract for enforcement. I'll extend your permit and try to collect on-site data. I'll handle the follow-up."
Leo: "Thanks, but no need to pay for this one—though it's a bit cheeky to say, but you're not going to charge me, right?"
Regina: "Of course not. If you're willing to work for free, why would I refuse? Good luck."
Bang.
The car door closed, and Biotechnica's soldiers got out, facing Cedric.
Leading them was his contact, Brandon Murphy.
"Stop right there—where's the body? We'll handle it."
Murphy looked cautious and arrogant, his hand always on his gun.
Cedric, barely holding back his rage, pointed to the trunk.
"It's in the back. Are you coming over, or should I?"
"I'll go." Murphy signaled to the two henchmen behind him, and the three approached the trunk together.
With a click, the trunk popped open.
The body was wrapped in a black body bag, and Cedric stood by, feeling a sudden wave of sorrow.
Andre was his brother—they'd ridden the Badlands together for nearly 30 years.
Yes, they were ready to retire, which is why they finally agreed to Hector's plan to collaborate with Biotechnica.
But not like this—not this kind of retirement.
Murphy unzipped the body bag, revealing the corpse inside—
Just then, the sun rose.
Sunlight pierced through the decaying factory, through the early morning frost, shining on Andre's corpse.
Even in death, the body didn't stop its natural cellular reaction to electromagnetic radiation.
Suddenly, his body began to glow faintly, and then, as if consumed by flames like down feathers, the skin started to burn away, followed by the muscles, the nerves...
This scene stunned Murphy, who instinctively jumped back, crashing into Cedric.
"Look at it—he's right here. Why don't you take a closer look?"
Cedric's low, raspy voice sent a shiver down Murphy's spine. He turned to look—
In his cybernetic eyes, Cedric's red tactical eyes began to tremble violently!
It was a sign of data flow disorder, caused by physiological system chaos, leading to mass glitches in the cyberware soft armor and resulting in data corruption on the cybernetwork!
"Look!"
Cedric growled in a low voice, raising his carnage shotgun and blowing away a terrified soldier behind Murphy!
"Cyberpsycho! He's gone mad!"
The other Biotechnica soldier immediately aimed his gun at Cedric and pulled the trigger!
Cedric viciously slammed Murphy's head against the trunk and then, with a sudden burst of force from his tendons, charged head-on into the soldier, bullets be damned!
Several bullets hit his cyberlimbs and chest. Ordinarily, when bullets penetrate the body, the intense pain would hinder movement.
The pain would flood your brain, numbness would seize your limbs, blood would pour out, and with every heartbeat, you'd feel like you were being sliced by a knife.
But none of that pain compared to even a fraction of the nerve pain he felt at this moment!
In pain, yet his cyberware's responsiveness only heightened, even instinctively overclocking!
He wasn't afraid of the bullets!
Bang!
With the full force of his reinforced tendons unleashed, Cedric crashed into the Biotechnica soldier's chest like a cannonball!
Yet, even as he did this, he didn't forget to aim, maneuvering the shotgun at a strange angle and pressing it against the soldier's chin—
Boom!
The soldier's body was thrown sideways, while his head was blown into a spray of blood and fragments.
Murphy's head slammed against the car's trunk, but the damage was minimal—his skull had been reinforced.
But seeing Andre's body disintegrate step by step under the sunlight at close range shook him to his core.
It wasn't until the second gunshot that he finally raised his gun, spinning around to aim—
Cedric paused, then decided to throw his shotgun instead!
The carnage shotgun, a heavy weapon, was hurled with all Cedric's might, crashing into Murphy's reinforced skull like a catapult launching a stone with a bang.
This reinforced skull was like an old-fashioned steel helmet—it could deflect bullets but couldn't prevent someone from smashing it with a hammer.
Murphy's head buzzed.
Then Cedric yanked the gun from Murphy's hand, forcefully locking Murphy in a grappling hold, pinning him against the car.
"Fuck you, let go of me... ah!"
Snap.
Cedric broke Murphy's arm like a child snapping a chicken's wing.
What good are reinforced joints and shock-absorbing bones when faced with overwhelming reverse-angle pressure?
Murphy's right arm was twisted around his neck and broken as if his neck was the pivot point.
Afterward, Cedric released Murphy, letting him turn around, and then used Murphy's own rifle to shatter his remaining arm.
Finally, he tossed the rifle aside, ignoring Murphy's screams, and pressed his head down onto Andre's body.
"You wanted to see? Then look closely, you piece of s***. See how Andre died because of you."
"Look at it!"