After allowing passage, the flow of cars from the Tiger Claw Gang quickly flooded into the open space of the office, encircling the three buildings.
After all, they couldn’t block the road; people still needed to go to work.
The gang members entering the factory sensed an eerie quietness, with a hint of chill despite it being the scorching heat of August.
The doors of the bar, factory, and warehouse were wide open, yet there were no lights or shadows, giving the impression that everyone had fled.
The original plan was to storm in, open fire, and kill everyone, but now these people were hesitating.
There’s always something strange about unusual occurrences; some of the sharper-minded ones were already starting to slow down, while only those utterly self-absorbed idiots kept charging ahead.
Seven or eight thugs entered the bar, trying the switch for the overhead lights several times without response, only able to make out things with the faint light filtering through window cracks and doors.
There were still unfinished glasses on the bar, and the stage was in disarray, suggesting that people had been there moments ago.
Annoyed, they angrily swept the tabletop clean with a baseball bat and cockily spoke to their companion beside them.
"Humph, cowardly bunch must have heard of our Tiger Claw Gang’s renown and fled in fear."
"Can’t even fathom how they defeated Elder Brother Boss, I bet they resorted to underhanded, shameful tactics. Truly despicable!"
The brother beside him was a bit anxious; the surroundings were too dark to see far, everything pitch black.
"Long Yi... something’s not right..."
"Ha? What’s there to be afraid of? Just wait for Lord Kentaro’s command, and this company will be leveled in no time."
As they spoke, the room’s light inexplicably dimmed.
The dozen or so people who entered the office building suddenly panicked, turning around only to realize the electric gate had closed by itself.
Someone pounded on the door, shouting loudly, "Wha... what’s going on! Wasn’t the power cut?"
"If you’re a man, come out and fight honorably! Tsk!"
Surrounded by pitch darkness, they couldn’t see anything, with their previous arrogance instantly plunging into panic.
Souta quickly pulled Long Yi toward the remembered wall corner, not forgetting to raise his handgun toward the surrounding darkness as if trying to intimidate something until they bumped into a wall-like object at their backs and dared to stop and catch their breath.
Long Yi reassured himself, "It’s okay, the gate’s shut; Lord Kentaro and the others will surely come to help us, not a single person in here will escape."
But Souta swallowed hard, his entire body shaking, muttering, "Long... Long Yi..."
"What’s wrong? You’re not scared just because a door closed, are you?" The companion teased, "If so, how do you plan to make a name for yourself with me in Night City? Pull yourself together! Youjing Cangta! You’re supposed to be my right-hand man!"
"No... it’s not that." Souta trembled even more violently, "I... I seem to hear another person’s breathing."
"What?" Long Yi was shocked, suddenly remembering he had a phone, hurriedly using it for light.
However, it wasn’t just that; illuminating it revealed a wall that looked like an oil painting.
Under the dim light, the painting depicted vibrant orange marigolds and jewels encasing a skeletal deity, holding a scythe symbolizing death in its hands, appearing both sacred and horrifying.
Their bodies froze, fear engulfing them as they slowly moved the phone’s light upward.
In an instant, an exhilarating soprano suddenly resounded in the bar hall.
The sound was as saintly as a nun’s hymn in a church, mixed with a shrill scream.
Blood splattered on Souta’s face as the ambitious Long Yi’s head was smashed by a rod-like object, prosthetic eye parts scattering, blood splattering on Souta’s face, distorting his features in fear.
The phone that rolled to the ground shattered its screen, the light flickered.
In Souta’s erratic vision, the movements of that steel demon seemed to follow a disjointed frame-by-frame motion, each time the light faded, its hand moved closer towards his head.
Terrified to the point of stupefaction, Souta could only frantically pull the trigger at the opponent, the muzzle’s flash striking the shield, resulting in nothing but ricocheting sounds.
In the massive mechanical arm, Souta’s head looked not much bigger than an apple, nor any harder.
Red Bucket’s right hand applied a slight force, making the head emit a strange sound like an apple, blood spraying from the facial features, gunshots and screams simultaneously ceased.
The doors of the office, factory, and warehouse closed simultaneously, dividing the charging Tiger Claw Gang in two, completely severing them.
Seeing the change, Sazaki intended to command his brothers to rush in and blow up the doors, but was stopped by Kentaro.
"Let’s wait and see, observe what these people are up to."
They came to trouble those mercenaries, yet why was the bar cooperating so well with them?
Could they be in cahoots?
Soon after, gunfire, screams, and a sound resembling a nun’s choir erupted successively in the three places.
Mystifying those outside as to whether some cult ritual was happening inside.
The singing persisted for over ten minutes before finally ceasing.
The gate reopened, but not a single person escaped alive, the dark entrance resembling an abyss of death, making the Tiger Claw Gang members outside swallow fearfully, utterly unwilling to enter.