"John, John?"

Knock, knock.

Gino gently tapped on the car window.

"Shit, damn it, where the hell am I?"

John woke up abruptly in the driver's seat.

In a strong dizziness, he recalled the events—he accepted the commission from Serum, preparing to shoot down the Plato executive's hovercar. Now the attack equipment was in place.

"When did I fall asleep?"

His prosthetic eye glowed faintly red, with the edge of the lens focusing unstably.

Gino untied the towel wrapped around her wrist and handed it to John to wipe his sweat, her furrowed brows conveying her concern.

"No delay, but your body... can it hold up?"

"I can't say. No intubation, no bleeding, but it feels like... if I fall asleep, I might not wake up."

"...Alright, stop worrying about nonsense, do the job and let the boss give you a way out."

She pushed herself up from the car window, walked towards the set-up EMP Emitter, snatched the electronic cigarette from Kenmasen and started chatting with him—the topic always hovered between Internet Surveillance and street life.

John rested for a while, waiting for the cold sweat to cool before opening the door to get out.

The night breeze eased the mind's dizziness.

The upward road on the wasteland was a good place to overlook the night view of Eden City.

Skyscrapers were immersed in a misty neon glow.

Holographic projections shimmered.

The heat island effect was manifesting the characteristics of the Cyber Era.

When the water vapor began to condense, something finally happened.

John followed Gino's guidance, looking towards the end of the black sky where sporadic hovercars were shuttling.

One of them was flying toward the direction where they were await.

"Damn it, what are you staring at! Stand over here; it will crash your system!"

Kenmasen's reminder echoed in John's ears.

Before the sound faded.

The EMP emitter activated as scheduled.

Its base trembled violently, causing the soil on the edge of the cliff to rustle and slide down.

According to theories, the "trajectory" of an EMP is hard to catch with the naked eye, but at this moment, all three could see the conical range it spread out—because the factories and energy facilities in the suburbs were "rampaging."

Cobalt blue currents spread from near to far.

The black smoke caused by minor mechanical explosions stirred up a magnetic storm wave.

The attack target was not them.

These facilities had electromagnetic protection devices, and they functioned immediately. Although the visual effect was quite shocking, the actual damage could be repaired within two to three work hours.

At this moment, red lights and protection programs activated spontaneously, and many corporate engineering departments received information prompts.

"This shit is really intense!"

Kenmasen said through gritted teeth, making lewd gestures at his crotch.

Like Gino, he had a deep-seated hatred for corporations.

The hovercar Bismarck was riding in was the real attack target.

Its four blue vector engines stalled on the spot, the forced landing alignment failed, and dense currents and flames shot out through the gaps...

This V9 Doug came to a screeching halt mid-air and fell diagonally like a meteorite.

Even from a dozen kilometers away, the loud noise on the wasteland could be heard.

Bweep—

Bweep—

"F*ck, that recoil is huge."

John shook his head, rubbed his ear, and slowly heard the sound clearly.

"I already warned you, standing in front, even with your intelligent prosthetic body, it would have fried."

Kenmasen confronted him, urging.

"Plato Company's soldiers and the emergency team will be here soon, we have to hurry, once we're on site, if we control Bismarck, we live!"

Three of them quickly got into the sports car.

The chaos at the signal relay station had been sorted out.

Now another hovercar had fallen down on the wasteland...

Tonight, Eden City was completely chaotic.

John floored the gas, and the sports car on the highway was almost flying over the ridge, leaving the bypass, and entering the dusty roads of the wasteland, raising even more uproar, almost like a sandstorm following behind.

The speed kept increasing.

John, however, was uncertain in his heart.

The hovercar crash was a big deal.

The ECPD and corporate soldiers were not pushovers.

The emergency team flying from the nearest duty point would only take minutes.

Is there really enough time?

Bang—

As John floored the gas, a loud bang suddenly came from the sky behind.

Gino and Kenmasen both turned their heads, even rolled down the window, and lifted their hair blown by the strong wind to look back towards the city.

Directly above Sakura Cross Street in Eden City.

Another aerial vehicle exploded and was wrapping in thick smoke, falling towards the city!

It's the famous [Raft Qi].

A huge, all-weather operating advertising hovercar.

At night, it activated holographic projections and paraded along a predetermined route.

Raft Qi was a landmark vehicle in Eden City and an excellent demonstration of the Eastern people's financial and influential power—occupying a piece of commercial airspace all year round, practically everyone had heard those brainwashing casino ads and club promotions.

At this very moment.

This attention-grabbing [Raft Qi], was billowing smoke as it plunged towards [Festival Avenue].

Within a few seconds.

The city erupted with roaring flames.

The thick smoke and various police spotlights pierced the sky, and from afar, they looked like an orange bonfire, standing out in the cold, dark steel jungle.

Compared to this racket, the hovercar that John and the others shot down was like a minor accident.

"Damn..."

Gino widened her eyes, sat back in the car, and suddenly turned around to look at the back seat.

Kenmasen was equally stunned, leaning back with a face full of surprise, moving his mouth a few times but failing to speak.

John furrowed his brow and slowed the car down.

"Let me be straight, is Serum buying us some time?"

"I... I don't know."

Gino's tone was a bit hesitant.

"Then ask!"

John almost shouted.

"Listen, I'm not talking about some bullshit social responsibility, those corporate dogs rotten to the core dying, I don't care, but if this goes wrong, buddy..."

That big thing didn't land on the wasteland.

It crashed on a bustling street, commercial buildings, street-front bars, and low-rent apartments!

Life isn't easy for anyone.

No one wants to be a number on a death lottery ticket.

John lightly tapped the steering wheel, took a deep breath, and continued.

"Mercenaries can engage in gray business, but not terrorism, the Special Event Handling Action Team would smear our brains on the pavement, you guys understand!"

Gino said nothing.

Kenmasen was frantically linking to the network.

The EMP they emitted had disrupted local base station operations. Now the vehicle had left the wasteland and the local network signal was extremely weak.

Plus, Eden City had been lit on fire tonight, and the Internet Surveillance's puppets had already spread throughout cyberspace.

IP checks and unknown citizen account reviews became stricter.

Trying to get online to obtain information became significantly harder.

After dozens of seconds.

Kenmasen suddenly shouted.

"It's Ghoul who did it!"

This news was a relief, almost as if shouted out.

"I don't know who hired the Russian lunatics, but the most likely culprit now is the Black Gold Gang; you know, those muscle-bound black guys and the Eastern people don't get along, the gang conflict has escalated..."

"Escalated to the level of a terrorist attack?"

Gino pressed on.

Kenmasen shook his head.

"Not sure, maybe they botched it, but the perpetrators didn't survive, ECPD (Eden City Police Department) and SAT (Special Event Handling Action Team) have already sealed half the district."

There was a slight sense of relief and resignation in his tone.

"Nothing to do with the boss, just a coincidence, many in cyberspace can testify, the boss was in a heated battle with the state police when it happened."

"Hopefully, yeah."

Gino silently frowned and looked out the window.

The smoke from the explosion had already covered half the city.

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