John's intuition told him that this guy was very dangerous.

Within the ranks of mercenaries, Iron Scorpion's height was average, but the muscles beneath his tactical vest were quite robust. Half of his nose's skin had been replaced with metal patches, indicating severe corrosive injuries.

John's weapons had been confiscated before entering the facility.

He instinctively reached for the dagger the opponent had dropped, but just as his fingertips were about to touch the handle...

Swish—

The heavy short blade disappeared in front of John.

To be precise, it flew back to Iron Scorpion's hand at extreme speed.

John noticed the prosthetic body in the opponent's palm.

It spanned the entire metacarpal bone, unlike a ballistic coordination processor. Based on the scan results, it should be a so-called "enhancer," used for retrieving throwing knives or rapidly throwing them.

[Detection...]

Black Light's prompt flashed and quickly disappeared.

The network security department launched an attack again, but Gino intercepted it.

Almost simultaneously.

Iron Scorpion reversed his grip on the dagger, vents below his knees spewing air blasts like a fully armed venomous sting rushing straight at John!

His speed was ridiculously fast, closing in, with CQC tactical movements accompanying swift knife techniques...

The sense of pressure was astounding.

John grabbed a metal tray from the operating table to fend off the attacks, but with just one clash, his foe's dagger sliced diagonally through it.

Whoosh—

Iron Scorpion stabbed twice.

His arm was as agile as a spring, yet the knives he thrust were more terrifying than sniper bullets.

The whistling wind by his ear made John's scalp tingle.

John rarely encountered such a tricky adversary.

Worven Sack frowned.

This Gaia Cells' security department director evidently hadn't expected a street mercenary whose face he couldn't recognize to engage him for so long.

Of course, the space was limited and with a company project manager lying nearby, Iron Scorpion couldn't go all out.

They intermittently engaged the Sianweistan.

Two shadowy figures fought around the operating table, occasionally sparking orange and white embers. The overhead lights flickered unpredictably amidst the prosthetic body's magnetic field.

The two of them distanced themselves again but didn't re-engage immediately.

The Sianweistan needed to cool down.

John was actually more injured, lacking weapons in advanced prosthetic-body-augmented close combat was a severe disadvantage.

He forcibly pulled back, suddenly realizing something was wrong.

As Iron Scorpion was kicked away, he withdrew a high-speed throwing knife, the sharp blade grazing John's rib and piercing through his work jacket straight into the wall opposite.

Buzz—

The Sianweistan activated.

Iron Scorpion left a black shadow in the air.

The metallic joints exploded with terrifying force, the dagger deftly shifted direction in his palm, the silver-gray blade fiercely intimidating in the color-drained world.

Bam!

John also activated the Sianweistan.

[Chip: Naked Assassination]

He broke into the opponent's core distance, his arm was slashed, blood streaming but not retreating a step!

Close combat was necessary!

Prosthetic bodies specialized in one aspect often sacrificed other capabilities.

Especially full-body high-burst prosthetics, in terms of strength competition, would definitely be slightly inferior to traditional operating systems.

After trading blows with hits landing solidly, John already realized Igdrasir's strength was somewhat more substantial.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle—

Bam.

The overhead light strip exploded.

The magnetic field changes caused by two high-level Sianweistans directly caused a small circuit failure.

The world returned to normal once more.

Gino looked up and saw under the flashing warning lights:

John and Iron Scorpion were locked in a standoff, a dagger clamped between two alloy-skeleton-reinforced hands.

Buzz buzz.

Gino heard a strange sound, turned her head, and saw another dagger embedded in the wall vibrating.

"John, behind you!"

Whoosh—

The dagger shot straight towards the back of John's head.

Gino screamed.

Her reaching motion became gradually slow.

Iron Scorpion's eyes widened, his pupils contracting.

John's Sianweistan had a special mechanism, allowing an extra activation with Black Light before completely cooling down.

This was his trump card.

John pulled out his arm, turned, and caught the knife, resting its tip against Iron Scorpion's temple.

He didn't stab it in.

Because Iron Scorpion's dagger was also pointed at his heart.

Both equipped with advanced prosthetics understood that any rash move would result in mutual destruction.

John actually held a slight advantage.

He paused mainly to protect Gino; risking severe injury to kill Iron Scorpion would leave no chance to escape Source Equation.

Crackle.

A group of heavily armed soldiers stormed into the medical area.

Electromagnetic barriers blocked the exit.

Several rifles mounted over shields, dense red dots flitting around the walls and operating table.

Beep, beep beep, beep—

The stalemate in the operating room was punctuated by machine prompts.

The last vial of potion was injected, mechanical arms and syringes swiftly retracted into the ceiling.

An upper-body-bare Bismarck sat up from the operating table.

"Hmm..."

He stepped barefoot to the storage locker under the gaze of laser sights and everyone in the room, took a clean shirt, put it on, and started tying his necktie while speaking to the mirror.

"Relax, gentlemen, put the toys down."

"..."

Both John and Iron Scorpion showed a hint of reluctance in their eyes.

The knives in their hands had already cut each other, their focus immensely concentrated.

Finally, Iron Scorpion gritted his teeth and first relaxed his grip, loosening his hand.

If there were no restrictions on capturing alive, and if Bismarck's life were disregarded, the outcome of this battle would be undoubtedly certain.

He glared at Bismarck in resentment.

"The mole you brought is tampering with the local network, they must pay for endangering the company's security."

"Hehe."

Bismarck let out his signature cold chuckle.

He never once glanced at Iron Scorpion, focusing solely on grooming himself in the metal basin mirror.

"The testers I brought have already proven that the idiots in the network security department are wasting the company's resources, full of firewall loopholes. Those soaking in high-level diving pools couldn't even handle a little girl."

Bismarck turned his head and smiled at Gino.

As if she was truly an intern he recruited.

Gino displayed a look of being swatted in the face by a fly, yet she kept silent.

"Testing for vulnerabilities? Who authorized it?"

Iron Scorpion, as the head of the security department, questioned.

"I did."

Bismarck finished adjusting his tie and turned calmly.

He had an aura of a corporate executive, exuding a scent soaked in power and business values.

"As an independent project supervisor, I'm naturally authorized to sign."

Bismarck knew Iron Scorpion was a very assertive person, and the best way to collaborate with people like that was through mutual benefits.

"Don't be too upset, Mr. Sack. At the next quarterly meeting, have the company transfer the network jurisdiction to you, since it's all about protecting the Source Equation's security. Only one supervisor is necessary, and I'm willing to vote for you."

This was an internal corporate exchange of interests.

Iron Scorpion couldn't refuse and wasn't quite resigned.

He raised his arm slightly, gently shaking it, exerting a strong attraction to pull the dagger from John's hand.

"He couldn't be a hacker, right?"

There's a hierarchy of disdain among professions.

Bismarck understood the security head's pride and discontent, speaking softly.

"He's a Vacuum Tube client."

John and Iron Scorpion simultaneously looked at Bismarck.

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