If Sugar Bean Man really wanted to sell us out, he would have already released the knockout gas in the pipes. He wouldn't even need to give a heads-up, just wait until we're surrounded at the funeral home.

To put it bluntly.

He's already done us a big favor.

What we need to do now is run!

Vroom—

The sound of tire screeching filled the open-air parking lot.

A black sports car burst through the rain curtain, drifting and kicking up water, sending wet advertisement flyers flying to the other end of the street.

John gripped the steering wheel, accelerating to high speed within seconds, speeding along the asphalt road that shimmered with a halo of light.

Gino clutched the passenger handle, her head pressing into the headrest.

"Hey, is it necessary to drive this fast?"

"Trust me, the faster, the better. If we have to fight, it's best not near Sakura Cross Street..."

John focused on driving, connected to the auxiliary system, and formally took over the entire car's data.

Screech—

The sound of tire burning came from the city center streets.

A black arc drifted and slid, raising white smoke, crossing the center line amid a series of Japanese exclamations, rushing towards the overpass, the speedometer hitting 200 and still climbing on the iconic ring highway.

Gulp.

Gino swallowed instinctively.

The intense pushback made it hard for her to breathe until the sports car soared along the straight Sakura Avenue, where she finally found the chance to speak.

"I feel like you're on a high!"

"A bit, indeed."

John chuckled, ignoring Gino's screams.

Sugar Bean Man wasn't wrong.

John could clearly feel that when the car sped up, a pleasant sensation spread from inside his body, similar to the early effects of taking a [Special Inhibitor].

Adrenaline was neutralizing the side effects of the Martyr GTX.

[This body is destined to burn.]

John thought.

Gino hesitated, unsure if she should say something, but heard John speak first.

"We're already being watched. Damn, these sharp-nosed bastards are diligent."

John twisted his neck, supporting his arm and steering with one hand. In the dim driver's seat, the glow of his prosthetic eye was visible, with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Gino could sense his excitement.

She was silent for a moment and then laughed.

"Alright, I won't bother saying thanks then."

"Hmm?"

John looked at the girl in the passenger seat.

Gino unbuckled her seatbelt, climbed onto the seatback in the speeding driver's seat, fixing the yucca rope's ashes in the back seat.

She took out a familiar data terminal.

It was a relic of yucca rope.

[Authorized Access/Agree]

Gino connected the data cable to the car system.

"Have you worked with hackers before?"

She asked.

John's mind flashed with the image of Oulos.

"Somewhat."

"Oh, well, I figured you were always a lone wolf. Pity, can't give you a scare!"

[Secondary Authorization/Agree]

Gino locked her seatbelt and entered a semi-deep dive state, her head slightly raised, pupils tinted pale gold by dense data.

The car fell silent.

Silver Rider 577 roared past.

[Sakura Cross Street-Industrial District]

This area was practically a bed of violence.

It's not that John was keen on diving into the cesspool, but the main roads had checkpoints.

Don't forget, because of the hovercar crash, half the city is under martial law now.

This means all main thoroughfares south of Chengxin Square are under secondary lockdown, with the ECPD and special operations teams on duty 24/7!

John had come to Sakura Cross Street earlier via this route.

But surely he couldn't calmly return the way he came.

Pools of lit-up waterlogged on the asphalt road.

John suddenly accelerated, the turbo of the Silver Rider 577 howled, throwing water into the air, stained with city neon into a fragmented halo.

Vroom—

An armored pickup truck, modified, charges from an alley, like a lurking monster opening its maw, but only biting the shadow of the sports car.

Ghouls infiltrate the city's streets, better at tracking vehicles than the cops.

The armored car rammed through piled debris on the street's edge, turning in pursuit.

A passenger leaned out of the window to shoot.

A series of orange-yellow threads crossed the rain curtain.

Bullets grazed the honeycomb alloy shell of the modified Silver Rider, leaving faint sparks.

Vroom—

Vroom—

Several modified Glaives drove out in succession, drifting in the abandoned canal, rearing up their front wheels, biting into them fiercely.

Vroom, swoosh—

The canal was already waterlogged.

The Silver Rider sports car drifted in a large hairpin bend, the tire grip deviation data flashing through John's prosthetic eye.

The windows on both sides were open.

Gino's consciousness was in cyberspace, otherwise, she would have screamed.

Her short hair fluttered, flinging the rainwater clinging to the ends out of the window.

The sports car skimmed up the canal ramp!

John released the center console, steering with one hand, and propped a rifle on his arm to shoot outside.

The maneuver was challenging.

But Igdrasir's alloy skeleton was stable enough, with ballistic cooperative processors paired with tactical software calibration, balance issues were sidelined.

Bam, bam, bam…

A string of opposite yellow flashes pierced the rain.

Shells scattered.

The armored car's windshield burst into flames.

The secondary bulletproof glass modified by the ghouls couldn't withstand high-penetration bullets.

The passenger exploded in a mist of blood.

The ghouls weren't flustered.

The death of a companion only sparked their ferocity.

The ghouls who thrived in a city region were undoubtedly extreme maniacs at the brink.

Without a second of hesitation, several motorcycles used the armored car as cover, accelerating, with shooters in the back taking out modified electromagnetic spears.

Mini-EMP tipped metal spikes flew through the air!

John holstered his gun, drifting to evade with a sideways slip caused by the water.

Electric arcs exploded like a web behind the car.

John's prosthetic eye flickered with mosaics—the EMP aftermath affected the vehicle system. A direct hit would cause loss of control!

He chuckled slightly, preparing to link to the virtual network, gearing up to accelerate again.

Tap, tap, tap.

A rapid sequence of keystrokes resounded from the passenger seat.

Gino remained expressionless, leaning back in her seat, one prosthetic eye glinted, fingers tapping swiftly like a club DJ.

[Operation log detected, logging, default high-level authorization, requesting vehicle system access permissions/consent]

Black Light detected something, consulting John for his opinion.

He trusted Gino, granting her top user permissions directly.

Gino's operations in cyberspace used the car system's LAN as a launching point.

After all, Silver Rider 577 was an Eisenberg special edition.

The network firmware and ICE level were high-end corporate stuff, more than sufficient to use as a console without a deep-diving chair!

[Prosthetic eye hacked, puppet uploaded, protocol process—]

Two motorcycle riders suddenly froze.

Their red eyes abruptly extinguished, arcs flickering, the fast-moving motorcycles lost control without evasive action.

One skidded off the slope edge.

The other crashed directly into the guardrail.

Prosthetic bodies mixed with vehicle parts flew everywhere, several clear yet exaggerated bloodstains appeared on the dark ground.

Bang!

The vehicle didn't explode.

But the rearview mirror showed a bloodied blur.

"Awesome,"

John complimented with a smile but heard Gino shouting loudly in the team chat.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.