'I need to do something!'

'And fast!'

Ghostwire's gray eyes narrowed in desperation.

He knew that the current stalemate in the battle royale would not last; his brain whirred. 'Once the first battle in this battle royale ends, the result will determine the outcome of the other battles'.

'Swain's battle will most likely end first… the rebels stand no chance before an Ascended… I have to do something, I must do something!'

As his brain whirred in thought, analyzing the current situation and evaluating his few options, he suddenly got an idea.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

Ghostwire turned his head and stared at the only other person who was in this cyber-lab with him with smoldering intensity, the F Rank NetRunner.

Feeling the crazy NetRunner's stare, Brad shuddered. 'Ah, f*ck shit, what now? I don't know anything!'

He was still traumatized by the treatment that he received from his supposed crewmate earlier. In the end, it worked out and they managed to find the slaves, but the result doesn't justify the means.

The result was not enough for Brad to forget the treatment and Ghostwire knew this the moment he looked into the NetRunner's eyes, hence why he decisively took action.

Thud!

Ghostwire went down on his knees!

"…!" Brad was shocked.

His eyes widened in horror and confusion as he staggered backward in fear. "W-what?"

"I'm sorry". Ghostwire dropped his ego and directly apologized. "I'm a very prideful man, so kneeling is the only way for me to show my sincerity to you". He said with all seriousness.

"Please can you forgive me? I'll make up for my treatment later, I'll accept any punishment from you, I'll do anything you want to make up for what I did, but now, all I can say is that I'm sorry for my earlier treatment".

"…"

Brad was speechless. He couldn't say a single word, he was tongue-tied as he stared at the NetRunner with wide eyes.

Then, Ghostwire said seriously. "Brad, I need your help".

Brad held his breath, waiting for the taciturn NetRunner who was saying a lot more words than usual today to explain.

Ghostwire's eyes briefly moved to the drone footage, showing his desperation. "As you can see, the surveillance job that the boss gave to me is one of the most important ones today if we are to complete this mission".

"But at the moment, I'm of no use to the crew staying holed inside here".

"I want to go help them," His eyes gleamed. "But I can't leave the drones without supervision, this is why I need your help".

Ghostwire looked directly into Brad's eyes. "Please I need you to take over the surveillance job in my absence".

Silence.

"Will you help me?"

Brad gulped. "O-of course," he forced a smile. "Afterall, we're part of one crew now, right?"

"Right". Ghostwire nodded and quickly stood up. "I leave it to you," he said in a somber tone, then he added. "Thank you".

"Welcome". Brad whispered but Ghostwire was already gone.

Ghostwire left the cyber-lab and directly charged out of the cell tower base into the streets of Community G.

His destination? The water factory in the community.

After dozens of minutes of an intense battle, the battle at the water factory finally came to an end as the rebels led by Mary and Gary wiped out all the thugs in the factory.

It was the biggest and most intense battle that had ever been fought in community G, and it ended in a success for the rebels.

Now, the survivors gathered their dead even as Gary took care of the injured.

The reason why Ghostwire was running towards them was simple. 'We need reinforcement, and they're the only ones I can think of!'

Running at his top speed, within less than a minute he arrived at the water factory where an epic battle just ended.

When they saw him, a face that they were unfamiliar with since Ghostwire rarely made contact with the populace himself during the preparations before today, the rebels immediately raised their guns and pointed at him.

Ghostwire quickly raised his hands. "I'm with Audrey Ross!" He shouted.

Most if not all of them didn't know Talia's name, but they knew the reporter, Audrey's name. To avoid being shot, Ghostwire's brain was working on overdrive at the moment as he analyzed every possibility before taking any action.

Hearing that, the mob hesitantly calmed down and Ghostwire immediately looked at the valiant-looking female Geneform with daggers. "We need your help!"

He held nothing back.

The moment he gathered Mary, Gary, and the leaders of the mob, he revealed the current situation to them. "We've found the hidden lair of the Zmer gang".

"We've also found the slaves that were sold and being transported. We managed to stop the transport but my crewmates are currently stuck in a battle against Parasite and his allies".

Considering that not everyone here knew about the intricacies and different ranks of Ascended, Ghostwire didn't bother to say the ranks of the enemies, all he did was convey the idea that Talia and his crewmates were in grave danger.

He also made his intention known that he wanted to go out there and reinforce them, and that was all the mob needed to hear.

Immediately, one of the leaders of the mob, a middle-aged Geneform with sunken cheeks and black hair with a few strands of gray walked out, standing in front of the mob as he faced them.

"You all heard him, they've found Parasite's lair".

"They've also found our brothers and sisters, and our neighbors who were kidnapped and were about to be sold as slaves into a distant land".

His eyes burned with zealous fire. "This is what we came out for today".

"We came to fight, and now, our targets are in front of us".

"I say let's go, I say let's fight, I say let's go and help the strangers who are not obligated but still decided to fight for our freedom".

"This is our chance to save our land!"

"This is our only chance to save our community!"

"This is our chance to regain freedom, so brothers, let's fight!"

"Let's show them exactly what our community can do".

"YEAH!" The mob roared.

"Let's show them the price of messing with Community G".

"YEAH!"

And that was all it took.

Instantly, the whole community began swarming.

Within a few seconds, the whole community awakened, including those who were either too weak or too old to join the initial battles.

And in that moment, Ghostwire learned a new lesson that not every situation needed fists to solve.

The OGs of Community G, the ones who've lived here all their lives, they pulled out old and dilapidated bikes out of nowhere, including a push and start truck that was clearly old but looked rugged enough.

This old military-grade truck still had one more day of a rough ride in it.

As for the younglings, some of these malnourished but zealous youngsters pulled out scavenged electric bikes from out of nowhere.

Some of these electric bikes were barely patched up and working, but they could ride and that was all that mattered.

Seeing as all of this happened in a community that looked so dead and desolate usually, Ghostwire's eyes widened.

And in that moment, he realized that the reporter's sacrifice awakened this community in a way he still could not fully comprehend.

This was no longer the community G that he was used to, this was a different community G. Despite looking weak, malnourished, and with some of them looking like they were barely a step away from dying, none of them looked weak at this moment.

Their eyes were wild and burning with fire, they held pistols, wooden bats, metal bars, and planks, and they were ready to go to war.

Ghostwire could literally feel the fighting intent radiating from the mob.

He came here with desperation mostly just to elicit Gary and Mary's help, he did not expect this.

And in that moment, he realized that despite how dead it was previously, community G was no longer a dead or dying community.

Now, this was a community ready to fight to the death for their land.

Ghostwire's eyes shimmered. 'She did this, that reporter'.

In the end, he raised his Rifle high into the sky with his right hand as he roared. "For Audrey Ross!"

"FOR AUDREY ROSS!" They responded like it was a war chant.

Within a few seconds, able-bodied Synths and Geneforms entered the bikes with guns, metal bars, and wooden bats.

These were not just pistols anymore, they equipped themselves with the weapons and ammunition left by the dead thugs of the Zmer gang, raising their threat up another notch.

There were more than two dozen bikes present, and each one was quickly occupied, carrying two to a single bike, some even carrying three people.

Ghostwire got his own bike while the restaurant couple entered one bike.

As for the old truck, it carried 11 people including the driver.

And then, they drove off.

VROOM!

Dozens of old bikes and a single old truck rode out of Community G, flying off to the desolate expanse of the Wastes as the mob they were leaving behind cheered them up, running after them and screaming at the top of their lungs till they disappeared.

This was Community G's reinforcement.

They carried the voice of the weak, the wrath of an angry mob, the zeal of a whole community, and they had no fear.

The time was 7:42am.

…

7:44am.

Deep in the wasteland far away from Community G, an epic battle royale continued as the agents of the Freegrid Collective fought for their lives.

The skyline was cloudy and filled with yellow and violet-colored neon storms, the air was filled with dust. And slowly, gradually, the neon storms slowly lowered and approached the ground.

A storm was coming.

And in the prelude to it, Swain was the storm as he moved like a hurricane, abusing the desperate rebels that were facing him.

After 7 minutes of going at it with the slippery and desperate rebels who were determined to use any dirty means to survive and fight, he finally rushed forward and got his hands on the last surviving rebel.

Swain grabbed the rebel by the head and while the Synth struggled in futility dragged him towards a nearby rock before slamming his head against it.

BAM!

Thick synthetic oil burst out as the mechanical head was squashed like a metal watermelon.

With his free left hand, Swain wiped the oil from his coat as he could not help but grimace in irritation.

For 7 minutes, the rebels made it their life's final mission to irritate the living soul out of his body.

They knew they stood no chance against him and the thugs behind him, so they hid and kited him round the chaotic battlefield, using every dirty means available in Neo-Tokara's brown earth to frustrate him to no end.

It worked, they managed to drag the confrontation for an astonishing 7 minutes before going out in a blaze of glory.

"F*cking rebels!" Swain cursed as he spat on the corpse of the Synth.

And then, he turned to observe the rest of the violent battles taking place around him. Having wiped out the mundane rebels, he and the thugs from the Zmer gang could now set their eyes elsewhere.

Swain's eyes gleamed as he took in all the important sights immediately.

On one side, Parasite and Mr. Representative Ben were absolutely battering Talia, Daren, and Brick.

The trio were repeatedly pushed back and injured, forced into desperate situations but like cockroaches, they refused to die as they kept on going again and again, enduring the pain just to deal more damage.

At first, their tenacity made Parasite irritated, but soon, he changed his mentality as he became more than willing to torture them till he broke them.

On another side, the two cowardly Mechanists were teetering on the edge of an abyss against Alexander Cain. Just one mistake was all it was going to need for Cain to end both of their lazy lives.

Swain scoffed. "Cowards".

And then, he set his eyes on the final battlefield, the one that attracted his attention the most and made his blood pump, Cell vs the last enemy Mechanist.

For some reason, despite being a Mechanist, this guy stood his ground against Cell for over 7 minutes without getting injured!

This was why he attracted his attention. "Good," he grinned, feeling adrenaline surge through him finally. "I'll break you till you beg to be killed!"

He didn't move yet though, instead, he turned to the hesitant surviving thugs of the Zmer gang who remained after the irritating battle against the rebels.

Despite Parasite's rush, he managed to mobilize 17 thugs alongside his Ascended subordinates to go in pursuit.

During the battle against the rebels, the outstanding and irritating performance of the rebels took 4 lives, reducing the thugs to 13. And now, they all looked at Swain uncertainly, waiting for orders.

"Go join Cain". He pointed and instructed. "Kill those two bums".

"Yes Boss Swain". They moved.

Swain also moved.

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.