Chapter 252 : The Beginning of the War
Chapter 252: The Beginning of the War
It was an unusually quiet morning.
Since the nights in New Valhalla City often stretched late into the night, there was nothing particularly strange about peaceful mornings.
But that morning was unnaturally quiet.
There were no human trash lying drunk on alcohol, drugs, or Junk Chips along the streets.
Even the homeless who had settled along the roadsides of Sector E after being laid off by corporations had yet to wake up.
Even the Anti-Rain that the Meteorological Administration sprayed day after day failed to appear.
Considering that Sector E bordered the city wall and therefore received Anti-Rain more frequently than anywhere else, this was a highly unusual occurrence.
Instead, a thick fog blanketed the city.
A pale gray mist filled every alleyway like countless bundles of cotton, so dense that one couldn't see even an inch ahead.
A literary soul might have said that the heavens had hidden the coming tragedy from view because they did not wish to witness what was about to happen.
In any case—
They began to move.
The Black Dragon Gang and the Cyberwatch Gang.
The Marcello Family and Technotology.
The greatest powers ruling this city's underworld had joined hands to eliminate the insolent newcomer who had stirred chaos throughout the underworld and dared to enter their game.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Men wearing cheap dress shirts with the buttons left completely undone, giving off a rough and delinquent appearance.
In their hands were various illegal firearms, katanas, and nail-studded clubs.
Visible through their open shirts were the scars left by low-grade Black Market cyberware surgeries and tattoos symbolizing the Black Dragon Gang.
The quality of each individual member was not particularly impressive.
If anything, Blood Wolves, which had mysteriously been annihilated last year, had possessed subordinates of far greater individual ability.
However, their numbers could never be ignored.
More than two thousand members had been dispatched throughout the Kim Cheolsu Faction's entire territory.
And considering that this wasn't even half of the Black Dragon Gang's total membership, one could easily imagine just how enormous the organization truly was.
Rrrrrrr...
Monochrome Street Entertainment District, Sector E.
Time: 6:00 a.m.
The establishments that had spent the entire night providing decadent entertainment had all closed their doors.
Even the club security guards who had stood watch throughout the night had gone home to rest.
The area's terrible public safety meant every building had heavy security shutters lowered.
But such precautions meant little against enemies who had deliberately come seeking blood.
Begin.
Yes, Boss!
Following their squad leader's command, Black Dragon Gang members attached illegal C9 adhesive explosives to the shutter.
Moments later, a violent explosion swept through the Kim Cheolsu Faction-owned nightclub.
Waaaaaaaah!
Waaaaaaaah!
Shouting in celebration, the Black Dragon Gang members rushed into the club all at once.
Emergency alarms immediately began blaring.
Several low-ranking members who had been using the club as temporary lodging, along with a few die-hard club regulars who still hadn't gone home, jolted awake in alarm.
But before they could even gather their naked bodies and rise from the sofas—
The hand axes thrown by the Black Dragon Gang members mercilessly split their skulls open.
“Kyaaaaaaaah—!”
The women working at the club screamed at the sudden massacre unfolding before them.
But their screams did not last long.
Flying katana blades instantly severed their heads from their bodies.
“P-Please spare us! Please spare us!”
“We only came here to have fun last night...!”
“Kill them all!”
There was no mercy even for those begging for their lives.
Within only five minutes, the Black Dragon Gang had wiped out everyone inside the club without the slightest hesitation before beginning to smash every piece of interior decoration to pieces.
There had been no real need to do so.
Yet the squad leader made no attempt to stop his men.
After allowing them ample time to vent their stress, he issued another order.
Pour the gasoline. Then burn it.
Yes, Boss!
Following the command, the members scattered gasoline from the drums they had brought throughout the club.
The sharp, suffocating smell of fuel spread everywhere.
Once they finished, every member retreated.
The squad leader quietly watched from near the entrance before lighting a cigarette.
It used to be a good place. Shame.
He muttered regretfully before casually flicking the burning cigarette onto the floor, as though casting away his lingering attachment.
Blue flames instantly spread across the entire floor.
They quickly climbed the curtains, sofas, and electrical wiring, swelling larger and larger.
Before the fire could spread any further, the squad leader quietly withdrew and boarded the waiting van.
Next location.
Yes, Boss!
The war had only just begun.
At the same time.
While the Black Dragon Gang—the largest organization in New Valhalla City—was attacking businesses owned by the Kim Cheolsu Faction...
The combat agents of the Cyberwatch Gang and the Marcello Family headed not toward the entertainment district, but the residential area.
[Have you located him?]
[82nd floor. Penthouse.]
[Security?]
[We've disabled all the building's CCTV systems and emergency communication network. Burned out the circuits of every idiot who left their receiving ports open too. Looks like we've already killed about half of them.]
[Excellent.]
As expected of Cyberwatch.
This gang, composed entirely of Techno-Wizards, was even rumored to be capable of reducing one of the Stingray Group's Colonies to ashes without ever leaving their seats.
Considering that Cyberwatch contained many former corporate Wizards abandoned by the corporations before drifting into the underworld, the rumor wasn't entirely unbelievable.
The Marcello Family's combat agents gripped silenced pistols and sprinted toward the apartment entrance.
It was a luxurious apartment completely out of place in Sector E.
It was magnificent enough to rival even the mansions of Sector A.
Six men, apparently security personnel, lay collapsed beside the elegantly decorated flowerbeds at the entrance.
Sparks crackled from the backs of their necks and their eyes.
The acrid smell of burning flesh drifted from their ears and nostrils.
There were no biological reactions.
Every one of them was dead.
“...Damn.”
One of the Marcello Family assassins cursed under his breath.
He had killed more than enough people himself, but corpses like these were extraordinarily rare.
Every single security guard had burned to death after their internal cyberware and combat modules short-circuited.
'So this is why everyone fears Wizards.'
That was what made Wizards so terrifying.
In the physical world, they were barely worth a punch.
But if they were given access to a network...
They could perform 'magic' even in reality.
Considering the Cyberwatch Wizard responsible for this carnage was safely hiding several kilometers away, Techno-Wizards were even more terrifying than most high-level Adaptees.
No—
The higher one's Replacement Rate became and the more mechanical parts filled one's body, the more vulnerable they became to Wizards.
In that sense, Wizards were arguably even more dangerous.
'The moment today's over, I'm updating my Anti-Wizard Vaccine...'
Frowning, the Marcello Family assassination squad hurried into the building.
The Wizard manipulated the elevator at the perfect moment and sent it to them.
Without even pressing a button, they rode it straight to the penthouse where the target was located.
Naturally, every security device they passed had already been disabled by the Wizard.
'Having a Wizard on our side makes everything ridiculously easy.'
The only people they had to worry about were the living humans the Wizard hadn't dealt with.
The assassination squad split up floor by floor as they searched for Salvatore Morone—the current highest-ranking executive of the Kim Cheolsu Faction and the former Boss of the Salvatore Family.
The apartment rose a full eighty-two stories.
Each floor contained its own movie theater, swimming pool, gym, and countless leisure facilities.
Normally they would have needed to search the enormous apartment from top to bottom in case their target was hiding somewhere.
Fortunately, that wasn't necessary this time.
Again, naturally...
It was thanks to the Wizard.
In the end, they located Salvatore Morone less than three minutes after entering the apartment.
With every security alarm disabled, Salvatore remained fast asleep on his bed, completely unaware.
[Target located.]
[What are you waiting for? Kill him.]
[Understood.]
While the remaining assassins eliminated the surviving security personnel and Salvatore's family throughout the apartment, five assassins surrounded his bed.
Click.
Click.
Click.
They raised their pistols toward the deeply sleeping Salvatore.
Without the slightest hesitation, their well-practiced hands repeatedly pulled the triggers.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The suppressors reduced the gunshots to dull impacts, like clubs striking cloth.
Dozens of Anti-Adaptee Rounds tore through Salvatore's blanket.
The white blanket was quickly soaked crimson with blood.
After emptying one magazine, the assassins activated their Biometric Scanners to confirm the kill.
[Scanning…….]
There was no way he could still be alive.
No matter how thick his Skin Armor Module was, no one could survive dozens of large-caliber Anti-Adaptee Rounds.
Even if he had once been the legendary Mafia figure known as the Red Fist...
Anyone surviving this much gunfire would no longer be human.
They would be a monster—
[Scan Complete. Vital Signs: Green.]
“What!?”
Vital Signs: Green.
He was alive.
Just as the assassins prepared to launch a second attack—
A violent gust of wind suddenly erupted inside the completely sealed bedroom.
“Huh……?”
The windows weren't even open...
Where was the wind coming from...?
The moment that thought crossed their minds—
The heads of two of the five assassins suddenly 'launched.'
Quite literally.
Their heads abruptly separated from their bodies, slammed violently into the wall with a thunderous crash, then dropped to the floor under the pull of gravity.
The next instant—
They saw Salvatore Morone.
Completely naked, blood poured from countless bullet wounds covering his body.
Judging by the amount of blood he had lost, he should have died long ago.
Yet somehow...
The target was still alive.
“Huff... Thank goodness I upgraded the subdermal armor cyberware protecting my vital organs. It kept me from dying instantly...”
“You crazy bastard!”
“Kill him now!”
Just as the assassins reached for their guns again—
Salvatore hurled himself through the window.
His speed was legendary.
Even though the assassins had been prepared for such a possibility, they couldn't react in time.
Crash!
Covering his face with both arms, Salvatore leaped from the eighty-second floor.
The assassins rushed to the balcony and desperately searched below.
Perhaps he had prepared some kind of escape device such as a paraglider.
But contrary to their expectations—
Salvatore simply plummeted straight down and smashed into the ground below.
“Damn it...! Why couldn't you just die normally!”
From experience, they knew exactly what became of someone who fell from the eighty-second floor.
Cursing loudly, they immediately dispatched men downstairs to locate Salvatore.
Meanwhile—
“Huff... Huff...!”
Salvatore...
Was still alive.
Although the impact had completely destroyed nearly all of his cyberware, he had somehow survived.
Bleeding profusely, he staggered down the road, fleeing from the assassins.
He had only one objective.
“Boss...!”
He had to warn him that the war had begun.
Because only he could stop this disaster.