Players Invade Cyberpunk

Unity...

"Hehe..."

The word made Faraday want to laugh.

No matter how united ants are, they're still ants. A little provocation through public opinion, and they'll fall into endless infighting, blindly following their leader into chaos.

When have they ever been united?

When...

Faraday had many things he wanted to say to Reyes, but he knew he couldn't waste any more time adding variables.

Huang Ban's task for him was to get rid of Reyes, and with his head in his bag, this job was concluded.

Though he had made some other arrangements just in case.

"Pity, old captain..."

Faraday pulled out a finely crafted handgun from his coat, aiming at Reyes's head.

"The ships of this era have all sunk into the sea, and you won't be an exception."

He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

The firing pin ignited the primer; the expanding high-pressure gas propelled the bullet out of the casing. The brass projectile accelerated through the rifling of the barrel and shot out of the muzzle.

It barely grazed Reyes's scalp, messing up his mushroom-shaped hairdo, taking some loose strands with it.

"..."

Faraday stared at the gun in his hand, surprised. He thought he wasn't old enough to miss at such close range.

With his four cyber eyes, he quickly found the cause.

A barely visible thread was wrapped around the gun's barrel, pulling it an inch high when he fired, causing the shot to miss.

He followed the thread upwards, in the dark ceiling beyond the lighting, stood someone he knew well.

"Qiwei... what do you mean..."

Standing on the beam, Qiwei exerted her right hand, the sharp monofilament instantly severing Faraday's gun into pieces of scrap metal on the ground.

Faraday retreated several steps, hiding among the Mercenaries.

"Take action."

Though Qiwei's act of betrayal surprised him, keeping his life was most important.

The other Mercenaries attempted to chase and finish off, but several stun grenades thrown from the ceiling pushed them back, forcing them to shoot blindly; their ears were filled with the metallic clash of bullets hitting iron plates.

When their eyes opened again, Reyes was already shielded by a group, with the giant Mann holding a massive metal riot shield at the forefront.

"Sorry, Mr. Faraday, the price you offered Qiwei wasn't as high as theirs, so I must inconvenience you."

"Mann..."

Faraday looked at the suddenly appearing Mercenaries, his expression sour as if he'd eaten a fly.

"Such a waste, I thought you were promising material, but you still are so clueless."

Before taking Lin Miao's job, Mann always worked under Faraday, but for strategic reasons, Faraday would find a convenient leverage point in Mercenary squads as his informant, preventing betrayal or solo acts.

Since this task was particularly aimed against Mann's current employer, Faraday specifically issued them a task and instructed Qiwei to report Mann's movements at any time.

He didn't share more details with Qiwei, yet still got caught.

"Le——"

Rebecca poked her head from behind Mann, pulling her left eyelid to make a face at Faraday, giving him a middle finger with her right.

"Four-eyes, I've always found you eye-catching."

"Hahaha, Rebecca, don't do that. I'm afraid if you curse him, he'll enjoy it like those perverts begging for insults at the bar."

"..."

Ignoring Pira's strange laughter, Qiwei kept silent, retracting the monofilament.

In truth, Mann and the others arrived only shortly after Faraday, following him from the shadows, overhearing the entire conversation.

When Faraday contacted Qiwei, she didn't hesitate to sell him out.

Qiwei wasn't driven by conscience or affection but made the decision purely out of weighing the pros and cons.

For Qiwei, though angering Faraday might be troublesome, it was still wiser not to provoke those cyber psychos daring to confront Huang Ban head-on.

If it turned out that she and Faraday were discovered after the fact, even a hundred lives wouldn't be enough; after spending time with players, she realized they might be even more terrifying than Huang Ban.

Things were going beyond Faraday's expectations, and he didn't want more complications.

"Kill them all, leave no one."

Even with Mann's squad unexpectedly appearing, there was still a considerable gap in numbers.

The Mercenaries, recovering from the stun grenades, didn't wait for Faraday to finish speaking before launching an attack on Mann and the others.

The barrage of bullets mixed with the pitter-patter of dense raindrops outside made it impossible to discern how many were exchanging fire.

Mann, shielding against the hail of bullets, punched through the floor disguise, tearing a gap revealing where Reyes stashed his second-hand hidden car. Due to the frequent car purchases by players, many secrets weren't secret anymore.

"Dorio, take him to the underground garage, there should be another way out there."

"Pira, cover us, prepare to blow up the passageway."

The squad members immediately began a strategic retreat towards the underground garage.

Rebecca: "Huh? I thought...."

"Let's take them head-on!"

"......"

Sheltered behind his shield, Mann looked blankly at the squad members hiding behind their own cover.

"What are you saying? We can't match them force for force."

Faraday's Mercenaries tripled their numbers; engaging them in a direct fight had zero chance of success, only assuring everyone's death here.