Roshan Kaplan, the only arms dealer for civilians in the Colorado District, operated a shop called Lama Armory.
As an arms dealer, all her security devices were connected to her private network, completely isolated from the external network.
Moreover, this woman was exceedingly cautious, with no external cameras to be foundâmeaning sneaking in from the outside was unlikely. An access point from inside the building had to be found.
Inside, however, Lille didnât even need to think about it; there would definitely be 360-degree turret machine guns with no blind spots.
A direct assault would alert the Six Street Gang, which would defeat the purpose, but if they planned to quietly take out Roshan, those machine guns wouldnât be there just for show.
Clickâ
The double doors opened automatically; Roshan was a young-looking Mexican, dressed in a white gym smock and camouflage military trousers, with a camo headband wrapped around her head.
Typical Six Street Gang style, although she wasnât actually one of them.
She stood behind a bar enclosed by a wire partition, cautious as arms dealers are.
"Welcome... oh, a Valentino?"
Her enthusiasm diminished the moment she looked up.
No help for it, Jack had a look that was equally gang-specific: tattoos covering his arms, a large gold chain hanging on his chest, and...
All of them were Mexican.
Yet she wasnât scaredâher confidence came from the turret machine guns in every corner of the house.
If this big guy made any sudden move, the turrets could shred him to pieces in an instantâno hyperbole included.
Hisssâ
The turret began to rotate.
With the dark muzzles pointed at him, Jack hadnât even spoken yet, but his attitude had already shifted slightly.
Lille stepped forward from behind Jack, and only then did Roshan notice the skinny frail shadow trailing behind the big guy.
"First off, my brother isnât with the Valentino Gang right now, just here to talk."
"This again?"
"Howâs business lately?"
Roshan rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up, "People in Night City would rather starve to death than walk the streets with last eraâs weapons.
Not to mention under the current circumstancesâspeak plainly."
"Iâve got some hot merchandise here, can you move it? Itâs corporate stock, dubious origins."
Roshan observed Lille and Jack, then shook her head: "You are Valentinos; if the Six Street Gang finds out I helped you, they would skin me alive."
Yes, she didnât believe Lilleâs pretense at allâif this big guy wasnât a Valentino, sheâd eat him!
Meanwhile, V had spotted a route as soon as Lille entered.
Roshanâs cabin had only one front door, like a fortress, which it essentially was.
But maybe to make living a bit less suffocating, she had a small balcony on the side of the houseâs first floor and the back of the second floor, barely enough for a person to stand on, sealed off by the main door.
This height and distance would be impossible for an ordinary person, but an easy jump for anyone with enhanced prosthetics.
"Donât know whatâs so beautiful about this view..."
V swiftly jumped up to the second-floor balcony, looking out to see a junkyard, and just beyond it, a protective dam almost a hundred meters tall.
Built by the petrochemical industry, and on the other side was the real "trash lake."
V scanned the iron door with his Prosthetic Eyeâbad news; it was a traditional iron door, locked with a nitro lock.
Unhackableâand V was certain that opening it would trigger an alarm behind the door.
"Bad news, this door... itâs too old."
On the other side, Lille heard the news without changing his expression, but the situation was indeed tricky.
No wonder this woman had managed to thrive here; her security was exceptionally good.
What else could be used?
Lille looked towards Roshanâs computer behind herâthe 30x zoom of the Qilusi Eye easily saw the small text in the bottom left corner of the 14-inch control screen.
"Military Technology Civil ICE Ver.196.36352"
Lille still remembered the operating system version number on the military technology Bimong he had driven, which was Ver.526.523.
Judging by the update speed of military technology, Roshanâs system was probably about a decade old.
It seemed Roshan was confident in the physical firewall she had erected, skimping on software updatesâeither to save money or because she couldnât get anything better.
This version of the software, Lille could hack in less than a second; civilian ICE and military were completely different concepts.
He quickly visualized the entire houseâs dimensions in his mind; from its appearance, the second floor was the same size as the first, forming a perfect rectangle.
According to Vâs speed, from entering the door, to locking onto the devices inside, and then moving next to the device to connect...
It would probably only take 2 seconds, and if Krensky was activated, it could be shortened to about 1 second.
Roshanâs fixed turrets were something Lille had seen in Arasakaâs technical expert coursesâ
The machine gun was a MK26 model, and though the mounting stand was an unfamiliar type, there was a display case in the shop indicating that it was also an item sold by Roshan.
Turning speed...locking speed...minimum firing time...
Lilleâs mind swiftly integrated all the data from the moment V burst through the door until the alarm was triggeredâ
The iron door wasnât network-connected, so the alarm trigger must be a physical one, with a reaction time of at least 1 second.
It took 1 second for the signal to reach the server and be processed, and for Roshan to respond to the information.
Issuing the command to the machine gun firing took another second.
If they forced the door violently, he and V had 3 seconds of action time, but under extreme conditions, they only needed 1.5-2 seconds to complete the operation.
If they could distract this guyâs attention elsewhere, they could have even more spare time.
"V, break the door, connect to the LAN at top speed; Iâll handle the intrusion," Lille said.
"Break the door? But the machine gun..."
"Thatâs why we need to be fast; if weâre slow, Jack and I are going to be sievedâlisten to my command; Iâm about to start talking tough."
"Damn, youâre insane..."
While sending the message, Lille put his hand on the counter, "Forget about the Six Street Gang, from now on, youâre listening to me."
Roshan smirked, pointing at the corner machine gun, "Why should I? Just because you say so? Want to take a look at the machine guns in this house? Iâm not just living off the Six Street Gang..."
While Roshan was still speaking, Lille gave V the signal.
"Go."
Bang!
Although V still thought it was a foolish plan, after such a long time, she had developed a good habit of trusting Lille.
But that didnât mean she wasnât nervousâon the contrary, she believed Lille wouldnât deceive her.
If she messed up, both of them would really become sieves!
In the first second, the handgun Final Night shattered the door lock, and V kicked down the door, activating the pressure sensor behind it, beginning the signal transmission.
At 1.5 seconds, V spotted the server terminal emitting a blue light across the room, Krensky started up, and in an instant, she was at the server, making the connection.
Simultaneously, the alarm went off, Roshanâs complexion changed drastically, the machine gun pivoted, beginning to warm-upâ
Lille received the data synchronized, the Qilusi Eye interface for intrusion protocols appearedâindeed, the opponentâs ICE version was 196.35362.
By the second second, Roshanâs reaction and the machine gunâs start-up speed were a bit faster than Lille anticipated; the first bullet was chambered, Jack clenched his teeth, positioning himself behind Lille and raised his pistols.
But the LAN gateway had already been breached.
Bang!
The terrifying firepower of the MK26 easily shattered the shopâs shelves and concrete, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Four bullets nearly hit the duoâs location, but at the crucial moment, Lille froze the mountâs pivoting, the bullet was discharged, but it missed its mark.
The green light on the machine gun turned red, then aimed at Roshan.
Lille hadnât moved throughout the entire process.
When the dust settled, he merely tapped on the table, "This is a warning. These toys are indeed nice, but hey, Iâm not some cyberpsycho who starts with violence."
Click...click-click-click.
The mounted turret suddenly shook violently, the internal circuits surged, belching black smoke, components fell off.
Roshan watched the spectacle in horror, not daring to blink!
Seeing that he hadnât died, Jack finally opened his eyes, and after realizing all the machine guns had exploded, he turned around.
He meant to swear to vent his emotions, but seeing Lilleâs demeanor, he swallowed his words and stealthily patted his body to confirm it wasnât an illusion.
Lille patted Jack and took a handgun from Jackâs stunned hands, then scored a line on the rusty iron table.
Hissâ
A white line appeared on the table.
"Listen, this isnât negotiable, no hagglingâIâm drawing a line here, from now on, without permission, you canât do business here.
The Lama Gun Shop is out of business. As for when it will open, wait for the notification, understand?"
Roshan nodded quickly, seemingly with tears swirling in her eyes.
Lille seemed disappointed as he sighed, then glanced around:
"Hereâs the thing, you scared me today. Fetch me a box of hand grenades, and weâll call it even."
Roshan was still nodding, she had never shaken her head this much in her life; she felt like she was about to break her neck.
But that did not cover up her inner panicâ
She saw one of Lilleâs eyes flickering with the blue light that indicated data flow, while the other eye remained unchangedâ
This manâs vision system was split! He was multitasking!
And you say youâre not a cyberpsycho?!