The convoy was indeed a juicy target, with seven Centaur Mechas aloneâone was dismantled by Jack, leaving six still a considerable abundance.
Clearly, these were meant as samples for the NCPD, and if they were stolen, Night City officials would be unable to assess them, potentially affecting upcoming policies.
At this moment, Anthony must have been franticâthe higher the security level, the greater the power, and of course, the bigger the blame to shoulder.
All of this was what Lille hoped to see.
[V: Lille, is my precious motorcycle okay?]
[Lille: Definitely somethingâs wrong with it! Check it when we get back, but it shouldnât be too serious.]
V looked at the Flying Motorcycle with some distressâshe hadnât had a proper flight yet, and the first time she used it was all about ditching and diving.
Luckily, the motorcycle was durable.
The Vortex Gangâs underlings, each missing arms or legs, obediently placed the goods by the roadside, waiting for Vâs inspection.
Brick placed the damaged Centaur Mecha and one of the intact ones on the ground, shaking off his hands as if he were a laborer working under the scorching sun.
To the uninitiated, the scene might have suggested two ruthless farm owners giving cybernetic enhancements to disabled people and forcing them to work.
Bang.
The heavy Centaur Mecha was set down, Brick stood with his hands on his hips, once more inspecting his recently repaired left hand to ensure it hadnât broken again from the heavy labor.
"All good now, brother? Iâm really in a rush here."
"Wait," V shook her head, "thereâs one more thing. Who tipped you guys off about the heist? Got any evidence?"
Brick suddenly felt like things were getting complicated.
But he honestly pointed at one of the underlings beside him, the same one who had been ready to flee with Royce.
Brick had shot out the tires of a vehicle, causing her to crash and dislocate an arm, which had not yet been treated.
"Her informant, Patricia, come hereâgot any evidence?"
Patricia was somewhat scared, heâd almost abandoned his boss and run!
Brick also considered this and spat viciously, "Iâll deal with your case when we get back, but now you talk!"
The guy had fiery red hair sticking straight up, appeared feminine, but as soon as he spoke... it was a manâs voice.
"Itâs all in my personal inbox, boss!"
V nodded and approached Patriciaâ
Zing!
The Mantis Blade unsheathed!
Brick activated his Si Anweisitan!
Upon activation, he noticed that Vâs speed was fast but not as fast as when using Si Anweisitan, so it seemed slow to him.
Patricia, meanwhile, was outfitted with Krensky, indeed his reaction had speeded up, his eyes wide with terror.
At this point, Brick faced a choice: to intervene or not?
After all, Patricia was his underling, and he just said they would settle the score back at the base...
Wouldnât reneging now look terribly face-losing?
With enhanced reaction, numerous thoughts raced through Brickâs mind.
Ultimately, he chose to swallow his saliva.
Patriciaâs Krensky activated, instinctively moving back to dodge, and in doing so, he also noticed Vâs speed wasnât as fast as when the Si Anweisitan was active.
His face turned ferocious, the functioning left arm raised, a small protrusion ejected from where the forearm was!
A small knife, powered by a kinetic ejection mechanism in the forearm, shot out at high speed!
He was sure he could stab V in the eye before she sliced himâthatâs what Patricia thought!
However, as the knife flew out, Vâs speed picked up, although he had activated the Krensky later, his movements were faster than Patriciaâs!
Using the same Krensky, Vâs level and her own response conditioning far exceeded Patriciaâs!
V even had time to adjust the trajectory of her blade, brushing against the flying knife in this slow-motion world, then slicing toward Patriciaâs arms!
Splash!
Patriciaâs arms flew off, shocking the remaining Vortex Gang underlings!
Even Brick internally exclaimed how outrageous it was: so this woman hadnât used Si Anweisitan at all during the fight!
The flying knife, touched by V, spun vertically and then fell into Vâs hand.
The other Mantis Blade stabbed into Patriciaâs neck, entering the throat and reaching the spine.
The bladeâs built-in hacking circuits activated, with a faint spark of electricity.
As Patricia looked on in shock, V withdrew the Mantis Blade, then threw the small knife at his red Prosthetic Eyeâ
Thud.
Patricia was dead, his body knelt, then slammed onto the ground.
Dead silence.
Spit.
Spit hit the floor, flung by Brick.
He spat the saliva he had held when he activated Si Anweisitan, viciously saying, "Thatâs what happens to traitors!"
He didnât know what Vâs actions meant, but he was sure she hadnât targeted him!
But if he didnât make a stand, and the underlings opened fire, it could very well have been aimed at him!
V waved a hand, "Thatâs enough, weâll leave it at that. Considering our fateful encounter, you can contact us if you need to in the future, and weâll see what we can do."
"Right! In respect to your words, Iâll definitely have your backsâDoom doom! Get to the vehicles, if we donât get back to the factory itâs going to turn into Royceâs shitting ground!"
Brick hurried to the Bimong Armored Vehicle, with the underlings who were still in one piece helping right the vehicle, and took their spoils of war back into the city.
There was no time to waste.
Fiddling with the vehicles, tinkering with prosthetics, the Vortex Gang left in their battered vans and the Bimong Armored Vehicle.
Watching the Vortex Gang depart, Lille also arrived at the scene, driving the Mackinaw.
"How does it feel?"
"Cool." Jack and V both gave a thumbs up.
Mackinaw lowered the cargo ramp, and the two of them began to push the cart onto it while cramming the Centaur Mecha into the cramped space of the cargo hold.
There was just one thing they couldnât figure out.
As they were pushing, Jack was the first to ask, "Werenât we supposed to deal with the Vortex Gang? Why let that guy go?"
"Remember the artillery from the Six Street Gang?"
Jack nodded, "The one who wanted to rebel."
"Now the Vortex Gangâs got a rebel too. He thought Brick was dead and abandoned his boss to take over the inheritance.
But now that Brickâs still alive, just wait for the showâdonât forget, the more members of the Vortex Gang that die, the better."
The conflict between Brick and Royce had been made public, and as the usurper, Royce certainly had his own people.
Now they would definitely fight it out, a vicious dog fight.
Jack finally got it and gave Lille a thumbs up, "Youâre damn devious!"
V, following behind Jack, burst into laughter upon hearing this and also gave Lille a thumbs up, "Youâre damn devious!"
Lille pressed the horn emotionlessly, urging them to get on the vehicle.
This is called strategy.
V got into the passenger seat, "How come the bounty on the Vortex Gang boss is so low?"
Jack from the backseat spoke up immediately, "I know this one, no gang boss would do their own dirty work all the time, that keeps the bounty low.
Those with high bounties canât be bosses, theyâre just enforcersâlearned that from the gang.
But a twenty thousand euro bounty is really not bad either."
Lille nodded appreciatively, "Not bad, the gang life wasnât for nothing."
"Thatâs right." Jack chuckled, then showed his hands, "My prosthetics seem to be acting up..."
Both of his arms were somewhat deformed, with some parts of the skin surface not fitting properly.
Lille glanced at them and said, "Weâll adjust them back, Iâll see if I can do some upgrades."
"That would be great! Do you think itâs possible to add that little rocket to my hand? When itâs time to fight, Iâll punch like a rocket!
Heh, thatâs way cooler than any desert husband, Iâll call myself... Doomsday Iron Fist!"
V looked at Jack, "Youâre really good at coming up with nicknames, why werenât you this talkative when we were naming the gang?"
Lille thought to himself with a strange feeling, Doomsday Iron Fist?
"Also Lille, what the hell is loaded in your bullets, theyâre too freakish, they broke my hands..."
"I told you to be careful."
.....
Military Technology Building.
"Gone?! The convoy disappeared?!!!!"
In the conference room, Anthony was in the corner, anxiously raking his fingers through his hair.
Around the conference table sat various managers from Night Cityâs branch, just waiting for him to proceed with the next item on the agenda:
Introducing what new supplies the headquarters had approved for them, to gain the upper hand in the upcoming mayoral election.
These supplies would significantly determine how they would adjust their election strategies.
But Anthonyâs eyes were bloodshot, his skyrocketing blood pressure could not even be controlled by his prosthetics anymore, and the blood seeping from his capillaries had stained his high-end Prosthetic Eyes.
[Anthony: You said you could guarantee the mecha would function properly!]
[FIA Agent #0079: The mecha was indeed functioning normally, I have extracted a damage report for you, take a look yourself.]
[Military Technology Centaur Mecha Damage Report]
[01:03 Structural integrity dropped to 87%, recalculating energy distribution]
[01:08 Structural integrity dropped to 85%]
[01:35 Structural integrity dropped to 66%, left arm disconnected, driver mental state abnormal, defense system failed]
[...]
[Anthony: Are you joking? A perfectly good mecha suddenly gets dismantled? The Arasaka Group also deployed a mecha?]
[FIA Agent #0079: Thereâs something even more exaggerated. The combat report of the Unmanned Mecha shows the enemy penetrated the mecha with just one strike.]
[FIA Agent #0079: I donât know if it was Arasaka, if I were you, I would focus on investigating your mole.]
[FIA Agent #0079: Donât look for me, I have my own work to do.]
The communication was cut off, Anthony wanted to say something more but discovered the sending address was now a dead number, untraceable!
His mind was full of questions!
Like why was there a complete damage report for the Centaur Mecha and none for the Unmanned Mecha?
Like who was at the scene, who attacked the convoy?
Too many questions, all sunk without trace with the agentâs words "Donât look for me."
If it werenât for the way the two knew each other, Anthony would even doubt whether this FIA agent sent by Mercedes had colluded with her!
But he couldnât think of any reason why this agent would screw him over!
Could it really be that the thieves were so competent that they dismantled the mecha in 5 minutes?
If they were that skilled, why still steal things? Just ask him for money, he would have given it!
Seeing Anthonyâs frustrated behavior, Mercedesâ suspended heart finally set at easeâ
Anthony couldnât afford to lose this deal, it was the first major project he was in charge of since being transferred to Night City!
Time to get the hell out of here!
Anthony fell silent, turned around, and leaned forward on the conference table, staring dead at Mercedesâ
"Damn it... seize her! The goods are lost!"
The Military Technology security rushed into the conference room from outside, swiftly overwhelming Mercedes!
Mercedes put on a face of shock, frantically looking around to make sure every camera caught her innocent expressionâ
"What are you doing!"