The Creators: From Night City

Page 417

The task force was immediately mobilized in full force.

Strategically despise the enemy, but tactically take them seriously.

Although Valerie despised these petty villains, she not only led a special operations team when she set off, but also asked Gloria to transfer an additional small team of 'Apostles' to follow her, just in case.

Westbrook's Twist Street remains as bustling as ever.

The colorful neon lights and the sex dolls posing provocatively in the streets and alleys have created a stereotypical image of Twisted Street in the eyes of the outside world.

Meanwhile, the various nightclubs, bars, and clubs, which remain bustling with activity, seem completely unaffected by the power turmoil in Night City, continuing their revelry every night.

This is the most lucrative part of the Tiger Claw Gang's territory. The monthly commissions make the Tiger Claw Gang so rich that they can't keep their hands full. In fact, a considerable portion of their businesses are even self-operated by the Tiger Claw Gang.

But after walking through Twisted Street, heading south past the super skyscraper H8, and then turning left along Silk Road into a market surrounded by buildings on three sides, the atmosphere immediately cooled down.

Just two streets away, this place has become a marginalized area, unloved and neglected by its parents.

Without any profit, the Tiger Claw Gang looked down on them, and other gangs looked down on them, so order naturally deteriorated.

The imbalance of order led to the rapid relocation of the few remaining vendors to the cherry blossom market in the north.

After all, compared to paying exorbitant stall management fees, the prospect of being robbed from time to time and inevitably getting shot seems even worse.

Over time, this place became a 'gray area' in Westbrook, a breeding ground for filth and corruption. A small black market took shape here, as did an anonymous 'labor market' in the style of Night City.

Compared to finding a middleman, the "buying and selling" here is at a lower level, and the jobs are all kinds of things, such as stealing, picking up trash, retrieving packages, and even asking to team up to rob a convenience store.

All sorts of jobs are small orders where the profit margin isn't high enough to justify hiring a middleman, but which do require labor transactions.

Along the way, you can also see plumbers and monks teaching meditation setting up stalls.

A diverse array of people gathered here, making this dark corner of the Night City a chaotic and complex place.

This place is naturally a good hiding spot, especially with the help of the local gang, Tiger Claw Gang.

'Black Hand Alley'

This alley is a well-known street in the black market, mainly used by thieves to sell stolen goods, either by setting up stalls for sale or by trading with regular customers, hence the name 'Black Hand Alley'.

The sign on the building at the entrance of the alley has long been broken, but it still flashes a little light from time to time, providing brief illumination for the dark alley.

This alley has several branch alleys, making it easy to escape, which is why thieves choose to trade here.

A man with his head down hurried into the alley, carrying a tattered plastic bag full of cheap food and bottled water.

After subtly avoiding several groups of people who were either standing or crouching as he sold stolen goods, he turned into a secluded alley and walked to an inconspicuous iron gate in the middle of the alley. He gently tapped the threshold a few times with his toes, and the hidden camera above his head quietly turned on. After confirming the identity of the visitor, the rusty iron gate slid open silently to the side.

After confirming that no one was around, the man slipped inside.

The room was also pitch black, but after the man turned the corner and entered the basement, the lights suddenly came on, revealing a completely different world.

A typical Japanese man led him into the house, cautiously looking up and making sure there were no pursuers before putting down his Copperhead rifle.

"Maxim, how's the situation?"

A Slavic woman with slightly curly hair and a refined appearance asked the question.

"No movement, Svetlana."

Maxim put down the food he had bought and said somewhat pessimistically.

The Japanese man who had previously been holding the gun was puzzled by his reaction.

"Isn't the lack of activity a good thing? It means we've done things efficiently enough, and those idiots from [Anti-Entropy] have been completely fooled by us."

"What do you know!"

Maxim was furious at the other party's unprofessional performance.

"This is Night City, the Night City of [Anti-Entropy]. The biggest anomaly is that they haven't initiated an investigation into this matter."

“We could be exposed at any moment,” Svetlana said with deadly decisiveness.

“Maxim, have you contacted Fabergé? We need his help to get a new face quickly.”

"Also, Agent Yamato, you need to change your appearance and immediately go into a state of silence."

The Japanese man named Yamato was shocked. "What? Is it necessary to go to this extent? I finally managed to get in touch with those two Tiger Claw Gang leaders. Are we just going to give up like this?"

Chapter 851 Encirclement and Suppression

"Give up!" Svetlana made her decision without hesitation.

"But this is..."

Yamato wanted to argue a bit more, but suddenly the alarm on the table next to the three of them went off.

The three of them immediately changed their expressions.

As high-ranking agents of Soviet petrochemicals, they were not like the marginalized beggars who were extremely poor. With the Russian Federation behind them, they were equipped with almost all of the world's top tactical equipment.

The device on the table is a prototype technology from the Russian Federation, with a simple function: to monitor network intrusion traces across the entire network.

This device is already connected to the network near this basement, and everything from small things like water pipes, streetlights, and neon signs to large things like communication base stations and surveillance systems is under its monitoring.

Alarms have no ability to interfere with or manipulate networks, but in return they offer extreme stealth and keen detection capabilities.

In 2077, from small-scale bank robberies and hired killings to large-scale local wars and commercial infiltration, the use of force will generally precede the use of the internet.

Being able to receive early warnings about network intrusions is equivalent to gaining the upper hand.

"go!"

All three were elite agents, decisive and ruthless, and never considered the possibility of false alarms from the instruments.

As soon as the alarm sounded, the three of them grabbed the pre-prepared packages and escaped through the designated escape route.

Ventilation ducts are a common escape method in movies and TV shows, and in fact, they are indeed a classic and efficient escape method.

Its well-connected network of passageways ensured the fugitives' secrecy, especially since the three agents hadn't taken the designated exits but instead escaped along pre-cut gaps.

As Svetlana heard the echoing explosions behind her, she immediately realized that her worst fears had come true.

They were opened by [Anti-Entropy].

"Go upstairs, use the suspension cable, and take passage C."

There must be a reason why it was chosen as a safe house by these three experienced agents.

Although 'Blackhand Alley' sounds like a lawless place, it is still located within the bustling urban area of ​​Night City.

The area is filled with high-rise buildings and has an extremely high population density.

In particular, the Night City’s unique megastructure—the super skyscraper H8—is not far from the rooftop where the three of them are currently standing.

If you want to hide a drop of water, dropping it into the ocean is obviously a very effective way.

The super skyscraper H8 houses tens of thousands of residents. Anyone who can escape into it can disrupt the pursuit of [Anti-Entropy] for a short period of time.

Maxim ripped open a dirty felt cloth next to the eaves, picked up the rope gun underneath, and fired a steel cable that was nailed to the exterior wall of the opposite skyscraper.

The three of them immediately slid to the other side.

To be honest, their escape plan was extremely meticulous and professional. From the advance deployment of security measures and the pre-installation of booby traps to hinder pursuers, to the prediction of escape routes, and the fact that all three of them were highly efficient, the entire escape process could definitely be considered a standard case study worthy of special agent training.

If their opponent were another force, they might actually be able to escape.

However, their opponent is [Reverse Entropy].

A piercing, shrill whistle rang out above the three of them.

Maxim abruptly looked up from the steel cable, then his eyes flashed with panic.

"Watch out, it's AAPA! (Airborne Powered Armor)!"

"What the hell?!" Svetlana was equally exasperated. She never expected that in order to deal with them, [Anti-Entropy] would dare to openly deploy aerial powered armor in the middle of the city. Weren't they afraid of causing public panic?

The answer is, of course, no.

A 'Tianwen Armor' piloted by an Edos-like humanoid pilot swooped down from the sky, making a quick, graceful turn like a hummingbird as it swept across the steel cable in front of the three people, slicing it in two with its sharp nanoblade.

The three people on the steel cable were like grasshoppers on a rope, instantly captured by Earth's gravity, and fell to the ground along with the dangling steel cable.

Fortunately, since these three agents were sent by their superiors to stir up trouble in Night City, which was still in a turbulent period, their combat capabilities were naturally quite high.

Falling from a height of tens of meters would certainly be fatal for an ordinary person, but for the elite agents of "Su Shihua," who have undergone foot prosthetic modifications similar to "Lynx Claw" to reduce noise and facilitate climbing, tumbling, and stealthy infiltration, it wouldn't be a fatal blow.

What's more, the three of them were holding ropes.

Holding onto the rope, the three swung back to their original spot. Sianwistan activated the rope at the right moment, easily stepping on the wall and flipping onto the ground without any damage.

Although the deadly predicament was resolved, the three of them had undoubtedly returned to the encirclement of [Anti-Entropy].

Svetlana's expression was extremely unpleasant.

"Hurry, they want to take him alive." She revealed the truth in one sentence.

However, at this moment, 'Black Hand Alley' and even the entire black market were already surrounded by [Anti-Entropy], so it was not so easy to walk through.

The special operations team's vehicles had blocked all exits, and the three of them were now trapped like turtles in a jar.

But they certainly wouldn't accept their fate.

So they began to flee towards the most densely populated areas, and fired wildly and indiscriminately, trying to muddy the waters.

However, to their surprise, the natives of Night City were far too skilled and unique in their approach to gunfights.

The moment the gunshot rang out, instead of panicking, being at a loss, or fleeing in terror, everyone skillfully drew their guns to fight back if they had them, and covered their heads if they didn't. Everyone immediately hid in trash cans, corners, or flower bed edges, crawling forward and evacuating in an orderly manner.

The anticipated riots never happened; instead, the three were hit in the face with various guns by the men of Night City.

As it turns out, the Lord of Night City is the real Lord!

It wasn't until the three men accurately blew the heads off several unfortunate men that the rabble finally scattered.

But those few dozen seconds were enough for the special forces members of [Anti-Entropy] to complete the overall coordination and encirclement.

When the two sides met, it was like a needle pointing at a wheat awn.

In an instant, the bullet became the mediator for both sides.

One side tries to persuade the other to stay, while the other side tries hard to say goodbye.

As top-notch agents, the three naturally possessed exceptional combat skills. However, while their weapons and equipment were among the best available, they were nowhere near as formidable as the various heavy weapons in the hands of [Anti-Entropy].

After only a few exchanges, they were forced back into an alley by the fierce firepower and fled in a sorry state.

"Don't go through the alleyway!" Svetlana's military-grade face was grazed by bullets, and her speech was slightly choked, making her seem even more inhuman.

"Climb over the wall!"

Chapter 852 started, and it was over in seconds.

Maxim did as he was told, and Yamato followed.

But he was clearly moving rather slowly.

The Japanese spy had just propped himself up on the wall when his lower body, along with the bricks and stones beside him, was instantly reduced to dust.

After a half-second pause, a muffled yet deep, faint gunshot rang in everyone's ears.

Maxim's face turned three shades pale.

"Damn it, it's a heavy sniper rifle! These lunatics, doing this in the middle of the city, aren't they afraid of blowing the building apart?!"

Svetlana grabbed Yamato's arm and pulled him over the wall.

But Yamato fell directly onto the ground in the alley, groaning in pain.

The shot just now blew his thigh and the other half of his leg to smithereens, leaving him unable to stand.

"Help...me!" The unfortunate agent reached out to his comrade for help, but what he saw was Svetlana raising her gun.

Fear replaced pain, and the threat of death instantly calmed Yamato down.

"No...you can't do this!"

“You know we can’t fail this mission, and none of us can be captured alive.” Svetlana’s expression remained unchanged, but her words were icy.

"No, no! You can't do this! I've shed blood for the organization, I've shed blood for Russia..."

The sudden gunshot ended the opponent's pleas for mercy. The close-range execution-style shooting ensured that the bullet's kinetic energy was not wasted at all, and was poured into Yamato's head, mixing the opponent's brain tissue and brain-computer interface into a mess.

Maxim showed no reaction to this behavior, calmly indicating that the exit was safe and signaling his companions to hurry up and follow.