cyberpunk: Travel to 2075

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"Jack, cooperate with me."

After sending a message to Jansen, instructing him to order his men to suspend the attack, Karl began moving forward.

James's Sandevistan time had ended.

The distance between him and Karl was now ten meters.

"You avoided the grenade, staying close enough to be the greatest threat."

Karl discarded the empty Kenshin pistol and raised his hands slightly. Two monomolecular wires emerged from them.

"Sure enough, I'll have to get close and use the monomolecular line I spent a fortune upgrading to deal with you."

Subdermal armor could mitigate bullet impacts, but it was far less effective against monomolecular wires.

James had a gun on his back, but under the suppressive fire, it was shattered. As Karl advanced steadily, James instinctively raised his left hand to use his projectile launch system, but the only response was the sound of an empty chamber.

"Trying to play the 'times have changed' trick again?"

Karl's steps were cautious on the slippery ground. "Show your mantis blades. I'm more than happy to engage in close combat."

James didn't need prompting. The mantis blades in his right arm extended, gleaming coldly as they swung toward Karl.

As expected.

Karl's data stream reached James's right arm.

"Your prosthetic is overheating."

The mechanisms operating the mantis blades in James's arm began overclocking, the intense heat cooking the remaining flesh. James's arm faltered momentarily from the pain.

But James was a tough guy. Ignoring the searing pain, he swung the mantis blade downward.

Karl dodged, unwilling to contest strength with James. Though his arm could possibly match James's, Karl knew better than to forget James had more than one blade.

As Karl evaded the descending blade, James's right knee suddenly lifted, the mantis blade following his knee's motion, slicing upwards toward Karl.

"Here it comes."

The tip of the mantis blade met the monomolecular line Karl had preemptively positioned. He held the wire with both hands, aligning it precisely with the blade's tip.

James's mantis blade was top-tier, comparable to Karl's monomolecular wire.

Blocking the blade, Karl noticed a small notch forming on its tip, and the wire emitted a grating sound as sharp edges clashed.

"I'll need to repair this later, but it's only minor damage."

The harsh friction sound persisted, the wire stretching taut.

I knew it.

Karl sighed internally as the inevitable occurred.

James activated Sandevistan for the fourth time.

Cyberpsychosis was formidable, pushing limits with overclocking and cheating.

As James shifted his stance, the mantis blade traced a series of afterimages. Before Sandevistan ended, James was behind Karl, his blade poised to strike.

This strike was lethal. Karl's unarmored skin couldn't withstand the mantis blade.

It was expected.

Karl, facing away from James, remained still, not wanting to disrupt anyone's aim and risk injury.

From this angle, you should have a clear shot.

"Easy."

Oliver, who had been aiming his Nekomata sniper rifle from the beginning, finally fired.

A sniper only needs one shot.

The sound echoed as time slowed in Sandevistan.

Blood splattered across Karl's back. Amid the scattered bones and mechanical fragments, an arm wielding a mantis blade flew into the air.

"We're a team of three."

"Well done, Oliver!" Jack's joyful shout echoed.

Karl turned and hurled the monomolecular wire.

A clean slicing sound followed, though no damage was visible on James's body.

James, stunned by the loss of his arm, tried to react, raising his knees to release the mantis blade again. But as Karl turned, James could no longer feel his legs.

"Disabling movement is easier by breaking the leg, right?"

Karl smiled, avoiding the blood, as Jack approached and kicked James to the ground.

James, now limbless but still conscious, raised his head, his eyes filled with defiance.

"You might indeed be a soldier."

Jack placed a foot on James's chest, crushing any resistance. He looked down at James, whose eyes burned red, ready to attack like a rabid dog.

"Cyberpsycho."

Jack drew his pistol—a Tsunami Arms kinetic weapon he had modified and painted gold, fondly nicknamed "Golden Bitch."

He aimed it at James's prosthetic eye.

"Rest easy, Soldados (soldiers)."

In his final moments, James's red eyes dimmed slightly. He saw the fire, that burning fire, but he offered no resistance, simply staring at Jack's golden gun.

"Good shot, soldier," James said calmly.

"You should thank Oliver, but I'll accept it on his behalf. Thank you."

Jack pulled the trigger.

"Huh."