171: In Night City, this kind of thing can be seen everywhere

The acid rain refracted into an eerie purplish-red under the neon lights, pouring onto Mad Dog Johnny's armor like blood mixed with impurities.

A flash of lightning quickly streaked across the sky, the street suddenly brightening, illuminating Mad Dog Johnny's terrifying figure.

Fang Yun rolled down the car window a crack, and the sweet scent of blood, mixed with the unique smell of rusted steel in a humid environment, seeped into the car through the gap.

"Taste it, then remember it. This is Night City, this is the smell that can be found everywhere in this world."

Fang Yun narrowed his eyes, watching the slaughter unfolding thirty meters away.

Valentine also rolled down his window, his fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the frame, and said softly:

"I bet the fight will be over within two minutes."

"I don't think so." (Toke)

"Actually, it's not." (Fang Yun)

"I think they can last at least two and a half minutes." (Fang Yun)

"Why two and a half minutes?" (Valentine, curious)

"Perhaps, because of an old acquaintance." (Fang Yun, melancholic)

"..." (Toke, silent)

"The one with the smart weapon and Krennikov can last at least ten seconds." (Fang Yun)

"Because he's equipped with military-grade subcutaneous armor." (Valentine)

"Bingo." (Fang Yun, smiling)

"In front of the cyberpsychosis Riot Squad, if your strength hasn't reached a certain level, defense is always more important than offense." (Fang Yun)

"So a set of military-grade subcutaneous armor is very expensive." (Toke)

"..."

Unlike Fang Yun and the other two casually chatting in the car, at this moment, the Vortex Gang members wished they could have a hundred prosthetics installed by a ripperdoc and then run for their lives.

One of the four members of the suppression team—the quietest Hacker—raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

In cyberspace, a blue data stream suddenly appeared, following the wireless network connection, uploading from the Hacker's cyberware into the brains of three gun-wielding Vortex Gang members.

A few seconds later, the bodies of the three Vortex Gang members stiffened, thin streams of blood spurted from their nostrils, and then blood overflowed from the corners of their mouths as they fell to the ground.

"Synaptic burnout, a standard attack daemon, used quite well."

"Holy shit, look!"

Valentine's eyes widened, and he excitedly slapped the edge of the car window, his tone somewhat excited:

"Look at that Mantis Blade user!"

The leader of the suppression team, known as Mad Dog Johnny, was performing the art of human dissection.

Two incredibly sharp Mantis Blades sprang from his arms, and as he swung the dual blades, they cut through the rain curtain, bringing up waves of blood.

A Vortex Gang elite with eight cybernetic eyes embedded in his face charged forward, ready to show Mad Dog Johnny what he's got.

But who knew, as for the dagger in his hand, Mad Dog Johnny didn't even bother to dodge, directly charging towards him.

The blade clashed with the armor, sparking with a tearing sound, and then, a great head flew into the sky.

"Six hundred sixty-six, not even salted. Just crushing with equipment advantage, huh." (Fang Yun)

"A beautiful double cross slash." (Valentine)

"Compared to when I saw them three months ago, they seem to have gotten stronger." (Toke)

"Huh? Is this suppression team famous? You see them often and can recognize them?" (Fang Yun)

"Actually, this is the second distinctive suppression team. I remember more than a year ago, there seemed to be another team just as crazy as them." (Toke)

"What happened to that team later?" (Fang Yun)

"Later..." (Toke)

"They all became cyberpsychosis. Standing on the boundary between human and non-human, they could fall off the cliff at any time. This is the fate of those 'cured' cyberpsychosis." (Valentine, expressionless)

"cyberpsychosis... it really is a terrifying thing." (Fang Yun)

While speaking, Mad Dog Johnny was still dealing damage.

The head of a Vortex Gang grunt was chopped off by him, flying in the exact opposite direction from where his body fell.

When the head hit the ground, the headless body finally couldn't maintain its charging posture and fell heavily.

At the same time, a sniper rifle shot rang out.

The unique charging sound of a tech weapon, combined with the sound of the bullet being electromagnetically accelerated, sounded very impactful.

Fang Yun tilted his head slightly, just in time to see a Vortex Gang grunt who had fled quite far away; his head exploded like a watermelon, and his body ran five or six more steps due to inertia before collapsing with a crash.

Around the muzzle of the sniper rifle, a faint purple mist drifted, which was acid rain evaporated by the high temperature.

"This slaughter is nearing its end."

As if responding to Toke's words, the four members of the suppression team began to slaughter the Vortex Gang members even more frantically.

"They're probably getting carried away with the killing. I hope they don't go berserk and implicate us weak, innocent bystanders."

Hearing Fang Yun's words, both Valentine and Toke's mouths twitched.

Before long, with the death of the last Vortex Gang grunt, this crushing slaughter finally came to an end.

Mad Dog Johnny's Mantis Blades were strung with three heads still sparking with electricity, the Hacker plugged a personal data cable into a corpse, tinkering with something unknown, the sniper stood next to a burning trash can, loading armor-piercing rounds into his magazine, and then looking around aimlessly.

The most impressive was the heavy weapons specialist; this two-meter-two tall giant piled all the corpses together, then knelt before the pile, using his mechanical fingers to dissect the abdominal cavities of the corpses one by one, pulling out the still wriggling synthetic organs for careful examination, all while emitting an eerie laugh that sounded like rusted gears grinding against each other.

"One hundred percent cyberpsychosis."

Seeing that the excitement was over, Fang Yun rolled up his window:

"The cyberpsychosis Riot Squad actually dares to release these 'time bombs' on the verge of madness."

The rain suddenly grew heavier.

The acid rain fell on the ground, splashing up water with a foul, fishy smell.

The cyberpsychosis Riot Squad's hovercar lowered a traction beam, and the four members of the suppression team ultimately did not go berserk, obediently withdrawing into the cabin, as if the recent atrocities were just routine business.

Before the car door closed, Mad Dog Johnny suddenly turned his head and looked in Fang Yun's direction.

A pair of scarlet cybernetic eyes glowed like two warning lights in the rain curtain, and a smile with an unclear meaning played on his lips.

"..."

"..."

Both Valentine and Toke were silent.

Fang Yun, however, stared at Mad Dog Johnny's eyes for a moment, then suddenly spoke:

"Indeed, it's probably better not to release these people on the verge of cyberpsychosis."