"Granade?!"
Seeing V toss a grenade over, the Militech engineer named Thomas Stein clearly panicked. The exoskeleton he built was a modified SKL-1903 security unit made by Militech, and when it came to blast resistance, it was far inferior to real exoskeletons and ACPA armor. In other words, its defense was weak—it couldn't withstand the explosive force of a grenade.
As an engineer, his combat experience was severely lacking. Faced with a grenade that could end his life, he froze up for a moment, unsure how to react—he didn't even try to dodge.
Watching his dumbfounded expression, Karl could only think that it was lucky they arrived in time. Otherwise, Thomas Stein might've been strutting around in his exoskeleton, acting invincible, only to step out of the cave and get turned into Swiss cheese by the Nightrunners.
If he weren't the mission target and they couldn't kill him, Karl could've taken care of him in an instant.
System Breach.
If you're gonna freeze up, then stay like that for me.
Movement Inhibited.
With Marionette controlling the exoskeleton and locking it in place, Karl grabbed the grenade V had thrown from behind and forcefully hurled it at the rocky ceiling of the cave.
"Let's bring this whole place down. Don't worry, I watched a Braindance on proper demolition by a miner."
Boom!
As the explosion echoed, Thomas Stein—realizing the grenade wasn't aimed directly at him—still didn't have time to react before a pile of rocks came crashing down, burying him underneath. Thanks to his exoskeleton, he didn't suffer any real injuries.
It wasn't thrown at me?
Just as Thomas Stein's brain finally processed that these two weren't actually trying to kill him, Karl was already standing on top of the debris covering his exoskeleton, looking down at him.
Also looking down at him was a Unity pistol, its barrel aimed directly at a weak point in the mechanical structure—right at his head.
"I surrender."
Very obediently, Thomas Stein raised both hands as high as he could inside the exoskeleton. Knowing when to submit, he wisely chose the smart approach. Then, he saw a faint glow flicker on the wrist of the young man in front of him—the one who called himself KK.
A monowire?
The moment he recognized the cyberware, the monowire lashed out and completed its cut.
Feeling a sudden lightness on his head, Thomas Stein belatedly realized that his exoskeleton's entire upper section had been sliced clean off—along with...
"My hair!"
"Quit whining, dumbass. Maybe next time, listen when people try to talk to you. You brought this on yourself."
Karl grabbed the dirty collar of Thomas Stein's shirt, yanking him out of the immobilized exoskeleton. Then, locking eyes with him, he asked a simple question:
"Now, do you know KK?"
"I know you all too well."
"And now, do you believe I'm the merc here to save you?"
"I do. I really, really do."
"Good."
Karl let out a long sigh, then smiled and placed Thomas Stein steadily on the pile of rocks. Once he made sure the man was standing properly, he patted his shoulder—not too hard, not too soft.
"If I ever get a contract to take you out, you're as good as dead. You understand that, right?"
"Uh…"
Thomas Stein shrank back, sensing the danger behind Karl's smile. "But… you're not planning to kill me now, right?"
"That's why you better hope I never run into you again."
Karl's fingers twitched slightly. "Oh, and by the way—good morning."
"Huh?"
Before Thomas Stein could react, Karl had already pressed his fingers against his carotid sinus. With the right amount of pressure, this spot could make someone pass out instantly. And Karl's arms had no shortage of strength.
As Thomas Stein slumped to the ground, Karl shook his arm slightly. "If you didn't pass out from that, I would've had to use… rougher methods."
To prevent this idiot from interfering with the mission again, Karl made sure he blacked out after explaining everything.
"V, I'll leave handling the target to you. That cool?"
"Yeah, sure."
V walked over, glanced at the unconscious man, then looked at Karl. "You took care of that exoskeleton… that easily?"
"He didn't even know how to use it properly. And you got too hyped up the moment you saw something that looked like an ACPA exoskeleton. Didn't you see how he reacted? He froze up like a scared chicken the second I tossed that grenade. I doubt that thing could even withstand an explosion."
"Fair point."
V realized he had overestimated the situation. Because of his technical knowledge, he understood how powerful exoskeletons and ACPAs could be. But he had assumed this one was a full-powered version, when in reality, it was a stripped-down, weaker model. He had used the full version as a reference, which was… kind of dumb.
But still—
V glanced at Karl. Even if it was a weaker version, it looked like an ACPA on the outside. Most people, when faced with it, would panic and not think too much about its actual capabilities.
Did KK instantly assess the threat level and counter it accordingly? Is this what a real mercenary is like? Damn, he's strong.
V hadn't even realized that while he had been overestimating Thomas Stein's exoskeleton, he had also instantly understood Karl's plan in battle. Without hesitation—despite the risk of getting gunned down by a rotary machine gun—he had leaned out, aimed precisely, and thrown the grenade flawlessly. There was not a single mistake in his execution.
V always assumed his enemies were stronger, but when it came down to it, he acted with perfect efficiency, unaffected by fear or hesitation.
Recognizing a threat but still executing the best possible response—that in itself was an impressive skill.
As V picked up Thomas Stein and followed Karl out of the cave, the battle outside had reached its peak.
"Come on, chooms! Jackie Welles is here!"
Drawing fire toward himself, Jackie had already taken down seven enemies with his Saratoga submachine gun. But the Wraiths gangers, realizing they couldn't break through, brought in a mounted machine gun for suppression fire.
Just as they were about to open fire, a gunshot rang out from a high position on the hillside. The mounted gun—along with the Wraiths ganger who had just grabbed it—was torn in half by a single bullet.
"Sniper!"
As the Wraiths gangers screamed in panic, Karl and V had already reached the cave entrance.
Everyone was in position.
.
.
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