"Counterattack!" Xu Yang ordered.
The members of the Katsuragi Gang hastily climbed up the courtyard walls, taking advantage of the terrain to fire fiercely down at the Toshiaki Family Group from their elevated position. Bullets whistled down, raining on them and keeping their heads down.
The Toshiaki Family Group members quickly took cover behind the motorcycles and vehicles that served as barricades. Soon, a motorcycle was hit by concentrated fire, catching fire and instantly exploding, taking out two Gang members who were hiding behind it.
"Damn it!" Suzuki Shinji’s face contorted with rage, as he looked back at the White Shuttle and could barely make out Mireya and the others, appearing calm and collected.
Were they not afraid of the barrage from the gun formation? Suzuki Shinji couldn’t help but deepen his fear of Mireya and her companions.
Mireya looked up in the direction of the Blue Phoenix, easily hacking into the shuttle’s control system.
Controlling minds was not only about securing their loyalty but also about extracting information and intelligence from them.
She had once slaughtered members of the Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing Security Department, and before their deaths, she obtained a vast amount of classified information from the company, including high-level keys for backdoor access to break their proprietary software.
The twelve Hovering Cannons turned in unison, energy stirring within them, and they even attempted to fire at the Blue Phoenix.
Xu Yang didn’t possess the keys from Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing, so his hacking progress was slow. He could only attempt to jam the Hovering Cannons’ data transmission system, causing targeting chaos.
The coordinated fire control of the Hovering Cannons went awry, but several high-energy beams still struck the Blue Phoenix. Its energy shield, already weakened, was now penetrated like a translucent eggshell shattering, and the remaining beams struck the shuttle, setting it ablaze.
"Emergency landing!" Lu Jing rushed to the control panel, adjusted the direction, and the Blue Phoenix hurtled towards the Ground, disappearing into another corner of the block, unable to return to the battle for a short time.
If she couldn’t advance on the Witch’s Path, Mireya sought to strengthen herself in other ways, and she was quite proud of her hacking skills.
After taking down the Blue Phoenix, Mireya wanted to use the Hovering Cannons to finish it off, but as the shuttle crashed, the twelve cannons lost their link and fell to the Ground as well.
Mireya’s interest waned, and she turned her attention to the enemy hacker.
As soon as the fire from the Hovering Cannons became unstable, Mireya sensed the presence of this mysterious character. She manually increased the interception level of the Shuttle Machine’s cybersecurity module and changed the keys to prevent her own craft from being hacked into.
At the same time, Xu Yang was attempting to hack the network module of the White Shuttle, but unfortunately, the encryption used by the Lighthouse Core was too advanced, practically impregnable. He had never encountered such a sophisticated algorithm, which effectively barred his entry. Moreover, Mireya was extremely vigilant, not giving Xu Yang any chance, and the two tested each other on the invisible battlefield of information.
Mireya directed the network offense and defense while simultaneously ordering, "Quick battle, quick decision."
Suzuki Shinji organized his subordinates to fight back, firing non-stop.
"Bring it!" He roared to boost morale, "Come out! You lowly bastards, taking over the Suzuki Springs, it’s about time you gave it back!"
The enmity was intense, aimed at a fight to the death.
In response, Asa Katsuragi organized the defense, constantly communicating with her subordinates, instructing them on which areas to fortify and defend. In her mind, the entire Suzuki Springs had transformed into a massive fortress, with each part guarded by different gang members, a fact she kept track of.
To protect the Suzuki Springs, Asa Katsuragi was willing to endure any cost; she would rather die than let go.
"Suzuki Shinji is as arrogant as ever," Xu Yang said.
"He never regarded Suzuki Springs as his home," Asa Katsuragi clenched her teeth, "Only I will protect this place. The moment he decided to give up on Suzuki Springs, it stopped belonging to him."
Lila saluted Xu Yang militarily.
"Master, I can take a sniper position at a nearby apartment building. Let me move."
"Move quickly," Xu Yang agreed.
Lila swiftly exited the office, leaving Suzuki Springs and quietly planned a safe and covert route.
Meanwhile, seeing that he could not make a breakthrough in the short term, Suzuki Shinji switched tactics.
Asa Katsuragi’s face was horror-stricken as she watched the content transmitted by the camera.
She saw Suzuki Shinji wave behind him, and the Gang dragged over a young boy.
"Save me——save me——" The boy with red hair, wearing an ill-fitted suit, wouldn’t stop crying and shouting.
"That’s my brother!" Asa Katsuragi shot up, "What are they planning to do?"
"Asa Katsuragi!" Suzuki Shinji continued to yell at the entrance, "Come out now! Otherwise, I’ll kill your brother!"
Asa Katsuragi bit her teeth hard, her face turning ashen.
"We can only abandon him," Xu Yang said.
"I... know..." Asa Katsuragi lowered her head and closed her eyes, "...I know... I will never compromise because someone has taken my brother hostage... We must hold the line."
"Let him die, then," Farosa spoke irritably, tired of everyone’s tense demeanor.
"You can revive him," Xu Yang thought aloud.
"Nonsense, I won’t revive someone for no reason," Farosa said, "Treating the Law of Recovery like some sort of automatic doctor? Don’t joke."
"...You don’t understand," Asa Katsuragi’s voice was hoarse, "...If your own relatives were in that situation, would you still speak so dismissively?"
"My relatives are all dead," Farosa remarked dismissively, "Do you think I’ve only been in this world for a decade or so?"
Seeing that there was no response from within, Suzuki Shinji drew his gun and aimed it at the incessantly crying Nakano Osamu.
"Katsuragi! I’m counting down from five!" he shouted, "I never joke around!"