According to the intel from Brother Ni, all the Night Wanderers have retreated to the large warehouse in the middle of the tunnel. There are quite a number of them, and they’ve abandoned some heavy equipment along the way, ready for a life-and-death battle.
"Can you still hack into their system?"
Lin Miao asked Lucy, thinking that if they could still infiltrate the enemy’s system, the fight would be much easier.
"No, they’ve shut down surveillance and the local network after their hacker died. I can’t hack in."
Hackers can jump from different information points within cyberspace and pose a high threat to various electronic network devices, thereby causing damage to the target.
But all of this is based on being connected to the network. Once the cable is pulled out, even if Bartmos comes, he can’t do anything to you. You could even elbow him; his physical form definitely can’t beat you.
Without hardware support, software is nothing, even if it’s a badass AI.
Lin Miao nodded, "Then be careful."
Then he contacted Adcardo again.
"Sol, how are things over there? Is holding the line hard?"
"The Night Wanderers are regrouping. We’ve repelled several organized attacks, but they haven’t given up yet."
"That’s normal. God knows how much stuff they’ve hidden in the tunnels. Anyone would fight desperately."
After a moment of silence, Lin Miao said, "Later, be careful. I’m afraid the people in those tunnels might make a desperate push towards you. Be cautious not to get surrounded."
Sol was taken aback, "What are you up to?"
"We’re going to give these Night Wanderers a fireworks show."
Lin Miao didn’t know what treasures this group of Night Wanderers had prepared for him inside, but he didn’t want to gamble on whether he could withstand it. After all, the goal of this trip was to kill; the loot was secondary.
The train tunnels are long and straight, and seldom curve in the mountains, so you can see quite far. It’s just that there are so many containers along the way causing some visual obstruction, but the Night Wanderers have obviously made their preparations. The blocking cargo near the exit of the central warehouse has been completely cleared, leaving a clear line of sight.
Over sixty Night Wanderers are standing behind various containers and sandbags, with guns ready. There are more than ten machine guns alone, but the real terror is the colossal beast in the center of the warehouse.
A 125mm cannon is mounted on the tan full-metal body, with armor over 1200mm of average steel plating. The only pity is that this medium armored tank can’t move.
This is a tank from the United War era. It was left marooned on the road when the United States hurriedly attacked to breach Night City before Huang Ban and the European Community could react. The Night Wanderers picked it up because nobody fixed it after it broke down.
But they found the tank not only had its lower body tracks broken but the engine was also busted. The Night Wanderers dared not go to Dogtown to find a tank engine. Just inquiring about this thing might get you caught by the big companies’ dogs. If they guessed you had a tank, the Night Wanderers would surely have no peace.
Even if the companies don’t care, their below-deck spy divisions and marketing departments would definitely target the tank, as a medium one is worth several million euros. Whether it’s broken or not, it doesn’t matter as they are company dogs; they just need to fix it with a little effort.
After advancing to the furthest position possible, Lin Miao signaled everyone to stop. Going further would likely get them spotted by the Night Wanderers, with only about a hundred meters between them.
"Mann, how are you at tossing grenades? Pretty far?"
"Grenades... Pira’s definitely better at throwing them."
Mann flexed his biceps, this thing was bigger than a player’s head, and boasted.
"But! Military-Tech Type III Gorilla Arm! Although not a thrower, it can definitely chuck a grenade beyond two hundred meters."
Even without taking off the triangle-shaped sunglasses, everyone could see his triumphant gleam.
And what are players like?
They brazenly crowded around Mann, directly touching and examining the bulging muscles on his right arm.
"My, shouldn’t that be worth tens of thousands..."
"I think he could punch me to death."
"Remove ’think’! Wanna give it a try?"
"When will this gear hit the shelves?"
Mann suddenly felt awkward, being surrounded by players. Hesitatingly shuffling around, neither chasing them away nor scolding them seemed right, he could only look at Lin Miao helplessly.
[Warning, your favorability with the NPC is decreasing]
The sudden pop-up made several players stop immediately. One with a serious face even slapped down another’s hand.
"How can you be so rude to Mr. Mann? A bunch of uncivilized folks!"
"Damn, you were the one groping the most!"
"Mine was appreciation; yours was molestation! Lights off, disgusting! Such nastiness!"
A noisy group, lacking the seriousness needed for a showdown.
Rebecca: "What’s going on, bro? I think they’re less reliable than you."
"What did you say!" Pira glanced at the boisterous players, "Alright, I admit it this time."
Lin Miao took out the plasma generator from his back, flicked open the lever, and retrieved a special polymer material shell, a jet-black canister about the size of a thermos, with three blue indicator lights glowing on the side. Its sense of tech made the players’ eyes go wide and drool.
"Definitely an orange item..."
"And it’s one of those named ones."