MaxTac was a subordinate branch of the Night City Police Department, a high-grade armed force specializing in dealing with dangerous cyberpsychos.
Its members were basically all equipped with enhanced cyberware, the finest cyberware of the current era, and the newest prototype equipment. During operations, they enjoyed complete autonomy.
Because of that, their combat power was extremely powerful. Just four of them could easily slaughter a gang of a hundred ordinary members.
And now, there were dozens of MaxTac officers rapidly surrounding them!
This level of combat power was a formidable force even on a battlefield.
V grew somewhat anxious and spoke extremely quickly. "What do we do? We have to hide, fast! MaxTac is ridiculously strong. If we get tangled up with them, we're dead! Shit, why are they suddenly attacking us? We haven't even done anything yet. Wait, did you two expose yourselves somehow?"
Ciri drew the steel sword in her hand, gave it a slight twirl, and thought for a moment. "We didn't hide ourselves. They probably discovered something unusual about us."
"Damn it, you two are way too careless!" V pulled out a pistol and prepared herself for battle. "We have to leave, now. If MaxTac surrounds us, this won't be a joke! Wait! What are you doing?"
V suddenly noticed Ciri slowly walking forward, gripping the steel sword in her hand, looking as if she was about to fight the fully armed MaxTac squad head-on.
But… she was going to fight their mantis blades and energy rifles with a steel sword?
Was Ciri insane, or was V insane?
Ciri slowly walked forward as a panel appeared in front of her, recording a large amount of information about her.
On the eve of battle, Ciri turned to Harry and asked, "Harry, are you sure the power I borrowed can be perfectly controlled, and that it's stronger than my control over the Elder Blood?"
As a qualified Lender System operator, Harry naturally would not let a premium Lender like Ciri slip away.
On the way to V's home, he had already used certain conditions to have Ciri sign a lending contract and become his new Lender.
Naturally, the condition Ciri paid was allowing him to study her body. After all, Harry was still very curious about the Elder Blood.
And what Harry paid was helping Ciri deal with the Wild Hunt that was constantly chasing her, as well as giving her a method to control the Elder Blood.
Now that MaxTac was charging toward them, it was perfectly suited for Ciri to test the power she currently controlled.
Harry assured Ciri, "Relax. You're one of my strongest Lenders now!"
With Harry's help, Ciri could fully mobilize the Elder Blood inside her. If Wanda was excluded, Ciri was even the strongest Lender currently under Harry.
Seeing that Harry not only did not stop Ciri from facing dozens of MaxTac officers with a steel sword, but actually supported her going forward, V could not help roaring, "Wait, are you idiots? You don't have a single piece of cyberware on you. How could you possibly be a match for MaxTac officers covered in top-tier cyberware, who have now even fully transformed into mechanical lifeforms? Damn it, don't drag me along if you want to die!"
Harry also knew that V, who had never seen supernatural methods before, would find it very difficult to understand everything happening before her. He patiently comforted her. "Don't worry, V. Keep watching, and you'll understand why I let Ciri handle this MaxTac squad."
And at that moment, the battle between Ciri and the MaxTac officers officially began.
…
Leon had once been a fallen cyberpsycho. Several years ago, he had been defeated by MaxTac, brainwashed, and recruited.
Over the past few years, he had gone to every corner of Night City to kill other cyberpsychos, people who were just like his former self.
Through constant battle, he had gradually fallen in love with the feeling of slaughter. He craved battle. He longed for battle.
This situation continued until one month ago, when he discovered that his physical capabilities had increased severalfold in a short time, and even his body had turned into a beautiful mechanical form.
Although he did not know why this change had happened, he instinctively believed that machinery was absolutely wonderful.
With machinery, he could fight even more wildly. Even if he was injured, he only needed to replace a few parts.
And today, he had received a communication from his superiors, ordering him to join dozens of other MaxTac officers and head to a street near Arasaka Tower to kill a heretic in public.
A heretic?
What was a heretic?
Leon did not understand, but as long as there was killing involved, he was happy to go.
And when he saw his three targets, he instantly understood the meaning of heretic.
Damn it!
Those two were still flesh and blood?
They had not embraced the greatness of machinery?
Blasphemy! Heretics! They deserved to die!
The desire to kill surged in Leon's heart. He decided to kill the three people in front of him in the cruelest way possible.
As for whether these heretics would resist, or whether he would be injured?
That was completely outside his consideration.
After all, during his several years serving in MaxTac, relying on all kinds of top-tier equipment, he had never once encountered effective resistance.
And now, he had transformed into a perfect mechanical body. How could these damned flesh creatures possibly be his match?
Right now, there was only one problem he needed to consider, how to kill these three damned blasphemers before the other MaxTac officers beat him to it.
Leon charged forward without hesitation, but the moment he moved, he was shocked to discover that his colleagues, who had always been calm and could even be said to have lost all emotion, erupted with intense killing intent and charged forward even faster than he did.
They shouted loudly, "Kill these heretics! Blasphemers, you deserve death!"
Leon did not know why his former teammates had become so impulsive, and he had no desire to think too much about it. Right now, he only wanted to rush forward quickly and tear those three damned heretics apart.
At this moment, he had already fallen behind. If he did not speed up, those heretics would be killed by his damned colleagues!
However, Leon's strength was clearly not the strongest among MaxTac. In fact, he could only be considered somewhere in the middle.
So even though he sprinted with all his strength, wanting to kill those three heretics with his own hands, he still fell far behind. He could only watch helplessly as his colleagues swung their blades at the heretics.
"No!"
Leon and the other MaxTac members who had fallen behind roared unwillingly, as if the ones about to be killed were not Harry's group of three, but their own mothers.
But suddenly, after a piercing whistle, the entire world went quiet. Leon stared blankly ahead, his mouth wide open, dumbfounded.
A huge sword scar lay across the road like a wound, and its very tip happened to stop one meter in front of him.
Leon twisted his stiff neck and looked ahead. His colleagues who had charged at the very front had now become mutilated corpses lying on the ground, completely motionless.
A flash of sword light had suddenly swept past, tearing them all apart and killing them in an instant!
Seeing this utterly unscientific scene, all the remaining MaxTac members stared at the huge sword scar in front of them in stunned silence. Even though they were still being influenced by the mechanical sphere floating above, they instantly lost any desire to keep charging forward.
V was the same, though she was ultimately a girl with nerves of steel. Unlike the others, she was not completely frozen and could still curse a few times.
"What the fuck is that thing?"
Just now, Ciri had been standing in front of Harry and V, holding her steel sword, preparing to face the frenzied attack of dozens of MaxTac officers alone.
When the MaxTac officers at the front were still fifty meters away from her, her steel sword had suddenly been enveloped by a purple light. Immediately afterward, V saw a sword beam dozens of meters tall slash forward, instantly killing more than half of the MaxTac officers!
"That is magic. It uses high-density magic to envelop a weapon, then releases it with a swing to form a dense magical slash that cuts through what lies ahead. It is a relatively simple but very practical technique for using magic."
V murmured to herself, "I didn't expect magic to actually exist. Then again, even a sacrificial ritual can summon a mechanical god. The existence of magic isn't that shocking by comparison."
Then V asked curiously, "If that kind of attack is still a relatively simple magic technique, then what are the more difficult and more powerful techniques?"
Harry swept his gaze ahead. After discovering that something was wrong, the remaining MaxTac officers immediately fled into the distance.
No kidding. Against this kind of enemy, they could not win at all. If they did not run, were they supposed to stay and wait to die?
The MaxTac officers scattered and fled in every direction, and Ciri could only kill a small portion of them. If nothing unexpected happened, the remaining majority would successfully escape.
But at that moment, Harry smiled and said, "V, watch closely. This is mid-level magic!"
Harry lightly tapped his toe against the ground. A huge purple magic circle appeared under his feet, then instantly covered the area within several dozen meters, altering the gravity within several hundred meters around them.
After the purple magic circle dispersed, accompanied by a deep buzzing sound, the many MaxTac officers fleeing in every direction suddenly stopped and collapsed to the ground. Immediately afterward, the constantly increasing gravity crushed them one after another into bloody pancakes.
After doing all this, Harry gave V a bright smile. "That was mid-level magic. When we face the big guy in the sky, I'll show you the highest level of magic!"
V: "!!!"
"That's fucking insane. Can I learn it?"
Harry did not hesitate. As one of this world's main characters, V was also one of his development targets.
So Harry nodded. "Of course. But we'll have to wait until after the battle. A big guy is coming."
V looked around. Aside from the large amount of red paste on the ground, there was no one else.
The ordinary people had already left after discovering the battle over here, and the MaxTac officers had all been annihilated. So where was this so-called big guy?
At that moment, a piercing whistle came from above. Immediately afterward, a gigantic humanoid robot nearly ten meters tall fell from the sky and crashed into the ground, forming a huge crater.
V's face was scratched by the flying fragments of stone. Staring at the massive robot ahead that looked like a Gundam, she tightened her grip on the pistol in her hand.
"So the so-called big guy fell from the sky!"
Suddenly, V stared at the head of the massive robot in front of her and observed his limbs, then felt a strange sense of familiarity.
This robot's body was entirely composed of machinery and was unbelievably tall. Unlike the MaxTac officers, who still retained some human outlines even after being mechanized, he was completely mechanical, and his surface was even covered with a thick layer of armor.
His head was covered by a helmet with goggles. Beneath the goggles, his face looked cold and merciless, as if he had no emotion or humanity at all.
His body was covered in all kinds of mechanical devices and pipes, and these devices and pipes supplied his body with power and support.
His arms and legs were abnormally thick, both enhanced and modified, allowing him to easily lift and throw heavy objects, as well as move quickly and dodge enemy attacks in battle.
A moment later, through all kinds of details, V finally realized where that familiar feeling came from and said in shock, "Wait, you're Adam Smasher? How did you become like this?"
That was right. Although Adam Smasher's appearance had changed drastically, V still recognized him through certain details.
The original Adam Smasher had only been a little over two meters tall, but now he was fully ten meters tall. V truly had no idea what had happened to make him become so enormous.
Among all the cases of mechanization V had seen, none had ever mentioned that mechanization would increase someone's size severalfold!
Adam Smasher was drawn in by V's voice. His mechanical eyes scanned her appearance and immediately recognized her as the criminal who had killed Yorinobu Arasaka.
So Adam Smasher did not hesitate. He suddenly raised his thick mechanical arm, reached toward V, and prepared to capture her alive and hand her over to Saburo Arasaka.
"You heinous criminal. You actually dare appear before me. With me here today, don't even think about escaping again!"
V dodged with all her strength, but she was clearly not a match for the current Adam Smasher. She was almost caught by an electric net Adam Smasher fired.
Although she managed to dodge, the time she wasted evading the attack meant Adam Smasher's palm was about to close around her body.
If she really fell into Adam Smasher's grasp, every bone in her body would be crushed in an instant.
However, at that moment, Harry suddenly appeared in front of V and extended one hand, attempting to stop Adam Smasher's palm.
Seeing this, Adam Smasher's mechanical face flexibly formed a savage expression.
A tiny thing that did not know whether to live or die actually dared use his own body to block the attack of a mechanical hand!
Adam Smasher prepared to strike with full force, spending one second to crush the heretic in front of him, then immediately grab V and hand her over to Saburo Arasaka.
However, when his palm reached the space in front of Harry, it suddenly stopped and could not move forward even the slightest bit.
Adam Smasher looked ahead suspiciously. No matter how he scanned, there was nothing there.
But when his body made contact with the air in front of him, it was blocked, as if an invisible, indestructible wall had separated his hand and stopped his attack.
Although he did not know what was going on, Adam Smasher was extremely confident. He believed that the current him could destroy everything!
So Adam Smasher extended the cannon barrel in his chest and began charging it, preparing to directly blast this ant in front of him to pieces.
But before he could launch the attack, a dazzling white electromagnetic cannon fired instantly without any charge-up and appeared before his eyes!
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