With Lucy, Jax turned into an alley on this street.
It was a narrow path, wide enough for three people to walk abreast, with old wire fences on both sides, and cameras around.
On the other side of the wire fence, two resplendent cars were parked. They were truly resplendent, with large areas of gold plating and exaggerated, streamlined exteriors that were very eye-catching.
Both cars were locked, and nearby were a brazier, a discarded grill, and... some uncleared bloodstains. It seemed this might be a gathering spot for a small group of Valentinos...
"If we go in here, won't something unexpected happen?"
Lucy's hand was held by Jax as they walked towards the deepest part of the alley. She thought for a moment before speaking.
"Something unexpected would happen if we stayed outside. Who knows how many of them there are? If there are too many, I can't guarantee I can protect you on the main road," Jax said seriously, without looking back.
He was like that; if he got someone involved... then he would do everything to get Lucy out safely.
Was his relationship with Lucy good?
Actually, it wasn't that good. In fact, before today, there had even been some unpleasantness between them. But even if it were a stranger, if they were dragged into danger because of his accident, Jax would still do his best to help them.
Perhaps... this was also why Dorio and Maine considered Jax to be Rebecca's best partner?
Hearing Jax's words, Lucy's orange-red eyeshadow widened, and her green pupils contracted for a moment. She looked at Jax's back, and a moment later, where Jax couldn't see, she said with a complex expression, "I don't need protection. I... can protect myself just fine."
"The street is full of guns. How are you going to protect yourself? Do you have a gun on you?"
Even Jax, facing dozens of guns in an open area, would have to find cover obediently, let alone Lucy, who didn't have advanced implants.
Maine, on the other hand, wouldn't need to... under non-powerful weapons, with Maine's current armor, he could act as a top-tier meat shield by charging forward.
"I do. Do you want it?" Lucy said quickly, reaching for her lower back with her other hand, slipping it into her hoodie. She then pulled out a Lexington. It wasn't high-end, but... it was good enough.
Jax took the gun and asked her, "And the cyberware? Wearing these clothes, how many times can you use your netrunner abilities with poor heat dissipation?"
"Hard to say."
"Shit, they're here." Jax, about to tell Lucy not to take risks, suddenly turned, raised his hand, and aimed the Lexington forward.
"Bang!"
Sparks flew, and under the gunshot, a low growl came from ahead.
Then came the curses: "We've been spotted! Damn it, everyone charge! We have to catch him!"
As the voices faded, Jax clearly saw six people and one staggering guy run out from the corner ahead.
That shot didn't kill him?
And behind them, the two original trackers also appeared at the end of the alley.
Taking a deep breath, just as Jax was about to charge forward with Lucy, he saw one of the six people blocking the intersection suddenly raise a rocket launcher.
Heavy weapon?!
Sure enough, it was those bastards from the 6th Street Gang!
Seeing this, Jax's intention to charge immediately vanished, replaced by a look of alarm.
No, are you kidding me?!
Body ten was indeed very strong; resisting pistol bullets was no problem at all, and even some weaker rifles and submachine guns, Jax could withstand with his bare flesh.
But heavy weapons, a human body against a rocket launcher?!
Fuck that!
In Night City, besides that iron-clad bastard Smasher, who could withstand that with their bare flesh?!
So, making an instinctive reaction in an instant, Jax quickly reached out and scooped up Lucy, who was also stunned.
At this distance, a rocket launcher was a point-and-shoot weapon, let alone in a narrow alley less than two meters wide! Now there wasn't even a place to hide!
But before Lucy could react, she felt her body lighten. Then, her legs were held by one hand, and her waist and abdomen were embraced. Lucy subconsciously wrapped her arms around Jax's neck.
Holding Lucy, Jax rushed towards the wall, stepping on the grey-black plaster with one foot, and then directly kicking off an external server case with the next, with such force that he smashed the case.
He charged directly towards the three-meter-high wire fence.
And in the next moment—"Bang!"
"These lunatics!"
Under the loud bang, a blast of air surged, dust and sand flew, and a shell with a fiery tongue shot out from the end of the alley, heading straight for where Jax had been standing.
They weren't even afraid of affecting their own comrades?!
"Boom!"
A huge fire cloud rose, and under the explosion, the entire alley became a mess. The houses on both sides were instantly affected and damaged. The good news was that this rocket launcher's lethality wasn't top-tier, but the bad news was... no matter what, it was still a rocket launcher!
Even with weaker lethality, the kill radius wouldn't be less than twenty meters!
Therefore, the street in Heywood instantly fell into a panic, and the scene became a complete mess!
Behind him was a scorching airflow; Jax even felt the clothes on his back catching fire. Flames erupted from behind him. In Jax's arms, Lucy watched this scene calmly.
She looked at Jax, who was focused ahead with a composed expression, at the sparks erupting from behind him, at the Gravel and soil (shattered rocks and soil chunks) flying out from the explosion, and then she looked into Jax's eyes.
"What are you looking at?! Get ready to run!"
Adrenaline was rapidly secreting. Jax's airtime ability was actually just average. His leap indeed carried him six or seven meters, but that didn't mean Jax could actually fly.
The reason they could exchange glances and even communicate in that instant was because both Jax and Lucy possessed reaction times far beyond normal people.
Landing, rolling, Jax still held Lucy.
Him carrying her to run was definitely faster than her running alongside him.
With continuous jumps and leaps, holding Lucy and using the Valentinos' cars for leverage, Jax had already jumped onto the high eaves.
The houses in this area were low-rise bungalows, with the tallest building only three stories high. This architectural style, reminiscent of the Watson industrial area... was Jax's comfort zone!
"Quick, over there!"
A shout erupted from the street. Jax heard it and turned his head to see a group of people pointing at him beside a black car.
A question arose in Jax's mind; he suddenly felt strange...: "No, are these guys really from the 6th Street Gang?"
More heavy firepower?!
Is Militech that generous?
Quickly descending from the rooftop with Lucy, Jax saw the little white-haired girl in his arms say nothing, thinking Lucy was angry about being dragged into this.
But when he looked down at Lucy, Jax realized that Lucy was still staring at his face.
"Well..." Jax began.
"These people are..." Lucy said.
Both spoke at the same time, and both paused.
Then, Jax looked up ahead and quickly said, "I'm sorry for getting you involved, but I will definitely protect you."
Lucy didn't speak. What she had wanted to say was, who exactly were these people?!
She had initially thought it was the agents tracking her who had come to Night City, but now, seeing... heavy firepower, dozens of people, this wasn't the kind of authority agents tracking her would have.
Arasaka was a huge corporation, and the ones tracking her were from Arasaka's branch in Poland. How far was Night City from Poland?
And even if the Polish branch had given Lucy's information to the Night City branch, Lucy didn't think she was truly that important to Arasaka.
She was indeed talented, delving deep into the Blackwall at a young age and becoming a tool for Arasaka to exploit the Blackwall, but there were many children like Lucy, and no lack of geniuses among them.
Therefore, Arasaka's pursuit of her was more out of an obsession with "tool retrieval" rather than Lucy truly being that important to Arasaka.
So, when she saw large numbers of people chasing them, Lucy had already realized.
This wasn't about her at all!
After all... how could she be so important as to be hunted by Arasaka like this?
So, Jax... what exactly did you do?
Lucy pondered, looking at Jax's serious expression.
It was a very dangerous situation; usually, she would feel tense and uneasy when encountering such things.
But strangely, Lucy didn't feel panicked by what was happening right now.
Being hunted, being surrounded, being attacked by heavy firepower...
This wasn't the first time Lucy had encountered such things.
But,
This was the first time someone had told her,
that they would protect her.