Chapter 217

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Adam Smasher's rampage turned the fifth-level disc of the integrated transport hub into a scene resembling an earthquake, with bursts of dust and cracks appearing everywhere. As the intensity of the battlefield grew uncontrollable, the NCPD began urgently organizing the evacuation. Anyone still wanting to stay was risking their lives, yet the crowd was not scared but rather became frenzied with excitement by Adam Smasher's appearance.

Despite the NCPD officer's desperate pleas, the crowd insisted on staying to watch this battle of the century. "This is a true human war, a war between machine and flesh!" "The meat grinder, Adam Smasher, has appeared. This is Arasaka's strongest battle force; can Tang Yu still handle it?" "Spectacular! Absolutely spectacular!"

However, the reaction from the Arasaka board executives was completely different. Seeing Tang Yu defy company orders and slaughter employees publicly, their faces were ashen and their expressions extremely grim. "Such atrocious behavior from Tang Yu should not only result in being fired but also being labeled as a cyber-psycho, to be suppressed by the anti-terror squad!" agreed the board members, supporting Director Yamamoto's statement. With such audacity, nothing like this had ever happened in Arasaka history.

Mr. Yamachi, with a grim look, approached an NCPD officer, grabbed him by the collar, and demanded, "Have your superior call in the anti-terror squad immediately to suppress Tang Yu!" The officer, startled by the sudden rebuke, nodded hesitantly before rushing off to relay the order. "A cyber-psycho? Open your eyes; a man without even a cybernetic implant, how could he be a cyber-psycho? This is an internal matter for the Arasaka company. Organize the evacuation immediately. Those who want to stay and die, let them!"

After being scolded by his superior, the officer awkwardly scampered back to his duties, avoiding the Arasaka executive from a distance. As the dust settled, Adam Smasher's dark mechanical figure was surrounded by a circle of mutilated corpses. His red cyber-eyes quickly scanned, searching for Tang Yu, but his opponent's speed was too fast for the missile lock to complete.

Adam Smasher raised his shoulder cannon skywards, deciding to preemptively forecast Tang Yu's movements for indiscriminate attack coverage. "Smell the scent of cannon-roasted flesh; does it whet your appetite?"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Nine cannon mouths sprayed flames, firing high-energy bombs into the air that burst like brilliant fireworks.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Subsequently, hot shrapnel rained down like a torrential arrow shower, densely packed leaving little room to escape. Embedded in a sea of corpses, the shrapnel scorched white smoky trails into the air, filling it with the scent of roasted flesh.

Adam Smasher seized this chance to lock onto Tang Yu, as the bullets impacting Tang Yu were intercepted by a force field. "Found you!" With Sandevistan activated, Adam Smasher charged directly at Tang Yu, trailing heavy afterimages. Tang Yu immediately manipulated the hot shrapnel, targeting it downwards rapidly at Adam Smasher's head from above. Adam Smasher blocked the shrapnel invasion with one hand and, with the other, he raised a heavy machine gun aiming crazily at Tang Yu. 

Tat-tat-tat...

Tang Yu swiftly activated 'bullet-time' to leave his spot, dodging a barrage of heavy cannon bullets. The two moved at breakneck speeds, with Adam Smasher relentlessly following Tang Yu's pace, taunting, "How long do you plan to play this game of hide-and-seek?"

"As long as your bullish momentum lasts," retorted Tang Yu with a smile, abruptly stopping and then pointing his index finger skyward.

Adam Smasher, charging forward, suddenly felt as though he was floating, his body weightless under the powerful inertia, shooting upwards like a human-shaped steel bullet.

Boom...

Adam Smasher's steel body collided with the black wall curtains of Arasaka Tower, bursting into the building amidst a rain of glass shards. "Unforgivable!" Struggling in the disarrayed office, Adam Smasher's cyber-eye optics rotated, commanding the armed hover cars above the plaza to initiate the heavy crush matrix and attack Tang Yu indiscriminately.

Instantly.

Multiple red laser matrices projected down, even affecting some of the spectators in the area.

Buzz...

Tremendous crushing pressure descended, directly sinking the ground a few inches, causing more corpses to burst open completely, splattering bright red blood everywhere, the smell of blood pervasive.

"Ahhhh..."

Those affected by the high-pressure matrix were crushed instantly, their legs broken, as they lay immobile on the ground crying out in agony.

Meanwhile.

The armed hover cars above extended their cannon barrels, after charging up, they fired towards the ground. The massive electromagnetic pulse nets, although not lethal to Tang Yu, were enough to electrically paralyze his limbs.

The crowd, realizing Arasaka was truly serious this time, was in disarray and loudly demanded to evacuate the scene.

Tang Yu stood resolute, controlling his force field to resist the high-pressure matrix, dodging repeated bursts of electromagnetic pulses. Moving quickly, he raised his hand towards the sky targeting several armed hover cars and spread his fingers. Weak arcs of blue electricity shot out, directly hitting the hover cars. As he clenched his fist, Arasaka's armed hover car systems were severely damaged and hacked, experiencing violent shaking, uncontrollably crashing in all directions. One crashed onto an overpass, two slammed into Arasaka Tower, and several others fell onto the disc level causing bursts of explosive smoke and dust. A new wave of chaos erupted.

Suddenly.

An even fiercer surge of lightning explosions soared into the sky, all glass screens on the fifth-level disc shattered into debris, flying chaotically.

Tang Yu looked towards the center of the disc, as a humanoid mecha slowly rose from the fourth level, hovering midair.

The mecha, surrounded by lightning and sparks, resembled a metallic ninja warrior wielding a long sword infused with thunderous energy.

"Ether body thunder?"

Yorinobu looked around with a cold smirk, "Tang Yu, soon you will taste what it's like to lose everything."

"Your friends, they will vanish from this world because of your arrogance."

The thunder mecha raised its lightning longsword, charging into the retreating company executives.

Tang Yu frowned slightly, understanding from the mecha pilot's words that they intended to use those close to him as leverage.

Gloria, David, Lucy, the Maine team, V, Jackie, V...

Everyone connected to him had been involved.

He tried to reach Gloria, no response.

Then he tried V, no response.

He also tried Lucy, Rebecca, and Maine's communications, all unanswered.

Tang Yu's expression gradually darkened. Finally, he attempted to contact Jackie.

As his surroundings exploded with vehicles and heads flew, those who usually held high positions were slaughtered like dogs.

Even NCPD couldn't maintain its fire ban, firing crazily at the thunder mecha.

In a flash.

Tang Yu's call connected.

Jackie spoke anxiously, "Bro, what's going on there? Something happened to V, I just took down this fat guy trying to sell us out so he could escape, I'm off to rescue V."

Tang Yu stared at the chaotically messy scene and said solemnly, "I'm fine here; there's no need for you to go to V. I've asked Rogue to look after her."

Jackie, somewhat excited, responded, "Rogue, the queen of the afterlife? Brother, you can even boss her around? That's freaking awesome."

Realizing that Jackie had been busy keeping an eye on Dexter DeShawn and had not seen the latest news, Tang Yu said, "Head back to the Afterlife bar. I've left a few things with Pepe there. Pick them up and send them out for me. The names and addresses are marked. Once I'm done here, I'll join you for a drink."

Jackie agreed, patting his chest in promise. The call was disconnected.

After today's major battle, Tang Yu knew he had to make a final break with the corporation. Yorinobu had finally achieved his goal, slaughtering these globally renowned corporate executives, which was the real reason he had eagerly helped Lai Xuan organize this product launch. The directors of Arasaka Corporation scrambled for their lives, summoning their private bodyguards in vain. In the crazed eyes of Yorinobu, these people were no different from dead pigs. As he was rampaging, suddenly, a flurry of bullets struck his back, flipping him onto the ground. The barrage never ceased, pinning the electro-mecha hard to the ground, breaking it down layer by layer.

Tang Yu operated the mounted machine guns atop the platform, continuously firing in the same direction. The rapid gunfire did not afford Yorinobu any chance to fight back, forcefully enduring the burst. Within seconds, the machine gun's drum was rapidly depleted. The cybernetic Thunder was cracked, falling to the ground. But the sturdy armor withstood the impact, and soon Yorinobu once again activated the Thunder, restoring its anti-gravity flight system, slowly rising from the ground. He noted Tang Yu's extraordinary ability to control electronic devices, confirming Mr. Blue Eyes' intelligence.

"You truly are miraculous, but as a test subject, you'd create even more miracles. Today, you might have been spared..."

Before he could finish, a black silhouette fell from the sky, crushing heavily on Yorinobu's mecha, stepping on it and shattering the platform base. The entire fifth floor twisted and tilted drastically, eventually collapsing downward, bringing down the fourth floor with it. Adam Smasher stood firmly, his blood-red cyber eyes coldly looking down.

"A pile of flesh matched with industrial trash, fit only to watch the show from below."

Saying this, Adam Smasher bent down and ferociously grabbed the cybernetic mask, ripping it off and discarding it. Yorinobu spat blood, facing the arm cannon, a cold laugh escaping his lips.

"Death is just the beginning..."

Bang! Yorinobu's head exploded in a shower of blood. After disposing of the irritating nuisance, Adam Smasher restarted his scan, searching for Tang Yu amidst the chaos. At that moment, Arasaka's armed forces continued to pour into the company plaza, trying to suppress the turmoil caused by Tang Yu. Armed hovercraft, drones, combat mechas, and Arasaka elite squads poured out from Arasaka Tower.

Adam Smasher quickly located Tang Yu but did not launch a new attack, instead saying solemnly, "Once, I encountered an undetermined duel here, after which he disappeared following that nuclear explosion. I admit you're stronger than he was, but anything that stands against the war machine will be crushed, you included."

Tang Yu responded indifferently, "Adam Smasher, I have always had a question I wanted to ask you."

Adam Smasher silently waited for Tang Yu's question. He always showed a bit more mercy before the death of a strong opponent.

"What does it feel like to have only a brain left?" Tang Yu asked curiously, a question he hadn't had the chance to ask before.

Adam Smasher: "..."

"You're seeking death! I'm going to blow your brain out!"

Adam Smasher immediately activated his Sandevistan and charged at Tang Yu, his mechanical fingers coming together to form a steel blade slashing down. He was surprised to find Tang Yu didn't move at all, instead controlling a force field to firmly fix him in place.

"Kneel down!" As Tang Yu spoke softly, a more powerful and overwhelming force enveloped Adam Smasher, crushing him like a giant mountain. Despite maximizing the torque output of his mechanical knee joints, Adam Smasher still couldn't resist the powerful pressure and eventually kneeled in the deep pit on the ground.

"Ah..." Adam Smasher struggled to lift his head, trying to fight against this overwhelming force. Before him, Tang Yu's nostrils were bleeding, his mental strength drained, putting a tremendous strain on his brain, not even allowing "unyielding" to recover in time. Then, Arasaka's newly dispatched reinforcements had already charged onto the platform, once again encircling him, preparing to attack.

"Everyone kneel down!" In an instant, a more expansive and crushing force enveloped the entire platform, forcing everyone to kneel, their bones shattered.

With more cracks emerging, the platforms began to break apart under this immense pressure, collapsing one layer after another. The base of the platform finally gave way, the building collapsing layer by layer, with a deafening sound. Even Adam Smasher couldn't withstand the pressure, bending his head and bracing his hands against the ground. Blood also seeped from Tang Yu's ears and eyes. He put his last point in "unyielding," enhancing it to its legendary-quality talent.

[Unyielding] (Legendary)

He spared no thought for consequences and took his chance. Tang Yu rose into the air, his fingers beginning to store a faint electric arc energy, gradually the electric light becoming brighter, an electric orb now visible. The blue electric arcs buzzed, enveloping his body like an electric sphere. Adam Smasher looked up with difficulty, sensing the bomb-like electric orb above, an ominous premonition filling him.

Ding! A ringing in his ears followed by an extremely bright light spreading in all directions, he lost consciousness as if his system had crashed. From above the company square, after the light flashed, a web of electric arcs swept out. In an instant, inside the buildings on the company square, devices exploded, screens burned out and blackened, individuals' heads and cybernetics sparked and they fainted, and the armed kinetic armors became paralyzed and smoked...

The whole of Night City was short-circuited. People didn't understand what had happened and lost consciousness. Those further from the company square felt a strange unease and numbness in their prosthetics, only realizing there was a blackout when they recovered. Unable to watch TV or make calls, many people wandered the streets to check, looking at each other in confusion.

Above the company square, Tang Yu's body went limp and powerless, ultimately falling into the dust. In the dusty, silent world, a figure crawled out of the rubble, coughing heavily. She struggled to climb through the debris until she finally found Tang Yu, her heart filled with shock. Tang Yu was unrecognizable, his sharp suit burnt beyond recognition, his skin not spared anywhere, his whole body cracked and charred, emitting dense white smoke, motionless. 

A sight too gruesome to bear. She couldn't contain her emotions but silently picked Tang Yu up from the ground. "Come, let's leave this hellish place, let's go back to the tribe, go home."