chapter 17

After Karl dashed around the corner at the end of the passage, he found himself in a sprawling warehouse filled with machinery and equipment. It resembled a canning workshop. In the distance, Oliver and Jack had already positioned themselves behind a steel manufacturing table for cover. Seeing Karl approach, they waved at him frantically.

Oliver held his Nova in hand, while Jack gripped the Copperhead, borrowed from Oliver. Both had their weapons trained on the corner Karl had just rounded, ready to take down the Maelstrom ganger pursuing him. Despite their preparedness, neither Oliver nor Jack had any idea what Karl had just encountered.

"That ganger has subdermal armor! My Lexington is useless against her!" Karl shouted as he closed the distance between them.

Hearing this, Jack groaned. "I told you to upgrade your gun!"

"I'm regretting it now!" Karl snapped back, frustration evident in his voice. He knew Jack was right—he should have swapped his Lexington for something with more stopping power. Accuracy alone couldn't make up for raw firepower. Lesson learned.

As Karl sprinted toward Oliver and Jack, the echo of heavy, rapid footsteps reverberated from the passage behind him. The Maelstrom ganger was catching up.

"Damn it, how is she so fast? I had a two-second head start!"

Realizing he wouldn't make it to Oliver and Jack's position in time, Karl scanned his surroundings for an alternative. His eyes landed on a massive trash can brimming with discarded steel and equipment.

"Guess I have a thing for trash," he muttered before diving behind it.

The moment the Maelstrom ganger emerged from the passage, her glowing red prosthetic eyes locked onto Karl's retreating figure. She charged forward without hesitation, but Oliver and Jack opened fire simultaneously.

A hailstorm of bullets from the Nova and Copperhead hammered the ganger, but her subdermal armor absorbed the impacts with unnerving efficiency. Undeterred, she barreled toward Oliver, clearly intent on taking him down.

"Cabrón! She's coming straight at us!" Jack swore. "That's a Crusher she's carrying. If she gets close enough, this cover won't save us!"

Oliver cursed under his breath, his frustration mounting. "How much did she pay for that armor? Is this the latest model or something?"

Despite the relentless gunfire, the ganger's pace never faltered. The kinetic rounds barely slowed her down, their impact force dissipated by her armor. In mere seconds, she was within lethal range of the shotgun.

Tossing aside her empty pistol, the ganger raised the Crusher with both hands, aiming squarely at Oliver and Jack. A second later, she would obliterate their cover—and them along with it.

But Karl wasn't about to let that happen.

Hiding behind the trash can wasn't an act of desperation; it was a calculated move. By disappearing from the ganger's line of sight, Karl had bought himself the element of surprise. Climbing onto the trash can, he timed his jump perfectly, launching himself toward her.

The Maelstrom ganger's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of his descent, but with her attention locked on her targets, there was no time to react.

Karl, weighing roughly 70 kilograms, slammed into her from above, sending both of them crashing to the ground. Even with her heavy cybernetics, the impact was enough to topple her.

However, the fight was far from over.

Before Karl could fully recover, the ganger's armored fist connected with his face, the blow sending him reeling. Blood gushed from his shattered nose, and his vision blurred, but he didn't let go of his resolve.

"Get off me!" she snarled, landing another devastating punch.

Karl's head snapped back from the impact, and for a moment, his thoughts scattered. But despite the pain, he spotted an opening. Her right hand, the one gripping the Crusher, was pinned beneath his thigh.

Oliver and Jack had abandoned their cover, rushing to help Karl. To avoid friendly fire, they had discarded their guns and were preparing to tackle the ganger directly. But Karl wasn't about to leave things to chance.

Through sheer determination, he raised his Lexington and fired point-blank at her exposed fingers.

The ganger's subdermal armor protected most of her body, but not her fingers. The bullets shattered the bones in her hand, forcing her to release the Crusher.

Karl, battered and bloody, grinned through the pain. "Nice to meet you, lady."

Her six prosthetic eyes whirred and focused on him, registering the loss of her weapon.

"See you next time," Karl said, aiming the Crusher directly at her.

The massive shotgun roared, ending the fight in an instant.