Chapter 35: Battle of Red Cliff!

Things were starting to spiral out of control— Leo couldn't figure out why Arasaka was intercepting them. If it was just Militech moonlighting, they only needed to scare off those greedy agents—after all, they were doing side jobs, and if things went south, the company wouldn't just stand by. But this was different—something was seriously off with Arasaka! Jackie thought Arasaka was after the stuff in the trunk, but Leo felt something wasn't right— Because that thing was just a lizard; there was no way it would warrant going up against Militech! It had to be them they were after! But what value did they have? Now wasn't the time to think, though, because where there's a first wave, there's always a second! The drone swarm buzzed behind them like flies, and Leo could see more Arasaka vehicles heading their way! "If we don't take care of those drones, we're not getting out of here!" Jackie shouted. "What do we do?" V, attacking the drones, yelled toward the driver's seat, "Use your unbeatable hacking skills, do something!" "Are you trying to get us killed? I'm working on it!" Leo didn't want to use the method he had in Atlanta again—the problem was, last time, he had the perfect combination of time, place, and people. He had exploited a gap when Militech forces crossed the net border to execute a brutal hack, but this was different. Corp dogs were equipped with ICE, which is basically a network firewall. Using the Sandevistan in his spine, Leo could generate computational power dozens of times higher than normal, enough to smash through data blocks on the Blackwall. But brute-forcing through corporate ICE required a computational load that could fry a hacker's brain. Sure, the generic ICEs were already cracked by the legends, but Leo wasn't one of them! This kind of brute-force hacking couldn't be used against ICE! But he wasn't entirely out of options—if he couldn't solve it digitally, he'd solve it physically! Gritting his teeth, Leo decided on a bold move. He was going to multitask—using his cybernetic eye to connect to the car's cameras and assist the smart shotgun's targeting, while using his biological eye to drive! Thinking it, he did it— [Warning: Disconnecting visual system sync will cause visual image tearing, leading to nausea, vomiting, or even unconsciousness. If you have additional implants, it may trigger cyberpsychosis.] [Disconnect visual sync system?] [Sync disconnected] Handling two different visual inputs felt like tearing his brain apart. In fact, most people, when using their implant systems to control things like cameras, would stop all physical activity. The reason is that the human brain struggles to multitask, especially with remote operations like this! [Detected: Distortion of consciousness due to separation of sensory and motor nerves] [Dispel distortion?] [Distortion dispelled] Leo's vision was split into two different worlds, and it felt like his brain was being torn in half! The car started swerving on the road, nearly throwing V out, who cursed, "Can you drive or not!" "Hold on tight, we're—oh, crap—" Leo didn't finish before pulling off a drift on the spot— Bang! Jackie in the backseat hit the car seat with a loud thud. "What now?" Jackie couldn't take it anymore. "Look for yourselves!" They both looked back—just in time to see a massive armored unit heading their way— Militech Basilisk! Their faces turned pale; they had to turn back even if the drones were chasing them! Just as they turned back, the drone swarm hesitated for a moment, and the Arasaka operatives chasing them even more so. But then—an earth-shattering explosion brought them back to reality! Boom! A shell easily pierced through several drones in the sky, sending debris raining down like confetti! The Basilisk's main cannon snapped everyone back to their senses, and V started firing the Ba Xing Chong shotgun like crazy— "Get out of the way, get out of the way!" Leo's group was truly caught in the middle now—on one side was the Basilisk, on the other were the Arasaka operatives and drones, with Militech agents on yet another side! The three factions formed a triangle, with Leo and his crew caught right in the center! The Militech agents were already repeating their standard line from a distance: "You are transporting corporate property. Repeating, you are transporting corporate property and are suspected of smuggling. We will use force. Unrelated parties, withdraw or be considered collateral damage." Arasaka also pulled out a loudspeaker: "We have evidence that your vehicle contains Arasaka property. Stop and submit to inspection. We reserve the right to use force!" Like hell! You think Arasaka is a pushover? Worst case, they'd let the Basilisk blow everyone away and start a full-scale fight! "What are they doing?" Jackie and V asked at the same time. "They're issuing disclaimers! They're about to start shooting!" Leo gritted his teeth, "They're not planning on holding fire; we're stuck in the middle of a battlefield!" Boom! Two rockets from Arasaka came straight at Leo's group, and V immediately pulled the trigger, with the smart shotgun destroying the rockets mid-air like an anti-missile system! In the Arasaka convoy, this move seemed to confirm to them that Leo's group was the target. The leaders nodded to each other, but the Basilisk wouldn't hesitate to fire! Boom! By now, Leo's group was close to the Arasaka convoy. Ever since splitting his vision, Leo had been running on Sandevistan, executing a sharp turn— A shell landed on an Arasaka vehicle! Leo shouted, "This just got interesting— we're cutting right through the middle! V, use the Ba Xing Chong! Fire as fast as you can! I'll handle the targeting!" They were going to cut right between the Arasaka and Militech forces! Two worlds were spinning in Leo's mind, one filled with gunfire and explosions, the other with the car's cameras feeding him a 360-degree view of the battlefield— He had the whole battlefield in sight! "Are you crazy?" Jackie's face was green, but V was exhilarated—time seemed to slow down for her! "Jackie, magazines! Hurry, hand me the Ba Xing Chong magazines!" V reached out to Jackie for the Ba Xing Chong's ammo; it was do-or-die time! In the Arasaka convoy, one operative yelled, "Boss! Should we keep going? At this rate, we'll hit the Militech guys!" "Screw it! We need to take down whoever's in that car!" His superior had already given the order: Get any intel on the Militech accident in Atlanta, no matter what it takes! They couldn't let anything slip through! The same conversation was happening on the Militech side—the grunts were scared, unsure if they should shoot indiscriminately! But on their side, too, the order was clear: if they didn't get results, their little side job would be exposed, and they'd be done for! The two leaders' thoughts aligned— After all the effort, if they didn't successfully intercept the people in that car, they'd take the full blame! The car sliced through the center of the two convoys like a sword. V felt like the world had slowed down. She could see the drones, the Basilisk, and every armed unit pointing their weapons at them. Rockets, high-explosive rounds, the Basilisk's cannon, and even basic bullets—all rained down on them like an actual storm! Leo simultaneously pushed his Sandevistan to its limits, elevating the smart weapons' computing power to the max! In this moment, they were in perfect sync— Boom! A massive explosion. A massive explosion erupted between the two factions, with shrapnel raining down like petals, hitting the other side's forces, followed by even more explosions. No one could see what happened in that instant, just the endless sound of explosions! In the next second, hardly anyone was left standing on either side— Burning drones rained down like confetti, the air thick with burning debris, and wreckage was everywhere. They shouted out their colleagues' names, fear gripping their hearts— This was a battlefield! Whoosh! Bang— The little beat-up Viper tore through the smoke and flames, maybe even lifted slightly by a small mound of dirt, before landing with a thud as the wheels hit the ground. It wobbled as it sped toward the Badlands before anyone could react— The Arasaka operative who survived stood up, his ID badge reading: Arasaka Counterintelligence. Half of his suit was blown apart, revealing his cybernetically enhanced body. He looked around in confusion, just as someone from Militech stood up, equally bewildered. Still going to fight? Militech might have had the upper hand, given they still had the Basilisk. But... they weren't here to start a corporate war, were they? Both men swallowed hard, their minds racing, and they finally reached the same conclusion— "Kang Tao." So, what happened in that split second? First, Jackie quickly handed V the Ba Xing Chong magazines. Then, V yanked off the strap holding the Ba Xing Chong in place, reloaded three times, and pulled the trigger 14 times. As a shotgun, the Ba Xing Chong fires 8 pellets with each shot. As a smart weapon, every bullet in the Ba Xing Chong is guided by the central control system, hitting the user's intended target. And as a prototype weapon, the Ba Xing Chong's rounds were equipped with small-scale explosive capabilities. In other words, in that instant, V fired a total of 112 smart high-explosive rounds. Of those 112 rounds, under Leo's calculations, 16 were aimed at the rockets that might hit them, detonating them mid-air, with the resulting shockwave disrupting other projectiles, especially lighter bullets, protecting the Viper from being riddled with holes. 30 rounds were aimed at the cannon rounds from the Basilisk, exploding along the trajectory and deflecting the shells, creating a massive crater beside the Viper. 12 rounds targeted drones that might be hit by stray bullets, 30 hit drones that hadn't been affected by the crossfire, and the final 20 rounds were aimed at the fuel tanks of vehicles on either side, piercing the external armor and triggering explosions. The last 4 rounds finished off and injured the two incredibly lucky operatives who hadn't been hit by stray bullets. The easiest task was Jackie's, simply reloading the Ba Xing Chong. Next was V's job of reloading and firing. But the most critical was Leo's, who in that moment inputted data and decided the firing patterns. After the shooting and transmitting orders, the gun exploded under the high-intensity fire. Only the two leaders saw a little of what happened—because they also had Kerenzikov reflex boosters and caught a glimpse of something in that instant. From their perspective, the gun exploded, and the smart bullets launched like a swarm of missiles, hitting their intended targets. Like fireworks blooming in the night sky, except those fireworks consumed their men and equipment. They couldn't perform the high-speed calculations like Leo, but they instinctively calculated their situation. Yeah. This was a joint operation, a Militech-Arasaka joint operation, and they had just uncovered Kang Tao's secret weapon. That's right, Kang Tao.