Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 516: Walking Corpse.

Red. Red everywhere. When Eddy raised his head, it was all he could see. The interior of the car was painted red, and some of that red spilled on him, painting him as well.

Cory was gone. Ron was gone. Gin was gone. All of them. Dead.

The tip about Riot was back in town and turned out to be true. Red Hill had once been the mad titan's turf, and with Black Skull being in a tight spot, they assumed he came back to claim his spot. But what could a loser who lost to a nameless punk do?

The five of them were enough. They were going to find the big bastard, shoot him full of holes, and claim all the bounties on his head. Doing so was bound to earn them some respect, and maybe even a promotion. It was going to be an easy win. That's what they had all thought.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…" Eddy pulled at his bright green hair, now tainted red by the blood of his friends. "Fuck fuck fu-"

A thought flashed in his mind, and everything suddenly became clear. He looked at Gin, who was leaning against the steering wheel, and his eyes widened. Pulling him back, Eddy searched the pockets of his jacket until he found it—a small gray box. Gin had valued it enough that he hid it in a secret pocket under his armpit, and Eddy understood why.

He popped the box open, and for a very long second, he only stared at its contents. Nestled inside the flat box was a single blue capsule.

~[ ]~

"Man, you're starting to really scare me," Riot said. "What the hell was that!?"

"Don't worry about it." Dante sat back down, a satisfied look on his face. He looked at the hand he used as a gun and saw that the glove covering it was torn apart, prompting him to remove it, then do the same with the other hand. He then put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and gave the command to swap 2-3's Module for 4-3's.

Riot glanced out of the window then back at Dante.

"Wonder what that's all about…"

"Really?" Dante snorted.

It wasn't that difficult to guess the cause.

"This was fun and all, but we should get out of here."

They were in the middle of enemy territory right now. Even if they weren't the ones who started it, Black Skull were bound to come after them.

"Hm?" Riot squinted his eyes as he glanced out of the window once more. "What in the-"

Dante turned around and noticed a flash in the corner of his eye. His perception increased to the max right away, but the time he had to react was far too tight. Something crashed into the truck an instant later, and as the river slammed the brakes, it raised its head and looked at Dante.

A great explosion shook the old road and the buildings surrounding it, but one look at the bright green flames spreading from it told that the explosion was far from normal.

"Damn," Dante said. "That was close."

He was on a roadside about a dozen meters away from the explosion, carrying someone on his shoulder. A second later, Riot fell right beside him, a bit of green flames on his clothes, which he quickly put out.

"The hell was that?"

"If I had to guess…"

As the smoke receded and only the green flames remained, a humanoid silhouette slowly emerged from them. It appeared as if someone was burning alive, but it didn't seem in a rush to get away from the fire. Once it stepped away from the road, it immediately became clear why.

Charred, from head to toe. A corpse burned into a humanoid piece of charcoal. If it hadn't seen it move with their own eyes, one wouldn't fault them for assuming it was just that, especially when the flames that had burned still clung to its head and shoulders. But the corpse wasn't dead, and despite having flames coming from its eye sockets, Dante still felt its gaze.

"Um, boss…"

Dante snapped back to reality and realized he was still carrying someone on his shoulder. That was Jamal, the driver who handled the wheel on their little trip to Red Hill.

"You should get out of here," Dante said, putting him down. "I will have Carlos give you a bonus when I'm back."

"Th-thanks…"

Walking over to the edge, Dante stepped out and fell onto the road. No sooner had he straightened than the green candle charged at him.

"GRYAAAAAAAA!"

Leaping into the air, it ignited its fists and joined them together, creating a massive ball of flame, which it hurled at him right away. The green fireball hit the ground and exploded, scattering like the water from a water balloon.

The charred corpse landed in the green flames and whipped its head to the left just in time to spot an alloy-covered fist heading straight for its face. Somehow, it managed to move its head out of the way just in time.

'Huh?'

Dante stepped back, parrying the kick thrown at him by the corpse. He followed with a counter, but the flaming corps launched itself with its arms, rolled above him, and brought its leg down on him in a kick.

The explosion that followed added to the force of the kick, causing the asphalt road to shatter upon impact. Dante had retreated a few meters by then, so all he had to worry about were the flying pebbles.

'It can react to my movements?'

Dante launched another attack, going for a combo. His first jab was dodged, but the low kick he followed connected, letting him swipe the charred corpse off its feet. The axe kick he went with after that was evaded, however. The corpse put some distance between them, but it immediately launched another attack, igniting both of its hands and using the flames to propel itself.

Volcan's voice came to him as he parried and moved away from the subsequent explosion.

[Threat Evaluation: Level 3 Advanced Genome.]

'Only Level 3?'

[Dante,] Pausing, his resident AI added. [I believe this is a pseudo-Genome.]