Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 547: Idiots.
"The bastards are really good at hiding," Riot said. "You wouldn’t think that from the way they tattoo their entire face."
Dante already had Volcan check with his friends at the city surveillance system, yet they couldn’t find any trace of their target. It was almost as if they had a Ghost Mode of their own.
"And here I thought the Daggers were the stronger gang between the two," Dante said.
Jaguar and his lieutenant weren’t easy to find when they tried to hide, but they were willing to fight on the frontline, at least. The four Black Skulls, on the other hand...
"Guess we have to wipe out the entire gang after all..." Dante said.
"That seemed like the only way to smoke out the leadership," Riot replied.
[Dante, I believe we might have a problem,] Volcan said.
’What is it?’
A screen popped up, and a video started playing. Right away, Dante figured that it was the recording of another Red Marking. It showed a young man with a skull tattoo on his face, making him a Black Skull member, but the more Dante watched, the more something felt off about it.
’He looks... scared?’
The Black Skull member was shot dead. The bounty hunter confirmed the kill, and the recording ended there. Still, Dante hadn’t figured out what was wrong with the recording.
[This individual is not a Black Skull member,] Volcan said.
’... oh...’ The fog cleared, and Dante finally understood. ’So it already got to this...’
[I have identified three more cases,] Volcan said. [The tattoos seem to have been painted over their skin, and not consensually.]
’Got it.’
They have already anticipated something like this, though it happened much faster than expected. Sighing, Dante opened his messenger app and sent a text to his fixer.
[
Dante: They started using civilians as decoys.
You can shut it down now.
Viktor: Already?
Damn it.
I will get to it right away.
]
Normal people getting killed because of his plan would undoubtedly cause a lot of problems, so Dante had to shut it down right away. Now, he has to decide whether to call back his underlings or not.
’Maybe I should just sweep the entire city...’
A few rounds using Type 5-6 would be enough to check every corner of the city, though it was unlikely to go unnoticed.
Finding normal people is hard enough in a city as dense as Neo-Vatra, so if someone with resources doesn’t want to be found, they won’t be found. Dante knew from the start that he had to up his detective game, but it wasn’t going to be easy.
"C’mon, get your fat ass off the coach," Dante said. He sent a message to Carlos asking him to prepare a truck.
Riot glanced at him and clicked his tongue.
"Don’t tell me you’re dragging me to that shithole." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
"You came from that shithole."
"You were there just now! Couldn’t you have handled whatever you wanted handled back then?"
"Just move it already."
Riot’s position in Inferno wasn’t set in stone—one could say he isn’t even an official member. Dante had offered to make him a lieutenant, but the big guy refused, saying he would just hang around and see where things were going, and Dante planned on holding him to his word.
When they got outside, they were met with the bright smile of a blonde guy saluting in front of a white van. Dante couldn’t help but sigh when he saw him, but there wasn’t much he could do.
"Red Hill!?" Oliver almost snapped his neck to look back.
"Eyes on the road." Dante gave the driver’s seat a kick. They hadn’t picked up speed yet, but he had a feeling that this subordinate of his could crash a parked car.
"Sorry, I was a little surprised, that’s all," Oliver said. "Seriously, though, should you be going to enemy territory, boss?"
"Don’t bother thinking and just drive."
The Red Marking was intended to give Black Skull a scare and whittle down their forces. It led to the deaths of a couple of sergeants, and its impact couldn’t be understated, but there is one thing it failed to accomplish—Drawing out pseudo-Genomes.
That wasn’t so strange, considering most of the bounties were claimed through quick assassinations. It just meant that Dante had to do the job himself, and that’s why he was making his way to Red Hill. If finding Black Skull’s lieutenants is feasible, then sending them an invitation should do the job.
~[ ]~
"This is the place?"
A rough-looking man asked, his head tilted as he looked out of the window on his left.
"Yeah, that’s it," someone said from beside him. "The info says they are really close, even if they aren’t related."
"I heard they have a really hot waitress." A third said from the back seat.
"Seriously!? And here I thought we only had an old hag to play with!" A fourth added.
Sitting in a car parked on the other side of the street from the now-famous Bowl of Fortune were four unsavory-looking thugs. All of them belonged to the infamous Black Skull gang, which is why they had their faces hidden behind skee masks.
Their latest job had them delving deep into the depressing streets of Hollowgrid. Supposedly, the new gang that had popped up recently was responsible for what happened last week. The boss of that new gang really liked the noodle shop they were looking at, and that’s why they were told to mess it up, kidnap the old cook running it, and retrieve the child living with her.
It was a little hard to believe that a bunch of nobodies would dare to mess with them, but orders were orders, and so they were going to go through with it.
"You have your NIMs off, right?" Idiot A asked. He was the one behind the wheel.
"You already checked before we came here." Idiot B said from the passenger seat.
The tip they got earlier said that the small fries’ boss had departed a couple of minutes ago. Since he was the only one who could Dive into NIMs, they didn’t have much to worry about, but there was no harm in being extra cautious.
"You two, take the backdoor," Idiot A said, looking over his shoulder. "We will handle the shop."
The two in the back got off and surveyed their surroundings before heading for the other side of the road. With most of the buildings being megastructures, the only side alleys one could use to sneak around were the passages that go through each megacomplex. The bowl of fortune just happened to be near one of those, which meant there was a door inside that passage leading to the apartment attached to it.
While idiots C and D made their way to that door, idiots A and B walked to the shop and pulled the door open. It was already 03:00 PM, so the shop was mostly empty.
"Welcome!"
Right away, a green-haired girl came to greet them, her smile bright and her eyes sparkling. Seeing the blue yukata she was wearing, they wondered if this was the hot waitress they heard about. Looking behind her, they saw the old cook they were told to handle. She was sitting behind the counter, looking at them while blowing a cloud of smoke from the pipe in her hand.
"We have several empty tables, so sit wherever you like!" The waitress moved aside to let them in. "I will be there when you are ready to order!"
Idiot A closed the door and looked around one more time. He then turned to the waitress and pulled the pistol he had stuffed into his belt, pointing it straight at her head.
"Alright! Listen really well!" He turned to the old woman. "Do as we say, and nobody gets hurt!"
Silence. Cricket.
As the seconds passed and no one reacted, something began to feel strange about the situation. Being the idiot he is, idiot A didn’t understand why neither the waitress nor the woman behind the counter looked alarmed, and because he didn’t understand, he went ahead with his plan as if everything was normal.
"We are looking for a little girl with blonde hair." He said. "Hand her over, and nobody gets hurt!"
"A blonde little girl?" The old woman raised an eyebrow.
"Don’t let me say it twice, old hag!" He pushed the gun against the waitress’s head. "Hand the girl over, and nobody gets hurt!"
In response to his threat, the old woman only scowled. It was then that he finally figured out what was strange about what was happening. The woman’s reaction was entirely different from what he had expected. She didn’t seem the least bit shocked or afraid.
"Say, grandma," the waitress turned away from him, as if the gun pointed at her head wasn’t there. "Can I break their arm?"
"Hold on. Not so fast." Sighing, the old woman raised her hand and snapped her fingers. "Go on. Just make sure you don’t spill anything.
A strange wave washed over the shop, and despite being a couple of idiots, A and B noticed that something had changed about the place. Before he could figure out what it was, idiot A felt a sharp pain flash through his arm.
When he turned to look at it, he saw the green-haired girl looking at him with the same smile she greeted them with. He didn’t understand why, but fear jolted him into action at that moment. He tried to pull the trigger only to realize that she was holding something. Took him some time, but he eventually realized it was his hand that had been crushed along with the pistol as if it were an empty beer can.
