Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 567: A Second Gang.

The news of what happened at the abandoned dock was quick to spread, and as expected, a lot of people weren’t too happy about what Dante had done—at least not until photos of the aftermath made the rounds.

A cargo ship smashed into the cliff, half of the dock sank into the water, and more than a few dozen corpses were washed up. Those were the signs of an incident caused by high Level Enhanced Individuals, so even though they all knew Inferno had a hand in it, few dared to make a fuss about it.

One individual couldn’t put out the rage flooding his system. Despite Krueger being responsible for the loss this time, Jason was the one who felt the damage the most. The gang’s doll business had already suffered a devastating blow, and without the new goods Krueger was supposed to procure, they were gradually approaching the red line. Their regular clients were keeping their distance, too. With how things were right now, few felt safe enough to use their services, which meant money wasn’t flowing in.

That red-haired rust puppet. It was all because of him. Jason was even convinced that he was responsible for Red Garden. This has gone on for too long, and so he decided it was time to go after the new gang and its boss, even if it is at the risk of angering whoever was backing them. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

With Krueger gone and Harry supporting him, Jason was able to convince Fisher. Instead of trying to weather the storm, they were going to drive straight into it. Whether they make it out on the other side would determine if their organization has the right to keep going.

~[ ]~

A week after the incident at the dock, Dante’s Inferno discovered two more doll houses and rescued the children trapped there. At the time, he was unsure if the Black Skull monsters could sink any lower, but from the looks of it, they took that as a challenge.

Knowing they couldn’t stop the children from being taken away, the bastards started strapping them with bombs rigged to explode the moment they left a certain range. The bombs also emitted a signal that would trigger them if cut, a trick that would’ve caused many deaths if Dante had made the mistake of putting up a jammer. Thankfully, Volcan was quick to notice how weird it was for the kids to have electronics on them, and so they knew to remove them before taking the kids away.

As he waited for more info so he could go on his next hunt, Dante learned that there was a new bounty on his head. Thirty million Gold was some serious money, so he expected an influx of bounty hunters coming to Neo-Vatra, not counting the assassins specifically contracted to come after him.

As things began to heat up, Dante decided to call back the teams he sent to infiltrate Red Hill. They had done more than enough, and with three members already dead, he couldn’t justify keeping the operation going.

Though he wanted to do something for their families, Dante learned that the three didn’t have anyone, which prompted him to try to learn more about the members of his gang. That attempt triggered something at the back of his mind, but try as he might, Dante couldn’t bring himself to figure out what it was.

Things were quiet for a few days, which wasn’t to say that nothing was happening. Volcan was still continuing his serial killer role play, picking off Black Skull members one at a time. Dante made a few disappear as well, growing a second colony in one of his pocket dimensions.

Inferno grew to twice its size in the meantime. Getting new members wasn’t high on Dante’s priority list right now, but he had to flex his muscles and show the thugs in Hollowgrid that he was running the district now.

Well, to be honest, he simply wanted something to do while he waited for another opportunity to deal another big blow to Black Skull. He chose to do the opposite of what Riot had done in his attempt to take over Hollowgrid—instead of letting his lackeys handle the matter, he went to each megacomplex himself and subjugated the thugs there while recruiting their leaders into his gang.

To make it more of a challenge, Dante held back on enhancing his perception and reflexes even when his opponents used firearms. It served as a surprisingly good training method, allowing him to incorporate Absolute Awareness into his fighting style.

Unfortunately, as he beat up more thugs and smaller gangs, few stepped up to challenge him after a while, causing things to get boring. Just when he decided to give up, rumors reached him about a second gang forming in Hollowgrid as a way to counter Inferno.

Apparently, it was a coalition of groups that saw the butcher knife closing in on their necks and decided to come together to fight it. Looking into it a little more, he found out that someone was pumping money into this new gang, and thanks to the info Viktor gave him a while back, Dante knew exactly who was trying to mess with him. Unfortunately, he had more important things to deal with for the time being, so he decided to let them have the illusion that they were making progress, then bring it all crashing down on their heads.

~[ ]~

Just as the month of April was about done, Dante received the info he was waiting for from his Black Skull contact.

Jason was getting desperate. With his doll business on the verge of collapsing, he had grown obsessed with the idea that Inferno was responsible for it, and so he was planning a move.

Black Skull had tried a few things in the past month, but every time, it only led to more of their members disappearing. For that reason, they were planning something big. Something that couldn’t just be erased before it could even happen.

Dante called everyone to discuss how they were going to counter it and came up with several plans. This time, they were going to let the enemy come to them.