"Whew, that was one hell of a close call, huh? Ha!"
Jackie let out a long exhale, then broke into an excited grin.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks to your bleeding hearts, this Gig turned into quite the adventure."
Lucy rolled her eyes, exasperated, then moved over to check on the rescued girl.
"I-I'm okay. My name is Lily. Thank you for saving me."
Lily nodded and looked curiously at Lucy and Rebecca. Both girls looked even younger than she was—yet they were already doing work this dangerous…
Along with her shock came a growing sense of admiration. If she had been the one doing this… she would've probably died in some alley on day one.
"Right, you said you had Trauma Team membership. So why'd you turn it off?"
Jackie asked, baffled, staring at Lily.
Hearing that, Lily's expression instantly twisted with anger.
"It's all because of those bastards!"
She then told her story: some so-called "friends" had dragged her to shady places where the kind of "entertainment" they offered…
…made your vitals spike easily, enough to alert Trauma Team and cause trouble.
So, egged on by them, she'd disabled her service.
And since Trauma Team has disclaimers for clients who turn off coverage themselves, they don't intervene.
Everyone exchanged looks, then shrugged helplessly.
"You don't mind if I connect to your interface, right?"
Lucy pulled the data cable from her wrist and tilted her head at Lily.
"Oh, it's fine. Sorry to trouble you."
Hearing that, Lucy plugged in the cable. A moment later, a decryption panel opened in her vision.
"This virus is interesting… It links the Trauma Team chip override and the malware disengage process together. If you tried hacking it directly, you'd probably get flagged as a Trauma Team target… They didn't knock you out?"
Lucy raised an eyebrow, surprised. After all, this trap only worked if the member was unconscious.
Otherwise, they could just explain the situation—customers are gods, after all.
"I was unconscious the whole time, but those bastards…"
Lily's face darkened.
"Alright. Got it."
Seeing her expression, Lucy closed her mouth and didn't press further.
...
While Lucy decrypted and separated the virus, on the eighth floor Anjies smashed through the wall and burst out of the adjacent room, slapping the original occupant's head clean off.
"Damn mercenaries!"
Cursing, Anjies stormed to the elevator doors. When he saw the elevator already descending toward the third floor, a ruthless look flashed in his eyes.
Crack!
He jammed both hands into the gap and wrenched the doors open with brute force. Staring down at the elevator below, a twisted grin spread across his face.
...
"Hey, you think that big lug's lost his mind yet?"
Jackie asked when the elevator fell silent.
"Probably the same as those cyberpsychos—brain all mashed from rage. Judging from his look, that brain wasn't working too well to begin with."
Rebecca whistled mockingly.
"I agree. Another one with his brain cooked by oversized Cyberware."
Lucy chimed in while still hacking.
Hearing them, Lily couldn't help but laugh. She was about to speak when a thunderous crash came from above, and the whole elevator began to shake violently.
"WTF?! Is this dump's elevator falling apart?!"
Jackie snapped.
"No—something landed on top of us!"
Rebecca realized immediately and drew her weapon. Jackie reacted just as fast.
A teeth-grinding screech split the air as the top of the elevator was torn open.
"A bunch of rats—finally caught you!!"
Anjies thrust his arm inside, reaching straight for Lily.
Her eyes widened in terror. Lucy's pupils shrank—unable to react in time.
Just as Lily thought she was about to die, a massive gunshot rang out, followed by a blood-curdling scream.
"AAAH!!! Damn rats!!!"
Bang! Bang!
Two heavy impacts echoed, and Lily felt warm liquid splash her face—Anjies's blood.
Rebecca stared at her weapon in shock. It was her first time firing it at full output; even with only four rounds… the power was insane.
Anjies, his arm severely damaged, backed off in hesitation. His eyes shifted toward the elevator's steel cables and mechanism.
Bang!
A brutal strike sounded. Jackie's expression changed instantly—he understood what Anjies was trying to do. He slammed his hand on the emergency brake.
The violent jolt knocked Anjies off balance, sending him crashing onto the elevator roof. Jackie seized the chance to pry the doors open.
"Move! Move!"
Everyone scrambled out through the opening. Anjies rose, saw Jackie climbing out through the top, ripped the gap wider, and leapt inside.
At the last split second, Jackie rolled out.
Rebecca raised her weapon and fired at Anjies.
Bang!
Blood splattered through the elevator—yet at the same moment Rebecca's shot fired, another gunshot rang out.
"Damn—guy fires a parting shot even while dying. Real impressive…"
Jackie's forehead beaded with cold sweat as he clutched his abdomen and leaned against the wall.
Rebecca and Lucy's faces went pale.
"Hey—Jackie! You okay?!"
"I'm fine. Not dead yet. But maybe later. Let's move!"
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser