"Rogue, hand over the dimension chip. You're still useful to Arasaka. I don't want to kill you!"
Adam Hammer stopped in front of Rogue's car, stepping on the hood, his voice vibrating with low electronic modulation.
[Damn it! I'm being watched… Adam Hammer is blocking me!]
Rogue first sent a very colorful message to Xiao, asking one simple question: whether to hand over the dimension chip or not.
[If he wants it, just give it to him—50,000 euros a piece, not a cent less. It's for sale to anyone. If I don't sell it, I can buy it through other channels. Why not make money? (￣︶￣)*]
[You money-grubbing brat, roll your eyes.JPG]
"Hey, you son of a bitch, I just bought a new car!"
Rogue slammed the door and stormed out, glaring at the dented hood while pointing at Adam Hammer.
"Little bitch Rogue, don't make me repeat myself~~"
Impatient, Adam Hammer activated the missile launcher on his back, aiming it at Rogue's head.
"I'm not afraid of you now, Hammer!"
Rogue's figure flashed and vanished before him. With a flick of her left arm, it transformed into a bright silver mantis knife.
"Sandevistan~"
Adam Hammer's prosthetic body responded instantly, evading the fatal strike of Rogue's mantis blade—but the missile launcher on his back was severed.
"The Mantis Knife, Sandevistan, Klenchikov, Invisibility Layer… you've installed over twenty prosthetic modules, all high-end. Enough to arm an entire city. Who… are you?"
Scanning Rogue without any obstruction, Adam Hammer stared in disbelief. Her prosthetic transformations were already comparable to his own, yet she hadn't abandoned her human form entirely, giving her some vulnerability—but also maintaining extraordinary speed.
Even after decades of battles and wiping out countless legends in Night City, Adam Hammer dared not guarantee he could defeat Rogue now.
In just one afternoon, she had installed over twenty prosthetics—something even the world's most advanced medical teams could not achieve.
[Does she have no nerves? How can her body withstand the strain of so many prosthetic systems?]
"It doesn't matter who I am. But if you dare threaten me, I'll make your life worse than death!"
Rogue's mantis knife gleamed silvery white, radiating a lethal aura.
"Hand over what Xiao gave you, or even if you defeat me, more will come!"
Adam Hammer tensed, but his stance remained firm.
"This is what you want—but you'll have to pay for it!"
Rogue pulled a dimension chip from the neural slot in her neck, adding the hidden-mode data Xiao had provided.
"Okay… how much?"
"Fifty thousand one!"
"Two, then?"
Rogue smirked. "Haha, seems you're not so loyal, Adam Dog hammer!" She handed over a second dimension chip.
"Ha~~~ I am only loyal to power!"
Adam Hammer casually picked up his missile launcher and disappeared into the shadows, dimension chips in hand.
"What incredible technology…"
Rogue massaged her arm, which had returned to normal, her expression complex. Just an afternoon of resource absorption had boosted her strength to rival Adam Hammer's.
This truly was the power of a god—beyond current technology, comparable to divine might itself.
Overnight, Adam Hammer delivered the dimension chips to Yorinobu.
"Dimension chip? Let's see your divine power!"
Arasaka Yorinobu eagerly picked up a chip, intending to insert it into his neural slot. Adam Hammer stopped him:
"Master Yorinobu, this is dangerous. Let me try it first."
Yorinobu hesitated but, recalling Xiao's ability to inherit and control the chip, agreed.
Buzz~~
As Adam Hammer inserted the chip, Xiao called. He had asked Yorinobu for his opinion and then chose to "play outside" so Yorinobu could hear him.
"Hammer, is Yorinobu there?"
"What are you planning? You deliberately let me hear your conversation with Rogue!" Yorinobu demanded.
"I am a god. Everything is like a passing cloud to me. No matter who rules the world, you've shown me new choices. I plan to give you a chance."
"No one can stand above the people—not the corporations, not even you!" Yorinobu shouted.
"Man cannot, but God can!"
Xiao's eyes glowed silver as the dimension chip on Adam Hammer's neck liquefied like mercury, spreading through his body.
Mercury-like erosion engulfed Adam Hammer. Though his metal body had long lost feeling, it now experienced an endless stinging pain, like chocolate melting under the sun.
"No… this is impossible! My body… no~~~"
Adam struggled, but the "mercury" consumed him completely. If his artificial eyes could see nano-level detail, he would realize it wasn't liquid at all, but a swarm of nano-mechanical insects gnawing and self-replicating at a terrifying speed.
The sensation of melting was merely an illusion created by their frenzied assault.
Ding~~~~~
Darkness fell. Adam Hammer did not know how much time passed before the hum of machinery returned.
"I'm… not dead?"
He opened his eyes, his senses of flesh and blood, dormant for decades, flooding back. His hands—once used only to cold metal—now felt flesh and blood again. He didn't know how to react.
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