Meanwhile, the aircraft carrying Adam Smasher had already arrived above Night City.
Through the display inside the transport, Adam Smasher looked down at the sprawling city below with cold, emotionless eyes.
"Heh."
A mocking sneer spread across his face. In his view, this city was nothing more than a landfill overflowing with fools and pretenders.
Smasher's life had always been simple. He did whatever he wanted.
Long ago, he had fallen in love with killing. Murder, arson, slaughter, cruelty, every act of violence brought him satisfaction.
He also loved cybernetic enhancement.
That obsession led him to the corporations, eventually to Arasaka, where ninety-seven percent of his body had been replaced with machinery.
Now Adam Smasher stood as the pinnacle of Arasaka's military technology. Aside from the power requirements that prevented true independent flight, every aspect of his body rivaled the most advanced combat machines in existence.
He had torn through battlefields alone, slaughtering thousands of soldiers. Bullets either missed him or failed to matter. The roar of artillery, the smell of gunpowder, the terror reflected in an enemy's eyes, all of it thrilled him.
Those expressions of fear and despair were intoxicating.
Many people claimed Night City was rotten beyond salvation.
The reality was far more complicated.
Despite its rampant crime, Night City remained one of the few places where the corporations had not achieved complete domination. Too many factions existed for any single power to fully control it.
Compared to Tokyo, the people of Night City still had choices.
In Tokyo, corporations controlled everything. Advancement required serving them without question. Resistance had become little more than a fantasy.
Night City was different.
Ordinary people lived amid the endless conflict between competing powers. Through talent, determination, and luck, they could still carve out legends of their own.
Tokyo had only one famous example, Goro Takemura, the man who rose from the slums to become Saburo Arasaka's bodyguard.
What most people never realized was that even Takemura served as a useful symbol, a convenient example used to ease social tensions and maintain the illusion of opportunity.
Having seen both cities, Smasher always found complaints about freedom in Night City amusing.
Compared to Tokyo, Night City was practically liberated.
As for the so-called legends of Night City, Smasher viewed them as nothing more than weaklings unwilling to embrace their true nature.
By the time these thoughts faded, the aircraft had already reached Corporate Plaza.
His gaze swept across the crowd below before settling on Axel.
Surrounded by spectators and reclining under the sun as though nothing mattered, Axel looked more like a man on vacation than someone awaiting a battle.
Smasher's eyes briefly lingered on Rogue before he scoffed.
"Losers gathering together only creates a larger group of losers."
With that, he opened the aircraft hatch and exposed his massive mechanical frame to the city below.
At the same time, every major television network in Night City broadcast the scene live.
Countless eyes focused on the aircraft overhead and on the towering figure standing within it.
On the ground, Maine stared upward in disbelief.
"That's Smasher?"
Far away on a rooftop, Jackie lowered his binoculars slightly and swallowed hard.
"Is there even any human left in him? Damn, that's Adam Smasher."
"Looks more machine than man at this point," Padre muttered.
His attention shifted toward Axel.
Even Lucy couldn't hide her concern.
Regardless of his reputation, Axel was the only person in decades who had openly challenged Arasaka and survived long enough to become a genuine threat.
The last person to make such a challenge had done so nearly sixty years ago.
For that reason alone, countless people hoped Axel would keep going.
Under the mixture of anticipation and anxiety surrounding them, Rogue finally stood and prepared to move the women away from the battlefield.
Before she could leave, Axel waved her off.
"Go find a good spot and enjoy the show."
Rogue laughed.
"Seeing you this relaxed actually makes me feel better."
Her expression softened.
"Just be careful, Axel. Even if you can't win, try not to die too fast."
She leaned closer and lowered her voice.
"I've got people positioned around the area, and there are enough explosives hidden nearby to level the district. If things go bad, we'll fall back to the Afterlife and disappear for a while."
A grin appeared on her face.
"You're still the king of the Afterlife, kid. Give it a couple of years and we'll build another army. Then we'll come back and hit Arasaka again."
"Huh?"
Axel looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"What exactly are you thinking?"
Without hesitation, he smacked her thigh.
Rogue preferred natural skin over synthetic replacements, leaving faint signs of age on her face, but her physique remained impressive.
Rolling his eyes, Axel snorted.
"I told you to watch the show, not worry about nonsense."
He pointed toward the crowd.
"Go peel me a grapefruit or something. By the time you're done, this fight will already be over."
His hand moved to her arm as he gave it a casual pat.
Then he looked up at Adam Smasher.
"You know, Rogue, I enjoy the waiting."
A grin spread across his face.
"Not just the waiting itself, but everything that comes with it."
His eyes swept across the crowd.
"The anxiety. The anticipation. The excitement. The fear."
He chuckled.
"The way all of you look at me right now is the best part."
His smile widened.
"Otherwise, why would I bother waiting for that oversized tin can?"
He pointed toward Smasher.
"The longer he took to show up, the more useful he was."
Axel slowly rose to his feet.
"But now that he's here, the game is already over."
BOOM!
The moment the words left his mouth, a violent shockwave erupted across the plaza.
Rogue was thrown sideways by the hurricane-like force and crashed onto the ground.
Dust and debris exploded into the air.
She ignored the pain completely.
Her eyes remained fixed on the sky.
Her mouth hung open in disbelief.
Because Adam Smasher's aircraft had just been pierced straight through.
At the same moment, Axel shot upward like a missile.
He crossed the distance instantly and met Smasher's cold gaze head-on.
There wasn't even enough time for Smasher to activate his Sandevistan.
He didn't have time to react.
He didn't have time to look shocked.
Before any expression could form, Axel's hand had already wrapped around his throat.
The attack didn't stop there.
Driving forward with overwhelming force, Axel slammed Smasher through the upper section of the aircraft, tearing through the entire transport with his body.
The aircraft crumpled around them.
Smasher's cybernetic frame was constructed from materials far stronger than the vehicle itself, so the collision caused him no damage.
But he immediately understood one thing.
He was in serious trouble.
By the time his eyes finally changed from indifference to alarm, Axel was already hovering high above the city.
Smasher hung helplessly in Axel's left hand.
The shattered remains of the aircraft dangled from Axel's right.
The entire city watched in stunned silence.
Confidence vanished from Smasher's face.
Shock replaced it.
Then fear.
Then utter confusion.
Meeting that expression, Axel smiled.
"Hello, Adam Smasher."
His grin widened.
"But I'm afraid the game's already over."
"Heh heh..."
===
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