"Damn it, fighting the Japanese all the way into Cyberpunk. I finally understand why I enjoyed playing it so much back then. I never noticed while playing, but it turns out I spent the whole game fighting Arasaka.
How could those Poles understand me so well? Is that considered stupidity?"
Axel laughed and stepped forward.
A severed arm hung from his right hand. As he rushed ahead, he suddenly lowered his body and unleashed a swift drawing slash.
Whoosh!
The detached arm shot forward like a blade, slicing cleanly through an Arasaka security guard. The strike carved through him from his left waist to his right shoulder, splitting him in two.
The Yukimura pistol in the guard's hand never had the chance to fire. It shattered under the force of Axel's attack.
At the same time, bullets poured toward Axel from every direction.
If these had been NCPD officers, he might have shown some restraint. Night City's police force was corrupt, but there were still a few decent people among them.
Arasaka was different.
Fighting Arasaka was far more entertaining.
Twenty minutes later.
Outside Konpeki Plaza, Rogue flicked away her cigarette and drew a long breath.
She pushed through the crowd and moved behind the sweat-soaked police cordon.
A police officer she shoved aside instinctively scanned her identity.
The moment he saw the bounty attached to Rogue's name, worth tens of millions of dollars, his eyes widened. He immediately stepped aside.
In the game, Rogue's bounty had only been fifty thousand dollars.
That figure meant little without context.
The game's economy never reflected reality.
Even legendary mercenary jobs rarely paid more than thirty thousand dollars in-game.
Yet in Edgerunners, David was already accepting contracts worth millions shortly after entering the mercenary world.
Rogue's fifty-thousand-dollar bounty was symbolic.
It represented her status as the most wanted mercenary in Night City.
It was proof of her reputation as a living legend.
Even the Rayfield Caliburn, priced at only one hundred fifty-five thousand dollars in-game, carried a description stating that each vehicle cost fifty-two times the lifetime earnings of an average Night City corporate employee.
The true value behind those numbers was obvious.
Nobody wanted trouble with Rogue.
Absolutely nobody.
She made her way toward the media zone and rested a hand on a reporter's shoulder.
"Nancy. Didn't expect to see you here."
"How could I miss something this big?"
Nancy nearly trembled as she answered.
Not from fear.
From excitement.
Nancy had once worked alongside Johnny Silverhand and served as the manager and coordinator of Samurai.
After the band broke apart, she left music behind and became an investigative reporter.
Even among reporters, Nancy was notorious.
She had once stormed a Maelstrom hideout by herself just to interview their leader.
Now she stared at the carnage before Konpeki Plaza.
Hundreds of corpses covered the plaza.
Inside the first-floor lobby, mountains of bodies could be seen through the shattered entrance.
Nancy inhaled sharply.
She snatched Rogue's cigarette, pulled one out for herself, lit it, and took a long drag.
Her body practically shook with excitement.
"I hacked into the plaza surveillance. That guy came with you!
Damn it, is he your new boyfriend or your newest merc?
How many Arasaka people has he killed?
Forget Security. He practically wiped out Counterintelligence too!
That monster you brought is unbelievable, Rogue!"
"Heh."
Rogue shook her head.
"You think I can control someone like him?
Boyfriend? Employee? You're giving me way too much credit, Nancy.
He showed up at Afterlife today and announced he wanted to become the boss.
Nobody in my bar could stop him, so I pointed him toward Konpeki Plaza.
You saw the result.
I never imagined I'd send a genuine god of slaughter through those doors.
I've never seen anything like this.
Three thousand Arasaka elite troops.
More than four hundred heavy combat drones.
Over one hundred forty Atlas combat aircraft.
Nineteen Chimera combat machines.
That's enough firepower to spearhead another Unification War.
And one man destroyed all of it.
One man!"
While Rogue spoke in disbelief, Axel stood inside the southwest bar of Konpeki Plaza's first-floor lobby.
He pulled his hand from an agent's chest.
The man's lung came with it.
Axel shoved the organ into the dying agent's mouth, blocking his airway before casually letting him collapse.
Then he walked toward the liquor shelves.
He grabbed a bottle from an unfamiliar brand, tore off the cap, and drained it in one gulp.
Crash!
The empty bottle exploded against a distant wall.
Exhaling heavily, Axel surveyed the battlefield.
The wreckage of nineteen Chimera war machines littered the area like enormous steel crushers.
The bodies beneath them had been ground into unrecognizable pulp.
"Tsk. What a collection of scum."
Grinning, Axel grabbed another bottle.
He carried it to a nearby corpse and flipped the body over.
The dead woman still possessed most of her features. During the battle, Axel had simply crushed her head.
Now her body made a convenient seat.
He sat down, uncorked the bottle, and looked toward two figures still struggling through pools of blood in the distance.
"You two are lucky. Still alive?
Good.
I have a question, but one question doesn't require two answers, does it?"
More than forty meters away, he waved at them.
"Settle it yourselves.
Leave one survivor to answer me.
It's a simple question. Any Arasaka dog should know the answer.
And whoever answers gets a reward.
Fight for it."
As he spoke, Axel poured liquor over the lower half of his face.
Blood and flesh still clung to his skin from the slaughter.
The two survivors immediately turned on each other.
Against Axel, they were helpless.
Against one another, they fought desperately.
Mantis Blades clashed against Gorilla Arms.
Metal rang through the ruined lobby.
After more than a minute, a victor emerged.
The man with the Mantis Blades ripped out his opponent's secondary heart.
Clutching the bloody implant, he staggered toward Axel and dropped to his knees.
Splash.
Blood scattered around him.
Holding up the torn organ with trembling hands, he spoke.
"You... what do you want to know?"
"Relax."
Axel smiled.
"Are you part of Arasaka Counterintelligence?"
"Yes!"
The agent nodded immediately.
Axel thought for a moment and took another drink.
After finishing the bottle, he tossed it aside.
"Come closer. Why are you kneeling so far away?
Am I really that frightening?"
"Understood..."
The man crawled forward on his knees until he was directly before Axel.
Watching the trembling agent, Axel smiled.
"Is there anyone named V in your department?"
The agent froze.
"No.
A name like that would be memorable.
I'm certain nobody in Counterintelligence uses that name."
"Oh."
Crack.
Axel casually tore the man's head from his shoulders.
Carrying the severed head, he walked through the sea of corpses toward the entrance of Konpeki Plaza.
Without warning, he tossed it into the gathered reporters.
Screams erupted instantly.
Ignoring the panic, Axel waved cheerfully toward the crowd.
His gaze paused on Rogue.
Then he strode directly toward a camera crew and tapped the lens.
A smear of blood streaked across the glass.
Gripping the camera with both hands, he leaned forward and smiled.
A vicious smile.
"Is this live, or are you recording?
Doesn't matter.
I want Adam Smasher standing before me.
Oh, and I forgot to introduce myself.
My name is Axel.
Axel of Downton Manor.
Tell Smasher that Axel is waiting for him at Arasaka Tower.
If he doesn't show up within three hours, I'll head to Militech and wait there instead.
If he still refuses to come..."
His smile widened.
"I'll visit every major corporation one by one.
Including Arasaka Headquarters in Tokyo."
===
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