Chapter 48

Cyberpunk: Legendary Life

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Tang Yu and Maine's team collaboration was entering its final stages.

According to the initial agreement, all that was left was for Maine to install the military-grade Sandevistan.

Tang Yu saw that Maine and his team all had various degrees of injuries, and realizing that they couldn't continue discussing the cyberware implantation today, he started the hovercar and said,

"Let's call it a day. We'll talk about the cyberware implantation later."

Maine felt somewhat embarrassed and hesitated before speaking, "Mr. Tang, I'm sorry, but the case housing the military-grade Sandevistan was stolen by those bastards from the Maelstrom gang amidst the chaos!"

"Because I figured that if we didn't bring the real deal, the Arasaka special ops wouldn't fall for it, and all this effort would've been wasted..."

Tang Yu was aware that they had to use the real thing as bait, given that Arasaka special ops had the means to monitor and check for the trade items.

So after Dum-Dum opened the case to confirm that there were no issues with the trade item, Arasaka special ops immediately raided the place, catching the Maelstrom gang off guard.

Kiwi was also frowning heavily, seemingly unsatisfied with the outcome of the operation, and not only were they nearly killed, but the item wasn't secured either.

Rebecca couldn't hold back her anger and cursed, "Those crazy bastards of the Maelstrom gang! I'll kill them all and get our stuff back!"

Instead, it was Dorio, who was the most injured, that comforted them, "It's okay, let's just leave it with the Maelstrom gang for now. We can go and get it back when we have the chance."

Pilar also chimed in with a grin, "Right, I haven't even had my fill of fun with them yet."

Tang Yu watched them chatting energetically without even giving him a chance to interject, which was enough to illustrate the unity of Maine's team.

At least under Maine's leadership, they were united.

"The case is with me."

Hearing the familiar voice, Maine and the others looked towards it.

From the darkness, a figure with an ice-blue glow emerged, slowly walking out holding the missing case.

"Lucy?"

Maine was very surprised.

He had sent Lucy to intercept Dum-Dum from the Maelstrom gang fleeing towards the west side of the factory and hadn't held much hope for her to succeed, but now that the case appeared in her hands, it meant that the interception was a success.

Everyone's faces relaxed, at last, feeling that this life-and-death mission hadn't been in vain.

Rebecca looked at Lucy in surprise and with a proud smile, praised her, "Not bad at all!"

Maine too struggled to show a victorious smile and said heartily, "Well done!"

Then, everyone raised their thumbs up toward Lucy!

Lucy, hearing the praises but still appearing indifferent, took a few steps closer and tossed the case to Maine.

The case drew an arc through the air, and Maine caught it steadily.

After briefly inspecting the case's exterior and pressing the unlock code, the military-grade Sandevistan was indeed intact inside.

Before Maine could get too excited, he heard Lucy say calmly, "I didn't retrieve the case. Mr. Tang obtained it from the Maelstrom gang. The person who stole the case is dead. I just helped bring it here."

At that time, Lucy, upon receiving the case thrown by Jackieie, only saw the headshot corpse of Royce on the ground and didn't see Dum-Dum being released, mistaking the deceased Royce as the one who stole the case.

After explaining, Lucy walked to one side, leaned against the wall, lit up a cigarette, seemingly uninterested in Arasaka matters and not wanting any further involvement.

Everyone was shocked upon hearing Lucy's explanation.

Rebecca's previously exaggerated smile twisted, staring incredulously at Tang Yu, "You? What the hell?!"

Maine was even more astonished, not expecting that Tang Yu would be the one to end up with the case. This meant he had anticipated and prepared for such an incident.Indeed, you are meticulous!

Maine elevated Tang Yu's rank in his mind yet another level, from an ordinary strength corporate drone to someone of ordinary strength, who keeps his word, has a sharp intellect, and still a high-ranking corporate drone.

That's two extra labels.

After all, Tang Yu was just an ordinary person who hadn't undergone cybernetic enhancements, and his personal combat capabilities were indeed lacking.

After hearing the truth, Kiwi's eyes flickered with surprise.

It was only her second time seeing Tang Yu, yet he had made a profoundly deep impression on her.

The first time was in the Gloria's apartment, where Tang Yu held the demeanor of a high-ranking corporate executive, a spitting image of a wealthy scion.

This time, however, whether it was the mad Maelstrom Gang or the powerful Arasaka and Militech, they all seemed to be manipulated by him, as if he were a shadowy figure controlling the situation from behind the scenes.

Even someone like Maine had become one of his pawns, with their lives hanging on his decision.

Fortunately, in this game, they were not sacrificial pieces in Tang Yu's eyes; had they been, they would have undoubtedly met their demise tonight.

Kiwi had never looked down on Tang Yu for being an ordinary human.

On the contrary, when surrounded by Militech, her first thought was to seek help from Tang Yu, not Faraday, the middleman representing the Militech.

In her view, even though Faraday was a formidable middleman, he was just a lapdog of the Militech and had no qualification to discuss and negotiate with high-ranking officials like Meredith Stout.

Tang Yu was different. His status, power, and the company he represented were all sufficient to contest with someone like Stout.

And indeed, her thoughts were proven right, albeit Tang Yu's arrival was far more unexpected in both manner and timing.

Maine was uncertain whether to take the cybernetic body. If it weren't for Tang Yu's intervention, it definitely wouldn't be in his possession now.

"Mr. Tang, I'll transfer thirty thousand Eurodollars to you, no, fifty thousand," Maine said, unable to think of anything other than offering money since he had nothing of value to trade with Tang Yu.

Tang Yu did not accept Maine's offer but instead turned and walked toward the AV: "Come with me first. You can't implant this body now; there's some tail we need to get rid of first."

Maine looked at Tang Yu with uncertainty then gazed down at the cybernetic body within the briefcase he was holding. After hesitating for a few seconds, he spoke to the others.

"I'm going to go with Mr. Tang."

"Dorio, you should head to the ripperdoc to get a diagnosis and treatment for stronger enhancements where you got hurt," Maine said.

Dorio nodded, "I'll get Falco to take me there."

Maine then looked at Kiwi, who was less injured, transferred ten thousand Eurodollars to her, and thanked her, "Kiwi, you too, take this money to get your injuries looked at first, I'll make up the rest of your compensation later."

Kiwi, without any pretense, accepted the transfer and calmly watched Tang Yu enter the AV, then replied, "Understood, I'll take Dorio to the doc. Take care of yourself."

Maine was about to say something to Pilar when Pilar cheerfully said, "Maine, I don't need the pay. Just give me that golden cybernetic hand, I only blew up one hand anyway."

Maine grinned, laughed, and without a word, transferred ten thousand Eurodollars to Pilar as well.

This operation was self-funded by Maine, and while it pained him financially, he had never short-changed his team in terms of compensation.

He still had to get a sum from Faraday, after all, Militech had nearly cost them their lives.