Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System

Chapter 718: Not a Charity.

Inferno’s assassin problem was getting out of hend, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. Unlike when Gaia sent its grunts after him, he couldn’t easily locate them before incidents happen. Carrying out attacks in a big city meant they knew how to navigate their way around its surveillance system, so Volcan couldn’t rely on it to smoke them out.

For the time being, all they had to do was make sure to survive. It was a miracle that they had yet to have any casualties, but that could change at any moment.

"You, you, and you. Get out."

Standing in front of a group of fifteen, Dante picked three of them to be thrown out. Their faces went pale right away, and one of them shot up from his seat, immediately starting to complain. Before he could utter a word, about a doze pistols were pointed in his direction.

"When the boss says get out, you get out." Carlos said.

Dante might be desperate for soldiers, sure, but he wasn’t about to let just about anyone into his gang. He planned for Inferno to be something of a main force working straight under him, so they had to be clean first and foremost, then he had to like them to a certain extent. The ones he kicked out had once belonged to the rival gang that had tried to give them trouble before, so he didn’t want them around.

’We need to put them up to some training...’ He thought while looking at the remaining thirteen.

Joining a gang meant having at least some fighting capabilities, but that wouldn’t cut it when the battles they have to fight keep escalating. At the very least, they should be on the level of an average soldier, ready to fight in a war at a moment’s call.

"Carlos..." Soon after is lieutenant finished his report, Dante leaned back in his chair and informed him of a decision he had made. "Tell everyone that we’re putting a prize on the heads of assassins."

"Huh?"

The dark skinned man gave him a confused look, so he elaborated.

"Right now, we instructed all members to run or hide if they came across an assassin or a bounty hunter, right?"

"Yes?"

"Tell them that those who stand their ground and fight will be awarded an implant of their choice. Of course, only if they manage to kill the enemy."

"Are you... sure about that?"

"They have to prove themselves one way or another. I’m not running a charity here."

"Understood."

Ken Rivers, the other team lead who requested an implant as his prize for his achievements in the war against Black Skull, had his surgery just the other day. Though Dante had upgraded the subdermal armor he gave him, he decided to hold back on giving him access to Storage and Equip.

It was likely going to be the same for most of those who would receive his implants in the future. Dante intended on giving the ability only to those close to him. As for the rest, it would still be possible for Volcan to send them aid whenever they need it.

As his lieutenant left, Dante switched on Soul Perception and observed himself for a moment.

’What do you think?’

[It has healed for the most part.] Volcan replied.

’Is it just me, or...’

[No, the process has been much faster this time around. It appears that your soul has adjusted.]

Linking his soul to others’ apparently caused quite a bit of backlash. Their progress toward understanding the phenomena was very slow, mainly because there was no precedent to it. Even Volcan had no idea what led to it, though he was confident that it wasn’t a function of VOLCAN, meaning the link was a property of Dante’s soul.

Sitting in the silence alone, Dante closed his eyes and cut off all his senses, once again entering the dark world. Time passed -he didn’t know how much- but nothing seemed to change. Just like that morning, he couldn’t make any progress, and so he decided to stop. Feeling his mood take a dive, he decided to go out for a ride.

As wind blasted his face, Dante couldn’t help but go back to his Soul Manifestation problem. He didn’t understand how his progress could be reset just like that. How did he get past this point to begin with? Did he even make it before?

-Isn’t that your thing?-

-You take one step forward, another two backward, then you break your legs and cry about it.-

-Just admit it already.-

Anger flooded his veins, and he accelerated further, reaching the maximum speed of his bike. The old highways were empty as usual, but they didn’t stretch on indefinitely. A blockade had been set at one point to stop people from riding through the less stable parts, so at one point, he had no choice but to stop and turn around.

Moving at a much slower speed, Dante tried to calm himself and look at things a little more carefully. Something told him anger wasn’t the key to solving this mystery, so he had to try and quench it first.

"Hm?"

An areal vehicle passed right above him, and another followed. He wouldn’t have paid them much mind any other day, but they were flying too low, following the line drawn by the old highways. One more odd thing about them was that they were quite large. Just from looking, he could tell that they weren’t the kind used to transport people.

’Could you make it any more obvious?’

Dante slowed down as he saw the AVs stop a short distance from were he was. Their doors slid open, and humanoid figured jumped out. The way they fell showed their weight, but just as they reached the ground, fire blasted out of their backs and soles, slowing their fall.

In terms of size, they easily reached beyond the nine feet mark. Covered in a shifting plated of alloy, they carried rifles that matched their size, their design clearly stating that they aren’t meant to be wielded by normal humans. The sensors on their heads glowed an ominous red, and as they turned in his direction, Dante immediately knew what they were there for.