Players Invade Cyberpunk-Chapter 868 - 281: Humans, Foolish

"Where did those two guys come from, and why are they wearing our clothes? Could they be agents from some company?"

Red Barrel, who was attempting to break through the Hellhound defenses underground, saw people running out and became intensely curious.

After all, there was a precedent for this; last time, Huang Ban had done something similar.

But soon, a familiar player recognized Li De.

"No way, that big black guy registered at our office before. I think he's called Solomon the Boxing King. He's always taking odd jobs, running errands, and delivering goods for neighbors. He's quite well-liked."

Red Barrel watched as Li De effortlessly navigated through the encirclement of Hellhounds, like a dragon entering the water.

"You call this labor? Our site's foreman of ten years isn't this impressive!"

"Concealment in plain sight, indeed."

"Conceal your head! The robots are approaching from your side, open fire quickly!"

Learning from the earlier chaos above ground, the workforce that charged underground was equipped with heavy firepower, plenty of small rocket launchers, and machine cannons. The havoc they wreaked was tremendous, with explosions everywhere.

"Li De! Over there!"

Alex also noticed the players battling the Hellhounds. Although unfamiliar with them, the route they originally used was sealed off, so running in that direction was the only choice left. Furthermore, only those unreliable mercenaries could be asked for help now.

Bam!

The large-caliber electromagnetic pistol in Li De's hand seemed to hit effortlessly, with bullets precisely piercing the armor on the front legs and hitting the photonic equipment behind, blinding the Hellhound.

Rather than direct damage, paralyzing was more efficient.

After a few shots pushing away the oncoming Hellhounds, he and Alex quickly slipped past them towards the front line, arriving before Red Barrel.

"Don't shoot! It's me, Alex!"

Alex spoke as her face reverted to its original form since she had no intention of staying in Dog Town once this was over, eliminating the need for concealment.

Red Barrel focused his eyes and had a sudden realization.

"Oh, it's the owner of Moth Bar. I was wondering who it could be. Don't move!"

He pointed his gun at Alex threateningly.

"So you're the ones who brought these robots and the rogue AI here?"

"What does that have to do with me?"

Alex was baffled. Although it seemed related, there was no way she could admit it.

"Then what are you doing here? So, you're both traitors!"

"Traitors?!"

Alex gritted her teeth, revealing her identity as an Intelligence Bureau agent. Given their current relationship, there was no reason for the other party to stop them.

The two of them had critical intelligence to deliver to Miles.

"I'm a New American Intelligence Bureau agent, and here's my ID. I demand that you cooperate with my work and let us leave immediately."

"Agent... what does that have to do with me..."

"I now suspect you're colluding with the rogue AI. Stay put, or we'll send you to the Dragon Field to work the sewing machine."

Red Barrel smirked. To hell with New America—he was a Yellow Dragon, and no New American agent would boss him around.

Besides, it was clear these two had information about a special mission, and letting them pass was out of the question.

Seeing his resistance, Alex prepared to force her way out but was held back by Li De.

Li De knew all too well that this group of people could only be persuaded by taking advantage of their soft spot. They were like Hakimi—only by playing to their quirks could you make them listen. Even if Miles personally came, they wouldn't give him the time of day otherwise.

"We were dispatched by the Special Intelligence Bureau to assist in eliminating Kurt Hansen. We originally intended to penetrate underground to destroy the server of the experimental host, but we unexpectedly uncovered extremely critical intelligence inside."

"Just ten minutes ago, Hansen reached a collaboration with the rogue AI. Hansen's getting Zeta Technology's wetware host technology, and in return, it would help him flee Night City to Africa."

"What?"

Red Barrel thought his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Hansen cooperating with an AI, how did you find that out?"

"The two parties communicated through a hacker in cyberspace. We intercepted relevant data while copying server data..."

————

Erebos was very confused now, deeply bewildered.

Initially, it thought they were just ordinary hackers, easily dismissible with some minor tactics. However, the actual confrontation revealed otherwise.

The seemingly strongest hacker could be barely trapped within the Mewtwo program, but it had no effect on these people.

Firstly, among the data interactions was almost no past memory data; their past was a blank slate.

Secondly, Mewtwo was ineffective against them. A data firewall seemed to have been established over their sensory perception, blocking all unfiltered information from reaching their consciousness.

Thirdly, when Erebos attempted to search for their vulnerabilities, it was fortunate to have withdrawn quickly; otherwise, it could have been wiped out by the Black Wall pulses embedded in their minds.

Moreover, Erebos faintly sensed irregularities in the data flows around the lab. It seemed the surrounding network was blocked by a more powerful entity, preventing penetration into the human world network.

Watching hackers breaking through the Mewtwo program in succession, attacking up close, it posed its question.

[Unable to comprehend]

[Humans, why do you do this?]

[Sweet dreams, slumber—why wake them to face agony again?]