More than feeling flustered, startled, or indecisive, Soo found herself wondering how these individuals had managed to track them down.
“It’s alright.”
Gently pushing Miko, who was whimpering beside her, Soo took a step forward.
“Where are you gentlemen from?”
“We didn’t expect a person to be the one who snatched the drone.”
“And such a young girl, at that… There are no obvious implants. Could she be one of Lu Qian’s test subjects?”
“It’s a good thing we brought tasers.”
“We could make a pretty penny by selling them off.”
“Another brothel?”
“Naturally, a brothel. Her face is stunning, of course, and there’s an overflowing demand for a body like hers.”
This was no answer to her question.
The hulking men exchanged words amongst themselves.
Still, a direct answer wasn’t strictly necessary.
Observing the mark proudly engraved on their katanas, Soo could readily identify the corporation they belonged to.
Eden was home to countless corporations, though by modern standards, most would be considered small to medium-sized enterprises.
Apart from the megacorps—the three dominant entities: Lu Qian, Zayrex, and Neonik—all other businesses were essentially small to medium-sized companies.
These particular suit-clad brutes were employees of ‘Marco Tech,’ a smaller corporation known for attracting delinquents.
And then there were the katanas.
These katanas were of a caliber too low for elite operatives.
Even if they were truly elite, it made no difference. Their failure to carry high-grade weaponry indicated they were operating without their corporation’s knowledge.
Hadn’t they, just moments ago, been discussing brothels?
If they had arrived on corporate orders, such comments would be unthinkable, as everything field agents saw and heard would be relayed to HR in real-time.
In short, their presence here was for entirely personal reasons.
Whatever she chose to do, there would be no repercussions.
“O-oh, wh-what… *hiccup*… What are you going to do?”
“Assassination.”
Soo slipped a hand into her pocket. Simultaneously, the hulking man at the forefront dramatically raised his katana—
“Huh?”
*Thwack.*
Before he could complete his swing, his head exploded.
What had caused it, how it had happened, and why, remained a mystery.
The other brutes couldn’t comprehend it. They merely registered that the ash-haired girl had withdrawn her hand from her pocket, and in that instant, a head had detonated.
What would be her next move?
There was no time to react. The head of the brute directly behind him burst open like a ripe tomato, splattering the ground.
“Y-you… insa… ne!”
A faint light emanated from the brute’s spine.
The electric current coursing through his core surged into his head, illuminating his vision with blinding clarity.
His Neural Acceleration Implant had activated.
A terrible headache accompanied the sensation of the world slowing to a crawl.
Rolling his eyes, he observed droplets of blood and dust suspended in the air. He watched his comrade’s body topple slowly, and then, embedded within it, he finally discerned the weapon that had caused the head to explode.
‘What in the world?’
What was caked with brain matter was nothing more than a stone—a common, ordinary stone, easily found anywhere in the wasteland.
She had thrown that mere stone and burst open two of his comrades’ heads. These were bodies fortified with subcutaneous armor, and their skulls, in particular, were further reinforced with epidermal carapaces.
Yet, it had been pierced by a simple stone.
But even more chilling than that was the fact that the stone remained lodged within the body.
Normally, a throw of such force would cause it to penetrate the body and exit the other side; however, it had not. The stone lay quite placidly within the shattered skull.
‘Have we, perhaps, provoked the wrong individual?’
In a world where every moment stretched out, the man watched the ash-haired girl move with an unnerving nonchalance.
She reached into her pocket, retrieved another stone.
She positioned it on her middle finger, secured it with her thumb, and prepared to flick it.
“Hup!”
His reinforced tendons compressed to their absolute limit.
The instant those taut tendons released, the man bolted, abandoning his position.
This was a speed no ordinary person could ever hope to match.
Even with the assistance of ocular implants, one would only barely perceive his movements now.
To exaggerate only slightly, his speed was such that he could even contend with Neonik’s Hounds.
Thus, the man moved at a speed far transcending human perception.
‘Ah, damn it.’
A wave of regret washed over him.
He should have been suspicious from the moment they received reports of someone casually carrying a corporate drone. No, at the very least, he shouldn’t have activated his neural acceleration.
*Crunch—*
The stone burrowed into his skull.
Slashing through skin, shattering bone, and piercing the pulpy organic matter, it ultimately detonated.
The man, whose name would never be known, having vividly experienced every horrifying step of the process, collapsed with a heavy thud.
“Uh…”
Miko stared blankly, utterly mesmerized by the unfolding spectacle.
‘That was a Neural Acceleration Implant just now, wasn’t it?’
She had noticed something glinting, and it seemed her suspicion was correct. Judging by his soaked trousers, he must have endured the pain right up until his head burst, then lost control of his bladder.
‘Thankfully, it wasn’t completely shattered. Did Soo intentionally explode his head with such precision? Even if it’s low-grade, I could still use it as material for Soo’s external implant.’
Miko was far calmer than one might expect.
By now, she was beyond surprise.
She realized that when a person was surprised to their absolute limit, over and over again, they eventually became eerily calm. The adage that humans were highly adaptable creatures was certainly no lie.
*Splatter—*
While Miko was contemplating the Neural Acceleration Implant, yet another brute’s head exploded.
Only five brutes remained.
And one brute was fleeing into the distance.
Soo’s demeanor remained unchanged; she continued her assassinations with her characteristic languid expression.
*Thwack—*
****
Miko used a sizable drone to push fifteen corpses into her residence.
There were ten suit-clad brutes who had converged to plunder Soo and Miko, along with five scavengers who had provided them with information—a total of fifteen bodies.
Miko had deployed every one of her drones to track down the scavengers’ whereabouts.
Though she often seemed a bit clumsy, Miko’s drone piloting skills were unexpectedly top-notch. The sight of her operating thirty-six drones simultaneously was so impressive it even astonished Soo.
“I never imagined scavengers would possess micro-drones… or that they’d be ambushing us along the path here… I’m so sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize.”
This was why Soo had been discovered.
The sight of them bringing a drone along the path to Miko’s residence had been captured by a micro-drone, and the scavenger who owned it had then passed the information to corporate employees with whom they had private dealings.
This was precisely why the brutes had been able to appear the moment they arrived at Miko’s residence.
With hundreds of corporate drones swarming the eastern district, it was perhaps inevitable that scavengers would become emboldened.
They were nothing short of utterly unpleasant stalkers.
So, how did it feel to punish the stalkers?
It felt more numb than she had anticipated.
Perhaps she was the ideal talent for a cyberpunk world.
“There won’t be any other… scavenger bastards around, will there?”
“It’ll be fine even if there are.”
“B-but…”
Miko’s expression clearly conveyed this sentiment as she looked at Soo.
“There’s someone who can protect you, Miko.”
“Someone like that exists in the wasteland…?”
“Toppers.”
Miko’s eyes widened dramatically, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
“H-huh… Toppers? The Toppers of the West?”
“You know him too, Miko?”
“How could I not know him!”
Miko, who had been piloting the drone, paused her work, her eyes sparkling as she began to rattle off a stream of information about Toppers.
There was no particular need to commit it to memory. Was it not enough simply to know that Toppers was famous?
After all, she wasn’t destined to languish in the wasteland forever.
“In any case, I’ll take you there.”
“If it’s the Toppers Family… yes, that would be acceptable. But will they take me in…? There’s a rumor that… Toppers is an incredibly violent man…”
“Hmm…?”
‘Toppers, violent? ‘
‘No, I refuse. I’d rather just live as I am now and die.’ Toppers’ words flashed through Soo’s mind. For such a Toppers to be violent? Clearly, rumors were not to be trusted.
Soo shook her head, dismissing the thought.
“Toppers is actually very kind.”
“…I-is that so?”
“Yes, so don’t worry.”
Having pushed all the corpses inside, Miko nodded with a look of youthful resolve. A moment later, however, she shivered and cautiously glanced at Soo.
“A-and the external implant…”
Soo lightly tapped the external implant she wore like a headset.
She had already acquired what she needed most urgently.
A forged ID chip and an external nano-computer.
This implant was a fusion of these components, along with a scan-prevention implant, the Stelther.
The rabbit-ear-like protrusions on her head functioned as antennas, making the implant irremovable, but Soo didn’t particularly mind.
It was undeniably cute, and in the cyberpunk world, such a design hardly stood out.
“You can take your time with it.”
“Really…?”
“Yes.”
This much would be more than sufficient for her entry into Southpeak. She had also prepared ample bribes for any unforeseen contingencies.
Furthermore, she had registered Miko’s contact information as a precaution.
“U-uh… Would it be better if I came with you to the megacity? If you could just wait five months, I could create a perfect ID chip… Then, in a more complete state, both your objective and my deepest desire…!”
“Miko, you’re a novice.”
“…I’ll show you what an incredible person I’ll become in five months.”
No further words were necessary.
With a sulky expression, Miko pressed a button.
*Rumble—!*
From Miko’s distant residence, a massive, truly colossal explosion erupted, sending a mushroom cloud billowing into the sky.
For the destruction of evidence, bombs were undeniably superior.
****
“…Boss?”
“Hello.”
“Y-you arrived so quickly?”
“I’ll be leaving again soon.”
“Ah… I see. And the person beside you?”
“This is my friend, Miko.”
Miko, who had been dumbfounded by the ‘Boss’ address given to Toppers, belatedly offered a greeting.
“I am Yuugiri Miko. As for Lady Soo… um, well… yes, she says we’re friends. Friends…? We are friends… Yes.”
“I see. So she’s your friend.”
Despite Miko’s rambling, Toppers nodded, indicating deep understanding. It was a reaction only possible for someone like Toppers, who had firsthand experience with Soo.
“Um… so you brought Lady Yuugiri here to introduce her?”
“I was hoping you could protect her.”
“…Protect her?”
“Miko is also being pursued by Lu Qian.”
Miko’s eyes widened to an alarming degree.
Her face screamed, ‘Why would you say that here?!’
Toppers’ eyes, too, widened to an alarming degree.
His face, too, screamed, ‘Why would you say that here?!’
The two of them exchanged wide-eyed glances.
“…Lady Yuugiri, too?”
“Perhaps, Lord Toppers, you as well?”
“It seems you two will become fast friends.”
Soo offered a bright smile as she handed over a couple of gold bars.
“This is for Miko’s food and various living expenses. We had to blow up her home to dispose of some corporate employees’ bodies.”
“…What? Corporate employees? Corpse disposal? Blew up? Could that explosion yesterday have been Lady Yuugiri’s home…? A corporation? You’re involved with a corporation? And you want *me* to protect her…?”
Toppers’ face went stark white.
“W-wait just a moment! Boss!”
“Goodbye for now. See you again.”
Unfazed, Soo waved her hand dismissively as she exited Toppers’ residence.
Next, she performed a final check of her implants.
The holographic display of her nano-computer was functioning perfectly, and her registered ID chip could be queried without any issues. While the full capabilities of the Stelther implant would only be truly understood through direct experience, Miko’s assurances suggested it would be more than capable of concealing her tracks.
Her backpack held a generous supply of gold bars.
The new clothes Miko had given her were pristine.
“Hehe.”
And so, it was truly time to depart.
With an expression brimming with anticipation, Soo lifted her gaze.
In the distance.
The megacity, the very stage of [Cyberpunk: Eden].
Eden blazed with a dazzling array of lights.
