Chapter 103: Chapter 80: Manhunt
John aimed his gun amidst the red glow in his vision.
The electromagnetic bullet grazed the bathroom door, leaving a blackened pit on the wall.
The surveillance operative was hiding inside.
The hacker attack continued.
Flickering pixel particles appeared before John, and his tinnitus and cranial pain grew increasingly severe.
[Prosthetic Eye Restart: 88%↑]
[Mobility Impairment: 93%↑]
If the progress bar loads to the end...
He’d be done for.
He dashed into the rubble of the living room, grabbing the EMP emitter hanging on the wall in the tool room.
Beeeep—
John pulled the trigger.
The pain felt like needles piercing through him, even causing him to briefly see double vision.
Invisible waves swept through the living room, causing the hovercar hovering outside the window to suddenly emit black smoke.
The battle had damaged part of the furniture’s insulation layer. With the use of the EMP weapon, a series of electric arcs spread across the living room walls; household devices simultaneously emitted noise.
The hovercar wobbled and broke through the railing.
The entire vehicle crashed straight into the room, triggering a larger explosion.
John rolled to the corner of the wall to avoid the chaos.
He felt the Black Light showing signs of going berserk, even though he had just used the Special Inhibitor not long ago.
The EMP had taken down the hovercar.
The hacking progress bar was interrupted.
The surveillance operative hiding in the bathroom peeked out and opened fire, attempting to suppress John and cover for the teammates in the hovercar.
A glimmer flashed across his helmet.
John made no move; the Atlanta Virtual Network operated automatically and displayed a text.
[Unknown frequency detected, hacking in progress, communication accessed.]
John was bewildered as he got connected to the internal communication of the Internet Surveillance.
"...All agents, be advised, suspect T-1 is violently resisting arrest, there are casualties, requesting support, authorization to use lethal force granted, non-lethal protocol canceled, repeat, authorization to use lethal force granted!"
[Mission Objective Updated]
[Escape Internet Surveillance Pursuit. (Not achieved)]
John leaned against the obstacle, his mind racing.
He hadn’t taken any new jobs lately; the mission progress update could only be related to the main task of investigating the accident’s truth.
The bastard with the tie clip messed things up!
John cursed inwardly, not forgetting to fire suppressively, then reached out and directly yanked open the slightly deformed door.
Two surveillance operatives emerged from the crashed hovercar.
John had already fled to the corridor by then, even knocking over a box containing steak and red wine.
The hallway was adorned with graffiti left by tenants, and a surveillance camera was mounted on the wall at the end.
It projected red data streams, locking onto John, indicating that a hacker was remotely accessing the devices.
The elevator panels were all showing red.
Bang, bang!
The wall-mounted lightbox suddenly exploded.
John cautiously peeked from the side of the stairs—two drones seemed to have intruded between the windows of the upper floors, equipped with electromagnetic gun heads capable of paralyzing targets with high-voltage currents.
"F*ck!"
John pulled back his head, dodging the shot, stumbling and falling against the wall, quickly raising his rifle to retaliate.
He wanted to shoot down the drones.
Unexpectedly, they were equipped with special armor; the electromagnetic bullets only affected their flight trajectory when hitting their metal shell.
John only managed to hit one of them.
The other device immediately accelerated, dodging subsequent shots, maneuvering through a highly complex route in the stairwell.
Someone was remotely controlling it.
The surveillance operative in the room also gave chase.
John rushed into the stairwell, constantly vaulting over railings, quickly descending to create distance.
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
The drone emitted buzzing sounds.
One device roared through the banister, chasing after John, continuously updating the latest coordinates.
John felt several bullets hit his back.
He didn’t dare pause for a moment, leaping down several floors, suddenly realizing new surveillance operatives had entered the stairwell below, and were firing upwards.
A bullet grazed past his cheek.
John’s heart pounded fiercely; he immediately changed direction, attempting to escape through the open passage between the buildings.
He turned a corner, gripping the gun barrel tightly.
The drone abruptly braked and turned.
John bashed it fiercely with the gun butt, the sensation was strange, like hitting a cushion with strong damping.
The metal shell was extremely sturdy.
John desperately lunged, directly hugging the drone, pushing and smashing it against the opposite wall.
Bang, bang, bang.
John didn’t dare release his grip until the drone emitted electric arcs, and the last signal light went out.
Sizz—
He panted heavily, once again seeking an exit.
But all he saw were surveillance cameras.
Red data streams coursed through his body from all directions, attempting to seize control of his Prosthetic Body.
Thud, thud.
Thud, thud, thud.
The density of footsteps was suffocating.
John could only grit his teeth, fleeing in any random direction.
The channel communication continued.
[The suspect is on the run, the Black Gold Gang has been alerted, ECPD is approaching and requesting action sequence number.]
[T-1 coordinates synchronized, scan results uploading, T-1 Prosthetic Body information acquired, no advanced network access found, repeat, suspect is a non-professional hacker.]
[Unknown signal source detected.]
[Requesting street lockdown, hovercar in position, sniper... street lockdown failed, unknown user intrusion.]
[Someone is trying to seize T-1.]
[The other party is professional; agents, watch for ICE barriers.]
John sprinted down the corridor.
Dan Street was already engulfed in gunfire and police sirens.
The Black Gold Gang was in a standoff with the surveillance operatives.
This was near the Bolago Club, a heavily controlled territory of the gang; causing such a scene without notice, Mr. Vito would have to confront the Internet Surveillance Office for an explanation.
This concerned the bottom line of interests.
The surveillance aimed for quick resolution without prior notice.
They probably didn’t expect the capture to fail; the formerly swift and decisive takedown had turned into a chase.