Cyberpunk: The Relentless

Chapter 541 - 541 – Run and Debug

"KK!" Seeing KK, beyond the initial shock, each of them felt a sudden, visceral jolt. A surge of disbelief laced with adrenaline-fueled tens"KK!"

Seeing KK, beyond the initial shock, each of them felt a sudden, visceral jolt.

A surge of disbelief laced with adrenaline-fueled tension.

KK standing here—right in front of them—could only mean one thing: their theft had been exposed. Whatever reason brought him here didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that their plan had failed. Now, there was only one option left—

Jun, the squad leader, flinched for just a heartbeat. Then, without hesitation, he raised his Gorilla Arm and charged straight at Karl.

"Stick to the plan!"

"Yes."

No one questioned him. As Jun lunged toward Karl, the other three squad members rushed toward the terrace window. Even now, seeing Karl face to face, they still clung to the idea of escape—with the case in hand.

"A thief sees the owner walk in and still doesn't drop the loot? Still thinks about fighting back?"

Karl muttered, watching Jun blitz toward him in a blink, swinging that massive cyberarm with devastating speed. But Karl wasn't focused on the incoming blow—his eyes locked on Jun's.

The blue gleam in them was growing stronger.

It looked just like the Arasaka employees who'd been mind-controlled during the banquet.

Jun's punch sliced through the air with a sound like ripping fabric, stirring the very air around it. Karl felt the sting against his skin. A direct hit from that would not end well.

But brute force often meant lack of control.

Karl stepped forward and pivoted, narrowly avoiding the punch with a fluid sidestep.

Then he closed in. Close enough to feel Jun's breath.

He bent his arm into a triangle, elbow at the center, and drove it square into Jun's chest with the momentum of his advance.

Jun's heavy subdermal armor absorbed most of the impact. Even Karl's cyber-enhanced strike couldn't fully breach it. The hit merely dented the plating slightly and forced Jun back two steps—his stance still stable.

"Tch. What a hassle. I don't want to leave blood for the 'guests' to smell."

Karl muttered. Not that Jun was listening. All his focus was locked onto KK. His mental processes were pushed to the limit. The blue light in his eyes flared even brighter, like a system maxing out its computational load.

Analyze.

Rapid analysis.

What had KK just done?

He'd dodged Jun's full-speed charge and landed a close-range elbow.

Result: negligible damage.

Conclusion: continue containment.

Like a machine following subroutines, Jun judged the maneuver reproducible. He launched the exact same attack again.

Just like a program—if it runs, it runs. No need to change it.

Jun didn't consider what might happen if he broke the pattern. As long as the routine ran, continuing it seemed logical.

Logical?

Maybe for a program. But KK wasn't following code.

So you think I'll just let you keep swinging while I keep elbowing? What do you take me for—a crash dummy? An idiot?

Whatever you think, you're wrong.

Karl had already mapped Jun's entire pattern. The next movement, the trajectory, the weak point—it was all clear as day.

Current path. Next move. Vulnerability.

He moved.

There were six exploitable points. But if he wanted to avoid blood and chemical scent trails, then the most efficient strike point was—

Karl's monowire snapped out. After dodging another swing, he tapped Jun's neck.

A small interface panel popped open—a standard datajack used for chip insertion. A chip was already slotted in, its processes active.

Combat support chip? Karl briefly wondered, even as the monowire connected.

Intrusion protocol: initiated.

Cyberware access: confirmed.

Neural interface: locked.

Command: Terminate process.

Zzt.

The blue light vanished from Jun's eyes. A quiet pop came from the chip, followed by a wisp of smoke.

Triggered a self-destruct protocol the moment it detected intrusion... This wasn't a mere combat assist chip.

Thud.

Jun collapsed, eyes rolled back.

Karl turned toward the other three by the window.

He had a theory now—and it needed confirmation.

The three had witnessed everything. Their squad leader had gone down two seconds after contact. Yet their expressions remained unreadable. No hesitation. No panic. No exchanged glances. Nothing.

Without even needing to speak, one of them—who wasn't carrying the case—stepped forward to engage Karl.

One process failed? Swap in the next test subject?

Debug routine.

Karl had to admit, this was a first. An entire team acting with such mechanical precision and zero emotional fluctuation—it was unnerving.

At the banquet, he'd been upstairs. V had handled the ones downstairs. Karl had no idea if this behavior had occurred then too.

But regardless—

The guests were on their way. Time to tidy up.

Fall guys aren't meant to be displayed. They're meant to take the hit and disappear.

Karl took a deep breath.

And in that moment, time seemed to slow.

Elsewhere—inside the ascending elevator of Konpeki Plaza, and aboard an AV drifting through Night City's sky—two individuals bearing the Arasaka name were preparing for a long-overdue encounter.

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