NovelSearch Chapter 527 - 345: Rest Day and Xiao Ting Gang
Chapter 527 - 345: Rest Day and Xiao Ting Gang
John left the Dream Talk Bar and returned to 013 Dan Street.In the past, when he returned to his apartment, as soon as he entered the corridor, he would smell dust, metal, and a faint, refreshing scent of high-end aromatics. But today, the apartment air was much more complex.
John suddenly realized—the Lone Wolf Single Apartment had already been transformed into employee dormitories.
While he was out handling a commission for a day and night, the apartment reconstruction order had been completed.
Gerry, his wife, and their daughter, Malt Sugar, were living in the large room upstairs.
Downstairs were two rooms.
One was John’s bedroom, the walls had been knocked through to connect with the workspace.
The other was converted from a storage room, the smallest, left for Gaf.
The public areas, including the sunken sofa and island counter, were all reduced, the bathtub moved to free up space, and toilets increased to two.
Thanks to the materials advancements of the Cyber Era and the reform of architectural design concepts, the room’s transformations were completed within half a working day.
The Habitable Rental Company implements a "weekly rent payment system."
Because clients can easily become a part of the deadly lotto.
As for interior design, especially low-rent apartments and improved housing, they possess great plasticity, respecting clients’ personalization while reducing space waste.
John actually had roommates before.
During his time working at Tiebang Logistics, the dorms of the transport team were right next to each other.
In a daze, John remembered more and more memories.
The faces of old colleagues, company interaction details, bars and night scenes they visited together, cost-effective takeaway websites, and saucy jokes on the long-distance voice channel...
Until Gerry appeared at the door, bringing in the boss who was in a daze.
He reported the reconstruction contract of the restaurant while heating up a real meat burger from the refrigerator.
Gerry bought portable utensils, and in his words:
"We’re running a restaurant, can’t just use protein mush to get by."
John, after the shitty mercenary work, had hot food for the first time, accompanied by a soda bought directly from the vending machine.
Then, it was vacation time.
John seriously rested in his apartment room for three days.
The surrounding employees went out early and returned late, busy with loads of miscellaneous tasks, and they were deliberately avoiding disturbing John, leaving him plenty of private space.
In the corner of the sunken living room, near the floor-to-ceiling window, there was some gym equipment.
John would go and do a set or two of exercises during his free time.
The company’s product advertisement tells you, just buy the latest chip, transplant a new generation of prosthetic body, and you can spar with street legends.
Anyone who believes this is an idiot.
Any transformation requires adaptation.
New prosthetics might overload your nerves, unused action chips might sprain your ligaments or even snap your bones.
The gym equipment in John’s room was a gift for VIP members.
It’s not the traditional dumbbells and multifunction racks, but a full set of professional equipment allowing you to try different force-exerting movements.
That’s what John is doing now.
He sits in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, reaching out, with his elbow and each finger bound with traction ropes, activating new action chips, simulating blade swipes, adjusting amplitude and force rhythm.
[Contact - Gerry [Video Call]]
[Hey, boss, am I bothering you?]
Gerry appeared onscreen.
The background seemed to be at the parking lot corner; he occasionally looked around.
[People from Xiao Ting Gang came over in three cars, claiming the construction permit didn’t go through internal approval. Hah, complete BS, Old Harper sorted out everything with official procedures for the construction site. This is pure extortion!]
Suddenly, shouting in Japanese and the sound of vehicle collisions came from afar.
Gerry’s expression became very unpleasant.
[Boss, today’s casting materials are being loaded right now, and they’re blocking the equipment from entering, causing everything to solidify in the transport truck... Old Harper is threatening them as a Wanderer, but I guess he won’t hold out for long; those bastards are very aggressive.]
The call was hurriedly hung up.
John took off the equipment, pulled on the coat resting next to him, and headed out.
[Task Series Operator: Water Bar]
[Deal with the restaurant construction issues. (Not achieved)]
John drove the Silver Rider 577, the roaring engine sound faintly heard from a block away.
He parked on the roadside, and was remotely scanned by someone.
Three Glaive motorcycles leaned against the roadside.
And a pickup truck painted with Xiao Ting Gang’s colors.
The Wanderers brought in a large amount of construction vehicles, erecting city code-compliant barricades around the restaurant.
Except, atop a crane stood a gun-wielding Xiao Ting Gang thug.
Blocking the entrance to the parking lot and heaps of building materials, all guarded by their people.
An Eastern minion with tactical goggles stood on the gang’s pickup truck’s rear seat.
He held a semi-automatic defense turret in front and turned the gun barrel hearing Eisenberg’s sports car engine.
John saw his employees together with the Wanderers.
If there were casualties, Gerry would definitely have informed him over the phone, indicating that it’s the stage of confrontation and tough talk now.
But the automatic turret and hacker’s remote access had already targeted him.
John didn’t want to gamble if Xiao Ting Gang would fire because gang warfare had progressed so far that gangsters were becoming more audacious.
Never doubt they would fire in broad daylight.
John maintained his pace, casually drawing a revolver from his waist, and pulled the trigger just as the Eastern man started to open his mouth!
Bam, bam bam!
The Xiao Ting Gang thug’s goggles split in the middle.
The center of the brow bone, left chest cavity, and right shoulder simultaneously caved inward.
Then, a large amount of red mixture spurted from behind him, splattering inside the entire cabin, and with the entire "skin" slumping down.
John was somewhat surprised.
It was now he realized:
The encounter with Saw, the bounce back to him, was just a stray bullet; plus he had implanted [Plato Experimental UFP] subcutaneous armor, which possessed top-grade bulletproof performance and biocompatibility, enabling him to withstand it.
The corpse hadn’t fully exploded before the Xiao Ting Gang thugs started roaring.
Accompanied by intense Japanese curses, bullets flew over in bits and pieces.
John activated Sianweistan, rolled into cover, habitually firing while moving, but his sight alignment was off.
Saw’s gun was heavier than any handgun John had used.
The gun’s center mass pressed against the palm base, making it difficult to swiftly aim and shoot while moving at high speed, but the grip fit well with the cooperative patch.
John weighed the revolver, looking for a proper firing angle again.
This gun possessed extreme performance, comfortable hold, and high difficulty, worthy of spending time to properly adapt.
Kenichi Sora left many technical maneuvers in the new blade.
Besides close combat weapons, it included some CQC gripping techniques.
John changed to a different gripping posture.
The Skuqi revolver spun in his palm, shifted with his body center, fired!
Boom!
The thug standing near the building materials fell dead to the ground.
Bloody sprays were quite exaggerated.
John wasted too many bullets on the same person due to his inexperience just now.
Buzz——
The driver of the modified pickup truck started the vehicle.
It drifted in place, leaving behind a mess of corpses and blood, and then sharply turned towards John’s cover.
Ta-ta-ta——
Without waiting for John to react.
Old Harper and several Wanderers rushed out from the construction site.
They disrupted the Xiao Ting Gang’s attack rhythm, firing from behind, killing several thugs hiding behind the vehicle trying to close in.
John slid from the front, lifted the revolver, aimed at the driver’s seat, and fired several shots.
The vibration feedback ran straight from the wrist to the arm.
A burst of broken glass mixed with blood plasma exploded inside the driver’s cabin, and then the out-of-control truck rolled over on the roadside, smashing a vending machine, resting against a wall, before completely shutting off and coming to a stop.