Chapter 228 - 136: Burning in Broken Dreams

John revved his vehicle as he sped down Big Nan Avenue.Along the way, he dialed Scissors’ number and relayed what he had seen at the apartment.

[...Damn it, that fool is definitely going nuts, whew~ let me think about what he’ll do, wait, head to the city center!]

Scissors urgently shouted over the phone.

John listened to the clattering sounds from the other side—probably the hurried closing of a shop door.

[Mission objective updated]

[Proceed to the shop [Scipio]. (Not achieved)]

Scipio was a luxury clothing brand under Plato, the shop name that had stolen the designs of the brothers.

John floored the accelerator across the district bridge.

The fierce wind pressed down his coat’s collar and shoulders, and as speed picked up, the clothes clung tightly.

To a veteran driver like John...

Wind resistance and balance affect overtaking and cornering feel, yet Edward even considered these details.

The commercial street appeared in the distance.

The glass curtain walls of skyscrapers reflected a pale light, the streets grew bustling and crowded, citizens remained silent, above them, the engines of hovercars roared...

John weaved his RCH through traffic swiftly.

Suddenly, sirens blared around, some disturbance seemed to disrupt the city’s apathy and numbness.

Red and blue lights flickered under the harsh midday sun.

John saw two patrol cars with heavy armor detour from the overpass, followed closely by a black drone.

He received a restricted area notification as he crossed into Chengxin Square.

Shit hit the fan.

John furrowed his brows slightly, watching the patrol cars and drones, praying it had nothing to do with Edward.

There was a traffic jam ahead.

John maneuvered his motorcycle onto the side lane, roaring the engine between fire hydrants and billboards, the engine sounded like a wild beast out of control, forcing pedestrians to clear a path.

He got back on the road and continued to accelerate.

The number of patrol cars around was increasing.

The dispatch center had mustered a batch of patrol cars, all heading towards Scipio’s direction.

The congestion became more pronounced.

An explosion occurred at Chengxin Square, thick smoke spread among the tall buildings, and a drone from the news station soared over the traffic, causing a chorus of honking, along with roadrage drivers’ roaring curses.

Even motorcycle speed was forced to slow down.

[Contact - Barry Kit [Voice Call]]

John called Barry to confirm the situation in the city.

[...You ask what’s happening? Damn, there’s a madman shooting security guards in the street, storming into a store and setting it on fire, suspected explosives, police have surrounded the scene, there are still hostages in the store...]

"F*ck!"

John’s heart sank halfway.

Just as he was about to hang up, Barry immediately stopped him.

[Don’t get involved there, officers are injured, they’ve already requested Special Event Handling Action Team support, at most in five minutes, no matter what relationship you have with the guy inside, it’s over!]

"I’ll subdue him before the SAT arrives."

John replied nonchalantly.

Barry was still trying to dissuade him.

[Don’t be naive, buddy, it’s meaningless...]

The call was disconnected.

John drifted and braked sharply at the street corner.

He pushed through the onlookers roughly, spotting the electronic caution tape.

There were overturned cars on the road.

A streetlight had been knocked down.

Officers stood fully armed amid the scorched debris and shards of glass, snipers were on standby but hadn’t fired a shot.

[Shop - Scipio [Plato]]

The display windows were blackened with smoke, the billboards crackled with electricity, screams and explosions occasionally erupted from inside.

"Stay back!"

"Keep your distance, this place is already..."

"Damn it, stop!"

...

John crossed the electronic caution tape.

The portable columns emitted explosive pops.

The surrounding officers tried to stop him, even ready to draw guns to intercept, snipers fired warning shots at the ground.

John engaged Sianweistan and traversed the blockade.

The interior of the store was dimly lit.

The usually witty sales clerk huddled behind the counter, a customer, seeing John breaking in, tried to stand up and call for help but was immediately pulled back into cover by a companion.

The situation in the store was dire:

Display racks had been knocked over, fires blazed everywhere, mannequins were enveloped in thick black smoke...

Corridors were filled with pools of blood.

The on-duty bodyguard, a burly man in a suit, was beaten to a pulp, blue and red police lights flashed through the smoke highlighting the corpse.

Edward stood deep within the store.

He wore that black Lone Wolf trench coat, his eyes modified into red tactical goggles, head tilted to the left, drool and mucus dribbling, occasionally twitching.

John tread lightly, slowly circling to face him head-on.

"...F*ck, what have you done?"

Edward’s arms were mounted with machine guns, his chest lay bare revealing an ammo launcher, smoke wafted from his ribcage area, the earlier explosions had all been fired from there.

He had turned himself into a walking cannon.

Edward straightened his neck, his mouth twitching, incoherent words mixed with saliva spewed forth.

The shop was nearly engulfed in flames.

The blaze was about to spread to the adjoining building, amidst the chaos it was almost impossible to hear what he was saying.

John adjusted the translator capture rate to the maximum.

A few words surfaced in his field of vision.

[Liar.]

[Mine.]

[Give it back to me.]

John followed his gaze:

The recessed part of the wall had been charred to ruins, metal display racks and luxurious apparel had turned to fuel, fluorescent screens emitted arcs, at the bottom was a plaque with a series name inscribed.

You could barely make out Kafei Crow’s name.

Red lines flashed in Edward’s eyes, followed by a burst of bullets wildly sweeping across the devastated walls.

John crouched down to take cover.

Edward’s chest emitted another mechanical sound.

Micro explosives spewed out from the gaps in his ribs. Although slow, they released high temperatures upon hitting the ground, capable of melting small craters, which then shot out high-temperature shrapnel around like fireworks.

The damage range was enormous.

John activated Sianweistan to create distance.

Time was delayed countless times.

Edward flailed his arms randomly, seemingly immersed in hallucinations, completely unaware that his "fingers" were spewing ammunition.

He was still talking to imagined brothers.

[You’re such a Shark Coin, scissors and materials can peel off!]

[I think here should use bright yellow, vibrant satin, she’d look sizzling when she wears it.]

[How about some silicon carbide coating, is there none left?]

Edward muttered to himself, conversing with imagined people, barefoot on shattered glass, his blood leaving darker patches amidst the scorched wreckage.

[The warehouse is so damn dark; has the electricity bill been paid already?!]

[I’ll look outside; things must be on the shelf. I swear that stuff hasn’t run out...]

Edward suddenly laughed.

He sputtered reddish-brown blood, the leather around his ribs burning from the heat.

"Edward!"

"Stop, you fool!"

John yelled as he dashed out from behind cover.

Edward had already spread his arms, self-igniting in the ammo spray, then dashed crazily towards the shop door.

Beep, beep beep—

Stifling alarms echoed around the shop exterior.

The Special Event Handling Action Team’s hovercar arrived on the scene, the whirlwind spewed by vector engines even bent smoke and flames.

Scarlet projections covered the street.

Edward obliviously rushed out the door, instantly turned into pulp by the onboard cannons.

He seemed to melt into a rainstorm.

John didn’t even get a chance to see clearly, just felt a ball of flame mercilessly extinguished, with embers turning into globs in the ammo-piled craters.

"Huff, huff..."

He stood there in a daze.

The heavily armored SAT slowly walked into the shop.

[Scan detected, bio-information crosschecking...]

The fully armed members of the Special Event Handling Action Team surrounded John, seemingly communicating and confirming he showed no signs of aggression before lowering their weapons.

John’s mind was a mess.

The Special Event Handling Action Team began interviewing the shop staff and customers.

Victims vividly described today’s encounter, ordinary people meeting cyber psychosis, releasing post-disaster relief amid resigned misfortune.

John frowned, sitting on the sofa, looking down the aisle:

The security guards were zipped up in body bags, supposed to be a normal day clocking in for pay, who could have thought a madman would set fire to a store right when they were on duty at Chengxin Square?

Edward was surrounded by police tape.

He left no intact corpse; the limb remnants lay in craters, officers deliberately avoiding the heated mud when passing by.

"Sir, look at me, routine questioning."

A Special Event Handling Action Team member reminded John.

Their uniforms bore the SAT emblem, half of their faces covered by multifunctional info tactical helmets.

John remained silent.

Scan results showed these guys had full prosthetic bodies, definitely cyber psychosis configurations.

"I have the right to inquire, please cooperate..."

They worked efficiently, speaking logically, entirely unlike those water-muddy cops.

John spaced out a little too long.

The highest-ranking officer in the team approached, signaling shop staff and customers to leave after finishing records.

She was the only female in the squad.

"Do you know the target of this action?"

"Hmm."

John raised his head, facing six tactical goggles, unsure where to focus his gaze.

She lowered her voice, speaking in a cold tone.

"If you have doubts about law enforcement, you may consider using violent means to retaliate..."

"Sorry, what?"

John almost didn’t react.

The female officer from the Special Event Handling Action Team took half a step forward, raised her head, with a very strange tone.

"I know you carry weapons. If dissatisfied, aim at any of us and shoot."

Her voice was very light, putting away recording devices, even a hint of coaxing and excitement in her tone.

"Pull the trigger, very simple."

"F*ck."

John surprisedly retreated half a step.

The female officer suddenly changed her tone again, routinely repeating the initial statement.

"I have the right to inquire, please cooperate..."

Surely these guys had issues.

Luckily, a shout came from outside the shop.

"Hey, Sir!"

A sunglasses-wearing officer came in, telling the SAT officer next to him that John was one of them and needed to report back to headquarters immediately.

He was taken away in a daze.

John walked out of the store, the officer casually pushed him to the edge of the police line.

[Contact- Barry Kit [unread messages]]

[I sent people to bail you out, get out immediately, SAT is a bunch of dangerous legal lunatics. If they’re not satisfied with killing, you’ll be in big trouble.]

The streets were already cleared.

Two lanes for passing were left outside the police tape.

John saw reporters broadcasting live.

Cyber psychosis killings happened daily, but the incident at Chengxin Square attracted more attention, reporters starting to discuss public safety issues in front of the camera.

John was about to leave.

Scissors suddenly rushed out from who knows where,