Interdimensional Scientist, Starting from Cyberpunk Chapter 290: Sharing Joy with the People – Brick

[TN:Three chapters for the days I miss]

Leo planned to replace the old and worn-out small and large vehicles among the Aldecaldos with Mackinaws, so the vehicles Brick received would be of these models.

The first batch delivered was a modified Galena G240 "Gecko," while the second batch consisted of Colbys, also from the Thorton Corporation—two-seater pickup trucks, considered entry-level light off-road pickups.

These vehicles were significantly more expensive than the earlier Geckos. Each one cost 80,000 eddies, with four delivered in total, bringing in a revenue of 320,000 eddies.

However, Brick was out of money again, so the total price increased to 360,000.

It was clear that Brick was in full battle mode, completely unconcerned about the money—

Of course, another reason was that the 6th Street Gang and the Tyger Claws were charging him 100,000 per vehicle for the sa models.

"Girl, can't you run a rental service?"

Panam crossed her arms and shook her head. "It's not impossible, but if a vehicle gets totaled, the compensation would be 150,000. That's the insurance business—surely you understand? Selling to you at a lower price is already a good deal. Look at this engine, tuned turbocharger, just step on the gas—it's pure music."

She lifted the hood and waved Brick's crew over to inspect it.

Using a tal rod to prop up the hood, Panam walked over to the vehicle's body and pointed at the roof-mounted machine gun.

"I just upgraded your turret—it reacts incredibly fast."

She signaled to one of her clan mbers, who plugged a personal link into the vehicle. The turret rotated rapidly—its speed was insane.

For the Maelstrom gang, this was quite a novel experience. They were used to modifying their own bodies rather than using advanced combat vehicles.

**"I don't need to introduce the model, do I? MK31—you've already tested it. Five seconds to blow up a Columbus freight truck. Pretty effective, huh?

And look at these perfectly fitted tal armor plates… damn, even I'm starting to regret selling it."**

"Cut the crap, I never said I wasn't buying!" Brick signaled his n to drive the vehicles away. "When will the other guns arrive?"

At this point, Brick had already seized a warehouse—or rather, his forr loyalists had taken it themselves.

Inside, there were several barrels of CH2 fuel, all stolen from the refinery, enough to last a few days.

Each of his n held a firearm supplied by Leo, looking anything but impoverished.

As for his accounts… well, all the money he had just earned was already spent again.

He had reached out to other arms dealers in the city, but now that everyone knew Maelstrom was in the middle of a civil war, prices had skyrocketed.

These bastards were all looking to rip him off. Only the "Mysterious Hero" was being reasonable—not raising prices, and actually keeping his word.

Brick felt relieved—no doubt, the Mysterious Hero was a true ally.

Panam replied, "Next batch will be delivered soon. What about your Centaur chs? Get them unlocked—we need to leave."

She had no interest in getting involved in Maelstrom's internal struggle.

Brick didn't waste ti and led Panam's group into the warehouse.

A Militech convoy had been hijacked—with the Mysterious Hero's help, of course—but Maelstrom had kept the real high-value goods.

For example, the four Centaur chs, currently crouched along the wall in a compressed stance. Their massive shields covered the cockpit, locked down tightly, with plasma cannons mounted beneath them.

Dum Dum and a few lackeys had hooked up nurous cables, but they still hadn't bypassed the ICE security to activate the machines.

Seeing Panam arrive with her gear, Dum Dum unplugged the neural link from his head. **"Are you sure you can crack these things?

I'm warning you—if you trip the ICE, an anomaly report will be sent straight to Militech HQ. If that happens, the corps will co down on us hard.

And who knows if these fancy plasma cannons will explode? That would be even worse."**

"Want to keep trying yourself?"

"Shut up, Dum Dum. Move aside."

Dum Dum backed off reluctantly.

Of course, he wasn't happy about it.

Among the gangs, Maelstrom had the highest level of tech expertise. In his mind, if it weren't for Royce monopolizing the Full Foods factory's equipnt and computers, he could have cracked the Centaur chs himself.

Maybe he could have even developed a custom driver for them.

Panam stepped forward and connected her personal link. Behind her, Cassidy and the others gripped their weapons, waiting for Leo to crack the Centaur chs.

[Unauthorized access detected.]

Leo plugged into the Centaur ch.

Just as Dumdum said, bypassing the ch's ICE was quite difficult. If brute-force decryption was used, the ch would transmit its location to Militech.

However, a more aggressive thod could completely erase the ch's built-in software along with the ICE—

But this would also damage the drivers.

Fortunately, that was exactly what Leo wanted: to wipe the entire system of the Centaur ch so he could operate it freely.

The cost of bypassing ICE was too high; it was better to use sheer computing power to destroy the ch's software entirely.

Zzzzt!

Sparks flew from the ch, and Dumdum froze.

According to the diagnostic display, the ch's hardware information was completely unreadable!

That ant the Centaur ch had been bricked!

But before he could lose his temper, the ch suddenly stood up. The computer flashed large distorted red fras and garbled text, flickering in and out before stabilizing into readable hardware and component data.

This was Little Octopus using his abilities to load a new driver into the Centaur ch—one that functioned according to his understanding of human movent.

Leo assisted Little Octopus in visualizing the ch's information. The collaboration between AI and human looked unsettling, but the efficiency was undeniable.

The Centaur ch suddenly jerked upright before softening again, locking itself back into place.

But on the adjacent display, the largest text had changed to: "Ready."

Panam disconnected her personal link. "All set. Want the other three wiped too? I've also got so spare vehicle armor lying around—I'll sell it to you at half price."

Brick hesitated briefly before waving his hand. "Do it! But I'm broke right now..."

"No problem. That brings your total to 300,000."

"How the hell is it that high?! You only charged one or two percent interest before!"

"Take it or leave it." Panam smirked. "Don't forget how you got these chs in the first place. This is a fair price.

Besides, who in the city would help you crack these things? Militech?"

"Son of a bitch..." Brick cursed under his breath, realizing Panam had a point.

Without the Mysterious Hero's help, they wouldn't have gotten their hands on these chs at all. And finding soone in the city who could crack Centaur chs?

Funny thing was, that kind of job used to be sothing people ca to Maelstrom for.

"Fine. And don't forget that half-price armor—weld it on, and these chs will be like low-tier ACPA suits. Take it."

After wiping the remaining three Centaur chs, the Aldecaldos dropped off the armor and drove away.

As the vehicle left the warehouse, Panam noticed a few young newcors—still lightly modified—mixing with Maelstrom's old-tirs.

The veterans seed to welco them, generously offering their inhalers filled with the kind of stuff you couldn't find on the open market.

The newcors were ecstatic. They'd never experienced anything like this before in their lives.

As soon as they inhaled, they collapsed to the ground, convulsing and trembling. Their clothes and pants even showed... certain stains.

A truly pathetic sight.

"These people are insane."

Back at the warehouse, Brick felt a surge of confidence as he eyed the four Centaur chs.

He was in debt by hundreds of thousands, but he believed in Maelstrom. Once he regained control of the gang, he'd pay it all back in no ti.

The real issue was finding people to pilot these beasts.

Untrained drivers carried a high risk of losing control.

He glanced over at the makeshift cyberware surgery room built from scrap tal. His buddy Carter was still lying inside—knocked out from a black lace binge.

Even if he were awake, he wouldn't be the right choice to pilot a ch.

Especially in Maelstrom, where everyone had a mix of cybernetic mods, inconsistent drivers, and self-modded software.

Carter even had a Sandevistan installed, which didn't exactly sh well with the Centaur ch—

Militech's software would've been compatible, but who knew if the Mysterious Hero's bootleg drivers would work with it?

It was better to find soone with fewer augntations and fine-tune the system gradually.

Brick called out to Dumdum. "Next push is for the Totentanz. If we don't take that spot, we won't even have a place to talk.

Find two fresh recruits to test these things. Tell them that once they put this on, they're gang bosses.

And that they'll have unlimited access to whatever drugs they want—the best stuff, first dibs."

"Fresh recruits, huh? The cleanest ones we've got are as bald as a cue ball."

"Where'd they co from? Are they clean?"

"Says he's from Westbrook. I'll ask him again." Dumdum scratched his plated skull and called a brother over from outside.

After a long conversation, he suddenly burst out laughing—so hard he doubled over, unable to stand straight.

Brick marched over and smacked him upside the head. "I told you to get the details! What the fuck are you laughing at?!"

Dumdum rubbed his chrod do, still chuckling. "Hahaha, boss, this kid is fucking hilarious.

He and so other guy ca together. He said he tried to join the Tyger Claws, but—HAHAHAHA!"

"Spit it out!"

"So this dumbass saved up a ton of money, right? Went to the Tyger Claws' turf to have so fun.

Then, when the escort walked in...

He realized it was his mom!"

[TN:I think I read this hentai before]

Brick froze for a second—then burst into laughter.

The whole room erupted into roaring laughter.

Once the laughter died down, Brick wiped a tear from his eye. "Hah... idiots like this are rare.

Alright, bring him in!"