"How did you find out about Wooly Crowley?"
The news was broadcasting the rcenary's final fate.
WNS gave a close-up: the entire screen was censored with mosaic.
Leo wasn't too sure what level of armor Holt had given Wooly, but he knew Kaneck's "justice from the heavens" punch carried enormous power.
A blunt strike to the skull—even if it doesn't crack open the head—the impact transfers to brain cells and blood vessels, the soft tissues inside.
Many people appear fine after blunt trauma, but in truth, they're already close to death. Protecting against that kind of impact is very difficult.
Wooly's skull wasn't just slightly opened—it could still let him keep fighting. That showed the strength of his integrated skeletal structure.
But in front of heavy machine guns and missiles, it was aningless. He wasn't facing just one or two people, or a ch.
Kaneck stared blankly at the sight for a mont, then returned to his conversation with Leo.
"I was the one who put him on the stretcher. During the ergency care, I accessed his cyberware system, and I knew he was working for Holt.
I saw on TV that the City Council was having a eting today, so I thought Holt would definitely et with Arasaka afterwards."
Leo shook his head: "But he didn't need to go to Arasaka Waterfront. He could've gone to Konpeki Plaza."
"They wouldn't go there. Wooly's a dog that can't see the light of day. Holt knew he'd go cyberpsycho sooner or later. If they t at Konpeki, the paparazzi would catch them.
So he'd definitely choose sowhere on the road, soplace secret, to et quietly.
As long as I hijacked the AV, the initiative was in my hands."
Leo wasn't convinced. The reasoning wasn't strong.
But from Little Octopus's analysis, and Kaneck's dead-serious tone, it was clear—that's what he truly believed.
The plan had huge flaws, but it did resemble what a cyberpsycho would do: latch onto a single piece of hope, and pursue it with obsessive resolve.
Leo pressed further: "Do you know why Wooly clashed with the rcs before?"
When Wooly pulled out the auto-grenade launcher and started firing, Leo was already fully breaking through the ICE inside his cyberware system.
This was astonishing, since Wooly's ICE was Arasaka military grade.
Not impossible to brute-force, but highly risky. Even a MAX-TAC unit would normally need 10–20 seconds to crack it.
Leo only managed it thanks to otherworldly computing power—and literal brain-burning from lizard stimulant.
Half a month's dose is injected in one night.
He loaded the Ihara–Prague algorithm into his Sandevistan acceleration, linked with massive server power, and pulled off this seemingly small miracle.
Once inside Wooly's system, Leo forced his arms into malfunction—saving his crew from bombardnt.
But that left little ti to dig deeper into Wooly's head for data.
All he could do now was cross-reference scraps to verify intel.
Kaneck shook his head: "All I know is there was another special casualty—soone from the Deputy Mayor's office."
"Alive?"
"I don't know. I wasn't dical, just tasked with evacuation."
"Can you provide the casualty list from then?"
"Yes." Kaneck nodded. "I have this habit—even if I find a non-subscriber injured, I still give them basic bandaging."
His mood sank after saying that.
Clearly, it was a habit left behind by his late girlfriend.
Trauma Team nowadays doesn't forbid employees from giving humanitarian aid to bystanders, but it isn't required.
So for Kaneck to keep such a habit ant he hadn't yet been crushed by corporate pressure, still clinging to the belief that he was a real dic—soone who saved lives.
Even though in Night City, sotis "the injured" were just as dangerous as killers, and Trauma Team only showed up for the rich.
Kaneck picked up the tablet prepared for him—his cyberware was too damaged, so he could only transmit information the old-fashioned way.
After writing down the nas, he looked back at Leo:
"Anything else?"
Kaneck didn't have much more to offer, so Leo was really just waiting for Little Octopus to finish the data parsing.
[Little Octopus: Boss, got it.]
[Little Octopus: This guy's got sothing. Now I see why his Sandevistan perford better when he went cyberpsycho.]
[Little Octopus: Its hardware supports very high-power precision control—only unlocked during psychosis, since it burns out nerves.]
[Little Octopus: The burned nerves regrow and reconnect under certain conditions, forming new circuits that the chip can exploit.]
[Little Octopus: In short, in a cyberpsycho state, the dead nerves are still conductive, and nanocontacts activate them.]
[Little Octopus: The "Reality Distortion" AI basically helps rebuild broken nerves.]
[Little Octopus: But it's excruciating. Really excruciating.]
[Little Octopus: That's why sotis he triggers his Sandevistan, but then suddenly slows down—his body and algorithm can't sustain it.]
Direct nerve pain disrupts motor control. It won't kill you outright, but it can reduce you to a collapsed vegetable on the ground.
Extrely functional cyberware never considers user comfort. Few can withstand that agony.
That's the complexity of cyberpsychosis.
It was both good and bad news: the Chit-5 "Reality Distortion" Sandevistan had great potential, but was tied to psychosis and nerve damage—highly unstable.
Leo shook his head: "That's it. Soon, soone will co to take you—specialists in dealing with cyberpsychos."
"No." Kaneck shook his head sharply, locking eyes with Leo. "I know who's coming. I know that project. Nadia's in it. It'll be Kang-Tao. Trauma Team has a deal with them. They'll carve up as a lab rat. I only agreed to install this thing to help Nadia. They'll cut open, take every piece of data and chro for experints."
Leo folded his arms, staring directly:
"But isn't that exactly what your girlfriend wanted? To save people from cyberpsychosis. Even if the project wants safer chro just to sell more, the result's the sa—fewer victims."
"No, no!" Kaneck shook violently, shouting: "I know that was her dream—but how am I supposed to forget how she died, huh?! Before her, I just wanted to live. After her, I just wanted to finish her dream. You think I'm like them? I'm not! I loved her. That's why I did this! And now… Fuck cyberpsychosis! I don't care! I just want to see those corporate dogs clawing at nothing! They'll get nothing!"
He collapsed back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, a twisted smile on his face—half sneer, half despair.
"My world only got better because of Nadia. If she was happy, I'd do anything. But now, I'm just the sa street punk I was seven years ago in Chicago. Think about it—without my data, how much money do they lose? Worth it. Heh… worth it."
He stared silently at the ceiling, then turned again to Leo:
"Sa as you, right? You understand. Kill . Take my data, my Chro, sell it to whoever—I don't care. That's my last asset. Just don't… send… … back. Fuck the corps. I'll leave them nothing!"
Leo gazed at the broken man, conflicted.
He wasn't the type to preach about hope.
In Night City, choosing how you die is a luxury.
"…I already got the data I needed. As for your chro—an already fried Sandevistan isn't worth much to ."
Kaneck froze, then saw Leo pick up a pistol and press it against his forehead.
"But… you're lucky. I'm soft-hearted."
"Heh." Kaneck laughed. His eyes showed no fear of death, no hesitation, no second thoughts.
"You're right. I'm lucky."
As Trauma Team employee Kaneck Roswald, he had failed fatally—betraying both corp and employer.
But as a rc and street kid, Kaneck Roswald had stayed loyal to his most important employer.
And fulfilled his revenge.
Bang.
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