Chapter 67

The name "Adam Smasher" was a big one—not only in Night City but globally, like Aguilar of Havana.

He was the hellhound of Arasaka, one of the world’s top megacorporations, and a mighty warrior known as the strongest mercenary alive.

The moment everyone in the room laid eyes on that hulking mass of a body, a shiver ran down their spines.

His presence alone—of a pure-bred killing machine with a four-digit kill score—instilled primal fear in all who faced him.

Yet, among them, only one person stood ready to face him head-on.

A former Arasaka corpo-turned-cyberpunk who discarded his old name and simply called himself V—Vincent.

Sharing his mind was the black howling underdog, Johnny Silverhand, and the bared, feral fangs they both showed made them two sides of the same savage coin.

One had killed at both the old and new Arasaka Towers. The other had been killed—his chest and heart blown apart.

Clinging to the edge of death, the two halves of this incomplete man had clawed their way back and now leveled an Overture Custom in defiance.

He kicked Jackie’s limp body aside toward the end of the hallway, then Adam tapped his own forehead with his index finger.

『You bastard…! Just ‘cause you beat me once, don’t get cocky!!』

Their shared emotions were intense, but controlling them was difficult—their roots lay in rage and calculation.

Especially when it was their first time trying something like this.

Vincent gave up early on trying to rein in the impulsive Johnny and focused instead on steering this runaway Porsche of a psyche straight toward the goal.

It was nearly impossible—like trying to pull the trigger with perfect timing using a rampaging aim—but their uncanny synchronicity made it doable.

"Rear guard, behind Main! Vanny!"

"On it~!"

With David absent, only Vanny and Dorio could hold the front line.

But faced with Adam Smasher for the first time, Dorio’s legs froze under the pressure, forcing her to trail behind Vanny.

Thanks to heavily modded reinforced tendons, Vanny closed the distance in the blink of an eye, spewing fighting spirit as she drove a full-powered body blow into Adam’s abdomen.

Adam, dismissing her attack as just a girl’s punch, felt a flicker of discomfort at the faint mechanical hum from Vanny’s right elbow and instinctively caught it with his left hand.

At the moment of impact, a tungsten spike loaded in her Goliath Arm launched from the base of her middle finger, embedding into his left palm with a dull thud.

【…One of that girl’s creations, huh】

Adam’s caution spiked, and he immediately grabbed Vanny’s right fist and flung her like a ragdoll straight at Dorio, who had been charging in with a kanabō raised.

He then mentally triggered his projectile launcher toward the clearly shaken Dorio, but Vanny—activating her Sandevistan in a flash—managed to pull her back in time, causing the round to fly far off-target.

Having conserved her Sandevistan’s runtime, Vanny clicked her tongue in frustration.

This Sandevistan was one of the few upgrades she’d been able to purchase thanks to the eddies saved when Rogue had done a favor for free—something she wanted to keep under wraps as much as possible.

"Fall back until you're ready to fight, chicken!"

Throwing Dorio behind Maine’s shield as a not-so-subtle warning, Vanny received cover fire from Rebecca’s customized Carnage—but the rounds bounced off Adam’s armored shell without inflicting any real damage.

『This isn’t a place for girls and brats!!』

Adam, spitting those words like venom, triggered the micro-missiles mounted on both shoulders, blasting the entire front area in a sweeping area-denial attack.

At that moment, Vincent activated his Sandevistan in a limited burst, firing bullets into the now-open missile pod right after launch.

He successfully struck the auto-loaded missile, triggering a chain explosion and disabling one of Adam’s weapons. But Adam, activating his own Sandevistan, blew off the pod’s attachment point before taking direct damage.

Without so much as glancing at the pods bursting against the walls, Adam brought the heavy machine gun mounted on his back to bear, unleashing fire on Maine’s shield.

By targeting the four corners, he caused the shield to twist and writhe, sapping Maine’s grip strength and turning his face pale—but Dorio, snapping out of it for the sake of her lover, helped him hold it down together.

【Hah… This is at least more fun than the crap from fifty years ago】

Once the heavy machine gun ran out of ammo, Adam tossed it on top of the two shields and launched a round from his shoulder-mounted launcher at them.

It landed dead center, exploding like a grenade and peppering Maine and Dorio with shrapnel, though nothing fatal.

He turned his attention instead to those with the potential to be real challengers—Vincent and Vanny.

But then, from the rubble, a blast round from Vally’s Nova COMRADE'S HAMMER slammed into Adam’s side. Overloaded with far more gunpowder than regulation, the warhead erupted in a massive explosion.

The shock was so intense that even Adam—with his monstrous lower body strength—stumbled backward, momentarily wide open.

"Go, Vincent! Don’t forget what you came here to do!!"

Snapped back to focus by her words, Vincent activated his Sandevistan, dove through the gate Adam had destroyed, and burst into the monolith-lined chamber of the database.

Moments later, Adam perceived what had happened. Shrugging his shoulders, he now faced Vanny head-on. As Vally shifted position to block the hole, Adam found himself trapped between the two.

【Hmph. Not bad at all… Is it the times? If you think you can strip me of the title of ‘strongest,’ go ahead and try. If you think you’ve got what it takes】

"Bring it on! If I beat you with these arms and legs Jugra gave me, then after all the twists and turns, we can just agree Jugra’s the strongest, right?!"

"…That girl might already be crowned the most terrifying by now."

Vary discarded the warped cylinder from her Nova Custom—designed solely to fire those unique rounds—and slotted in a fresh one, exhaling in relief.

Even with what was arguably the strongest firepower in existence right now, the Nova Custom’s hit hadn’t been a decisive blow. The grim reality of possible annihilation loomed over her.

Still, they had achieved the goal: sending Vincent, the only one capable of copying and crashing the Mikoshi, forward.

Now, all of them had to hold the line until he finished the job, Vally resolved, flames of fighting spirit rising within her.

Among the nomads, one of their defining traits was mental fortitude in the face of adversity.

Cars were as natural as breathing in their daily lives, and driving came just as naturally.

That’s why, in a race for skill and survival, only those who could floor it to the bitter end could win—and that thirst for victory was etched into them.

To fulfill a destiny carved not in mind, but in soul, Vally locked eyes with Vanny, gathering her focus to face the monster before them.

『Alright, time to taste a street-forged Killing Fist!』

Activating her reinforced prosthetic tendons in an instant, Vanny also engaged her Sandevistan, sending her body flying with max-speed three-dimensional motion.

—Listen up, Victoria. When you hit someone, they die.

Recalling Jugra’s brutally simplistic philosophy, Vanny unleashed a killer kick, slamming it into Adam’s cheek with a dull thud, the throttle of her murderous intent fully open.

For an ordinary person, it would’ve been a skull-shattering blow, not just a concussion—but it didn’t seem to have dealt a decisive hit to Adam.

However, as she retracted her leg, her Mantis Blades deployed from her lower limbs and followed through, their ultra-high-frequency vibrating edges slicing a deep gash into the plating on his face.

As Vanny’s Sandevistan wound down, Adam, realizing what had just happened, voiced his astonishment.

【You… you’ve installed two military-grade systems!?】

"Too bad for you! These aren't those crusty old Arasaka prototypes! Jugra-san finished them properly—they’re top-of-the-line gear! …Still, isn’t your armor a little too tough?"

The Goliath Arm and Bunny Hopper were, grade-wise, legendary-quality masterpieces.

Yet something about Adam’s armor felt abnormally resilient, and Vanny couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion.

"Alt! Can’t you do something!?"

【…I cannot. But I have come up with a theory regarding his structure. Adam Smasher is operating on memory residues, just like Johnny and me. His processing speed far exceeds human capacity—and he’s rejecting all of my hacking attempts. It’s abnormal. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume he's no longer a human, but a being akin to the current Delamain.】

【…Well, I suppose the truth was bound to come out eventually. Yes, ten years ago, I used Soulkiller to truly obtain a mechanical body. Masahiro tried to stop me, but human brains have a shelf life. Age and decay were all that awaited. I had no hesitation in discarding such a body.】

"So that's why you killed Jugra-san’s father?"

Trying to buy a little more time, Vanny steered the conversation toward the name Adam occasionally mentioned—Masahiro—picking up on Alt’s words.

The effect was immediate. Adam's glowing red eyes dimmed slightly, and he showed a flicker of sorrow as if mourning Masahiro.

【…No, I didn’t kill Masahiro. It was Saburo. He gave me the Relic for free, so he could chain me with Arasaka’s custom-made collar and leash. He used Doll-tech to animate my empty shell, and tried to kill Masahiro’s wife and child…!! Of course, when I found out later, I tried to rip Saburo to shreds, drag out his spine, and stomp his brains in… I failed, though.】

"So then, you're fighting us now just because you have to?"

【…No. I am a mercenary. Adam Smasher. If I can’t complete a job, I’m no mercenary at all. I’m sorry for that girl… but I’ll be prioritizing the mission.】

"Hah! Then sending her was a mistake! She’s the only one of us who can touch the Mikoshi!"

Rebecca, having judged that they had bought enough time for the data copy, flipped Adam off to insult him further.

But Adam just snorted at the gesture.

They should have remembered—where had Adam come from?

At that very moment, Vincent, having forced open a powered-down gate with sheer grit and reached the location of the Mikoshi, stood frozen, eyes wide at the sight before him.

What lay there was the pitiful remains of the massive monolith—the Mikoshi—completely obliterated and engulfed in flames.

【Ah, so the Mikoshi was your target. In that case, how unfortunate. As per Saburo’s orders, the Mikoshi has already been destroyed. Thoroughly, so it couldn’t be salvaged.】

Adam’s words, laced with cold laughter, struck everyone with shock and bitter regret.

But only one remained calm—Vanny, who asked Adam a pointed question.

"So what—you just moved it somewhere else, didn’t you? You have it, right? The Mikoshi backup data."

Maybe it was beastly instinct whispering to her. Vanny’s gaze stayed razor-sharp.

Adam began chuckling darkly, then burst into full laughter loud enough to reach Vincent in the Relic room.

He then intensified the glow in his red eyes and tapped his own neck with a finger.

"Fine then. I’ll take your head off and hand it to Jugra-san as a gift."

【Hah! You bark loud, little girl. Very well—if you think you can take this head, then try it!】

Activating all four limbs and starting to radiate heat from his body, Victoria flashed a feral grin worthy of her name.

Thanks to the Sandevistan having cooled down, all that was left was to act. With that resolve, Victoria bumped her fists together and bared her fangs in a sneer.

As if mocking herself—that this was the only value she had.

Victoria’s straight punch and Adam’s counter-straight collided, ringing out like a shrill bell signaling the start of round two.