episode_0110

The AV sped smoothly through the skies of the lower city without any hindrance.

Looking at the roads jammed with traffic, it made me wonder how people lived without this in the old days.

“Haha! You ground-crawling maggots! Watch my ass and jerk off!”

Even I, who only thinks of cars as transportation or for showing off, was amazed by the AV’s overwhelming convenience. But JQ, a professional driving enthusiast, seemed doubly excited. He skillfully weaved the AV’s tail, speeding up even more and exceeding the restricted speed limit for aerial vehicles.

“You were such a fucking faggot just now.”

“Fuck you!”

He drove recklessly, making sharp drifts just before crashing into buildings at speeds easily exceeding 360 KM/h, or deliberately running on the same Z-axis as other aerial vehicles, overtaking them with acrobatic flying.

For me, who has maximized my reflexes and reaction speed with top-grade eyes and nervous system implants, and can even accelerate my thought process with speedware, my only impression is “Wow! That’s fast!” But even seasoned mercenaries would probably wet their pants if they sat here.

In an instant, we traversed Centum Street from Nexus Block, and even the outskirts of Tonyboni became visible.

If it were a regular vehicle, it would have taken an extra one to two hours, even with speeding.

WEEE-OOO—!!

As I was slurping the lemon-flavored synthetic artificial aid from the drink holder, a high-pitched, ear-splitting noise came from behind.

Looking at the rear camera, they were EPSB traffic security officers’ enforcement AVs.

“Hey, JQ. They’ve come to give you a ticket for speeding just now. Getting a speeding ticket in 3 minutes and 13 seconds with a company vehicle, that’s impressive, isn’t it?”

“Haha! They can only give me a ticket if they can catch me!”

Making a very dangerous remark, JQ tightened his grip on the control rig.

The dopamine from the始まった chase seemed to have made him go ballistic.

Feeling the calories from the sour yet sickeningly sweet artificial sweetener bomb of the lemon aid satisfying my body, I sank back into the car seat and put on some peaceful punk metal.

The 350 BPM beat, with its intense electronic sounds, drums, and synthesizers exploding, makes a stopped heart beat again, even without a defibrillator.

[“Warning to AX-35-7763! This aerial vehicle has exceeded the regulated speed by 78 km/h! Stop! I repeat, stop!”]

“If I don’t stop, what can you guys do?!”

JQ rolled down the window and stretched out his hand into the raging storm outside, raising his middle finger.

The Tonyboni smog zone, which we would enter in 7 seconds.

It was a no-driving zone where one couldn’t even see an inch ahead, and ordinary drivers caused pile-ups in less than a minute. JQ seemed to intend to break through using the 3D map of the Tonyboni district he had received previously.

[“St—!”]

Instead of slowing down towards smog-filled Tonyboni, the AV accelerated wildly. The EPSB traffic patrols seemed flustered and tried to say something, but before they could, the AV’s front window was enveloped in smog, and their voices muffled.

Building ahead, building ahead after left turn, building ahead after altitude increase.

Due to the extremely chaotic construction plan, it was a truly nightmarish structure for aerial vehicles to navigate. But JQ, without any hesitation, performed acrobatics as if the visibility was clear, passing through the central sector and arriving at the sector adjacent to the North Golden Circle.

“Ah, that was fun after a long time.”

“But anyway, your vehicle number is already exposed. What’s the point of running away?”

“It was fun!”

“You’ll get a ticket, though.”

“It was fun!”

“You pay the fine.”

“Ah.”

It wasn’t a privately owned vehicle but a company-owned vehicle, so he couldn’t just run away every time they came to catch him.

JQ, high on the dopamine of driving the AV, slumped down at a problem he hadn’t even thought about.

“Hey, hey..! John, you’re rich now, aren’t you?! Surely our bond isn’t so weak that you can’t even pay for one speeding ticket fine, is it?”

“Speeding, reckless driving, prohibited acrobatics in the city, insulting a patrol officer, obstructing public duty, and creating a dangerous atmosphere… That adds up to 39 penalty points and a fine of about 70,000 credits, I’d say?”

As Martina’s automatic calculation, referencing EPSB traffic ordinances, informed me of the estimated fine, JQ tried to grab my pants leg, but I am the CEO of a cold city.

Instead, I kicked his butt.

“Ughh!!”

“If we add all the ordinances you violated with your reckless driving before this time, it would be about twice this amount?”

“Ughhhhh!!!”

Leaving JQ, who was rolling around on the floor and throwing a fit, I took a deep breath of Tonyboni’s foul air again.

‘Even with a toxic filter implant, high concentrations of toxic smog significantly reduce the implant’s lifespan. Deep breathing is not recommended.’

‘I’ll replace it when I get back anyway, so does it matter?’

‘…Affirmative.’

Silencing Martina, who was trying to nag me with her flawless logic, I moved my steps towards the restricted area where Wild Hunt is said to operate.

The bright neon’s dreamlike glow that had somewhat penetrated the smog disappeared, leaving a gloomy area where only darkness or the light of white headlights illuminated the streets.

On the road surface, a long, glowing line indicating that this was a restricted area was laid out.

“Stop. This is a restricted area managed by Xenotech. Your identification and purpose of visit…”

As soon as I approached the line and looked down, a man in a suit, wearing a high-level protective gas mask, emerged from the smog and approached.

That skinny man, who appeared to be from Xenotech…

*Snap-*

I twisted his neck to knock him out.

“Don’t mess with me!”

* * *

The interior of the restricted area had no significant features.

It was similar to a Golden Circle covered in dense smog.

Abandoned and neglected, precarious buildings lined the area. It was desolate and devoid of any human presence; one could say it was a place with an eerie, chilling atmosphere.

“Anyway, John, are you finally going to make some progress with the Boss?”

“Luna and I have always been hot.”

Deciding to think about the fine later, JQ, who had ‘revived’ and was following with a swagger, seemed to recall the surprise kiss Luna had given me before we left the company, and poked my side with his elbow.

“Bullshit~! Do you think I don’t know that the Boss has feelings for you, but you’re always messing around with other women? This Hyung-nim knows everything, you know.”

“Hmm…”

“Like those Kabukicho twins whose eyes dripped honey, I wonder how you sweet-talked them. And you always sweet-talked a girl on missions, didn’t you? Ever since you got that Ayakashi serum or whatever injected, you’ve looked too handsome and are needlessly popular.”

*Swoosh- whoosh-whoosh-*

I decided to ignore JQ’s barrage, as he performed a flurry of punches.

“Well, now that you’ve become a young master inherited with the no~ble blood of Ayakashi, of course you would be. You enviable bastard.”

“You have a girlfriend, so why are you throwing a fit at me?”

“Hey! It’s instinct to get annoyed when you see a popular guy, even if you have a girlfriend! Damn it. What am I lacking compared to this bastard?!”

“Character?”

“…”

“I’m not paying your fine.”

“Haha! That’s right. My dongsaeng’s boundless generosity, vast as the ocean, is enough to make everyone fall for him, regardless of gender.”

“Mm-hmm. Right, right. My dongsaeng truly has an incredibly generous heart,” JQ muttered what was like a monologue but not quite, and put his arm around my shoulder.

“Anyway, I’m just asking if you’re really going to make progress with the Boss now.”

“Hmm… To be honest, I’ve always wanted to make progress.”

I’m not an idiot; even if I pushed a little, who would allow pseudo-sexual acts, if not actual intercourse, with someone they dislike?

Except for prostitutes who sell their bodies for money, that is.

“It’s just that I was waiting because it seemed like there was something that made Luna hesitate to become more than just friends and become lovers with me.”

Perhaps it’s something connected to the surname Taylor.

The name Taylor, which Johann, Kathleen, and Hiko also mentioned, seemed to have quite a complicated story behind it.

And it’s probably similar to the story about revenge that Luna subtly hinted at to me.

“Goodness… How frustrating. So frustrating. Has she still not told you?”

“Do you know?”

JQ, who was pounding his chest as if choking.

“The Boss’s story? Of course, I know. I’m one of the first recruited founding members, you know? And Blake and Raleigh joined because they agreed with the Boss’s goals. If you ask ‘why’, the reasons might all be different.”

I felt a little jealous of JQ.

The one I had been friends with for a long time was Bartender Luna, not Mercenary Luna.

“Should I tell you?”

“No, it’s fine. She’ll tell me eventually when I become a bit more trustworthy. Besides… it feels like she’s about to tell me anyway.”

Honestly, if I wanted to find out, I could.

As I said, I could ask a megacorp executive I’m acquainted with, or I could go to Johann and find out.

But I stubbornly wanted to hear the story directly from Luna herself.

At my refusal, JQ clicked his tongue, stretched, and turned his head.

“Anyway, have you thought of a way to find Wild Hunt? You can’t just wander all over this wide area when you can’t even see properly, can you?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll find them if I walk around.”

“Ah, damn it. I should’ve brought the AV.”

JQ, saying that, couldn’t even use drones in such dense smog, and irritably shoved his hands into his loose pants, as if there was no solution.

Just then, a clicking sound was heard, the sound of a metal frame stepping on the asphalt road.

JQ and I simultaneously turned our heads in the direction of the sound, and there it was.

“A four-legged walking robot?”

“That’s one of those. The robot dog that stumbles and regains its balance when you kick it.”