Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System

Chapter 631: Worrying too little.

It all started with a report. While most heroes were busy dealing with the attack on the Neo-Vatra branch of both the BEO and Eidolon Industries, another incident was taking place in a different part of the city. Though overshadowed, the scars it left behind wouldn’t fade for a long time, even if all the mysteries around it were solved.

Though Blue Moon Street wasn’t a part of their jurisdiction, Silver Wind still received the details of the incident, mainly because of their proximity to the site. Learning about the Sanctuary and what happened to it was enough of a shock, but the more they looked into the matter, the more insane it began to feel.

One thing they never expected to see was the name of a certain red-haired youth. He was mentioned too many times to count, some in relation to the Sanctuary itself, but mostly as the main suspect behind the massacre that took place in the Red Hill district.

Dante Sokolov, a.k.a the Red Demon, a.k.a the Cyberpunk. A Level 4 Ascended Cyborg and leader of the Inferno gang. If the report is to be believed, he alone was responsible for it all.

Even though his gang had been at war with the notorious Black Skull syndicate, no one could have expected the latter to be entirely erased. It was shocking, but no one would’ve thought much of it if things ended there. The problem was that a large number of civilians had been assassinated following the gang war, and many of them were high-profile politicians and businessmen. For that reason, the Cyberpunk has been designated as a first-class villain, even though there is no concrete evidence. Looking deeper into the case, one would struggle to believe in his innocence, and that was the reason behind Merry’s terrible state.

"Seriously," plopping down on one of the chairs, Beatrice crossed both her arms and legs as if the frown on her face wasn’t enough to show how angry she was. "You only ever talked to him once. How come he has such a tight grip on you?"

"I don’t expect you to understand, leader." Merry wiped her tears. "He’s clearly not your type."

"And villains are yours?"

"He is not a villain! He’s just... misunderstood."

"Oh boy, here we go again."

Kafka voiced everyone’s thoughts before taking a sip from his coffee.

"If he were truly a villain, then why is there no warrant for his arrest?" Merry argued.

"Obviously because he’s good at covering his tracks," Beatrice said. "He’s a gang leader for god’s sake! That alone is more than enough proof that he’s a criminal!"

"The only crime he committed was stealing my heart!" Realizing what she said, Merry quickly covered her face and started wiggling. "Kyaaa!!!"

"I’m gonna barf..." Kafka said.

Meeting his gaze, Wolf could only shrug. Though their orange-haired friend seemed to be the odd one out, it wasn’t too difficult to see how opinions can be divided when it came to this case.

Black Skull has done some of the most inhumane things anyone can commit, so the one who punished them for it could be said to be a hero. Nevertheless, that didn’t change the fact that he had no right to do what he did. They had laws for a reason, but even if they were to disregard that, killing almost four thousand people went far beyond anything that could be called vigilante justice.

"Merry..." organizing his thoughts, Wolf looked up, meeting his teammate’s gaze. "Sorry to say this, but... the leader is right. It’s better if you give up on him sooner rather than later. It’s only a matter of time before he is convicted, and once that happens..."

"Hmph!" Merry puffed her cheeks. "You’re just jealous that I stole him from you!"

"... I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that."

In truth, Wolf was as troubled by the report as his orange-haired teammate was. The red-haired thug had been on his mind for months now, and ever since he saw that video of him fighting Red Riot, the hero had been itching for a proper match, unlike the brief fight they had the first time they met.

Unfortunately for him, that desire seemed like it was going to go unfulfilled. No matter how good they are at what they do, villains are destined to meet the sword of justice. The BEO might have been slow to act, seeing how busy they were with a much bigger incident, but it was only a matter of time before they brought him to justice.

"I refuse to believe it." Hugging her knees, Merry fell on her side. "Even if he was a Level 4 Cyborg, there is no way he could have killed those many people on his own, and without getting noticed."

"Well, there is always the chance that he wasn’t alone," Beatrice said.

The report did mention him having a powerful backer, but just like the Cyberpunk, there was no evidence to support that claim.

"How about we just go ask him?"

The question went unheard, then everyone turned their eyes to Kafka.

"... Are you out of your mind?" Beatrice looked at him as if he had lost it, and she wasn’t on her own.

"Hey, we can sit around and talk about it all we want, but we won’t get anywhere with just that." Kafka shrugged. "It wouldn’t hurt to try."

"As if we can just waltz in and start asking questions!" Merry snapped at him. "What if he really had nothing to do with what happened!? What would he think of me if I showed up out of nowhere and started throwing accusations!!?"

"I thought you were looking for an excuse to go meet him?" Kafka asked.

"Not like this! What if he starts hating me because of that!? We can’t show up without a good reason!"

"I think you’re worrying too much," Wolf said.

"You’re worrying too little!" She retorted.

For the time being, Merry seemed to have regained some of her liveliness, which was a very big plus. The problem was that it seemed like she might rebound at any moment.

"I have an idea."

No sooner had he said the words than he had everyone’s attention. Seeing the hope in Merry’s sparkling eyes, Kafka felt a little bad for her, and so he cleared his throat.

"This Dante guy, his gang runs a nightclub called the Red Oni Club." He said. "It closed a few weeks ago after they got attacked, but from what I heard, they’re reopening it soon."

The idea was very simple. The reopening was going to be a big event, so it wouldn’t be strange for them to be there, especially with how close the club was to yet another EI incident. Even if it weren’t, the four could just say they were there to party. The gangsters were unlikely to fall for it, but at the same time, it seemed unlikely that they would attack them unprovoked.

"So, what do you say?" Looking at Merry, Kafka then turned his gaze to Wolf. "Don’t you want to meet him? The Cyberpunk?"