Chapter 57: Military Prosthetics


    The towering Steel Heart, over three meters tall, came charging at an incredible speed. The sheer oppressive force was overwhelming. Forget about being directly attacked—just getting bumped would mean instant obliteration.


    With his heart pounding like a drum, Sun Jack darted into the gaps between rows of ck databases. He hoped these massive servers might hinder the behemoth’s pursuit. But Steel Heart’s fully metallic body was like a tank, crashing through with deafening <em>ng</em> <em>ng</em> sounds, sending sparks flying everywhere. Anything in its path was either shattered or thrown aside.


    The danger didn’t stop with Steel Heart. A sharp <em>zzzzzz</em> sound filled the air as drones apanying it emitted an ever-brightening glow from their tips.


    With a <em>whoosh</em>, a blinding beam of light shot straight toward Sun Jack. Forced to defend himself, Sun Jack raised his prosthetic limb. But the supposedly bulletproof metal limb melted through likeva, leaving a gaping hole!


    "Watch out! It’s a Gaofeng Model 6 Laser Cannon! Its pration is off the charts!" yelled the Father, lifting his shotgun and firing furiously at the drone. However, bullets that used to tear through flesh now only left shallow dents on the drone’s body.


    Meanwhile, the other drones, which had been busy destroying evidence, retracted their data cables and directed their sensor lights toward the Father.


    In the next moment, bullets,sers, and grenades filled the air, turning the rtively small room into a chaotic battlefield.


    While running, Sun Jack frantically raised his prosthetic arm,unching missiles at the Steel Heart chasing him. The explosions left the behemoth’s metallic shell slightly ckened but caused no real damage.“Seriously? You’re still using fixed-rocket explosives in this day and age!?”


    Steel Heart leapt, flipping its massive frame onto the ceiling. A hatch opened on its broad left shoulder,unching a gleaming silver shell that zipped toward Sun Jack at terrifying speed.


    Just as it was about to hit him, Sun Jack twisted his body at thest second, narrowly avoiding the projectile. Before he could even celebrate, the shell curved mid-air, looping back toward his back. It could <em>turn</em>!


    Steel Heart’s face twisted into a cruel smile. "Idiot! Taste the power of smart-guided weaponry!"


    With a deafening <em>boom</em>, the shell exploded. As Steel Heart sneered, expecting Sun Jack to be obliterated, a figure emerged from the smoke. But it wasn’t Sun Jack—it was a fully cybeic cyborg.


    “Tepai! Are you alright?” Sun Jack stumbled out from behind Tepai, his ears bleeding from the explosion, as he injected a needle into his neck.


    “Try taking a hit yourself, and then ask that dumbass question!” Tepai, his metal skeleton now exposed from the st, cursed as he lifted his rifle and sprayed bullets at Steel Heart. But the barrage of bullets barely scratched its surface.


    As Steel Heart charged at them, the two scrambled to retreat. "Screw you, Sun Jack! I told you to buy better gear, but nooo—you had to save money at a time like this!"


    “I told you already, I can’t afford it! What do you think I am, a millionaire?” Sun Jack ducked quickly, narrowly avoiding aser aimed at his head. “Shut up and think of a way to kill him! Either he dies, or we do!”


    Before Sun Jack’s words even finished, Steel Heart’s metallic fingers extended rapidly, like five steel cables, whipping toward them.


    The cables snaked around, binding the two tightly before dragging them toward Steel Heart.


    The Father and Song 6PUS rushed forward, attempting a rescue, but the remaining five drones quickly adapted using their AI, moving to block them.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    With the two now mere meters from the massive machine, Sun Jack panicked. Just as Steel Heart prepared to activate its hydraulic system to tear them apart, Sun Jack had a sh of inspiration. Quickly essing the su, he sent a message to Tepai: "Bluff him!"


    Tepai immediately caught on. Just as Steel Heart was about to strike, red lights began shing rapidly on Tepai’s disy. A chilling female voice emanated from his body: "Nuclear detonation mode activated."


    “Holy sh*t! Cyber psychotics!” Steel Heart instinctively recoiled, retracting the cables and flinging the two away.


    Its system quickly activated a massive shield expansion mechanism. Armor tes shifted from its back to its front, forming a colossal tower shield coated in an adaptive voltage-responsive nanofilm.


    At the same time, thin memory-metal rods extended from various points on Steel Heart’s body, weaving into a Faraday cage designed to repel high-explosive electromaic fields.


    Meanwhile, Tepai wasted no time. He grabbed Sun Jack and bolted toward the exit, showing no signs of self-detonating.


    When Steel Heart’s sensors registered no actual nuclear threat, it realized it had been duped.


    “You dare mess with me?!” Enraged, Steel Heart deactivated its shield, reignited its leg thrusters, and gave chase.


    Though they had escaped for now, Sun Jack knew they were still as good as dead if this continued.


    “Father! You’ve been in the army! Do you recognize what brand his prosthetics are?” Sun Jack desperately searched for a weakness.


    “I recognize some of it! Sending you the data now!”


    In moments, a flood of detailed specs and 3D models filled Sun Jack’s system interface. Just reading through it all left him hopeless. Steel Heart’s prosthetics were top-of-the-line military-grade, developed for corporate warfare. They ounted for every possible attack: electromaic, thermal, kic, explosive, even hacking.


    Forget defeating it—they didn’t even have a weapon capable of breaching its defenses!


    “What now?” Tepai asked.


    “Run!” Sun Jack shouted.


    Without hesitation, Tepai turned and shot Song 6PUS in the knee.


    "Father! Old Six, get moving! We’ll regroup outside!" As Song 6PUS copsed, Tepai and Sun Jack made a break for the door.


    But as soon as they stepped out, bullets rained down. Even through his bulletproof vest, Sun Jack felt the impact.


    “Goddammit! Those 18th Street thugs are blocking the exit! They’re trying to get us killed by Steel Heart!” Sun Jack fired a few shots to push them back, retreating inside.


    “Motherf<em>er! Sun Jack! You’re a f</em>ing a**hole!” Song 6PUS roared, clutching his injured leg.


    Sun Jack ignored him, knowing their current predicament spelled certain death if things didn’t change.


    “What do we do?” he muttered as Steel Heart closed in, his anxiety reaching a peak. “Do I really have to break my own limits to survive?”


    But Sun Jack knew even if he surpassed his body’s limits, it wouldn’t prate Steel Heart’s defenses.


    Just as despair set in, a gunshot rang out. Steel Heart’s massive lion-like head jerked to the side as golden mane fragments exploded into the air.