How To Live as a Cyberpunk Solver

40. bandit

Leonard and Max got out of the car in turn. It was new, but they were partners who bore no resemblance to each other.

Leonard, who had 70% of his body with implants, only had a shoulder holster in his coat, but Max, a short, skinny living human, was armed with all sorts of weapons. A 7.62mm sniper rifle, a shod-off shotgun, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, and a Japanese blade all seemed poised to serve three people by themselves.

Leonard gave the funny sidekick a complicated look before quitting.

“yes. There has never been a war lost due to being over-armed.”

He didn’t hack implants like Leonard, and he wasn’t nimble like Noah Lucas, so the only thing he could trust was his weapon.

“The place listed on the coordinates is around here…”

Looking around, it was literally desolate. Not to mention the old ruined city that looked like a folding screen in the distance, and the nearby facilities were also in poor condition. The concrete with more collapsed area than the standing area and the oxidized and crumbling barbed wire only made me think ‘what was there’.

“You don’t have to find the air-raid shelter yourself, do you?”

It wasn’t. While contemplating whether to contact Sigma or the broker, someone appeared through a crack in the sloping exterior wall of the building. Max raised the ‘Winterfield’ muzzle.

“Don’t move! Raise your hand and shoot!”

“…it’s backwards.”

“Don’t raise your hand? Do you shoot when it moves?”

It was terrifying no matter how it was changed. The opponent giggled and approached.

“Are you the fixer from Sodom?”

At first glance, the messy hair that hadn’t been washed for months and the tough leather clothes with iron plates seemed like a bandit in the wasteland, but the armament was unusual. Wrenches, pliers, hammers, screwdrivers, and other expensive tools were packed by size and type. If you want to use that as a weapon, you can use it, but it wasn’t a bandit either.

“Is that the old man?”

The dirty old man grinned. It was fun to have a few teeth. ‘Didn’t dental implants come about 100 years ago?’ It wasn’t just the teeth that were old.

“It’s Jackson Toner. Just call me Old Man. I don’t think there’s anyone older than me.”

“Fixer Leonard Walker.”

Shaking hands casually, he scanned the old man. The right arm and two legs were implanted, but they were very old. It was amazing that it was still working with a model from at least 40 years ago.

‘Are they early settlers?’

Or it could have been an aborigine who has continued to live on earth. Given his age, there was a possibility.

“What am I going to do?”

“I want to see your skills before that.”

It was a frequent request, so he didn’t even sigh. Leonard showed his hexagonal pupils. It was well maintained, but it was an older body with almost no security features, so I took control right away.

“uh? uh huh What?!”

Leonard turned Oldman round and round in place. Sufi Dance? Swan’s Lake? It was a movement that reminded me of such a traditional dance.

“stop! stop! that’s enough! Enough!”

Oldman was very flustered as it was the first time he had been hacked. Leonard, just in case, widened the distance a little and let go. I can’t keep my balance. sat down

“You make me act rude at this age! That young friend is doing too much!”

Contrary to what he said, he wasn’t that angry. Rather, he smiled as if he had gained trust. It was definitely different from the cyborg these days.

“A skill like this could handle that damn thing. Come on, let’s go.”

Oldman jumped up and headed for the precarious building. Leonard’s doctor didn’t ask. If you’ve come this far, it’s natural to carry out the quest, but…

“Shall I follow you?”

“Should I go?”

At 4,000 credits, there was no other option.

@

It was left unattended for half a century after being hit by a nuclear storm, but the foundation construction was strong, just like the TCA (Third Continent Army), which once claimed to be the protector of the earth. Even if you drill a hole in the slanted wall and blow up the cellar, it will not collapse. Leonard looked back and forth between the cracked ceiling and the twisted pillar, and he saw the brave, ignorant old man.

“You can be alive.”

“What? Is it a compliment?”

It’s not a compliment, but he wasn’t an outgoing old man to worry about. Evidence of that appeared on the third basement floor. Max put the gun away and shouted.

“It’s a dungeon!”

There was a metal circular door that took up an entire side of the wall. The size was unusual, and the structure was not an ordinary one that could be pushed or pulled. Leonard said after scanning the material.

“An air-raid shelter?”

“Isn’t it a bit big for a safe?”

There were traces of hitting with a hammer, traces of hitting with a crowbar, traces of detonating bombs, etc. Oldman’s efforts were evident. The smoke was small, so I didn’t hit the explosives ignorantly.

“I thought about blowing up the whole wall on this side, but I thought the building would collapse.”

Leonard knocked on the door of the shelter. There was no vibration at least 20 cm. I tried to break this with physical force, so I couldn’t speak. Oldman asked, half-expected and half-concerned.

“What do you think? Can you open it?”

“It is impossible here.”

“why not? Move this damn thing like you moved my body!”

“Do you know what kind of wizard a hacker is?”

Due to the nature of the shelter, if the door was closed from the inside, it could not be opened from the outside no matter what. However, this case was a little different.

“How did you find this place?”

“Well, why is that important?”

“If you want to open that door, you better tell me.”

The lamp connected to the simple generator flickered uneasily. It felt like I was hastening the time that was running out.

“I worked at this base in my youth.”

Max’s eyes widened.

“wow! Are you from before the Great War?”

“How old do you see me? Of course I was born before that! Well, it was when I was a young kid…”

Leonard knocked on the shelter again.

“Were you in here?”

“If it wasn’t for that, I’d be dead right now.”

“Then you came out after the war.”

In other words, this door is not locked from the inside, but from the outside. Then it could be reopened outside.

“We need to find the computer room or the control room.”

@

Recalling memories from 47 years ago was not an easy task. Even if the building is fine, I am confused about where it is, but it was even more difficult because there were many collapsed and deformed sections. After going back and forth between the ground and the underground three times, Max had doubts.

“Did you work here?”

Oldman scratched at his dandruff and excused himself.

“You look like you are my age. What I ate for breakfast is not good.”

“That’s dementia. Hurry up and replace the memory chip.”

“See how this little crab is talking?”

Of the two, Leonard had the best soft performance.

Leonard made a three-dimensional map based on the roads he had passed. As Oldman said, it was a long time ago. There was a possibility that I could go there then, but I couldn’t go there now. There were several potential locations.

“What is on this side?”

The map was sent to Old Man’s brain chip. Oldman was angry that he had floated the data into his eyeballs without permission, but he held back due to his years of experience. If you can hack the brain chip and implant eyes, you can do even worse.

‘I brought the tiger. I brought a tiger.’

I grumbled inwardly and checked the marked spot on the map.

“Not here. It’s a corrosive warehouse. The edible ones were stolen a long time ago, and even if there are leftovers, the expiration date has passed. About 40 years?”

“What’s down there?”

“underground? The basement…”

I couldn’t remember what I ate for breakfast, but I remembered what I had been squeezed half a century ago. I was caught secretly skipping canned peaches in the corrosion warehouse, and the reason I got caught…

“right! Next to this is the officer’s cafeteria, and below that is the Jitongsil! I was caught by an officer who came up to eat, and it took me 3 days… hehehehe! Anyway, I remembered!”

As Shining Star said, the memories were beautiful. It was even more so in the days when there were no memory chips.

“Let’s go there.”

“Eight! Where is it!”

Max, who can’t see anything except the gas mask lens, was annoyed, but he ignored it and left for the command and control room. And I realized why I couldn’t find it until now. The central staircase and the left and right corridors accessible from the ground were all blocked. Leonard muttered after sweeping away a handful of dust.

“It collapsed recently.”

It must have collapsed when the bombs slammed downstairs. There were reprimands that were not like Jang Yoo-Seo. Old Man took out a new bomb with fierce fighting and Admiral Lee’s heart.

“Wait a minute! This much can be opened with explosives…”

“Stop it. It’s crazy to use a bomb on a place destroyed by an explosion.”

“So what? Are you going to dig it up with a shovel?”

Leonard surveyed the wreckage in silence. The underground bunker was an unusual place, but there was no completely enclosed place in the world. It didn’t take long to find a way. Leonard looked back and forth between old and young. A small one of them fit.

@

“The day after tomorrow is the 22nd century…”

Max grumbled and looked down at the vent. It was deep and dark, like the life of a private in the military.

“Aren’t we supposed to use robots or exploration drones or something? Are you just pushing people in?”

Like a military facility, thick wire mesh is welded, but it is very old and poor. After firing a few shots with the revolver and kicking it with my foot, it came off easily. Oldman giggled as he tied a rope around Max’s waist.

“Be careful, there may be zombies that are 50 years old.”

“Where are the zombies in the world these days? It’s not even a third-rate movie.”

It was still scary, but I checked the gun and put it in the holster. Besides, zombies weren’t the only concern.

“Even if I arrive safely in the chiropractic room or chiropractor room, I can’t do hacking or anything like that, right?”

“There will be a main computer that controls the facility. Put this on there.”

Leonard pulled out a memory chip from under his ear. A hacking program capable of controlling the system remotely was planted. And whispered in secret to the old man.

“If you have something that could be credited, take it.”

“Where did Sang Do-deok go? Morality?”

“Who was the one who sang because he liked dungeons?”

Now that I look at it, there is a bit of a resemblance. A sinister smile crossed his face.

Oldman snapped the flare and threw it into the vent. The red light fell to the floor with a thud. Max grabbed his cell phone, flashlight, power bank, cutter, and hammer and climbed into the vent. Leonard nodded, wrapping the rope around his right arm and adjusting the length with his left arm.

“great. Start.”

The bio-exploration equipment descended into the half-century-old dungeon. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t dangerous. However, the apocalypse wasteland at the end of the century was dangerous enough even if it was not a dungeon.

Boaaang-! Buaang-!

Leonard’s and Oldman’s gazes turned at the same time. It was noisy outside the TCA facility. Clouds of dust rose from under the hills and muffled muffled noises rang out. Leonard asked just in case.

“Did you invite your friends?”

“I have no friends. I’ve been bullied for over 47 years.”

“I see.”

Wasteland bandits that are scarier than zombies have appeared. The timing was very bad.