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Chapter 250 c
🕑 Added 2025-05-27 15:00:24 +0000 UTCChapter 250 c
“You really intend to wipe us out?” The words squeezed out from between his teeth.
“Wrong. It’s not that I intend to—it's that I already am.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a loud bang echoed out. The front door downstairs was kicked open with brutal force, followed by a torrent of gunfire and the desperate, dying screams of Cannon’s men.
“You demon?!” Cannon was both furious and terrified. “How dare you—”
“Thanks for the compliment. Have a lovely evening, Mr. Cannon.”
The gunfire didn’t last long. Soon, it went completely silent. Moments later, the phone was picked up again. The holographic screen displayed a tall man wearing a mask.
The man removed it.
It was Emmerich.
“All done. Not even a cockroach left in this house.”
“How many of you came?”
“Three full squads. To avoid leaving traces, we killed every guard at the base. This way, no one will know we were here.”
“Thanks. I’ll wire the money to Rogue now.”
That night, with the death of its new leader Cannon, the Clemente family was wiped out. The other families of the 6th Street Gang signed a ceasefire agreement with the Kiryu-gumi of the Tyger Claws. Since the Clemente family was gone, no one was left to pay compensation on their behalf. And the Kiryu-gumi didn’t want to escalate the conflict into an all-out war with the entire 6th Street Gang—that kind of situation would be completely unpredictable.
Even without compensation, the destruction of the Clemente family was enough to appease the Kiryu-gumi’s fury.
They agreed to the ceasefire.
As for the Juan family, after the assassination of its previous leader Juan by unknown parties, it fell into internal chaos. Several key figures within the family fought over succession, engaging in gun battles on the streets day after day. The Juan family was left in tatters.
Padre’s forces seized the opportunity.
One by one, they defeated the Juan family’s leading members and absorbed their turf, becoming the only true winner of the gang war.
A month later, Padre was discharged from the hospital. Though he still needed a wheelchair, he already looked much better than when Leo had last seen him in the hospital room.
As soon as he returned to the hideout, Padre summoned all his men.
He announced that Jackie would be his successor.
The room burst into an uproar.
Though some sharp ones had already guessed it and weren’t surprised.
Not everyone fully accepted Jackie just yet, but fortunately, there were still a few years to go before he would formally inherit power from Padre.
With Padre’s training and guidance, Jackie would undoubtedly grow into a capable mediator and leader.
…
The morning sun pierced through the darkness, shining through the smart floor-to-ceiling windows and bathing the interior in warm light.
Leo came down from the bedroom upstairs and saw Johnny sitting in front of the terminal, a cable plugged into him—one end into his own port, the other into the terminal.
Leo had a smart electric toothbrush in his mouth, casually leaning over to see what was on the screen.
The display showed Hearts of Iron XXI. Johnny was playing as Czechoslovakia, had refused Germany’s unreasonable demands for the Sudetenland, and was now stockpiling and fortifying for a possible invasion.
Leo took a swig of water and spat out all the toothpaste foam.
Wiping his face with a towel draped around his neck, he asked, “Slacking off at home again?”
“What else am I supposed to do?” Johnny didn’t even lift his head, as if the game on the screen was more important than real life.
“Didn’t you say you’d come with me? Something about witnessing my great and legendary journey?”
“You misremembered. I definitely didn’t say it like that. Besides, I changed my mind. Why go out when staying home and surfing the net is more fun? Hard to believe, but after fifty years, humanity actually invented some interesting new stuff.”
He waved his mechanical arm. “Come over and watch your daddy Johnny beat the crap out of little Adolf.”
“What’s there to watch? I’ve logged thousands of hours in that game myself.”
No one really knew why Johnny Silverhand had become a shut-in, but as long as he didn’t blow up the apartment, Leo figured it was fine.
Well, maybe he had a guess.
That prison in cyberspace—the data fortress where Johnny had been trapped—Leo had never gone in, but it was probably like a mental ward. A place of constant confusion, drifting between dream and reality, or thinking it was all a dream.
So for Johnny, those fifty-some years probably passed like a nap.
Just one really long nap.
When he finally woke up and found himself trapped in a machine shell—if it had been a Gundam, that’d be one thing.
But it was just an ordinary, fragile recon drone.
Disappointment was inevitable. Confusion too.
Especially when he found out that the nuclear bomb he had sacrificed so much to plant had changed nothing.
Arasaka still stood tall over everyone’s heads.
The world was still ruled by corporations.
Losing hope was only natural. Leo understood that.
Fine. If Johnny wanted to play games, let him. Didn’t cost much electricity anyway. And it was nice having someone around to watch the place.
When Leo cooked himself a fragrant breakfast, Johnny finally paused his game and click-clacked over on his multi-legged chassis to hop up onto a chair.
“Everything in Heywood settled?”
Leo picked up a fried egg with his chopsticks and took a bite. “How’d you know something happened in Heywood?”
“You think I’m dumb? It was all over the news. So, you solved a big problem for Padre. He didn’t name you as successor?”
“No. Jackie’s his heir.”
“You passed the chance to Jackie? I thought you were trying to become a gang boss, with all that planning and scheming.”
“I’m not even Mexican. How the hell could I be the boss of the Valentinos?”
“Then all that effort was wasted?”
“How’s it wasted? What’s good for my brother is good for me.”
“Hmm, you’re really chill about it. I had a brother once.”
Leo got up, walked to the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of cola.
“I know. Kerry Eurodyne, right?”
“How do you know that?”
“Your Samurai band site is still up. Plus, Kerry’s famous. Played bass next to you onstage. How could I not know?”
Johnny sighed. “Yeah, Kerry. That bastard’s doing great now. Big-time corporate collaborations, living the high life.”
“Johnny, I heard before you and Rogue went to blow up Arasaka Tower, you held one last concert with Kerry and the others. He tried to stop you from going.”
If Johnny still had a human body, he’d probably be staring wide-eyed now. “How the fuck do you know that?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“You’re gonna ask if I regret it now, right?”
“Yeah.”
Johnny murmured, “Kerry’s got a good life—stylish, glamorous. Owns a mansion in North Oak that an ordinary bastard couldn’t afford in eight generations. Even has a yacht. He deserves it. He’s my brother. I’m happy for him. Truly. Yeah, he sold out to the corps, which pisses me off... kinda a lot, but I’d rather see him rich than starving on the street.”
“Don’t look at me like that, Leo. I’m not one of those ‘I feel bad if my brother’s broke but even worse if he’s driving a Lambo’ guys.”
“But if I had another shot, a true do-over… I’d still go blow up Arasaka Tower. Just this time, I’d get on the helicopter earlier, not let that son of a bitch Adam Smasher catch me.”
Leo finished his breakfast, washed the dishes, and got ready to head out.
Johnny suddenly called after him. “Where you going?”
“Nothing urgent today. Gonna hang with V and Lucy.”
“You’re pretty young, clean-cut too, and you’ve got two girls? Not bad. Starting to remind me of my old self.”
“You act like it’s a big deal. Arab guys can legally have four wives. I’m not even halfway there.”
“Ha! And here I thought I was reckless—splitting your life four ways sounds like a death wish. Especially for you. You strike me as the type who needs a nap after holding hands.”
Leo rolled his eyes.
“Says the guy who probably thinks foreplay starts with tuning a guitar.”
They traded a few more light jabs before Johnny suddenly said, “Take me to see Rogue.”
Leo stopped and looked at him. “You figured out what you want to say to her?”
Johnny had said before that when he saw Rogue again, he wouldn’t know what to say. That’s why he’d followed Leo around. But now he was the one asking to go see her.
“I haven’t figured it out. I just want to see an old friend.”
Leo didn’t refuse.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
He pressed the elevator button, stepped inside, and waved Johnny in.
Johnny paused. “Now?”
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