Della Mann in the Taxi
"Ms. V, Mr. Jack Wells, Mr. David Martinez, the latest news about Cyanbi Building—do you want me to show you?"
In the taxi, Jack and the others sat in silence. They had believed that Peter had stayed behind to hold off Lai Xuan, allowing them to escape from the Cyanbi Building safely.
Now, hearing Della Mann mention news about Peter, their emotions surged.
"Show it already! Damn it, aren't you supposed to be smart? Why even ask?!" Jack shouted, unable to contain his frustration.
"Hurry up! Let me see! How is Brother Peter doing?!" David's anxiety was evident. Though they had only known Peter for a few days, he felt like a true brother to him—perhaps even like a father figure.
"Stop yelling! Della Mann, just show us the news," V snapped, annoyed by the sudden chaos in the car.
"As you wish," Della Mann responded.
A mechanical voice counted down—"330"—before the screen switched to a live news broadcast.
Even though Peter's face was blurred, Jack, David, and V recognized him instantly.
"Sh*t! How the hell did Peter end up fighting Adam Smasher?!" Jack blurted out in disbelief.
"It's over… Brother Peter… We shouldn't have left! We should've stayed and fought with him!" David slammed his fist against the seat, his frustration boiling over.
"Peter…" V felt her vision blur. A deep sense of helplessness crept in. She had confidence in Peter's abilities, but against an opponent like Adam Smasher? That was an entirely different level of danger.
Valley Apartment
Meanwhile, Lucy had just regained consciousness from the network intrusion. It was Peter who had severed her connection when Arama Lai Xuan and Araba Saburo had met. He had also set up a temporary decoy to throw off the corporation's hackers, ensuring that neither Lucy nor T-Bug could be traced.
Now, staring at the news broadcast, she could still recognize Peter, even with the heavy pixelation obscuring his face.
"Peter… why did you do this?"
Because she had been disconnected early, Lucy had no idea that Jack, David, and V had escaped the Cyanbi Building. Seeing Peter on the news, facing Adam Smasher alone, she assumed the worst—that her friends were dead.
And now, the man she had fallen for in just two days was standing against the most terrifying force in Night City.
A wave of despair washed over her.
Was fate so cruel that it would give her hope only to rip it away?
Back to the Battle
"Haha! Idiot! No matter how strong your body is, you think you can survive an all-out assault from my weapons?!" Adam Smasher roared with laughter.
His arsenal was top-of-the-line Arasaka tech—enough firepower to wipe out an entire battalion. He had fired everything he had at Peter, confident that no human could withstand such an attack.
Yet, as the smoke cleared, Peter stood there.
The suit he had been wearing was in tatters, his upper body now bare. His skin, however, was untouched—not a single scratch, not even a speck of dust.
"What the hell are you barking about? Your weapons can't even break my defense," Peter said calmly.
"Impossible… What the f**k are you?!"
For the first time in decades, Adam Smasher felt something unfamiliar—fear.
Even if Peter had been wounded, even if he had shown some sign of struggle, Adam might have been able to keep fighting.
But Peter hadn't dodged a single attack. He had taken everything head-on and remained completely unscathed.
There was no chance of victory. No strategy, no weapon, no trick would work against him.
The realization hit Adam like a freight train.
Run.
It was the only thought in his mind.
The Escape
BOOM!
In an instant, Adam turned and bolted, his cybernetic legs activating at full power. The ground beneath him cracked from the force of his escape.
He had covered hundreds of meters in seconds—until a voice echoed behind him.
"Why are you running? I thought you weren't afraid of death."
Peter's voice was like a thunderclap in his ears.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU MONSTER!" Adam roared in panic, spinning around and throwing a desperate punch with all his strength.
Peter caught the punch effortlessly.
"Not bad," Peter mused. "This arm of yours could sell for a good price."
A second later, Adam's eyes widened in horror—his cybernetic arm was no longer attached to his body.
"AAAHHHH!"
Desperation overtook him. Activating every last ounce of power in his remaining cybernetics, he pushed his systems into overdrive. His legs pumped with every bit of energy they had left, and his internal systems flared with warning alerts.
"Hey, hey! Are you really trying this hard just so I won't take your parts to sell?" Peter called out, amused.
Before Adam could escape any further—
RIP!
Both of his legs were torn off.
The sheer momentum of his sprint sent him crashing forward, rolling three times before skidding to a stop.
The Final Moments
The sound of approaching footsteps echoed in the empty street.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Adam, now a limbless wreck, used his last remaining arm to drag himself forward, crawling toward the towering Arasaka building in the distance.
If he could just get there…
If he could just reach the corporate lab…
He could be reborn.
Just like sixty years ago.
Peter sighed. "Tsk, why are you still crawling? You just called me a bug, but don't you look more like one now?"
Adam didn't respond. His only focus was survival.
Peter wasn't in the mood to play games anymore. He reached down and tore away Adam's last arm, stripping him of his weapons and cybernetic enhancements.
Adam let out a final, guttural scream.
Now, he was nothing more than a torso with a barely functioning life-support system.
Peter crouched beside him, tilting his head.
"Goodbye, Adam Smasher. You're a legend now—but the kind that dies."
He pulled out a high-caliber kinetic pistol, a weapon he had taken from Lai Xuan.
BANG!
The shot echoed through the night.
The man who had slaughtered thousands, who had terrorized Night City for decades, was finally dead.
There was no sympathy for Adam Smasher. He had dedicated his life to corporate greed, treating human lives as expendable, never once looking back at the destruction he had caused.
And now, his reign of terror was over.
The news footage of his defeat spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of Night City—and soon, the entire world.
Peter had just changed the course of history.
---
for more Episodes visit
patreon.com/Noan994