The players, who thought the battle was over, were suddenly attacked from an unknown source just as they were counting the spoils.

Several vehicles loaded with Chun Er gasoline and RPGs instantly turned the entire stronghold into a sea of fire. Many players were killed on the spot, and a large amount of loot was devoured by flames, including those hacker devices.

Darkness loomed, with the crackling of flames and chaotic voices filling the ears.

Brother Ni tried to get up, but felt as if a thousand-pound weight was on him, his mouth and nose filled with dust and dirt, making it hard to breathe.

He wanted to forcefully push off whatever was pressing on him, but it was too heavy.

Fortunately, his movements caught the attention of other players.

"Quick, save him!"

"Brother Ni is here!"

"It's about to collapse over there, get him out fast!"

Arnold and Masked Rider lifted the steel beam pressing on Brother Ni and dragged him out from underground.

Brother Ni's legs were both crushed.

Their captain Sword Saint was still directing on site: "Get him onto the car quickly, the ERO ambulance is arriving soon."

Watching the surrounding sea of flames, Brother Ni felt the heat was drying up the blood in his throat, he grabbed the sleeve of someone nearby and asked,

"Did you see who attacked us?"

Shui Yue shook his head.

"The car bombs are all corpses. The voucher chased in the direction the RPG was fired from, but there's no news yet."

Brother Ni asked again, "What about the prisoner?"

"The prisoner is on the car, still alive."

Sword Saint, looking at the surrounding sea of flames with lingering fear, watched as the sea breeze whooshed inland, scattering flaming debris everywhere.

"This might be trouble..."

"We can't let those guys get away; they must have destroyed clues in a hurry for fear we'd discover something."

Sword Saint frowned, "I'll try my best."

He felt it was a losing battle; the attackers just fired a shot and fled, showing no intention of lingering.

Moreover, this round of attack caused severe casualties to the unprepared players.

Truth be told, even if they caught up, they might not be able to win.

The fact that the prisoner didn't die might be the only good news now.

After throwing Brother Ni onto the car, the surviving players rescued a few more people, but the fire grew larger, spreading in all directions.

The streets of the Watson District were piled with bags of trash, all filled with flammable materials, ready to ignite with a spark.

Then, as the sea breeze blew, flames spread through the streets like a virus. More and more residential houses were affected, with most people still puzzled from the recent explosion.

"What should we do now?"

Watching the raging fire, Masked Rider felt his ash-covered face was about to burn.

He had lived in reality for over twenty years and never seen such a big fire, feeling a bit scared.

Sword Saint: "Call 119, the fire department, what else?"

Masked Rider: "Is Night City's fire department number 119?"

Sword Saint's head ached, "What is it then..."

Masked Rider: "I don't know..."

He looked at the others, "Does anyone know the fire department's number in Night City?"

Everyone shook their heads.

This organization's presence in Night City felt even less than the NCPD.

Arnold: "How about we try calling the police?"

Even though he felt average citizens should have overloaded the fire department's lines by now, he felt they ought to do something.

Soon, the NCPD police station's emergency hotline received a call from the players.

A Black woman officer sat in her chair, answering the call with an impatient look.

"NCPD, what's your emergency?"

"..."

"Fire? A fire isn't within our company's service scope."

"Maybe you can try turning on your faucets or sprinklers, just aim the hose at the source."

"The fire is big? Well, there's nothing we can do about that; it's not in our company's service scope."

After repeating it once more, the operator hung up on Sword Saint's emergency call.

Her colleague next to her noticed her tone and asked, "What happened? Getting harassed by gang members again?"

To show off in front of colleagues or out of boredom, gang members often prank call the NCPD to harass them, showing off their audacity or venting.

Either way, NCPD couldn't catch them.

"Said there's a fire in the Watson District."

The woman officer waved her hand dismissively.

"Nutcases, why are they coming to us instead of the city fire department?"

All government services in Night City are essentially outsourced to various large and small companies.

Police

Fire department

Medical

Water plant

Power supply

City infrastructure

The city council's job is not about managing the city well, but how to distribute the annual taxes so most people are satisfied.

For instance, Horizon Corporation is actually part of this chain too, with future garbage collection taxes and Santo Domingo's wanted system outsourcing...

And for jobs outside their outsourcing scope, they would never get involved, no matter the reason.

They might even be asked for compensation by other companies.

But this is a well-known fact in Night City that baffled the players.

"What do you mean it's not within their service scope?"

Sword Saint looked dumbfounded at the phone disconnected by the NCPD.

"Is no one managing such a big fire?"

Even in the United States, police would evacuate people in such situations, right?

Undoubtedly, once again, Night City set a new low in the players' expectations.

"There's a fire hydrant here!"

Arnold, who was aiding the wounded at the roadside, discovered it like a treasure. He yanked on the hydrant's valve, hoping water would spray out to quench the fire.

However, even after he fully turned the valve off, there wasn't a drop of water flowing out.

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