I was able to slip out the hold and run down the block. Looking the other way, I took out a shotgun and blasted at ones chasing me. The got knocked back. I made sure to finish them off before approaching the van again. 4 of them got out and started to return fire. I put the incendiary shotgun back in my inventory and used a rifle. I killed them all and the driver came out. So did the one in the passenger seat. He had a rocket launcher. I gave him some headshots and he died before he could fire it. If he fired it, even I would be in serious danger. The driver was killed too. A good random encounter in the world. I felt accomplished. With that over with, I went to the van and looked inside of it. There indeed was the syndicate logo for Anarchy Assembly inside. I got a notification that I had to check the menu. "What now!?" I sighed. I had become further involved with Syndicate business. There was no turning back at this point. They would be sending death squads and assassins until one of them killed me. Just sending waves of dudes was not going to work. I was strong. "Bring it on!" I said.
My walk to the cab and drive to the depo was uneventful. That was probably for the best. I sent the others home early. I closed down for the day. I was not going to let them get in the way if the Anarchy Assembly goons came to the depot after me. For that reason, I also told them to not come in for 3 days. I was there by myself. Just like I thought, several waves of goons came after me. on the first 2 days. On the third, a fancy, electric green sports car rolled up. A young woman chewing bubble gum got out with a large handgun. It looked really futuristic. She definitely got her hands on some PEP tech for that. She looked at me and then at a raised wrist. A blue hologram that looked like me appeared. "Looks like this isn't your day. You're worth a lot of cash." she said as she lowered her wrist. Before I could say anything, she started shooting at me. She was a mini-boss that was sent to kill me. Even with my high level, it was tricky to get rid of her. She was high level as well. I bet they scaled with the Player they targeted. Luckily, I had unlimited bullets and I did not need to reload.
Only by using magic to heal and blasting her with my rifle as she tried to close in, did I win the fight. She died not knowing how an amateur was kicking her ass. To be worthy of facing a now level 97 Player, she had to be a real badass. I was not that good at combat. I never had to fight anyone anywhere near my level before in this game. However, I was Devil-adjacent. Hopefully, killing a mini-boss meant that they would chill out for a bit. The next day, everyone could see all the damage. Thousands of bullets and casings littered the floor. The PEP units were all concerned for me. Ryder and Maroon especially. They were looking me over for any wounds. All of the cabs were shot up and unable to be driven. Brett and Paul had to fix them when no one else was looking. I told the clan what happened and they were angry that I did not tell them. "We would have helped you!" Alex said. Alexis nodded and added "That's what a clan is for. You don't have to fight alone." I shook my head. "No thanks. I like the thrill. I'll call you guys in when I need you. We can't risk a single one of you." I said.
