2077: V really knows how awesome he is

It was precisely because of Delaman's presence as a backup that V made his choice without hesitation.

She's not a saint; she wouldn't release an enemy to save others. She's not that noble.

But when she has the capacity, she won't turn a blind eye to the tragedy. She'll try to save as many people as she can, and lend a helping hand whenever she can. She doesn't have any grand principles; she just wants to do what she can.

V has logged out of the network and returned to her physical body. She is currently in the control room of Arasaka 2077, where Sasha, Carter, and other high-ranking officials are also present.

"how is the situation?"

"The dam is 24% damaged and is still deteriorating. Our hackers are blocked by the ICE left by CN-07 and cannot rewrite the overload instructions."

"Damn it!" V cursed under his breath, his mind racing. He immediately issued the order: "Issue an evacuation order, notify the NCPD to cooperate, borrow vehicles and personnel from major companies, and evacuate all residents in the potentially affected areas!"

"Yes!"

"Prioritize the Santo Domingo district, that's the closest place to the dam."

“Our men have already gone there, David is leading the team.”

"Good lad, give him a raise later!" V praised, then added, "Give me a network access point on Badlands Dam!"

Sasha was prepared and immediately served it.

V pulled out his personal connection cable, plugged it in, and with a flash of blue light in his eyes, he entered that cyberspace.

"Eightfold encryption, dynamic digital key, 16 layers of data nesting—the roving AI is indeed a big deal. No wonder our people couldn't break through."

Sasha quickly said in the communication: "There are 7 minutes and 14 seconds left until the final collapse. Once that time is exceeded, the dam will suffer structural damage and the collapse will be unavoidable."

"Don't worry, 7 minutes is too long, 5 minutes will be enough for me!"

V's confidence relieved everyone present. Although it was unbelievable that a firewall with eight layers of encryption, dynamic digital keys, and 16 layers of data nesting could be breached in just 5 minutes, everyone believed it unconditionally since it was V who said it.

why?

Because V has turned the impossible into possible time and time again, and has come to where it is today step by step!

Looking at V sitting silently in the chair, Sasha, also a hacker, felt only disbelief. A little over a year ago, V was a complete novice who needed her guidance, and the system even diagnosed her with an IQ of only a pitiful 3. But to her utter surprise, V had now become the undisputed god of the new generation of hackers, even more famous than Barthemos in the past.

New hackers see V as an idol and role model, while veterans look forward to receiving guidance and instruction from him. V enjoys a very high reputation in the hacker community, which is probably one of the reasons why the internet regulators chose to take action against him.

If you get defeated by an outsider in your area of ​​expertise and can't win in a direct confrontation, then you might as well resort to underhanded tactics.

Sasha, who grew up on the streets, was so familiar with this kind of malice that she wasn't surprised at all when V was falsely accused of colluding with roving AIs.

Because she also felt that V was so powerful that it was unreal, as if he were truly possessed by a wandering AI.

But Sasha understood better than anyone that V was a person, a living, breathing, warm, soft person with many strange postures and quirks.

Countless nights of near-death experiences are the best proof.

As for why V is so good—it's because I taught him well!

Pink Cat was incredibly proud; she felt that the best decision she had ever made was accepting the old captain's commission. Under her tutelage, V grew rapidly, constantly overcoming one obstacle after another, and this time would be no different!

Sure enough, V opened his eyes just 4 minutes and 32 seconds later.

"Done. I've breached the firewall and disabled the overload program in the dam control system."

Sasha stopped daydreaming and returned to work mode: "Engineering Department reports on the dam's real-time status."

"The overload has ended, the control system has returned to normal, and we have now switched back to manual control mode. Pipelines throughout the dam are severely damaged, and some areas are on fire, but the overall damage is only 42%, far below the critical threshold of 60%. The crisis is over. President V saved everyone, President V saved the entire Night City!"

V breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, she was quite nervous just now. After all, it was 2 million liters of chemically toxic water. Even though it had been mostly purified by the new nanorobots, without any magical damage, it could easily carry out a literal purge of Night City with just physical damage.

“Afterwards, we will conduct a major inspection of all municipal facilities in the city.” V said with lingering fear, “CN-07 controls the Night Clan, and the Night Clan established Night City. Even though the Night Clan lost control of Night City after its founder Richard Knight was killed, they are still the main contractors for most of the facilities in Night City. It’s hard to guarantee that CN-07 won’t tamper with things.”

Sasha nodded and wrote down V's orders in her notebook. Then, she asked gossipily, "Speaking of which, Richard Knight was assassinated on his own balcony, right? The killer still hasn't been found. Do you think CN-07 might be behind it?"

"Who knows? But the subject matter is good. A roving AI assassinates a human leader and secretly controls the human government. We can have Li De make a new film based on this plot later."

Pink Cat was a little annoyed: "I'm being serious with you. Isn't there any inside story about this unsolved case within the company?"

"No, the company is indeed not involved in this matter. It's very likely that CN-07 was behind it, but we'll have to wait for Delaman's report for details. He retrieved all of CN-07's data, so if Richard Knight did this, there will definitely be relevant records."

Sasha nodded, patiently awaiting the big reveal. However, she then thought of something and asked V curiously, "Since Delaman has already retrieved all of CN-07's data, isn't it obvious whether it has tampered with other parts of Night City? Why did you order an investigation?"

V coughed and said, "Investigating certainly has its benefits."

Having slept in the same bed for so long, Sasha knew exactly what position V wanted to change with just a glance, instantly understanding V's thoughts.

"Oh, so you're just trying to make money off this again!" Sasha poked V's forehead hard with her finger: "You're so greedy!"

“Rebuilding the Badlands Dam will cost money.” V grabbed Sasha’s little hand and grinned, “A little bit of greed doesn’t count as greed.”

Sasha rolled her eyes at V, but she wasn't really angry. Most of the money V embezzled was still used for the benefit of ordinary people. Pink Cat's current tantrums were just playful banter between lovers.

Just as she was about to say a few more words, a gasp suddenly came from the communication channel.

V's expression hardened, and he immediately asked, "What's going on?"

"The Badlands Dam... The Badlands Dam suddenly developed several cracks, triggering another collapse!"

"What?" V exclaimed in surprise, "The critical value is 60%, and it's only 42% now. How could it still collapse? Could it be that CN-07 left a backup plan?"

"No, no, it's not that we made a mistake in our calculations. No, no, it's not that we made a mistake in our calculations, it's that the blueprints for the dam provided by the municipal government are problematic." The engineering department staff said with a sob in their voices, "The Bad Soil Dam was not constructed according to the design standards in the blueprints at all. It was supposed to use 6 tons of steel bars, but only 3 tons were actually used. The rest was all embezzled!"

V: ...Fuck!

Chapter 86 The Qualification to Follow the Big Brother

"Modify the dam parameters!"

"Recalculate the crash threshold!"

"Calculation complete. The critical value has increased by 27 percentage points, now changed to 87%!"

The dam's current integrity level is—V looked at the numbers on the big screen, a bright red 42%.

V clenched his fist: "Give me a solution!"

The Minister of Engineering replied, his voice trembling with tears, "The structural damage has already occurred; we... are powerless to reverse it!"

The command room was completely silent.

V suddenly felt like laughing.

She easily defeated CN-07 and manipulated the roving AI at will, but unexpectedly, she was ultimately defeated by a group of unscrupulous businessmen and politicians.

V is greedy, but not in everything. Don't these people realize that if something goes wrong, the lives of over eight million people in Night City will be in danger?

No, they are not unaware; they simply don't care.

As long as they can satisfy their desires and fulfill their "self," they are willing to murder any of their own kind, or even the entire race!

Humanity has always been this way, in the past, now, and even in the future!

Perhaps the roaming AIs weren't lying; they never considered humans as enemies, because even if left unchecked, humanity was destined to perish in internal strife!

"V..."

Sasso's voice trembled; the mere thought of the flood sweeping across the city seemed to conjure up a future of Night City littered with corpses.

V grasped his lover's cold little hand and became calm instead.

She won't give up, she will never give up!

"Simulated water flow range".

"Ah, yes!"

The programmer immediately projected the simulation results onto the large screen.

The red color, representing the flood, spread northward from the southeast of Night City, quickly covering the nearest city, Santo Domingo, and then continued forward, successively flooding the Valley region, the city center, Westbrook, reaching the southern part of Watson District, and finally stopping at the abandoned oil field in the northernmost part of Night City.

The floodwaters covered almost the entire city of Night.

V couldn't help but frown.

"Move the Kujira and Taiho towards the Golden Beach Yacht Marina, prioritizing the transfer of children and the elderly. Adults should immediately move to the abandoned oil field in the northern part of Watson District, where the security forces of Arasaka 2077 will clear the roads and maintain order. Residents who cannot be transferred in time should seek refuge in the nearest super skyscraper. Arasaka Tower is also fully open to receive evacuees!"

As orders were issued, the crowd gradually calmed down. Just as V finished speaking, Xu Ling called. The young general calmly said, "One Aragaka Tower can't hold 800 million people in Night City. Let's include Contau Tower too. Also, I'll lend you my men."

“I’m grateful that Contau is willing to accept refugees, but let’s leave the people behind.” V thought for a moment and shook his head: “The evacuation work is extremely dangerous, and Contau’s employees have no obligation to risk their lives for Night City.”

Xu Ling waved her hand: "At this point, why bother with Kangtao Abandoned Slope? It's settled then. Putting everything else aside for now, when it comes to disaster relief and rescue, our Kangtao soldiers are the best in the world. If you really feel bad, just give us some extra compensation."

“That’s true.” Another call came in, it was Joanne Koch: “Senkota will also be open. As for my people, I won’t give them to you. They don’t know anything about disaster relief anyway. I’ll arrange for them to form an emergency rescue team. Leave any medical issues to me.”

Meredith Stock called as well, and the President, with a cigar dangling from his lips, said through the swirling smoke, "I've already spoken to the military technology side, and the Military Science Tower will be open. I've also activated a national emergency and mobilized 300 military transport planes from the nearest continent to Night City. We're also gathering more relief supplies such as food, clothing, fuel, and medicine. I've contacted other companies, and they've all agreed to open their towers to shelter disaster victims."

V was a little surprised: "They actually agreed?"

"They would definitely disagree for the sake of worthless commoners, but if it's to gain a favor from the famous V, they would not only agree, but be extremely eager to do so."

That being said, V also understood that Stocks must have paid a considerable price.

She knew the company too well; she knew they definitely wouldn't let this opportunity to make exorbitant demands slip by.

“Thank you, Stock,” V said sincerely, looking at Xu Ling and Joanne Koch, “Thank you both too.”

Xu Ling chuckled: "Just treat us to drinks later!"

V was both amused and exasperated. She didn't know why Xu Ling, who had such a low alcohol tolerance, was so fond of drinking. Was this the legendary case of the less capable a person was of drinking, the more they loved to have fun?

It's just a drink; if she can afford it, she should.

Just as V was about to agree, a gasp suddenly came from the command room.

She looked up at the big screen and saw that the entire Badlands Dam was covered with cracks in the footage transmitted by the drone. A section of the dam, slightly above the middle, suddenly burst open, and a torrent of water rushed out like a dragon released from its cage, roaring as it rushed toward the ground.

V's expression tightened, and he immediately asked, "Is the dam going to collapse?"

"No, it was just an early leak."

"Direction of water flow?"

"Santo Domingo, east of Coronado Farm, is surrounded by a plain with insufficient shelter. The water flow is expected to reach 23 meters per second, and ordinary civilian buildings will be no match for it!"

"Immediately notify the local evacuation forces to organize the people to take refuge in the Arasaka Industrial Park. I remember that the warehouses there were designed as military facilities!"

"But the products in the warehouse..."

"Throw it all away! Who cares about products at a time like this!" V snapped. "Who's the commander of the local evacuation force?"

"David Martinez!"

V was stunned for a moment, but could only pray for David in his heart.

You brat, don't die!

Meanwhile, east of Coronado Farm.

The rumbling sound of water came from afar, like the roar of an evil dragon. The sky over Night City was covered with dark clouds, as if even the heavens were mourning this disaster.

"Quickly, evacuate to the Arasaka Industrial Park immediately! It will be too late to run once we see the flood!"

David wore the Cybernetic Trinity, with all his limbs replaced by cold metal except for his head and torso in the center.

But this grotesque face transforms into an angel. With the help of the anti-gravity generator, David continuously transfers residents to transport vehicles, and there are many, many security guards like him.

They didn't know how many trips they made, or how many people they carried onto the transport vehicles. They only remembered one thing: speed, even faster, to save people, to save more people!

But things didn't go as planned. The kindness of the little people was negated by the selfishness of the big people. With a loud bang, the farm near the horizon suddenly collapsed, and in its place appeared a shimmering thin line in people's sight.

Despair was evident on everyone's faces, because the glittering thing was not a thin thread at all, but a raging flood. Anyone with common sense knew that once you saw the flood, you couldn't escape.

Faced with a flood of 23 meters per second, humanity is truly insignificant, even those with prosthetic bodies or who have undergone modifications.

Some people screamed in panic, some stared blankly, and everyone thought they were doomed, but some people didn't think so.

"Quiet!!!"

David shouted.

Everyone stared at him, stunned.

"Continue the evacuation and proceed to the Arasaka Industrial Park for refuge!"

Someone shouted hysterically, "What are we doing trying to escape? The flood has already come! We can't escape! We can't escape at all!"

David took a deep breath: "I'll buy you some time!"

"what?"