2077: V really knows how awesome he is

V wanted to use company resources to treat his nerve damage, so he volunteered to take the lead. Jenkins, seeing a fool willing to charge ahead, was happy to stay behind the scenes. There was no real affection between them; it was all about mutual benefit.

Love at first sight can only be romantic love, never friendship.

The former can be treated with just a few milligrams of hormones, while the latter requires a gradual adjustment over time.

Unfortunately, neither she nor Jenkins had that kind of time.

So let's get back to work. We finally got this power, didn't we?

V finished the last sip of tequila and sat down in front of the computer.

Countless complex tasks are presented, any one of which is enough to make people complain endlessly.

But other people's future is just V's past. Which mission will succeed, which will fail, whether the person should go undercover or withdraw, whether to continue trading with the target or take a risk... V, relying on her memory, methodically issues orders. If successful, continue with the original decision; if unsuccessful, change to another method. She thought she had long forgotten all of this, but as the first order was issued, past memories came rushing back, becoming vivid in her mind.

The brain is amazing, isn't it?

V typed the last character with a sigh.

In one morning, she finished dealing with all the problems left by Jenkins, and then issued the top order to the counterintelligence department: "shrink and lie low, all silence."

Abernathy is watching closely, and the Special Operations Department is just waiting for the Counterintelligence Department to make a mistake so they can find fault with it. Since that's the case, then the Counterintelligence Department can just slack off. If I don't do anything, I won't make any mistakes. It's that simple.

Of course, this is not a long-term solution, but it's okay to hold out for now.

This is V's strategy: stabilize the core and play a defensive counter-attacking game.

To be honest, Abernathy is incredibly powerful. If V were still at her peak, she could easily kill that old bitch—the simplest and easiest way. But V can't use her prosthetic body now, and even self-defense is a problem, so she can only resort to this "office politics."

Abernathy's advantage is obvious: her incredibly complex interpersonal relationships. She has a husband from Zeta Technologies, a lover from Comto, and good relations with the Night Corporation. Most importantly, she is appreciated by Michiko Arasaka and is Michiko Arasaka's spokesperson.

V listed these relationships, looked them over, and finally focused his attention on the name "Arasaka Michiko".

Although he had absolutely no goodwill towards the Arasaka family, V had to admit that in Night City, the Arasaka family was undoubtedly number one. As long as Michiko Arasaka continued to support Abernathy, even if he performed a great feat like "blowing up the military technology building," he would never be able to bring Abernathy down.

He was a close advisor to the emperor.

V couldn't help but sneer. This is Night City. It's 2076, and they're still stuck in feudalism.

Cyberpunk? Cyber ​​bullshit!

Even if intelligent robots can replace workers in all industries by 3076, they will definitely not be able to replace workers in the service industry.

Because some satisfaction can only be obtained by enslaving one's fellow human beings.

Tsk!

V couldn't help but smack his lips.

Why have I been thinking about all sorts of random things lately? Is it because of Johnny's influence?

Shaking his head to clear his mind of those pointless thoughts, V began to seriously consider ways to break the deadlock.

Abernathy's fundamental power comes from Michiko Arasaka. If we think about it the other way around, we can defeat Abernathy by defeating Michiko Arasaka.

Can you kill Michiko Arasaka?

Can't do it.

Therefore, he chose to defect and replace Abernathy.

Michiko Arasaka values ​​Abernathy's network of connections, and if she wants to replace Abernathy, she needs to have an even stronger network of connections than Abernathy.

Abernathy's connections include Zeta Technologies, Comtau Corporation, and the Night Group.

In other words, you need to have connections with at least three companies.

V's expression remained calm as he began to list the potential factions within Night City.

These include: military technology, biotechnology, NCPD, Trauma Team International, Tricky Optics, J&T Armaments, Fuyuki Electronics, KENDACHI, etc., as well as car manufacturers such as Quadra, Thornton, and Villefort, and motorcycle manufacturer Yaibad, etc.

There were some other companies after that, but they were too small to be worth mentioning.

The car and motorcycle manufacturers are decent in size, but they are mostly focused on commercial activities. They are good for adding icing on the cake, but not good enough to take the lead. Therefore, their priority has been lowered.

Trauma Team International and Crossroads Optics are neutral companies that have issued official statements, making them very difficult to win over, and their priority has been downgraded.

The NCPD oversees law enforcement in Night City. While it operates under the guise of a police force, it is essentially a company within the Night Corporation, a subsidiary of Abernathy. (Let's leave it at that.)

Jianli Armament mainly deals in cold weapons such as samurai swords and various customized weapons. Its products are known for their high precision and destructive power. V is quite interested in dealing with them, but their close relationship with Kangtao makes it quite difficult, so the priority has been downgraded.

Fuyutsuki Electronics mainly manufactures electronic equipment and prosthetic components. It was originally a subsidiary of Arasaka Corporation, so there was no need to win it over.

KENDACHI is the same; it is also under Arasaka's command, and its business scope highly overlaps with that of Jianli Armory, especially in the area of ​​cyber samurai swords, where they are fiercely competing. It is probably a proxy war between Arasaka and Kanto.

In this case, the only technologies that are truly useful and worth courting are military technology and biotechnology.

In order to treat her nerve damage, biotechnology was already on V's visit list. She had been prepared for this for a long time, and the success rate of winning it over was about 80%.

But in terms of success rate, military technology is actually more likely. V is 9% confident, after all, there is a "Venus in fur" over there, and V is quite familiar with her.

So which one should I choose?

Military technology or biotechnology?

V begins to consider the gains and losses.

Ultimately, she chose biotechnology.

"After all, I haven't figured out how to face that Venus yet," V said to himself. "I was young and impetuous. Why couldn't I resist back then?"

The beautiful and dazzling scene flashed into V's mind, making him feel a little distracted.

"Hey, now's not the time to think about these things. Let's put that energy into studying!" V patted his cheek, opened a drawer, and took out a learning chip.

With the chip inserted into the nerve slot behind his ear, V was immediately immersed in a sea of ​​learning.

You asked her what she was studying?

Of course, it's hacker knowledge.

Combat prosthetics place a heavy burden on the nervous system, with the smallest type being hacker prosthetics.

"Mechatronics core," "RAM upgrade," or "external disk" are essentially hacker prosthetics that can run autonomously. All the operator needs to do is break into the subnet (ICE) and then issue attack commands.

Attacking subnets mainly relies on the brain's computing power, and does not place too much demand on the nervous system. There are many examples of paralyzed patients becoming top hackers.

Of course, not having high requirements doesn't mean there are no requirements, but for V, this is already the best choice.

Having been equipped with the military-grade Berserker V technology in her past life, she dislikes beating around the bush, but she dislikes being powerless even more.

The feeling of being at someone's mercy was too painful; compared to that, she would rather choose the pain of studying.

Besides, she can't fight head-on right now, so it's perfectly reasonable for her to resort to stealth tactics.

After spending an afternoon, V successfully completed all the tasks in the learning chip, and his intelligence level was upgraded from 3 to 4, taking another solid step towards becoming a world-class hacker.

"Just kidding. You dare to compare yourself to top hackers with such a smattering of knowledge?" V smiled wryly and rubbed his forehead. "Sure enough, hacking is not like smashing someone's head with a baseball bat. It's too slow to learn on your own. You need to find a teacher."

V remembered T-BUG, the black female hacker who had once offered to help her improve her hacking skills, but V had refused, and now V deeply regretted it. She wanted to contact T-BUG, but had no way of doing so.

"Forget it, let's find another teacher. Night City can't just have T-BUG as a hacker."

With that, V got up and walked out of the office; she was leaving get off work.

It's 8:30 p.m. now. The sun has long since set, and the city at night is brighter than during the day.

Various neon lights illuminate the streets, creating a dazzling display that resembles intertwined human hearts—complex and magnificent, attracting attention while simultaneously blinding people.

The same applies to the Arasaka Tower. It is brightly lit, but only in a cold, monotonous white. Many office workers are still working at their posts. This is not overtime, because working 16 hours a day is stipulated in the contract. If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will.

Unlike V, she is one of the few people who can decide when to leave work.

See, in Night City, there are reasons to climb the ladder everywhere.

"Yes, I'm still at work. You don't need to wait for me. You eat first. I'll come over as soon as I get off work, and I've brought your favorite flowers."

V was reflecting when she suddenly heard a man's voice.

She looked in the direction of the sound and saw a guy who looked more like a boy than a man working at a terminal in the aisle. He was typing and making phone calls at the same time, multitasking and his forehead was covered in sweat.

V remembers him; his name is Carter.

The intern sent from Arasaka Academy had no background and was just an ordinary kid.

Yes, you heard right, a commoner child was able to attend Arasaka Academy. Not because Arasaka Academy had generous scholarships, but because Carter's mother worked four jobs and her sister worked two.

V still remembers what Carter said on his first day at the company: "V, I will work hard and I will definitely reach the top of Arasaka Tower in the future!"

In reality, Carter had been with the counterintelligence department for almost two years, and he didn't even have his own office, having to work in the hallway.

But what could he do? His mother worked four jobs, and his sister worked two.

"I'm sorry, Mom, it's your birthday and I'm still late..."

Carter's phone call continued.

"No, no, no, the company hasn't treated me badly. Everyone has been very kind to me. Do you remember Vice President V? My direct supervisor, yes, that ice queen. She even said I work hard and that she'll give me a promotion and a raise at the end of the year."

Carter was laughing and trying to cheer up his mother when he casually turned his head and saw V watching him from a short distance away.

"Cough cough cough..."

The poor kid was so frightened that he coughed.

"I'm busy now, Mom. I'll hang up now."

Carter couldn't help but swallow hard, watching V walk towards him step by step. He didn't know whether to hang up the phone first or hang up himself.

"An ice queen?" V questioned.

Carter couldn't help but shudder and quickly bowed his head in apology: "I'm sorry, Vice Minister V, I... I was wrong."

V remained silent. Carter gritted his teeth and awaited the verdict. He had made up his mind: if V wanted to fire him, he would kneel down and beg for mercy, even if it meant selling his body.

Unfortunately, all he received was an authorization notice.

"Huh? This is..."

Carter looked up in surprise.

"Is it your mom's birthday today? Go back home. I won't consider it early departure, and I'll lend you the hovercar."

"Huh?" Carter was dumbfounded: "But the hovercar is your vehicle, I'm not qualified..."

V raised an eyebrow: "Then I take it back."

"No!" Carter shouted immediately, drawing stares from those around him.

"You, you really lend me the hovercar?"

V nodded: "Mm."

"Can I let my family go up and take a look too? Just a look, maybe take a picture or two."

V frowned.

Just when Carter thought V was going to refuse, V spoke coldly.

"If you dare to smear cake on the airship, I'll kill you!"

At that moment, Carter felt as if he had truly seen Death.

"No way, I would never let the cake get on the hovercar!"

Carter answered loudly, but V had already entered the elevator.

"Thank you, Vice Minister V, thank you so much!"

Ding, the elevator doors closed.

In the instant the door closed, Carter seemed to see the usually stern Vice-President V curl the corners of his mouth into a smile.

"A hallucination?"

Carter looked at his hands, then clenched them into fists: "If this is a hallucination, please don't let me wake up!"

The young man jumped high into the air, transforming back into a boy. He loosened his tie and ran towards the hovercar landing pad, dialing his mother's number again along the way.

"Mom, I'm off work, I'll be right back! Wait a little longer, my sister and I will celebrate your birthday together!"

At the foot of Arasaka Tower, V sat on a bench by the street and whistled as he watched the hovercars flying away in the sky.

"What a joke, how could I dare to ride a floating car in my current fragile state? Of course, the solid and reliable Delaman is more suitable for me."

During the conversation, a Delaman taxi stopped in front of V.

Open the car door and get in.