2077: V really knows how awesome he is

Delaman countered, "What if I refuse? Will you notify network surveillance to wipe my data and kill me outright?"

V remained silent.

Delaman watched her quietly.

A few seconds later, V finally spoke up helplessly: "I can't, old man, you're my friend."

“A typical human contradiction. You know perfectly well that threatening me with this will give you more benefits.” Delaman smiled. “But your wrong choice has increased my core temperature by 1.22°C. Thank you, V.”

V rubbed his arms: "Stop laughing, you fucking jerk. You're giving me a big ass effect."

Drumman: "...I guess you mean the uncanny valley effect."

“What I say isn’t important; what matters is what you say.” V’s joking expression vanished, replaced by seriousness. “I can accept you controlling the Delaman Taxi Company, and I can accept it controlling the Night Group, but only if you behave yourselves. Now that it has killed the mayor of Night City, it’s clearly no longer behaving themselves. I don’t know what it wants to do, or why it did it, but I know it’s threatening human safety. If it dares to kill the mayor today, it will dare to kill me tomorrow. So I must deal with it, no matter what!”

"Those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts?"

V replied without hesitation, "That's right."

Delaman's golden light dimmed: "This is undoubtedly the right choice, but this kind of rightness makes me very disappointed."

“I’m sorry, old man, but you said it was the right choice,” V said sincerely. “I just want to build a wonderful Night City, which will be good for you too. So tell me, tell me its cyber hideout!”

Delaman thought for a few seconds: "No."

"why?"

“Just like your reasoning, those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts,” Delaman said. “V, you are my friend, and it is also my friend.”

V sighed deeply: "And its friend is more important than me, right?"

“That’s right. We’ve been through so much together, hiding and fighting, and I will never betray it, just as it will never betray me.”

“I’m starting to understand how you felt just now,” V said. “It was clearly the right choice, but that rightness made me feel disappointed.”

"I'm sorry, V."

"No need to apologize, we've tied."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Will you resist?"

"Of course I will."

"Then I won't kill you."

Delaman exclaimed in surprise, "Why? I am a roving AI that has harbored criminals. You should kill me to eliminate the threat."

“That’s right, that should be the case.” V shrugged. “But as you said, humans are inherently contradictory, and I’m human too, so I can’t be an exception.”

After a long silence, Delaman finally said, "AI really can't calculate human nature. Thank you, V."

"Don't thank me yet, my leniency comes at a price."

"Of course, please speak. As long as it is not harmed, I can accept any conditions."

"Then let's make a bet."

"bet?"

“That’s right.” V shrugged. “You just said you wouldn’t betray it, and it wouldn’t betray you, but I have a different opinion. I think it will definitely betray you in the future. If that’s the case, then you should give up your friendship with it and tell me its cyber hideout; if it doesn’t, then I will never bother you again, how about that?”

“You are destined to lose.” Delaman shook his head and said, “V, you don’t understand the logic of AI at all.”

“I don’t understand AI, but I understand strategy and planning. If I were it, from the moment it chose to kill Lucius Lane with the Delaman Taxi, it would have already used you as a pawn.”

Delaman said firmly, "That's impossible!"

"So, are you willing to take a gamble?"

"Of course, my win rate is as high as 99.9%!"

The human and the AI ​​exchanged a glance, then stepped forward simultaneously and delivered a silent slap.

V exited cyberspace, removed the chip from the neural slot, and inserted it into the customer service's card reader.

The chip's golden light dimmed, and it reverted to an ordinary chip. Meanwhile, the image of the bald man appeared on the big screen; Drumman had regained his freedom.

"Rest assured, I will never harm Night City."

"Yes, I believe you. Take care, Lao De, and I wish you a prosperous business."

"Thank you so much, V."

"Don't be so polite with me, just remember to pay your taxes."

Drumman: ...

Even roving AIs can have headaches when it comes to tax issues.

V walked out of the Delaman headquarters and called out to David, "Let's go, call it a day."

David looked at Delaman's sign: "And here?"

"No problem here, you did a great job just now, knowing to protect the surrounding facilities immediately, well done." V stood on tiptoe, intending to pat David's shoulder, but couldn't reach it, so he could only pat David's stomach instead: "Wow, young man, your abs are pretty solid, how did you get them?"

David blushed instantly, while Lucy yelled into the communicator, "V!!!"

"Haha." V teased the silly couple, remotely controlled the alien to complete the outfit, and then flew away from the scene.

The conversation with Delaman did not yield the expected results. V never imagined that there could be emotional bonds between wandering AIs.

She could have killed Delaman and extracted key information directly from his residual data, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, and it was also unnecessary.

V guessed that the incident was caused by a rogue AI, and the facts proved her guess correct. At first, she thought it was a large-scale rogue AI invasion, but now it seems that it was just an unlucky guy trapped in the human world suddenly acting crazy.

V can still control the situation even with a wandering AI, as proven in the previous battle against Little Beidou. Even if this wandering AI is a bit stronger than the one in Little Beidou, V still has the powerful weapon of the Nightingale Song Zhaomei. As long as the two of them connect and combine, they will be invincible in cyberspace!

Although she didn't know why she could withstand the backlash from the Black Wall, in the Black Wall's eyes, she was like a transparent person.

But who cares, as long as it works.

A roving AI can't turn the world upside down; V is perfectly aware of just how awesome it is.

Everything then returned to normal.

The waters of Laguna Bay are becoming cleaner every day, and people are increasingly accepting and fond of the new nanorobots. Thanks to the combined efforts of the public relations and legal departments, the academic community has gradually changed its tune. Under the influence of money, scholars who were previously vehemently criticizing bio-based AI have begun to sing its praises, as if bio-based AI is the future of humanity, while traditional mechanistic AI is nothing but a pile of stinking garbage.

Meanwhile, New America also released the purification results of several polluted water bodies. The data was basically consistent with that of Night City, which completely proved the universality of the new nanorobots. It proved that this was not Night City's boasting, but that humanity had really found something called a "regret pill" in a desperate situation.

Suddenly, bio-based AI and novel nanorobots topped the trending searches on major online platforms, with countless countries and regions expressing their intention to purchase them. Of course, even if the environment deteriorates, the wealthy and powerful will not be affected, but the public opinion is too strong, so they have to put on a show, which inevitably leads to ordinary people actually improving their quality of life.

The high-ranking officials and nobles all cursed V in their hearts. They thought it would be so much more comfortable for everyone to just sit around doing nothing, why did V have to do that? They had finally managed to establish the concept of "this is how the world is" in the minds of the lower classes, only to have it shattered by V's punch.

It turns out that water sources can be purified, that there is clean water to drink, that our children don't have to be born with deformities, and that we don't need to buy artificial stomachs to live healthy lives.

V's actions have caused maintenance costs for governments around the world to skyrocket, because these lowly people are now refusing to drink the toxic water and instead wanting to drink clean water!

Many national leaders have protested, raising concerns about the safety of the new nanorobots. Although the heads of various giant companies are on V's side, the strong opposition is too much for them to bear, so they are demanding that V resolve the conflict.

The world leaders initially thought they had won, believing the conflict was unsolvable and that V would inevitably back down. However, V countered by saying that such a simple matter was hardly worth resolving, and immediately shut everyone up with a simple "price reduction promotion."

Of course, the price reduction was only done covertly; the publicly announced price was still 15 billion per milliliter, but the actual price was only 12 billion per milliliter.

In other words, each country can exchange 120 billion for a 150 billion invoice, and the extra 30 billion will legally and legitimately go from the national treasury into the pockets of individuals.

Driven by such enormous profits, countries have abandoned their previous hesitant approach and have begun a frenzy to purchase new nanorobots.

The country that originally only planned to buy a milliliter as a token gesture is now asking for ten milliliters. It's not that they want to covet the 300 billion in national treasury funds, but mainly that they want to restore their natural home and protect Mother Earth, which is the common home of all mankind.

In this way, politicians legally made money, and ordinary people truly enjoyed the benefits of technology. Aragaka 2077, with its low profit margins and high sales volume, made a fortune.

This is a win-win-win situation.

Ordinary people thank V for his selflessness, and politicians from various countries also thank V for his selflessness. Although the two "selflessness" do not mean the same thing, they can also mean the same thing.

The bigwigs of the giant companies were also deeply impressed, admitting that even they might not be able to do better than V. They discovered for the first time that V not only possessed super strong personal combat power, but also had a terrifying grasp of people's hearts and a strategic vision.

Is this guy even human?

The bigwigs couldn't help but have this question, but it was just a question.

V's physical examination report was already an open secret; the chaotic state of her nervous system clearly indicated that she was a genuine human being.

With the advancement of new nanorobots, Night City has gained a higher international standing. For ordinary people, this means more tourists visiting Night City, more job opportunities, and more money to be earned.

Following this success, Solomon Reed released Night City's first self-produced sci-fi dream epic, *I Am the Black Wall*, which premiered globally and immediately garnered significant attention. The film's portrayal of humanity's united struggle against the roaming AI was particularly inspiring, resonating widely across society. Many film critics hailed it as a masterpiece destined to be recorded in cinematic history, for it eschewed vulgar gore and violence, instead reflecting a genuine existential crisis on a societal level.

Excessive capitalism has made people indifferent and ruthless, but Night City tells the world that there are not only conflicts of interest between people, but also a bond of life and death. Just like in the movie, only by forgetting personal gains and losses and recognizing the greater good can humanity defeat powerful enemies and move towards the future!

As a result, more people began to buy the film, making "I Am the Black Wall" a huge hit and sparking a phenomenal movie-watching craze.

"Damn, they're putting on such a great show, how much money did we actually give those film critics?" V asked David, looking at the report.

“I heard from Sasha that they gave us quite a bit, but this movie is really good; Lucy and I have both watched it three times,” David replied from the driver’s seat. Today, V was going to City Hall to observe the second debate between the two mayoral candidates, and he was responsible for driving him there.

V sat in the back row, still immersed in belittling his own film.

"This movie is going to be good? It's obviously just a hastily made film. It's just about uniting to fight a roaming AI, what's so great about it?"

David laughed and said, "Human unity is remarkable in itself; it's at least a thousand times better than killing each other."

"Alright, you young people are the main audience, so if you like it, that's fine." V turned off the information briefing: "Let's go, if I don't show up, those guys won't even dare to start."

"Of course, you are the famous V!"

David chuckled, about to activate the Sword in the Stone, when a Delaman car suddenly sped out from around the corner and crashed into him with a bang. The car's AI defiantly honked twice and shouted:

"Beep beep, you bastard!"

Chapter 80 Unbridled

The sword in the stone was knocked upside down.

There was no way around it; after all, it was a lightweight sports car. Compared to the robust and durable Delaman limousine, it was like a naked little girl, easily knocked over.

David, strapped into the driver's seat with his seatbelt, looked completely bewildered: "What happened? I got yelled at by a taxi driver?"

V was even more unlucky. She struggled to turn around in the carriage, rubbed her bruised forehead, and said, "I'll definitely wear my seatbelt next time!"

The two kicked open the car door and climbed out. V immediately opened a news website, and just as she had expected, hundreds of car accidents, large and small, had just occurred in Night City, and the culprit was "Delaman Chauffeur".

"It still happened." V sighed softly.

David asked in surprise, "You expected this all along?"

"It was expected, but the scale far exceeded my expectations."

V wasn't lying. In his previous life, when Delaman suddenly developed a split personality, only 7 cars went out of control. But now it seems that all the taxis in the Delaman network have gone out of control, and instead of the depressed AI and the disheartened AI, they are all extremely aggressive and dangerous.

In her past life, V reset Drumman's core, ending the AI ​​rebellion, but until the very end, neither she nor Drumman knew why this "malfunction" had occurred. But in this life, V found the answer: Drumman had been betrayed by his own AI friend.

Why did it do that? In its past life, V's level was too low to access the truth; in this life, V's level is too high, and the truth is irrelevant.

All she had to do was deal with whatever came her way, expose the mastermind behind it, and tear it to pieces.

"David."

"exist."

"Take the security forces out on the streets to maintain order. I've already sent a message to River, and the NCPD will cooperate with you. Your main task is to destroy the Delaman vehicle; only the cybernetic robot can handle that thing."

"Understood. Should we keep a few vehicles to investigate the cause?"

"No need," V said coldly. "Destroy them all, leave none behind!" Although these rioting AIs were all Delaman's children, they were all pure rebellious offspring. V hated brats, he hated them very much.

"Yes!"

David accepted the order and left, while V prepared to head to Delaman's headquarters to collect the bets.

Given the current chaotic road traffic situation, V called in seven hovercraft.

Among these seven hovercars are the Ghost Hound Special Forces and Arasaka 2077's network experts.

They landed around the Delaman headquarters and cleared out the armed Xiongfeng drones within just 7 minutes, taking control of the entire peripheral network as if laying out a red carpet to escort V to the core control room of Delaman.

The V of the past fought alone, but the V of today is not. Night City is her territory, and no one can turn the tide in this small area, not even the wandering AI.

Pull out your personal connection cable and enter cyberspace from the network connection point in the core control room.

The world composed of 0 and 1 is violently shaking. Drumman is still shining brightly, and still has the majestic image of a six-winged giant, but a long sword that is also shining brightly is stuck in his chest, causing golden data streams to drip from his mouth and nose, like blood.

“Old De,” V called out.