Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

Vito thought for a moment and then said.

“Tell me how he lost to you, don’t leave out a single word, I want to hear if someone is lying.”

The group chatted and explained the whole story. Vito got the key information: basketball star LeBron, who had left Haywood, was drunk and bragging to a motorcycle girl in the bar, saying he could take her home in a motorcycle. Fernando, the leader of the motorcycle gang in the bar, happened to overhear this.

Fernando doesn't usually watch football, and the dark lighting in the bar didn't reveal LeBron's dark face, so he told LeBron to stop bragging and run a race instead.

Under the influence of alcohol, LeBon immediately agreed, and the two went out to get their cars. Fernando hesitated when he first saw LeBon driving a Falcon, so he suggested that they bet fifty euros.

Meanwhile, LeBang, with one arm around the girl, spoke with an air of arrogance.

"If you want to gamble, gamble with a car. If you have the guts, bet your car with me. If you don't, you can go home and rest."

Fernando was about to give up, but seeing LeBron's smug look, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and took a drag of glitter.

"Fine, I'll bet you!"

Later, LeBron was indeed under the influence of alcohol. He almost crashed into the roadside after only a short distance. He was so scared that he only dared to drive in autopilot mode the whole time. Fernando easily won the race. LeBron wanted to cheat a little, but when he saw that someone recognized him, he had to swallow his anger.

After hearing the story, Vito and Jack exchanged a glance. This job was a lot of trouble for little money.

"Vito, what do we do now? If we take the car, we won't be able to take over."

Vito said helplessly.

“We are mercenaries. We do whatever work we are assigned. What does it matter to us whether we occupy the space or not? But LeBon is really dishonest. He doesn’t even admit that he lost the competition.”

"Should I call the priest?"

"Forget it, that would make us look even less professional."

Vito looked at Fernando.

"Let's have a race, according to the rules on the street. If you win, I'll give you a thousand. If you lose, you return the car to me, and I'll give you three hundred. How about it?"

Fernando didn't want to cause trouble. The mercenaries who came this time were easy to talk to, but they might not be so easy next time. Since he could still get money even if he lost, he gladly accepted the proposal.

"It's settled. From Qing Teng Road to Dinara, the passenger can fire a gun and can ram the vehicle."

"Okay, get ready, we'll begin in a bit."

"I'm not sure," Jack said.

"My driving skills aren't at a racing level. Me, sitting in the passenger seat, firing a gun?"

Vito adjusted his seat and inserted a magic puppet into his brain.

"I'll drive. Don't worry, that kid won't win. I'll brake his car later."

Jack stopped talking nonsense and sat in the passenger seat.

After a short preparation, the two cars stopped side by side on the starting line, with Vito on the left and Fernando on the right.

After the starting command, the two cars rushed out of the starting line. Jack, in a moment of cleverness, pointed his hand at Fernando, who was about to charge, and the latter was so startled that he slammed on the brakes.

The two cars sped along the road, one after the other. Fernando, relying on his excellent Falcon performance, kept a close watch on Vito, ready to overtake at any moment. Jack occasionally fired a couple of shots to harass Fernando.

Just two kilometers from the finish line, Fernando found an opportunity and overtook Vito in the blink of an eye as he turned the corner.

"Hahaha, I'm sure to win!"

Fernando was only 500 meters from the finish line, and he pressed hard on the accelerator, unleashing the falcon's sprinting power to the fullest.

squeak~

A screech of brakes rang out, and Falcon was forced to a stop. Vito had hacked Fernando's car and brought it to a sudden stop.

Vito rushed past Fernando.

The outcome is decided.

Chapter 17 Listen to Mom

"Damn it, you guys cheated, didn't you!"

Fernando, seeing victory slip away, immediately got out of the car in a fit of rage and started cursing.

Vito gestured for Jack to raise his hand, and Fernando seemed to have his throat grabbed, his voice abruptly cut off.

"Kid, you know the rules. Playing with the puppet isn't cheating, but getting off the bus and pointing a gun at yourself is cheating. Either take the three hundred dollars and get out of here, or I'll let this guy shoot two pellets into your head. Choose!"

Fernando swallowed hard, but in the end, he decided that his life was more important.

"I want three hundred dollars."

Vito transferred three hundred to him, and Fernando and his racing buddies immediately turned to leave, but Vito called them back.

"W-what? We've already given you the car."

Fernando thought Vito had changed his mind.

Say thank you.

Vito grinned, showing his teeth.

"Uh, thank you."

"Alright, let's go, goodbye."

Fernando and his companions felt they had encountered a cyber madman and quickly left.

"Holy crap, Mano, I never expected my first order to be like this. But this thing is really awesome, it feels great to hold in my hands. It's a pity I can't try it today."

Jack chuckled, rubbing his hands.

"What name do you think I should give him?"

Vito opened the door of the Falcon and said casually.

"How about we call it Reason? Give Reason to those who can't speak properly, so they can speak properly."

Jack put the gun away.

"Good idea, Mano. With reason in hand, even the most insane idiot will speak properly. Shall we drive to see the priest?"

Vito took the driver's seat in the Falcon.

“I’ll fly the falcon. Send me your location, and we’ll meet at the priest’s. Call me in case of emergency.”

"Okay, Wild Wolf tonight, it's on me."

The two drove back to Heywood, where Vito also met Father Sebastian Ibarra, a well-known middleman priest in Heywood.

The old man looked like a preachy pastor, but in reality, he came from a gang and was involved in many shady businesses.

The priest was surprised to learn that the two had quickly completed the "first blood" transaction.

“Young man, I thought you would go and cause a bloodbath again, and then drive back a Hayabusa covered in broken bones and blood, with half a door missing.”

The priest, looking at the undamaged car, made a little joke to the two of them.

“I am a pacifist, sir, and besides, since I came to Night City I’ve found that bullets and car washes aren’t cheap.”

Vito shrugged, looking helpless.

"Haha, this is quite different from what I've heard. Tell this old man what interesting things happened on this trip, son."

The priest had his men bring three plastic stools, and the three of them sat down in the garage.

"Get a job, drive, do the job, come back, wait for the transfer, that's it, I have nothing to say."

Vito's words were concise and to the point; the priest smiled and looked at Jack.

"It seems your friend is a man of action. And you, Jack, do you have anything to share with the old priest?"

Jack scratched his head and said.

"The process went fairly smoothly. I originally wanted to draw my gun and make those few thugs jump out of the car, but they said they won the car fair and square. That was different from what the commission said. To be honest, I was a little hesitant. It was indeed LeBron's underhanded dealings, but Vito was decisive. He used that old car to win the car back and made them admit defeat."

The priest stood up and patted Jack on the shoulder.

“Lebon is a bit of a liar, but you did a great job. He’ll pay you an extra thousand euros for the lie. Good job, kid. I can see you can do well on this path.”

Then the priest turned to Vito and extended his right hand, saying something.

"Welcome to Night City, kid. Jack is very good at making friends. I hope we can have more collaborations in the future. Would you like to give me your contact information? That way, I can contact you more easily."

Vito stood up, shook the priest's hand, and gave him his contact information.

"Of course, Father, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

Father Sebastian readily transferred the money to Vito. Jack, pleased with how well he had handled his first job after leaving the gang, happily invited the Valentino gang members present to Wild Wolf for drinks, offering a 20% discount to everyone.

After saying that, Jack put his arm around Vito and walked out onto the street. He saw that Vito had ordered another Delaman and complained.

“Hey Vito, you can’t spend money like this. Do we really need to use Delaman just to take a taxi?”

Vito helped Jack into the car and then said to Jack.

“One day we’ll be driving a fully armored Sword in the Stone around Night City, but until then, Delaman is our safety net. I don’t want to get shot by stray bullets that come out of nowhere on the street.”

Jack thought about it and realized it made sense, but he still couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"The Kederaman is really expensive, I need to buy a car quickly."

“Mr. Jack, choose Delaman, and leave your troubles at the door.”

……

Meanwhile, this morning Mann called to ask David to cooperate with the gang members to steal a corporate dog's car data. However, a small accident happened. The corporate dog realized that his car key chip had been stolen and immediately went out to look for his car.

David and Lucy were stealing data in the car when they were caught red-handed by the company dog. Left with no other option, David had to drive the car away.

The company dog ​​reacted quickly, immediately calling the Tiger Claw gang thugs to chase the car. Seeing that he couldn't shake them off, David activated the Sinwiss and drove against traffic on the elevated highway, and gave the relentless thugs a quick burst. The ugly Tiger Claw gang thugs crashed into the car and turned into dazzling fireworks.

"Phew~ My driving skills are pretty good, right?"

Overwhelmed by Sinwistan's overload, David forced himself to ask Lucy, who was sitting next to him.

Lucy had just finished downloading the data on the luxury car and replied casually.

"It's because this car's autonomous driving is so good."

But when she looked up and saw the weak David, she added another sentence.

"The responsiveness is good."

Beep~ Beep~ Beep~

The Night City comms rang; it was Mann calling.

"Hey, did you get the data?"

David wiped the blood from his nose and replied.

"We got it from Lucy, but what about the car?"

Mann sent a location to David.

"First, bring Lucy over, then drive the car here. Just say Mann sent you, and then you don't need to worry about anything else. Just come straight to the bar."

"Uh, okay."

After ending the call, Mann's phone rang again.

David checked the caller ID; it was his mother, Gloria.

David hesitated for a few seconds before answering the phone.

"Mom, I'm a little busy right now. Can I call you back later?"

Gloria on the other end of the phone was silent for two seconds, then spoke softly.

"Be careful, David, and remember to call back."

After David ended the phone call, an eerie silence fell over the car until Lucy got out when they arrived at the cherry blossom market.

"Don't forget to call your mother back."

After saying that, Lucy closed the car door.

"Uh, okay, thanks..."