Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

Stings was helpless. He couldn't let Dutt find out that he had set him up. If it were before, he would have secretly taken care of Jack and Vito, but now he dared not lay a hand on Vito. A dozen men were torn to pieces in five minutes. Vito was simply a killing god.

"Damn it, I've really shot myself in the foot!"

Stins cursed inwardly.

Watching Dutt, still limping, being greeted by others at the station, Stins nearly crushed the cup in his hand.

"No, I need to find someone to back me up!"

Stins made a phone call to a man named Fujiwara Goukan.

……

Human joys and sorrows are not shared by all.

The nights in Night City never linger for the losers. While Stings plots revenge in the shadows, Vito and Jack are enjoying their moment of victory under the neon lights of Santo Domingo.

Vito and Jack were test-driving the car, and the old captain personally oversaw the progress, bringing Vito the unmodified Magician he wanted.

The old captain even had the car repainted.

Jack's motorcycles were also delivered. Okada and Kako found a target and sent the old captain's men into Westbrook. In just one day, the motorcycles were packed up and transported to Santo Domingo, where the tracking devices were removed and the motorcycles became the old captain's merchandise.

"Damn, Vito, you have to try out my Kusanagi Blade, this car is fucking awesome!"

Jack was very satisfied with his motorcycle; judging from his expression, he probably wanted to sleep with it tonight.

With a car, the two brothers no longer had to fight Delaman on missions every time.

"So, you two, are you satisfied with your new ride?"

"This car is amazing, it's an industrial gem! I have to take it for another spin."

Jack raved about his car.

"As long as the customer is satisfied!"

The old captain was also very satisfied with the euro, and he continued to promote it to Vito.

"We've got the car, how about we look at some apartments? I have a few nice ones, would you like to consider them?"

Vito laughed.

"Are you trying to take every penny out of our pockets?"

The old captain waved his hand.

"No, no, no, those apartments are really nice. We can't just watch others take the good ones, can we?"

Vito then replied.

"Let's save up some more money, brothers. Do you have any connections in this backwater?"

The old captain thought for a moment and then said.

"I know a few camps, but they don't come into town much. Is there something you need?"

"There is something I need to do."

Chapter 30

Vito wants the old captain to act as an intermediary to contact the families of wanderers and help them find a shipment of goods for Vito's planned cybernetic transport business.

Vito plans to open an underground smuggling operation in Heywood, which will provide basic prosthetic repair services as well as weapons modification and repair.

That way, he and Jack could pick out bigger orders and wouldn't have to work themselves to the bone for a few thousand dollars every day.

"I need someone from Badlands to help me find some goods, some of which are only available through the company. Could you ask around for me? Prices are negotiable."

The old captain knew that Vito's cargo was definitely not simple, but he still agreed without hesitation.

"Okay, send me the form."

After looking at the list, the old captain raised an eyebrow.

"Oh my, this is going to be big. What, you don't want to be a mercenary anymore and want to open a gun shop? And there's some stuff I've never even heard of. You're not collecting some mysterious bombs to blow up Arasaka Tower, are you?"

Vito smiled.

"The blasting of the deserted tower is too retro. I want to open a lottery shop and sell modified guns."

The old captain was somewhat surprised.

"I do believe that carrying a gun is difficult, but is it just a new hobby of picking up T-shirts?"

Vito's explanation.

"Besides fighting and killing, I also need to develop some new hobbies. Someone once said that people always need something to keep them alive."

The old captain neither confirmed nor denied it.

"Saving people while selling weapons for killing? You're really something else."

Jack spun around again and then came to a stop with a drift brake.

"What are you talking about?"

Vito answered casually when he saw Jack return.

"As for opening the shop, let's go. We have to go back to Old Wei's place. I have a few prosthetic bodies to be implanted today. Goodbye, old captain."

After saying that, Vito went up to his magician.

In old Vito’s shop, listening to Vito’s request, old Vito frowned.

"Subcutaneous armor, circulatory system, leg reinforcement, Vitor, don't you know that implanting prostheses has side effects? Implanting so many at once will cause serious problems for your nerves!"

Vito insisted.

"Don't worry about Lao Wei, I know my limits. I'm opening a shop soon, but I'm short of money. I need to take on some dangerous jobs to save up some capital. I can't do without some kind of prosthetic body."

Old Wei continued to persuade him.

"Then you can take your time. I can lend you some money, but don't gamble with your life!"

This was the first time Vito had seen old Vito so serious. He thought for a moment and then said...

"Okay, I'll install some subcutaneous armor first, and I'll install the rest in a few days."

After the surgery, Old Vito gave Vito a can of nerve-stimulating aerosol.

"Don't take it lightly. I've seen too many people pile things on themselves and end up turning themselves into cyber lunatics. There's only one Adam Hammer in the world. Don't become a slave to these machines."

Vito nodded.

"Okay, Lao Wei, I know what I'm doing, don't worry."

Jack watched Vito from the side, feeling uneasy. Jack was the kind of person who was rather opposed to implants, but seeing his good partner desperately piling things onto his body in order to get some big jobs, Jack also felt a little sad.

After leaving Old Wei's convoy, Sto and Jack said goodbye.

"I'll go back and get ready. Let's take a break today. You can invite Misty to see a movie or go experience your new car again."

After parting ways, Jack glanced at the CT-X, then turned and returned to Old Wei's train.

"Old Wei, implant a set of subcutaneous armor for me."

Old Wei found it a bit strange.

"You've thought it through too?"

Jack lay down on the chair.

“Vito needs help, and even if I can’t help, I can’t hold him back, right?”

Old Wei gave Jack an anesthetic injection.

"Relax, Jack, don't be so tense." Old Wei's voice came from above, with a hint of helplessness. "You two are really stubborn."

The surgery was faster than Jack had expected, but also more… invasive. He could feel the tiny interfaces piercing his skin and connecting to his nerves; a cold, foreign sensation quickly spread from his arm to his shoulder and then to his entire chest.

"Okay, the initial rejection reaction may be quite strong, so bear with it."

Old Wei handed him an inhibitor.

"It's powerful, but don't rely on it."

Jack nodded and took the inhibitor, inserting it into his neck. At first, he felt only numbness, but soon a burning sensation spread from the implantation area, as if countless red-hot needles were pricking under his skin. He gritted his teeth, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"How do you feel?" Old Wei observed his reaction.

“Like…like ants crawling inside my bones.” Jack squeezed out the words through his teeth, his voice trembling slightly. He tried to move his arm, and a strange stiffness came from his muscles, as if it no longer belonged to him.

"This is normal; your nervous system is adapting to new 'parts'."

Old Wei sighed.

“Go back and rest well. Don’t do any strenuous exercise. If you experience hallucinations, emotional outbursts, or more severe pain, come back to me immediately. Remember, Jack, your prosthetic body is a tool, not your everything.”

……

Meanwhile, Vito returned to his small apartment, which was filled with all sorts of tools and parts.

Instead of taking a break as usual, he went straight to his workbench.

Old Vieira's warning still echoed in his ears, but he had more pressing matters to attend to.

He needed something, something that could completely conceal his identity. Not just a simple disguise, but something that could completely erase Vito's face from an optical and prosthetic eye scanning level.

By improving his facial disguise, he eventually created a prosthetic eye and a new device that cameras couldn't scan.

Once the device is activated, a square mask appears on your face, just the right size to cover your entire face. The front of the mask doesn't display any expression, but rather a miniature, dynamic panoramic view of Night City—towering skyscrapers, flying cars weaving through them, and ever-burning neon lights, all slowly swirling across the mask, as if condensing the entire Night City's extravagance and sin into this small space.

He walked to the mirror, but the person in it was no longer Vito. The camera couldn't capture his face, and the scanning function of his prosthetic eye could only capture a chaotic stream of data, or simply display "no target." Any device attempting to track him through facial recognition was helpless against this square mask shimmering with the Night City cityscape.

Vito was satisfied and opened the file that Kiwi had unpacked for him.

"Where shall we begin? Whoever the little rooster points to, I'll go find—you!"

Vito randomly pointed to a spot, then led his men out of the room. He didn't bring his usual weapons, but instead took a Malorian Overture revolver and a Nine-Tailed Kinetic Assault Rifle.

"I hope you have the euros I need here to help my children's gun sports career."

Tonight is the debut night of the Block People of Night City.

Chapter 31 The Man Who Sold the World

The rain in Night City always carries a sour smell, but for Vito right now, such rainy days are the best cover.

He stood in the shadows of an abandoned factory building in the Watson Industrial District, his "square mask" flashing a faint neon light—the ever-burning night view of Night City.

This is a scavenger's base, and also the "material processing plant" mentioned in the archives.

Vito took a deep breath and didn't rush in. Instead, he crept along the base of the wall like a patient cheetah.

The factory was quiet, with only a low hum coming from afar. Vito avoided the two sentries at the entrance and, using the thermal imaging function of his prosthetic eye, saw an area deep inside the factory that was surrounded by a safety net, where there was a strong human heat response.

He quietly made his way to the second-floor corridor and peered down through the gaps in the railing.

In that instant, Vito's pupils contracted sharply.

Downstairs wasn't an ordinary prosthetic body removal workshop, but a photography studio filled with pink lights. Several cleaners in protective suits were busy around a huge transparent container. The container was filled with boiling strong acid, and a living person was tied to a chair, their lower body already immersed in the acid.

"Expression! I want that extreme expression of pain!"

A cleaner wearing a gas mask yells at the camera.

"Turn up the acid concentration! This episode of Mewtwo's theme is 'dissolving,' and the audience wants to see him slowly melt away in agony!"

Before the victim could even scream, the strong acid corroded his vocal cords, leaving only a gurgling sound of bubbles in his throat.

Vito felt a chill run down his spine to the top of his head. It wasn't fear of death, but pure, physiological nausea and rage.

“These scum…”

Vito's voice was terrifyingly low. He no longer concealed himself, but instead leaped directly down the second-floor corridor.