Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

“No need to go in.” Qiwei’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Vito, look at your three o’clock position, that ventilation duct. Jack, you’re in charge of covering Vito, don’t let your voice give away your location.”

"Hey! Is my voice that loud?"

Jack muttered to himself, but he obediently put aside his rationality and switched to a silenced pistol.

Vito didn't speak. He adjusted his breathing, glided along the ground like a black cheetah, and silently crossed the overgrown clearing.

"Take action," Qi Wei coldly ordered.

Vito sprang into action, took a few running steps, leaped up, grabbed the edge of the ventilation duct with both hands, and silently flipped inside.

At the same time, Qiwei's intrusion also began.

Two Sixth Street gang guards at the warehouse entrance were leaning against the wall smoking when suddenly, the prosthetic eye interface in front of them flickered.

System Warning: Coolant Leak.

"Damn it, what the hell?" the guard on the left cursed. Just as he was about to raise his hand to check the status of his prosthetic body, a piercing alarm suddenly exploded in his head.

[System Warning: Visual module overload.]

His vision instantly transformed into a scene of shattered snow, followed by a deafening ringing in his ears. He stumbled backward, knocking over his companion beside him.

"What's going on? A hacker?!"

Before they could react, all the lights in the warehouse suddenly went out, plunging them into deathly darkness.

“Jack, now.” Qiwei’s voice remained calm.

Jack burst out of the shadows, smashing through the side door like a heavy tank. While the guards were still struggling to fix the malfunctioning prosthetic eye, he fired swiftly, two armor-piercing bullets hitting the two men in the head.

boom!boom!

The two burly men collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound.

"Get both sorted out, Vito. The one inside is yours."

Jack spoke into the channel, a hint of excitement in his voice.

"It's done."

Vito's voice came from the second floor.

The next second, Vito landed, holding the silver data terminal in his hand.

He entered the room through the ventilation vent and lowered himself down using a rope gun.

He waited for the opportunity to strike a fatal blow.

The moment the guard turned to check the factory lights, Vito fired an armor-piercing round from a silenced Euro, killing him instantly by shooting it into his eye.

The whole process took less than ten seconds.

There was no noise, no alarms, not even a single unnecessary word.

Vito landed, tossed the data terminal to Jack, and then nodded slightly to the air—a gesture of respect to Qiwei.

"withdraw."

The three quickly evacuated along the predetermined route.

Jack drove Vito's Magician, with Vito in the passenger seat using a personal connection to analyze data terminals, while Kiwi drove the van away from the scene.

The wheels crunched over the trash on the road.

Jack glanced at the dormant old industrial area behind him through the rearview mirror and couldn't help but whistle.

"Wow, this went so smoothly!"

He patted the steering wheel, a bewildered smile on his face.

"I thought they were going to wreak havoc again and blow that warehouse to smithereens. But what happened? They got the stuff without a sound."

He turned to look at Vito.

"Bro, that rope intrusion you just used was so cool! And Qiwei, your hacking skills are simply amazing, but I have a question."

Qiwei's voice rang out in the shared channel.

"say!"

Jack then asked.

Are all girls who play hacking this cold and aloof?

Qi Wei's voice still sounded the same.

"Calmness is the standard for a hacker."

Qiwei didn't say much. She remained expressionless, a side effect of the emotional blockage. She felt neither the joy of completing the mission nor the closeness to her teammates.

Jack continued.

"This is our last deal together, how about we grab a farewell dinner?"

"No need, I need to go back to Mann's squad."

Qiwei shut down her emotional blockade and replied.

Jack was somewhat surprised.

"So eager? Not even a drink?"

"No need, let's wait for another opportunity."

After saying that, Qiwei left the channel.

In Night City, the relationship between mercenaries and hackers is essentially a transaction. Kivy, a girl with a troubled past, was picked up from the streets by Rebecca's Mann Squad, who treated her like family.

Jack remarked with emotion.

"She looks like a girl with a story. I've met those kinds of people before; everything about them tells a story from the past."

Vito nodded in agreement.

Jack slowed down.

“Hey, Mano, don’t let money weigh you down. Didn’t Misty say that sometimes it takes more courage to slow down than to rush forward?”

Vito smiled.

"It's nothing, I've almost sorted out the money issue. It's just that I've seen too much trouble lately, which has been a bit upsetting."

Jack also remarked with emotion.

"Yeah, but at least we haven't stooped to taking any disgusting job. I'll take you somewhere where we can relax."

Where?

"Devil's Boxing Club, that's a place full of real enthusiasts. There's an old saying at Devil's Boxing Club: Be friends with whoever beats you to a pulp."

"Okay, we also need to relax properly outside of work."

Chapter 35 Summer Dance

Two weeks later.

During the sweltering midday heat in the Heywood district, the sun was as scorching as a red-hot blade.

On a street near Gansu Agricultural Square, a newly opened shop has erected an exceptionally thick awning.

The neon sign with red background and white lettering gleamed even during the day—"Gunslinger Children's Sports"

The name is full of a kind of morbidly contradictory feeling, as if it is suggesting that the human body can be repaired like a toy, while also bluntly declaring the place's obsession with firepower.

Vito stood at the doorway, holding a rag in his hand, casually wiping an Ajax assault rifle in the shop window.

The gun was plated with a matte black finish, but the stock was painted with a pink unicorn, a small design Vito had casually added. The model of this Ajax assault rifle could only be roughly identified from its appearance. The entire gun had been modified from start to finish. If there were any gun experts, their eyes would be glued to it.

"Vito, is there a mistake on that price tag?"

Gloria Martinez poked her head out from the front desk.

She changed into a well-tailored white medical gown.

Although her face was still pale from recovering from a serious illness, her eyes were sharp and focused. She was holding a laser calibration instrument in her hand, debugging a newly disassembled prosthetic surgery table.

As a former senior employee of REO Medical, Gloria's professional skills were not wasted due to family changes. Vito gave her half of the technology license for the shop, where she was not only the shopkeeper but also the chief surgeon.

"It's not a mistake."

Without turning his head, Vito straightened the rifle painted with a unicorn.

"That's for those small-time corporate dogs who think their lives are precious. If they're not scared away after seeing the price, then they deserve to use this gun."

They were talking about the Arasaka JKE-X2 Humble Pistol, a simple and understated weapon that is the pride of engineer Arasaka and is one of the most advanced and deadliest submachine guns on the market.

The price of this gun, after being modified by Vito, is enough to buy sixteen of the same pistols.

"You are an amazing person."

Gloria sighed, but a smile played on her lips. She expertly entered a series of commands on the operating table, and the prosthetic body instantly lit up.

“This surgical arm, which was discarded by the ‘trauma team,’ has been prepared by our school. Its accuracy is 0.5% higher than when it left the factory. Vito, your modification ideas are always so unexpected.”

"Let's make the most of these secondhand items."

Vito shrugged.

Although all his attributes are maxed out, he has recently only enjoyed researching violent modifications, while leaving the meticulous medical maintenance to Gloria.

At that moment, Jack also came into the store carrying a potted cactus and put it down.

"Congratulations, Mano, your little shop is open. But the name, Gunfire Kids, sounds like the house we used to play when we were kids, except people really do die."

Vito and Jack hugged.

"Come in and have an ice-cold Coke. Did you come by motorcycle in this weather?"

Jack took the Coke that Gloria handed him.

"Yes, I almost didn't cook it properly. Thank you, Lady Gloria. Are you feeling better?"

Gloria waved her hand to indicate that she was welcome.

"I'm much better, thank you for your concern."

"Mom! Vito!"

David ran to the door, his face beaming with excitement.

"Am I late? My training period is almost over, and I've been busy getting the team in sync these past few days."

After a period of special training, David became much stronger and taller. He was still wearing his mother's REO medical company jacket.

"You've arrived just in time. Jack's here too. Come in and have some iced drinks."

Vito beckoned him in.

"Is this the legendary weapons master?"

Rebecca looked Vito up and down, chewing gum as she did so. Vito noticed that she was carrying a weapon case that was almost as big as him.

David was a little embarrassed, and he scratched his head.

“Rebecca, this is Vito.”

Rebecca threw the weapon case to the ground with a loud bang, then walked straight to the shop window.

"These weapons look interesting. Are there any hidden menus?"

Vito smiled and snapped his fingers.

card!

A mechanical sound came from the side of the roller shutter door, and two mechanical turrets were seen protruding from the side, each carrying a Military Technology Type 31 heavy machine gun.

The gun body resembled a ferocious monster, and the thick barrel, like a small cannon, had been modified to be 17 millimeters. The bullets used were Vito's specially hand-crafted explosive armor-piercing rounds.

"How about this? Although single-person reloading is not possible in combat, it's not a big problem in most cases. Anyway, by the time its magazine is empty, there won't be any survivors."

The sudden appearance of the turret left Jack and the others dumbfounded. Rebecca was so surprised that she almost swallowed her chewing gum. Only Gloria smiled helplessly. She really didn't understand why Vito wanted to install a turret on the cybernetic body.