Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

Tonight's events were all a setup by the middleman, Roddy, to frame me. I'm a victim too! Please spare my life! If you let me go, I'll hand over this 500,000 euros worth of confidential information—I won't take a single penny!

Vito stood still, his gaze fixed on the encrypted storage box, without taking it.

"What kind of data is worth 500,000? Did you include the premium on Zeta products in the price?"

"It's worth it, it's very important!"

Karen's heart pounded. Knowing his fate was hanging by a thread, he gritted his teeth and threw out his last and most important card.

"I know the inside story of Zeta Technology! Everyone outside thinks that Zeta has risen rapidly and gained a foothold among the new forces in Night City by relying on new prosthetic body adaptation technology and low-priced modification services! But that's all just a facade! It's a gimmick used to deceive people!"

"Stop patting yourself on the back. Didn't Zeta start his business by stealing other people's data?"

"Well, that's one of the methods, but Zeta's rise is because the company has been secretly digging into OldNet Technology!"

These are the remaining online data, lost mechanical structures, and out-of-print smart programs that were completely blocked before the old era collapsed! These are the core technologies that major established companies, Arasaka, and military technology have all determined to be completely lost!

My experimental draft on prosthetic body adaptation is a product derived from old web technology!

Kailun's face was tense, and he spoke each word earnestly.

Vito picked up the storage box and tossed it in his hand.

"Hey, you know perfectly well that I work for Zeta, so why are you saying all this to me?"

Karen glanced at Vito, then immediately lowered her head again.

"I can tell you're not a company soldier or an assassin. I just beg you to spare my life and not take me back. I'll suffer a fate worse than death if I go back! Please!"

Vito's prosthetic eye was red as he glanced at the shadowy figure beside the trash can in the back alley.

He originally wanted to check out this old network technology, but Tommasino hadn't just approached him this time.

It's a pity we can't see the old web technology this time.

"Alright, that's enough. You can go now."

Karen felt like he had been granted a pardon. He immediately ran towards another exit, where he would have someone remove his prosthetic body shortly.

As Karen ran past the trash can, she was suddenly shot and knocked to the ground.

Bang bang bang!

Three more shots rang out, and Karen was killed.

"Are you just going to let him get away like this? Or are you only happy when I have to do it?"

Big Joe emerged from the shadows.

Vito did not answer Joe's question.

"For such a big guy, you have a knack for hiding. Not bad. He died without ever finding out who killed him."

Big Joe pulled up Karen's body to check if he was truly dead.

"You spotted me as soon as I arrived. What kind of skill is that? We're done for this time. Have you eaten yet? Want to go get some hot dogs with me?"

Vito tossed the box to Big Joe.

"This time it's my treat. This is what they want; please hand it over."

Big Joe put the box in his pocket and then led Vito to a hot dog stand.

"You're not selling prosthetic bodies for dead people this time? He has a pretty good pair of ankle prosthetics, and he can even charge up for a jump."

Vito made a sarcastic remark about Joe.

"I won't touch the company's corpse; it's too much trouble, and it's not worth the effort."

After leaving the residential area, Da Qiao handed the items to the informant who had come to meet him.

"How much of what Karen said just now did you hear?"

"Don't listen to what you shouldn't listen to. All those gossips in Dogtown died out years ago, precisely because they listened to so much and spread even more rumors."

Da Qiao is still the same as always, not caring about anything, not wanting to concern herself with anything, only food is the most important thing to her.

"Are you a local from Dogtown?"

"Sort of. My family is from Taiping Prefecture. We came to Dog Town during the War of Unification. My old man did a lot of things like helping the gods cross the rainbow bridge at dusk."

When they passed by the Moth Bar, Vito asked Big Joe to wait while he went up to take a peek.

Then I saw Alex drinking with Cha. There were dozens of bullet glasses in front of Alex, and he was swaying a little.

Vito paid for the drinks.

"Let's go, Cha, I'll take you to get some hot dogs."

Alex was a little tipsy at this point, and she felt she was about to win, so she grabbed Chapman and wouldn't let him leave.

Vito was exasperated. How could a Joint Logistics Command agent be drinking with a robot? Alex should be sitting at the same table as the legendary chokehold man, Jack.

Vito could only reassure Alex, saying that he had something to do this time and would come back next time.

Little Cha left Moth Bar with a heavy heart; he and Alex got along very well.

"Hey, Vito, Cha doesn't eat hot dogs, Cha just needs to charge his phone."

Vito hugged Cha.

"You can drink alcohol but not eat hot dogs? Cha, you don't want the bartender inside to know you're a robot, do you?"

Little Cha had no choice but to leave with Vito.

Big Joe lit a candle for the big tree below the Moth Bar. There were many similar candles there; it's said that this is a place where the residents of Dogtown express their grief.

"May God bless you, rest assured, I have lived another day."

Da Qiao took off his sunglasses and bowed his head, murmuring a conversation with the deceased.

Fifteen minutes later, Liying also drove to the hot dog shop and joined the others.

At first, everyone was simply enjoying the hot dogs with their generous fillings, but when Joe ate his twenty-second hot dog, everything changed.

Vito and the other two wanted to see just how many Joe could eat.

"Boss! Give my buddy a dozen hot dogs, extra spicy Cheetos and cheese!"

Chapter 137 Let You Down

It might be a bit arbitrary to blame some things in Dogtown on Kurt Hansen, but it's more accurate to blame Zeta.

In the half month since arriving in Dogtown, Vito has witnessed many troubles caused by Zeta. Zeta's employee turnover rate is higher than other companies. Zeta will not let you off the hook just because you joined it. On the contrary, it will continue to exploit you to the point of exhaustion.

Even employees of Arasaka might have a change of heart after their boss attempts an assassination and end up killing him.

The Cezeta wouldn't do that; assassinations are commonplace for them. Today, Vito received another strange message from Tommasino, requesting him to take out a group of assassins.

Vito initially thought that among Zeta's scumbags, there was one relatively clean one, but he didn't expect that this assassin was also hired by Zeta. He wanted to kill one of Hansen's henchmen in Dogtown, and regardless of whether he succeeded or not, Vito had to kill the assassin to silence him.

Vito gained a deeper understanding of Zeta Corporation's character. He was quite curious about who was in charge of Zeta, since the person who could make Zeta seem like a Paradox Interactive game was truly an extraordinary individual.

This made Vito realize even more that using the company's power to attack other companies was tantamount to fighting a tiger.

In a room on the twenty-third floor of an abandoned building in Dogtown, Vito was watching the Dogtown residents swarming below like ants.

"Zeta, damn it, I was so busy messing with Arasaka that I forgot about you. You'd better be able to dig out a Giant of Light by then."

Ta-da!

There was a knock on the door four times.

Vito gestured for Cha to open the door.

"I brought fried noodles from the place near the stadium. The car is ready, and we can leave at any time once we've completed our objective."

Liying walked into the room carrying two bags of food.

A draft blew through, and the half-smoked cigarette that Vito had casually placed by the window was blown away.

A resident of Dogtown below started swearing.

"Holy shit! Who the hell is so rude! Littering, huh?! Don't let me catch you!"

He looked at the half-smoked cigarette that had hit him on the head; it wasn't a cheap brand. He put the half-smoked cigarette in his mouth and took a puff.

"Holy crap, that's fucking good!"

The sniper position in the room was set up. Vito and Liying were eating fried noodles together, while Xiaochai stared down below.

The route that Zeta's people planned for the assassin was on the highway opposite this building, with no obvious obstructions and no forks.

Hansen's men's car will pass by this road, the assassins will intercept the car and then eliminate their target.

Vito ate his fried noodles, but he was a little absent-minded. Karen's words had planted a seed in his mind, and he was also very curious about the so-called old network technology.

The crash of the old internet triggered by Barthemos brought countless technologies to a standstill, and the field of artificial intelligence even became taboo at one point. In some parts of the world today, old objects from more than 50 years ago are still in use.

The company tries every means to dig out the secret treasures buried in the old network. Arasaka organizes the hacker youth army to be sent into the old network in batches. This is not simply sending these people to their deaths, but using human lives as shovels to dig out the treasure trove one shovel at a time.

How did Zeta manage to do this? And how did they surpass Arasaka, who had been doing this for many years?

Vito doesn't know the answer yet, but he knows where it is: Zeta's database.

I need to get back to being a net runner. It's been a while since I've contacted T-bug. I need to chat with her online. I wonder if there are any mangoes at the beach villa in Tahiti.

After finishing our meal, it's time to get started.

Vito and Li Ying walked out of the room. In this operation, Vito would carry out the ground attack, Cha would provide high-level sniping, and Li Ying would provide support in a car.

Their sniping positions have a sliding rail, allowing them to hide and shoot from inside a room, or quickly move forward to the window to gain a wider field of view for sniping.

Xiao Cha secured the Asura sniper rifle, then activated the prosthetic eye to retract and screen suspicious individuals.

Whoosh!

The door behind him suddenly opened, and Xiao Cha rolled into makeshift cover, activating his hand-mounted machine gun prosthetic and pointing it directly at the door.

"Hey, Cha, what's going on?"

As he scanned the area with his prosthetic eye, Little Cha answered Vito.

"The room door is open. Xiao Cha is checking for potential dangers. It's possible that the door was connected to electricity, causing the error."

Vito sensed something was wrong. The building had been abandoned for a long time, and even the doors had to be forced open. Now that it was plugged in, not only were the doors stuck and unable to be opened, but they also opened automatically. This was really strange.

"Be careful, Cha, someone might have hacked the door open."

Xiao Cha cautiously went out, scanning the dimly lit hallway. After a careful search, she found the place deserted.

“Vito, Cha has scanned the area, no one’s there.”

The car of the Ghost Dog was slowly approaching from afar, and Vito instructed Cha.

"Set up a simple tripwire mine warning system. If there's a problem, evacuate first and protect yourself, Cha."

"Ok."

Cha adjusted the fuse time of the anti-personnel grenade and set up a detonation device using the plastic wire in the room.

Cha only needs grenades to kill anyone who suddenly breaks in; as for Cha himself, fragmentation grenades don't do much damage.

The three of them were in the building's underground parking garage, which was dark because the emergency lights had been out for two or three years.

Liying sat in the car waiting for the operation to begin. She had already memorized the route out of the car. She recalled the alleys and side streets along the evacuation route and designed multiple evacuation routes for emergencies.

After setting everything up, Xiaocha returned to his sniping position; Hansen's men's car was almost there.

"The car is almost here, and those guys should be about to make their move. Cha, get Asura ready."

"Received, Xiao Cha."

Xiao Cha connects with Ashura's wisdom, and the Eye of the Wrong Path expands. As long as the target is locked, Ashura's bullets will naturally fly there by themselves. As for the trajectory, ask Xiao Cha, but Xiao Cha doesn't know either.

Perhaps because it was on its own territory, the Ghosthound armored truck was not accompanied by any armed off-road vehicles or drones for escort and surveillance.

Vito's Saratoga kinetic submachine gun is ready; now, all that's left is for the show to begin.

Xiao inspected the Ghost Dog's car, and just as he was about to mark and lock it, a familiar feeling welled up inside him.

Normally, the robot Cha wouldn't have this feeling, but at this moment, he felt like a real person, sensing something familiar approaching from the depths of his soul.