Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

After attending the funeral, Vito drove with a heavy heart. He was in a bad state, torn by conflicting emotions.

When he plugged his personal connector into the operating chair to perform prosthetic surgery on himself, he felt as if he were slowly erasing the part of himself that made him human.

When he used his cybernetic body to kill, he felt as if he had created a powerful force with his own hands.

He needs to relieve his anxiety about the many machines implanted in his body through killing, and he needs stimulation to stop his brain from thinking about whether he is still human.

Unbeknownst to them, Vito's car had arrived at the Liz Bar.

Vito hasn't been to Lizzie since arriving in Night City, but he's heard that Mewtwo there is amazing.

He walked to Ritz's door, where Rita Wheeler, a member of the Morgan gang who was guarding the door, was standing there with a baseball bat in hand.

"Oh? Vito the God of Wealth? Welcome to Liz. You've won me a lot of money. Come on in. Liz's Mewtwo is the best. Oh, by the way, you know the rules, right?"

Vito gave a perfunctory reply.

"I know, don't touch it yet, click first and then look."

Rita Wheeler nodded.

"That's just how meticulous we are. Have fun!"

After Vito went inside, he sat at the bar for a while, intending to ask if Li Ying was there.

"What would you like to drink?"

"I asked the bartender, Matteo."

Vito thought about it. When he was with Jack, he always drank tequila or vodka. Perhaps he should try something different.

"A glass of gin on the rocks, please."

Matteo pushed a glass of gin with lemon and ice toward Vito.

"Call me if you need anything."

Just as Vito was about to ask if Li Ying was there, someone sat down next to him.

"Vito?"

Vito turned his head and saw a familiar face from the game, Evelyn Parker, who had blue hair and was much prettier than in the game.

"Am I that famous?"

Evelyn smiled gently and said.

"You're even more popular than Mewtwo in Night City lately. They call you Stopwatch because they say you're incredibly accurate."

Vito curled his lip. "Night City Country Bora just picks such rubbish names. Stopwatch sounds worse than Punisher. It sounds like a accelerator salesman."

"Precision and efficiency are the hallmarks of my team."

Evelyn was very pleased with Vito's confidence.

"I want to find a reliable person to do the work, without any middlemen, and the fewer people who know about it, the better."

Vito glanced at the calendar subconsciously. It wasn't even 2077 yet. How come Evelyn had come looking for him?

Vito was very curious.

"Although I'm not very familiar with the Night Watch's tradition of everyone going through a middleman first, for our first collaboration, I think it's still reliable to have one. Want me to recommend a few?"

Evelyn didn't respond, but continued talking about her own things.

"This is very important, and I'll pay extra. Now, let's talk in a private room, shall we?"

Vito shook his head.

"Not tonight, I'm here to see a friend."

Vito then asked Matteo where Li Ying was.

Vito went upstairs and found Li Ying, where he also saw Susanna Quinn, the leader of the Mox gang, in a fit of rage.

"Ten have already gone missing! It's impossible for them all to have left without saying a word!"

Vito patted Liying on the shoulder.

Liying turned around and saw Vito, her eyes filled with surprise.

"Come on, I've come to have a drink with you!"

Liying spoke haltingly.

"You...you came to see me?"

Vito was acting strangely.

"Yeah, we agreed to drink together. Let's go to the private room, I'll go order the drinks."

Liying was a little hesitant.

"I, I, I'm still working."

Vito said he was fine, and he called out to Susanna Quinn.

"Hey, Susanna, Liying Wesley, let's go to a private room for a drink, you don't mind, do you?"

Susanna was furious. She looked at Vito and immediately said...

"No problem. And you wouldn't mind helping me investigate Miss Mox's disappearance, would you? The reward is negotiable!"

Vito laughed.

"Thanks, I'll send a message to the team and tell them to start looking for clues immediately!"

Susanna was very satisfied, she said to a girl from the Morks.

"Send Vito and the others a bottle of good wine."

Inside the private room, both of them were inexplicably reserved, until Vito broke the silence first.

Would you like some ice?

Liying nodded.

"Add a little, thank you."

Then the two fell into an awkward silence.

Vito touched Li Ying's glass to his lips, then brought the glass to his mouth.

"Vito, have you fallen in love with me?"

Vito nearly vomited when he heard that.

He paused for a moment before speaking.

"It seems like a part of my soul has fallen in love with you. I don't know what happened today, but I somehow ended up at Lizhi, and it told me, 'Go, meet her.'"

"Hmm! Vito, what you're saying sounds like lines from an old movie!"

Liying smiled.

"Let's raise a glass to old movies. Life doesn't need songs; one day we might be greatly disappointed."

Vito raises his glass.

"Yes, one day we will be greatly disappointed."

Liying touched Vito's glass, then drank it all in one gulp.

The two chatted casually, occasionally clinking glasses. Li Ying's alcohol tolerance was worse than most people in Night City, and after a while, she couldn't hold on any longer.

"Vito, are you from Night City?"

"No, I was practically forced to come to Night City. I initially thought Night City was pretty good, but after I actually arrived, I discovered it stinks terribly and is incredibly filthy!"

"Yes, me too. Before coming here, I had a lot of unrealistic fantasies about this place."

"You're not from Night City?"

"No, I was born in a small town in the south, not far from Night City. You can see Night City's neon lights at night."

Li Ying's eyes were a little dazed, and Vito called for a glass of real water for her.

"And then? How did you end up in Night City?"

Liying seemed to be reminiscing about the past.

"My hometown used to be a place where avocados were grown. To grow those, you need to pump a lot of water. After the company war, the area was completely abandoned, and many people moved to the city, but my family was one of the ones who stayed."

My dad owned a car repair shop, and our family was doing alright. Then came the war for unification, and nobody wanted to go to that wasteland anymore. One by one, my friends went to Night City, and I thought to myself, one day I'll go to Night City too."

Vito listened intently, but Liying suddenly stopped.

"Tell me about yourself, Vito. I'll tell you another part of my story next time."

Vito thought for a moment and then said.

"My hometown is quite far from Night City, but many people know about Night City. We have a few mutual friends and a few common enemies in Night City. I stumbled here by accident. At first, I just wanted to avoid having my parts taken by the Cleaners. Later, I met my current friends, and they helped me get to where I am now."

"What great luck!"

"Emmm, actually I wasn't that lucky. I can tell you about the first unscrupulous doctor and quack I encountered, and my first meal in Night City, which almost killed me..."