The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

The white shells meandered through the streets of Santo Domingo, soon merging into the main road leading to the Watson district.

Dusk had completely fallen.

The neon lights of Night City intertwined outside the car window, hovercars swept across the overhead airway, and the airflow stirred up garbage and dust from the ground. Pedestrians on the street hurried along, wrapped in coats and hunching their shoulders.

David Martinez walks alone on the dilapidated streets of the Santo Domingo Valley.

The boy was rather thin, and his casual attire blended into the gloomy and chaotic city.

The old holographic billboards on the roadside flickered with random characters, and the mottled neon lights flashed on and off, reflecting the low-rise buildings covered with rust and the mountains of abandoned garbage on both sides.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of prosthetic lubricant, exhaust fumes, and damp, musty odors. Scattered thugs and cyborgs wandered the streets, their eyes carrying the indifference and vigilance typical of Night City.

With his head down and his steps slow and deliberate, he navigated the many dirty and chaotic alleyways with practiced ease, and in the distance, he could see the H4 super skyscraper standing in the center of the area.

The metal panels on the exterior walls of the entire building are largely rusted and peeling off, and exposed pipes are crisscrossed and haphazardly wrapped around the surface of the building. Many windows on each floor are shattered and hollow, exuding a dark and deathly silence.

The ground floor of the building was noisy and chaotic, with graffiti, broken advertisements, and empty wine bottles and fast food boxes scattered everywhere. Several old motorcycles covered in dust were parked at the old suspended dock, and a few homeless people were huddled in a corner.

David walked to the entrance of the skyscraper. The elevator, which had been in malfunction for years, still had a yellowed maintenance notice on it, and had long been neglected.

He turned around as if it were second nature and stepped into the narrow and cramped fire station corridor.

The hallway was dimly lit and cold, with motion-activated lights that flickered on and off, casting swaying shadows on the mottled walls. The walls were covered with stains, scratches, and gang graffiti, and the edges of the steps were badly worn, with bits of trash scattered around them.

The air was stuffy and oppressive, with occasional faint sounds of arguing coming from deep within the corridor, the low hum of a prosthetic body operating, and the crisp sound of an unknown mechanical part falling.

He climbed the steep steps one by one, his footsteps echoing dully on the old cement steps.

Avoiding piles of clutter and discarded furniture, we passed through layers of dimly lit and cramped corridors, and passed cheap rental rooms with tightly closed doors and faint neon lights peeking through the cracks. In the distance, we could vaguely hear the sounds of dreams, arguments, and the hum of old appliances from inside the rooms.

To be honest, he really didn't want to stay in that school full of prejudice and arrogance.

She didn't want to have any interaction with those high and mighty Arasaka kids, and every extra moment she spent at school felt like torture.

But then he thought of his mother's busy figure and all the expectations she had for him in her eyes, and he swallowed back the complaints that were on the tip of his tongue.

That's what mothers dream, after all.

She placed all her hopes on him, hoping he could escape this dilapidated valley, break free from his life at the bottom, become a proud corporate dog, and have a different life.

As David pondered this, he couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head inwardly.

Just as he turned a dim corner in the stairwell, he suddenly stopped.

In the very center of the narrow staircase, a person lay stiffly, completely unguarded, blocking his path, utterly disregarding the chaotic environment of the dilapidated stairwell where people came and went.

David frowned subconsciously, his first thought being that he couldn't be bothered with it.

In a place like Santo Domingo, the City of Night, it's common to see drunken vagrants and drug-addled thugs passed out in the stairwells. He figured it was better to avoid trouble and planned to walk around them and go straight upstairs, not wanting to get involved in any unnecessary problems.

But just as he brushed past the other person, his eyes inadvertently swept over the other person's clothes, and his inherent wariness made him stop in his tracks.

His inexpensive scanning module flashed and swept across the body of the fallen man.

The scan revealed a blank result.

Without an identity chip registration, without prosthetic body code, and without any household registration or blockchain registration information, he seemed to be a blank person who appeared out of thin air and did not exist in the Night City database.

Looking down more closely, the other person's clothes were clean and neat, with a delicate and exquisite texture and a clean cut. They were not the cheap work clothes and tattered cloth that the poor people in the valley could afford. They were out of place with the dirty and dilapidated environment around them and looked extremely out of place.

David crouched down and examined the object closely in the flickering motion-activated light.

He was a young man with an Asian face, neat black hair, a calm and peaceful expression, and was in a deep coma with his eyes closed, breathing steadily and slowly.

What shocked him most was that after carefully scanning the person from head to toe, there was not a single trace of cybernetic modification on the body.

"This, how is this possible?!"

There are no exposed mechanical interfaces, no stitching lines on the neck or wrists, and no metallic modified parts...

"Damn, it's a completely raw, unprocessed body!"

In the City of Night, where everyone has implanted prosthetics or modified their bodies to some extent.

It's too bizarre that a stranger, with no cybernetic modifications, impeccably dressed, and a blank identity, would suddenly collapse in the stairwell of a slum.

David's mind was in turmoil, and countless thoughts were churning within him.

He knew that people don't just collapse here for no reason, especially not someone with such a young face. There must be a lot of trouble behind him, and getting involved with him could lead to trouble with gangs, companies, or other unknown sources.

But from another perspective, being able to maintain one's original physical body in this era, even if not reaching the highest level of nobility, certainly indicates a certain level of strength.

David's heart was in turmoil, a mixture of danger and opportunity.

Just as he was hesitating whether to take the other person away, a series of messy, dragging footsteps came from down the stairs, accompanied by the resident's vulgar curses, which pierced the stairwell.

"What can these incompetent property management staff do besides collecting fees?!"

"Damn it, you despicable rotten asshole!"

"I've had enough of this godforsaken place!"

A series of foul words followed as the footsteps drew closer.

There was no time to hesitate any longer. If the residents found the people on the ground, they would either be stripped naked or face only two fates.

One option is to sell them to street cleaners.

Secondly, they did something even more outrageous.

David's eyes hardened, he gritted his teeth, and quickly took off his coat and covered Lu Qianwei's head, tightly obscuring his face to prevent others from seeing his appearance.

He bent over and exerted his strength, half-carrying and half-dragging the person, pressing his body low and close to the wall, moving quickly in the shadow of the dim light, trying to keep his steps as light as possible and not make the slightest noise.

He held his breath and, before the grumbling resident could turn the corner, half-supported, half-dragged him to the door of his apartment building, quickly pulling out his identification chip and sticking it to the access control sensor area.

With a soft sound, he immediately pushed open the door and led the people into the room, then slammed the door shut behind him, completely isolating himself from the noise and danger in the hallway.

Chapter 194 Purely as an Experience Game

"It really is the original skin."

After confirming that the other person was only unconscious, David carefully examined him and was completely certain that the young man lying there had no prosthetic implants whatsoever.

If you can't watch Mewtwo, what's the difference between you and Saburo Arasaka and those ascetics?

Right, while the other person is still asleep.

Let's take a look at the sunglasses I got from the doctor first.

With that thought in mind, David immediately took out the chip from his backpack and inserted it into the Mewtwo headband.

Lu Qianwei was woken up by a scream when he was still half asleep.

"Damn it, this bastard can even possess people."

Touching his slightly throbbing head, Lu Qianwei recalled the sudden surge of consciousness and incoherent ramblings when the system was draining his energy.

If He hadn't used his spatial abilities to interrupt the transfer, He would have almost succeeded.

"Where is this?"

Lu Qianwei looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Then, he turned his head and met the eyes of an excited, laughing boy.

Why does this guy give me such a familiar feeling?

"you're awake."

"Where is this?" Lu Qianwei asked in English.

"This is my home."

"Uh... I'm asking which time and space you're in? What region?"

Space-time?

David blinked, not understanding the first part of the sentence, but still answered the second part truthfully.

"This is the San Mingo H4 Skyscraper, in the River Valley district of Night City."

"Night City...wait, you said Night City?!"

"Arasaka Tower, the Night Castle of Saburo Arasaka?"

"Yes, it is."

No?

How did I get here?

He remembered that he had only used spatial teleportation at the time. When did his skills become so powerful?

"Are you alright?"

I saw you lying unconscious on the stairs before?

"What happened?" David asked with concern, seeing the other person's nervous appearance.

If he hadn't known that the other person didn't have a prosthetic body, he would have suspected that he had brought back a lunatic.

It was noted that the system was functioning correctly, and the spacetime gates in other dimensions were still operating normally.

Lu Qianwei smiled and shook his head: "I'm fine, thank you for helping me."

There aren't many good people like you left in Night City.

After a brief conversation and getting to know each other, David learned that the other person had fallen to the ground due to some mistake, rather than because he had any enemies, and he suddenly felt relieved.

Lu Qianwei also recalled many plot points from the game Cyberpunk 2077.

He had also read The Edge Walker.

After all, heartbreaking stories that offer healing always leave a lasting impression.

"Gurgle~" A sudden rumbling sound broke the conversation between the two.

Lu Qianwei himself was stunned for a moment.

Seeing the other person's slightly embarrassed look, David immediately stood up: "Lu, I'll go get you something to eat."

"Okay, thank you for your trouble." Lu Qianwei did not refuse.

Although he knew the food in this world wasn't very good, he was still filled with curiosity and anticipation.

However, Lu Qianwei regretted it when the synthetic food was placed on the table.