The Villain Knight Doesn't Want to Be a Hero

"It seems that you hate the company."

Lin Qiao slowed down the car and threw the plastic bag of medicine into the back seat.

——This is not something that can be cured by taking motion sickness medicine.

"....I.....just..."

"Rather than saying I hate them, it would be more accurate to say I feel hatred and fear - especially from the people of Arasaka."

“.....You are mistaken....”

His voice rose several degrees as he flatly denied it.

"I just feel a little unwell...that's all!"

Lin Qiao sighed and wanted to reach out and touch her head, but the latter dodged and then shook her head helplessly.

"I've seen your prosthetics. Although I don't know the specific model, they are undoubtedly cutting-edge products that are hard to find on the market. They also have the Arasaka symbol on them... Even if I don't tell you the rest, you should know it."

"No! I have nothing to do with Arasaka!"

Biting her lower lip hard, as if to emphasize the point, she deliberately emphasized the last few words.

There was a hint of pleading in his eyes, as if he hoped that Lin Qiao would stop pursuing it.

But things didn't go as expected.

"Lucy, you're a good kid, and that's why you're really not a good liar."

Her violent and overreacted reaction made Lin Qiao even more certain of his own inference.

“…”

Say no more!

It was like a sore spot was touched. The moment her fear was exposed and spoken out, Lucy felt guilty and terrified, and at the same time, she had the urge to jump out of the car and run away.

But the endless open plains around her stopped her.

Even if she really jumped out of the car, she couldn't run far.

Just thinking about the terrible ending of being betrayed and captured and taken back to Arasaka, she felt as if she had fallen into cold sea water. Her hands and feet were numb and even breathing was a luxury.

Fear drove her actions.

Subconsciously, he reached for the pistol at his side.

'Wait! What am I doing?'

My heart skipped a beat.

But by the time he realized this and came to his senses, the trembling gun muzzle was already pointed at Lin Qiao who was sitting on the side.

He wanted to put down the gun immediately, but he was afraid that if he put down the weapon, Lin Qiao would do something disadvantageous to her, so he stopped.

For a while, he fell into a dilemma.

He turned his head and glanced at the white-haired girl who was holding the gun unsteadily, with a look of struggle on her face.

Lin Qiao still looked calm and composed.

"You know, sometimes telling a lie is easier to accept than simply denying it."

"It's like you're the daughter of a certain Arasaka executive, but because your parents stood on the wrong side in the power struggle, all kinds of things happened, and in the end, you had to escape alone to save your life."

"And there's one more thing—"

Lexington slowly raised an arm and stretched it out to Lucy, who held it with both hands, but was trembling.

"Don't move!"

Lucy tried to sound as fierce as possible.

But the look on his face looked like a kitten that had been bullied and was baring its teeth at someone.

It has no meaning other than making people want to tease it more.

Therefore, Lin Qiao did not listen to her and grabbed her hand holding the gun.

"!"

The white-haired girl felt a little panicked for a moment...but the expected scramble did not happen.

After helping her stabilize the trembling muzzle of the gun, Lin Qiao slowly put her hand down.

"When you point a gun at someone, remember not to wave your hands around. It will make people see that you are guilty and then take advantage of you."

Glancing at the somewhat surprised Lucy, Lin Qiao continued, "Also, if you want to threaten someone, remember to turn on the safety first next time."

“…”

After a moment of silent silence, Lucy finally put down the gun.

Chapter 296 Your Promise with Me

The sun is high in the sky.

The scorching sun made the car body burn hot.

The Lexington, which had never been unsealed, was thrown to the ground.

The atmosphere in the car became more tense, and Lucy looked more depressed... and self-blaming.

I opened my mouth and ate the fast food burrito and soda, but I didn't eat a single bite. Or rather, I had no appetite for them at all.

He hugged his knees tightly and squatted on the passenger seat, just like a hedgehog that curled up into a ball after being frightened.

But there are no thorns that can hurt people.

"...When we get to the next town, just drop me off."

He buried his head between his legs as much as possible, and his tone sounded a bit self-destructive.

"Because of Arasaka?"

“…”

Lucy remained silent, but her ten fingers were nervously clasping her thighs, her nails digging deep into the flesh.

Sometimes, no answer is also an answer.

"Although this may sound hypocritical, I still want to ask, you must be blaming me for not understanding the situation and insisting on asking me the truth, right?"

"....Well, a little..."

Having said that, if you think about it carefully, it would be better to talk it out like this instead of being suspicious of each other later and causing all kinds of trouble.

Although you cannot completely recognize a person's true face after two days of interaction, you should still be able to roughly see the outline.

He has a bad personality, but he is very caring, so he shouldn't be a bad person...Lucy also hopes that Lin Qiao is not a bad person.

But despite this, after just two days of getting along, Lucy still found it difficult to trust him completely.

After all, it is difficult for anyone to say "I refuse" when facing a company.

As a consumable sent by Arasaka to salvage data from the old network, the data stored in her brain can definitely be described as invaluable.

I think Arasaka would be happy to give some "small money" to the person who handed her over.

——For ordinary people, that is a huge sum of money.

Those who can resist the threat of force may not necessarily be able to resist the temptation of money.

Will Lin Qiao betray her?

To be honest she didn't know, but Lucy hoped not, and she hoped she could trust the other person.

After all, since the other party was able to wipe out an entire Luandaohui team, her strength is self-evident. Moreover, without a prosthetic body, her hacking ability is completely ineffective.

This means that if the other party wants to do something, she will not be able to resist at all.

Lin Qiao could have easily gained her trust and used her to claim the reward from Arasaka...but the other party chose the "worst" approach.

Exposing her true face was more like helping her optimize the details of her lies, ensuring that she could deal with it better next time someone else discovered something unusual....

That’s why we should stay away from it.

In this way, if the fake Arasaka really comes to the door one day, at least he will not be implicated.

For herself and the other person, leaving might be the best choice...at least that's what she thinks.

"....Sorry, I can't go to Night City with you."

Maybe I was not suitable to travel with others from the beginning.

I thought to myself with some self-mockery.

"That's it."

He maintained a calm tone throughout, making it difficult for Lucy to hear his true feelings.

Then, as if by magic, a large chip card appeared in Lin Qiao's hand - this was considered a bank card of this era.

"Since you have already made up your mind, I will not stop you. This is what was found in the Luan Dao Society camp. There are 40,000 Euros in it. This is my apology."

"...You should need the money more than I do to go to Night City, right?"

"Believe me, it's much easier for me to make money than for you."

"....Thanks....."

He reached out to take it hesitantly, but the next second, Lin Qiao took the chip back.

"But before I give it to you, could you please listen to me for a few more words?"

"...Um...Also, we were driving too fast..."

Nodded and didn't refuse.

The outline of the town appeared on the horizon, and Lucy signaled Lin Qiao to slow down the car a little.

"Okay, let me think about where to start..."

Lin Qiao pinched her chin, thought for a moment, and said, "To be honest, it's a little inconvenient for me to go to Night City alone."

"I don't have a prosthetic body, but I don't even have a chip interface for my electronic account, so it's not very convenient to do anything."

Therefore, when Lin Qiao learned that Lucy was also going to Night City, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, having a highly skilled hacker around is really a big help.

....Of course, he also understood the other party's current choice.

When being hunted by the mega corporation Arasaka, risking your life and property on someone you've only known for two days... is a bit too extreme.

"Also, I lied about something before... Remember when you shot me when we first met?"

Lucy glanced over, as if asking him why he brought up this matter again?

Lin Qiao smiled and said, "Your marksmanship is actually pretty good...at least within 20 centimeters, you shot me in the left eye very accurately."

He raised a finger and tapped the corner of his eye.

But Lucy noticed that his left eye was still intact, without even the dark circles caused by staying up late.

To be able to do this without prosthetics like subcutaneous armor, you're either lying or there's something really wrong with you.

Although I was a little curious, I no longer cared about the specific reasons.

"...At this point, there's no point in bringing this up again, right?"

"Hey, you're being too cold, aren't you? It's rare for me to take the initiative to talk to you about this... Kids your age, don't you just like me to punch you in the face and retaliate with the same means?"

Lin Qiao poked Lucy's face with an exaggerated tone of "I'm already like this", which made the latter remind him to concentrate on driving.

—Exchanging secrets for secrets, you don’t lose out this way, right?

This is probably what I wanted to express.