The Villain Knight Doesn't Want to Be a Hero

"Well, that's what I said, but from the look on your face, you don't seem to accept it."

"Are you trying to keep me here?"

"It's obvious. After all, it's not easy to meet a genius hacker girl like you... and I think we have a slight chemistry."

To be honest, the current Lucy is somewhat similar to him when he just traveled through time.

I look around but can't find anyone I can trust, and I have to worry about my own safety.

It's like seeing my past self.

But the difference is that he can keep getting stronger and eventually change his fate, while she will always be a mortal with flesh and blood.

"....Why....?"

"Didn't I just say that? Well, if I must say it, it's also because I personally prefer white hair..."

"That's not the case! Don't you know that Arasaka is chasing after me!?"

All the suppressed emotions were instantly ignited, and Lucy couldn't help but shout out.

That's Arasaka!

The world's number one super company has influence all over the world... no, even the space outside the earth has become the range covered by its tentacles.

Standing next to her is, in a sense, equivalent to being an enemy of Arasaka.

Even if what he is facing is not Arasaka's full-force pursuit, just the tip of the iceberg that he reveals is scary enough.

It would have been fine if he didn't know before, but now that he has guessed her connection with Arasaka, he still made this choice. Is his brain broken?

“That’s really scary.”

Lin Qiao smiled and patted her head: "But unfortunately, I have lost the feeling of fear for a long time, so this kind of thing can't scare me."

Not to mention fear, there is no emotion at all. There is only cold rationality and the remaining humanity in the mind.

"How about making a pact anyway?"

"Promise?"

"Yeah, the secret exchange operation doesn't work, so in order to keep Miss Hacker, I can only use plan B."

Lin Qiao pretended to be troubled and continued.

"Since everyone has their own secrets, then no one should ask each other, and don't tell each other about themselves. Just treat all our abnormalities as normal... But when we encounter difficulties, we still have to ask others People ask for help.”

"In this process, as an adult, I will suffer a little loss to help you completely escape Arasaka's pursuit. If everything goes well, I will leave you some pocket money in a few years so that you won't have to worry about food and clothing in the future."

"What do you think?"

The car drove into the town and slowly stopped. With a sound, the locked door opened.

Lin Qiao raised his right fist in the air. When Lucy looked over, she found that his face had a gentle and unhurried expression from beginning to end.

Should I just leave now, or believe this man in front of me who is talking in what sounds like a dream?

Lucy is at a crossroads in life...

"As for you, you don't have to worry about me. There's no need to provoke Arasaka for this... I'm not worth it at all, am I?"

There was a tremor in his words, as if he was longing for something, but also as if he wanted to stay away from something.

"You can't say that. The result is nothing more than a win, a loss, and a draw... Oh no!"

Lin Qiao looked like she had realized something belatedly, and said in surprise, "Look, this way, the probability of not losing is already two-thirds. It's not as bad as you say, right?"

"You're just being sophistry!"

It seemed that the dazzling sunlight behind Lin Qiao made the corners of her eyes feel a little uncomfortable, and she turned her head to the side unconsciously.

Some kind of crystal liquid was secreted, but it seemed like an illusion and was quickly wiped away by the girl.

"So what's Miss Hacker's answer?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Drive!"

She clenched her ten fingers into a pink fist and bumped fists with Lin Qiao.

The choice is clear.

"Then let's happily burn Arasaka Tower to ashes together, Aibou (partner)~"

Said in a very happy tone.

"But I forgot to mention this before. If things don't go well, you'll lose everything and be screwed."

"It's too late to talk about this!"

"Yes Yes Yes."

The car's engine started again before the town's sheriff arrived to question them.

Target, Night City.

Chapter 297: The City of Night with Simple Customs

Night City is not a peaceful place.

It might be a bit of an exaggeration to describe it as all show and no substance... After all, even on the surface, this place looks like it has all the five evils.

Although there are basically few peaceful places in this world for various reasons, Night City is definitely unique and extremely chaotic.

It has been mentioned before that the northern half of California where this city is located supports an independent free state, while the southern half supports the new United States. For this reason, the two sides, who disliked each other, deliberately built a wall to separate each other.

And Night City is right next to this wall.

To put it more bluntly, this is a buffer zone built on the border when war breaks out.

There are more than a dozen companies within the company that are responsible for selling arms alone.

No one would think that these death merchants, who are only afraid of chaos in the world and wish everyone had a complete set of weapons produced by themselves, would come here to do their part for the safety of citizens' lives as the slogan says, right?

Come on, who would believe such nonsense? Lin Qiao would laugh at him for two and a half years.

Among all the companies, Arasaka and Militech are naturally included, the mortal enemies that they would like to eat alive.

It would be better to say that these two are the heavyweight players.

Then, with the huge amount of money spent on publicity by capital, all kinds of people, those who have committed crimes, wanted criminals from other countries, or simply people who were attracted by the fraudulent name of Dream City also flocked to it.

Anyway, Night City is a place where no one cares about that.

Under such circumstances, the only guarantee for its internal security is that there is no guarantee at all.

Also, don't ever count on the police.

Since Night City's police force, NCPD, was privately contracted, except for a few who still have some sense of responsibility in their work, the others are either busy issuing tickets on the streets or simply teaming up with local gangs.

If you really run into trouble, you should first think about whether the weapons you have are strong enough, or look at the balance in your account to see if you can ask a middleman to hire a more reliable mercenary.

Even if you are asked to simply appear in court to identify a gang member, it is best to refuse... After all, protecting witnesses is also a considerable expense.

All in all, the security in Night City is almost non-existent.

As for this, Lin Qiao has now personally experienced the friendly greetings from Night City.

"I really admire you guys who cut off kidneys."

Lin Qiao rubbed his temples.

As the innkeeper knelt and begged for mercy, he stepped on his head.

Outside the hotel, dark clouds obscured the night sky.

But due to severe pollution, the starry sky can no longer be seen here, and even the moon is obscured by dark clouds.

This is Santo Domingo, one of the oldest districts in Night City.

The towering industrial park buildings around it form a sharp contrast with the dilapidated and low-rise residential houses.

After successfully retaining the genius hacker white-haired girl, the two hurried and finally entered Night City before sunset the next day.

Having said that, where to spend the night becomes a big problem.

Westbrook is pretty good, and it's also the wealthy area of ​​Night City, so it's very convenient for shopping and consumption...but the prices are too damn expensive!

I would like to add here that although the public security in Night City is chaotic and gangs are rampant, the operation of capital from multiple parties has kept the housing prices high, even far exceeding those in other areas.

In short, considering the principle of proximity, Lin Qiao and Lucy simply went to the nearest Santo Domingo on the main road after passing the customs and found a hotel... Not to mention that Taipingzhou is closer, that place is not meant for living at all.

The hotel is a bit shabby and the white sheets are slightly yellowed, but fortunately the sanitary environment is pretty good and there are no strange smells or cockroaches.

And because there are relatively few people, even if the sound insulation is poor, you don't have to worry about hearing the sounds of the man and woman next door discussing the origin of life in the middle of the night.

At least it's okay as a temporary place to stay.

For the white-haired girl who was still in her growing years and had been sleeping in the car for two days in a row, the soft pillow seemed to have magic.

After taking a hot bath, I fell asleep in bed within a few minutes.

And things have developed normally so far.

But in the middle of the night, several people with strong Eastern European accents and mosaic masks on their faces quietly approached the door.

Scavengers, or simply called kidney cutters.

Their business is to strip people of their prosthetic bodies and organs and then sell them on the black market. A living person will be completely dismantled and stripped naked before he can even be used for half a day.

As for the remaining offal that cannot be identified, they are either processed wholesale and sent to some gang’s underground meat factory, or burned, or thrown into the sea if that doesn’t work.

In a sense, the scavengers are the quality inspectors of Night City.

Those fools who come here with dreams will be eaten up immediately, and as for the rest...

Leave it to this city.

It’s a pity that they offended the wrong person today.

Before he could do as usual, he used the magnetic card he got from his boss to swagger in and pick up the goods.

In the blink of an eye, a tentacle pierced through the door and they were collectively shot in the head like a string of candied haws.

The innkeeper, who hadn't realized that he had hit a wall today and was planning to use the dividends given by the scavenger to have a good time at the Big Bird, was also caught on the spot.

The double-barreled shotgun hidden under the front desk as a precautionary measure had not yet been used before it was dismantled by Lin Qiao with his bare hands.

"Please let me go! I was also forced by those bastards... ugh!"

Try to act as innocent as possible and try to show that you are also a victim.

It’s a pity that Lin Qiao didn’t give him this opportunity - she finished him off with just a slight push of her foot.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

At the same time, the scavenger who was driving away outside the hotel also let out a scream.

Sparks flew from the prosthetic body, and then he fell to the side with blood coming out of his mouth and nose.

Passersby who were strolling around noticed the commotion here and immediately left without looking back.

If someone performed an autopsy on him, they would find that this guy's brain was already 70% mature...but this was not done by Lin Qiao.

Electromagnetic short circuit

One of the common attack methods used by network hackers.

"....Huh....Is this the Night City you mentioned?"

Rubbing her still sleepy eyes, Lucy yawned and walked downstairs.

He still had the Lexington pistol in his hand.

When she first woke up, she was really scared when she saw several dead bodies of scavengers lying at the door.

"I encountered something like this on my first day in the city... I kind of regret coming with you."

After taking a look at the corpse of the innkeeper, he couldn't help but complain.

Lin Qiao scratched his head. Is this child a little too mature?