2077: V really knows how awesome he is

Did V hold back in the previous battle?

Ciri suddenly realized this possibility and found it even more unbelievable. Because she knew how powerful she was; the ancient blood granted her a physique and strength far beyond that of ordinary people. Even when V was holding back, she could easily defeat her. How strong would she be at full power?

For the first time, Ciri truly understood the meaning of "the strongest in the world".

Then she was startled back to reality by the pain in her cheek.

V was pinching her cheek: "What are you daydreaming about?"

Ciri quickly took a step back, looking at V's hands in horror. Those hands were slender and long, conforming to all human aesthetic standards, and were decorated with mysterious lines, which were likely some kind of enchantment or magic circle.

But it was these very beautiful hands that blew the Wild Hunt King’s head off. With its face pinched, Ciri was terrified that her own head would explode the next second.

“No, it’s nothing. These people are…” Ciri replied in a dry voice, about to explain the origins of the intruders, when a commotion suddenly broke out on the dock.

V turned around and saw transparent figures emerging from the dead corpses of the black-armored knights, like the legendary souls. They floated into the air and disappeared one by one under the moonlight. Only the soul of the knight leader remained, issuing a warning to everyone.

"I am Eredin, the Elf King and King of the Wild Hunt, the embodiment of calamity and war, the master of frost..."

Before he could finish speaking, his soul was blasted to pieces by a small plasma projectile.

Everyone looked toward the source of the shooting. V calmly put away the electric projectile launcher on his arm and commented on Eredin: "You son of a bitch, go eat shit, you stinking idiot!"

The crowd applauded and cheered.

Ciri: "..."

But physical attacks could not ultimately harm a spirit. Eredin's "soul" reassembled, looked down at V, and said with a face full of contempt, "Time Mage, your rudeness is disgusting!"

“Once I shove Sadara down your ass, you’ll know what real thickness is!” V was about to unleash another plasma cannon shot at Eredin when Ciri stopped her.

"Don't waste your mana. This is just an energy projection of the Wild Hunt King. You can never truly kill him."

"Energy projection! Is their technology that advanced?!" V was slightly surprised. These people in front of him didn't seem that powerful. Although they were wearing armor, they were at most a few elite monsters. If it weren't for those strange chilling energies, the NCPD could have taken care of them.

Ciri explained, "This is just an elf hunting party, or in your terms, a small squad."

Upon hearing this, V's expression also turned serious.

She knew all too well the difference between a small team and a regular army. It was like the difference between company security and company mercenaries. The former could only solve some after-sales problems for customers, while the latter could directly solve the problems for customers.

Eredin also heard Ciri's words. He was satisfied with V's reaction and spoke again, issuing his final ultimatum: "Time Mage, I acknowledge your power, but you have no idea of ​​the strength and greatness of the Elven Kingdom. We have conquered countless worlds; crushing you is as easy as crushing an ant. Hand over the Daughter of Time; she is not someone that a hairless monkey like a human can lay a finger on!"

V frowned. Earth had just suffered a calamity and shouldn't have provoked such a powerful enemy, but when she looked at the frozen police officers and citizens on the dock, she came to her answer.

"What if I say no?"

"Then I will return on the night of the next full moon and personally lead my army to raze your world to the ground!"

"Okay, you said it. If you don't come, you're a little dog."

Eredin was taken aback. He had considered many possibilities, whether V would submit or not, but he had never expected such an answer. "What did you say?"

“I said I’m taking over the road you’ve drawn!” V raised his middle finger: “Now get out of here!”

Eredin was furious and then left.

After all, he was just an energy projection and was severely injured by V. Even if he didn't roll away, he couldn't do anything.

V sighed softly. These villains are like cockroaches, one after another. You kill one, and another nest comes along.

Ciri walked over: "Let me go. You don't need to fight the Wild Hunt King to the death for me."

"For you? Don't be so conceited, little girl. I'm doing this for Eredin's warp technology!"

Ciri saw through V's lie: "You're lying, you just want to avenge the victims..."

Before she could finish her sentence, V interrupted her and shouted to Sasha, "Notify our people to come to the Arasaka Tower for a meeting."

"Yes." Sasha immediately got to work.

V then looked at Ciri, who was standing there dumbfounded: "You come too."

Arakasaka Tower, conference room.

Everyone who could come has come, and those who couldn't come in person are all online.

"133 NCPD officers have died, 79 officers are seriously injured, and 211 officers are slightly injured. Chief River and the Mantis, Assault, and Heavy Artillery operators of the Terrorist Mobile Unit are also on the list of seriously injured. Their internal organs and prosthetics have suffered severe hypothermia damage and they are currently undergoing organ transplants and prosthetic replacement surgery."

"Among civilians, 22 people tragically lost their lives, 19 were seriously injured, and 154 sustained minor injuries, most of whom, like the police officers, suffered from hypothermia."

"Distribute compensation and do everything possible to treat the wounded," V calmly ordered, though her heart was far from calm. She played the dockside video for everyone, including Eredin's final declaration of war.

To be honest, the atmosphere was a bit heavy.

As I said before, Earth has just suffered a calamity, and the world is in chaos. Combat power has dropped to its lowest point in the 21st century. At this time, it would be unwise to rashly provoke an enemy with the ability to teleport.

Even if the Wild Hunt team's combat prowess wasn't particularly high, Ciri also mentioned that it was just a hunting party sent out from elsewhere. This Elven Empire possesses warp technology, so you can imagine how advanced their technology is. They might even have colonized their home star system, while humanity is stuck in the Earth-Moon sphere, barely managing to reach Mars after applying a lot of lubricant, and only managing to build a small colony.

This technological gap is like a country without gunpowder challenging a country with gunpowder—it's like an egg hitting a rock.

“We are not without advantages either.” At this critical moment, Xu Ling began her analysis: “First of all, the enemy does not have cybernetic technology; they all have natural flesh and blood, which means that their individual combat capabilities are not as good as ours. What we need to guard against is their high-tech weapons, such as nuclear bombs, neutron bombs, antimatter bombs, or the most serious planet-destroying weapons.”

Upon hearing that planet-destroying weapons had been developed, the crowd immediately began to discuss it. However, this was not impossible, because mass accelerators can also be considered a type of planet-destroying weapon. If humans can develop them, it is entirely reasonable for the Elven Empire, which possesses warp technology, to have even more advanced planet-destroying weapons.

“What should we do then?” Jenkins asked.

“Don’t worry.” Meredith Stock answered, exhaling a puff of smoke. “War always has a purpose. In the past, the United States would declare war on any country for oil, but it would never directly use nuclear bombs to wipe out the land for oil, because it would gain nothing by doing so. Similarly, the Elven Empire launched the war to obtain Ciri, the daughter of time and space, so it will naturally not use weapons of mass destruction.”

Everyone suddenly realized.

“That’s right,” Xu Ling continued. “Their reluctance to act is our second advantage. I suspect they will only launch a conventional raid, possibly with some heavy weapons, such as space battleships. But as the defender, we have the advantage of terrain and can set up our defenses in advance.”

Everyone nodded again. At this moment, David asked, "What if the enemy stays in low Earth orbit and doesn't land, but just keeps bombing?"

“It’s simple, send the isomers.” Xu Ling looked at V: “We have the strongest individual assault troops, which is our third advantage. As long as the ground holds, Sister V can carry out a decapitation strike. I don’t know what the enemy’s command system is like, but for an expeditionary force, the annihilation of the high command will not only prevent a complete collapse, but will also plunge them into chaos. That’s when our opportunity will come.”

V nodded: "I'm fine."

Everyone agreed that she was fine.

This is not blind worship, but rather the trust that V has built up by turning the impossible into possible time and time again.

After Xu Ling's analysis, everyone realized that this battle was not unwinnable. After relaxing, their minds became more flexible, and they came up with more tactical ideas and arrangements.

Xu Ling either accepted or rejected the plan, keeping the useful parts and eliminating the useless ones. A complete defensive counter-attack plan gradually took shape, putting everyone at ease.

"What are the odds of winning?" V asked the young general.

Xu Ling shook her head: "It's hard to say. After all, our guesses are just conjecture. I need more information about the Elf Kingdom to make an accurate judgment."

Everyone turned to look at Ciri, and V said earnestly, "Miss Ciri, you know that this is a matter of life and death. If I offended you before, I apologize. I hope you can put aside your past grievances and provide us with information about the Elven Empire."

Ciri was stunned. She never expected that the arrogant, despicable, lecherous, and domineering V would apologize to her.

Isn't she the queen of Night City? How can a queen bow down to an ordinary person!

Isn't she the "strongest in the world"? How can the strongest person bow down to an ordinary person!

Ciri looked at V and saw the determination in V's eyes, and suddenly got the answer from it.

Why would a king bow down to an ordinary person? Why would the strongest person bend over to an ordinary person?

It is for the ordinary people who perished at the dock!

For the first time, Ciri saw a king who truly fought for the people, and the strongest man who wielded his sword for ordinary people.

She seemed to know V completely, yet she also seemed to know V perfectly.

“Why won’t you let me go, or hand me over to the Wild Hunt?” Ciri asked. “You have no reason to fight the Wild Hunt.”

“That won’t do.” V shrugged. “If you’re not willing to hand over the warp technology, I’ll have to take it from the Wild Hunt.”

Ciri knew V was lying, and everyone else knew V was lying, but none of them exposed her. Instead, they accepted her kindness and reciprocated with kindness.

"Exactly, destroy the Wild Hunt's warships, then reverse engineer them, and the warp technology will be there, right?"

"War is the greatest driving force for technological progress!"

"Gentlemen, I love war! Let the war rage on!"

"President V is awesome! Night City will win!"

Ciri thought these people were a bunch of fools. The king protects you, so you unconditionally pamper the king and let her do whatever she wants? That's just too...enviable!

That's right, Ciri was envious, and at the same time, she made a decision.

“I accept your apology, and our feud is over.” Ciri said to V. “I will tell you everything about the Elven Kingdom, and I will reveal the secret of time travel. I will fight alongside you until the very end, and my sword will be yours, Your Majesty.”

V didn't know what she had done to suddenly change Ciri's mind; she only knew that this was the best outcome.

"Should I also recite a long passage and make some gestures to create a sense of ceremony?" V asked.

Ciri rolled her eyes: "Sorry, you've ruined the whole ritual."

"Oh no, what should we do? Should we start over?"

“No need.” Ciri smiled. “Just saying thank you is enough.”

"Really?" V smiled. "Then, thanks."

The two clasped hands, and the past misunderstandings were laughed off.

"Ahem." Sasha coughed. "How long are you going to hold hands?"

V and Ciri quickly let go of each other's hands, and everyone smiled like doting aunts.

Ciri hurriedly explained, "Miss Sasha, it's not what you think."

"You're making things worse by trying to explain." V waved his hand helplessly. "Let's talk about the intelligence on the Elf Empire first."

“Ah, okay, okay.” Ciri took a deep breath to calm herself down and said seriously, “I don’t know much about the ancient secrets either, so I’ll just tell you what I know.”

Everyone nodded, and Ciri began to speak clearly.

"In our records, planets exist in separate worlds, originally undisturbed by each other, but due to a mysterious phenomenon called celestial conjunction, they briefly overlap. As a result, the creatures and matter of different worlds would intermingle, and fight each other because of different cultures and beliefs. Some would lose and become food and slaves, while others would win and become monarchs and establish empires. My home world is like this, with all kinds of demons and monsters running rampant, various races standing side by side, humans and non-humans fighting each other, and nations constantly at war with each other."

V shrugged: "That sounds really exciting."

Ciri rolled her eyes at her and continued, "Why the celestial conjunction occurred, and when it first happened, are now unknown. But there are records that the Elven race existed before the celestial conjunction even occurred. This ancient race called themselves the Aion Wooddod and were born with the ability to travel through time. But each time they traveled, they would trigger a 'frost phenomenon' at their destination, a terrifying cold disaster that would eventually freeze the entire planet, turning the once vibrant world into a lifeless ice coffin."

"The original world of Aion Wooddod was destroyed by the White Frost. To escape this disaster, they had no choice but to migrate to another world. After arriving in the new world, they thought they had escaped the terrible disaster. In fact, there was no White Frost phenomenon for hundreds of years. But what was despairing was that this was only a delay. It might be hundreds of years or thousands of years, but the White Frost phenomenon would always appear and catch up with these ancient elves."

"After realizing this situation, Ian Woodward had no choice but to immediately initiate the migration ritual when the signs of the white frost appeared, and the whole tribe would flee to the new world. The old world would always end up being devoured by the white frost and completely frozen."

V frowned: "But the more they fled, the more the white frost spread. These ancient elves brought disaster to the whole world entirely for their own safety."

Xu Ling, biting into a protein bar, complained, "They wreak havoc wherever they go, just like those bastards in Israel."

Ciri didn't know what Israel was, but she agreed with V's statement and continued, "Some of the Ion Wooddod also realized this, and so in the process of continuous migration, they split into two branches. One branch came to my home world, first landing on the Skellige Islands, and changed their name to Ion Ciri, meaning the people of the hills."

"Another group of elves arrived in a world filled with alder trees. Even though that world already had a master, they immediately claimed it as their own, calling themselves Ain El, the people of alder. Compared to Ain Sid, the Ain El were more warlike. They defeated the unicorns, the original inhabitants of the alder world, and enslaved them all. They built the great capital city of Tirnaria, which once flourished."

"Once prosperous?" V asked. "So you mean it declined later?"

“Indeed.” Ciri nodded. “With development and prosperity, Ain El needed a large population for development and production. However, although elves have long lifespans, their fertility is very low, so the population has been declining. To make up for the lack of labor, Ain El decided to plunder people from other worlds to serve as slaves. Through the continuous efforts of elven scholars and those enslaved unicorns, Ain El built a world gate called Ade Gais, through which elves could invade any world and obtain unlimited manpower and resources.”

"After acquiring the Gate to the World, the Elven King Oberon ordered the formation of a cavalry unit. The sole mission of this cavalry unit was to invade other worlds. Because they wore red robes, they were known as the Red Knights. The leader of the Red Knights was Eredin, the King of the Wild Hunt. To intimidate the native inhabitants of other worlds, they wore skeletal armor, rode pure black warhorses, and occasionally piloted the legendary giant warships that could soar through the sky, the Nagilfa."

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. The skeleton armor and the black warhorse were nothing; even the children of Night City wouldn't cry from their fear. But this giant warship soaring through the sky was undoubtedly a spaceship.

"Damn, I was right." Xu Ling said solemnly to V, "Sister V, we're counting on you then!"

V nodded seriously: "No problem, I'll risk my life to bring that spaceship down!"

Although Ciri didn't know what a spaceship was, she was satisfied with V's level of attention, so she nodded and didn't say anything more.

At this moment, Meredith Stock asked again, "Since Ion El is so powerful, why is he still so attached to you?"

Ciri wasn't surprised by the question, nor did she intend to hide anything, and replied, "That's because..."

Chapter 122 The True Warrior

"Ancient blood flows in my veins!"

Ciri looked grave, believing she had revealed a shocking secret, but the people of Night City reacted indifferently. After all, with the spaceship "Nagirfa" preceding them, both the Ancient Blood and the Afternoon Blood seemed far too ordinary.

Joanne Koch was the only exception; she immediately connected it to substance C in Ciri's blood and asked, "Could you elaborate?"

Ciri nodded and continued, "As I mentioned before, the elven kingdom established by Aion El is gradually declining. The biggest reason for this is that the unicorns reclaimed the World Gate through their rebellion, which caused Aion El to lose its ability to teleport on a large scale and can only conduct limited teleportation through elven mages known as 'navigators'."

Ciri paused for a moment, then said to V, "Could you turn on the footage of the dock again?"

V's eyes lit up with blue light, and he activated the holographic projection again. Ciri pointed to the elf holding a staff and setting up a barrier in front of King Eredin of the Wild Hunt to protect him from sniper fire, and said, "That is the navigator, Calsilan."