2077: V really knows how awesome he is

Joanne Koch exclaimed in surprise, "No, it's too dangerous in there!"

"It's precisely because it's dangerous that I'm going in with you!"

"Stop messing around, this is my private matter, it has nothing to do with you!"

"Who's causing trouble here? I don't care about your personal or professional matters; I saw it, and I'm going to intervene!"

The two were arguing fiercely when Xu Zhong suddenly shouted, "Stop arguing, I'll go in with Sister Kochi!"

"Shut up!" V and Joanne Koch shouted back in unison, their voices even louder. "Children have no right to talk here. Go play somewhere else!"

Xu Zhong was deeply hurt.

But it didn't hurt; on the contrary, it felt warm.

He knew that Sister V and Sister Koch wanted to protect him and genuinely cared about him, so he couldn't stand idly by.

Just as Xu Zhong was about to speak again, a voice beat him to it.

"Let the people of Santo Domingo handle the Santo Domingo matter."

V turned his head at the sound and saw a familiar figure.

"Old Captain" Muammar Reyes, the middleman and patriarch of Santo Domingo.

“I’ll go in with you.” The old captain pulled a Dara Polytechnic DR-5 Nova revolver from his waist. “If you dare to mess around, I’ll blow your head off, okay?”

Joanne Koch remained unfazed: "No problem."

The old captain asked again, "How confident are you?"

"Ten percent."

"Boasting?"

Joanne Koch took off her protective suit: "Do you believe me now?"

The old captain's pupils contracted, and he stepped forward to pick up the medical equipment.

"Leave the heavy lifting to me. I'll protect you until you give yourself away."

"Heh, then I'll have to keep up this act for a while."

The two entered the super skyscraper H4.

"Is everything alright?" Xu Zhong asked.

V shook his head and did not answer.

In Night City, everything has a price, and the price of doing good is especially high.

All we can do now is wait.

Meredith Stock arrived after receiving the news. Upon arrival, she first gave Joanne Koch a good scolding, then gave V and Xu Zhong a good scolding, and finally gave a good scolding to the H4 residents who had gathered around.

But after she finished scolding them, she brought in food, water purifiers, and military tents from the military technology department.

"Damn it, you've blocked the road so badly I can't even drive through. Everyone pull over and sleep in your tents. If you dare come out and get in my way, I'll shoot you all!"

"What, no food? Bring me that batch of protein bars that's about to expire. I'm clearing out my inventory and applying for new ones. Thirsty? You think I have to take care of everything, from eating and drinking to relieving yourself? Fine, give them two water purifiers. If they're thirsty, they can drink their own piss!"

In fact, protein bars don't expire, water purifiers aren't just for purifying urine, and even military tents come with built-in lighting and heating modules, making them a million times warmer than the freezing cold streets.

Meredith Stock left after doing all that, saying he was going to take his troops to the Badlands to conduct live-fire exercises with the Chaotic Blade Society.

Xu Zhong asked curiously, "Is the Chaotic Blade Society so dangerous that it requires military technology to suppress it?"

V chuckled: "If we don't go to suppress the bandits, how will she report the losses of her protein bars, water purifier, and military tent? That's how working people survive."

Xu Zhong first realized what was happening, then looked distressed.

"Sister V".

"what?"

"Do you think my men would try to fool me like this?"

"Cough cough cough."

V coughed for a moment.

The young CEO suddenly showed signs of awakening, which is not good.

Joanne Koch emerged three days later; her new drug was highly effective, and the infectious disease was completely eradicated.

All that's left is the post-incident disinfection and cleaning, but that's no longer V's business.

The survivors inside the building and their families outside embraced each other and wept with joy, while those who had not yet returned home could not help but sob quietly.

They are all cries, yet they contain different meanings.

We are all human, yet we have different fates.

“You’ve worked hard.” V patted Joanne Koch on the shoulder.

The latter smiled and said, "This is a poison, not a disease. Since it can be artificially created, it can also be artificially eliminated. It's not difficult at all."

The water sources in Santo Domingo were contaminated by biotechnology, and this infectious disease was also orchestrated by biotechnology in order to collect pathological data and develop new viruses to achieve the goal of "resurrecting the dead."

In the past, Joanne Koch had no choice, but now with V, she has a choice.

Meredith Stock arrived last again, and she unleashed a torrent of abuse on Joanne Koch, hurling insults like "outrageous," "reckless," "disregarding the big picture," and "daydreaming," as aggressively as a fully charged DB-2 Sadara shotgun.

Joanne Koch was clearly exhausted, but she still listened to every single word.

Finally, she said, "I want to drink."

"Damn it!" Meredith Stock cursed, angrily saying, "I'll take care of things!"

Love and hate, that's probably what friendship is all about.

As she was leaving, the old captain suddenly called out to Joanne Koch.

"Don't think that our feud is over just like that!"

“Yes, yes, yes.” Joanne Koch waved her hand dismissively.

"Hey!"

"What are you doing now!"

Thanks this time.

Joanne Koch paused for a moment, and when she came to her senses, the old captain had already faded into the crowd of rescuers.

"What did he just say?"

He said, "Wow, awesome! The hero of Super Skyscraper H4!"

V, Joanne Koch, Meredith Stock, and Xu Zhong booked out a venue and enjoyed drinks on the top floor of a building.

There is no reason, no purpose, no celebration for anyone, and no remembrance for anything.

It's just about drinking, enjoying the pleasure, and drinking until we vomit each other's bile.

"vomit!"

The four of them squatted down on the edge of the building and vomited downwards, then laughed heartily like naughty kids who had successfully pulled off a prank.

Meredith Stocker tried to take off his pants and urinate, but V picked him up and threw him into the toilet.

Xu Zhong stood up and said unsteadily, "I'm so happy, I want to sing a song for everyone."

“Okay, sing, sing it now!” V and Joanne Koch clapped together.

So when Meredith Stock came out of the bathroom, burping, he saw Xu Zhong making delicate gestures with his fingers and singing in a soft, indecisive way.

"I sigh at the spring flowers and autumn moon, never forgetting our parting. In the lonely city where the wind rises, the sound of the flute is all about you."

"The promise of meeting again is now out of reach, but your smile has returned to my dreams."

"The morning flowers await the evening rain, I await an encounter, and my longing travels far and wide."

"The willow catkins fluttering in my hometown seem to be searching for you on my behalf, but when I wake up from my dream, the flowers have fallen and I know not when you will return."

"It sounds great, I love it, I want to hear it again!" V, Meredith Stock, and Joanne Koch cheered in unison. Xu Zhong was greatly encouraged and started singing again.

At first, he was the only one singing, but later V and the others learned it too, and the four of them sang together.

"I sigh at the spring flowers and autumn moon, never forgetting our parting..."

"The farewell we made back then seems so far away now..."

That night was incredibly joyful. If you ask why, it's probably because they finally did something good, a completely genuine good deed.

The next day, the four of them returned to their respective companies feeling dizzy and disoriented.

The retribution for doing good deeds came quickly. V and Xu Zhong were fine, but Meredith Stock was demoted one rank for suffering heavy losses in the anti-banditry battle, and Joanne Koch was demoted three ranks. If she hadn't been serving as the representative of the company alliance, she might have been fired.

"Are you happy now?" V asked.

“I cried for two whole hours,” Joanne Koch lamented, feeling utterly devastated. She felt like she had lost everything overnight.

"Will you do it again next time?" V asked again.

“Go ahead and do it, we’ve pretty much reached the end anyway.” Joanne Koch said in a do-or-die manner, “At worst I’ll get fired from biotechnology, then I’ll work for you.”

"You fucking..." V stormed off in anger, but as she reached the door, she couldn't help but say, "Arasaka's management is much stricter than Biotech's. You'll regret this."

"Well, I don't regret it."

At a recent meeting of the corporate alliance, V proposed a plan to build a large comprehensive hospital in Santo Domingo, which included many benefits for Biotech, such as management rights over the hospital, copyright over pathological data, and the right to appoint and dismiss personnel. The hospital's medical facilities and equipment would be provided by Arasaka at the lowest price, and security would be provided entirely by military technology personnel, with very lenient quotas given in terms of both personnel and equipment.

V sighed inwardly, realizing how pathetic he was; despite his cursing, he still had to clean up the messes of these troublesome guys.

It's obvious to everyone that V is standing up for Joanne Koch and Meredith Stock. Such emotional behavior is a far cry from his usual shrewd image and has cast doubt on the neutrality and impartiality of the corporate alliance.

Xu Zhong saw this and prepared to cast his vote in favor of V as soon as possible during the voting stage. However, unexpectedly, someone was faster than him. The representative of Zete Technology was the first to raise his hand in favor.

“As a company representative, I shouldn’t agree to such a biased plan, but I trust Vice President V. We’ve suffered a loss on this project, but she will definitely make up for it on other projects. Most importantly…” Abernathy’s husband said with a smile, “It’s reassuring to work with someone who values ​​loyalty and integrity.”

After he finished speaking, the company representatives nodded and cast their votes in favor.

V nodded and said solemnly, "Thanks, I owe everyone this."

"Haha, what did I tell you? The favor from Vice Minister V is much better than that little bit of profit. We've already made a profit."

Everyone laughed, and then they all looked at Xu Zhong.

Because he was the only one who hadn't voted yet.

V, Joanne Koch and Meredith Stock both glared at her coldly, as if to say, "Dare to disagree and I'll chop your hand off."

Xu Zhong shuddered and quickly cast his vote in favor; he didn't want to be ganged up on by his three older sisters.

Everything went smoothly after that. Construction began on the hospital in Santo Domingo, security forces were established, and Joanne Koch became the hospital's director. Biotech had ultimately lost faith in her. Although she retained her position as the Alliance's representative, she had been completely removed from the company's decision-making level. Both her salary and security level were significantly reduced. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she had been exiled to Santo Domingo.

V was powerless to do anything; she ultimately couldn't interfere in the internal affairs of biotechnology.

"Feel sorry."

"It's okay. My childhood dream was to be a doctor, and now that dream has come true, it's great."

"Why don't you quit your job in biotechnology and come to Arasaka..."

“No, your body still needs biotechnology,” Joanne Koch said. “You helped me before, now it’s my turn to help you.”

V has left Joanne Koch's residence, where she previously lived in an upscale apartment in the company square, and has now moved to a two-story house in Santo Domingo.

The price of doing good deeds is really high.

V sighed and got back into the car.

It's not a hovercar, but a sports car with a sword in the stone. Joanne Koch's previous upscale apartment had a helipad, but now there isn't even a garden here.

The price of doing good deeds is really high.

On his way back to the company, V suddenly received an announcement from all employees on the Arasaka internal channel:

"According to the family council's investigation, Goro Takemura was an inside man in the murder and bears primary responsibility. He has fled from the Tokyo headquarters and is now wanted worldwide."

It wasn't a son or a granddaughter, but a bodyguard.

V almost laughed, but ultimately it turned into a sigh.

Goro Takemura ultimately followed the same fate as in the previous world, but this time, without himself, how could he clear his name?

Just as I was thinking this, Michiko Arakawa called.