From Gotham to Night City, my infamy is known to all.

Leo stood at the entrance of the alley, feeling utterly defeated.

What about my huge V?

Looking around, the alley was littered with bags of trash and dotted with the open-air shelters of homeless people. Perhaps due to the time of day, the alley was deserted and eerily quiet.

The problem is that it's about 200 meters from the entrance to the exit on the other side. Unless V runs at full speed, he shouldn't have walked that far.

Does she live in this neighborhood?

Or is it hidden?

Leo walked into the alley with a puzzled look, turned around on his feet, and found that the only place to hide was a large trash can.

His mind suddenly went blank for a moment, and the slight stinging pain made him somewhat disoriented.

[Warning...Warning...Multiple brain hormones are abnormally elevated...]

The biomonitoring sent an error report, but it failed to wake Leo, who was lost in thought.

The urge to find V grew stronger uncontrollably in his mind—finally, he covered his nose, looking dazed, and lifted the lid of the trash can: "...V?"

The various kinds of trash in the bin remained silent.

A slightly sour smell permeated the air.

That's normal—you can't expect a pile of garbage to talk unless you've eaten poisonous mushrooms.

V is obviously not in the trash can, so... could she be in the sewer?

Leo spotted another manhole cover, examined it briefly, and then politely knocked on the door.

Knock knock knock—"V?"

Click.

The response came... but not from below, but from somewhere diagonally behind, in an unfriendly manner, like a pistol being cocked.

"Don't move, slowly turn around and place your hands where I can see them."

A female voice, cool yet with a touch of roguishness, came through the air.

"If you move around, I don't mind making a big hole in your head to let your already damaged brain breathe."

It’s V!

Leo jolted awake, his mind instantly returning to normal.

Although she wasn't speaking Chinese, he would never mistake her voice and tone!

The "bad habits" he developed living in a peaceful era began to take control of his body, making him subconsciously want to make the French gesture, bowing to the powerful who possess the power to equalize all beings.

But Leo restrained himself—his persona was that of a middleman, and a middleman had to be powerful and not be manipulated by others!

Let's take a gamble... If V had heard what he just said, she probably wouldn't have shot someone she knew.

Leo's gamble paid off. He turned around with his hands hanging naturally at his sides and a calm expression.

V did not fire.

His gaze shifted upwards, and he saw V, who was aiming a gun at him, on a makeshift staircase outside a house.

She looked really beautiful with her eyes slightly narrowed and her lips pursed...

Leo lost focus for a moment, and the newly installed operating system misinterpreted his brainwaves, directly activating the prosthetic eye's scanning mode and using six times optical zoom to aim at V's pretty face.

Unfortunately, this also caused his prosthetic eye to light up.

Under a gaze that could see even the slightest change in facial expression, V revealed an angry look: "What are you doing! Are you looking for death? You think your hacking operations can be faster than my bullet!?"

In that instant, Leo felt a real and unmistakable killing intent.

Street girl V is clearly not someone to be trifled with; she's now truly intent on killing!

Hey!

You messed up—say something, say something now!

At the critical moment,

Leo blurted out, "You must be the famous V!"

These words were like magic, freezing V's anger and murderous intent for a moment.

"You know me...who are you?"

“Leonardo DiCaprio, or Leo for short.” Quickly turning off the scanner, Leo seized the opportunity to adjust his demeanor as he spoke, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. V!”

"Oh, is it so?"

From the moment he started, the light in V's eyes never dimmed; he had clearly been scanning him the whole time.

"No combat prosthetics, no weapons, and doesn't seem to be thinking clearly, but he's very rich... Interesting. I'm pretty sure I don't know anyone like you, but your eyes—are very strange."

V aimed the gun with one hand, and with the other hand supporting himself on the railing, he lightly jumped down from the second floor.

The midday sun seemed to drape her in a golden robe, making her look like a holy angel descended from heaven.

Leo's eyes widened, and he instinctively opened his hands, wanting to catch her.

That's how their first physical contact happened!

Unfortunately... instead of a warm hug or kiss, he was met with a merciless elbow from V, which sent him sprawling into a corner.

She caught up with him again, holding a gun to his abdomen with her right hand and squeezing his chest with her left arm, forcing him against the wall.

"Don't move, let me see you."

Leo tried to remain calm and met her gaze.

Then he discovered that what V meant by "take a look" really was just taking a look.

She stared intently into her own eyes, her expression growing increasingly strange.

"You know me... no, you know me very well."

"Familiarity mixed with longing and trust...it seems like...he likes me a little?"

"Damn, what kind of weird stuff did you take to make your brain like this—going crazy in front of a stranger?"

V muttered several words to herself, then hesitated before letting go of him.

But he didn't put the gun down; he just adjusted the muzzle and aimed it at a less lethal spot.

"I could tell something was off about your eyes from that one glance in the Wild Wolf Bar. I didn't expect someone as weak as you to actually dare to chase after me."

"Speak! I'll give you three sentences—either convince me, or take off your clothes, hand over the ransom, and I'll generously let you go!"

The imagined warm and romantic reunion quickly turned into a blatant robbery, and Leo's little bit of hope was extinguished by V's "fierce" tone.

Three sentences...

enough!

Watch how he got V to risk her life for him with just three sentences!

"I'm a newcomer and a middleman."

"We are looking for bodyguards and mercenaries."

"A business that will make you a lot of money, are you in?"

V must admit that he hesitated for a moment.

The man, or rather the boy, who was quite handsome in front of me looked like a wealthy person. That high-end bulletproof suit alone could fetch two or three thousand on the black market.

But he was rummaging through trash cans and banging on manhole covers... he doesn't seem like a normal person.

还有他看自己的眼神，太他妈的怪了——见色起意的人她见过不少，也揍过不少，但要说是一见钟情，也不应该有这么复杂的情感。

That look in his eyes... it was like that of an old partner or lover who had gone through life and death and were reunited.

It gave her the creeps...

Nobody's Name: Chapter Twenty-Two - A Wake-Up Call (Part Two)

Born into a poor single-parent family, V, who started hanging out on the streets in his teens, believes he has seen all sorts of shady characters.

Drug addicts, people who can't distinguish between reality and the internet—all sorts of cyberpsychotics…

But this was the first time she had ever met someone like Leo—who exuded an aura completely out of place in Night City.

One of the rules of street survival is: stay away from anything unusual.

"You're lucky today, I won't steal the wolves' customers."

After making those threats, V took two steps back, gun in hand, and prepared to leave.

Seeing that she was about to leave, Leo became a little anxious: "Aren't you going to listen to what kind of work it is?"

V raised an eyebrow: "You don't even have a bodyguard, and you have no vigilance or common sense. You think you can be a middleman? I advise you to go home and stay away from the streets."

Leo thought she was absolutely right. He really wanted to go home and never come to this godforsaken place, Night City, again.

But the gap between ideals and reality is always so tormenting.

He had to do something to keep the top enforcer.

He squeezed his eyes shut and thought fiercely: V—you forced me to do this!

You are transferring funds to an unknown account. Please confirm that this is your operation.

【confirm. 】

[Transfer amount: 3500 euros, awaiting confirmation from the recipient...]

V: "?"

Wait, what is this? Just throwing money at it?!

For a moment she felt insulted and wanted to aim a shot at the other person's foot.

But the next moment, she had to admit that the money was more than her own account balance...

"What do you mean!"

With a stern voice and expression—

"That's impossible..." Her voice sounded a little weak.

The tide has turned, and now it's Leo's turn to smile.

"I need a bodyguard. The basic daily wage is 1000 euros, paid weekly. The pay will increase depending on the situation, such as dangerous situations or other tasks that need to be performed."

This is the deposit for the first week.

V was caught in a dilemma—on the one hand, she felt there was something wrong with the person in front of her and it was best to stay away. On the other hand, she had just returned to Night City and was short of money, and this sum of money was really… well, it was just too tempting.

1000 a day, 7000 a week, that's 30000 euros a month. Even office workers would fight tooth and nail for that salary.

The question is—can a free lunch really fall from the sky?

"A bodyguard...you're paying this much to have me as your bodyguard?" She scoffed loudly. "Do you think I'm stupid? With that kind of money, why don't you go find the best in your next life, instead of hiring someone like me who's just hanging around on the streets..."

"Is your bodyguard decent? He's not the kind who has to sleep with you in the middle of the night, is he?"

"It can't be that bad. A full set of Cloud Peak gear only costs 500. What on earth are you up to?"

Combined with his extremely strange look, V realized for the first time—money really can be hot to handle!

Seeing that she wouldn't give in, Leo mentally labeled the street girl V: amazing intuition, a bit difficult to deal with.

But the fact that the other party hesitated means that she really needed money.

“I’m new here and need to make a living in Heywood. A ‘local’ like you is much more useful than the older guys from the afterlife. Anyway, this is the price, are you in or not?”

"……grass."

V couldn't help but swear.

[Transfer successful. €3500 has been withdrawn from your personal account.]

The proverb "He who takes a man's money is bound to him" proved instantly effective. V sighed, lowered the gun, and stopped pointing it at his employer.

"Let me make it clear beforehand: if you make any unreasonable demands or make me feel insulted, I'll beat you up and walk away... and don't expect me to return your deposit."

"Don't worry, I'm extremely busy right now, I don't have the time or inclination for that."