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

This is really too strange...

No two leaves in the world are exactly alike, but there are three identical "Valeries".

Jenkins initially even suspected they were clones or long-lost sisters. But upon further investigation, he discovered that all three had very clear life trajectories, making it virtually impossible for them to have been artificially created.

But that's even stranger. Vivian, Vera, and Veronica Valerie—there are three people in the world who look so alike, and they've all come to Night City.

Trusting Valerie, he originally intended to show her the whistleblower letter directly, just as a topic of conversation after dinner.

But now that this has suddenly happened, a bold idea popped into his head—is it possible to use Valerie to shift the blame onto the mysterious L...?

Chapter 315 Valerie: "Something's wrong, absolutely absolutely wrong..."

As I stepped out of the department director's office, the automatic door locked itself with a pneumatic whirring sound.

The faint buzzing sound in my ear suddenly stopped.

Valerie could sense that above her head and on her left and right sides, two surveillance cameras with multi-scanning capabilities were watching her under the control of AI.

Once an anomaly is detected, the laser beams hidden in the security passage will tear her to pieces.

This is the comprehensive protection that Arasaka provides for its executives.

Of course, during special periods, the headquarters can also control the situation and confine the senior executives to their offices…

[Scan successful. Please exit through the security exit. We wish you a smooth work experience.]

Even if a synthesized electronic voice has a pleasant tone, it still has a cold, mechanical feel to it.

Valerie walked silently back to the counterintelligence department's office lobby.

Looking around, the clean and tidy hall, devoid of any superfluous decorations, was quite deserted.

The meeting rooms were almost all empty, with only junior staff working in the corridors still holding their posts.

She turned her gaze back to the female assistant waiting by the exit.

“Miss Valerie, I have prepared the report you requested…”

The female assistant, holding a tablet, gave a forced smile when their eyes met.

"If you have an urgent task, please send it to my email first."

As Valerie walked past her, she stopped abruptly, turned sideways, and the two were almost face to face.

"Speaking of which, you've seemed rather restless lately. What happened?"

Faced with her boss's "concern," the female assistant did her best not to show anything unusual. "It's nothing... it's just that I've been working too hard lately, and the bio-monitoring showed that my hormone levels are a bit abnormal."

"This is normal. It's caused by hormonal imbalances due to continuous high-intensity overtime and increased psychological stress. Take some mental stabilizers and you'll get through this period."

"Yes, yes! I promise it won't affect my work!"

Valerie stopped looking at her and continued walking forward.

The female assistant was suspicious; it had started two days ago. She didn't even need intuition; she could tell just by observing—the assistant had done something wrong, and it involved her.

This person cannot be allowed to live. We need to find out the reason as soon as possible and then see how to deal with it.

After walking a dozen meters, she stopped in front of the cubicle closest to the director's office. The red special glass curtain wall was covered with technologically advanced patterns like a circuit board.

That's the office of her task force.

The electric door automatically opened after detecting the latest firmware she was carrying.

Swah——

As soon as the door opened, someone at the workstation closest to it waved to her.

The hackers in the group seem to have something to report.

Valerie walked over quickly and gestured with her eyes for her to speak directly.

The African American female hacker was multitasking, watching the constantly updating screen while simultaneously reporting back to her:

"Team leader, emergency! Our people may have been exposed."

“Tell me the details.”

“Three years ago, Arasaka sent a spy to infiltrate the Kangtao satellite power plant. Everything went smoothly, and he transmitted back a lot of internal information. But he has been out of contact since the power plant exploded at noon today. He was a logistics clerical worker and should not have been in the explosion area at all, but we have tried all sorts of methods to contact him.”

"It's obvious, he must have been caught by Kang Tao." Valerie waved her hand dismissively. She was too busy taking care of herself to clean up after someone else. "I have a more important task. I'll pass this on to another group."

She turned and took two steps, then suddenly stopped. "Wait, give me a copy of the information he's gathered about the power plant over the past few years, right now."

"Okay, I'll send it to your email right away." The female hacker didn't ask any more questions and obediently did as she was told.

Valerie returned to her office area and pointed outside.

The female assistant obediently walked back to her workstation.

After carefully scanning her surroundings and confirming that there were no problems, Valerie took ten precious minutes to quickly review the intelligence on the Camtau Power Plant.

Poor management, lax control, and annual losses make it a clear non-performing asset.

In its emergency announcement released half an hour earlier, Kangtao stated that the estimated loss was 100 million yuan…

They really dare to ask for that much in compensation. They claimed over seven million in death benefits. Did the entire patrol team die in that case, or were the drones and robots included in the death toll?

Valerie recalculated based on the intelligence stolen by the spy, and concluded that the actual loss should be between 2500 million and 3500 million if reconstruction were to be carried out.

That's quite a lot. Doubling the reporting is a common way to balance accounts, but... if you think about it from a different perspective, the conclusion is completely the opposite.

Is it really necessary to rebuild a power plant that has been losing money year after year?

Why not just demolish it and build another project on the ruins? Such a good location is unlikely to result in a loss.

As a result, Contau "lost" a money-losing power plant.

Not only did the Night City branch balance its books, but those in charge also made a fortune from the compensation and reconstruction. After that, Contau acquired new, lucrative businesses.

This isn't a loss, this is a fucking huge profit!

Kangtao was not the biggest loser at all; on the contrary, they were the beneficiaries!

It's a very simple principle—whoever benefits is the instigator and the driving force.

Kangtao is very suspicious...

Valerie kept her speculation in mind but did not report it.

She believes that the think tank and the super AI must have considered this possibility, but they deliberately downplayed it, instead emphasizing the presence of traitors within the company and putting pressure on senior management.

This was clearly intentional; they were holding back with the senior management. What were they trying to hide...?

With these questions in mind, Valerie set off again.

She refused the company of her female assistant and bodyguard, and drove her own Falcon MZ2 sports car, which she had purchased out of her own pocket, back to the company-assigned residence alone.

After a simple change of clothes, the company elite in the half-length mirror transformed into a fierce yet stylish street mercenary.

"As expected of you, Miss Valerie, this outfit is fantastic!"

Valerie admired her stunning beauty in the mirror for a while, adjusted the collar of her leather jacket, and turned to leave the bathroom.

Shortly after, she drove to the parking lot of the Laisheng Bar.

Next Life Bar

The most famous bar in Night City, and also the underground nerve center of this sinful city.

Top-notch mercenaries and first-rate middlemen come here to relax or conduct business.

This place handles the biggest deals, and also has the most zeros in contract compensation.

Valerie had certainly heard of this place, but she had only recently arrived in Night City and was so busy that she had never actually been there.

It is said that you have to have a great reputation on the street to get in, otherwise you will be turned away.

Perhaps... she should show off her muscles and make a high-profile entrance by hacking into the whitelist.

Capable people have privileges everywhere!

After preparing her puppet and her combo attacks, Valerie confidently headed towards the entrance of the Rebirth Bar.

I don't know if it's because I arrived at the wrong time, or if all the mercenaries went to the eastern suburbs to join in the fun, but there were hardly any people on the road from the entrance stairs to the main entrance of the bar.

Valerie didn't see a decent-looking guy until the main gate came into view.

With a casual glance, Arasaka's prosthetic eye easily revealed the other person's identity.

[Name: Emeric Brunson]

[Affiliation: Rebirth Bar, former member of the Animal Gang.]

Threat Level: High. (For you, the threat level is extremely low.)

[Combat Prosthetics: Omitted...]

At first glance, he seems like a nobody who could be killed three times with a single glare, but he's considered quite formidable among mercenaries.

Valerie held her head high with an air of superiority, ready to "clash" with the other party in the manner of a street mercenary.

The result was unexpected—

"Welcome, Ms. V, please come in."

The stern-faced doorman smiled, extended his hand in a friendly gesture, and opened the automatic door for her.

Valerie was taken aback.

V?

What a nostalgic way to address someone...

But wait, ever since she taught a lesson to everyone who dared to call her that during her school days, they all started calling her "Miss Valerie".

How would an ordinary security guard know about this title?

Is the Next Life Bar really that amazing? Or is there some kind of conspiracy?

Super intuition activated!

The security guard in front of her didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards her; in fact, he seemed a little afraid of her.

That's unbelievable! He got scared before the slap even landed on his face. How could someone so cowardly become a security guard?

Something's not right...

Valerie slowed her pace and peered into the bar through the open door.

The lack of intuition indicates that there is no danger inside that could be fatal.

Her "superpowers" had saved her many times. She believed in this ability, as well as her own wisdom and methods, and decided to go in and find out what was going on.

"Ah."

She gave a curt reply as a response and strode into the doorway.

"Bo Bo Chicken↑Bo Bo Chicken↓Bo Bo Chicken↑Bo Bo Chicken↓Ta-da~"

The catchy, addictive music clashed terribly with the deep, somber blue ambiance of the bar.

The most awesome bar in Night City plays cheap idol band songs in broad daylight?

This place doesn't seem quite like the legends...

Valerie saw the few tables of guests swaying and nodding to the music and almost thought she had come to the wrong place.

"Hi! V-shaped wine, 3 slices, 1 (three)!"

The greeting coming from the direction of the bar brought her back to her senses. (The last part, "洽崎爸虾气鹨一," appears to be a nonsensical string of characters and doesn't translate directly.)

[Name: Claire Russell]

[Affiliated Organization: Laisheng Bar, former military technology engineer.]

Threat Level: Extremely Low. (Negligible to you.)

The red-haired female bartender, a transgender person, and a street racer, matches the information in Arasaka's database.

This weird bar is really a reincarnation...

Claire was still waving cheerfully at her: "Come on, have a drink! I thought you were too busy to come. Same old Johnny Silverhand, please?"

"same as usual?"

A flash of understanding crossed Valerie's eyes.