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

Only Vera, sitting opposite him, saw the truth—from the moment he boarded the vehicle, a small group of six-legged bionic spider robots crawled out from his sleeves and began to infiltrate the floating vehicle's internal terminals.

Arasaka's agents ordered them to leave their weapons in the car, but they were unable to find the special robot that Leo was carrying.

She didn't know how Leo did it, but the method was clearly very effective!

Pure White silently breached the data barrier through the intranet using robots, and challenged Valerie one-on-one at a critical moment when she was bullying the weak.

The duel between the super AI and the top hacker Wu Yiqi Ba Ba Qi Yi was utterly devoid of any real drama.

Only the soaring temperature inside the carriages revealed the perilous nature of the battle.

Leo moved slightly to the side.

Valerie, standing beside him, transformed into a super-powerful "mini-sun heater," radiating waves of heat from the back of her neck and her entire back, making one worry that her body temperature might exceed fifty degrees Celsius.

[Holy crap, that's a familiar tactic! Leo, she's the hacker we met at the entrance of the Dome Shopping Mall, the mysterious hacker who coerced the mercenary team to capture the Night Wanderer's leader alive! I remember her code, it can't be wrong!]

Pure White excitedly shared her joy with Leo.

[The puppets she uses are all modified by herself, much better than those on the market. And the data transmission capacity and network speed are definitely those of a level 5 hacker. It's just that her prosthetic body is a bit lacking; she can't compare to internet surveillance agents.]

【Can you win? 】

Remove the "吗" and the question mark! By human hacker standards, she is indeed very strong, but I have a core server room and data center. If I compete with her in data transmission, I can bake her into a carbonized cookie!

Leo, seeing Valerie's eyes closed and her trembling slightly, quickly warned, "Be careful, don't hurt my secretary!"

[Ha, men… Fine, this time I'll use the computing power of a hundred servers to launch a DDoS attack on her and kick her offline! Take this!]

As soon as Pure White finished speaking, Valerie shuddered violently and let out a suppressed cry of anguish.

Leo felt sorry for V, but V on the other side was overjoyed.

"Haha! Imposter, die, die—!"

A quick chokehold combo is activated!

V's figure blurred, and his right hand, like a snake emerging from its hole, transformed into an afterimage that ordinary people could not see. His five fingers formed a claw and went straight for Valerie's neck.

Vera, standing beside her, reacted just as quickly, placing her hands on Valerie's left arm to ensure Leo's safety first.

Seeing the situation rapidly deteriorate, Valerie, who had closed her eyes due to pain, instinctively launched a counterattack.

Her right hand shot out with equally incredible speed, grabbing V's wrist at the last moment. Her left hand gripped Leo's shoulder, but was also locked in place by Vera's hands.

The three Vs were connected in a rather unseemly way, which Leo stared at intently.

What a beautiful scene!

Unfortunately, the space inside the floating vehicle was too small, and Valerie was severely injured by Pure White first, otherwise the scene of the three Vs fighting each other would have been very exciting!

If I could witness that epic battle, even dying would be worth it!

Unlike the person who went mad, V was incredulous that his attack had been blocked: "To be able to keep up with my attack in that situation, you've got some skills!"

Valerie gritted her teeth, struggling against the immense pressure from her arms.

Her right eye barely opened halfway, and despite the dizziness in her head, she remained defiant: "To be able to hack into the airship silently and defeat me head-on, your hacking team is truly skilled. However, don't think that—"

bass!

Her harsh words were interrupted by the mantis knife that popped out of V's arm.

The gleaming tip of the knife was pressed against her forehead, playfully touching her skin.

"If you keep nagging me, I'll slash your face twice and see if you still dare to impersonate me!"

V smiled and issued a threat, his eyes full of eagerness.

Valerie froze. Based on her understanding of single-celled organisms, these dim-witted creatures always acted faster than they thought. In other words, the other party was truly bold and genuinely wanted to make a move…

Damn it, that idiot Agent Arasaka—she confidently reported that she had sealed off all the cybernetic bodies of the enemy team and removed all their weapons, catching her off guard. What a bunch of useless bastards!

She thought quickly, then suddenly grinned and reduced the force of her blows.

Vera took the opportunity to pry open Leo's left hand and protect him.

V gave a regretful look: "Tch, you're smart to know what's good for you!"

Valerie wasn't angry. She sat back down, casually took out the aerosol can from her pocket, and quickly inhaled twice.

The stimulants and analgesics in the cognitive enhancer quickly relieved her physical discomfort, and her rationality returned to its peak.

"The hacker team is very powerful, the team members are top-notch in combat ability, and they have more money than they can spend. This is not the kind of configuration that a newcomer to the middleman would have."

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the mantis knife V was waving in front of her.

"Put the knife away, that's incredibly childish. If you dare touch me, you'd better be in big trouble."

A hint of displeasure flashed in V's eyes: "You defeated opponent, you've got a tough tongue. If you don't want to suffer, then honestly tell us why you came to see us, and don't try to lie!"

"Oh, is it so?"

Valerie looked at her intently, then suddenly smiled.

“Alright, I’ll confess—I just want to see for myself the magicians who can outmaneuver several large companies and use magic tricks to attack and rob a convoy of transport vehicles.”

V was startled, but her intuition passed the test, overriding her intelligence and helping her remain calm without even blinking!

But it didn't work.

"Are you feeling guilty...?"

Valerie came to this conclusion, but she herself was unsure.

She found these people suspicious, so she exaggerated the situation as much as possible, hoping to deduce some of the truth from their reactions.

Why is this seemingly dim-witted guy acting so guilty?

V… dared not speak.

The bad woman in front of her gave her a very strange feeling, as if... she could also see through lies.

This is clearly her innate superpower, how can even this be faked!

Valerie and V stared at each other for a few seconds, then Valerie suddenly turned to Leo and asked, "So, you really were behind this upheaval in the eastern suburbs?"

Leo was speechless.

[Pure white, this company's V gives me a really strange feeling...]

[Your intuition is correct. Judging from V's reaction, Valerie likely also has that irrational intuition. Lying to her will only make her learn the truth.]

[I'm so disgusted... It's really true that the rich rely on technology, while the poor rely on mutation.]

If the other party has this kind of "superpower," he'll be in trouble.

Admitting it directly won't work, and denying it is even worse... I understand, I need to tell the "truth" and bypass my gut feeling.

He's very familiar with this; he's already mastered it using V.

"Ah, yes, yes, we did it. We blew up the power plant and then took the convoy away. Just report it like that and see who gets slapped by Arasaka."

Intuition tells me... Pass!

He was telling the truth!

Intelligence assessment...failed!

"Your acting is so childish it makes me want to laugh." Valerie chuckled. "Dare you take off your mask and look me in the eye for three seconds?"

Leo was intimidated and retorted, "Aren't you on the wrong footing? You're the weaker, losing party. Are you trying to provoke us into attacking you?"

"Ha, I bet you wouldn't dare! If I reported this speculation, no one would believe it, it's too fantastical. But if you kill me, kill a high-ranking employee of Arasaka, the company's attention will shift to you, ruining your perfect disguise!"

Valerie placed her left hand on Leo's shoulder again, but this time it wasn't malicious; it seemed more like a test.

V's eyes narrowed dangerously; he was almost losing control of his right hand.

Vera looked to her left, then to her right, remaining neutral for the time being.

Leo looked at Valerie, who had suddenly moved closer to him, and his breathing became labored. He shrank back.

Just before V was about to suddenly attack and hurt someone, Valerie seemed to realize something, let go of his hand, and leaned back in her seat.

"How interesting~ Your fondness for twins has even extended to me, your enemy. But it's good that things are a little better now, so we can talk about cooperation."

"Cooperation?" Leo calmed down and carefully examined her.

Valerie picked up a glass of champagne, swirled it in her hand, and watched the liquid turn into a vortex. She nodded and said, "That's right, cooperation, we're allies!"

"Friend my foot! Leo, don't believe her nonsense!"

V protested loudly, staring intently at the other woman, ready to cut her off at the slightest sign of hostility!

Valerie maintained her original strategy, once again ignoring V:

“I don’t know how you did it, but Arasaka is really panicking now. They habitually think things through and look for the worst possible scenario that would be most detrimental to the company, which has scared them in the process.”

To avoid the worst-case scenario, they chose to sacrifice a high-ranking company executive to take the blame for you. The lucky winner is Director Jenkins of the Counterintelligence Department, my direct superior…”

Chapter 323 Valerie's Big Plan

Jenkins?

That handsome middle-aged man who looks like a talented man but actually suffers from cerebellar atrophy?

Leo was deeply impressed by this man—he appeared like a tyrant when he first appeared, exuding a strong sense of oppression, and casually orchestrated a massacre at the European Space Council.

His style of doing things and his aura are just like those of a villainous big boss.

But this person didn't play by the rules, staging a fleeting moment...

Later, after delving deeper into the worldview, he discovered that the European Space Agency was far superior to Arasaka, who was on the decline. It's no wonder that even the director of an important department dared to bully others despite being in a weaker position, and that no one above him could save him when he died.

The board of directors must have been furious with his stupid behavior.

Unexpectedly, he's the one who's unlucky again. This guy is really hopeless; whenever something big happens, he's always the one who gets blamed.

Leo suppressed a laugh and looked at Valerie: "Then isn't your situation very bad? Will it be affected?"

Valerie took a sip of her drink and leaned back in her chair with a flourish. "The Arasaka think tank is overthinking things. They think one person's head isn't enough, so they plan to purge the entire management of the counterintelligence department. Of course, I'm part of that."

Company V is going to be in big trouble... and there's this kind of good news?!

Leo chuckled: "That's good... Ah, I mean, that's really unfortunate. What are your plans? You can't just sit here and wait to die, can you?"

Valerie stared at his face, as if trying to see through the true face hidden beneath the silver mask. After a while, her gaze shifted to V and Vera opposite her, a plan forming in her mind.

There was indeed something fishy about this. This L and the forces behind him had completely fooled everyone involved. The fact that they could do that was proof of their strength.

Without solid evidence, exposing them is useless; Arasaka will still sacrifice the counterintelligence department for the sake of maintaining stability.

Moreover, with these individuals causing trouble in Night City, if she continues to stay in Arasaka, more and more people will doubt her loyalty, and she will be purged sooner or later.

Fine, let's stick to the original plan and continue to bring our small group to switch jobs.

“It’s not me, it’s us.” She decided to reveal part of the truth. “I, Jenkins, and possibly a few other junior executives in the counterintelligence department, have learned part of the truth, seen through the sinister intentions of the Arasaka board, and are planning to collectively defect.”

"Jump to...where?"

Just as Leo was about to extend an olive branch, he realized that his company had not yet been established, so he decided to sound her out first.

Valerie thought for a moment and said:

"I came out here for this very reason. My original plan was to first find out whether it was Kang Tao, Jun Ke, or both of them who orchestrated this conspiracy against Arasaka."

That way we can find another patron and seek asylum on the condition that we help Arasaka prove his guilt. But now…”

She looked at Leo, her eyes flashing with a sharp, keen light.

"After eliminating all impossibilities, what remains, however improbable, must be the truth"—and this statement has actually come true. No one would have imagined that the seemingly insignificant and least likely criminal fifth party was actually the mastermind behind it all.

I'm getting more and more curious about how you guys did it. Could you share a little bit about it?

Leo and the other two remained silent.

Valerie chuckled, "Don't want to talk about it? No problem. Every place leaves a trace. I just need to go to the crime scene and I'll naturally find clues that others can't."

Leo laughed too: "Do as you please, I'll admit defeat if you can actually find it!"

This time, Valerie remained silent.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head vigorously:

"I like puzzles, but we can leave that for later. Let's talk about the collaboration first. I guess... you'll need at least one ally to make this happen, and given the network of connections you've built since coming to Night City, that ally is almost certainly Kang Tao."

"Then I'd like to ask, is your alliance willing to accept a few tainted witnesses? The price is going up against Arasaka; they'll keep sending Arasaka ninjas to carry out assassinations."