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

12 people, room number 12, 12th floor apartment.

He seems to have a special connection with this number.

From now on, let's just set up a council of twelve, and with him as the thirteenth, it would be just like "The Last Supper".

Of course, he would not allow "Judas" to exist.

Turning back, he led the crowd through the bustling lobby of the Rebirth Bar, where they were met with thunderous cheers, as if he were a superstar.

In a fleeting glance, he thought he saw Rogge, but the middleman queen simply watched him silently, remaining silent and motionless throughout.

What an arrogant fellow. Once he has Johnny Silverhand in his hand, the old man will break down.

"Next Life Bar"...Next Life...Ah, this means someone who can't forget their ex-lover and longs to meet again in the next life, right?

The deceased white moonlight, this is Roger's greatest weakness, a weakness even greater than that of her own son!

Leaving the Rebirth Bar, the cool night replaced the hustle and bustle.

The two teams said goodbye and returned to their respective residences.

Since there were no vacant rooms in the apartment, Leo did not arrange accommodation for them.

There's no rush now. Once we take Taipingzhou, there'll be plenty of land. We'll talk about it then.

Back at home, before the event ended, Leo posted a new request: "V, I need to do you a favor tomorrow. Go to the subway around 7 a.m. and help me catch a thief. Here is her information."

Leo sent the video data that Pure White had found to V—it was a blurry video that was only a few seconds long.

It's possible that Lucy's prosthetic body malfunctioned briefly, because her profile was captured by a security camera in the subway. The image was blurry and not enough to serve as evidence, but it was enough to identify the target.

Chapter 337 Lucy: "Umm, that red-haired mercenary is worth stealing!"

Commission Name: Catching Subway Thieves

Type of mission: Target capture / Must be captured alive

Target: Kushinada Luxina (female, 20 years old), who identifies herself as Lucy.

Details: A lone hacker of Japanese and Polish descent.

His father was an Arasaka veteran who participated in the Fourth Company War and became one of Arasaka's main leaders in Warsaw, Poland, after the war due to his outstanding contributions.

The mother was a core member of the famous Polish hacker group "Squadron 404". After marriage, she chose to give up her underground life and become a Japanese housewife.

Lucy showed exceptional hacking talent from a young age, but due to a series of rebellious acts, her father "sent" her to the "Teen Hacker Training Center" at Arasaka Corporation.

Unable to endure the brutal exploitation at the training center, he and other teenage hackers chose to escape, becoming one of the very few survivors.

After years on the run, she has now arrived in Night City, known for its chaos and disorder.

Location: Residence unknown; suspected of being a chip thief in the Night City subway for money.

"What an abrupt turn of events..."

This was V's first thought after reading the intelligence.

With a father who's a high-ranking executive at Arasaka and a mother who's an elite hacker, such a perfect start to her life, yet she ended up as a street thief—it's all too "legendary"...

"What's the deal with Lucy?" Sasha was also puzzled. "With a family background like that, she should have received the world's top resources and become the next generation of corporate elites. How come her later experiences were so bumpy? Is the system at that juvenile hacker training center really that strict?"

If you interpret it literally, Arasaka's youth hacker training center should be a good place. Hackers carefully trained from a young age by a large company are a rare opportunity that many people would rather die for.

But considering the ruthlessness of large companies, things are probably not that simple.

Leo gave the expected answer: "The training center is just a front. It's actually an experimental project to mine old network data and seek to acquire high technology from the old era. You can simply think of it as a data mining farm. Those highly malleable young hackers are the mining cards that Arasaka found."

"Damn it! I knew it all along, this company is full of idiots!"

V is really numb.

Every now and then I hear these dark and gruesome ghost stories. Night City is doomed; there's not a single positive or uplifting thing left...

She had initially been somewhat concerned about Lucy's striking appearance and suspected that Leo's motives were impure.

But when she saw how miserable the child was—sold to the Arasaka Company by her own father, and then living on the streets and constantly on the run since childhood, her own heart softened.

"She's already in such a terrible state, why do you still want to arrest her?"

All eyes turned to Leo, curious about his reply.

Leo remained unfazed and said with righteous indignation:

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I only did some urgent investigation after Arasaka took action, and I unexpectedly found this wanted criminal. To be honest, even I didn't find out the inside story of that training center, so I'm a little curious about what Arasaka is doing."

"We brought her back, both for her protection and to obtain confidential information about the Arasaka Company!"

Well-reasoned and well-founded!

The others nodded in agreement, expressing their conviction.

It's truly rare for even Leo to be unable to find out the information!

Only Panan was horrified: Not only had they provoked military and biotechnology, but now they were eyeing a confrontation with Arasaka! What kind of high-level strategy was this, making the whole world their enemy?!

However… the Bright family is too deeply intertwined with him, and there is no other way to go now.

Let's take a step by step.

V accepted the task and carefully studied Lucy's prosthetic data. Upon closer inspection, he discovered a hodgepodge of cheap, low-quality materials. Apart from the monomolecular line, which was worth examining, the rest were all off-brand products. She was in a really bad situation.

"Without even Krenchikov, she's basically a zero threat to me. I'll get up early tomorrow, go alone, and bring her back."

Leo nodded in agreement: "Pure White will provide you with network protection; she poses no threat to you whatsoever."

Seeing that the two of them were full of confidence, the others abandoned the idea of ​​a group trip.

Sending V to pickpocket this subway is like using a cannon to kill a fly; there's no chance of failure.

popping.

Leo clapped his hands twice and began to see the guests off: "Alright, that's the end of today's work. Everyone, you've worked hard. Go home and get some rest."

"Oh...ah, I mean, goodnight, I'm really a bit tired!"

Sasha was initially a little disappointed, but then she remembered that V was right in front of her and quickly changed her mind.

The other three acted as usual and entered the elevator together.

Leo and V were left alone in the room.

Leo was still trying to figure out how to distract V when she said in a serious tone, "Leo, you'd better be prepared and watch out for that Faraday."

"Faraday?" Leo really didn't expect the topic to shift to the bespectacled guy. "That piece of trash dares to challenge me? You sensed it?"

V shook his head, then nodded. "That guy definitely holds a grudge against us. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't dare to do anything, but if he's cornered and can't even protect himself, he might start making baseless accusations."

"Hmm... that's true. That's just how he is. If he can't complete the tasks assigned by the military, he'll definitely come up with some crooked tricks."

But it's unlikely he can accomplish it, especially if all his mercenaries defect.

We have to be on guard... no, it's too troublesome, let's just kill them.

He organized his thoughts and sent a text message to our undercover agent inside Arasaka—

"Leo: Valerie, here's a favor for you. There's a military intermediary named Faraday who's active in the Santo Domingo region. He's taken on a mission; the military wants him to secretly gather intelligence on Arasaka, which is probably related to the recent convoy disappearance."

"Leo: I've confirmed that this guy is a complete traitor with absolutely no loyalty, and his abilities and methods are also lacking. Find an opportunity to kill him, and I'll give you credit for it later."

After a while, Valerie replied to the text message.

Valerie: We found him. There is such a person. The Arasaka Intelligence Department doesn't think highly of him either. Okay, let me see if he has any use. Let's make use of him and then get rid of him.

"Leo: Remember to send me a photo after he dies."

Valerie: What, you don't believe me?

Leo: No, I like souvenirs.

Valerie: Rich people's quirks, huh? Fine, I'll send you a funeral photo and maybe leave you some clothes or something?

Leo: I don't want that guy's clothes, but you can keep the gun if it's on the side.

Valerie: Understood, no big deal.

After sending a few text messages, Leo chuckled: "Four-Eyes' good days are over. With his IQ, he'd never guess that the olive branch Arasaka extended was actually a fuse for explosives."

V was initially laughing, but when she thought about who Leo had contacted, she couldn't laugh anymore.

That annoying Valerie! She imitates my face and even my special abilities. And we might have to work together in the future—what an irritating feeling!

Her gaze fell on the oblivious Leo, and her lower abdomen began to heat up again.

"We need to get up early tomorrow, so go to bed early tonight! Oh, and I need to wash you up first; you smell awful..."

Leo's smile faltered, and he quickly pressed down on her hands that were reaching for his waist: "It's not even nine o'clock yet, let's watch some more TV, find a war blockbuster or a comedy to watch!"

V actually wanted to go to bed earlier, but watching TV for a while seemed nice, so she nodded in agreement.

Leo's wit allowed him to stall for another hour and a half, but he was eventually dragged to the bathroom by the impatient V.

Fortunately, the "Nutritional Express" that Pure White bought was very effective, and he also deliberately prolonged his playtime, so V did not notice anything unusual.

The next morning,

While Leo was still asleep after a long day, V quietly got up.

After kissing him on the cheek, she dressed in a low-key outfit, disguised as a street mercenary, and went out carrying only a Kenshin pistol.

Soon after, she bought a ticket and entered the subway, following the pure white sign to the designated station in search of "Miss Mining Card".

[The train is approaching Watson Avenue Station. Passengers disembarking, please prepare to get off. Passengers going to Super Tower H4, please prepare to disembark.]

The subway slowly came to a stop, and the passengers waiting on the platform calmly walked towards the doors.

Thanks to the excellent work system of 14-16 hours a day, 365 days a year in 2077, you will never have to worry about "rush hour," an antique that only existed half a century ago.

In fact, if you don't even have the awareness to live at your workplace, why should the company give you a job instead of buying another smart robot?

In the sparse crowd, a young woman wearing a purple and green tracksuit and a hooded top got off from carriage number 2 and then boarded carriage number 3.

She has a light rainbow-colored bob, asymmetrical sideburns, a beautiful face, and a figure that other women envy.

Unfortunately, those who can get up at six in the morning to take the subway are all "excellent office workers".

Exhausted, their faces numb and weary, all they longed for was a seat so they could get a little more sleep before their grueling 10-plus hours of work began.

As for beautiful women... there's nothing in Mewtwo, but a stunning beauty with three different faces, three mouths, and six breasts is truly amazing!

Real-life beauties are meaningless; they all have one nose and two eyes, and if you cover their faces, they're not even as good as the adult dolls produced by "Spring Dream Company."

Having just stolen from two carriages, Lucy blended into the crowd.

The first thing I did after getting in the car was to look around for any suspicious signs.

Since the privatization reforms, NPCD has basically given up the high-risk, low-reward job of plainclothes police. What she needs to be wary of are her colleagues, gang members, and cyberpsychotics.

Looking around,

The woman, suspected to be a low-class sex offender, was holding her bruised and battered arm and sobbing softly.

The guy next to me, who had nothing to do, smacked his lips loudly.

A few reasonably well-dressed office workers were scattered throughout the carriage, not sticking together.

There were also a few mercenaries who had been reduced to taking the subway; they were clearly just ordinary mercenaries.

No problem, everything is normal.

Night City is peaceful today, like a frozen corpse in a morgue, always maintaining a perfect smile…

[The train is about to depart. Passengers, please hold on tight and sit down. Do not lean against the doors.]

Lucy stepped into the carriage just as the doors were about to close, with one foot still on the platform.

She's been doing this for years, and her escape skills are now second nature, which is why she's been able to live a relatively carefree life. Unlike those idiots who are constantly in and out of jail, earning so little money that it's not even enough to cover their bail.

As the train began to move, Lucy found a window seat and stood there, her thoughts drifting into the distance with her gaze.

Her life was monotonous and tedious, but she had to persevere until she saved enough for a plane ticket to the moon, to escape this cold and bitter reality…

She glanced at her personal account balance, then at the "moon travel package" sold by RailAviation in her shopping cart that never goes on sale, sighed inwardly, and slowly closed her eyes.

"Ring ring ring——"

Two and a half minutes later, the alarm clock that had been set in advance rang.

She opened her eyes, a strange light flashing in her purple pupils, ready to take action.