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

Leo smiled smugly: It's that easy to work backward from the result to solve the puzzle!

He continued, "I've found the address too; it's highly likely to be an old factory near Charter Street."

He sent an aerial photo to everyone.

The photo shows an old factory, with several huge ethanol-2 fuel storage tanks standing silently at the entrance. In a prominent position is a large red tiger head graffiti with the Chinese characters for "Tiger Hook Xiao Jun".

"Tiger Claw Gang?"

V's eyes narrowed at the thought of those annoying guys.

Leo knew that the Lizardmen actually referred to the Vortex Gang, but he couldn't say it outright at this moment, so he vaguely said, "That area is the border between the Tiger Claw Gang and the Vortex Gang, which is actually an advantage for secret meetings."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

The areas where these forces meet are often no-man's-land, and even ordinary people know to avoid being active in these areas.

NCPD officers stay far away from these "war zones" and are unwilling to approach them even when they receive a call for help.

"That's roughly the situation. Two groups are planning to meet over there. Let's go and get involved, see what they're up to. This involves a major conspiracy that I haven't fully figured out yet, so we must be cautious and prepare our disguises beforehand."

"understand!"

“Let’s go, get ready… uh!” Sasha jumped up energetically and turned around to see Lucy next to her.

Other people's eyes also turned to her, realizing that something was wrong.

They didn't expect Leo to say such important information directly; didn't the "little prisoner" overhear it all?

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Lucy finally realized what was happening: "No... I didn't mean to eavesdrop! You were all talking to yourselves and didn't give me a chance to leave!"

To overhear such a crucial secret while being a prisoner—this is it, he's doomed…

Leo deliberately tricked Lucy, and now he's jumping out to play the good guy:

“I was indeed careless this time and forgot that there were outsiders... But Lucy is also a victim of the Arasaka Company's persecution, so we can't punish her for that.”

Here's what we'll do: while she's serving as a tainted witness, consider her a prospective member of the Immortal Squad. If her abilities and loyalty prove later, she can join us.

Everyone knows about Lucy's tragic experience, so they don't have much of an opinion about this reserve member.

So, the pressure fell on V.

V himself didn't quite agree with the suggestion, but Lucy was indeed very pitiful—she clearly had parents, but was abandoned in a practical sense and even hunted down; she was a truly pitiful person.

She simply couldn't bring herself to be hard-hearted, and could only complain, "Why is everyone staring at me? It makes me look like the bad guy..."

That's how it was decided that Lucy would become a reserve player.

Chapter 346 The Night Corporation Hidden in the Shadows

Having gone through the transformation from chip thief to prisoner to prospective team member in just one day, Lucy was completely bewildered.

She felt that the world before her was unreal, like an absurd and fantastical dream.

Leo's gaze shifted from her face, and he clapped his hands in satisfaction: "Everyone, get moving. The lizardmen's plot starts at nine o'clock. Let's go scout out the location first and make thorough preparations."

Everyone sprang into action, even Lucy was taken away by Sasha, who said she was going to check her equipment.

After they all left, V tugged at Leo's arm, her eyes brimming with barely concealed curiosity: "What exactly is this so-called grand conspiracy? Why are you always so secretive and hesitant?"

Leo had nothing to hide from V and frankly said, "There are two reasons why this matter cannot be explained openly. First, I myself have not fully understood it yet and dare not make any rash conclusions. Second, this matter involves a wide range of people and involves a deeply hidden force—the Night Corporation."

"The Ye Clan? Haven't they all declined?"

As a local of Night City, V was very familiar with this company.

They are the largest public procurement contractor in Night City, covering many aspects of people's livelihoods such as water, electricity, gas, education, and transportation.

Leo nodded: "They have indeed declined, which is why they are even more eager to make a triumphant return and regain control of Night City. To this end, they have done a lot of things, such as the underwater project in Coronado Bay, secretly manipulating the mayoral election, and their shares in the rail station project."

“Aren’t those just urban legends?” V tried to recall. “I remember that similar topics would pop up every year or two, but no one could provide any evidence. Soon they would lose popularity, be proven to be nonsense, or be stopped by other companies.”

"That's their cleverness. They mix truth and falsehood, and at least half of it is a smokescreen deliberately released to mislead people, but the three things I'm talking about are definitely true."

"..."

V fell silent, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

No wonder Leo was unwilling to speak openly; the waters here are too deep, involving behind-the-scenes power struggles among major companies.

Leo patted her arm and urged, "Go get ready. I'm not sure if they'll take action immediately after meeting. If they do, there might be a rather special cyberpsychotic that you'll need to deal with later."

"Leave them alive and send them to Regina?" V was already used to this procedure.

"No, this won't do..."

Leo decides to reveal some secrets to his most trusted bedmate.

“I suspect that a rogue AI has invaded her brain and is trying to resurrect her through cybernetics. This person is too dangerous and cannot be handed over to anyone else. You subdue her, and I will let Chunbai try. We'll see how it goes.”

"Okay, I'll go prepare."

"Remember to cover your face. Use the facial skin you bought last time to replace the prosthetic body. It would be best to also wear a holographic mask to hide your identity."

With physical double disguise, plus the protection provided by Pure White on the internet, V's true identity can be hidden to the maximum extent, without giving any information to the "Moon Mother" behind the Night Clan.

Half an hour later, the group arrived at Charter Street in Watson District in two unassuming family cars.

Instead of approaching the old factory, they parked on the side of the main road, pretending to be ordinary citizens enjoying the night view.

Pure White quickly took control of all the surrounding surveillance equipment and began scanning the identity information of everyone within the surveillance range.

"Pure White: No problems found yet, V. I've marked a few potential locations in your prosthetic eye. Go and scout them out. I'll need you to sneak close enough to eavesdrop on intelligence later."

There are also big companies behind the "Lizard Men," so to be on the safe side, Leo doesn't plan to use the various small devices he bought from Dogtown.

Having V wear an invisibility cloak to gather intelligence is far more effective than any electronic device.

V: I understand. I'll go check it out first. Give me directions.

With the help of Pure White, V stealthily infiltrated the old factory and quickly found the best hiding place using his intuition.

After finishing, she got out and returned to her car.

Now all that's left is to wait patiently...

While waiting, Leo, bored, turned on the car radio and switched to Shout FM.

His original intention was to listen to some music to pass the time, but he didn't expect to catch the exciting program that Asha had mentioned.

A female manager who dares to say anything is criticizing a large corporation—

[...A new day, bringing us one step closer to world war and the end of everyone. Large corporations' hovercars line up in the eastern suburbs, chasing every passing vehicle and pedestrian beyond the borders of Night City, all in an attempt to find the "truth."]

[The truth is... well, what we need now isn't the truth, but rather for the representatives of the major companies to sit down and talk, to come up with a bottom-line solution that will displease everyone, but won't trigger a war.]

[Just six years after the end of the unification war, the residents of Night City had barely caught their breath when the large corporations that "represent us" started causing trouble again. Aside from calling you stupid, I don't even know how else to curse you...]

Listening to the righteous and righteous criticism on the car radio, the listeners in the car all looked at Leo with strange eyes.

The culprit is right here, yet big companies are being made to take the blame. Nobody would believe that…

Leo, thick-skinned as ever, completely ignored their stares.

Outside the car window, the moon gradually climbed to its zenith, its soft light casting a veil over the brightly lit city that never sleeps.

The Immortal Squad's channel was filled with laughter and cheerful chatter, with a funny short video or a few cat pictures appearing every ten seconds on average, showing no signs of the tension of their mission.

Soon after, it was nearly nine o'clock.

A modified Hera family car drove from the end of the street and turned into the alley leading to the old factory.

The graffiti of the Whirlpool Gang on the car was so flamboyant that it scared several scavengers into scattering and fleeing.

"Pure White: Attention everyone, a suspicious target has been spotted approaching the designated area. V, act quickly while the chaos they've created is still ongoing."

V: Received, I'm off now.

"Leo: Stay hidden. The objective of this mission is to gather intelligence. Try not to start a fight."

V: Don't worry, I've done this job many times and I've never messed it up.

After she finished speaking in the team chat, she turned around and kissed Leo, then pushed open the car door and drove away gracefully.

Looking at her back, Leo felt how lucky he was to have a reliable teammate.

When in doubt, unleash your V!

If one isn't enough, you can add two more. In Night City, there's basically nothing you can't handle!

After V began his operation, he quickly joined the hacker network and formed a hacker team with Pure White, Sasha, and Lucy.

Everything is ready; all that's left is for the "encrypted" group to make their appearance.

Chapter 347 The Divine Decree Execution Plan: Unveiling a Corner of the Mystery of Immortality

In the dead of night,

A few searchlights lit up inside the old factory, becoming the only source of light in the area.

V silently lurked in the open-air unloading area next to the entrance, less than twenty meters away from the Vortex Gang's vehicles.

In front of her, piles of Bison brand bagged cement served as excellent cover.

Through her line of sight, Leo and the others saw five people getting out of the car—

Three men and two women, the extent of their prosthetic modifications is astonishing.

The leader was a bald, burly man with eyes flashing a blinding red light, clearly replaced with cybernetic prosthetics. His right arm was a thick hydraulic prosthetic, with exposed, gleaming circuits and wires at the joints, gleaming coldly in the night.

His exposed skin was covered with mysterious black metallic tattoos, resembling some kind of totem.

The four people following behind also had a similar cyberpunk style, with crimson, oddly shaped LED prosthetic eyes that looked like they were taken from combat robots as standard features on their faces.

Without a doubt, they are from the Vortex Gang!

And they're among the most formidable fighters in the Whirlpool Gang!

"Sasha: They're from the Vortex Gang? Are they lizardmen or some kind of encrypted, mysterious force?"

Leo: It's not certain yet, but I'm leaning toward the Lizardmen. The Vortex Gang is infamous; no one would deny they're crazy, but as for mysterious... they don't deserve that title.

"V: They've started searching and even brought out a signal jammer. They're really cautious. I'll stay out of their sight for a bit."

Leo: Be careful.

Leo habitually offered a word of advice, only to soon realize it was completely unnecessary.

With his superhuman intuition, invisibility cloak, and S.A.R.S ...

Even Sasha exclaimed, "Such perfect stealth!"

After completing the routine search and finding nothing unusual, the Vortex Gang members returned to the open area in the middle of the old factory and signaled to the "recipient".

During the brief wait, Leo's brain was working. He discovered an interesting piece of information—the bald, burly man leading the group was an "acquaintance."

Simon Landell, nicknamed Royce!

He looks somewhat human now, better than when he first appeared in the game.

This doesn't match the "plot" he saw... However, considering the difference between the game's and reality's timelines, it's not a problem that Royce, who is "still alive" at this time, is here.

The current leader of the Vortex Gang is Brick, and Royce is likely to be the second or third in command.

The presence of a gang leader of this caliber here suggests a future upheaval where the underling will rise to power and become the gang leader. It seems the Whirlpool Gang has a close relationship with the Night Clan…

Leo got another piece of the puzzle, and a certain guess in his mind became clearer.

After waiting patiently for five minutes, a plain Thrace 388 Jefferson drove up from the other side of the street and turned into the alley.

The two parties then met in an open area of ​​the old factory.

"Pure White: V, I've taken precautions for you. Scan them."

V: Received.

V, hiding behind the bunker, scanned a man and a woman getting out of the car through the gaps in the shelves.

The scan results were simultaneously transmitted to the hacker network.

[Unknown male.]

[Unknown female.]

The scan information was very brief, even excessively brief.

Leo knew in advance and was mentally prepared.