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

"I know, it's because my stock is too low-end, which limits your choices. Otherwise, you could just go for the latest Model 5, right?"

"That's not the case, I don't have that much money."

Leo felt that Old Wei's stereotype of him as a "rich person" was a bit too deep. He actually only had 20 in his account. It was hard to say whether he would have enough to buy a prosthetic body, rent an apartment, and pay for the tuition at Arasaka Academy.

While he was lost in thought, Old Wei had already prepared for the surgery, standing beside him with a surgical tranquilizer gun in hand. "Ready? We can begin."

"Ah."

Leo took a couple of deep breaths, shifting his gaze to the side, not daring to look at the operating room lights.

"Take a deep breath and relax..."

I felt a slight pain in my neck and heard the distinctive sound of a pneumatic syringe squeezing air.

Then his consciousness gradually faded away.

……

dark.

Silent darkness.

Comfortable darkness.

Since arriving in Gotham, he hasn't had much rest; he dared not sleep soundly when he was with that group of thugs.

This was the first time he had experienced deep sleep in nearly 30 hours.

After an unknown amount of time, Leo felt as if someone was shaking his body.

"Wake up... Le... Ao..."

"Leo... wake up."

"Leo—"

Leo opened his eyes to the sound of being called, almost bursting into a fit of morning grumpiness.

Can you imagine the feeling of being woken up in the middle of the night after finally falling asleep, having not slept for a day and a night?

But after he saw the scene around him and the concerned old man, he quickly composed himself: this was Night City, no longer the prosperous world he and Apple once knew.

If it hadn't been Old Wei who had the surgery, he would probably have been split into many parts and enjoying his retirement in different places...

"The surgery... is it complete?"

His mouth felt a little bitter and numb, making it difficult for him to speak clearly.

Old Wei checked his physical data: "It's basically done, right? How do you feel about your new eyes?"

"Huh...? Is it already changed?"

Leo blinked, carefully sensing the inside of his eyelids, and then confirmed that he had been fitted with mechanical eyes.

"It feels about the same as before, everything is very clear."

“That’s because your eyesight was already good, and I haven’t activated the auxiliary functions of your prosthetic eye yet.” Old Wei sat back in his chair and started manipulating the data panel. “Now that you’re awake, we can load the system and display the prosthetic data on your cornea.”

"Don't rush, we'll take it one step at a time. I'll guide you through the initialization process."

Old Wei's fingers tapped the screen incessantly, making a soft, rhythmic sound that gave Leo an indescribable sense of peace.

He was certain once again that finding Old V was indeed the wisest decision he had made upon arriving in Night City.

Cyber's real father truly lives up to his name!

Nobody: Chapter Twelve Once a Cyberman, Always a Cyberman!

"Come on, connect your biosignals and try it out in person. It's faster than just giving you a verbal instruction."

Old Wei handed over a data cable with a rounded tip, the other end of which was connected to the control panel of the operating table.

Data cable...?

Leo blinked twice, then took it but didn't know how to use it.

"If you install biomonitoring, an additional interface will appear below the neural port, allowing instruments and other people to detect your biosignals."

Seeing that he still didn't understand, Old Wei gently tapped his forehead. "Oh, my fault. You used to be a natural person and never used these things before."

He pushed the control panel to Leo's right and quickly operated it a few times.

Next second,

Leo's vision blurred for a moment, as if there was a slight frame drop.

Fortunately, I recovered quickly.

The view was split in two, like a split screen on a computer, giving me an additional perspective from the right.

From this angle, you can see his profile perfectly.

I have to say, he's kind of handsome!

He tilted his head and saw the rear camera on the control panel, experiencing a fun feeling similar to taking a selfie with a phone. The difference was that his own eyes were the display screen.

Old Vie smiled gently: "Til your head and look behind your right ear."

Leo did as instructed.

Behind his right ear were two... uh, metal connectors. The top one looked a bit like a USB connector, which he knew was for inserting chips. Below that was a larger cross-shaped connector with metal plates around the edges and a circular groove in the center; this was probably the so-called biosignal interface.

Old Wei's explanation followed immediately: "The top one is the neural port, used to connect to the chip. The bottom one is the biosignal port, I won't explain it a second time."

"bring it on."

As he spoke, he handed over the data cable.

Without turning around, Leo accurately caught the data cable through the split-screen view and plugged it into his own port.

Just before he was about to insert it, he hesitated for a moment: "Old Wei... this won't hurt, will it?"

"Hehe, as long as your port isn't leaking electricity, you won't feel anything. You have to trust in technological progress, young man."

"Row……"

Leo resignedly pressed it in.

There was a click.

The data cable was connected to his head.

"This feels so strange, like I've turned into a robot..."

"You'll get used to it. In a few decades, babies might be born with prosthetic bodies."

Old Wei chatted with him while skillfully operating the device.

"Get ready, the data is coming."

Leo took a deep breath, and pop-up windows appeared in an orderly fashion before his eyes.

【C-Scanning Technology】

[Configuring the system...55%]

[Checking neural grid data.]

Downloading host data.

[Installing the transmission controller.]

[Updating version...]

"Holy crap... Old Wei, I feel like I'm not a robot, but a computer mainframe."

"Hehe, keep watching, be patient."

[Loading the Crossroads Bureau UI...]

"The prosthetic eye is connecting to the operating system and needs to be restarted. It may feel a little uncomfortable at first. Blurred vision, inability to distinguish colors, and frame skipping are all normal phenomena, so don't worry."

After undergoing a reactivation, Leo's prosthetic eye quickly returned to normal.

No, to be precise, he could see it much more clearly, even the information about the boxing trophy on the table in the distance.

"Awesome, Old Wei!"

"uh-huh."

"I……"

Before I could finish speaking, new data appeared.

This time it's in the top left corner, it's the operating system analysis report.

Basic system diagnostics...all normal.

[Various statistics... I don't understand them, but they seem to make sense.]

[Biomonitoring...functioning well, excellent health status, mild hunger, mild fatigue. Please eat and rest as soon as possible.]

There was no more data after that, and the field of vision became clear again.

Old Wei said, "Every time you wake up from sleep, the operating system will quickly scan you and generate these reports. If there are any abnormalities in the diagnosis, you should be more vigilant."

"Also, given that you've never used a prosthetic body before, I must remind you—absolutely—I mean absolutely—not to randomly insert chips into the interfaces, and not to easily connect to unfamiliar devices or people."

"If you get a virus, or worse—get hacked, then you'll be in big trouble."

“I understand… Although I haven’t used it myself, I’ve seen others use it, so I have some common sense.” Leo thanked him for his kindness.

"That would be best. Now there are two more things to learn: how to use the prosthetic eye for scanning and how to control the operating system with brainwaves."

Under Old Wei's earnest tutelage, Leo quickly learned to scan with his prosthetic eye. Unfortunately, it didn't have the time-slowing effect of the game, so he had to be extra careful when using it in battle.

"The MKIII is considered quite high-end among civilian scanners. It supports 6x optical zoom and comes with a built-in external lens jammer. To put it bluntly, any surveillance camera that tries to capture your face will produce a blurry image. However, your body will still be visible."

Upon hearing this, Leo's first reaction was—Batman definitely wouldn't like this effect!

External camera jammer, specifically designed to counter Batman's penchant for installing surveillance cameras everywhere!

Next time we meet... damn, he really doesn't want to see Batman. He shouldn't have made that careless remark last time, revealing his identity...

His inner turmoil was written all over his face, which was then misinterpreted by Old Wei.

"Don't worry, the scanner and other prosthetics aren't very sensitive at first, which is normal. As they adapt to each other, the prosthetics will eventually synchronize with your thought process and understand your intentions."

"Mechanical ascension... I understand, old Viktor."

"I still advise you to act within your means. The more cybernetic devices you install, the more likely you are to develop cyberpsychosis. This is not a problem that money can solve; on the contrary... the more advanced the cybernetic device, the more dangerous it is."

"So you're not getting a prosthetic body?"

"That's part of the reason. Alright, the surgery is complete. Your physical potential is very high; you haven't had any adverse reactions to this prosthetic, which is truly enviable."

Now you need to connect to Night City's internet. Almost everyone's online, otherwise it's inconvenient to get anything done.

With Old Wei's guidance, Leo successfully connected to the internet and became a formal cybernetic user.

Product serial number...verified successfully.

[Personal information...verified successfully.]

Access restrictions lifted; network access is now permitted.

Welcome to Night City Network! Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio, wishing you a pleasant day!

Leo immediately logged into his personal bank account and saw the 21 euros in deposits.

Ah~~

finally--

He escaped the bizarre state of being both heavily indebted and penniless, and became an ordinary person with some assets.

"Old Wei, the bill's ready, I've got money again!"

"Hehe, it's rare to see a customer as eager to pay as you living in the Watson area." Old Wei didn't refuse and listed the charges on the control panel. "Wait a moment."

Unknown Soldier: Chapter Thirteen Jack Wells

Before long, Leo's first list of charges for prosthetic body modification was released.