A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1151 - Chapter 1151 Chapter 789 Partner_2

Chapter 1151: Chapter 789 Partner_2 Chapter 1151: Chapter 789 Partner_2 “Of course, I figured you might have guessed it, Logue introduced you to me probably to have you take bullets for me,” Ann said. “My reputation in Night City isn’t exactly stellar, and there are quite a few with a bone to pick with me. Since they can’t take me down, they might come after you instead. Plus, hackers need plenty of money to update their gear, right? I don’t need it anyway, so it’s all yours.”

“Uh……..”

Hearing D’s response, Lucy’s expression turned awkward. In fact, just as D had said, most people in this world spent their money on cybernetic enhancements: buying them, repairing them, updating their systems–it seemed to D that the bulk of the commoners were just looking for trouble. If you used your own arms and legs, you might get injured, but at least you didn’t need to update any software.

Imagine, in the middle of using them, suddenly a blue screen pops up followed by an “Update downloaded, please restart to upgrade” message… now that would be hilarious.

Of course, that didn’t mean D didn’t need money. In this world, he mostly spent his money on cars, houses, and food.

Yes, food.

The one thing that really irked D in this world was the food. Normal folks could only eat synthetic bio-edibles, whether it was beef, chicken, lamb, pork, or anything else–it was almost all just “science and hard work” combined. As for real organic food, only the rich could afford it.

D had once curiously tried a street vendor’s grilled chicken skewer. The taste was truly… even the mock meat spicy strips sold at the elementary school’s grocery store tasted better.

But real organic food was high-end merchandise, forcing D to dine in upscale restaurants every day, and naturally, most of his earnings went into this.

The synthetic stuff was just not fit for human consumption.

At least D couldn’t stand it.

“There’s one more thing.”

“What?”

“Girls shouldn’t smoke.”

As he spoke, D glanced at the cigarette in Lucy’s hand.

“It’s bad for your health.”

“…… You’re not my mom……”

Lucy rolled her eyes helplessly and snuffed out the cigarette in her hand. Seeing this, D nodded with satisfaction.

“Do you need me to take you home?”

“No, thanks! I’ve got things to do!”

Hearing D’s offer, Lucy quickly backed away, vigorously shaking her head.

“Alright then, I’m off.”

D waved and got back into the sports car. The next moment, the roar of the engine sounded as the white sports car sped off like an exuberant husky.

“Huh……”

Watching D leave, Lucy finally let out a sigh of relief. She touched her stomach and went to a nearby restaurant, then ordered a serving of food. But when the steaming hot tomato soup arrived, before Lucy could even take a spoonful to taste, her mind involuntarily recalled the mangled corpses that D had pummeled earlier…

At that moment, Lucy lost all appetite.

Over the following period, D and Lucy officially became partners and completed quite a few missions. To D, Lucy’s level of skill was fairly commendable. After all, D’s requirements weren’t high–she just had to cut off surveillance and communication and lock down all the entrances and exits. The rest was not her worry; any hacker worth their salt could manage it.

But for Lucy… her feelings were somewhat complicated.

On the one hand, the compensation for cooperating with D was indeed high, as the missions Logue provided were lucrative. Of course, generally, the more rewarding the mission, the higher the risk involved, but most of these risks were shouldered by D alone, and Lucy hardly had to do anything special, rarely encountering danger.

On the other hand, D’s ferocious way of fighting was honestly a bit frightening to Lucy.

She had seen her share of bloody battlefields, but D’s combat tactics… how should she put it? They seemed extraordinary to Lucy.

Truth be told, it wasn’t surprising to see someone beaten into a bloody pulp, for instance, with a shotgun or a hand cannon, where one shot could splatter flesh and break a body into several pieces; that was understandable. The sheer power of shotguns and hand cannons, just like landmine explosions, automated turrets, or heavy machine guns, was evident.

However, witnessing D’s small fist hammer into someone’s skull and punch right through was a shock of a different sort.

Beyond that, Lucy had noticed that D seemed to really enjoy taking on missions.

Whenever Logue or any other intermediary called to offer her a job, she almost always accepted immediately, without bargaining or caring about the danger. D had even told Lucy that taking on a commission felt like the start of a game and that completing it was like beating the whole game, which was naturally quite fun.

Even so, D had her principles, and that was to never accept corporate missions, be it military tech or Arasaka, or any other big biotech companies. She wouldn’t give them the time of day, even if they specifically requested her, rejecting them outright without giving them any face.

“She’s bound to get into trouble sooner or later.”

Logue once witnessed a corporate client leave in a huff, his face the color of iron, and he mentioned this to Lucy in a lowered voice. Lucy agreed with him. Although everyone hated the corporations, they knew that in Night City, it was these corporations that truly ruled, and to anger them meant no good days ahead.

Lucy had her own sources of information, and she knew that as D’s reputation grew, she had begun to attract the attention of those big corporations. There were also rumors that these corporations wanted to co-opt D, to turn her into their own “Adam Smasher”… This could be considered the highest praise for a mercenary in Night City.

And now, around D, Arasaka, military tech, biotech, and companies like Kontau had already started their overt and covert struggles, all hoping to lure her to join them. After all, this girl was so strong even without implants, one could only imagine how powerful she might become once equipped with military-grade cyberware.

It was because Arasaka had Adam Smasher that they could reign supreme in Night City, and naturally, other companies wanted their own “Adam Smasher” to compete with Arasaka.

As it stood, D was the closest to that level.

Any other mercenary, even if not choosing Arasaka, would have accepted the olive branches extended by these large corporations, but D simply didn’t care and refused them all. And Lucy knew how dangerous this was–if D managed to offend all the corporations in Night City, there would only be one outcome for her.

Lucy was well aware of these corporations’ thinking: if she couldn’t be of use to them, then she needed to be destroyed.

That was also why the legends of Night City always fell.

They may have lived legendary lives, but… they were ultimately no match for the corporations.

Would D be an exception?

Honestly, Lucy didn’t know.

But to tell the truth, D didn’t care either.

Because for D, there were more important things to do right now.

“You know? I’ve always kind of wanted to experience this world.”

Sitting by the window, looking at the rain outside, D suddenly said.

And on the terminal in front of D, Lumiaire displayed a “question mark”.

“Look, it’s a kind of romance, the neon lights beneath the rain curtain, showing the decadence and corruption of post-modernism, in a rundown office, a detective sitting in his chair smoking, perhaps at some point, someone will knock on his door, a mysterious client will walk in and start a whole new story…”

D spread her hands.

“Being a detective is actually pretty interesting, of course, only in terms of fun and storytelling. Unfortunately, what we have to do isn’t that entertaining.”

While speaking, D hummed lightly, gazing at the terminal screen.

“How much longer?”

“The data collected is only up to eighty percent, it’s going to take a bit more time.”

“Then continue. I’m not interested in becoming a legend of Night City.”

D looked up, peering through the rain at the silhouette of Arasaka Tower, and then stretched out her hand, gripping tightly.

“I want to be… the King of Night City.”