"150k eurodollars, that’s a lot of bounty. In your line of work this should already count as top-tier, right?"

Lin Miao grabbed a handful of peanuts from the table, watching V slumped on the sofa as he ate and grinned.

"With your status, taking a gig of this level isn’t exactly beneath you."

"Enough already, can’t you see I’ve got a headache? Quit sitting there talking shit."

V propped her legs up on the coffee table, tapping away like she was at home, completely relaxed.

"If it were before, I’d never have taken a job where you can see the problem at a glance."

Lin Miao straightened the files in his hand and snorted.

"Huang Ban Lai Xuan hasn’t even arrived in Night City yet and someone already knows he’s bringing a biochip, plus they want you to sneak into the top floor of Ganbi Mansion. The minute you’re found out, Huang Ban will have you wanted across the whole city and they won’t stop until you’re dead... No matter how you look at it, this isn’t the kind of gig a third-rate clown like Dexter should be able to land. Most likely it’s to make it easier to dispose of you afterward. All poor bastards in this game, huh.

As for the chip, it’s probably a relic. The only high-end biochip Huang Ban has is that one. Custom-ordering one on the market is at least 1.5 million eurodollars, and you still have to pay 100k a year in maintenance. But that thing only works for the person it’s tuned for; in anyone else’s hands it’s basically useless. And why would Huang Ban Lai Xuan have something like that? Don’t tell me it’s Huang Banjing’s personal chip? Missing his big brother that much?"

Lin Miao smacked his lips, knowing this time the trouble was on a whole different level.

relic

It’s said it can copy a dying person’s soul 1:1 onto the chip and turn it into a digital program. But the flaw is obvious—at the end of the day it’s just a program with a database. You ask, it answers. Maybe every gesture and expression is no different from when they were alive, but fake is fake. Once you go beyond its response range it can only spit out some vague, equivocal crap.

After wandering around Cyberspace long enough, Lin Miao knew what was really behind that thing.

The legendary top-tier Demonic Puppet by Otto Cunningham, a knockoff of Soul Killer, something that can erase human consciousness and datafy it.

But is the chip itself worth much?

Not really. What’s expensive is the tech. It’s just a program, not an AI. Huang Ban can ctrl+C+V it as much as they want; they can copy the same chip program however many times.

So the problem should be with the chip itself.

"And... someone sent him specifically to find you, V. They called you out by name, wanted you on this gig. Afraid you wouldn’t take it, they even went to the Wild Wolf Bar to find Jack and dug up everything on you."

Behind Dexter, Lin Miao could smell something off.

"Well? Want to go hide out in Cuba for a while? If I say the word, those things probably won’t dare touch you."

V shook her head, a hint of helplessness at the corner of her lips, like a desperate outlaw standing at the edge of a cliff, fully aware one more step means death, but still having to jump.

"Forget it. I can’t afford to owe you that kind of favor. I’m scared if I owe you once I’ll never pay it off in this life. Besides, they won’t let me go. Maybe this is just the price.

I came to you because I want to borrow a couple people. T-BUG’s tech is good, but getting through Ganbi Mansion in one piece—she’s not enough alone, so I need a top-tier hacker.

And help me find someone who moves quiet. Jack and I aren’t exactly built for subtle."

V knew Lin Miao had folded the Voodoo Gang under him. Placid and Slidebar were both working for him, and behind them there was a hacker powerhouse like Lucy. All elite, all sharp.

She also knew Lin Miao was right in the middle of a critical war with Cuba. Every resource was extremely precious. Fishing V out of this mess would take a lot of effort, might even affect the front-line situation. No need to make him pay that price.

Follow the path laid out by the other side; it might not necessarily end in death.

"Forget T-BUG. Don’t use Dexter’s people. I’ll set you up on the hacker end. As for someone who moves quiet..."

Lin Miao hesitated. The ones who made the least noise had all gone to Cuba and definitely couldn’t be recalled. The only high-level Stealth Department player he still had in Night City was...

[Assassin Can’t Possibly Be Brother Ni]

But that bastard had nothing to do with the words "low profile." Every stealth op he took turned into a bloodbath with heads rolling. Besides Lin Miao, nobody in Night City dared assign him a job.

Lin Miao could only bite the bullet and toss his file over to V.

"He’s all that’s left. The others don’t have the skill. You decide. If it doesn’t work... I’ll personally make a run for you, lure Lai Xuan out himself so it’s easier for you to work."

"Let’s not. I can’t afford to hire the boss of Horizon Corporation. If I hand you the whole 150k I’d be busting my ass for free."

V had no intention of cashing in a favor from Lin Miao over this.

"It’s no trouble." Lin Miao smiled.

"Because I also want to see what’s in that chip, and what the thing is that has people pulling so many strings to get their hands on it."

"Ugh... if I’d known, I wouldn’t have come to you."

"You’re here already."

"I gotta remind you, something’s off on the streets in Night City lately."

"I know."

"You know and you’re not doing anything?"

Lin Miao stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked out at the distant, barely visible massive Four-handed Divine Statue.

"Until they finish what they’re here for, there’s nothing I can do. Too many eyes on me—if we start a fight now, nobody’s walking it back."

"Cultists... heh, who even knows who’s more ’cult’ at this point?"

He stretched his hand out the window. A strong wind blew past, taking the red skins of the peanuts from his palm and carrying them away, drifting through the air,

swaying gently until they landed on the awning of a food stall on Republic East Road.

An East Asian guy wearing little sunglasses sat on a stool, with a plate in front of him holding a few skewers of grilled yakitori dusted with chili powder.