Start a Core Pod

 Chapter 787 Newcomers

The sun shines through the glass windows, illuminating the apartment in front of you.

  A new day has begun.

 “Good morning, Night City——!”

 The sound from the radio echoed in the apartment. D opened his eyes, sat up slowly and yawned. At the same time, Lumière's voice came to her ears.

 “Good morning, Your Majesty the Inquisitor.”

 “Good morning, Lumière, what’s going on?”

“There was a call from Rogge, and it seemed to be about a commission.”

 “I got it, call me back.”

"clear."

With the sound of the phone call, D stood up, changed his clothes again, then came to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at the night city. At this moment, the call was connected.

 “Morning, D, you finally woke up?”

“Going to bed early and getting up early is good for your health. What do you want from me?”

“To make a long story short, I have a commission for you, come over here and talk about it.”

 “What kind of entrustment do you have that you can’t contact directly and still require me to go to the next life?”

"In short, you will know when you come here, I will not trick you."

"All right."

 After the conversation, D hung up the phone, washed his face, turned around and left the apartment, and then drove all the way to the next life as fast as possible.

When the white sports car roared into the parking lot and then drifted to a steady stop in the parking space, everyone nearby lowered their voices involuntarily. They looked at the figure of the girl wearing a white robe and a hood as she walked out of the sports car and headed to the Afterlife Nightclub with all kinds of complicated eyes, not daring to take a breath.

 Half a month has passed since D and Rogge signed the contract. During this period of time, D became famous in the mercenary circle.

 First of all, it is quite breaking news that a native dares to go directly into the next life without bringing anything and finding a top-notch middleman. Of course, the premise is that she succeeds. If she fails, she will just become another laughing stock of the Night City underground society. But not only did she directly knock down the people in the afterlife in full view of the public, she even got the appreciation of Rogge. This It’s so enviable.

 More importantly, she is a native.

In other words, no part of this girl's body has been modified, which is quite rare in Night City. The only equipment she carries is a portable terminal that looks like it was used by humans in the medieval period, and a A pair of holographic information glasses.

 However, this person who was originally considered to be the lowest class native in Night City, has become one of the most famous mercenaries in Night City in just half a month.

Of course, it is said among mercenaries that D’s battle to become famous was her debut battle. According to rumors, Rogge wanted to try her skills at that time, so he took her to a scavenger base and asked her to She kills the leader. Everyone knows how ferocious the scavengers are. Even mercenaries are not willing to make enemies of this group of perverts who dare to make their own corpses and dig out their organs.

 But after listening to Rogge’s explanation, the girl just said, “Wait for me.”

 Then he opened the car door and walked into the base.

 A moment later, she came back with the leader's head.

And the dozens of scavengers in the entire base were also swept away by her, and they were all killed.

 The whole process takes less than five minutes.

　　No one knows how she did it. They only know that all the scavengers were cut into pieces by five horses, and not even the remains of the dead ones were left.

To be honest, as a debut story, D can indeed be called a legend.

Having said that, D is not very popular in the mercenary circle. Everyone dislikes her. This is not because she is not very approachable. It's because the existence of D itself is a mockery of them - they tried their best and gave up everything to transform their bodies, but the power they gained after transforming their bodies was far less than that of an ordinary person without any implants. So what's the point of the sacrifices they made?

In order to become stronger, he risked becoming a cybermaniac and replaced his flesh and blood with machinery, but he was still no match for the other party - well, this does make people start to doubt life.

After passing through the gate and walking down the stairs, D came to the gate of Laisheng Nightclub again - by the way, since the last incident, the number of security guards at the gate of Laisheng Nightclub has changed from one to four. After all, in D's After the story spread, there were countless idiots who wanted to learn D and become famous in the next life.

 Of course, they were all thrown out.

By the way, after the afterlife improved its security capabilities, D was also invited to conduct testing.

 The result... well, they are still a bunch of trash.

After all, even if there were a hundred more, it would be impossible to defeat her.

 Seeing D, the bodyguards stepped aside and looked at the girl in front of them as she walked into the next life with complicated expressions. The latter entered the lobby of the Afterlife Nightclub without even looking at them, and then came to his old position. And here, Rogge had been waiting for her.

 “Yo, you’re here, D.”

 “What’s going on?”

D sat opposite Rogge, stared at her dissatisfied and complained.

 “You know, I don’t like the smell of smoke, and I hate this loud music.”

Hearing D’s complaint, Roger chuckled and raised his cup.

 “Wouldn’t you like a drink? Whiskey?”

 “No, I’ll just drink soda.”

 “Really, I’m still like a child.”

“Thinking that smoking, drinking, and taking drugs makes you a mature adult is just a kid.”

　　Took the iced can of Lele Monkey, opened it, took a sip, and said.

"So in my opinion, those who are immersed in this are just children who will not grow up. They are anxious, ignorant, and lost. There is no place for them in this world, and they don't know what they should do, so they act like children. Yelling and crying like a child to vent their dissatisfaction.”

“Why, you want to change from a mercenary to a philosopher?” “It’s just a matter of feeling, don’t worry about it.”

D shook his head. From D's point of view, this city was actually no different from a nest. The commoners were struggling to survive as slaves, and the superior governor enjoyed the glory and wealth. Underneath the seemingly gorgeous nest is a place full of filth and evil shadows.

“So, why did you call me here?”

“The first is the commission...Claire Didrick, a student, is currently captured by the Whirlpool Gang. The client is her father, and I hope to rescue her as soon as possible.”

"That's it?"

D frowned as he looked at the chip coming across the table.

　　“Is this why you called me to the next life?”

“Of course it’s not just that, I also want to introduce you to a partner.”

 “Partner?”

 “That’s right.”

As he spoke, Rogge snapped his fingers, and then D saw a girl with bright white shoulder-length hair walking in. Her expression was a little nervous and a little stiff.

“Let me introduce, this is Lucy. She has just arrived in Night City and is a good hacker. For you, you also need the help of hackers, don’t you?”

 “I don’t need any hackers at all.”

D stared at the girl named Lucy, who stood there with a stiff and nervous expression.

"You should know that every mission I complete is very smooth, without triggering the alarm, and without..."

 “That’s right.”

 However, before D could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Rogge. She turned her head and stared at D.

"Yes, your missions were completed smoothly. In every mission, no alarm was triggered and no outsiders discovered it. But...this is the problem. Come and tell me, there is no implant at all. How did the native hack into the network?"

 “Don’t I have a personal terminal?”

“Just the fifty-year-old antique in your hand? Are you laughing at all the hackers in Night City?”

Rogge glanced at the personal terminal in D’s hand and snorted coldly.

"Listen, D, if you don't want to say it, then I don't want to know how you did it. People in our industry know that it's not good to know too much, but you can't stop others from thinking that way, can you? Once it causes The company's attention is another matter - think about it, when they learn that someone can hack into the network, paralyze equipment, and cut off communications without installing the original body, what do you think they will do to you?"

“No matter what they want, they must first catch me.”

 “You’re not looking down on the company, are you?”

"to be honest………"

  D put down the Coke in his hand.

“In my opinion, those capitalist lackeys pose no threat at all, so...”

 【Wait a moment, Your Majesty the Judge】

 However, just when D was about to reject Rogge's proposal, suddenly, Lumière's voice sounded in her ears.

  【If possible, please agree】

“Why? As long as you are here, I don’t need the help of other hackers.”

 Hearing Lumière’s suggestion, D raised his eyebrows slightly.

  【…I think she needs help】

　　　…?”

D tilted his head and looked at Lucy again, who was obviously uncomfortable under D's gaze. Obviously, after staying in Night City for half a month, D has a certain understanding of this city. It is an independent city and a haven for countless people who want to escape the past. In fact, most mercenaries come here, It's all to escape some dark history from the past.

This girl must have had something similar happen to her, but Lumière had never made such a request before.

　　……Just keep her.”

D sighed silently in his heart and looked at Rogge.

“Yes, I will gradually let it out and say that there is an excellent hacker behind you, so that everyone can accept it.”

"All right."

As he spoke, D picked up the chip and stood up.

 “Have you finished talking? Then let’s get to work.”

 “You are still as workaholic as ever.”

 “This is not just work for me, Roger.”

  D turned around and looked at Rogge.

 “This is a fun game.”

 Then she spoke.

 (End of this chapter)