Chapter 179

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### Safe House, Deep Dive Room

Tang Yu carried V and placed her gently on the hacker chair, adjusting her sleeping posture slightly. V lay quietly, her eyes half-closed, seemingly in a deep, sweet sleep.

Tang Yu had found V in a small plaza in Watson. She had fainted and was lying motionless on the ground. The surrounding bloodshed and V's "corpse-like" state nearly gave Tang Yu a shock, fearing that something terrible had happened to her. After a thorough examination, Tang Yu found V still had healthy vital signs, feeling relieved to take her back to the network surveillance safe house.

Lucy was on the other side tuning equipment, organizing the optical cables and interfaces, preparing for a deep dive.

"Her ICE was breached by an unknown program, but it only caused a temporary shutdown of her brain, without damaging her cyberware," Lucy assessed.

"The method seems more like a warning from the other side."

Tang Yu lifted V's hair to reveal her neural interface. "Indeed, her body has no physical injuries."

"Their method of remotely invading brain cyberware besides issuing a warning also demonstrates their hacking prowess."

Lucy's face was grim. Seeing the unconscious V reminded her of her own past experiences.

Now, V was targeted by an unknown force, facing hidden dangers with a severe lack of security. Lucy didn't know what conspiracy V was entangled in, but two consecutive serious injuries in a short period showed her terrible luck.

"This time it was just a warning; next time, it might not be so simple."

"Fortunately, we upgraded her ICE defenses earlier. The system's stability is strong. As long as we reboot her neural cyberware system, she should wake up soon."

However, Tang Yu wanted to conduct a deeper examination of V's brain before she woke up. He had previously checked V's core database with borrowed equipment but found no anomalies, only some traces in her memory storage, indicating some unknown program had infiltrated her memory but made no other actions.

"Well, it might be troublesome for you to dive into her neural system and see if there are any anomalies," Tang Yu suggested.

Lucy approached the hacker chair and handed over the interface. "Connect it," she said softly.

Tang Yu connected the interface to V's neural port, glancing at Lucy, who was stepping back into the cold water after shedding her clothes. Her originally calm face frowned slightly, enduring the bone-chilling cold.

She lay quietly in the ice pool, her slender waist clearly visible. Lucy crossed her arms over her abdomen, staring at the ceiling, whispering, "Tang, I'm ready."

Tang Yu handled V's program, then picked up the other end of the optical cable and crouched by the pool. "Two dives in one day, can you handle it?"

Lucy slowly closed her eyes, her face showing determination. Two deep dives in one day posed a significant challenge for the brain. Although the previous dive was smooth and brief, the brain's nerves would inevitably bear the heat from the vast data flow. Tang Yu was worried about Lucy's safety, but she seemed resolute.

Tang Yu gently uncovered the bandage covering her deep dive port, then smoothly inserted the optical cable interface. With a click, the connection was made. Lucy's brow furrowed, biting her lip. As the switch activated, Lucy's consciousness transformed into a data stream, entering V's neural data space. Tang Yu reached into the pool, gently holding Lucy's wrist, sending a barely visible electric arc through her synthetic skin into her brain.

Within V's ICE data space, Lucy suddenly heard Tang Yu's voice. Tang Yu was assisting Lucy through 'weak electric control.' Following his guidance, Lucy quickly decoded the ICE defense, heading towards V's core data region. V's ICE defenses were upgraded by V herself; hence, Tang Yu was very familiar with them.

With Tang Yu's help, Lucy quickly found the memory storage area. The dark space loomed with matrices of code flowing in order.

"Checking neural system—no issues."

"Checking vital signs maintenance system—no issues."

"Checking..."

Lucy carefully sifted through V's data, seeking any anomalies.

"Check the memory storage area, see if there's anything unusual with the subnet Poseidon," Tang Yu's voice echoed within Lucy's mind. She swiftly switched to the memory storage, scouring the contents. Lucy glimpsed numerous detailed memory snippets of V's life: street fights, long-term skirmishes, and recently losing an arm to Adam Smasher. One scene caught her attention—a record from V's cybernetic eye, showing V in a shy posture, nestled against a man. The fleeting scene seemed familiar, but Lucy dismissed it due to its irrelevance.

Soon, Lucy's search revealed something alarming: a massive blob of data in V's brain, autonomous and absorbing surrounding data like a giant swarm of bees.

Curious, Lucy attempted to analyze the data, realizing it was the subnet Poseidon. The damaged Poseidon data copied into V's brain had regained life, using V's cyberware to repair itself.

As the data formed a humanlike silhouette resembling V, Lucy knew the situation was dire.

She initiated a cleanup program to erase the data. The Vooodoo Boys had fallen, and the damaged Poseidon data was now Arasaka's. The data in V's brain was no longer needed.

However, the cleanup programs were absorbed by the Poseidon data, disappearing silently.

Clearly, the Poseidon data had advanced, autonomously defending itself, even forming a humanlike shape resembling V. This situation was unprecedented for Lucy, and she found it increasingly challenging.

The data acted like a parasite in V's brain. Although currently harmless, it posed future threats.

As she prepared stronger programs, the Poseidon data attacked, trapping her in a data cage.

Unwilling to harm V's brain, Lucy found herself captured, the cage dragging her towards the Poseidon data, seemingly to assimilate her.

Lucy broke the cage with all her might, dashing away, but the Poseidon data ensnared her legs, disabling her transfer programs.

Facing a powerful foundational algorithm, Lucy couldn't freely destroy it without risking V's brain.

Just as she was losing hope, an electric arc emerged, burning the data chains. The arc encased Lucy, defending against the Poseidon data, ensuring her escape.

Seizing the chance, Lucy ended the deep dive, returning to reality with a gasp, coughing violently. Tang Yu quickly wrapped her in a blanket, helping her out of the ice pool.

Lucy, weak and trembling, almost stumbled but held the wall for support, trying to calm her ragged breaths and racing heart.

After two consecutive high-intensity deep dives and fierce confrontations with the ICE, her brain was overloaded, causing her extreme headaches and a look of suffering on her face. 

Tang Yu knew this was a post-deep dive syndrome for netrunners. Other than letting the brain recover naturally, there was no better solution. 

Lucy, with a blanket draped over her shoulders, had water droplets trickling down her smooth skin and vapor rising from her head. Her headache slightly eased, she turned to look at V, who was lying on the netrunner chair, and said softly, "Something is wrong with the Subnet Neptune in her brain. It's come alive..."

The Subnet Neptune came alive? Tang Yu also felt a bit surprised. He had suspected this before, but when he did the check-ups on V, he hadn't found any signs. This meant the Subnet Neptune hid very well, disguising itself completely. The intrusion records they obtained earlier likely noted the Subnet Neptune's state, hence why they waited for the right opportunity. 

"How are you holding up? Can you manage?" 

Lucy said in a low voice, "I'm fine, but look at her first; this problem is not easy to solve." 

She had just tried her best to get rid of the Subnet Neptune but failed. Tang Yu nodded, realizing that with the current technological means, it couldn't be resolved immediately. 

"We'll need to find another way. This isn't something that deep diving can solve. Let her wake up first."

Lucy nodded with difficulty. But she was so weakened that even standing was hard for her, let alone squatting to pick up her clothes. She tried to squat and reach for her clothes, but her hands and legs trembled uncontrollably, not following her brain's commands.

"Damn it..." The recent deep dive had pushed her neural pressure to the limit, requiring at least some time to recover. 

Tang Yu saw her struggle and picked up her clothes one by one, dusting them off before hanging them neatly on his arm. He walked over to Lucy and said candidly, "Let me help you get dressed."

His expression was calm, as if he saw nothing wrong with it. He remembered his own deep dives as a hacker, often leaving him stark naked. Once in cyberspace, after a fierce battle with the Arasaka hacker group, he expended so much energy that he was nearly catatonic when he returned to reality. Others helped clean him up and dress him like he was a vegetable, lying around for days before he could muster the energy to move. Compared to his past embarrassments, Lucy was still more composed.

Seeing Tang Yu's actions, Lucy's face showed a mix of shame and anger, her neon eyes glaring coldly at him. 

After a moment, Lucy closed her eyes slowly and said, "Pull the curtain..." 

Tang Yu thought there was no one else around, V was still unconscious, pulling the curtain seemed unnecessary. But considering Lucy's sensitive pride, Tang Yu followed her request, drawing the curtain to shield V on the netrunner chair.

Not long after, Tang Yu carried Lucy out from behind the curtain. Lucy glanced at V and said, "Put me outside, then take her away." 

Tang Yu worried that leaving the weakened Lucy alone in the safe house was inappropriate and kindly suggested, "I'll take you home." 

Lucy tried to clench her fists, but her fingers were too weak to close. She looked coldly at Tang Yu and asked, "Do you think there's enough room in that car?" 

Tang Yu realized her concern. "No worries, I have a backup luxury sedan."

Five minutes later, a high-end Arasaka executive sedan was smoothly driving towards Westbrook's Sakura Street. 

In the car, Tang Yu leaned back against the soft leather seat, facing two women, each wearing a seatbelt. One was V, sleeping soundly with her head tilted, oblivious to everything. The other was Lucy, sitting stiffly with eyes closed, a mix of coldness and shame between her brows.

Tang Yu looked at the two women, both worn out on the same day, finding it a bit coincidental. All these events were tied to him. If he hadn't sent V to steal the Voodoo Boys' Subnet Neptune data, she wouldn't have a data tumor in her brain. If he hadn't asked Lucy to deep dive into V's brain, she wouldn't have become so exhausted and endangered. Trying to hide his guilt, he asked Lucy seriously, "Feeling better now?"

Lucy didn't open her eyes, clearly still brooding over earlier events, and retorted, "What do you think?" 

Tang Yu didn't mind her tone, continuing, "You might need to rest for a while. If there's anything urgent, I can get someone else to handle it." 

Lucy didn't refuse, "Thanks, you're thoughtful."

The car fell silent again. Suddenly, Lucy thought of something and asked, "Does she know your secret?"

Tang Yu immediately understood that Lucy was referring to his mysterious powers. He had no implants yet could control weak points precisely, manipulate cyberware, and even transmit data and energy in cyberspace.

"Only you know." Tang Yu replied calmly.

Lucy remembered the shock she felt seeing his amazing abilities during that night run, truly incredible. She had privately pondered this matter many times but never asked Tang Yu about it. These secrets belonged to Tang Yu alone, not needing a second person to know, yet Tang Yu chose to tell her.

Lucy opened her icy blue eyes, this time looking at Tang Yu with a soft glow in her neon pupils. "You're very special, almost like you don't belong to this world."

Tang Yu's eyes flickered slightly, surprised by the silver-haired girl's sharp intuition. He gazed out the car window, feeling somewhat sentimental, much like when he first returned to Night City. 

"If this city were to be destroyed one day, with everyone around you gone, given another chance, would you choose this same path?" 

Lucy's pupils shrank at Tang Yu's question, feeling unusually perplexed. She thought deeply but couldn't help her gaze settling on Tang Yu's face. After a long silence, she murmured, "I... I don't know." 

Tang Yu chuckled, his laugh filled with a touch of helplessness. "Actually, I don't know either... Once, we raised torches, burning this world with our anger. But now, I'm not so sure. Innate abilities are powerful, but the price of using them is something I'm reluctant to pay. Sometimes, I'd rather never use these powers at all, at least that means everything is going well for the time being."

Lucy's eyes softened, thinking about how Tang Yu had used his mysterious powers multiple times, always to save the day, or rather, to save her. Now with V in danger, she knew Tang Yu would do whatever it took to save her. Because Lucy knew that the chest in V's memory was Tang Yu's. V must be very special to him, despite how they currently seemed like mere acquaintances.

Feeling conflicted, Lucy decided not to dwell on or guess these things any further. "What do you plan to do about V?" She shifted the topic away from Tang Yu's secrets.

Tang Yu glanced at the sleeping V, knowing her strong constitution and nerves of steel meant she'd be fine for the moment.

"Wait for the right time. Even I can't solve the trouble in her brain right now. We might need help, or maybe someday I'll be able to handle it myself." 

Lucy recalled the powerful figure beyond the Blackwall in cyberspace, Alt Cunningham. If she intervened, the Subnet Neptune in V's brain wouldn't be a big problem. But as the Voodoo Boys' tool, handing the Subnet Neptune to the AI beyond the Blackwall would cause immense risk. 

Though Lucy wasn't genuinely committed to her netwatch work, she knew from her agent role more about cyberspace. The AI beyond the Blackwall were not only growing wildly and attacking hackers attempting to cross into the old net. They also had intentions to break through the Blackwall into human cyberspace, eventually infiltrating the physical world. Preventing AI invasion was netwatch's primary duty. And the Subnet Neptune was just the crucial tool the AI needed, posing untold dangers if it fell into their hands.

After a while, the vehicle arrived at its destination. Tang Yu, knowing where Lucy lived, leaned forward and undid her seatbelt, ready to help her upstairs. But Lucy stopped him, "Wait, take V up first. I'll give you the access authorization."

Lucy's cyber-eye lens moved, transferring the access authorization system to Tang Yu. He found it odd to send V upstairs out of the blue since he planned to take her back to his apartment and supervise her, preventing any trouble. 

"She'll be safer with me. Netwatch's network security is much tighter. Plus, I can upgrade her ICE defenses and restrain the Subnet Neptune in her brain. Netwatch has a more advanced version."

Seeing Lucy serious, Tang Yu thought, in terms of ICE software, netwatch's system was indeed more reliable than Arasaka's. Besides, he needed to head back to Arasaka Tower to deal with some matters, making it inconvenient to keep V by his side. Locking her in his apartment wasn't an option; she'd probably jump out of the window.

After some thought, Tang Yu agreed. Opening the car door, he carried the unconscious V upstairs to Lucy's apartment. 

Returning, he found Lucy already straining, weakly holding onto the car door, trying to get home on her own. Without further ado, Tang Yu scooped her up and brought her upstairs. After settling them in, he turned and left, heading straight to Arasaka Tower to prepare for the next phase of his plan.