Chapter 36

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Watson's Little China.

Vik's Ripperdoc Clinic.

Under Vik's guidance, Tang Yu quickly scanned and logged his personal biometric info while also logging into the company's identity verification system, initiating the use of his "Dragon Fist" smart glasses.

**Tang Yu**

**Date and Time: 2076/6/16; 15:32**

**Employee Number: NC770416**

...

**Message Alert: You have thirteen unread work emails // Biometric Monitoring reminds you of your psychological counseling this week...**

**Vital Signs: The Trauma Team Medical Center reminds you that you are due for full body cyberware implant adaptation...**

The "Dragon Fist" glasses are equipped with scanning, brain-computer interfacing, external camera jammers, and even some functionalities for remote hacking.

Vik, with his rich, magnetic, smoky voice, added: "I even left a backdoor in 'Dragon Fist', peeked into the NCPD's personal records database. Can't say I'm unfamiliar with a few punks, it's nice to know they've got some skills."

Tang Yu, while adjusting the glasses, said to Vik: "Viktor, has the company been in touch with you again lately? Your skill is so real, you could at least be a tech R&D director."

Vik returned to his desk and glanced at the boxing match on his screen, saying with a hint of resignation: "Heh, it's all the same. At least the company has learned to keep a distance now. Nowadays everyone's sporting the most flashy implants on the street; they don't care much about actual performance anymore."

Hearing that Vik's work and life were going well, Tang Yu felt that Vik lived with a certain steady happiness.

He finally asked, "Viktor, how much did these glasses cost you? Tell me straight, I'm not short on money now."

Vik, unbothered, watched the boxing match and replied: "All together, the cyberware and electronic components I took apart came to about sixty thousand euro-dollars."

Hearing the price, even Jackie was shocked. Just the assembly components were worth sixty thousand euro-dollars, not to mention Vik's labor and technological expertise. The glasses' price must have easily exceeded one hundred thousand by now.

But these smart glasses weren't widely used—the vast majority of people would undergo cybernetic conversion once they reached the appropriate age.

Jackie joked: "Viktor, your little gold mine is all from betting on boxing, right?"

Knowing the price, Tang Yu understood this was Vik's heartfelt goodwill—the smart glasses were custom made for him by Vik, so from the start, he never thought about the cost, just about making the glasses as optimal, best, and most convenient as possible.

"Viktor, this gift, I feel it can't be repaid with money. How about I take full care of you in your later years? I truly recognize you as a big brother."

Tang Yu immediately started the electronic transfer through his "Dragon Fist," preparing to send Vik one hundred thousand euro-dollars.

This money was what he had saved over the years working at the Arasaka, plus some earlier savings, but to take out one hundred thousand euro-dollars at once was quite a squeeze.

Unexpectedly, Vik outright refused, instead comforting Tang Yu: "Don't rush to pay me back now. The money earned in the company is hard-earned. When you make it big, don't forget your old pal. No matter what, just make sure to come back alive."

With that said.

Tang Yu didn't insist on formalities with Vik anymore, deciding to finish his beer then set off with Jackie.

The three clinked glasses one more time, then downed their drinks in one go.

Tang Yu didn't want to distract Vik any further from his boxing world.

Vik was a man not easily open to others, always seemed the same—sitting at the table watching boxing.

When Tang Yu first met him, Vik seemed reserved, but after spending time together, he appreciated Vik's good nature, like the dependable older brother, always waiting for him in a safe harbor, out of reach from the storm.

Tang Yu stopped at the clinic's gate, turned, and said his farewell.

"Viktor, it's great having you around."

Vik kept his eyes on the screen, waved them off, indicating they should go without lingering.

Jackie, eager to leave, said: "Don't worry Vik, I haven't had enough of betting on boxing with you. Last time I lost, next time I'm gonna win it back."

With that.

They said goodbye to Vik, left the underground ripperdoc clinic, and made their way back to Misty's esoteric shop on the first floor.

Jackie wanted to say another goodbye to Misty.To avoid being a third wheel, Tang Yu decided to return to the rooftop balcony to access the hovership.

Once again on the familiar balcony, Tang Yu seemed to see Johnny still sitting on the edge, nagging him about his last life choices. Tang Yu, while making his final decision, had called many familiar friends from this very balcony.

Now, he was moved by the memories, and Tang Yu, who never smoked, couldn't help but mimic the gesture between his fingers.

"It seems what I really want to smoke is not a cigarette..."

After musing for a bit, Jackie returned to the balcony with great strides, excitedly saying, "Let's get ready to go, I believe we will surely get good results today. Just now, Misty gave me a Tarot card of luck and hinted that my future would undergo unimaginable changes today."

"Of course, they'll be good changes!" Tang Yu responded with a smile and a silent blessing in his heart.

"We all know Misty's fortune-telling is super accurate!"

"So this time we're definitely winning the future!"

"Jackie, let's roll."

The hovership started up again and rose gently from the open-air balcony, flying towards the industrial district even further north of Watson.

Tang Yu parked the hovership on an abandoned public space. From there, they would walk to the deserted steel factory in the old Watson industrial district, which would take about half an hour by foot while the hovership could make it in a mere five minutes.

Since that meeting at Lucy's place with Maine and the others, Tang Yu had not been in touch. If it wasn't for the targeted probing of the company, it would have been difficult to uncover any connection between Tang Yu and Maine.

Therefore.

Tang Yu had taken out nearly every insurance policy for this op because no mission could ever guarantee a hundred percent success rate.

The two of them got off the hovership and walked side by side towards their destination. Due to the pollution from the once-heavy industrial production, buildings on both sides of the street were mostly greyed out.

The walls of the abandoned factory were covered with cracks from the ravages of time, with colorful, bizarre graffiti filling every open space along the street.

Among many street arts, one symbol appeared most frequently: a blood-red skull spider.

The spider in the graffiti was white, with a skull featuring five empty eye sockets weeping blood, and six black, sharp, mechanical spider legs.

Merely glancing at the blood-red skull spider, one felt it symbolized brutality, violence, and eeriness.

And the gang known as the Maelstrom, symbolized by the blood-red skull spider, were exactly that kind of gang—driven mad by their extreme cybernetic modifications and violence.

Upon seeing these marks in the old Watson industrial district, it meant they were entering the territory of the Maelstrom.

Upon spotting the graffiti of the blood-red skull spider everywhere, Jackie waved his hands and joked, "The Maelstrom really don't use their brains, do they? Seriously, I admire their guts—to dare to split their own skulls open and shove in a chunk of iron like that. Whew! Aren't they afraid of their brains rusting?"

Tang Yu knew the Maelstrom all too well. Those guys had once brazenly attacked a Militech transport convoy, and managed to score some seriously good gear and equipment.

Among them was a military-grade flathead robot, for which Tang Yu and V, along with Jackie, had bloodily raided the Maelstrom, seizing the flathead and incidentally pulling the Voodoo Boys' leader, Brick, out of a tight spot.

There was also Dum Dum, he wasn't half-bad; he provided Tang Yu with plenty of S-ket and first-rate stuff.

Combined with the use of Digital Dreams, it truly made Tang Yu and V experience what was like a real paradise, nearly overdosing and meeting God in the process.

Tang Yu thought back to when he first arrived in Night City, without the heavy burdens of enmity, in addition to dealing with Arasaka at an early stage, which often made his actions a bit reckless.

But now, Tang Yu clearly felt something suppressing him, forcing him to design and think carefully.

He was not someone who let emotions override reason, rather, it was because his nature flowed with genuine emotion.

Yet, these past events were not something Tang Yu would mention to others, only occasionally savoring them in solitude.

After all, there were more important things waiting for him.