Chapter 64
Read many more (at least 15) future chapters at patreon.com/FFAddict !
Chapter 64
Late at night.
Tang Yu was ready to go for a night run, having changed into his sportswear at home.
He wore a pure black hoodie with black fleece stretch pants. It was comfortable and convenient for exercise.
White fluorescent stripes were printed on the sleeves and pant legs to increase visibility at night and prevent accidental collisions with vehicles.
He picked up his Kensei pistol, checked the full magazine, the chamber, and the firing pin safety, then tucked the gun into his waistband after confirming everything was in order.
He wore Dragon Fist black-framed glasses, matched with in-ear Bluetooth earphones.
After gulping down a glass of cool water in the kitchen, he set off for his run.
Having gone on nightly runs for several days, Tang Yu's body had adjusted to the rhythm of running.
When he ran to the seashore railing once more, he was no longer gasping for breath like before. Now, he was just breathing a bit heavily, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead.
The night breeze from the sea was slightly cool, not as muggy as during the daytime, and with few people around, he could run as he pleased.
Tang Yu leaned against the railing to catch his breath for a moment, feeling a little thirsty in his throat.
He turned around to look for a nearby convenience store or vending machine, intending to buy a bottle of water to quench his thirst.
Soon enough.
He saw that not far ahead, there was a supermarket and a pharmacy still open for business, so he got up and walked towards them.
As he approached the entrance, he noticed several vehicles parked in front of the supermarket and people sporadically pushing shopping carts toward them, transferring items into the trunks of their cars.
Because the supermarket was situated on a downward slope, the carts would start to roll down the road on their own momentum once outside.
Tang Yu noticed a middle-aged man with a limp using his body to prop up a large shopping cart full of items—the basket was crammed with bulky packages of paper towels, half-processed fast food, and more.
The man was struggling to lift a case of beer into the trunk.
His old left prosthetic arm, branded with 'Militech', seemed to lack sensitivity, making the process look strenuous.
There was an elderly woman in the car's passenger seat, her hair streaked with gray. She leaned out to instruct the middle-aged man to be careful.
Going shopping late at night, they were stocking up on basic household necessities, probably doing the grocery run after picking up medications.
In the surrounding green belts, some street punks were squatting and smoking, watching the shopping crowd with ill intentions.
Particularly vulnerable was the man with the limp, who seemed to have caught their attention.
In the streets of Night City, people like this man with a limp were not uncommon.
Many of them were war veterans with disabilities who found it difficult to find a livelihood after retiring, living a hard life at the bottom rung of society.
Not everyone could be like Johnny with a talent for music, turning from a disabled veteran into a rock superstar.
Tang Yu went forward to help the man support the large shopping cart, then used his foot to block the rear wheel to prevent it from sliding away.
Then, freeing a hand, he began to neatly arrange the items from the basket into the trunk, one by one.
It was done in a moment.
The middle-aged man was slightly surprised by Tang Yu's assistance and, tearing open a new box, offered him a bottle of beer.
"Thanks."
Tang Yu finished arranging the items, closed the trunk, and accepted the beer.
"Which war did you serve in?"
"Six years ago, the Corporate War. An Arasaka high-explosive incendiary took out my whole leg, roasted it. I regret not slicing off a piece to taste it back then."
"Why didn't you get a prosthetic leg? Militech should provide that for free."
The man with the limp gave a wry shrug as he leaned against the rear of the car. "I'm not ready to become a cyberpsycho just yet; after all, my old mother is still alive."
After saying this, he turned his head to glance back.
Tang Yu popped open the beer can, his peripheral vision scanning the surly street punks whose fierce gazes had fallen upon them.
He wasn't concerned about such trifles and took a swig of the genetically-brewed beer, which didn't taste very good.
"Okay, better hurry back, take good care of your mother. I'll borrow the shopping cart for a bit."
Tang Yu moved the cart to the side and watched as the middle-aged man hobbled back to the driver's seat.After the limping man got into the car, he stuck his beer out the window, laughing and cursing loudly.
"Fuck the corporation!!!"
He floored the accelerator and sped away.
Tang Yu couldn't help but shake his head, preparing to drag his shopping cart into the supermarket to buy some water.
But before he could start, the shopping cart was kicked away by someone, somewhat unexpectedly.
The jumbo cart slid a considerable distance up the slope before coming to a halt against the edge of the greenery.
Tang Yu calmly glanced sideways at the aggressor.
A kid with dirty dreadlocks stood shaking his body where he kicked the cart, pacing back and forth, looking very dissatisfied.
"Heh, what's a nice guy like you doing in Night City?"
Tang Yu wasn't sure whether the appearance of this street scum was coincidental or someone had arranged it.
Activating the 'Dragon Fist', he scanned the area and information about the street punks popped up.
Old Vic had previously installed a module in the smart glasses that allowed access to some NCPD personnel records through a backdoor.
It included criminal records, and sure enough, these individuals were on file, all of them small-time thugs with a history of run-ins with the NCPD.
One, in particular, was special, wearing a custom-made glowing mask which interfered with the scan signals, rendering his identity unreadable.
Wandering around in the dead of night wearing a glowing mask, seeking targets, Tang Yu almost immediately thought of the Scavengers.
However, he didn't have fancy cyberware to draw the attention of the Scavengers.
Although dealing with organ theft was part of the Scavengers' business, it was low-end work, mostly targeting the wealthy with high-end cyberware.
Tang Yu's Nagamitsu pistol, intended for self-defense, had enough ammunition to take out a few of them.
He could also call the Arasaka Special Operations team, and if he delayed them a bit, these thugs would have no chance of survival in five minutes.
Alternatively, he could opt to use the 'Dragon Fist' hacking module, breach their cheap cybernetic nervous systems, and fry a few brains for amusement.
But Tang Yu was out for a night run to relax and didn't fancy getting his hands dirty with some killing.
The Scavenger wearing the distinctive mask didn't seem inclined to let Tang Yu go, probably eyeing an easy target since Tang Yu wasn't cybernetically enhanced.
At the signal from the Scavenger, the five remaining street punks surrounded Tang Yu, blocking his way to the supermarket.
The Scavenger who had been crouched stood up, walked over from the greenery, and spoke through a voice changer.
"Leave your gun, your glasses, and anything else of value, and I might consider letting you go."
Tang Yu knew this was a ruse—if he surrendered his gun and glasses, he would be outnumbered, and likely, they would harvest his organs.
He still had a perfectly functional biological body, with no plans to switch to synthetic organs.
He reached to his back pocket, ready to solve the problem.
Thanks to his past life's quick hands and sharp shooting instincts, blowing the heads off these punks wouldn't be an issue.
The 'Dragon Fist' glasses rapidly targeted their heads, providing Tang Yu with additional aiming information while readying the remote hacking sequence.
Seeing Tang Yu's motion to draw his weapon, the five thugs tensed up, the kid with the dreadlocks even pulled out a knife to threaten.
The masked Scavenger held a gun with his finger on the trigger, toying with it slowly.
"Don't get any ideas, just put your hands up nicely."
Tang Yu felt that today was anything but good, encountering a Scavenger looking for a robbery during a night run.
Even with the patience of a saint, everyone has their limits.
Just as the standoff was intensifying and Tang Yu was about to make his move.
A bluish silhouette suddenly swooped down from above the slope, as swiftly as a light beam, and in a blink, whisked him away.
Regaining his senses, Tang Yu found himself lying in the cart's wire basket, being pushed down the slope at breakneck speed.