Chapter 70
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Chapter 70
In Watson District, Little Tang Street.
Tang Yu, clad in his homely pajamas, held a cup of warm boiled water, lazily leaning on the balcony, basking in the gentle and comfortable morning sun.
With no inclination to work and being on an external assignment, he hadn't reported to Arasaka Tower for two days.
Enjoying a rare instance of paid slacking, he relished the break. Why should he sit idly in an office when the Counterintelligence Department operates just fine without him?
As the deputy head, he often spent more time in the field than in the office.
Even before being stationed back to the Arasaka Tower, the department ran without any hitches.
He was very clear about his position within the Arasaka Corporation.
Merely an employee—who, at most, happened to have a little influence.
Arasaka Tower would not stop turning for the absence of one individual.
Even as the deputy head of two departments, he didn't wield enough power to concern himself with the entire department's labor or chase those performance KPIs.
"One should never lose oneself too deeply in roles; the Arasaka Corporation carries the name Arasaka, not Tang Yu."
Tang Yu took a sip of warm tea, feeling a comforting warmth in his chest, alleviating much of the fatigue from the past few days.
In fact, in the entirety of Night City, those who could freely manage their work hours like Tang Yu were few and far between.
The company doesn't tolerate laziness, and the powers of Night City continually introduce various new measures every year to motivate their employees to work harder.
This year, Arasaka launched a new Twenty-Year Loyalty Program where, after twenty years of service, an employee can enjoy the latest in cyberware technology.
Promotions for Militech products and employee incentives go hand in hand, with employees getting a fifty percent discount when purchasing Militech weapons, although the latest weapons were excluded from the promotion.
Biotech announced a full year of paid leave increased to six days, a move that has left countless corporate dogs feeling deeply grateful.
Night Corp, on the other hand, reduced the mandatory work hours to eighty per week, which is already considered humane.
The working conditions of most corporate employees are more similar to those of Cater Smith, a former Arasaka G4-level employee, busy day and night, picking time even to go home for a birthday.
Tang Yu was well aware that his current position wasn't earned by sitting on a bench in the Arasaka Tower office.
Now a part of the M-Level management, his mindset had become much more tranquil.
As for the Special Operations Division, he hadn't yet reported there.
The division was a mess, and taking over now seemed premature.
A new official usually makes a mark with three policies, and his first move was to suppress the unruly atmosphere of the Special Operations Division.
Knowing well the roots of the division, Tang Yu could easily guess those corporate dogs were probably waiting to show their displeasure.
The Special Operations Division had sent him multiple invitations to report in, which he ignored altogether.
Jenkins had indeed sought him out, but it was basically just a transfer of some basic work tasks, which he delegated.
The quiet Michiko had not arranged any personal bodyguard invitations nor taken the initiative to inquire about updates.
Tang Yu had some leads on counteracting Militech, though not firmly confirmed.
Militech that uses veterans for cyberware experiments was leading to uncontrollable cyberpsychosis.
It was an angle worth pursuing, but it needed a stronger push and the right opportunity.
After pondering for a moment, Tang Yu dismissed the thoughts of company troubles and brought up the system panel.
[Life Points: 1]
[Integrated Ability: Resilient (Rare)]
Faced with the system panel, visible only to him, a new sense of interest emerged.When Tang Yu first saw the system panel, he felt a pleasant surprise.
Life simulation, talent extraction, and life point enhancement – all features were the latest versions.
However, after a few days, he started noticing some problems.
In his previous life, he played a hacker, advancing through killing and completing tasks, with his strength growing daily.
Covered in legendary cyberware and with maxed attributes, he was formidable to the point where his mere gaze could impregnate, so to speak.
The life simulation was entirely different; it offered a way to grow in strength while forgoing the implantation of cyberware.
It completely eliminated the drawbacks of cyber psychosis, electronic network attacks, AI hacking brain burns, and cyberware overheating.
The only flaw was the limited growth of strength.
There were many possible simulation targets, but until the right moment arrived, the simulation options were greyed out and inaccessible for starting life simulations to acquire new talents.
He gained his first talent, "Resilience," after simulating the change in his life following an accident that befell David.
Initially, Tang Yu didn't look deeply into the "Resilience" talent, as the regeneration wasn't particularly outstanding.
But then, after a night run with Lucy, he discovered that the "Resilience" talent wasn't so simple after all.
Here's what happened:
After meeting at the agreed-upon location, the two of them began their night run.
Tang Yu found it difficult to keep up with Lucy's pace as he lacked cyberware-enhanced athletic capabilities and had to sprint with all his might to barely keep up.
During the run:
Sprinting for a few dozen seconds was his limit, and his heart and lungs needed to rest to replenish oxygen.
So, the night run essentially became Lucy leading in front and Tang Yu pushing himself to catch up.
Sprint a while, recover slowly, then sprint again with all his might.
They repeated this cycle to finish the full route along the seawall.
Despite his stamina being well above average and his sprinting duration being quite good, he still fell short of Lucy.
He vividly remembered:
Upon finishing the run at the end of the seawall, Lucy lit up a cigarette and waited in silence.
When Tang Yu arrived gasping for breath and exhausted, he heard her ask nonchalantly, "Can't keep up?"
Immediately, Tang Yu opened his system panel and used some life points to upgrade his "Resilience" talent.
He upgraded from "Resilience (Fine)" to "Resilience (Rare)."
Having already possessed "Resilience," Tang Yu was still struck by the formidable prowess of the rare, high-tier talent.
In his view, recovery is the foundation of combat.
The rare, high-tier talent "Resilience" not only allowed for rapid stamina recovery and enhanced cardiopulmonary functions,
but what was more terrifying was its continuous nourishment and repair, repairing muscles fibers torn during strenuous exercise – essentially a 24-hour health and mana regeneration buff.
He felt once again the surge of power flowing through his muscles and skin.
The blood in his veins began to boil, with each muscle cell greedily absorbing the provided oxygen.
The exhausted muscles gradually, quickly regained their vitality.
The painful, burning sensation in his chest diminished and disappeared with each breath.
After running several dozen kilometers, his vitality was largely restored in just a few breaths.
On their second night run:
Tang Yu was already much more at ease, maintaining a fast run for a longer period and keeping pace with Lucy throughout.
Lucy initially slowed down a bit on purpose, but seeing that Tang Yu could keep up, she stopped slowing down to rest.
Tang Yu realized the scope of the talent went beyond just this; further enhancements and upgrades would bring even more powerful effects.
As Tang Yu was contemplating this, his smart home assistant alerted him that Jackie Wells was calling.