As he spoke, two mantis blades sprang from his forearms, now emitting a ghostly blue light, appearing full of mechanical beauty and cybernetic flair.
"Who gave him…"
The priest, dressed in a pure black robe, standing at the very front, pointed at the uninvited guest who had suddenly appeared before him.
His authority trampled, his face was now contorted in rage, determined to kill this bastard!
The roar had just begun when it abruptly cut off, like a duck whose throat had been squeezed.
"Drip, drip…"
There was no anticipated exchange of gunfire, no sounds of shooting or brawling… In the empty church, only the buzzing of electricity could be heard, along with the sound of what seemed like water drops splashing on the ground.
Gradually, the speed of the dripping sound seemed to quicken, and it seemed to be coming from more than one place… Finally, as if a faucet valve had broken, a continuous gurgling sound of water appeared in an instant.
The ground was covered in a layer of vivid red, rising rapidly as if a swimming pool was gradually being filled, only the color was a striking crimson.
"Crunch, crunch."
Now, a crackling sound echoed throughout the empty church, the only one still standing, V, was stretching his limbs.
All the people who had been standing, without exception, had a red line that initially appeared on their necks, gradually spreading, extending… until it became conspicuous.
A series of dull thuds sounded on the ground, and bright red blood gushed out as if watermelons had been sliced open.
"So weak…"
V turned his head and looked around, seeing the gang members so easily dealt with, a clear look of disdain appeared on his face.
But V quickly snapped back, looking up at the large screen standing before him, meeting Bartmoss's gaze on the screen.
"This is insane."
Even a super hacker as knowledgeable as Bartmoss seemed to lose control of his expression upon seeing V, a being clearly defying all logic.
He had no flesh on his bones, yet he hadn't succumbed to cyberpsychosis?
Bartmoss seemed to have just made contact with the outside world; as a hacker who had just begun to understand the current world, he had initially been confident that he could also be the one to lead the pack in this era.
Now, he was somewhat unsettled and doubtful.
"Hey, buddy, I heard the guy in my head say—so you're the hacker named Bartmoss? I've heard about your exploits for a long time, man, the destroyer of the Old Net? That title seems pretty fitting."
V flashed a brilliant smile at the virtual avatar before him; seemingly knowing that he couldn't stop Bartmoss from leaving, he didn't make any further moves.
Instead, he began to communicate, hoping to gain more useful information from it.
However, Bartmoss on the screen didn't seem to have any intention of continuing the idle chat; seeing that his newly acquired henchmen were wiped out on the spot before he could even use them, his expression towards V became somewhat grim.
It seemed that during this time, Bartmoss had already used his powerful network search function to find out V's identity.
He didn't say anything like, "I'll be your sworn enemy…" because of V's actions.
Instead, he stared at V with a look of appreciation and fanaticism, and began to tempt him.
"Why did I destroy the Old Net? Wasn't it because, under authoritarian rule, cyberspace had already been controlled by capital, and the dreams and spirits of ordinary people were manipulated?
And now, they even seem to want to weigh the value of souls! V, I need your help to join me in overthrowing this miserable world controlled by capital?!"
V stood there, and even though Bartmoss spoke passionately, he merely wore an indifferent expression, pulled his hand out of his ear, and looked at Bartmoss with an expression like he was looking at an idiot, saying,
"Buddy, although what you're saying sounds impassioned, you're not human anymore, are you?
If you actually succeed, then forget about the distinction between upper and lower classes; whether humanity can even exist will be questionable."
V saw that he could no longer get more information from him, so he raised his arm and reached out.
"Bang!"
The power supply box next to him erupted in bright sparks, followed by a crackling sound, and the surroundings plunged into darkness.
Bartmoss's virtual image also disappeared, but everyone present understood.
He must still exist in some hidden corner of cyberspace, observing everything with cold eyes.
Like a venomous snake in the shadows, once he seizes an opportunity, he will immediately strike to achieve the greatest results with the least cost.
V did not leave immediately after Bartmoss, but instead looked up in Lin Bai's direction.
"Hey, buddy, why are you standing so high up? Thinking of doing some indoor bungee jumping? I'd recommend outdoor, it's more thrilling. If you want my recommendation, how about Arasaka Tower? They'll even put on a fireworks show for you then!"
Lin Bai knew he had been discovered, after all, his current strength was still relatively too weak compared to V.
At least, with the nearly time-stopping effect just now, Lin Bai currently couldn't think of any solution.
"As expected of an overpowered monster. The game designers must have been out of their minds to create something like this."
However, V was unaware of Lin Bai's thoughts, merely turning his head to look at the wreckage scattered around.
"Buddy, looks like your mission is a bust. I'm not sharing my commission with you."
"No problem."
What Lin Bai wanted was never the commission De Falla offered; everything Lin Bai did ultimately aimed to establish a connection with V.
If the Reincarnation Paradise's mission were to be judged as completed, that would be even better.
At this moment, Lin Bai looked at the Paradise's judgment on the semi-transparent blue screen before him.
"Hunter's mission found, 99.5% completed by key plot character V."
"Judging…"
"Correcting…"
"After judgment, Hunter is deemed capable of completing the mission independently, therefore this reward is reduced to 50%."
"Issued."
"Obtained 1 attribute point, 1900 paradise coins, partial reputation value."
Seeing the prompt, Lin Bai felt that it wasn't bad, after all, this reward was essentially obtained for free in a sense.
And more importantly, meeting V here was not a loss at all.
Seeing Lin Bai seemingly fall silent, V, encountering such a situation of stealing someone else's mission for the first time, didn't know what to do.
So he decided to throw the problem to Rogue, as in V's eyes, Rogue was a highly capable Night City legend fixer, who would surely find a suitable solution.
Therefore, V looked at Lin Bai and invited him,
"Buddy, want to go to the Afterlife Bar for a drink? Regarding this matter, I believe Rogue will give you a satisfactory answer."
Since it could be handled in one go, Lin Bai naturally had no objections and accepted V's invitation.
Boarding a Quadra Turbo-R V had driven over, amidst V's boasting and the car's roar, Lin Bai and V embarked on the road to the Afterlife Bar.