"You tell me you're Johnny, huh, I'd say Saburo Arasaka is still alive too."
As expected, when Johnny revealed her identity, Nancy almost burst out laughing.
Scratching her face helplessly, Johnny looked impatient.
She knew this would happen.
"Alright then."
Johnny sighed deeply and then raised her head again.
"You like to go commando when you perform on stage."
...
Nancy's disdain froze on her face.
"And, your back tattoo..."
"Okay, stop, stop."
Nancy's eyes widened in surprise, and she hastily cut Johnny off.
"You... are you really Johnny?"
Although she still had doubts, Nancy had to admit that she was actually starting to believe this girl, less than 1.6 meters tall, who had suddenly appeared claiming to be Silverhand.
Johnny shrugged.
Though not the best method, at least the other party was starting to believe her.
Then she spoke again, slowly explaining... Berry squatted on the curb, giving the two of them space, but soon she heard a clear burst of female laughter, squawking like an old duck.
"Hahahaha, Johnny, it's really you! How did you end up like this?"
"Heh, laugh, laugh until you're happy."
Nancy held her stomach, laughing so hard she almost lost her glasses.
As for Johnny, she stood by, looking helpless.
If she had them, she'd want to light a cigarette right now.
This old hag was still so annoying.
"What, you've laughed enough. Are you going to help or not?"
"Hahahaha, help, why wouldn't I help? But Johnny, I'm going to tell Kerry and the others this news."
"The Night City legendary who blew up half of City Center and died, is not only alive but also looks like this."
"Don't even think about it."
Johnny's face darkened. Every single person in the Samurai Band was a handful.
Nancy stumbled over, looking like she was so exhausted from laughing that she wouldn't recover anytime soon.
"You're Berry, right?"
"Johnny told me the general situation. Get in the car, we'll talk on the way."
...It was almost night.
The sky was dim, with only the faint yellow glow of streetlights on the road.
There were no pedestrians, few vehicles, and the whooshing wind and faint gunshots from a distance were clearly audible.
The industrial district at night was far more dangerous than during the day.
In Nancy's car, Berry sat in the passenger seat, while Johnny squeezed into the back seat piled with recording equipment and gear.
"I've been following your situation too."
"It's no surprise that an impending gang war is trending right now. After all, Night City residents have been bored for too long; they're incredibly excited this time."
"But your guess is also correct; the public opinion this time has a strong directional bias."
"It seems someone wants to smear Hive, most likely the Tyger Claws."
"As for the reason, it's simple."
"They don't want the Moxes incident to happen again."
"Although people in the city have long had their brains addled by explicit braindance and cheap tobacco and alcohol, they still can't escape their inner emotional needs, their pursuit of simple justice."
"You need to win this war, and victory can be made in the editing room."
"And Berry, don't overthink it."
"The overwhelming malice against you online is just superficial; you can find supporters for any outrageous view on the internet nowadays."
"Those who support you don't show themselves because they lack evidence to refute, holding back their anger with nowhere to vent, not to mention there are plenty of people incensed by the Tyger Claws' rhetoric."
"They may not care what Hive is; as long as you oppose the Tyger Claws, you will gain their support."
"In this situation, as long as you can clearly present your views online, in my judgment, at least half of Night City will support you."
"Where the Tyger Claws wield power, you stand for democracy."
"Where the Tyger Claws are brutal, you show mercy."
"Where the Tyger Claws are dark, you illuminate the darkness."
"We can win this fight."
Nancy, as expected of someone in media, had Berry herself feeling invigorated after her speech.
She quickly grabbed Nancy's forearm, her face filled with excitement.
"Sister Nancy's words have cleared my mind like parting clouds and seeing the sun."
"Heh, don't say that. After all, intervening in this war also benefits my career."
"Besides, public support is always delayed. To put it bluntly, truth is often secondary; they'll support whoever wins. So, you still have to rely on yourself for this fight. Don't expect anyone to come rushing out of their homes with guns to help you."
"They love truth, goodness, and beauty, but they also fear death."
...The next day, after anxious waiting, Nancy began her operation.
After a brief rest at the Hive, she set off early in the morning with her equipment, heading straight for the Kabuki slums.
Berry and the others were coordinating weapons and equipment, preparing for battle.
The Tyger Claws could launch a surprise attack at any moment.
Nancy could say she was fighting a war.
A cyberwar.
Soon, by lunchtime, a new account appeared on various popular Night City forums.
The avatar was a hexagonal honeycomb, and the name was "BT Hive Today."
The description was simple, with only the words "Hive's only designated official account."
The speed of the internet is always as fast as diarrhea, and soon busybodies discovered this account.
Soon, it spread like wildfire, and more and more people discovered the account.
Followers shot up like a rocket.
Given the current heat of the Hive and Tyger Claws war topic, people were very curious about this account.
The Tyger Claws, an old problem in Night City.
But the Hive, whether people hated it or liked it, knew very little about it; it was a mysterious organization.
Now with an account, whether for or against, people were curious about what this organization wanted to convey.
And not to disappoint Night City's expectations, in the late afternoon, a video was uploaded to this previously blank account.
The title was also simple.
It was "Hive."
When netizens, unable to contain their curiosity, clicked on the video, they were surprised to find that the content was not what they expected.
The slums.
By the dirty, smelly beach, shacks made of plywood and scrap metal were stacked layer upon layer on a ground covered with trash, intricate and complex, like a deformed tumor or withered scrub growing from the earth.
Desolate, old, mixed with a certain stench.
Not only the slums, but also the impoverished people living in them, this was the extent of Night City's impression.
The lowest stratum of Night City lived in such an environment, struggling to survive.
And now, through this video, Night City residents delved deeper into it.
"I'm very grateful to Hive. Their affordable artificial lungs freed me from pain; otherwise, I would have died three months ago."
This was a former miner, shriveled and hunched over a pile of old newspapers, with deep-set eyes, dark and thin skin, resembling a skeleton, suffering from pneumoconiosis.
"I hurt, I hurt every day. I'm afraid to sleep; as soon as I fall asleep, I feel the lost flesh squirming, and the cyberware on my body biting my remaining flesh. If it weren't for Hive's cyberware, I don't know what I would do."
This was a scantily clad, heavily made-up but visibly tired sex doll from the lower class.
There were many similar cases.
Veterans stranded on the streets, bankrupt vendors, and even those suffering from Cyberpsychosis.
In just a few short minutes, another side of Night City under the neon lights, another group of people, was displayed before the world.
They were all patients who couldn't afford proper cyberware, and everyone could see a reflection of themselves in them.
Whether they felt numb or moved, everyone fell silent after watching those few minutes.
Just as they were trying to decipher their inner emotions and figure out how to express themselves, the scene changed, and a person appeared in the video.
Black hair, beautiful features, an expression that was neither calm nor blank, and a faint glimmer of light in her obsidian eyes, seeming like both pity and determination.
Finally, she spoke.
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