Chapter 2: Viktor's ClinicAs he walked, the prompt in the bottom-left corner showed the exploration rate ticking up bit by bit, and by the time he reached Chinatown, it was already at 0.3%.After entering Little Chinatown and searching for a while, Dante saw the sign glowing with a pink POD.He immediately turned into the alley and saw Misty's fortune-telling shop, but when he went inside, Misty was nowhere to be seen.Dante didn't mind and headed straight to the basement in the back, where the sounds of a boxing match echoed."Yo, Viktor."Exploration rate: 1%."Who are you?""Just call me Dante. A friend recommended your place to me, saying you're the most honest here."Viktor nodded as well."What brings you here? Cyberware installation or maintenance?"However, Viktor also noticed Dante's condition; there wasn't a single trace of any modifications on him. Though puzzled, he didn't ask too many questions.Although Dante also wanted to install some cyberware, he had already tested his body back when he was mining underground. Once, he had been ambushed by a Creeper.The explosion blew Dante's body away until only his head was left, yet he only had half a heart of health remaining. Surprisingly, he could still move; even though his legs were gone, he could still walk as if supported by invisible legs, and the tools in his hands remained fully usable, floating right in front of him.After he replenished his hunger bar, his body grew back—a true medical miracle. Therefore, he wasn't even sure himself if he could install cyberware."Um... can I look around? I just heard from a friend that you're a good person, so I came to check things out.""Go ahead, just don't mess with the surgical equipment. The cyberware is inside; if you want to know anything, just ask me."Dante felt like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden. After all, cyberware in the game was swapped through menus; seeing it physically held in someone's hands was a completely different level of shocking."By the way, Viktor, do you take gold? I don't have a single eddy on me right now.""Stolen goods? I don't take them.""Ah, it's a family heirloom, but it's useless to me just sitting there. Since I'm out of cash, I figured I'd sell it—cash in hand is always the most reassuring. I definitely can't trust those black-market dealers, but I trust you.""...""I don't accept this kind of stuff. You can try checking out a gun shop; they probably buy it, though their reputation..."Based on the game's pricing where a gold block is worth five hundred eddies, a single gram of gold would be one hundred eddies. However, to Dante, gold was no different than dirt by the roadside, especially since he had a piglin gold farm at home. Otherwise, Dante wouldn't be crafting golden apples by the stack."Viktor, I'm stepping out for a moment to grab something."Dante went outside, found a secluded spot, placed an iron door, and returned to the Main World. He then grabbed some melons from the farm and headed home to craft glistering melons using gold nuggets.After that, he went to the brewing stand, placed water bottles and nether wart, and brewed mundane potions. Dropping the glistering melons inside yielded Instant Health potions. Following the same method, Dante brewed six bottles of Instant Health potions, and then went to gather some ghast tears to make Regeneration potions."I'm running low on ghast tears. I don't really have any use for these normally; eating a golden apple is usually enough."Once prepared, he returned to the Cyberpunk world, and the alley was the first thing that greeted his eyes."Phew, thank goodness. This door acts as an anchor point; I was genuinely afraid it would teleport me out to the Badlands, and then I'd have to run all the way back."Since the gold route wasn't working out, Danteplanned to sell some potions and food in this world instead.Especially food—in this world, it was worth more than human lives. Still, Dante didn't dare pull this stuff out casually; he still wasn't sure if he was invincible, and since no one had provoked him yet, he had no idea what his actual strength level was here.However, Dante wasn't afraid of dying since his items wouldn't drop upon death anyway. He dismantled the iron door and returned to Viktor's clinic."What is it?"Dante suddenly remembered that time didn't flow on the Main World side, nearly exposing himself, but he quickly replied,"Oh, right after stepping out of the alley, I remembered the things I needed to get, so I brought them back, haha.""What things?""Take a look."Dante pulled a bottle of Instant Health potion from his pocket and showed it to Viktor."What's this? Cola?""No, no, no. This is a mysterious potion from the East, possessing the power to restore life."Dante actually wanted to say it could regenerate broken bones, but considering how few people in this world had their original bodies, he dropped the thought."Viktor, here. Consider this my greeting gift to you.""Really? How well does it work?"Dante wasn't entirely sure either. According to the game mechanics, a bottle of Instant Health II restores four hearts, which is eight health points, though he had no idea what four hearts would translate to in terms of numerical values in this world."Um, if it's surface wounds, it heals them instantly. As for more severe injuries, I'm not too sure since I've never used it on anyone else and have only ever used it on myself.""And this too."Dante brought out a Regeneration potion."This one has a slightly better therapeutic effect than the previous one, but it heals slower, lasting for about three minutes."The one Dante made was a Level 1 Regeneration potion—it had a long recovery duration, but the healing rate was slower.Dante wasn't worried that Viktor would harbor any ulterior motives towards his items. If even Viktorcouldn't be trusted, no one else in this city could be.Afterwards, Dante took out a golden apple and handed it to Viktor."What is this?"Viktor stared blankly at the golden fruit; it had been a very long time since he last saw fruit in this world."It's not a fruit. This thing is called a Holy Fruit, and it combines the effects of those previous two potions. On top of that, eating it makes your body much tougher. Those two previous potions were actually made using the Holy Fruit."'Actually, once you have Create, golden apples practically become everyday food. After all, apples—the scarcest item in vanilla—are mass-produced in Create's sawmill.'"You can try it, Viktor. It's super delicious. Even though I don't have many of these, I'm not lacking just this one single apple.""No, I can't accept a reward I haven't earned. If the effects are truly as you say, I can't take this."Although Viktor was craving this fruit-like item, his conscience wouldn't allow him to accept this so-called Holy Fruit."How about this then? Do you have a cyberware eye you can hook me up with? It's really tough getting around here without one.""Alright, I've got a Kiroshi Optics Mk.2 right here. Take a look."Just as he placed the cyberware eye into Dante's hand, someone walked in."Viktor!"The moment Dante heard that voice, he knew who it was: Jack.As Jack walked over, the exploration rate ticked up to 4%—after all, he was the character who accompanied V throughout the early game."Where the hell did you go to get yourself covered in injuries?""Hahaha, went and wiped out a few dumbass Scavengers.""Coincidentally, I've got something here. Give it a taste.""What is it?""A mysterious potion from the East, used for healing wounds.""The fuck you trying to kid me for? Are you damn sure this isn't just a soft drink?"Jack took it and instantly chugged it down in one gulp."Uh, aren't you afraid I might poison him, just handing it over like that?""It's fine, I'm not the one drinking it."Truly living up to your name, Viktor.After Jack finished drinking it, the wounds on his skin healed at a speed visible to the naked eye."Holy shit, where the fuck did you score this miracle drug?""Right from this young man over here."Saying that, Viktor finally set his mind at ease and took a bite right out of the golden apple."Tastes really good.""What are you eating that smells so good? Hey, buddy, how much are these potions? Damn it, hook me up with two bottles."Dante was trying to see if he could shove the cyberware eye into his helmet slot. Obviously, it wouldn't fit—probably because he hadn't installed the corresponding mod?Seeing this, Viktor introduced them."This is Jack, a low-level mercenary. Jack, this is Dante.""Jack, I originally planned to leave a batch of these potions with Viktor to sell here, but I feel like we'd get along great. If you want them, I'll give you a 20% discount.""Brother, you're fucking loyal. I've definitely gotta make friends with you then.""As for the price, let's tentatively set it at three hundred eddies for a bottle of Instant Health potion, two thousand eddies for a Regeneration potion, and five thousand eddies for a Holy Fruit.""What's a Holy Fruit? The thing Viktor was just eating?""Five thousand eddies?"Viktor then considered that combining the effects of both potions plus the defense boost made the price seem not all that expensive."Uh, I only make a few hundred eddies per gig. What does the Regeneration potion do?""It provides continuous healing for three minutes. The total healing amount is dozens of times that of Instant Health, but the recovery is very gradual."(In the game, it heals one health point per second, while Instant Health instantly restores eight points.)Jack calculated it in his head for a moment..."In that case, hook me up with three Instant ones and one Regeneration.""Since I'm giving you a 20% discount, charging you twenty-three hundred isn't too much, right?""Deal. Brother, with this trump card, if I play my cards right, it could literally save a life."Dante tossed the four bottles of potions to Jack."Let me wire the money over to you.""Uh, hold on a sec. Viktor, help me install the cyberware eye, I need to create an account.""Alright, hop onto the operating table and lie down."Jack leaned in closer and took a look at Dante, noticing he didn't seem to have any cyberware on him."Holy shit, bro, I didn't notice earlier—are you completely stock all over? Some kind of Kang Tao agent?""Nah, even though I'm Asian, I've been roaming the Badlands and only recently came to Night City. I didn't dare install cyberware before, but since a friend recommended Viktor to me, I came right over."After Viktor got everything ready, he pulled out an anesthetic to give Dante an injection. But... the needle bent; it couldn't pierce through."What the fuck kind of body do you have, bro? So damn tough!"Dante reacted immediately, opened his inventory, and unequipped his gear."Oh, my bad, I was a bit nervous and my muscles tensed up too much.""Your damn muscles are hard as hell, then."This time, Viktor smoothly managed to shove the needle in."Alright, your vision will go dark for a second, it'll be over right away."After finishing the installation of the cyberware eye,"Get down and get used to it. The Kiroshi Optics Mk.2 provides flash protection, lets you see the ammo count of the weapon in your hands from your perspective, and allows you to scan other people for various info."Dante's pupils turned blue. He got up and adjusted to it, but he couldn't figure out how to register an account."How do you register a financial account?"Before Viktor could speak up, Jack explained."Bro, having just a cyberware eye won't let you do anything. You also need to install a neural port—see, this thing right behind our neck—and then slot in a financial chip.""Viktor, why didn't you say so earlier?""You didn't ask, and I thought you knew.""...""I recommend a Smart Link along with an identity and financial chip behind the neck, totaling 9,200 eddies. Consider the cyberware eye a gift from me; I can install it for you first, and you can pay me back when you have the cash.""How can I do that? Wait for me a bit, I'll be out for an hour, and I'll go home and haul back some more potions."Finished speaking, Dante hurried out. After wandering around for a bit and making sure no one was tailing him, he ducked into an alley and set up the iron door. Anyway, time was paused on this side anyway as long as nobody saw him.
Chapter 3: Maine's crewAfter organizing his things in the Main World, Dantereturned to the Cyberpunk World.He returned to Viktor's clinic, passing by and seeing Misty along the way, which increased his exploration progress by 0.1%.When he got back, Jackie was no longer there—looks like he had already left. Old Vik was still sitting there watching his boxing match."Old Vik! Here, this crate is the latest batch of medicine. Inside are nine bottles of Instant Healing, nine bottles of Regeneration, and three Holy Fruits."Mainly because crates were inconvenient to carry and potions couldn't stack, or else Dante would have dumped dozens of bottles on Old Vik right away. As for the golden apples, he'd use them for scarcity marketing; he couldn't put too many out at once and needed to build a reputation first. Still, Dante didn't think the golden apples would sell easily anyway, given their high price and how few customers Old Vik got. If all else failed, he'd go out and market them himself after installing the neural link."So many... It might take me a long time to sell them. After all, I don't get many people here.""No worries, I'm giving you an insider price—business is business between brothers. Instant Healing is 240 for you, since 250 sounds unlucky. Regeneration is 1,800. Holy Fruit is 4,700.""Alright, let me install the neural link for you first. Come lie down, remember to relax, and don't waste another one of my needles.""Don't worry, that was just an accident earlier."After a while, Dante woke up feeling groggy, but he quickly recovered. Seeing that he had a five-second Slowness debuff, Dante was speechless.'If this counts as a debuff, I should bring a bucket of milk next time.'Viktor saw Dante stand up and checked his status."How is it? Can you see the detailed information in front of you now?""I see it. I can see the time and everything.""Good. I'll add you as a contact and install a banking chip for you—register an account yourself. Jackie went out on a gig, and he left his money with me to give to you. After deducting the neural link and banking chip costs, it comes to 22,860."Right after Dante finished registering his account and added Old Vik, he received the money transfer notification.'Oho, hit the jackpot! I thought I was overcharging, but looks like Old Vik still has plenty of room to profit. Makes sense—a drug like this can pull you back from death's door even if you only have one breath left.'"Alright, Old Vik, I'm heading out. If you sell out of medicine, hit me up to restock. Oh, and push Jackie's contact info to me."Shortly after, he added Jackie as a contact.'Bro, are you Tian?''That's me. What are you up to?' As Dante replied, he walked outside to find a place to rent as a base. Truth be told, if time didn't pause on this side when he returned to the Main World, he wouldn't want to stay here at all.'Sigh, took a last-minute gig to rescue someone. Did you get the money? I told Old Vik to give it to you.''Got it. Focus on your gig.''Cool. When I wrap this up, I'll take you out to have some real fun.'Dante immediately thought of the local customs of this World. *Ohoho, should I do as the Romans do?*After installing the neural link earlier, Dante learned the current timeline was 2075."Speaking of which, is Sasha still alive? Hope she hasn't fallen from the building yet. After finding an apartment, I need to hurry to Afterlife Bar to stake out Maine's crew. Also, is the V in this World male or female? It'd be too abrupt to ask Jackie out of nowhere, so I'll wait until he brings it up himself."As Dante strolled along the street, he noticed a few Maelstrom gangers eyeing him and tailing him. There were barely any people on this street, suggesting they were repeat offenders.Dante didn't waste words. After equipping all his gear, holding fireworks in his off-hand, and putting on the Elytra, he instantly started flying low to the ground. Luckily, the street was wide enough to give him room to turn.The Maelstrom gangers saw Dante move and were about to act when they saw him suddenly take flight."Holy shit! What fucking cyberware is that?!""How the fuck should I know? Looks like his whole body is clean, and he only has cyberware in his head!"Because Dante's armor appearance was hidden, to outsiders he looked like he was simply floating in the air.Turning his head, Dante wielded a fully enchanted Nether Core Spear in his main hand, instantly piercing one of the Maelstrom gangers and blowing him to bits.Seeing this, the other Maelstrom gangers immediately raised their guns and opened fire."Damn it, something's wrong! Kill him, fucking hurry!"Dante couldn't care less about what they thought. Bullets hitting him barely drained his health, which recovered slower than the golden apple's regen anyway. It was only because chestplate and Elytracouldn't be equipped together; otherwise, he wouldn't lose a single point of health. Still, Dantewouldn't get careless, knowing these low-level gang members couldn't afford good gear anyway.After reducing the last guy to a mist of blood, Dantegathered up the loot."Woohoo, three pistols and a rifle—jackpot! Why is there an idiot with a baseball bat though? Can this thing even breach the defense of someone with heavy cyberware?"Then again, they wouldn't dare mess with heavily cyberized people. Maybe because Dante wasn't wearing a suit, they didn't take him for a corpo rat either."These cyberware parts are disgusting. Forget it, too much trouble to harvest, and probably wouldn't fetch a good price anyway."Walking along, he arrived at Japantown and found the apartment building next to Megabuilding H8—this was where Lucy lived."Should I rent a place next to Lucy to grow closer? Sorry David, leave Lucy to me. Don't worry, with me around, I'll definitely get you to become a corpo rat."When the time comes, I'll just slaughter everyone in Arasaka Tower and let David manage it. Speaking of which, I remember Gloria was also one of the rare beauties in Night City. Cao Cao may be dead, but his spirit lives on!"On second thought, never mind. I'll just be his godfather. Better not lay a hand on his mom—she's a pitiful soul too."Then he found the apartment rental website via his newly installed neural link."Over two thousand a month, but buying it outright costs only thirty thousand? Is this price for real?"Makes sense when you think about it. Usually, buying a home isn't for long-term living anyway; after all, who knows how long they'll survive in this city?"By that logic, I'm really ripping people off with my medicine. Making over twenty thousand in one go, while Maine's whole crew only earns tens of thousands per gig! In the anime plot, kidnapping an Arasaka executive was only around a hundred thousand eddies.""And I don't even have production costs, haha!"Dante rented the apartment right away, though he didn't know Lucy's exact apartment number, only that she lived on the top floor. *I really don't know how she sleeps; Rockets taking people to the moon every single day are loud as hell. But then again, I don't need to sleep either.*With his base set up, Dante headed to Turbine Bar. Maine's crew gathered at Turbine Bar every time they finished a gig, so staking them out there was enough."I need to find them quickly and join their crew ASAP. I must save my cat girl!"Turbine Bar was right across the street from his newly rented apartment, taking Dante just a few minutes to reach. As soon as he sat at the counter, he saw a familiar figure."Dammit, bring me some booze! Who the fuck is this little bit supposed to satisfy? You believe I'll fucking blow your head off with a gun?!"'Classic Rebecca line! So spot on.'The bartender was speechless too; this kid always threw drunk tantrums when she drank too much."Sorry, Rebecca. Maine gave me orders, so please don't make things hard for me.""Tch! You fucking only know how to use Maine to pressure me!"Dante walked in, saw Rebecca, and felt a pang in his nose.World exploration progress: 7%.'Sigh, when Adam Smasher smashed down back then, I really felt terrible for a long time. Luckily Valkyrie was added... when I meet Smasher, I'll use an iron block sticking to a gold block to turn him into Adam Smasher Paste!'Walking over to the bar counter, he sat next to Rebecca. Seeing Rebecca meant Maine and the others were also here, though likely in a private room. Just as Dante was thinking of how to start a conversation with Rebecca—"Fuck! Who the fuck are you, sitting next to me for what fucking reason?! Can't you fucking see I'm in a terrible mood right now?!"Saying that, Rebecca pressed a gun against Dante's forehead. But Dante wasn't scared at all since he was equipped with gear. Even if she shoved the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger, it wouldn't deal damage. Besides, Dante knew Rebecca was just like this—sharp-tongued, but she wouldn't do anything truly excessive. The only person she'd actually shoot was her own brother."Hello, Rebecca. My name is Dante," Dante said, patting Rebecca's head."Dammit, take your fucking dirty hand off me! You think I won't fucking shoot you?!""Ah, haha, couldn't help myself, couldn't help myself. Being so cute with such an explosive temper isn't good.""Eww~ Pervert! Don't tell me you like girls like me?"Dante's face was full of dark lines listening to her. But this was typical for Night City—men striking up conversations with girls were almost always looking for that. It was normal for his abruptness to be misunderstood."Haha, don't misunderstand. I just want to get to know Maine; I'm looking to join a crew. Besides, Rebecca really is cute," Dante said, ruffling Rebecca's hair again."They're in the private room inside. Go fucking find them yourself.""Alright, bye-bye, Rebecca."With that, Dante handed Rebecca an apple.Rebecca froze."What is this?"...Now it was Dante's turn to be speechless. He didn't expect Rebecca not to know what an apple was.But it made sense—hardly anyone in this Worldrecognized it. Fruit in this World was rarer than gold."An apple. Try it—just eat it directly, it's crisp and delicious.""You didn't fucking spike this with drugs, did you? You that eager to take me home?"...How is this kid so precocious? Uh, wait, she isn't a kid—she's a year older than me. Rebecca should be 19 this year. She looks like a loli only because her growth stopped from installing cyberware when she was young."Just eat it already. Maine is right in this bar, what are you afraid of?""Tch, boring."Rebecca took a bite of the apple, and her eyes lit up instantly."Whoa! What the fuck is this? So sweet and delicious!"In two or three bites, she devoured the rest."Got any more? Fucking give me two more, I'll pay for them!""No more. I don't have many either. I don't need to tell you how rare fruit is in this city, right?""Then why did you give it to me?"Rebecca was dying of curiosity."Because you're cute. Don't worry, you don't owe me anything. Which private room is Maine in?""Come on, I'll take you over—just because you gave me delicious food, okay?"Rebecca walked over and kicked open the private room's door."Maine! Someone wants to join the crew!"Maine was so startled his drink glass flew into the air."Rebecca, can't you be a bit gentler? If you break the door, you pay for it!"As he spoke, Dante walked into the room.World exploration progress: 15%.'Whoa, huge gain!'Seeing Sasha, Dante was relieved.'Good, the cat girl is still here. No wonder I didn't see Lucy and Kiwi. Falco isn't here either—makes sense, Pilar served as the driver early on, while Falco was logistics.'Maine also looked towards Dante."Who are you?"
Chapter 4, Joining the Crew"Hello, Maine, nice to meet you. My name is Dante."Maine looked at Dante's overly familiar demeanor."Do we know each other?""No, but I know you all. Who doesn't know Maine's crew?"As he spoke, Dante took a watermelon out of his backpack."A little welcome gift for everyone since it's our first time meeting."Saying that, Dante placed the watermelon on the table and smashed it open with his hand, turning it into six watermelon slices that dropped onto the table."What is this?"Just as Maine was still dazed, Rebecca had already started eating."Watermelon, a kind of fruit. It has extremely high water and sugar content, and most importantly, it's completely unpolluted.""This..."Maine picked up a slice and handed it to Doriobeside him. Seeing how Rebecca was eating, Mainealso lowered his guard. Mainly, people in this world were mostly augmented—lungs and kidneys were basically mechanized, so they weren't afraid of poison. Besides, could a large group of them possibly be afraid of someone whose body was ninety-five percent original?Pilar didn't care about all that; seeing Rebeccaeating frantically, he wasn't about to lose and grabbed a slice to stuff into his mouth."Ooh hoo hoo, it's so damn sweet! It's a flavor I've never tasted before."In just a few bites, without even sparing the rind, he devoured the whole thing into his stomach.In contrast, Sasha and Dorio were much gentler, eating small bite by small bite.After tasting a couple of bites, Sasha was also pleasantly surprised."Delicious, truly a novel flavor."While eating, she greeted Dante, "Hello there, my name is Sasha."After finishing her piece, Rebecca reached her hand out toward Dante."Got any more? This isn't enough."Dante patted Rebecca's head and took out another watermelon, smashing it open."Yes, there's plenty. Eat as much as you want."Rebecca didn't mind Dante patting her head anymore and buried her head back into eating.Unlike the others, Maine thought much more. Although his mouth watered, he still hadn't started eating, instead asking Dante,"Wanting to join our crew isn't going to be enough just based on these things. How's your strength? How many gigs have you taken before?""My strength is alright, I suppose. Anyway, there's nothing in this city that can threaten me. As for gigs, I haven't taken any since I just arrived in this city."It ticked Maine off to the point of laughter."You've got a big mouth. I wonder if your skills can match your tone."Maine put his hand on the table, gesturing for Danteto come over.'Bro, you're arm-wrestling with Steve? This hand has the strength to lift sixty-four cubic blocks of gold.'Dante walked over and grabbed Maine's hand, while Dorio started the countdown nearby."Three... Two... One!"Dante didn't budge an inch, while Maine's face turned red from straining.'What the hell is this? This kid is so strong. Where does that strength come from when he looks so skinny?'The few people nearby had also finished their watermelons and came over to watch the show."Maine, are you fucking useless, did you not eat?"Pilar leaned in closer to look."Ah hahahaha, Maine, what's up with your face turning as red as a monkey's ass? Hahaha haha."Rebecca also joined in, laughing along from the side.Dorio could tell how much Maine was struggling, and Sasha covered her mouth with a chuckle nearby.Dante used a little bit of force and pinned Maine's arm down."So what if you're strong? Come on, let's spar."Angered, Maine stood up and walked out. Dantefollowed behind him to the open space behind the bar. Everyone else followed behind as well."Come on, I won't bully you. Seeing that you don't have any cyberware on you, I'll hold back a bit."Maine thought that although Dante was strong, his speed definitely wouldn't be fast, but he had thought wrong.Seeing this, the corners of Dante's mouth curved up. He placed the shield into his off-hand from his backpack. 'Hehe, with the shield out, I can even withstand a nuke.'Maine was dumbfounded upon seeing this."?"'Where did this kid pull that from?'Pilar didn't see clearly where Dante pulled it out from either."Kid! You're truly gifted!""Alright, stop messing around. Let's start already."Dorio was still acting as the referee nearby."Three... Two... One!"When she counted to one, Maine instantly rushed forward. Unfortunately, after getting close to Dante, no matter how he tried to grab him, he couldn't touch him at all.'Hitbox kid.'Maine kept being "pushed" away by Dante; how could he possibly manage to grab him?Seeing this, Maine threw a punch, but he was holding back his strength. With a thud, Dante didn't react at all and even stayed standing in place without moving."?" Now it was everyone else's turn to be dumbfounded.It was Dante's turn to attack. Although Dantewasn't equipped with anything in his hands, when he hit Maine that time, Maine flew backward. After all, Steve's attacks against creatures have knockback.But Maine didn't feel any pain either. Actually, according to the game's data, Maine was equipped with sub-dermal armor, which should have defense similar to vanilla iron armor. Dante couldn't see the specific values, but it was roughly about the same. If Dante used a diamond sword, he should be able to break through the defense. However, Dante didn't know what everyone else's health bars looked like anyway.Maine also knew that with this unknown weird ability, he couldn't even touch the opponent, let alone attack. He then smiled and said,"Hahaha, your strength is decent, Tian. Tomorrow, let's go out on a gig together to test the waters. Let's go, everyone, back inside to keep drinking. Welcome the new crew member."Seeing Maine in this embarrassing state, Pilarmocked him from the side."Oh haha, Maine, you fucking suck too. You didn't even touch the other guy once before conceding defeat."Seeing this, Maine didn't refute. However, Dorio was curious."Kid, how do you have so much strength when you're so skinny? I certainly know how strong my man is.""Oh my, it's just divine strength~ You guys can't learn it."After returning to the private booth, they finally saw Sasha. It looked like she hadn't gone out to watch the excitement earlier.Maine returned to his original seat."Tian, what kind of abilities do you have, or rather, what can you bring to my team? Let me introduce my team as well.""Me, Maine, heavy hitter, mainly responsible for offense and assigning positions.""This is Dorio beside me, our crew's second-in-command. When I'm not around, she takes my place.""This is Pilar, driver and tech modifier.""This is Rebecca, our mascot. Her personality is usually quite short-tempered.""Damn it, I'm fucking DPS! DPS, understand?!"Seeing this, Pilar burst out laughing."Hahaha, DPS? A brute is more like it.""Asshole, do you fucking want to die?"Saying that, Rebecca fired two shots at Pilar's hand cyberware."Alright, Rebecca, stop messing around. This last one is Sasha, our team's netrunner, mainly responsible for clean-up.""What about you? Introduce yourself."Dante thought about it. He was all-rounder, but he hadn't figured out how to introduce himself yet."Me... Pharmacist and fierce attacker.""A pharmacist?"Dante suddenly thought that since his equipment didn't show up on his appearance, he should make some Invisibility Potions. After all, in the vanilla game, even when invisible, monsters could still spot you; but now, Invisibility Potions would actually be useful. Moreover, because it was rule-based invisibility, infrared sensors probably wouldn't be able to detect it either.Thinking this, Dante took out a few bottles of potions and placed them on the table for everyone to inspect."Let me introduce them. This bottle is a Potion of Instant Healing." As he spoke, Dante took a knife out of his backpack and chopped off his own arm.The rest of people: "???"Then Dante picked up the potion and drank it, instantly growing a new arm back."???"Pilar and Rebecca instantly couldn't sit still and came over to Dante's side, grabbing Dante's arm and fiddling with it."Good god, how the fuck did you do that? Is the effect of this thing really this strong?"Dante took the opportunity to introduce further."This bottle is a Potion of Regeneration. The healing effect isn't as fast as the Instant Healing Potion from just now, but the healing is very lasting, slowly recovering over three minutes. Even if you only have a head left, three minutes later you'll return to your original appearance.""Uh, well, I can't say it returns you 100% to your original appearance though. After all, I don't know if cyberware will regenerate along with it; you might just grow back your original flesh and blood.""And this bottle, Swiftness Potion. After drinking it, it can boost your movement speed by forty percent for a minute and a half."Everyone was already too shocked to speak, and Maine was also looking at Dante in shock."Is this what the Eastern superpower is like? Why have I never heard of this kind of item before?""Of course there wasn't before, because only I can make them. Actually, I've sold these things in the city over the past couple of days. But the cost of these things isn't high, so everyone can use them casually."Maine grinned."The East, huh? Haha." He extended his hand toward Dante. "Pleasure working with you."Dante also extended his hand and shook hands with Maine."Please take good care of me."Right after the two finished shaking hands, Pilarcarried a few bottles of liquor into the private booth."Haha, welcome the new member!"Everyone raised their glasses: "Welcome the new member!""Hahaha, drink up freely, it's my treat today!"Dante shook his head. With his current physique, there was no such thing as getting drunk.He picked up the wine glass and took a sip, resulting in a Poison I 00:05 icon appearing in his inventory..."Tsk, looks like I can't drink alcohol."Maine watched Dante take a sip of the alcohol and put down the wine glass."What's wrong, not to your taste? Want to try a different kind of liquor?" Dante said sheepishly."Uh... It's fine, I'm a bit allergic. I won't drink anymore."He turned around and rubbed Rebecca's head."Rebecca, pour me some of your drink.""Here, and stop fucking touching my head!""Haha, got it, got it."After a while, everyone was happily drunk. Pilarhooked his arm around Dante's shoulder and tempted him."Let's go, want to check out the Red Light District? That place is fucking super exciting, oh.""Asshole bro, can you not corrupt the newcomer?"Dante refused."Forget it, I just rented a new place today. I'm going to get used to the new place. Where are we meeting tomorrow?"Maine thought for a moment..."I'll send you the location, an abandoned warehouse, tomorrow at noon.""Ok, then I'll head back first."Dante had been observing Sasha all day, but he didn't know when she would go to the Biotechnica building to steal the evidence; the specific time was unknown.'Holy shit, could it be these past couple of days?' Thinking this, Dante immediately turned into an alley, set up an iron door, and returned to the Main World.Returning to the Main World, Dante didn't stay idle. He immediately used golden carrots to brew twelve bottles of Night Vision potions, then put the Night Vision potions in and added fermented spider eyes to turn them into Invisibility Potions. After that, he added redstone dust.Thus, an eight-minute Invisibility Potion was completed. Dante then put gunpowder into it to turn it into a Splash Potion of Invisibility."Alright, foolproof. I guess I'll just have to be a stalker for a while."After returning to the Cyberpunk world, Dantethrew the Invisibility Potion down at his own feet. Dante instantly vanished from sight. Come to think of it, the particle effects on his body were also gone, probably because he turned off particle effects when he first created the save file. After all, if he didn't turn them off, that huge pile of fan machines at his home would have lagged Dante's computer to a crisp.Saying that, Dante equipped his elytra, took out some firework rockets, and instantly flew up to the rooftop. Come to think of it, although Dante was now completely transparent all over, the fireworks weren't transparent. However, suddenly hearing explosive sounds in Night City wasn't rare, nor would it attract anyone's attention."Good thing they didn't go far, better catch up quickly."
Chapter 5, CommissionDante moved invisibly across the rooftops, silently following behind Sasha.It was one o'clock in the morning; if Sasha returned to her own apartment, Dante would head back and stop tracking her."Wait a little longer; I'll make my move once she heads toward the Biotechnology building."As it turned out, Sasha did not head toward the Biotechnology building, but instead entered an apartment."She's gone into the apartment. Looks like it's not today; I'll wait some more."The Invisibility potion had worn off, but Dante didn't bother refreshing it. Anyway, he was just sitting on the rooftop and not moving."Should I just show my cards to Sasha tomorrow? Might as well just tell her the plot directly; otherwise, how long am I going to have to wait?"Dante actually wanted to be straight with Sashaand confront her tomorrow to explain the consequences. Even if Sasha asked, he could just say he had foresight."However, if Sasha is still in Maine's crew, then Kiwiand Lucy won't be able to join the crew. Urgh, my brain is itching so hard, it's about to grow a brain."Dante decided not to interfere after all, and would just carry her back to the Main World when Sashafailed her mission. Playing the hero saving the damsel was cliché, but it worked very well. However, if Biotechnica didn't find Sasha's body, they would most likely issue a city-wide bounty."Screw it, I'll hide a golden beauty first. By the time Sasha wants to appear in the public eye, Arasakawill have already kicked the bucket."Having decided that, the time reached three in the morning, and Dante felt relieved seeing that Sashastill hadn't come out.By five o'clock when the sun was about to rise, Dante smashed a bottle of Invisibility potion and rushed home, arriving in just a few dozen seconds."Elytra fly really fast. Uh, or rather, Night City is really small."According to the settings in the vanilla version of Minecraft, the Elytra could fly over seventy blocks per second, which was seventy meters per second—nearly two hundred and fifty kilometers per hour."Turns out I'm also guilty of flying truck-kun transport; no wonder Maelstrom turned into a bloody mist earlier."You had to know that the spear's damage depended on speed; at a speed of seventy blocks per second, it probably dealt eighty hearts of damage per poke.Back at home, Dante placed down the iron door and returned to the Main World. Anyway, time was paused, so Dante wasn't in a hurry."Make some Shulker Boxes and get a huge chestful of supplies."Saying that, Dante walked toward the Nether portal."Oh crap, I forgot. The portal was covered by a bedrock wall."Dante was speechless and could only build a new portal, going into the Nether to wander around for a long time to get over twenty Ghast Tears."This can be used for a long time; it should be enough."For convenience, Dante turned all the potions into Splash Potions so that one bottle of potion could be used by a group of people.Dante looked at the Shulker Box in his hand."Nine bottles of Instant Health, nine bottles of Regeneration, nine bottles of Invisibility."Another Shulker Box:"Nine bottles of Swiftness, nine bottles of Strength.""That's about it, it can be used for a long time."Dante returned to the Cyberpunk world and found that it was already six o'clock, still quite a while before the gathering time.Thinking about it, Dante sent a message to Jack: "Jack, do you have any gigs over there? Give me some action.""Brother, you really have great timing. I'll send you the location; I need to clear out a bunch of Scavengers here.""Alright, be right there."Dante went out and found a Delamain cab, getting inside."Good morning, Delamain. Head to this navigated location.""Hello. Considering this is your first time riding with our company, would you like to learn about our packages?""Package One is free. However, taxi rides cost money charged by distance, providing only an anti-theft body and AI dialogue.""Damn, you can even count this as a package? Aren't these two things something you already have by default?""Package Two, the Excellence Package: for only one million Eurodollars, you can become a permanent customer of our company.""This vehicle will provide full medical insurance, active medical scanning, combat mode, and free post-mortem corpse disposal. Even if you encounter danger, we will instantly call—""6, and it even covers burial? Don't tell me you're going to take me apart to recoup losses."Dante was speechless..."If I had one million, would I ride in this piece-of-junk car of yours? I could have Max-Tac escort me instead."In this world where you didn't know if you'd get a bullet to the head the next second, paying one million all at once was practically giving money to Delamain for a permanent package. Who could live that long?On second thought, 'Wait a minute, I don't have a lifespan, and I'm an immortal existence. Wouldn't buying it actually be quite profitable?'What Dante thought wasn't entirely unreasonable; as long as Delamain hadn't been dismantled by V, Dante could constantly exploit him.Delamain saw Dante's gaze and inexplicably felt a hint of chilliness, though he didn't know why an AI could feel chill."Sigh, whatever, I don't have that much money on hand right now."Delamain's split should happen in 2077; it hadn't started yet and would take a long time. You had to know that there was a destruction ending in the game. By then, if he kept Delamain around, the guy would most likely be his personal driver for life.Amidst his galloping thoughts, Dante arrived at the destination, stepping out of the car to see Jack."Brother, over here.""Jack, is it just you? With just the two of us, are those few Scavengers enough to split between us? Don't blame me for fighting you for the reward.""Hahaha, am I that kind of person? If my brother wants to find a gig, how could I let you not even get a sip of soup? Let's go, let's head to the destination and talk about the details on the way."Walking along, Dante also learned the details of the target: it was just a Scavengers hideout.There weren't many people inside, but the reward was quite high.However, Scavengers were the kind of universally despised scum in Night City that anyone would want to kick twice when they saw them—after all, you wouldn't want to leave even an intact corpse behind when you died.The reward for this mission was a full three thousand euros, but there weren't many people inside the hideout.I'm afraid the bounty issuer's friend had been harmed by this gang of Scavengers, otherwise such a small headcount would be worth more than this price.No wonder Jack dared to come alone; gigs with low risk and high pay like this were rare indeed.After arriving at the destination, Dante saw their full picture. This place was near the city outskirts, a basement in a hidden alleyway.Seeing this, Jack said:"Brother, can you hack the cameras?"Dante was speechless."Big bro, I just got my cyberware eyes installed yesterday, how would I know how to hack cameras? Besides, you dared to come alone without even a netrunner friend?""Sigh, once we kill everyone inside, no one will be around to see. Scavengers on the city outskirts like this generally don't have much backing. Even if we get caught on camera, we aren't afraid of retaliation. I just asked you because I was afraid they'd discover us in advance."Dante also nodded. Now that was an assassination."By the way, did the mission requirements ask to leave anything behind?""No, the client only told us to kill everyone.""Then that makes things easy."Dante simply walked to the open space behind the alley, took out a pickaxe, and started digging up the floor."??? Brother, what are you doing?""Hehe, since they didn't ask to leave anything behind, wouldn't it be great to just give them a big baby directly?"After digging two blocks, Dante exposed a cement slab, which should be the ceiling.Amidst Jack's shocked gaze, Dante dug open the ceiling and placed a TNT on it.Ignited."Jack! Get down!"Dante hugged Jack and tumbled to the side, only to hear chaotic noises coming from below."What's going on? What fell from the ceiling? Why is there something over there?"With a single "bang", the entire basement was blown wide open, and the people inside turned to ashes without even a chance to scream."Holy crap, the blast is so powerful."In the game, the explosion radius of TNT was four blocks; the high power here was probably also due to being in a confined space like a basement."Holy crap, brother, why did you make such a huge commotion? Fall back, fall back quickly, NCPD is going to come with a commotion this big!"Dante hadn't expected it to cause such a huge commotion either, and immediately took out a Swiftness potion and smashed it at their feet.Jack felt his legs suddenly become extremely light."Holy crap, what is this? Why am I suddenly running so fast?""Haha, a mysterious little potion, run!"The two of them ran all the way back to their previous meeting place."Hahaha, brother, that was too thrilling! It's a pity about the cyberware inside; taking it out could also sell for quite a bit of money. The client has already wired the money over, and I didn't put in much effort. How about a 20-80 split with me taking twenty and you taking eighty? I really had an awesome time tagging along with you this time.""Hahaha, forget it, let's do a 50-50 split. Without you, I couldn't have done this mission either."You had to know that fixers swallowed seventy percent of the reward when issuing missions; Jackwas still too kind-hearted."Hahaha, then let's go grab a couple of drinks to celebrate, my treat!""Let's go."Coming to Coyote Cojo Bar."Brother, this bar is my mom's. Come here often in the future, I'll give you a twenty percent discount."World Exploration: 16%Jack had the bartender get two drinks, but Danterefused."Forget it, get me a soda instead; I'm allergic to alcohol.""Brother, that won't do. A man who doesn't drink lives a life unfulfilled. Why don't you go find Viktorto install a metabolic editor for you? Then you'll be able to drink.""Hmm... I'll consider it later; I do have some thoughts about it."Come to think of it, Dante's cyberware eyes weren't afraid of netrunners either. Earlier when he took off his helmet, he discovered that his cyberware eyes were in the equipment slot behind the helmet. It seemed he could take them off, but there was a high probability he wouldn't be able to put them back on, and would only be able to go find Viktor to install them."Cheers, celebrating surviving another day in this crappy world.""Cheers."After finishing their drinks, it was already past ten o'clock. Should one call this a local specialty? Bars in this place opened even in the early morning.After leaving the bar, Dante headed to the Afterlife bar, going to a private room inside to wait for Maine's crew to arrive.
Chapter 6: First Mission with Maine's crewWhile Dante was zoning out in the private booth,"I'm so hungry! Couldn't you let me finish my meal before dragging me here? It's only eleven-thirty, you jerk of an older brother!"Right after, Pilar walked into the booth and saw Dante."Yo, you're here so early. Maine and the others won't arrive for a while.""Hey, aren't you guys here early too?"Rebecca instantly snapped."Damn it, who wants to come this early? If this idiot hadn't wanted to grab a couple of drinks and dragged me along, I wouldn't have even eaten yet, motherfucker!""Uh, do you really need to drink right before a mission?"Pilar offered an explanation."Sigh, it's fine. I'm not going to the front lines, I'm just driving. Kid, want a drink too?"Dante was speechless..."I'll pass, never mind, never mind."Drinking when you're about to drive is even more of a bad idea; classic Night City behavior, they say.Then, Dante took out a steak and handed it to Rebecca."Here, try this. Pure, all-natural, pollution-free delicious beef."Rebecca took it with her eyes shining."Whoa, it smells so good! I was about to starve to death."She grabbed it and shoved it straight into her mouth, patting Dante's shoulder while eating."Thanks, little bro. For being so nice, I've got your back!""..."Pilar burst out laughing instantly."Pfft, hahahaha! You've got *his* back? The strength he showed yesterday could take down a hundred of you, hahaha!""Bullshit! Fuck off!" Rebecca cursed as she drew her gun and aimed at Pilar.Dante grabbed Rebecca in a bear hug."There's no need for that, no need!"Seeing Rebecca still thrashing around, Dante picked up another steak and shoved it into her mouth."#@·,.:%&;～#""Finish eating before you talk, finish eating!" Dantesweatdropped, thinking this kid was truly hot-headed."So guhd!"Dante tossed another piece to Pilar: "Eat up, I've got plenty of these."Pilar caught it and stuffed it into his mouth. "Woohoo, this tastes amazing! It's ten thousand times better than those synthetic meats."Rebecca just sat in Dante's lap, eating non-stop.'Speaking of which, two pieces of this steak fill up my hunger meter. Can these people really eat this much?'After eating three pieces in a row, Rebecca rubbed her satisfied belly."Ah, so good! Where did you even get this? Compared to this, the synthetic meat we had last night is basically dog shit.""Local specialty. I'm the only one who has it around here."As they were talking, Maine walked in and saw Rebecca sitting on Dante's lap.'...Since when did those two get so close?' Maineraised the corner of his mouth at the sight.Dante also noticed this.'Damn, that maternal smile is giving me goosebumps. But Rebecca is pretty cute, though.'Thinking this, he rubbed the top of Rebecca's head.After Dorio and Sasha walked in, Maine began to speak."Alright, today is Dante's first time on a mission with our crew, so everyone look out for him a bit.""Now, to briefly go over today's mission: we're guarding the door for the Moxes. The cause is that a couple of days ago, the Tyger Claws set their sights on a doll. The doll refused, so she killed that Tyger Claws member. Now the Tyger Claws plan to demand an explanation from the Moxes.""So we just need to kill all the Tyger Clawsmembers who show up on the Moxes' turf."'Isn't this just a gang turf war? Hiring Edgerunnersfor this is basically cheating.'After Maine finished explaining, he brought up the payment distribution."Alright, that's the flow of the mission. We just need to hold down the fort for the afternoon, and pay will be split evenly as usual. Sound good?""No objections."Maine looked at Dante."I don't have any objections either.""Great, then it's settled. Pilar, drive. The rest will be arranged once we get to the location.""Wait."Saying that, Dante took out a shulker box and placed it on the table."Here, everyone take one bottle of each potion: Instant Health, Regeneration, Invisibility, Speed, Strength. As the names imply, their abilities are just like their names, so I won't explain too much.""And this."Dante pulled a golden apple out of another box."A golden apple. This has the combined effect of Instant Health and Regeneration, and it also increases your defense. I wouldn't call it invincibility, but eating one when you're heavily injured is basically equivalent to coming back from the dead."After everyone took the potions, Maine pondered the uses of these effects."Alright, we won't stand on ceremony with you then. You'll get a bigger cut of the payout after it's over. Anyone have any objections?""Nope.""Great, let's move out."Dante walked slowly behind the team and approached Sasha."Hello there, Miss Cat.""Ah, hello.""How come you look so glum, like you've got something on your mind?"Seeing this, Rebecca chimed in too."Yeah, Sasha, you haven't been talking much these past few days."Sasha answered with a guilty conscience,"Um... No, not really. I'm just a bit shy since there's a newcomer in the team."Seeing that, Rebecca didn't ask any further and hopped into the vehicle.Seeing Sasha like this, Dante didn't press either. She probably didn't know about that mission yet; could it be her period?After Sasha and Dante successively got into the vehicle, Pilar started the engine and they arrived at the destination before long."Right here is the spot. We just need to hold down this street. Sasha, hack the cameras to check the movements. Everyone, don't hold back later—kill any Tyger Claws you see.""Received."Dante was about to ask if the Moxes were ruthless enough not to fear burning bridges with the Tyger Claws, when he suddenly remembered the two gangs had a blood feud and tore into each other on sight.Turf-guarding missions were the most boring; you could only wait right here.Near dusk, the sound of motorcycles approaching from afar could be heard.Maine reminded everyone in the team comms."They're here."Dante couldn't wait any longer."Leave it to me, these small fries."With that, he smashed an Invisibility Potion at his own feet, equipped his elytra, and flew up.The Tyger Claws members were still laughing when they saw fireworks."Hahaha, have these chicks gone crazy? Pulling out this flare signal nonsense. Should I also have you girls set off some fireworks for me in bed after I take you down, to spice things up? Ha..."Just as this member was still laughing, he suddenly exploded."?????"The nearby members saw something was wrong and immediately stopped their vehicles, but it was too late. Following that, the rest of the thugs turned into bloody mists one by one. Seeing the situation go south, some started running backwards.Seeing this, Maine was just about to raise his gun when he suddenly noticed that the person running away also exploded, and immediately asked in the squad channel,"Dante? Was that you?""Yup.""Wait, you... how did you pull that off? What weapon? We only heard a sound like fireworks and they just burst open.""Ahahaha, I'm invisible, so it's normal that you can't see me. By the way, can your thermal imaging sensors see me? I'm standing right in the middle of the main road."Everyone looked at the shoe prints Dante left on the middle of the road as if they had seen a ghost."Can't see you. Thermal imaging is useless."At that, Dante was relieved."Good to know."Then Sasha used some netrunning tricks."However, I can see the signal of your neural connection.""Uh, looks like if I want to play a stealth build, I'll have to remove my cyberware."Right after, Dante drank a bucket of milk, and everyone was startled to see him suddenly appear.Rebecca immediately bounded over at the sight."Holy shit, is this magic? When you said you were invisible earlier, I thought it was optical camo.""You can just think of it as magic. That's a pretty good explanation."Rebecca's eyes lit up."Can I use it too? Then I can turn invisible too!""Of course you can. Didn't I give you a bottle earlier? Just try it and you'll find out. This stuff isn't anything precious to me."Hearing this, Rebecca took it right out and shoved it into her mouth. As a result, it shattered when it hit her teeth, giving her a huge scare."What the hell? I hadn't even drunk it yet, where did the potion go?"Dante couldn't see her anymore."It's already taken effect. The potions I give you are all splash-type; you just throw them at your own feet to use them. Look, you're already invisible now."Rebecca was ecstatic upon realizing this, turned right around, and punched her older brother."Hey, you little Rebecca! Using me as a guinea pig, huh?"Sasha poured cold water on Rebecca's excitement."If Rebecca uses it, thermal imaging can still see her outline."Dante realized then that he could hardly be considered a normal human, so where would body heat even come from? Without mods, there simply wasn't any.Rebecca lost all enthusiasm to play around after hearing that."Augh, then why couldn't you see Dante? What's the point of this thing if you can't even use it in combat?""Maybe... I'm just special."Pilar was disappointed too."Sigh, and here I was thinking of using this stuff to sneak into the women's bathhouse."Hearing this, Rebecca drew her pistol and smacked Pilar over the head."Dammit, you piece of shit with a brain full of filth, absolutely disgusting."Rebecca looked around for Dante but couldn't find him, because she had also caught Dante in the splash radius when she used the potion earlier."Hey, how do you undo this potion?""Uh, I only had one dose of the antidote, and I drank it myself. But it'll wear off after a little while. The potion only lasts for eight minutes.""Fine, whatever."Rebecca gave up and went to sit nearby.A few more groups of Tyger Claws came later, and they were all wiped out by Dante without taking a single scratch—well, can't really say without a scratch, mainly because the shots they fired at Dante couldn't outpace his health regen.Seeing the previous batches of members go in and die instantly without even firing a few shots, the later Tyger Claws members didn't even dare to show up.As the sun set, the mission was successfully completed.After everyone got back in the vehicle, they headed to the Turbine Bar to grab a drink together.Pilar was acting goofy in the crowd, while Rebeccasat by Dante's side, eating fruit fed by him.Maine walked over and transferred the payment to Dante."Here, I've transferred the money to you."Dante received a full two thousand five hundred eddies right then and there."So much?""This is already one of the few big gigs. The next few days will probably just be small jobs. That spot I gave you earlier is our usual hideout."Dante nodded.Seeing this, Maine winked at Dante before turning around to hang out with Dorio.? Dante was puzzled.Then, looking at Rebecca beside him, he understood and patted Rebecca's head."I'm heading out first. I don't drink, so I don't really fit in with them. Send me your place's location, and I'll drop off some cookies and pumpkin pie tomorrow.""What's that?"Rebecca was already immune to Dante head-pats by now; she'd follow anyone with food."Something delicious. See ya, bye-bye.""Bye."Sasha, sitting nearby, also sidled up to Rebecca."Bye-bye, Rebecca, I'm heading out too.""Alright, I still gotta stay here and wait for my jerk of a brother."Hearing the voices behind him, Dante walked into an alleyway, threw down a bottle of invisibility potion, and flew up into the sky.
Chapter 7: SandevistanDante was still standing on the rooftop, gazing out at Sasha. After waiting for her all night, he found that she still hadn't made any moves.Early the next morning, Dante returned to the Main World. After preparing cookies and pumpkin pie, he immediately headed back to Cyberpunk.Then he came to Watson, the place where Rebeccaand her brother lived. Finding the corresponding door, he knocked on it.(In this novel, when walking to places that don't take up much screen time in the plot, I won't mark the exploration rate. Otherwise, adding 0.1 for every place you walk to is super annoying and just pads the word count.)After a short while, Rebecca suddenly jerked the door open and jammed a pistol straight toward Dante's head, but she lowered the gun when she saw clearly that it was Dante."Ouch~ So early, I haven't woken up yet~ Ha ah~~"Rebecca greeted him while yawning.Dante took out a cookie and waved it in front of Rebecca."Hehe, we agreed I'd treat you to breakfast this morning.""Wow, it smells so good!"Rebecca took it with her eyes shining brightly.Come to think of it, it was strange. The pixel-styled cookies in his inventory instantly turned three-dimensional the moment he took them out, and they even had a scent. Maybe it was to adapt to this world? But the blocks he placed down were still the same as before; only the food was like this. Dantehad already noticed this anomaly back when he was handing out watermelon slices to everyone at the bar."Uh, where's your brother?""He drank too much last night and is sleeping like a dead pig. He won't wake up until noon."Dante patted Rebecca on the head."Alright then, I'll leave a bit more for you. Share some with your brother when he gets up, and I'll be heading out first."Rebecca looked drowsy."Good, good night.""Uh, this kid is most likely still half asleep."After stepping outside, Dante looked around and wondered if he should find Jack to take on some more jobs?"Seriously, money is so useless to me. I don't need to eat, drink, or install cyberware. Otherwise..."The more Dante thought about it, the more feasible it felt. Immediately, he threw a bottle of Invisibility potion at himself, soared straight up into the air, and flew towards Pacifica.Dante thought of Dogtown in Pacifica, which had a large black market. He could exchange gold nuggets for some eddies. Even though he didn't need them himself, he couldn't afford to have none.According to the conversion ratio of a one-cubic-meter gold block in Minecraft, one gold block equals eighty-one gold nuggets. Therefore... a single gold nugget weighs over four hundred jin..."Can I smash people to death with this stuff? Hmm... beaten to death by money, what a glorious way to go."That was how the math worked out, but he just wasn't sure about the exact dimensions and specs.While flying, he suddenly remembered that he didn't seem to know the way. Although he could find a map inside his optics, Dante didn't know the exact location of the black market.Dante immediately landed and called a Delamain cab."Good morning, sir. I am pleased to be of service. Would you like to purchase our pac—""Stop, stop, stop! Old Del, shut up for a second. Didn't you already pitch that to me last time, and you're doing it again? Cut the crap. Can you go to the black market in Dogtown? I need to sell some cargo there.""Very well, sir. Navigating for you now. This trip is estimated to cost 450 eddies."Dante didn't care anymore. Once he sold some gold nuggets, money would basically become a cracked version.After half an hour, they arrived at the destination. After getting out of the car, Dante found the black market inside."How much do you buy gold blocks for?"The humanoid creature inside replied, "750 eddies each.""No need to weigh them?""No matter how heavy, it's 750 eddies a piece."Seeing this, Dante was amused to the point of anger."Damn it, no wonder it's called a black market—it's seriously pitch black."Seeing this, Dante took a stack of gold ingots from his inventory, divided them into nine groups of gold nuggets, and placed them in front of the merchant. A towering golden mountain piled up.This also made Dante realize that the weight of the gold nuggets was different from what he had imagined. Based on his conversion, these must have weighed over a hundred tons, yet they didn't even crush the table. It seemed a single gold nugget only weighed a few grams after all."There are 576 in total. Count them."The merchant was completely shocked. Such a large quantity was rare, but he wouldn't ask too many questions. Anyone who came here was a smuggler, and he didn't care about origins—only whether there was a profit."Are you sure you're selling all of them? That's 432,000 eddies in total."As if he was afraid Dante would go back on his word, he quickly collected all the gold nuggets.After receiving the money, Dante turned around and walked out. Although they sold some useful cyberware here, it was likely all tainted, and Dantefound it disgusting. Dante didn't want to install any more cyberware anyway; just installing one Sandevistan would be enough. He could just snatch David's piece later and install it.He just wasn't sure if he would be monitored. Dantevaguely remembered that there seemed to be Militech surveillance on that thing.Thinking about it, Dante suddenly turned back to look for that merchant and bought the Apogee-type Sandevistan."I was just calling them disgusting a moment ago, but thinking about it now, it smells pretty sweet. However, I don't know if this thing has a Militechtracker. They seem to be collecting data on this stuff.""Whatever, I'll take it one step at a time. I'll go find Viktor and have him install it for me."Afterwards, Dante came out and didn't look for the Delamain again, choosing to walk back instead. As he walked, he watched the exploration rate tick up bit by bit. Soon, Dante noticed quite a few people following behind him."The consequence of showing off wealth. Well, they can just serve as an extra snack."After walking to an open area, Dante picked up some firework rockets and flew up into the sky.After a while, one of Dante's shulker boxes was stuffed full of weapons."Look at that, how nice the people here are. Seeing me leave, they even gave me some local specialties."Although firearms were completely useless to Dante, they might come in handy later. Even if useless, he could keep them as a collection.By the time Dante arrived in Little Chinatown, the exploration rate had reached 23%."It's growing a bit slowly. Oh well, take it slow. By the way, what is this thing even used for? Could it unlock mods?"Dante stopped pondering and entered Viktor's clinic. Passing by Misty, he greeted her as well. Jackwasn't here, looking like he had gone off on another job.It was already noon, and Maine still hadn't sent a message; most likely there were no jobs. That's just how Edgerunners were—on again, off again.Arriving at the basement, he greeted Viktor."Viktor, long time no see. Have you sold out of the medicine?"Viktor saw that it was Dante."It's only been a few days and it's already a long time no see? I haven't sold many bottles of medicine, but in a couple of days, repeat customers should pick up. Bring me another batch.""Alright, I'll bring you two boxes tomorrow. The reason I'm looking for you this time is to have you install some cyberware for me. I can't trust any other ripperdocs."After handing the Sandevistan to Viktor, Dante took off his equipment and lay facedown on the operating table."Where'd you score this cargo? The price must've been pretty high.""A Militech experimental prototype, bought from someone else at a high price." Dante wouldn't dare tell Viktor that he bought it at the black market; what if Viktor refused to install it for him then? Viktor hated scum from the black market the most.Hearing this, Viktor didn't ask any further and set to work installing it for Dante.After a while, Dante stood up, adapted to it for a moment, felt his back, and activated it. Instantly, the surroundings seemed to slow down, and he walked behind Viktor."Oh? You adapted so quickly. It seems this cyberware really suits you.""Alright, stop teasing me. I'll owe you the installation fee for now; we'll deduct it from the payment when I bring you the medicine tomorrow.""Fine."After coming out, Dante used the Sandevistan a few more times and found that there didn't seem to be any cooldown.When Dante triggered it for the fifth consecutive time, he started losing health. After filling his hunger bar back up, his health began to regenerate. Danteused it once more; this time he lost one heart, and using it again added another half heart. "At this rate, the damage increases by a bit each time, which means I can use it continuously 23 times. This should be my daily limit. Good thing it doesn't drain my maximum health, otherwise it'd be tricky.""Speaking of which, it'd probably work even better with leg cyberware installed. Oh well, no need; I can just drink a potion of swiftness then."Walking along, Dante tested how many times he could use the Sandevistan while moving. Sure enough, on the 23rd time, it drained 19 health points from Dante."This is the limit. Each time lasts six seconds, which means I can have 138 seconds of continuous acceleration. Awesome!"After a little while longer, Dante suddenly remembered something. He ate a golden apple and used the Sandevistan once more, wanting to see if golden health could be deducted instead of regular health. Anyway, with a Totem of Undying in his off-hand, it wouldn't matter even if he died.As a result, Dante discovered that this time, no health was deducted at all."???""Wait, didn't you say it was for tomorrow?" "Oh right, a day for Steve is twenty minutes." Back in the Main World, he often didn't sleep and had no sense of time at all.As he spoke, Dante continued frantically using the Sandevistan to hurry along. When he reached the 23rd use, he ate a golden apple, and then pulled off the 24th use.Looking at his remaining two hearts, Dante smiled."I remember Adam Smasher can only use the Sandevistan three times in a row, lasting only 18 seconds. When the time comes, I'll trap him with obsidian and fill a whole room with TNT. Hahaha!"That was a bit evil. Dante reined it in a bit and returned home. After setting up the iron door, he went back to the Main World to prepare a box of Instant Health and a box of Regeneration for Viktor. Although Dante didn't care about such trifling amounts, he couldn't put Viktor in a difficult spot either. He couldn't have Viktor just getting some repeat customers only to find out there was no stock left to buy."Speaking of which, Viktor's shop doesn't get many customers, so these should last quite a while."Just like that, he continued tracking Sasha at night. The next morning, he went to deliver some food to Rebecca, and in the afternoon, he delivered the two boxes of medicine to Viktor. At night, he tracked Sasha once more."Damn it, when will this ever end? I never knew the exact time Sasha started either; I only knew it was at night."But Dante was just complaining a bit. Back in the Main World, things were much more boring than this; after building his house, Dante would just zone out.Shortly after, on the third day, he received a message from Maine."Tian, gather at the warehouse stronghold. Small job.""Received, heading over now."Coincidentally, Dante was in Rebecca's room feeding her some food. "Let's go, we'll set off once you finish eating.""Mhm mhm, almost done." Having been fed over the past two days, Rebecca's speech had become much gentler.Pilar was also sitting back and watching the show. Of course he knew what Dante's intentions were, and moreover, when he invited Dante to the red-light district several times, Dante never tagged along. This made Pilar look at Dante with a bit more respect. Therefore, Pilar was quite willing to hand Rebecca over to Dante, and besides, he had also hitched a ride on Rebecca's coattails these past two days, eating well every day.Dante simply had no idea what Pilar was thinking; if he did, he would really want to cry foul. What kind of unappealing wrecks were in the red-light district? He couldn't bring himself to touch them.