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"Come on, over here, I'll check your bodies," Tiger Woman said, specifically looking at Rebecca. "Especially you, little girl, you look quite serious."
"Don't you dare call me little!" Rebecca immediately flared up. How short-tempered could she be with outsiders? How could she tolerate Tiger Woman calling her a little girl?
Rebecca was known to curse and shoot back even when Adam Smasher was practically on top of her. Thus, being easily provoked and losing her head when provoked was always Rebecca's biggest problem.
But a hand covered Rebecca's mouth, making her whimper instead.
Dorio said apologetically, "Sorry, our kid here is a bit rude…"
Tiger Woman just smiled at this, her eyes lingering on Rebecca for a few more moments.
Shoko also looked at Rebecca with a strange expression, then at Tiger Woman.
Shoko's face under his helmet broke into a smile. Hey, don't tell me, they really are alike… these two.
Then, leaving Shoko's room, Tiger Woman led everyone to the fortress's infirmary.
A large amount of high-end equipment filled the room, all instruments that no one recognized, but Pilar could identify them. After handing Rebecca over to the doctor, he eagerly went to inspect the equipment.
"This is our captain's room, and these devices, like the room you just visited, were all provided by our boss," Tiger Woman said, hands on her hips.
She then began to direct, "Come on, everyone except Jax and the two Netrunners, get a physical examination to prevent cyberware damage and unusual human mutations. Especially you, big guy, you look like you're not far from going crazy."
"What do you mean?" Maine mumbled, a bit displeased.
Dorio, on the other hand, immediately looked at Tiger Woman. She had always been worried about this issue. As Maine's closest person, having had intimate contact, Dorio was the one most aware of Maine's physical condition.
Jax also looked over, and saw Tiger Woman smile and say, "It's exactly what it sounds like, big guy. Let me ask you, do you sometimes find your cyberware suddenly malfunctioning? Unusable?"
Maine fell silent. Before meeting Jax, his cyberware often had problems, but after getting to know Jax and upgrading to an advanced hand cannon at Viktor's, Maine hadn't encountered such problems again.
He had always thought it was due to installing inferior cyberware, not a problem with himself.
Especially now that he had Sandevistan installed, if his body really had problems and couldn't handle it, then he should have gone crazy a long time ago.
Seeing Maine's silence, Tiger Woman continued, "Naomi, our captain, is an extremely excellent doctor. She has received invitations from Zetatech, Biotechnica, Storm Tech, and other companies. I'm telling you this to let you know how amazing she is, so you can believe what I'm about to say."
"First of all, our captain has researched this disease. So-called Cyberpsychosis isn't actually caused by installing too much cyberware and people going crazy. Look at me, the cyberware on all of you combined isn't as crazy as mine alone, but why am I fine?"
Everyone looked at Tiger Woman.
The beautiful Tiger Woman extended a finger and continued, "It's because of technology and environment."
"Excessive cyberware installation, especially inferior cyberware, can cause physiological diseases in the body. This is a problem unrelated to the social environment."
Tiger Woman walked over to Rebecca, who had already been placed on the operating table. Several doctors surrounded Rebecca, one giving her inhibitors, one transfusing blood, and one removing her scrapped implants and scattered flesh.
This scene looked truly terrifying, and Tiger Woman reached out and touched Rebecca's cheek, then continued:
"But I'm not saying that the high pressure of the social environment has no role in fostering Cyberpsychosis. Among the Cyberpsychosis patients our captain investigated, ten out of ten were lower-class people—either retired veterans, nomads, or mercenaries. In short, there were no powerful elites."
"She likened it to drinking alcohol. Installing cyberware is like consuming alcohol. If you consider the quality of cyberware as the quality of alcohol, everyone's tolerance is different.
Some people are naturally immune to a thousand cups, while others get drunk after two. But what if it's regulated externally beforehand?
For example, by drinking sobering medicine or undergoing special training."
"In short, this has become a field of study. Learning to release emotions, maintain physical health, and avoid frequently overloading cyberware during use are several good ways to avoid becoming Cyberpsychotic."
Tiger Woman spoke a lot in one breath.
As she was speaking to everyone, Shoko's voice suddenly rang out in the room.
"Jax, my boss is looking for you," Shoko said.
Jax glanced at Tiger Woman. Tiger Woman shrugged, standing in front of Rebecca, and said with a smile, "Go on, they're safe here."
Jax nodded, said thanks, and then walked out the door towards Shoko's house.
As soon as he reached the door, it opened.
On the large screen in the middle, Arasaka Michiko saw Jax and immediately said:
"Jax, I agree to this deal. Two years, you must become the King of Mercenaries in Night City within two years. If you and your crew don't meet my requirements by then, then all of you must work for me."
"Don't worry, salaries will be paid as usual. I won't discriminate against you because of your current choice, because I'm not short on money at all. If money can buy loyalty, then I'm willing to spend countless amounts of it."
Michiko rested her chin on her hand, smiling, and said, "But I have a prerequisite."
"Please state it," Jax said.
"You cannot install advanced cyberware, not even one. You must maintain your current state, and then… become someone like Morgan Blackhand.
No, even stronger than him, after all, he still needs a lot of high-tech equipment to act. How about it?"
"Yes, I agree," Jax nodded.
"Then it's settled. You and your crew will stay in this base for this period. You can use anything you want, and Tiger Woman and Shoko will accompany you for one month."
Jax heard this and asked, "So we can't go back to Night City for this month?"
"Yes, actually, it could be a bit sooner, but a month is best," Michiko nodded. She then continued, "I've already arranged for artists and contacted several variety shows. I've also spoken with Channel 54.
They will use various sensational news, world events, corporate insider information, and gossip stories about legendary figures to divert attention.
During this month, I will dilute the impact you caused in Night City, and I will tarnish your reputation. I need to tell you this in advance.
Because you cannot have an anti-corporate persona right now; that would bring you too much trouble.
So, a few executives from Arasaka's Night City branch will come out and say that they hired you to do this, and that Tanaka's death was due to his private misconduct, a liquidation from the company.
As for the things you said, well, they are a bit troublesome, but public opinion and trends are very easy to manipulate. Words spoken can also be changed at will, so you don't need to worry."
Michiko spoke in one breath.
She had arranged more than what she discussed with Jax, but there was no need to explain everything in detail to Jax.
Anyway… a month later, Jax and Maine's crew would be able to return to Night City, and they wouldn't have to hide; they could return openly.
"Can this work?" Jax hesitated a little.
"Questioning me?" Michiko narrowed her eyes, lowered the hand supporting her chin, and ran her fingers through her long hair at her forehead, then said, "In this regard, I am an expert."
"Whether it's Night City or elsewhere, many pieces of news emerge every day. Humans can't process so much information at once, because the human brain simply can't handle it.
If you ask me, it's like a gust of wind. Once it blows past, the fallen leaves are carried away, and everything takes on a new look.
People's attention is very easily diverted, Jax. This is how the world is, or rather, it's how corporations have made the world. Online, in the news, and even in the real world, often the last thing humans hear becomes the direction they follow.
They have long since lost the ability to think, only blindly following media messages, listening to what corporations want them to hear, doing what corporations want them to do, even emotions like anger are manipulated."
Michiko smiled beautifully, with the composure of a superior: "So, what I say, goes."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
"Then that's settled. I have other matters to attend to. If anything comes up, well… you can contact me directly. This is my number." Michiko thought for a moment and decided to give Jax her phone number.
After all, she had already invested in this guy.
Jax added Michiko's contact information, looking at the person with the highest authority in his contacts, Jax was momentarily stunned.
Many players in the game had pondered one thing: if V had Yorinobu's phone number, what kind of story would 2077 become?
And now… at the end of 2075, he had Arasaka Michiko's phone number.
In some ways, Arasaka Michiko was no worse than Yorinobu, right?
In fact… Jax felt that Yorinobu, the uncle, was not as good as his niece, Arasaka Michiko!
In the evening, at the Jaguar's fortress, Jax and everyone else arrived at the restaurant together.
Rebecca and Maine didn't come; they were still undergoing treatment, replacing their internal implants. All the money for this was paid by Michiko.
Those implants were all top-tier. After everyone had already upgraded their prosthetics at Viktor's, they were already well-equipped. But now, unexpectedly, having gotten involved with Michiko, their prosthetics were about to become even more advanced.
Take Rebecca's new skin, for example. That skin wasn't ordinary synthetic skin; it had a certain defensive capability, able to withstand stray bullets. Regular ripperdocs couldn't even get their hands on this kind of thing. To put it plainly, it was military-grade.
In a corner of the cafeteria, Pilar swallowed, looking at the hall full of girls, incredibly excited.
This fortress was a branch of the Moxes in Night City, used for guarding Militech and Arasaka while also serving as a training base for the Moxes. Therefore, besides doctors and technicians, everyone you saw was a beautiful girl.
Eating high-protein synthetic meat, Jax quickly finished his meal and stood up, intending to check on Rebecca.
But just as he stood, Jax was called out by someone.
"There's something I want to talk to you about," Lucy said softly, standing up and tugging on Jax's sleeve.
Turning to look at Lucy, Jax was momentarily stunned, then nodded at her.
Kiwi saw this, taking big gulps of her energy drink, but didn't say a word.
Inside Training Room Number Three of the Jaguar squad, Jax and Lucy arrived.
Tiger Woman and Shoko had not set any restricted areas for Jax and the others, because Michiko had already said that the equipment in this fortress was available for them to use.
"Is the only reason you didn't agree to Arasaka Michiko joining Arasaka really just for pride?"
Sitting on a bench on the steps, Lucy smoked a cigarette and asked Jax.
"...I hate corporations," Jax said after a moment's thought.
Lucy had a connection with Arasaka, so her suddenly approaching him to talk should also be about Arasaka.
It wasn't to humor Lucy, but because Jax truly hated corporations from the bottom of his heart. Even a corporation like Kang Tao, Jax despised.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, Kang Tao was quite good, but in the eyes of Jax, a transmigrator, all the corporations in this world were cut from the same cloth. Every single one of them, burning them down and smashing them up, would be absolutely correct.
"I don't want to have contact with corporations. If I could, I wouldn't even be willing to do business for corporations, but that's impossible. As a mercenary, later on, all the jobs you take are from corporations, so... actually, I'm quite lost, Lucy. Sometimes I don't know what to do either," Jax said with a sigh.
Lucy turned her head, looking at Jax's profile, then she brought her legs together, hugged them, and said, "You asked me before if I was a noble young lady, and you also asked me why I wanted to go to the moon."
Jax looked at Lucy.
"Actually, I really am considered a noble young lady," Lucy buried her head, hiding her face, and in a faint voice, she began to recount her story:
"My father was a high-ranking executive at Arasaka's Poland branch, holding a higher position than Tanaka, as the director of cybersecurity. My mother was a formidable hacker. I was born into that kind of family.
From a young age, I loved computers. My father and mother would teach me about them, and I was very willing to learn. Life back then was truly wonderful. The school was beautiful, and my friends were all children of the powerful. My life's direction was set from birth. In the future,
I would definitely go to Arasaka and become a senior hacker for Arasaka.
But all of this changed when I was eight years old... I accidentally discovered a secret on my father's computer, and then, then I was sent to a secret facility.
I lived with a group of children my age. During the day, we were sent into dark server rooms, lying in glass cabinets connected to network cables. At night, we squeezed into small rooms, chatting about our dreams, our eyes filled with hope."
Lucy's voice grew softer and softer: "And after a period of training, we were sent to the Old Net, as scavengers, as a suicide squad, searching for the technology and knowledge lost in the Old Net."
That world was dangerous, filled with countless crises. One careless mistake, and you would be torn to shreds in cyberspace.
More and more children died in the server rooms, and we... finally gathered the courage to resist. We planned, stunned the adults guarding us, and then escaped.
But Arasaka's agents chased us. At first, we ran together as a group, but later, we split up. I could hear my companions crying out behind me, but I didn't look back."
Lucy lifted her head, gave a self-deprecating laugh, and said, "Poland is truly cold. The wind on the badlands was bone-chilling, but I could only keep running, running for my life.
Loneliness, solitude, fear... I had no direction then, no hope. A child worse than a wild weed, with no one to rely on, tears streaming down her face but not daring to make a sound.
Until I couldn't run anymore and lay down on the badlands, I thought, 'Why not just give up?' But when I looked at the sky, through my blurry vision, I saw the moon. It was shining on me, radiating its light towards me."
Jax listened quietly, watching Lucy.
She continued, "At that moment, a thought came to me: go somewhere where there are no people, go to the moon."
"That's why I want to go to the moon. I've always been pursued by Arasaka, Jax."
Lucy looked at Jax, then seriously continued, "To avoid Arasaka's agents, I've been to so many places, more than I can count. I've been on the run for over ten years. I want to go to a place where there is no Arasaka, but... I've never been able to find such a place."
"The only place without them is the East, China, but they wouldn't accept someone like me. I couldn't get in at all. So, I came to Night City. Arasaka's rule here is very small because there are so many corporations here. Night City is indeed very good."
"Then today, I realized it was all my own presumption," Lucy's face showed even more mockery.
"Arasaka's people never even paid attention to me. She, Arasaka Michiko, when I saw her today, I thought I would be captured by her and taken back to Arasaka. I kept my head down, avoiding her gaze, but... she never looked at me once from beginning to end."
"If, if Arasaka truly never cared about me, then Jax, can you tell me what exactly I've been running from for these past ten-plus years? All my efforts during these years, wanting to survive... what was it all for?"
Lucy looked at Jax, asking very seriously.
She needed someone to tell her what all the things she had done over the years... truly meant.
She needed to release her emotions, and she couldn't find anyone else to talk to, so she could only turn to Jax.
So, she found Jax.
When she went to Japantown with Maine's crew, Lucy had actually already prepared to be discovered, but compared to endless fleeing, she truly wanted a place of her own, and Jax... gave her that hope.
Did she truly like the moon that much?
Perhaps.
But the moon truly symbolized only a yearning deep in Lucy's heart... a yearning for a place of her own, where she wouldn't have to flee and hide anymore.
Jax propped himself up with his hands behind him, leaning back, and looked straight ahead.
Too much had happened today.
Just this morning, he was still at Lucy's house, talking with Lucy about Braindance, then attacking the Tyger Claws in Japantown with Maine and his crew, then killing Tanaka, and then... being pursued by Arasaka agents, and now being brought to the Jaguar fortress by Michiko's people.
Actually, Jax was also dizzy; too many things had happened, and he couldn't process them all.
In fact, for the first time, Jax so urgently wished he could become stronger.
He truly wanted to protect many people, wanted to protect the Moxes, protect Sasha, protect Maine, Jackie, Rebecca, Dorio, Kiwi, protect... Lucy.
"I say, Lucy."
"Hmm?"
"Want to go to the moon together?"
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9
"Just watching in Braindance isn't much fun. If there's a chance..." Jax turned to look at Lucy, raising his right hand.
He didn't know how to comfort Lucy, because Jax hadn't experienced what Lucy had. Her childhood had brought her immense trauma, but Jax had transmigrated and met Susie Q and Kolina.
The Moxes protected him very well.
So, Jax couldn't find the words to console Lucy.
Then... let's try a different way.
Extending his pinky finger towards Lucy, Jax smiled:
"Let's go to the moon together."
Lucy stared at Jax, stunned, her unfocused eyes sharpened, then brightened, but she immediately lowered her head again.
"Jax, has anyone ever told you that you really... are only suitable for being an emotional trash can?"
"You only listen, you don't speak."
Burying her face in her knees, Lucy extended her left hand, then hooked her pinky finger with Jax's.
She mumbled, "We've made a promise."
"Mm, it's a promise," Jax said with a smile.
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