18: The battle is over, and I get to know V

Fang Yun maintained his powerful posture, closed the "Void Walker", and thought to himself:

"With my entrance like this, I should be able to easily handle Valentine, who hasn't seen much of the world."

"This move was very cool. No doubt about it."

...

Just as Fang Yun expected, Valentine, who saw him instantly take down three Nightwalkers, was now staring at Fang Yun through his lenses, dumbfounded.

Toke, who had been hiding behind cover since the miniature rocket Fang Yun fired exploded, anxiously asked Valentine on the team's communication channel:

"Valentine! What happened?! Why is there no movement from the other side? Did you blow them all up with a grenade, or did a third party intervene?"

Valentine, recovering from his shock, shook his head and replied to Toke via the team communication:

"Uh... um..."

Toke urged him somewhat anxiously:

"Oh, stop stammering and tell me quickly what happened."

Valentine organized his slightly chaotic thoughts and put his words together:

"A powerful mercenary (should be a mercenary?), whose allegiance is unknown, suddenly appeared behind those Nightwalkers and took them all out."

"I didn't see how he appeared. It was just a blink of an eye, and he was there. And, he instantly killed three Nightwalkers."

"Since he chose to kill the Nightwalkers instead of us, he should be friendly. ...At least I hope he's neutral."

"Judging by the speed of his appearance, he must have Sandiwestan installed on him, and it's definitely military-grade. No, it might even be stronger than military-grade."

"This is troublesome now, Toke. Do we need to greet him first?"

"..."

Hearing what Valentine said, Toke was also shocked by the powerful Fang Yun. He was silent for a moment, then spoke with difficulty:

"...According to your observation, his strength should be very high. Hiding all the time isn't a solution."

"He definitely knows our location. Since he hasn't shown any malice towards us, we can't keep hiding without moving."

"...Sigh."

After sighing, Toke stood up from behind the cover.

"This is the sorrow of the weak."

Thinking this, Toke continued to hold his gun, but pointed the muzzle downwards. Then, he said to Fang Yun:

"Hello, thank you for your help. These Nightwalkers have been chasing us all the way. If it weren't for your help, we would have had to deal with them for a while longer."

Seeing this, Valentine also quickly got up and expressed his thanks:

"Yeah, thank you for your help."

Then, he hesitated to speak.

"..."

After hesitating for a moment, Valentine still decided to ask:

"Who might you be? Do you know us, and came to help; or did you just see injustice and lend a hand?"

Fang Yun put away his Mantis Blades and replied to Valentine in a steady tone:

"I'm just a passing... mercenary. Because I couldn't stand the Nightwalkers, I came over to help you."

After a slight pause, Fang Yun continued:

"To be honest, my car's navigation system broke down, so I got lost in the Badlands, wandering around aimlessly."

"By chance, I happened to come to the outside of this abandoned town. After hearing the gunshots inside the town, I decided to come in and see what was happening."

"As a result, I just happened to see you fighting the Nightwalkers. Nightwalkers are evil and not good things, so I dealt with them for you."

At this point, Fang Yun pretended to know nothing and asked Valentine:

"Who are you? Why did you have a conflict with the Nightwalkers?"

Hearing Fang Yun's question, Valentine and Toke exchanged glances.

On the team voice chat, Valentine couldn't help but say to Toke:

"Toke, do you think what he said is credible?"

Toke replied with a helpless tone:

"What if it's credible, what if it's not? In this situation, we can only assume that everything he says is true."

"In short, stay vigilant and proceed with caution."

Valentine responded with silence:

"Emm..."

Valentine, who thought Toke was right, turned his head and answered Fang Yun's question.

"It's like this, we are members of the Buckle Family. Before, we accepted a delivery commission from Night City."

"Originally, we were transporting the goods properly, but who would have thought, a group of Nightwalkers suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Then, we were chased by the Nightwalkers to this town."

"After setting a trap, we lured the Nightwalkers into the trap, took the opportunity to kill a few of them, and then began a standoff with the remaining Nightwalkers."

"Just as we were in a stalemate with the Nightwalkers, you arrived."

"Next, you stepped in and helped us kill these Nightwalkers."

After Valentine finished speaking, he shrugged at Fang Yun, indicating that this was how it happened.

Listening to Valentine recount the story again, Fang Yun nodded:

"I see. You are members of the Buckle Family, accepted a delivery commission, then unluckily encountered Nightwalkers, and were finally saved by me?"

Valentine also nodded, indicating that Fang Yun was correct.

After a moment of silence, Fang Yun suddenly spoke:

"Oh right, I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Fang Yun, a solo mercenary."

"Not long ago, I decided to try my luck in Night City. As a result, my car's navigation system broke down, causing me to wander around the Badlands for several days."

"Fortunately, I finally met living people today. If I hadn't met you, I probably would have been wandering around the Badlands tomorrow, and might even have run out of the Night City area."

Valentine and Toke looked at each other. Finally, Valentine communicated with Fang Yun.

"Uh, Fang... Fang Yun. Hello. I'm Valentine, and this is my partner next to me, his name is Toke."

After hearing Valentine's introduction, Fang Yun took a step and walked towards Valentine and Toke.

Seeing this, Valentine and Toke's hearts first flustered, then they forced themselves to calm down.

Fang Yun came in front of Valentine and extended his hand.

"Hello, Valentine. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Valentine hesitated slightly, then quickly extended his hand to shake Fang Yun's.

"Hello, Fang Yun. It's also a pleasure to meet you."

After shaking Valentine's hand up and down a few times, Fang Yun let go, turned slightly, and extended his hand towards Toke, who had just walked over, saying:

"Hello, Toke. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Toke didn't hesitate and directly extended his hand to shake Fang Yun's.

Since they were now somewhat acquainted, Fang Yun stopped pretending.

"You two accepted a delivery commission, right? Since the Nightwalker issue is resolved, do you want to continue with the delivery?"

Valentine thought for a moment and exchanged glances with Toke. Although neither of them spoke, they understood each other's meaning.

"You're right. Although we encountered an unexpected situation like the Nightwalkers, the commission still needs to be completed."

Fang Yun immediately followed up with his real purpose:

"In that case, why don't you take me with you?"

"My car's navigation is broken. If I go with you to deliver the goods, after the goods are delivered, I can conveniently ask someone at the recipient's place to repair my car's navigation."

"And, you get a free bodyguard. This is a good deal, right?"

Fang Yun said with a smile, thinking to himself:

"Since I met Valentine, I should definitely follow him for a while first. After all, Valentine is the protagonist in 2077. I can also learn about Valentine's current strength and study whether his strength will still grow rapidly like in the game."

Valentine thought for a moment and felt that even if he didn't let Fang Yun follow, it probably wouldn't make much difference.

Valentine's intuition told him that there were definitely false elements in what Fang Yun said about his own origins and intentions.

Moreover, Valentine always felt that Fang Yun had specifically found him and Toke and deliberately wanted to follow them.

Shaking his head, Valentine cast aside his random guesses and replied:

"Of course you can. How could I miss out on a free bodyguard? You agree, right, Toke?"

Toke thought for a moment and also felt that letting Fang Yun go with them to deliver the goods was inevitable, so he nodded, indicating his agreement.

"I think it's fine too."

Hearing Valentine and Toke's answers, Fang Yun grinned.

"Thank you for agreeing to my request. Let's not delay any further and set off now."

Valentine and Toke agreed with Fang Yun's suggestion.

So, the three of them walked together towards the location where the goods were hidden.