28: An interlude in Chapter 28, Empathy

Rejecting Arasaka's olive branch was like throwing a stone into a seemingly calm lake.

The ripples spread, but what they would bring back or when they would return was still unknown.

However, Lin Yi knew clearly that in this city, increasing one's strength was the only choice that could never be wrong.

Before that, he had to first solidify the foundation beneath his feet.

He thought of Nix.

That old guy, hidden deep within the data storm, was preparing a way out for him—a brand-new identity capable of deceiving corporate verification.

This was the most fundamental solution to dealing with Kang Tao's pursuit and even potential retaliation from Arasaka.

Nix had said last time that he needed time, and he hadn't been in contact since.

A thought popped into his mind: go and test the waters.

He didn't call Jackie. He drove the "galena" alone, cutting through the ceaseless traffic of Night City, and stopped once again in front of that bar where legends defined the rules.

Afterlife.

The Afterlife by day and the Afterlife by night were two different faces.

Without that intoxicating mix of alcohol and hormones, and without the whispers in the shadows and blatant deals, the entire space felt like a memorial hall with a cold, metallic texture.

Empty booths, a quiet dance floor, and only the faint sound of Claire wiping a glass behind the bar.

Rogue was still in her exclusive booth, as if she had been nailed there and hadn't moved an inch. When Lin Yi pushed the door open, she lifted her eyelids slightly.

That gaze was as sharp as a hawk's; it landed on him for less than a second, then she nodded slightly.

That counted as a greeting.

She didn't ask anything, but he read one thing in that look: she knew. She knew what he had been doing lately. She knew he had rejected Arasaka.

Lin Yi didn't stay long. He walked straight to the bar. Claire was wiping a tall glass, her movements unhurried, and she only raised an eyebrow when she saw him approach.

He ordered a whiskey, neat, and lowered his voice: "Any news from the 'Old Sailor' lately?"

This was the code he and Nix had agreed upon. Indirect, cliché, but effective.

Claire didn't stop what she was doing.

"Calm seas," she said, her voice lowered just like his. "The Old Sailor sent word—the goods are still being prepared, it will take a few days. He says to be patient and not to wander around the docks drawing attention to yourself."

She gave him a pointed look.

"The harbor patrols have been acting strange lately."

Lin Yi picked up his glass and nodded. Two pieces of information landed at once. Good news: things were progressing smoothly on Nix's end, and the fake identity was in the works. A warning: be careful, someone is watching. This "strange look from the patrols" likely meant Arasaka or some other faction had tightened surveillance because he had rejected their recruitment.

Afterlife was a bar for legends, but also a hub for information; Claire wouldn't mention this for no reason.

He downed the whiskey in one gulp. The spicy liquid scraped against his throat, hot and burning, bringing a searing clarity.

"Tell the Old Sailor I understand. It's windy at the docks; I'll be careful."

He set down the glass, left the money for the drink, and turned to leave the Afterlife.

He sat in the driver's seat of the "galena," started the engine, and the neon lights outside the window began to flow. The positive confirmation from Nix allowed the heavy stone that had been hanging in his heart to finally settle, for now.

The most fatal identity loophole was on the verge of being plugged, which meant he could free up his hands to do other things, rather than constantly worrying about when Kang Tao's next cleanup squad would drop from the sky.

A rare urge to relax suddenly welled up. It wasn't celebration, but purely a natural rebound after his nerves had been stretched too tight for too long. The pressure of the last few days—the "operating room" in the Scavengers' warehouse, the wake-up call at Viktor's clinic, Yoshikawa's sugar-coated threat—all these piled together like a spring tightened to its limit; if he didn't loosen it a turn, he would snap.

He hadn't decided where to go.

The "galena" wandered aimlessly through the streets of Night City. The light from the neon signs flowed over the car body like a colorful river. The car radio was playing a song he hadn't heard before, the drumbeat steady and unhurried, echoing through the cabin. Without realizing it, he stopped in front of a nightclub.

The sign read: Empathy.

The English was Empathy.

In this city, that name was either irony or a trap. But perhaps—precisely because it was so ironic, it inexplicably hit a nerve. In a city that mass-produced indifference and betrayal every day, perhaps what people craved most was exactly the thing labeled "Not Available."

Lin Yi pushed the door open.

The light was as dim as if soaked in ink, with only a few cold beams sweeping slowly overhead.

The air was filled with the cloying sweetness of synthetic alcohol, the stinging scent of cheap perfume, and the sour smell of evaporating sweat—the three mixed together to create the unique scent of a nightclub.

The electronic music made the floor vibrate, and every bass hit felt like a muffled punch to the chest. The dance floor was packed with men and women swaying to the rhythm, softening themselves in the brief, cheap sensory stimulation, just to forget the city outside that never blinked and ate people alive.

He found a booth in the corner and sat down. This position allowed him to see most of the exits, with a wall behind him and a wide field of view. He ordered a drink that wasn't too strong and sipped it slowly, keeping [Insight] at its lowest power—like a passive sonar, silently scanning the surroundings.

This was instinct; he couldn't change it.

He actually didn't like places that were this noisy. But tonight, this clamor that could blur individual consciousness into background noise actually became a form of relaxation. There was nothing to think about, nothing to decide. Just listen to those deafening drumbeats filling his brain.

Then his gaze swept over the bar and stopped.

V.

She was alone, sitting on a bar stool. She wasn't wearing that signature corporate suit, but rather a well-tailored casual outfit, dark and sharp. Yet, the irrepressible exhaustion and sharpness between her brows allowed him to recognize her at a glance. Several empty glasses were already lined up in front of her, the amber residue shimmering in the dim light. She wasn't looking at the dance floor, nor at her phone, just staring blankly in a certain direction, her eyes hollow.

Her focus was nowhere.

Lin Yi frowned. This wasn't the shrewd and capable V he remembered. She looked more like a cat soaked in rain, curled up in an unnoticed corner, licking its own wounds.

While discovering V, [Insight] also marked two other people.

Two men.

They were dressed seemingly normally—pedestrian-style jackets, inconspicuous dark trousers—but their demeanor revealed a competence that didn't belong to ordinary passersby.

They stood apart, one on the right side of the bar near the fire exit, the other at a high table in the diagonal direction. The two angles perfectly enclosed the section of the bar where V was located within their overlapping field of vision.

They hadn't ordered any drinks. One was pretending to look at his phone, the other was occasionally, seemingly inadvertently, sweeping a glance in V's direction.

Their eyes were full of assessment and waiting. The kind of look a hyena has while squatting in the grass waiting for its prey to show a weakness.

V was completely unaware.

She was still downing drinks, her fingers unconsciously drawing circles on the rim of the glass, her whole posture slumped—shoulders dropped, back unstraightened, and even that sharp alertness she usually had didn't know where it had fallen off to.

Internal corporate infighting, that dirty job Jenkins gave her, the confusion about the future—these were probably pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe.

Watching her down another glass.

Her figure had already started to sway.

The man who was pretending to look at his phone raised his head and signaled to the diagonal direction. The two stood up simultaneously, one from the left and one from the right, as if pulled by the same string, and walked toward the bar.

"Tsk, you're really caught between two men, aren't you, V?" Lin Yi couldn't help but remark as he watched the scene.

There was no need to guess their intent. Either it was a rival corporation, taking advantage of her fall from grace to kidnap a former Counterintelligence agent to squeeze some intel out of her; or it was lower-level Scavengers, eyeing the corporate cyberware on her that hadn't been stripped yet. In a place like a nightclub, a lone woman drinking until she blacked out was, in their eyes, walking meat.

One of the men's hands raised up.

About to land on V's shoulder.

A figure cut in from the side, steadily blocking the space between V and that hand.

Lin Yi. The expression on his face was just the right amount of familiarity, carrying a smile of three parts accidental encounter with a friend, his tone as natural as if he had just walked over from the other end of the dance floor: "Hey! V! I've been looking for you for ages, why are you drinking alone here?"

That hand paused in mid-air.

The two men's footsteps stopped simultaneously.

Their eyes changed instantly—vigilant, vicious, like two hyenas whose feeding time had been suddenly interrupted, beginning to re-evaluate the situation. Lin Yi wasn't particularly bulky, but as he stood there, his posture relaxed, yet his eyes were unnervingly calm—not hollow, just too still. The kind of stillness that looks at you but doesn't need to take you seriously.

The two experienced street thugs couldn't figure out his depth for a moment.

V lifted her head, her eyes taking a great effort to focus, her flushed cheeks appearing both fragile and bewildered under the lights. "... Lin... Yi? How did you...?"

She hadn't yet realized what kind of situation she was in.

"Didn't we agree to talk about the project details together? Drinking this much, how are you going to crawl up to work tomorrow?" Lin Yi's tone was like he was scolding an old friend, and he naturally supported her arm.

It looked like he was supporting her, but in reality, at that position, her body had been completely moved to a spot where those two men couldn't reach.

He turned his head.

The smile on his face didn't change, but suddenly something else appeared in his eyes.

It was clearly just a simple warning, yet it was like a blade reflecting a cold light—not blinding, but piercing.

"Gentlemen, my friend has had too much to drink. I'm taking her back. Don't trouble yourselves."

The two men exchanged a look.

Lin Yi's posture held no intention of provocation, but that cold sense of "not yielding, not retreating, and no nonsense" was more intimidating than slamming a table.

In a place like a nightclub, forcibly snatching a woman who had a male friend assisting her would cause too much of a scene, which didn't fit their operational principles. They glared at him fiercely, as if wanting to carve his face into their memories, and then turned away sullenly.

Their figures were soon swallowed by the crowd.

Only then did Lin Yi breathe a temporary sigh of relief.

He pulled his attention back, landing it entirely on V. She was almost hanging off his arm, her body warm; the smell of alcohol mixed with a faint perfume, and being this close, he could feel the irregular heat in her breath.

The shell of that corporate elite was completely stripped away—the flush on her face, the bewilderment in her eyes, and that trace of vulnerability at the corner of her mouth that she hadn't even realized herself. Compared to her usual sharp and efficient self, the contrast was astonishing.

This kind of "brokenness" had a rather unreasonable charm; truly you, [Clouds Legend].

Something in his heart stirred gently. He couldn't explain it, and he didn't intend to analyze it right now.

"Can you walk?" he asked in a low voice.

V responded vaguely, trying to steady herself, but her knees went weak and she stumbled again.

Lin Yi sighed. "Forget it, I'll take you back."

He supported her as they crossed the noisy dance floor. Neon light beams swept across their faces, flashing on and off. Outside the glass door, the cold wind of Night City was waiting. Although after this brief "empathy," there was still a long road of reality waiting for them ahead.