37: Chapter 37 V is acting up again.

With his work temporarily finished, Lin Yi took some time off for himself. He spent his days either at home tinkering with daemons and algorithms or driving out to have fun.

V's life these past few days had also entered a new rhythm.

During the day, she would either complete gigs with Jackie, rapidly accumulating street experience through practice, or she would be busy on the 6th floor of Megabuilding H10—she had finally found a new place to live.

Although the size and decor were nowhere near the luxurious apartment provided by the corporation, it was clean, safe, and, more importantly, it was entirely her own.

Standing before the window of her new home, watching the bustling streets below, V clenched her fists. She believed that sooner or later, she would be able to afford a better place on her own merits, perhaps even better than before.

That afternoon, after completing a not-too-difficult escort mission, V returned to Lin Yi's apartment (she hadn't fully moved out yet).

The room was quiet, with only the faint sound of Lin Yi typing on his keyboard coming from the workspace.

He was focused on several screens, where complex data streams and schematics flowed.

Based on content she had encountered back at Arasaka, V could roughly identify through the encryption that he was processing something "mined" from the Old Net. At the same time, he seemed to have just finished an encrypted communication—regarding a message sent a few days ago by the netrunner named Nix, stating the order was complete, but V was sensible enough not to ask further.

She poured herself a glass of water and slumped onto the soft sofa in the living room, letting her mind go blank. The busy life of a mercenary these past few days had allowed her to temporarily forget the troubling affairs of the corporation, but once things went quiet, that sense of frustration from being betrayed and schemed against began to surface faintly again.

She couldn't help but mutter toward the workspace: "Hey, Lin Yi, I still feel like something's off."

"Hm? Why are you feeling off again?" Lin Yi's voice came from behind the door, his fingers never ceasing their rhythmic tapping on the keyboard.

"It's about that business with Abernathy." V hugged her legs as she leaned into the sofa. "The Arasaka agents arrived too quickly, as if they had been prepared for a long time. Even if there was a mole, this efficiency is too abnormal, unless..."

Unless they had long been waiting for an excuse—an excuse to wipe both her and Jenkins out.

And this reason, or rather, this knife, just happened to be handed to her during those two days.

The sound of typing stopped.

Lin Yi walked out of the workspace, leaned against the doorframe, and looked at V, who was frowning deeply.

He sighed, knowing that if he didn't explain this clearly to her, this knot in her heart would never be untied.

"You guessed right; they were indeed prepared." Lin Yi walked over and sat down opposite her, his tone calm. "Because the one who betrayed you is someone right by your side. You didn't even know you were harboring a ghost in your own house?"

V abruptly raised her head: "Who is the ghost?"

"Your personal assistant, Carter Smith."

"Carter Smith?!" V's voice instantly rose, filled with disbelief and rage. "That son of a bitch who bows and scrapes to me every day and looks harmless as a lamb?! It was him?!"

She sprang up, her chest heaving violently, fire almost spitting from her eyes: "How did you know?! Such important information, and you weren't going to tell me if I didn't ask, right?! I'm going to kill that turncoat beast with my own hands!"

Watching V like an enraged panther, Lin Yi immediately stood up and pressed down on her shoulders, making her sit back on the sofa. "Hey, calm down! Listen to me finish first!"

He took a deep breath, combining the experience of the original owner of this body, "Lin Wei," from his time scrambling through the ranks at Kang Tao, with his own understanding of the game's plot, and began to analyze this murky water for V: "You think this is just a personal vendetta between Jenkins and Abernathy? Wrong. This is a microcosm of the factional infighting within Arasaka Corporation."

Simply put, the upper management of Arasaka Corporation is currently divided into two main factions: the doves and the hawks.

Your superior, Jenkins—whether it's the side he's aligned with or the foundation of connections he's built—is far inferior to Abernathy.

And they haven't seen eye to eye for a long time now."

He paused to let V digest this, then continued: "The most critical point is that incident your department messed up in Frankfurt earlier—the commotion was too big, practically telling the whole world that it was Arasaka Corporation's doing."

The corporation needed to give an explanation to the public and to other megacorporations.

Someone had to take the fall for this.

Finding someone with a high enough status, but who isn't too deeply entrenched, to take the blame is the best choice—and your superior, Jenkins, was the perfect answer."

V's face turned pale; she began to understand the cruel logic behind it all.

"Abernathy would naturally be happy to kick a man while he's down and completely eliminate a rival. And as for Carter Smith..." Lin Yi sneered. "There's a saying: a villain racking their brains is no match for a fool's sudden inspiration. Besides, even if you hadn't been caught on the spot this time, do you think Abernathy would ever trust you, the 'confidant' personally promoted by Jenkins? Getting rid of you was just a matter of time."

These words were like a bucket of ice water, causing V's boiling rage to gradually cool, replaced by a bone-deep chill and clarity.

She had always thought she was just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire, or simply abandoned by her boss. She hadn't expected the tangled web of corporate politics and ruthless calculations behind it all.

By comparison, Carter Smith's betrayal seemed... insignificant.

She slumped on the sofa. After a long while, she smiled bitterly: "So... from beginning to end, I was just a pawn that could be sacrificed at any moment? That's true. Corporate dogs, aren't they all the same? Just wearing different dog tags."

"In the eyes of those big shots, we are all pawns." Lin Yi's voice softened. "The difference is that now, we have the chance to jump off the board and the chance to become the players ourselves."

V remained silent, but her tightly clenched fists slowly relaxed.

Lin Yi knew she had taken it in; rationally, she had accepted this explanation.

However, after a moment, V raised her head. The rage in her eyes was gone, replaced by a more stubborn coldness. She looked at Lin Yi and said, word by word:

"You're right. The struggle between Jenkins and Abernathy is a game for corporate executives; I can't afford to play, and I don't want to be involved anymore. But..."

Her gaze sharpened: "That traitor Carter Smith owes me a life. I have to settle this score with him personally. This isn't for the sake of the corporation; this is for myself."

Lin Yi looked at the unwavering determination in V's eyes and knew that trying to persuade her further would be useless. Although that unlucky bastard's days were likely numbered, it was just a matter of whether V acted faster or if Abernathy remembered to clean him up first.

That was V for you—clear about her grudges and favors, and someone who would pay back every slight.

He shook his head helplessly, knowing that this guy named Carter Smith was already on V's death list—it was only a matter of time.

"Suit yourself. But remember, don't let hatred cloud your judgment. Look for an opportunity, and wait until you have enough strength and certainty before you act."

"I know." V took a deep breath and stood up again, seemingly pushing all the negative emotions back into the depths of her heart. "Don't worry, I won't do anything reckless. At least not today."

She walked toward her room, preparing to start packing her things and officially move to her new home in H10.

But Lin Yi knew that the obsession with "killing Carter Smith with her own hands" had already taken deep root in her heart like a seed.