68: Chapter 67 Hajirai comes knocking, three giants are eyeing me!

The engine emitted a low roar, carrying the three of them away from that area of Pacifica—still chaotic, yet now silently excised of a massive tumor. The car traveled across the bridge leading to Westbrook, and the afternoon sun spilled across the shimmering surface of the sea, revealing a rare sense of tranquility.

The atmosphere inside the car was relaxed, even possessing a touch of the leisure of a road trip. V sat in the passenger seat, legs propped casually on the dashboard, humming an off-key tune. Jackie occupied the back seat, excitedly counting the "spoils" scavenged from the Voodoo Boys' lair—some decent-quality smuggled chips, unregistered weapons, and a few bottles of synthetic vintage that looked quite expensive.

"Hey, this haul wasn't bad!" Jackie picked up a bottle of liquor, held it up to the sunlight, and said, "Let's bring one to Viktor later, and find a time to celebrate with the rest?"

"Of course." Lin Yi steered the wheel, a smile on his lips. At this moment, they were completely unaware that the brief, violent fluctuation in the Pacifica cyberspace had already acted like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, attracting the vigilance and gaze of several behemoths lurking beneath the surface. However, even if they knew, they probably wouldn't care right now. The storm had passed; it was time to enjoy the fruits of victory.

But on the other side.

Kang Tao Headquarters.

"It's a match!" One of the researchers slammed the table, their voice unable to suppress the excitement. "It must be a match! Ever since Lin Wei's information suddenly evaporated from the entire net over half a month ago, we've been like headless flies, completely unable to find a direction, and had to resort to brute-force methods to match the most likely target."

The captain in front of the screen breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed their brow—the entire megacorp had been searching for this target for over half a month; they had finally caught the tail of this fish that had slipped through the net. "Activate global tracking immediately, divert all surveillance resources, find this target, and at all costs, bring Baize back."

Standing to the side, Operations Director Qin Xun looked at the subordinate team captain's order and felt as if the sky had collapsed. "Is your brain filled with coolant? Have you even looked at the data returned by the Pacifica squad before issuing such an order? Is this how you've been handling things while I was busy with other projects?"

The team captain was stunned for a moment. "Isn't our primary objective just to retrieve the prototype?"

"Are you kidding? Have you seen the record of the last operation? Although the execution logs weren't cleaned up properly afterward, the performance during the real-time sync showed that the guy nearly lost half his life just fighting one of our squads back then. Take a look at the detection data from in front of the Blackwall this time!" Qin Xun said, throwing the two reports at the team captain.

The team captain picked up the two reports, compared them, and let out a sharp cry of shock: "Holy sh*t, this jump in computing power is too insane. Even if we sent all three idle departments and the Special Handling Department together, it would probably just be a drop in the bucket."

Qin Xun nodded: "We need to reconsider our plan and prepare for both possibilities. Moreover, I have a premonition. This probably hasn't even reached its upper limit yet."

Although they didn't care who the target was or what he had done in Night City, they only cared about the prototype they had lost for over half a year. It was the core technology for Kang Tao's next decade, provided it wouldn't pose a threat to the company.

Meanwhile, at Militech's North American headquarters, the same data stream was interpreted with a completely different significance.

The researcher frowned, looking at the fluctuation records at the edge of the Blackwall on the screen: "What's up? This mercenary squad actually managed to wipe out the Voodoo Boys right at the edge of the Blackwall? And they were able to force back Alt? You've got to be kidding me."

The superior glanced at the data, nodded, and flagged it into the Project Cynosure database: "Record it for now. This group of mercenaries has some skills. Let's see what they do next. We cannot be careless regarding matters involving the Blackwall."

At this moment, they didn't know what this mercenary squad was hiding, only feeling a trace of curiosity toward this power that had suddenly emerged and was able to stir up trouble at the edge of the Blackwall.

---Perspective returns to Lin Yi---

Returning to the villa in Charter Hill, they sold off those scattered but valuable trinkets and insignificant Old Net data through various channels. Another not-so-small sum of money was credited to their account, and the team's treasury was fuller than ever before.

Once everything was tidied up, Lin Yi stretched, looked at V, who was wiping down her "Comrade's Hammer," and Jackie, who was checking his newly acquired cyberware plugins, and suggested: "Hey, guys, this mess in Pacifica is finally over. Want to go out and have some fun together? Let's relax; you pick the place."

V's eyes lit up, and just as she was about to speak, Jackie stepped in first, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender: "No, no, no, buddy, you two go have fun by yourselves this time! Misty and I... hehe, are getting ready to move to the next stage." His rugged face revealed a smile that was completely disproportionate to his physique—slightly shy yet full of anticipation. "If I keep watching you two 'sparking' electricity on the side every day, a loner like me won't be able to take it. I'll end up with cyber-pinkeye sooner or later!"

Lin Yi and V exchanged a glance, both seeing the amusement and a hint of understanding in each other's eyes.

V teased deliberately: "Oh, our great lover boy has finally figured it out? Fine, for Misty's sake, we won't bother you two this time."

Jackie chuckled, scratching the back of his head unconsciously, then slapped Lin Yi's shoulder hard: "Have fun, buddy, and you too, chica. Maybe Night City will be quiet for a few days without you two stirring things up."

V rolled her eyes and retorted: "You take jobs more diligently than anyone else. Who among us doesn't know how badly you wanted to become a Night City legend back then? Give it a rest."

The plans had changed, but the atmosphere remained pleasant.

After seeing Jackie off, V turned around, leaned against the doorframe, and looked at Lin Yi with eyes filled with memories and longing: "Yi, you know that mission I went on to Frankfurt before? The environment there... it was actually quite nice. It's a pity that back then I was only focused on tailing and preparing to strike, and I couldn't really experience anything properly."

She walked over to his side, her tone carrying a hint of coquettishness: "Anyway, there's nothing to do now, and Jackie has his own plans. How about just the two of us go to Europe for a trip? Consider it making up for the vacation I missed at the company before, and let's have a good week."

Looking at the light flickering in her eyes—a pure anticipation like that of someone who had just set down a heavy burden—Lin Yi's heart softened completely.

He reached out to ruffle her hair and nodded dotingly: "Okay, I'll listen to you. I promised to take you out for a good time before we came back. Besides, the world is so big, and I've never really been to Europe. It's a good chance to go see what the world is like over there."

The decision was made quickly, and the execution was swift.

Both of them were people of action and quickly booked a flight on NCX Orbital Air to Frankfurt, Europe.

After packing their luggage simply, they embarked on their journey once again.

The NCX flight, like a silver fish, glided smoothly into the clouds, leaving Night City's familiar and oppressive skyline far behind.

Sitting in the cabin, which was far more comfortable than any ground vehicle, V curiously observed the sea of clouds outside the window and the gradually appearing outline of the European continent. She was like a child on her first spring outing; after all, she had previously only gone on missions where she had to fight for her life, unlike now where she was purely here to enjoy herself.

Lin Yi looked at her excited profile and felt his nerves, which had been tight for this entire period, finally relax.

This was not just a vacation; it was more like a brief escape from endless battles and conspiracies.

Just as the flight was cruising steadily, the cabin crew began serving meals, and V was trying to identify which mountain range was outside the window, Lin Yi's personal communicator emitted an extremely faint email notification.

Lin Yi frowned slightly. Who could it be at this time?

He picked up the communicator nonchalantly and scanned the screen.

In the sender column was a source that had been complexly encrypted, yet the system had automatically identified and labeled it—Arasaka.

The message itself was not encrypted, and the content appeared directly before his eyes:

[To Lin Yi-san: The 'volunteer work' in Pacifica was impressive. Night City needs more power like yours that is not bound by conventional rules. Arasaka appreciates ability, and even more so... courage. We have no intention of binding the wings of an eagle. Imagine a form of cooperation: independent operational rights, highly autonomous decision-making power, shared resources, and goals... perhaps they can converge in the future. You provide power and possibilities; Arasaka provides a platform and sanctuary. Consider it. This is not employment; it is... an invitation.]

The wording of the message carried the arrogance typical of a large corporation, ingrained in its very bones, as if this "invitation" itself were a favor. But peeling away that arrogant shell, its core revealed an eerie "sincerity"—independent rights, autonomous power, cooperative relationships... these words combined together, appearing in a recruitment letter from Arasaka, were simply like a fantasy.

Lin Yi's first reaction was: could this be a new type of scam message targeting high-end mercenaries?

Which scammer would have the guts to impersonate Arasaka, and impersonate them directly to someone who had just wiped out the Voodoo Boys?

But when he saw the extremely special secure communication link attached at the end of the message, which required several layers of verification to access, he was stunned.

The format and security level of this link did not look fake. Moreover, the other party had accurately mentioned "Pacifica" and the "volunteer work."

An absurd yet incredibly familiar thought suddenly jumped into his mind—in his past life, in countless discussions about Cyberpunk 2077, there was a widely circulated meme: "If Yorinobu had V's contact information, there wouldn't have been any of that business with Hanako and Saburo later on."

Previously, he had only considered this an interesting hypothesis.

But at this moment, after personally experiencing Konpeki Plaza, the Relic, Alt... so many events that highly corresponded with the game's setting, this former "meme" suddenly carried an incredibly heavy weight in his heart.

The wheels of history seemed to have truly deviated by a subtle angle because of his arrival.

Could it be? Yorinobu, this complex "rebellious son" who tried to burn down the behemoth from within, had actually taken the initiative to reach out.

He stared at the message, then looked at V, who was focused on the scenery outside the window, his thoughts racing.

Dealing with the devil? Perhaps.

But this could also be the key step to breaking the deadlock and truly changing the trajectory of this terrible world.

The risks and opportunities were both astonishingly large.

After a few seconds of silence, Lin Yi's fingertip tapped lightly on the screen. Following the guidance of the link, he sent a communication protocol addition request processed with "Baize" obfuscation.

After finishing all this, he put away the communicator, leaned back against the seat, and looked at the boundless blue sky outside the porthole, unable to help but complain internally:

'Yorinobu... you guy, you sure move fast.'