15: Chapter 15 From Shotgun to Carbine

In the living room of the Charter Hill apartment, a cold, silver-white metal case and two other packages were lined up on the table.

The COX-2 Cyberware Optimizer, the Subdermal Heart, and the Mental Defense.

The three items lay there quietly; any one of them falling onto the market would be enough to trigger a small-scale riot.

Lin Yi didn't hesitate, carefully packing them away into his car before dialing Viktor.

"Viktor, it's me. Yeah, I've got some 'little things' I need your help installing... It's complicated, might take some time... Alright, I'll be right there."

Half an hour later, the galena pulled up outside the familiar clinic in Watson.

Carrying the equipment case inside, the scent of disinfectant mixed with motor oil was as reassuring as ever.

Viktor was standing with his back to the door, calibrating his complex set of surgical cyberware.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around, his gaze habitually sweeping over Lin Yi before landing on the cryo-case in his hand, which bore the joint logo of Biotechnica and Militech.

He paused, his brows habitually furrowing: "Kid, what kind of shady stuff did you get your hands on this time—"

Before he could finish, his gaze sharply swept over Lin Yi's entire body.

Those experienced, human eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had sensed a deeper change.

He put down his tools, walked over to Lin Yi, and gestured for him to sit in the surgical chair.

"Let's do a routine check first. Every time I see you, the 'surprises' you bring are more terrifying than the last."

His tone carried helpless teasing, but was mostly filled with the seriousness of a doctor.

The precision scanner moved slowly over his body, the data stream on the screen refreshing like a waterfall.

Viktor watched the readings from the monitoring equipment; his expression shifted from serious to stunned, and then to deep confusion.

After comparing several sets of data repeatedly, he finally turned off the instrument, let out a long, incredulous sigh, and looked at Lin Yi with an extremely complicated expression.

"Based on the neural load data fed back by 'Baize' and your biological markers..." Viktor paused, as if organizing his words, "You kid... are still alive? That shouldn't be possible."

"But it's clear that the compatibility between that thing and you is ridiculously high."

The words sounded nonsensical, even slightly offensive, but Lin Yi understood.

Viktor was saying that given the intensity with which he had frequently overused 'Baize'—especially under the load of those few times he used [Lockdown]—his brain and nervous system should have logically collapsed and burned out long ago, turning him into a vegetable, or causing him to succumb to cyberpsychosis under the neural pressure.

Lin Yi smiled, offered no explanation, and simply pointed to the case he had brought.

Viktor didn't press him further, shook his head, and muttered to himself, as if speaking only to his own ears: "...Better to be alive."

The contradictory statement was a true reflection of Viktor's current state of mind—the clash between his medical knowledge and the facts before him, ultimately manifesting as a sense of wonder at the young man's tenacious vitality, along with a trace of imperceptible concern.

"Alright, enough talk. What 'little things' do you need this old man to install for you this time?"

Viktor rubbed his hands together, his gaze once again fixed on the cryo-case.

Lin Yi opened the three containers one by one.

When he saw the three pieces of cyberware, especially the COX-2 Optimizer, the muscles on Viktor's face twitched noticeably.

He looked up sharply, staring at Lin Yi, his tone filled with disbelief: "COX-2? Subdermal Heart? Mental Defense? You kid... are you planning to blow the roof off Arasaka Tower next time? Did you raid a joint warehouse of Biotechnica and Militech?!"

He picked up the cryo-chamber for the COX-2, as if holding contraband, "I've only ever seen concept art for this thing in their academic journals! Where did you get this?!"

"Payment from a friend." Lin Yi explained vaguely.

"A friend? What kind of friend can get their hands on this stuff?!"

Viktor clearly didn't believe him, but he knew the rules of the trade, so he didn't press further, just kept muttering to himself, "Crazy, absolutely crazy... My little clinic is practically becoming Alt Cunningham's private operating room... I should have thrown you out when I installed that neural link... Save myself from being on edge all the time..."

Muttering aside, his actions showed no hesitation.

He skillfully began preparing the anesthetic and checking the sterilization status of the surgical instruments, his expression becoming incredibly focused and serious.

"Lie down, kid. This isn't as simple as installing a neural link or subdermal armor. These things need to be connected to your core circulatory system and neural network; any tiny mistake would be enough to kill you three times over."

As he injected the anesthetic, he gave a final warning, "Relax, just get some sleep. Let's hope that when you wake up, you're still you."

The cold anesthetic flowed into his veins, and his consciousness began to blur.

The last thing he saw was Viktor operating the complex robotic arms, precisely moving toward the first piece of cyberware—the 'Subdermal Heart' that symbolized a second life.

Faintly, he seemed to hear Viktor's final mutterings: "...You're becoming more and more like a Frankenstein..."

Darkness. Long and deep.

It was unknown how much time had passed before his consciousness struggled to surface like a diver.

The first thing he felt was a strange sense of 'wholeness'.

It was as if some subtle tension and potential load that had always existed within his body had vanished, replaced by a robust, powerful, and stable underlying operation.

His breathing was deeper, and his heartbeat—it seemed there was an additional, steady, and powerful backup rhythm.

His thoughts also became clear and calm, as if protected by an invisible barrier, with external noise and his own emotional fluctuations isolated outside.

He slowly opened his eyes and saw the familiar ceiling of the clinic.

Aches and the sensation of foreign objects from the extensive modifications spread throughout his body, but it wasn't severe; it felt more like the discomfort of being reborn.

Just then, a steady voice sounded from nearby, the tone flat: "The surgery was a success. You..."

Viktor hadn't finished his sentence, but those words were like a bucket of ice water, instantly scaring away all the grogginess Lin Yi felt upon waking!

Almost instinctively, he lunged and reached down toward his crotch—

The sensation was still there.

The functional parts were intact.

Only then did he let out a long, complete sigh of relief, collapsing onto the surgical chair, his back instantly breaking out in a cold sweat.

Turning his head, Viktor Vektor was standing nearby, holding a data pad and recording something.

On that habitually serious face, there seemed to be a trace of an extremely subtle, mischievous smile of success that he was trying hard to hide.

"Viktor!" Lin Yi complained, torn between laughing and crying, "You can't do that! You scared the hell out of me! Do you have any idea how devastating that sentence is to a man who just finished surgery?!"

Viktor finally couldn't hold it back, the corners of his mouth curling into an almost invisible arc, but he quickly returned to his usual expression.

He pushed up his glasses and said in all seriousness: "Well, tell me, was the surgery a success or not? How else should I have said it? Should I have said, 'The implantation of your physiological adaptive soft-plastic pump-type circulatory assistance system, as well as the true epidermal layer repair, were successful, and the neural network barrier has also been properly activated'? Would you have understood that right away?"

Lin Yi: "..." He was speechless.

"How do you feel?" Viktor put down the data pad and asked seriously.

Lin Yi sat up slowly, carefully sensing the changes in his body.

He tentatively activated [Insight], and his power consumption instantly spiked to about 40%—but the neural tearing sensation and temple throbbing that would have inevitably followed at this level previously did not appear.

There was only a warm, fluid sense of computing power being efficiently utilized.

"It feels... great." A look of disbelief appeared on his face, "I've never felt this good."

At this moment, he could truly say that he had preliminarily mastered the basic power of 'Baize'.

The trump cards and limits of his body had both been raised to a whole new level.

It also reminded him that, aside from everything in Night City, Kang Tao's pursuers would likely be sniffing out his trail and arriving in Night City before long.

A storm is coming.