38: Chapter 38 The Missed Revenge

After moving into her new home, V did not feel the complete relaxation she had expected.

The name Carter Smith was like a tiny thorn pricking at her heart—not fatal, but a constant reminder of that past betrayal.

Although Lin Yi's analysis had made her see that this was a dead end, the obsession with wanting to demand an explanation in person had not dissipated.

That afternoon, after much hesitation, she contacted T-Bug.

After working together a few times, they had established a trust based on professional competence.

"Bug, you busy? I need you to look into something personal for me." V got straight to the point.

T-Bug's calm, emotionless voice came from the other end of the comms: "Speak."

"Help me look up someone: Carter Smith, my former assistant. Check his recent movements, especially... after he left the job." V tried to keep her tone calm.

"Name, former department. Photos or biometric data would be better." T-Bug was as efficient as ever.

V quickly sent over the information. She didn't hold out much hope; a minor character used up by the company was likely already disposed of without a sound.

However, to her surprise, T-Bug replied just half an hour later.

"Found him. The last movement track is recorded by his vehicle's GPS. The last recorded location is on the cross-sea bridge from Corpo Plaza to Japantown. The time was... last night. The signal cut out there, and there hasn't been any record since."

V's heart sank. This location and time were too suspicious.

"Thanks, Bug. I'll transfer the payment later."

"Hm." T-Bug ended the call abruptly.

V gripped her terminal, stunned for a few seconds, then jumped up, grabbed her jacket, and headed out. Lin Yi, who was in the living room studying "Bai Ze," looked up and saw that her expression was off.

"What's wrong? You're in such a hurry."

"There's news about Carter. He was last seen on the bridge from Corpo Plaza to Japantown. I have to go check it out." V said, her tone hurried.

Lin Yi frowned. His intuition told him this wouldn't be good news, but looking at V's determined eyes, he put down what he was holding: "I'll drive you."

Along the way, V was silent, watching the streetscape fly by outside the window, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her jacket.

Lin Yi didn't ask any more questions, simply driving the car fast and steadily.

Soon, they arrived at the magnificent cross-sea bridge.

Following the coordinates provided by T-Bug, they quickly found the target—a ragged, slightly old-looking small car, parked crookedly on the emergency shoulder, its doors left wide open.

V's heart raced as she pushed open the car door and walked over. The car was empty, with some unimportant personal items scattered on the seats.

Her gaze swept over the driver's seat and then landed on the bridge railing. There sat a nearly empty bottle of cheap whiskey.

In an instant, V understood everything.

This bastard hadn't been silenced by the company; he had chosen to jump off the bridge and end his own life, unable to bear the pressure, or perhaps the inner torment brought on by his betrayal.

An indescribable sense of emptiness and loss instantly gripped her.

She had imagined countless scenarios of catching Carter herself, questioning him, and making him pay the price, but she had never imagined this ending.

The scumbag was dead, yet she felt not a shred of satisfaction, only the powerlessness of punching cotton, and a sorrow for how cheap life was.

Lost in a daze, she pulled open Carter's car door and rummaged through the glove box, her fingertips touching a cold chip.

She took it out and inserted it into her own terminal.

The chip contained several encrypted communications that weren't hard to decrypt.

Inside were conversations between Carter and Abernathy, clearly recording how he reported the whereabouts of V and Jenkins, how he passed on false intelligence, and his ugly face as he demanded payment after the deed was done.

The evidence was conclusive.

But what meaning did all of this have now?

Just then, an impatient honking sound came from behind.

A sports car, which looked heavily modified and had booming speakers, was blocked behind them. The driver stuck his head out and roared rudely: "Hey! You in front! Is someone dead? You're blocking the road! Get lost!"

The jarring honking and shouting jolted V out of her daze.

Looking at the arrogant sports car and the driver's ugly face, an inexplicable rage flared up.

She couldn't do anything to Carter, so was she supposed to just take crap from this street scum?

Lin Yi also frowned and was about to get out to argue, but he saw V glance coldly at the sports car, then pull the door open and sit back in, her tone terrifyingly calm: "Let's go."

Lin Yi was stunned for a moment, but didn't ask, starting up the galena and driving off the bridge.

In the rearview mirror, he saw that the driver was still cursing and swearing.

After driving for a distance, V pulled up her terminal interface and quickly operated a few things.

She locked onto the electronic system of the sports car from before and implanted a small, delayed-execution malicious daemon.

This program would take effect in a few hours, causing the vehicle to suddenly lose power and steering lock while driving automatically, finally paralyzing it in the middle of the road.

"Give him a little lesson." V said indifferently, as if she had just casually swatted a fly.

Lin Yi glanced at her but didn't stop her.

He knew that V needed such an outlet to vent her inner turmoil, even if the car owner would be unlucky.

On the way back, V remained silent, leaning against the passenger seat, staring out the window with hollow eyes.

Her great revenge had been achieved (albeit in a way she hadn't expected), but she felt an unprecedented sense of exhaustion and emptiness.

"This world is just like that," Lin Yi said softly, breaking the silence, "and the corps even more so—it's rotten to the core. It's not worth being sad over this kind of thing."

V didn't turn back, only giving a soft "Hm."

Watching her tired profile, Lin Yi didn't say anything more. He drove the car back to the apartment building and said softly: "We're here. Go back and get some good sleep."

V nodded and silently got out of the car. Lin Yi watched her slightly staggering back, knowing that today's events had impacted her significantly. He parked the car, followed her, and walked her all the way to her H10 apartment door.

"Get some rest, don't overthink it." He urged.

V looked up at him, her eyes complex. Finally, she just nodded, gave him a hug, whispered "Thank you," and closed the door.

Lin Yi stood outside the door, listening to the sound of the lock clicking inside, and sighed softly. He knew that V needed time to digest all of this on her own. And the cruelty of Night City had taught her another profound lesson today.

And what about the unlucky guy V had targeted?

Sure enough, the next day's news reported that a multi-vehicle accident occurred near the entrance to Japantown last night. A heavily modified sports car, suspected of having a system failure, crashed into three other cars before becoming paralyzed. When the NCPD arrived, they found two unconscious Tyger Claws members in the car (who had simply been drunk and climbed in when they saw the spot).

Since the car owner (the guy who honked) wasn't at the scene at the time, it was ultimately classified by the NCPD as a hit-and-run.

Later, when V heard this news, she just took a sip of coffee with an expressionless face.