87: Chapter 86 The Non-existent Mouth

The inconspicuous black van did not return to V and Lin Yi's apartment, nor did it head to any safe house associated with previous missions. Instead, after circling a few times, it silently drove into an abandoned car recycling plant in the northern outskirts of Watson.

The mountains of scrapped vehicles here were like metal graveyards. The air was thick with the scent of motor oil, rust, and faint chemical reagents, enough to mask most unwanted traces.

Massive hydraulic presses and crushers stood silently in the night, like dormant steel beasts.

The van drove directly into a semi-open repair workshop with a canopy on top.

The rolling door slowly lowered behind them, cutting off the outside view.

Under the dim light, only a few hanging industrial emergency lights provided meager illumination, casting distorted spots of light on the oily ground.

Jackie dragged Goro Takemura, who was still in a deep coma and limp, out of the van like cargo, and tossed him casually onto a thick plastic sheet covered in grease on the floor.

Takemura, with his expensive custom cyberware, now lay in the dust and grime, forming a miserable contrast to his usual meticulous image.

Lin Yi didn't delay, immediately reconnecting the encrypted communication with Yorinobu.

This time, he used the video function, sharing the perspective and aiming it at the unconscious Takemura on the ground.

"Yorinobu," Lin Yi's voice was calm, devoid of emotion, "How do you want to handle this guy? Should we pack him up and send him to you, or should we dispose of him on our end?" He deliberately used the neutral yet clear term "dispose of."

On the communication screen, Yorinobu seemed to be dealing with documents. Hearing Lin Yi's words, he suddenly raised his head, a flash of genuine surprise crossing his face, even forgetting to maintain his usual mask as a corporate leader. "So fast?" His voice carried disbelief, "One day... no, it's only been a few hours? You guys already got it done?"

Looking at the perspective Lin Yi shared, seeing that super ninja covered in sludge, Yorinobu couldn't help but exclaim: "I was just preparing to issue a warrant to lock his cyberware permissions, and you guys have already succeeded. You're truly amazing."

Off-screen, Jackie leaned in, grinned at the camera, gave a thumbs up, his tone filled with natural pride: "Just kidding, when our 'Ghost' team takes action, it's a must-do, you know! Clean and efficient, we guarantee your satisfaction!" To increase persuasiveness, Lin Yi also adjusted the zoom of his ocular implant, giving Takemura, lying on the ground, a close-up, ensuring Yorinobu could clearly see his unconscious, "peaceful" face, which was indeed in a state of deep unconsciousness comparable to "sleeping like a baby."

Across the screen, Yorinobu scrutinized the face he was incomparably familiar with, the one that had followed his father for years.

After confirming, the last trace of doubt in his eyes dissipated, replaced by a complex emotion—a sense of relief, but more of a cold, resolute determination.

He waved his hand, as if to dispel something unpleasant, his tone returning to his usual decisiveness:

"Fine, confirmed. No need to send him over, it's an eyesore. Just dispose of him cleanly yourselves. I have only one request—" His voice lowered, carrying unquestionable chill, "I just want it so that in this world, there is no longer any trace of Goro Takemura having ever existed. Understand?"

"No problem, I understand, I've received it." Lin Yi responded crisply and hung up the communication immediately.

The dark blue communication interface disappeared, and the workshop was once again shrouded in dimness.

Lin Yi put away his stance and looked at V and Jackie beside him.

V was standing a little further away with her arms crossed, frowning at Takemura on the plastic sheet, her eyes showing no sympathy, but rather a consideration of the follow-up process.

Jackie was rubbing his hands, appearing a bit... excited?

"Yorinobu said, we handle it ourselves." Lin Yi repeated the final instruction, his eyes falling on Takemura's material, which even in a coma, vaguely revealed an extraordinary texture, and the faintly visible cyberware interfaces, "Anyway, this guy won't survive. It's a pity for this set... tsk tsk, it's all top-tier stuff."

"Kiroshi, reinforced tendons, subcutaneous armor, and that custom ballistic coprocessor... Dismantling it should fetch a good price, or it'd be good for us to use ourselves."

He touched his chin, as if evaluating a piece of precision equipment to be dismantled: "However, this 'decompression' is technical work. Who to find? Needs to have good skills and be tight-lipped."

V hesitated for a moment and suggested a potential candidate: "Viktor? His skills are fine, and he's absolutely reliable."

Lin Yi immediately shook his head, rejecting the proposal: "Forget it. Viktor is a doctor, he saves lives, not a butcher. Letting him handle this..." He pointed at Takemura on the ground, "It's inappropriate. This kind of dirty, rough work, better not stain Viktor's operating table and his principles."

He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his forearm with smooth lines, which also had some basic cyberware interfaces implanted, his tone carrying a kind of cold pragmatism: "This kind of job, I'll do it myself. At least when I was at Kang Tao, I learned some basic anatomy and cyberware maintenance. Although not as good as a master like Viktor, dismantling parts... my amateur-level skills should suffice."

He walked to the van parked aside, opened the back door, and rummaged through the boxes to find his toolbox.

Opening the box, various sizes of wrenches, screwdrivers, hydraulic pliers, laser cutting pens were neatly arranged, and there were even a few polymer scalpels and bone saws that flickered with cold light, specifically for fine cutting.

Although these tools had obvious signs of wear, they were well-maintained, especially the blades of the dismantling knives of various sizes, which reflected a cold luster in the dim light.

"Jackie, give me a hand, fix him in place." Lin Yi ordered without looking back, while selecting suitable tools, his focused expression not looking like he was preparing for an execution, but more like an engineer preparing to dismantle a complex machine.

Jackie responded and stepped up to help.

V watched Lin Yi pick up the high-frequency laser cutting pen; the faint "buzzing" sound it made when activated was particularly harsh in the quiet workshop.

She pursed her lips, finally turned around, and walked towards the van, with her back to the center of the workshop.

"I'm going to check the car to see if anything was left behind." She said in a low voice, finding an excuse to leave the scene that was about to become bloody.

She wasn't soft-hearted; in Night City, being kind to enemies is being cruel to oneself—she understood this principle.

It's just that watching someone (even an enemy) being "disassembled" like this is ultimately not a pleasant thing. She would rather face a gunfight.

Lin Yi looked at her back understandingly and said nothing.

He put on anti-splash goggles and tactical gloves that fit his palms, crouched down, and the faint beam from the laser pointer fell precisely on a specific position of the cyberware interface at the back of Takemura's neck...

"Damn, mano, be careful, it splashed on my hand,"

"Holy crap, this is way more exciting than a black braindance." Jackie's complaints came one after another from behind V.

The following process needs no detailed description.

In the workshop, apart from the sound of tools at work and the occasional tooth-aching cutting sound, the sound of blood splashing, there was no other sound.

Lin Yi's movements were precise and efficient, even carrying a strange "artistic sense," maximizing the integrity and value of those expensive cyberware.

And Takemura, who was in a [Lockdown] state, didn't even have a trace of instinctive twitching, completely becoming fish on the chopping block.

I don't know how long it had been, Lin Yi finally stopped.

He stood up and took off his stained gloves and goggles.

On the plastic sheet on the ground, several cyberware components that flickered with the luster of metal and composite materials were placed in categories, from precision optical sensors to reinforced mechanical joints, all available.

And the remaining parts were properly wrapped, ready for the final "disposal."

Jackie looked at the pile of invaluable "trophies" and whistled: "Mano, your skills, it's a pity you don't moonlight for the Scavengers!"

Lin Yi rolled his eyes at him: "Stop fooling around, help clean up. Box these 'parts,' and the rest... same old rules, compress first, then decompose, use that hydraulic press."

In Night City, there are many ways to make a person disappear completely; what they chose was just one of the more efficient ones.

When everything was finished, and all traces were cleaned or destroyed, it was nearing dawn.

The three of them drove the cleaned van away from the recycling plant filled with the scent of death and metal.

Returning to the relatively safe apartment, it was already dawn.

V had been silent along the way, and only after entering the door did she let out a long sigh, as if to completely replace the smell of the recycling plant in her lungs.

"Is that it?" She looked at Lin Yi, her tone carrying a trace of imperceptible inquiry.

"Yeah," Lin Yi nodded, with a trace of fatigue on his face, but his eyes were still clear, "Cleanly disposed of, as if he never existed."

V walked to his side, carefully looked at his eyes and hands, and after confirming that there was nothing inappropriate left on them, she leaned into his arms and whispered: "That's good." She didn't ask about the specific process, and he didn't need to say it.

Some disgusting things, just knowing is enough, don't say it out loud.

"Ah... another beautiful day in Night City." Jackie exaggeratedly stretched, breaking the slightly heavy atmosphere, "Took out Arasaka's super ninja, harvested a pile of top-tier gear, and consolidated the revolutionary friendship with the Arasaka Emperor... Buddy, I think we can sleep soundly for a few days!"

Lin Yi smiled and hugged V tighter.

He knew that although V hadn't witnessed the final scene, with her intelligence and experience at Arasaka, it was impossible for her not to guess what had happened.

He secretly rejoiced that he hadn't let her see him in action, otherwise, with V's clear-cut love and hate and slightly cleanliness-obsessed personality, he probably wouldn't be able to climb onto this soft bed tonight without scrubbing off a layer of skin.

The sunlight gradually filtered through the window, dispelling the gloom of the night.

A new day had begun, and the legend belonging to them would continue.

As for Goro Takemura, who is that?