97: Chapter 96 Guess Who I Am

The Herrera EC-D i360, like an elegant phantom of the night, maneuvered skillfully past the long-abandoned open-air cinema on the North Oak hillside, now reduced to nothing but a skeleton of framework and discarded equipment.

The winding mountain road gradually severed the noisy, decadent sprawl of Night City below, replacing it with an atmosphere that grew increasingly serene, yet starkly underscored the barriers of class.

After winding through the twists and turns, she finally arrived at the modern residence tucked deep within North Oak, complete with a private courtyard and a tight security system.

As the vehicle approached, an invisible security laser array on the tall alloy gate swept silently over it, verifying the vehicle's registration and the biometric data of its occupants.

With a barely audible hiss of hydraulics, the gate slowly slid open.

V piloted the Herrera into a textbook-perfect reverse park, slotting the vehicle precisely into its designated space.

She grabbed the shopping bags laden with "spoils" from the backseat and shut the door with a sharp click.

Just as the gate was about to seal shut, her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a tall, lean figure with a signature stylish haircut, strolling languidly toward the neighboring villa's entrance.

"Is that… Kerry Eurodyne? The one from Samurai? Living next door? Well, I'll be." V raised an eyebrow, a look of intrigue crossing her face.

Even though she wasn't particularly into rock music, she still recognized this household name, a musical legend of Night City.

Who would have thought a legendary superstar lived right next door? North Oak really was full of hidden talents.

But the curiosity was fleeting; she had someone else she was more eager to see right now.

The sensor door detected her approach and slid open silently.

V stepped into the brightly lit living room, its minimalist decor imbued with a sleek, high-tech feel. She tossed the pricey shopping bags onto the expensive Italian leather sofa nearby as if they were nothing more than supermarket flyers.

"Babe! I'm home! Did you miss me?" Her voice was bright, filled with the energy of her travels and unmasked affection, as she opened her arms, ready to envelop the figure she expected to find bustling in the kitchen in a warm embrace.

However, she grabbed nothing but air.

The living room was unnervingly quiet. There was no trace of the usual appetizing aroma that filled the air at this hour, nor the familiar figure in an apron, busy at the stove.

V paused, only then noticing the kitchen was cold and empty. The stovetop was pristine, clearly unused today.

This was unusual. She had teased Lin Yi about this before—he earned plenty, enough to dine at high-end restaurants or order top-tier takeout every day, so why bother with the time and effort of cooking for himself?

Back then, Lin Yi had been chopping vegetables, not turning his head as he said in a tone she rarely heard—tinged with faint nostalgia and melancholy— "I'm used to it… Doing this makes me feel a little closer to family I can no longer see."

Since then, V hadn't pressed the issue.

Besides, someone was willing to handle the cooking, and the food was unexpectedly good, so she was more than happy to reap the benefits.

But today, that routine had been broken.

Something was wrong—very, very wrong.

"Where are you?" V muttered. Her golden eyes swept the living room, and confirming it was empty, she crept toward the stairs on silent feet, moving like a leopard stalking its prey, stealthily making her way up to the second floor.

The door to the second-floor studio was ajar, the cold glow of a terminal screen spilling out from within.

V peeked inside to see Lin Yi with his back to the door, fully absorbed at the console. His fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, while streams of code and data, which she couldn't quite decipher, scrolled rapidly across the screen.

A mischievous smirk tugged at the corner of V's mouth.

Holding her breath, she crept behind Lin Yi like a ghost, then suddenly reached out and clamped her hands over his eyes, shouting in his ear, "Ha!"

"Holy shit! What the—?!" Lin Yi jumped, startled by the sudden ambush, nearly launching himself out of his chair. His elbow narrowly missed knocking over the cup of cold coffee sitting on the edge of the desk.

Still reeling from the shock, he pried the hands away from his eyes and whipped around, his face still etched with lingering terror and a hint of… wariness?

"Europa? Are you done yet?" he blurted out, his gaze struggling to focus on her face.

Looking closer, he realized it was V, wearing a smirk of satisfied mischief, and Lin Yi visibly let out a breath, his tense shoulders finally relaxing.

"Oh, it's you, V." He rubbed his temples, looking weary and distracted. "Give me a second. I just need to tweak the last few parameters, and then I'll run a diagnostic on you with this program."

But at that moment, the smile on V's face froze.

Europa? The hell was that?

The name felt like a cold needle, pricking her unexpectedly.

A name she had never heard before—a woman's name, by the sound of it.

An indescribable emotion surged within her, a mix of surprise, confusion, and a stinging sense of offense.

"Did I just get cheated on?" That was the first, most direct, and most cliché thought to flash through V's mind.

The playful smirk vanished from her face, replaced by a look of scrutiny and suspicion.

She crossed her arms, leaning forward slightly, her golden eyes fixed sharply on Lin Yi. Her tone held a demand for answers that brooked no evasion: "Lin Yi," she said, enunciating every word, her voice low but heavy with pressure, "You. Better. Explain. Yourself."

"Who. Is. Europa?"

She extended a finger, pointing first at Lin Yi, then at herself. "You, me, Jackie—in our circle, there has never been a 'friend' named 'Europa'." She emphasized the word 'friend,' her gaze making her meaning clear: Don't even think about making up some excuse to brush me off.

Lin Yi seemed to finally snap out of his shock and work-induced trance, realizing his slip of the tongue. It was all Europa's fault for constantly communicating with him while wearing a face identical to V's.

A flicker of annoyance and embarrassment crossed his face. He opened his mouth, seemingly about to explain, but his gaze swept over the program that had just finished its test run on the screen, and he forced the words back down.

"Done!" Acting as if he hadn't heard V's interrogation, he clumsily changed the subject, quickly packaging the complex program that had finished running on the terminal and saving it onto a small data chip.

He then turned around and handed the chip to V, attempting to steer the conversation elsewhere with a casual tone. "Ah, that… it's a long story. We'll talk about it once the diagnostic finishes. Here, take this and plug it in first."

V didn't take the chip immediately. She just narrowed her eyes, continuing to fix that scrutinizing gaze on Lin Yi, as if she were trying to dissect him with her eyes.

Her expression clearly said: "Keep pretending. Let's see how much longer you can keep this up before I stop believing you."

Because of one unfamiliar name, the atmosphere in the room instantly shifted from the warmth of a reunion to something subtle and tense.