Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 667, Section 81: Vehicle Purchase
"See you next time, Carl, and David too."

"See you next time, Maki."

As Carl watched Mashi wave goodbye and get into Delaman's taxi and drive away, he turned around and saw David staring intently at the various vehicles parked on the street.

"What's wrong, David? You seem so engrossed in what you're looking at."

“I was thinking,” David stroked his chin, “should we call another Drumman like we did when we came? After all,” he shrugged, “I don’t own a car.”

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that." Carl slapped his forehead.

In Night City, legal driving age has never been a problem. As long as you have the skill, no one cares if you're a newborn speeding around. The problem is the two people standing on the street right now: one can drive but is too lazy to touch the steering wheel, and the other has hardly ever touched a steering wheel.

“Seriously, you should learn to drive,” Carl said in a tone that made it sound like common sense.

David nodded reflexively, then suddenly realized, "Wait, Carl, don't you know how to drive?"

"lazy."

This concise and powerful answer left David speechless. Carl suddenly remembered something, and his eyes lit up: "Speaking of which, your graduation and your new job are a double celebration, right? Where we're from, we always give gifts for such happy occasions. What kind of car do you like?"

David immediately understood Carl's unspoken message—this guy was going to give him a car.

“Actually, it’s not like I’ve never driven one before,” David recalled. “I drove one briefly during the last mission. I think I can afford to buy one myself.” He paused, his voice lowering slightly, “But if you really want to give it to me, I’ll have to take a look.”

David didn't feel embarrassed about taking Carl's car—growing up in Santo Domingo, the kind of kid who had a deep-seated desire for engines. The roar of modified cars on the streets, the boasts of street gangs showing off their homemade nitrous oxide acceleration, and even the rusty old cars parked in front of convenience stores could give them a long time to discuss. Here, not liking to touch the steering wheel was like being missing an arm.

He had been planning to buy a car for a long time. Every time he passed a car dealership, he would take a few extra glances at the sleek cars in the window. After a mission, when he passed the parking lot, he would unconsciously estimate which car was more suitable for breaking through in urban warfare.

Now that Carl is giving away a car, it actually saves him the trouble of saving money—at worst, he can reciprocate with a gift Carl likes on his birthday. Close friends don't really care about the value of the gift.

“If I really have to send one,” David grinned suddenly, tracing a trail of ethanol fuel on the ground with the tip of his shoe. “I want one that can crash through an NCPD roadblock.”

"Are you planning to commit a crime? Let me make this clear beforehand: I'm a friendly citizen. If you commit a crime and get arrested by the NCPD, I absolutely will not bail you out, including for speeding."

As Carl spoke, Oliver's various high-speed driving exploits suddenly flashed through his mind, and his expression changed slightly.

"Probably not?"

Even he himself couldn't convince himself of this additional statement.

“But this time it’s perfect,” Carl quickly changed the subject, turning to look at the old captain who had just come out of ‘Afterlife’. “We just took your job, and the payment can be used directly to offset the car price. If the price is higher, I’ll give you some more, so we don’t have to transfer money back and forth.”

The old captain was about to discuss the mission details in the car when he heard this and raised an eyebrow: "What saves you from reselling?" Karl didn't speak, but simply gestured with his chin towards the row of glittering luxury cars outside the 'Afterlife' gate. As the shrewdest used car dealer in Night City, the old captain immediately understood—the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes revealed the cunning of a businessman.

"Buying a car? You should have said so earlier!" The experienced old captain immediately recognized that David was planning to buy a car. He strode forward, casually draped his arm over David's shoulder, and brushed his oily-smelling sleeve against the young man's cheek.
“I’ve got quite a few luxury cars on hand lately. How about the Redfield Sword in the Stone? There are less than 10,000 of those cars ever made in the world. I just got one recently. It’s classy and stylish. I’m just waiting for a young and ambitious mercenary like you to drive it around with a roar.”

Before David could respond, the old captain deftly pulled out his phone, which was covered in bulletproof film and had a suspicious oil stain on one corner of the screen, but this did not prevent him from smoothly opening an encrypted trading website—Night City's real used car market was never in the open.

"Don't look at the prices listed on the website, those are just for fooling office workers and newbies." He swiped his finger quickly across the screen. "I'll give you at least a 30% discount."

With a 'ding', the holographic projection started, and a silver-blue Rayfield Sword in the Stone began to spin on the phone. The paint on the car had a strange liquid texture in the projection. As the angle changed, it sometimes shone with a deep blue like the deep sea, and sometimes reflected silver light like electric arcs. The background sound even included the low growl of the engine - the old captain had even holographically sampled the sound waves.

“Look at this,” he suddenly zoomed in on the tire, the rubber treads so clear you could count every drainage groove, “Adaptive nano-coating.” He poked his index finger into the projection, drawing a glowing circle on the side of the tire, “Urban driving? The grip is stronger than a gecko’s foot. Badlands? It can hold its ground even in a desert storm.”

The projection suddenly switched to a first-person driving perspective. The neon lights of Aragaka Tower outside the windshield stretched into colorful streaks as the speedometer broke 300 km/h. The old captain lowered his voice at the opportune moment: "Last week, a young man drove the same model and went from Heywood to Pacific State in just 4 minutes and 43 seconds—of course, that depends on how deep you dare to press the accelerator." He patted David on the back meaningfully: "Perfect for a rising star like you. Driving it out will make all the girls in town scream."

Just as David was being enthusiastically encouraged by the old captain, Carl quietly spoke up from the side: "It's not that a young man was driving the same model last week, but that this car belongs to that young man, right? I remember that. Jack told me about it back then."

The story goes that a company heir living in Heywood got high on drugs and went on a reckless drive, nearly killing someone. He was eventually stopped by an NCPD roadblock, and in a fit of rage, he sped all the way to Pacific State, where he crashed into an abandoned construction site and died. "You're pretty good at fixing dead cars, old captain."

"Uh, so half the price of a used car?"

"Come on."

Carl was speechless and looked at David: "What's your opinion, David? I feel it doesn't matter."

"I think I'll choose a four-seater car."

David said this, looking at Carl: "Because Carl, don't you dislike riding in two-seater cars, and..."

He laughed: "If it were a four-seater, it could seat quite a few people, and everyone would be happy."

"I doubt it for Mann, given his size, but you could take Lucy, Rebecca, and Pila; they're all slim."

“Mann and the others.”

David paused for a moment after hearing Carl's words, then gave an awkward smile: "I really didn't expect that. I was thinking of you, Oliver, and Jack."

“Mann will be heartbroken if he finds out.”

(End of this chapter)