Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 757, Chapter 171: Would you mind chatting, friend?

"This is truly an unprecedented spectacle."

With a composed air, she adjusted the collar of her casual clothes and strolled out of the ascending escalator.

Having shed his combat uniform, he now resembled an ordinary banquet guest, except for the sharp glint in his eyes.

“Even with the hasty preparations, none of the important figures who were supposed to attend were missing.” His gaze swept over the crowd of people clinking glasses, and a playful smile appeared on his lips. “Perhaps Hansen had prepared this banquet all along, but it was originally intended to celebrate Rosalind Miles’ funeral.”

Noticing the strangeness beside him, Mingzhi turned slightly to the side. The hacker girl following him was gripping the hem of her skirt tightly, her knuckles turning blue and white.

"Not comfortable in this setting?" He gracefully extended his arm, indicating that the other person could take his arm, his voice carrying a rare gentleness. "Relax, tonight we are just ordinary guests here to enjoy ourselves, that's all for now."

"Yes, Your Excellency, you are not wise enough."

The girl hurriedly changed her words, her ear tips instantly turning crimson.

Her name was Xizi, and she was an exceptionally talented hacker. In the past, she had always acted arrogantly and as if she knew everything, but at this moment, she seemed to have suddenly forgotten how to control her limbs. When her fingers finally trembled and touched Mingzhi's arm, her entire cheeks turned red.

The entire Mingzhi Squad did not attend the banquet. Firstly, the retreat route needed to be watched by enough people, and secondly, the arrival of so many people with an elite aura would attract attention. Therefore, only Mingzhi and the hacker girl from the squad attended the banquet.

As for why Mingzhi chose to follow the team of hackers, the reason is simple.

While the slider is responsible for remote support, as the core of the operation that needs to penetrate deep into the banquet hall, it is crucial to ensure that on-site hacking assistance is available.

Xi Zi's existence solved a key problem—the identity of 'Ming Zhi' does not possess hacking skills. When encountering systems that need to be cracked urgently or sudden electronic interference, having a professional hacker by one's side can prevent delays in action.

The only problem is that this hacker girl, who has no record of attending any banquets in the information, seems to be quite unaccustomed to such banquets. This forces Mingzhi to comfort the nervous girl and tell her not to reveal anything.

"Don't be so nervous."

Mingzhi's gentle voice seemed to soothe the tension in Xizi's heart: "At the end of the day, banquets are nothing more than eating, drinking, and chatting with people. If you think of it that way, there's nothing to be nervous about."

"Yes, okay, Mr. Akechi."

Xi Zi took a deep breath, and the blush on her cheeks faded slightly.

She hesitated before reaching out, her fingertips trembling slightly as they touched Mingzhi's arm, but she unexpectedly tightened her grip on his arm—a grip that made Mingzhi glance at her sideways.

'I didn't realize she was so strong.'

With this thought flashing through his mind, Mingzhi looked towards the center of the banquet hall, just missing the fleeting sweet smile on the girl's lips.

With a quick glance, he spotted no fewer than five familiar faces in the banquet hall.

Oh, some of them might not be considered acquaintances, since they know each other to some extent, but haven't met many times.

For example, the position of Tiger Claw Gang leader, which changes very quickly, is currently held by someone like that.

Other acquaintances were people Karl knew, but whom Mingzhi should have been a stranger to. For example...
Like Jade.

To be honest, when Mingzhi saw his friend who worked at the logistics center, he was somewhat surprised for a moment, because he expected that the other party should not be of a high enough class to attend such a banquet.

This isn't about looking down on the other person's status; after all, status is irrelevant to friends. It's simply a matter of judging from a factual perspective that the other person wasn't qualified to attend Hansen's banquet.

Who are the guests at Hansen's banquets? At the very least, they are company executives, mayors, and the director of the NCPD. At the very least, they are famous celebrities and well-known arms dealers. Anyone of lower status is not qualified to attend.

Mingzhi had imagined he would see many friends, but Jade... even though he was now the manager of the logistics center.
Oh, the logistics center.

A knowing glint flashed in Mingzhi's eyes.

Mingzhi knows perfectly well what Jade does in private. He smuggles food. The meat and fresh vegetables at home are usually bought from him. And in the entire Night City, where is the place that violates Night City's food regulations the most?

It might be a factory belonging to the Vortex Gang, but if you add requirements like "normal new things" to that description, then it's undoubtedly Dogville.

This place can even get caviar from the Russian Federation, blue lobsters from Butania, France, and cod from England. As long as a food smuggler has any ambition, he will basically take the "prosperous" and "thriving" food trade in Dogtown as his life goal for expanding his market.

Judging from the way Jade was chatting with people everywhere, he probably used some connections to get in, or he probably made a deal with a food merchant in Dogtown and is now part of the trade.

Out of curiosity, Mingzhi leaned closer to see what his friend was talking about. If he had found a new source of goods, Mingzhi would pre-order from him as soon as possible.

As soon as he got there, he heard his own name called.

Of course, it's the one named Karl.

Standing in front of Jed, a man in a suit and tie was talking to Jed about Carl.

"There are so many people here this time. Everyone who could come must have come. Did you see Jade? The leader of the Tiger Claw Gang, the representative of Kangtao Company, and over there, people from the Animal Gang. This banquet is of a very high level. You know, I heard that even KK has attended Hansen's banquet before."

Upon hearing the man in the suit's words, Jade's face clearly showed surprise: "KK, is that the KK I know?"

“Which KK could it be? Of course, it’s the famous KK who made his name in your Night City.” The man in the suit leaned forward excitedly. “Honestly, as a local of Night City, you should know his legendary story better than I do.”

He squinted his eyes with rapture. "To be honest, I'm a huge fan of KK. I have the first edition Mewtwo he released in 2075—the one that was almost extinct after the NCPD's massive sweep. Now even pirated copies are fetching astronomical prices on the black market."

"Yeah."

A rather strange expression appeared on Jade's face.

"Of course, but I noticed KK isn't here today. It seems even Hansen isn't qualified to invite KK every time."

As they were talking, the man in the suit noticed that Mingzhi and Xizi were watching them, and he raised his wine glass proactively.

"Would you mind chatting, friend?"

(End of this chapter)