2077: V really knows how awesome he is

The next day, River Ward appeared before Hillary with dark circles under his eyes.

Ciri, the naive girl, was startled, thinking River Ward had been poisoned, but River Ward told her he was fine, he had just been busy with official business until late last night.

"If only my officials were half as diligent as you," Ciri said sincerely.

Knowing his own limitations, the NCPD director blushed slightly, coughed, and said, "Let's go. Your meeting request has been approved. I'll take you to see President V."

Ciri took a deep breath and nodded.

Alex was right; only good days can move a person. Ciri was indeed moved. If President V was truly as outstanding as River claimed, then revealing the secret of the Ancient Blood wasn't out of the question. Of course, this was just a plan; she would have to meet President V and make her own judgment before deciding what to do.

River Ward took Ciri to Arasaka Tower, this time not in Delaman's car, but in a hovercar. Ciri explored the cabin, touching this and that, and arrived at their destination amidst waves of astonishment.

Entering the building via the stairs, River Ward led Ciri to the CEO's office. The camera on the door frame detected their arrival and immediately began scanning. After confirming that the visit was scheduled, a pleasant female voice announced, "Welcome, Director Ward. CEO V is waiting for you."

"Thank you."

As River Ward finished speaking, the door opened, and he led Ciri inside. After only a few steps, Sasha, who had been sitting behind the desk, stood up to greet them.

"River is here. This must be Miss Ciri."

Ciri quickly bowed. She was just a bit informal, not uncouth. In fact, under her godmother's guidance, her manners had always been quite good. Regardless of whether the CEO V in front of her was human or not, he was the king of Night City and deserved due respect.

"It is an honor to meet you, President V. I am Ciri, a traveler from another world."

Sasha paused for a moment, then covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

Ciri looked at River Ward, puzzled, and asked in a low voice, "Did I mess up?"

River Ward smiled and shook his head, introducing Ciri: "This is not President V, but President V's personal secretary, Miss Sasha, roughly equivalent to your internal affairs manager." He then added in a low voice, "Miss Sasha is also President V's lover."

Ciri was a little embarrassed to have mistaken someone for someone else, but then she was very surprised. V's lover? Isn't that the Queen?

She immediately bowed again: "I'm very sorry, Miss Sasha."

"Just call me Sasha. Miss Ciri, you're a guest from afar, please make yourself at home. I'm sorry you might have to wait a while, V is currently on the phone with General Xu Ling. You can have some drinks in the meantime."

Sasha invited the two to sit down and brought them drinks.

Ciri quickly expressed her gratitude, somewhat reservedly, while River Ward, a regular here, sipped his V's fine wine and asked, "Is there some problem with General Xu?"

“No, not at all.” Sasha didn’t hide anything in front of Ciri: “Didn’t Japan return to China before? With this precedent, refugees in the new Africa have also applied to return to China.”

Ciri was completely confused, while River Ward nearly spat out his drink.

"Ahem, no." The NCPD director coughed twice. "It's barely understandable that Japan has investiture documents, but the new Africa doesn't. Why should they want to return?"

Sasha shrugged: "That's why Xu Ling called to ask for V's opinion."

“I think those people are just desperate and grasping at straws,” River Ward said. “What did President V say?”

"V let Xu Ling make her own decision, but Xu Ling seems reluctant to accept the return of New Africa?"

Why doesn't she like Black people?

"No, Xu Ling said she was just being racist."

River Ward, who also had dark skin: "..."

Ciri gleaned some information from this conversation. It seemed that one country wanted to annex another. Such a major event would certainly have far-reaching consequences, so the person known as "General Xu Ling" called to consult President V's opinion.

"Isn't President V the king of Night City? Why is he meddling in the affairs of other countries?"

Ciri's question made Sasha and River laugh.

Sasha waved his hand and said, "V is not a king. Our society has long since abolished the position of king."

"As for why President V can interfere in the affairs of other countries..." River Ward explained, "Because she not only saved Night City, but also the whole world. If she wanted to, she could kill anyone in the world and destroy any country. She is undoubtedly the strongest!"

Ciri understood, because the word "strongest" already explained everything.

Thinking about her own world, there were many powerful wizards and non-human beings, but they were still no match for a real army. Ciri couldn't imagine fighting against thousands of troops by herself. She was imagining what kind of burly woman "President V" was, and how many scars and sword marks she had. A voice came from the side door of the office.

"Fine, fine, if you don't want to, that's fine too. I didn't say I was forcing you. You asked when we can wipe out the last of the Supreme Council's forces? Let's wait a bit longer. You know I need that roaming AI as a whetstone to build a new Black Wall. Alright, just bear with it a little longer. When you return victorious, I'll personally throw you a celebration banquet. That's all, I'm hanging up now."

Ciri thought the voice sounded familiar, but didn't think much of it. As the side door opened, a woman in a suit walked out. Ciri immediately stood up, about to bow, when she saw a face she could never forget.

“Ah, it’s you, the monster woman who knocked me out!” Ciri blurted out, startling River Ward into coughing repeatedly.

Sasha watched the spectacle with a chuckle, while V snorted, "To regard someone else's strength as a monster is nothing but self-deception for the weak."

Ciri gritted her teeth in anger.

She was a proud and arrogant person, and if she had to name the person she disliked the most in the world, it would definitely be the woman who defeated her that night. She knew it was a bit childish, but she just couldn't stand V; she had an innate -10 level of liking for her.

"Are you President V?" Ciri asked, clinging to her last shred of hope.

"President is my position, and my name is V, just one V."

Well, the last glimmer of hope has been dashed.

Ciri never expected that the person she admired and the person she hated were the same person. She wanted to slam the door and leave, but the maturity of an adult ultimately suppressed the childishness.

The traveler from another world took a deep breath, bowed respectfully, and said, "It is my honor to meet you, King of Night City. I apologize for my intrusion."

V was a strong-willed person, so she didn't have much affection for the equally strong-willed Ciri. She sat back down at her desk, not even lifting her eyelids: "Let's get down to business. Are you willing to hand over the warp technology?"

Ciri's brow twitched, and she patiently said, "I don't know what warp technology is, but if it's the ability to travel through time and space, I can offer some of what I know."

"Then say it."

Ciri's brow twitched again: "But I have a condition. You must pass my test and prove that you are a king who loves his people and will not use this knowledge for evil purposes."

“I don’t need to prove anything to you.” V was used to taking the initiative. Since Ciri was assertive, she subconsciously wanted to be even more assertive than Ciri. “By the way, not only the warp technology, but you also released a huge fireball with your bare hands before. I want that technology too.”

Ciri's temple twitched again. She tried to hold it in, but then she couldn't help it at all.

"Don't go too far. I don't owe you anything, and I'm not your prisoner!"

V opened the drawer, took out a few pages of paper documents, placed them on the desk, and Sasha handed them to Ciri.

"What is this?" Ciri flipped through it casually, unable to understand it, only feeling that most of it seemed to be numbers.

“This is the bill.” V placed his hands on his chin and said in a cold tone, “You do owe me something. Your appearance destroyed my precious laboratory and caused me to suffer a loss of 3.2 billion euros. You may not know how much money that is. Let me put it this way, the average monthly salary in Night City is about 500 euros. You can calculate for yourself how many years it will take you to pay off this debt.”

After doing some mental calculations, Ciri almost felt like the sky was falling. She had never panicked like this, not even when she was being chased by the Wild Hunt.

"Impossible! Those are just some cabinets, they couldn't possibly be that expensive! You...you're framing me!"

"That's not just any ordinary cabinet, it's a server array. Never mind, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. If you don't believe me, just ask River. You should trust his character, right?"

Ciri looked to River Ward for help.

So, even though he knew it was all junk, the kind-hearted bureau chief said sincerely, "That's right, Ciri, President V is absolutely right!"

After saying those words, River Ward felt a pang of conscience, but whether it was a hallucination or not, he also saw a glittering golden road ahead.

Ciri looked shaken, and V seized the opportunity to kick her while she was down: "You don't owe me anything, but you owe Night City a lot. Those cabinets you destroyed all came from Night City's taxes, the hard-earned money of the people! They could have enjoyed the benefits of technology, but your reckless actions have made their efforts futile, shattered their hopes, and..."

"Cough cough cough!" Sasha coughed repeatedly, indicating that she had overacted.

Ciri's behavior patterns had already been thoroughly analyzed by the professional team, confirming that this girl was an overly kind person with an extremely strong sense of responsibility. Based on this, Song Zhaomei proposed the current plan: to use Ciri's sense of responsibility to blackmail her. Comrade Song has extensive experience in moral blackmail; after all, she had used this method against V in countless simulations.

It now seems that Song Zhaomei's plan was very effective. The debt problem made Ciri's face change drastically. First, she regretted it, then she blamed herself. V didn't like Ciri's domineering attitude, so he took the opportunity to start his verbal battle. However, he got more and more carried away and Sasha had to stop him.

But it was too late. As V's words became increasingly outrageous, Ciri came to her senses.

"No, if those cabinets are really as important as you say, why is no one guarding them? And the floor there is filthy, covered in dust; it's obvious no one's been there in a long time. Ah, I see, you're lying to me, you've all been lying to me!"

River Ward was embarrassed, and Sasha kept giving V a look of complaint. It was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, but she had to add something unnecessary, and now she's messed it up!

Seeing that his plan had failed, V was also a little embarrassed and angry. He immediately slammed his fist on the table and said, "Stop talking nonsense. You're in my hands now. Don't even think about leaving without handing over something!"

"I told you, I'm not your prisoner!" Ciri raised an eyebrow and activated Warp with a "poof," but V activated Svenwistain first and hugged Ciri tightly a second before Warp could begin.

In a flash, the two disappeared, and in another flash, they reappeared above the sofa.

V and Ciri slammed onto the sofa with a thud. Ciri tried to struggle, but V used 20 points of strength to firmly press her down on the sofa.

Ciri felt as if she were being crushed by a Cyclops. Knowing she was no match for him, she still shouted defiantly, "Give me back my sword if you dare, and let's fight again!"

"Fine, if I win, you'll hand over the warp technology!" V said confidently. "You can fight however you want!"

Although Ciri was proud and arrogant, she knew she was no match for V. She felt disgusted by V's opportunistic behavior and immediately struggled to shout, "So despicable and cowardly, you are not worthy to be king!"

"I was never a king to begin with!" V revealed her true colors. Seeing Ciri struggling fiercely, she raised her hand and slapped the other's shapely buttocks: "Stop fucking twisting! Even the wildcats on Twisty Street can't twist as well as you!"

Ciri was so enraged that her ancient blood almost erupted. Although she didn't know what "Twisty Street" meant, she understood the term "wildcat." She had experienced countless setbacks throughout her life, but this was the first time she had suffered such humiliation. However, her extreme anger also brought a flash of quick thinking; she suddenly came up with a way to break the deadlock.

"Alright, let's have another match. If I lose, I'll tell you the secret of time travel!"

V was stunned: "Are you serious?"

“Of course, I never lie.” Ciri tried to calm herself down. “But I’ll decide how we play, and if I win, you have to let me go.”

"You think you can win?" V smiled, releasing Ciri and saying with ease, "Fine, I agree to your terms. Tell me, what do you want to compete in? Swords, unarmed combat, or if you want to compete in archery, I can even find you a bow and arrow."

"neither."

Ciri rubbed her wrist, a sly smile playing on her lips: "I want to compete with you in... carrot sprint!"

V: "???"

Chapter 120 The Invincible Formula

Ciri's words stunned everyone in the office. V couldn't help but ask, "Radish... what is that?"

"It is a horse."

“Radish is horse.” V remembered this: “Then what is ‘Radish Sprint’?”

"A game, your Night City game! It's in a metal machine, placed against the wall, and you have to insert a coin every time you use it!"

V, Sasha, and River Ward went to the side and discussed it for a long time before finally figuring out, through a combination of guesswork and deduction, that Ciri was probably referring to arcade games.

How do you know this?

Ciri replied, "I stayed here for six months, and during those six months, that machine was my only source of entertainment."

"You're really bold," V said sarcastically, then shrugged. "Fine, are you sure you want to compete with me in this?"

"Of course! If you lose, you must keep your promise and let me go!"

V scoffed: "Are you kidding? It's just a game, how difficult can it be?"

Half an hour later, an angry roar rang out from the taciturn motel: "Damn, this game is too hard, harder than living!"

V slammed his fist on the counter, startling the hotel owner so much that he immediately crouched down, hiding his entire body behind the counter, leaving only his eyes showing.

"Tch, newbie!" Ciri said smugly, pointing to the leaderboard on the screen. "See that? I'm number one, a whopping 3354 points. It's been three years, and nobody's broken that record. Seriously, you Night City folks are no good!"

Upon seeing the first place number "Z1R343L", V immediately understood its meaning: "Zireael? Didn't you say your name was Ciri?"

"Do you think I'm a newbie just starting out in this world? I won't leave my real name in a strange world. Jiviel is an ancient Elvish word that literally means swallow, so you can call it my nickname."

swallow!

V immediately recalled Misty's prophecy.

As moonlight appears amidst the neon lights, swallows arrive in the data wasteland. A black and white chessboard is shrouded in blue light, and the blooming white frost will wither in the night.

Ciri, who calls herself the Swallow, arrived in Night City, corresponding to the phrase "The Data Wasteland welcomed the Swallow." As for the moonlight appearing in the neon lights, it likely refers to the white light generated when Ciri jumped and the time of her arrival.

So the story is now more than halfway through? What is the game of black and white? And what is the blooming white frost withering in the night?

V complained inwardly, "Couldn't this great energy just explain itself more clearly?"

Seeing that V remained silent for a long time, Ciri thought that V did not believe that "Givel" was herself, and immediately said that she could play a game on the spot to prove herself.

V shook his head. Since Ciri, an outsider, dared to gamble with the games of Night City, she must have actually played them before and couldn't possibly be lying to him about this.

"No need, I'm not that unreasonable!" V retorted defiantly, "It's just a mere 3354 points, I'll show you how!"

Ciri scoffed, "But you've already lost."

“That doesn’t count!” V, who wasn’t usually so argumentative, started to argue: “It was my first time playing, you have to let me practice a few times.”

Ciri was furious, but there was nothing she could do. She could only say angrily, "Three chances, then the competition will officially begin. No more than that!"

"Okay, three times it is!"

Just as V was about to start again, Ciri said sarcastically, "If you use network capabilities to modify the data, I won't be able to tell."

Although V knew it was a provocation, he still fell for it.