2077: V really knows how awesome he is

V couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Alright, alright, it's fate that we met, I'll pay for you." As she spoke, she patted Santiago on the shoulder: "After the liver transplant, get this gentleman a super-powerful car, the latest model!"

Santiago gave a thumbs up: "Great job, you can trust my skills!"

Jack's face turned green, and he struggled to stop, saying, "No! My original steel cannon hasn't been used in actual combat yet!"

As Santiago approached with a wicked grin, holding a tranquilizer dart, Jack wanted to plead with V, but when he turned around, he found that V was already gone.

A scream came from the prosthetic clinic.

V returned to the Delaman taxi.

"Welcome back, Ms. V. Please enter your destination."

V was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Old De, if someone goes back to the past, but it's not the past they know, what do you think would happen?"

Delaman wouldn't normally answer questions unrelated to driving, but V is a discerning and meticulous user, so having a driver chat is part of the service.

"Based on your description, there is a 64% probability that it is a parallel universe."

"Parallel universes?" V nodded. "It seems like that's the only way."

Delaman added, "But we can't rule out the possibility that the person's memory is faulty. If we want to get a more accurate answer, we need more test samples."

“That makes sense.” V thought for a moment, patted the chair and said, “Old De, let’s go to Victor’s prosthetic clinic.”

"Yes, the destination has been changed. Estimated travel time: 14 minutes and 56 seconds."

Heading north from Springs, past the Civic Center's corporate plaza, and across the sea bridge, you enter Watson's Chinatown, where Victor's prosthetic clinic is located at the intersection of Bradbury Street and Bran Street.

Still holding a razor blade, V entered the prosthetic clinic on the basement floor through a side alley.

"Hey, Vee." V looked at the man in the blue short-sleeved shirt in front of him with mixed feelings.

If we're talking about who treated V the best in Night City, Victor would definitely be at the top of the list. Without his early help, V might have died in the junkyard before he even became famous.

Victor looked at the woman in front of him with a puzzled expression.

He had short, neat hair, a firm chin, and especially those sharp, deep eyes that seemed to have seen a lot. Most importantly, he exuded the aura of a corporate dog.

Victor doesn't like corporate dogs, but he doesn't hate them either. At his age, he understands that people need to eat; if you don't eat from this bowl, you have to eat from another. Generally, he keeps his distance from corporate dogs, but he's not so aloof as to refuse business that comes knocking on his door.

As the saying goes, people always need to eat.

Victor then adopted a businesslike expression and asked with a smile, "Welcome, miss. What service do you require?"

V felt a bitter taste in his mouth, just like when Relic malfunctioned.

"You... don't know me?"

Victor countered, "Should I recognize you? Where have we met before?"

V smiled wryly and shook his head, then sat down on the medical bed with practiced ease: "Give me a full diagnosis."

"no problem."

The most important survival skill for prosthetic doctors is not to ask too many questions. Victor skillfully inserted the data cable into the nerve slot behind V's ear, and then operated the console to run the diagnosis.

"Wow, your cybernetic body is amazing! Biomonitoring, blood pump, accessory heart, reinforced tendons, adrenaline rectifier, response coordinator, pain editor, pain replacement, cell adaptation, discharge ejection system—you're practically an army all by yourself! And the operating system is the military-grade Berserker 5! I remember the 4 was still under development, right? This is a prototype? How did you get your hands on it?"

V smiled but did not answer.

As the test reports popped up one after another, Victor couldn't help but frown again.

"What happened to your central nervous system? It's like you were bombarded by a meteorite! It's a miracle you're still alive after this kind of damage. No wonder your prosthetic body was locked."

Old Wei is indeed Old Wei; even in a... parallel world, his technology is still top-notch.

"Can you unlock the prosthetic body for me?" V asked.

“Of course not. If you unlock even one of them, your fragile nervous system will be roasted into a plate of squid tentacles! And…” Victor said with some helplessness, “The person who locked onto your prosthetic body is very skilled. I really can’t unlock it.”

"Can anyone open Night City?"

“Yes, there is a company,” Victor replied.

"Hmm." V shrugged noncommittally.

“But most importantly…” Victor continued, “Repairing your damaged central nervous system is the key. If you can’t do that, even if you unlock the prosthetic body, it’s just suicide.”

"Hmm." V shrugged again: "Do you have any connections when it comes to repairing nerves?"

“The human nervous system is far more complex than a circuit board; a street doctor like me can’t handle it.” Victor thought for a moment and said, “Perhaps you could try biotechnology, but your situation is very special, and one company might not be enough. It would be best to combine the resources of multiple companies to serve you, but that would require a lot of money.”

V asked, "Is 2000 million enough?"

Victor's eyes darted away: "The first phase of treatment should be fine."

Haha, Lao Wei is still such a kind-hearted person, offering hope even to strangers.

V unplugged the data cable, jumped off the medical bed with a whoosh, then his prosthetic eye flashed blue light, and he transferred 2 euros to Victor.

Victor was slightly surprised: "That's too much."

"I'll give you 2 to start, that's the usual rule."

"what?"

"If you do a good job, consider it a tip from me."

V walked out, but Victor called her back just as she reached the door.

"Um, Miss..."

Seeing Victor's worried expression, V laughed.

"Don't worry, Lao Wei, no matter how difficult the road ahead may be, I will not fall."

V waved and walked away humming a little tune. Victor watched her retreating figure and couldn't help but sigh.

"Night City hasn't had someone this powerful in a long time."

Chapter 3 The Person Who Will Never Forget You

After leaving Old Vie’s clinic, V hesitated for a moment before entering Misty’s fortune-telling shop.

"Hi, Misty," V greeted.

Misty, who was mixing incense, looked up with a puzzled expression.

"Welcome, miss."

The very polite reply left V feeling disappointed.

Don't you recognize me either?

"What?" Misty didn't understand.

"No, it's nothing." V quickly composed herself and said with a smile, "Give me a fortune reading."

"Okay, please sit down."

Misty took out a tarot deck and began shuffling it, then placed the deck in front of V.

"Come on, clear your mind and draw three cards following your instincts."

V randomly drew three tarot cards.

Misty turned to the first one.

“This card represents your past.” Misty looked at the card: “The Tower, upright, the most troublesome card.”

V raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean?"

"The tower symbolizes material possessions, and the crown at the top represents power and achievement. The crown being struck down by lightning foretells that everything you own will vanish in a sudden change."

V laughed: "Not bad, pretty accurate. Let's continue, I'm starting to look forward to the next two cards."

Misty glanced at V and flipped to the second page.

"This card represents your present moment, reversed Death."

"Explain this to me."

"Death represents the end, the end of a certain phase. You must make changes, and these changes will inevitably be accompanied by pain, but the reversed card indicates that there is still a glimmer of hope. Just as a withered tree can bloom again in spring, an old tree can sprout new buds, death can be the end, but it can also be the beginning of a new life."

"I like this interpretation. What about the third card?"

Misty turned over the last card.

"This card illustrates your future. The Hanged Man, upright, signifies opposition and conflict, meaningless sacrifice, and a completely new perspective. This card is already one of the most difficult to interpret in the Tarot, and now it appears as the third card, interpreting an equally uncertain future. I cannot fully see through it either."

"Hmm~" V rested his chin on his hand, looking thoughtful.

Misty asked curiously, "As someone directly involved, do you perhaps have some thoughts on this?"

“Not at all.” V shrugged indifferently: “To be honest, I don’t understand a word you’re saying. My only impression is that these cards are pretty well drawn and quite unique.”

Misty was speechless.

"Haha." V laughed as he transferred the money.

Misty's expression improved slightly after receiving the 100 euro fortune-telling fee.

"I'm leaving." V stood up.

Since Misty in this world doesn't recognize him, V doesn't want to get entangled with her any further.

"Wait a minute," Misty called out to her.

"You like these cards, right? Take one of these three with you."

"They offer this service?" V scratched his head.

"I guess you could call it a perk for new customers."

"Really? Then I'll be welcome."

V looked over the three cards and finally took the reversed Death card.

"So you value the present more?" Misty, as expected, said thoughtfully, "This probably reflects your confusion and unease about your current situation..."

"Confused? Anxious?" V smiled and shook his head: "Not at all."

"Then why did you take the Death Card?"

"It was just that I was excited to meet someone who was also a fellow hunter."

V smiled and left, leaving Misty bewildered as she watched her retreating figure.

"Death's...accompanying force?"

V returned to the Delaman taxi and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Without the troubles of Relic, we're back to where we started. Both things were good, and together they should have made us even happier, so why did things turn out this way?

"We've detected that you're in a bad mood. Would you like to listen to some music?" Delaman's in-car AI suddenly asked.

V shrugged indifferently: "Fine."

"Yes, sir. 'Body temperature radio' has been activated."

"I couldn't wait for you to come clear the cupboards..."

V's lips began to twitch.

"We've detected an increase in your blood pressure," the car's AI said in a very human-like manner. "Is there a problem with the song?"

V rubbed his temples: "Change to 'Bo Bo Chicken'."

"PonPon Shit! PonPon Shit! PonPon Shit! PonPon Shit!"

Fast-paced music filled the carriage; although it was a slightly risqué song, it was cheerful enough.

V snapped her fingers along with the song and hummed along. When the music ended, she couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Haha, this is Night City! I love this song!"

"As long as you like it."

V maintained his smile and calmly said to Delaman, "Old Delaman, there's no one left who knows me."

The in-car AI gave a very commercial response: "As a valued and meticulous user, if you are troubled by losing friends, I can build new friendships with you."

V chuckled: "See? Even you've forgotten about me."