2077: V really knows how awesome he is

"Ah, I still want to stay in Night City and watch the show."

"Go back and review the video. If they tell you to go, then go!"

"Fine, fine, you're the boss, you're in charge. I'm just destined to be a hard worker."

Meredith Stock grumbled and agreed, unaware that V was doing it all for her benefit.

Rescuing hostages and saving the nation from peril—what great propaganda material! I could use that when I'm president.

"Finally, show Reed the video of Miles threatening me." V smirked. "To protect the image of the new America and prevent it from being isolated by the international community because of such scandals, order him, in the name of the new president, to assassinate the former president!"

Chapter 67 An Unfinished Performance

"coming!"

Three days later, the new US president's SpaceX arrived in Night City airspace on time.

V smiled and said, "With the actors in place, the show is about to begin!"

As her eyes glowed blue, the meticulously planned battle began.

The SpaceSpeed ​​One, which was flying in near-Earth orbit, suddenly began to descend, startling Miles.

"what happened?!"

"Report! Space-Time One has been compromised by a cyber intrusion!"

Miles immediately said, "Song Zhaomei, take back control immediately!"

Song Zhaomei's eyes also glowed blue. While watching V's consciousness leisurely examine the interior of Sky One, she pretended to be nervous and shouted, "No, the enemy's attack is fierce. Without server support, I need 48 minutes to regain control!"

48 minutes? That's a long time; the Space-Time 1 satellite could have crashed into Mount Everest!

Miles was pacing anxiously, but V teased Song Zhaomei with a playful expression, "Not bad acting."

"A required course for special agents," Song Zhaomei thought to herself. "Forget all this nonsense, how do you plan to take down Miles? Even if you control Sky One, she's got three whole robot guards with her!"

V smiled enigmatically: "You'll find out soon enough."

Before the lark could ask any more questions, V suddenly raised his hand to interrupt her: "Wait a minute, Miles called me."

Song Zhaomei looked up and saw that Miles' eyes were glowing blue.

"V, you hacked Sky One, didn't you? I think there must be some misunderstanding."

“No misunderstanding, I’m going to kill you. Struggle all you want, Mr. President, you’ll find your struggles are worthless! Finally…” V’s consciousness gave Miles the middle finger: “Fuck you, you stupid idiot!”

The new US president looked ashen-faced, while V looked completely at ease.

After two lifetimes, I've finally said those words. It feels so good!!!

"Damn V!" Miles cursed as well. "I'll make her pay!"

No one agreed, because Song Zhaomei, who was sitting opposite her, was looking out the window.

"Song Zhaomei!"

Miles grumbled in annoyance. Usually, someone would fawn over her at this point, but Song Zhaomei's performance was truly subpar.

She was about to continue scolding when she saw Song Zhaomei's expression change drastically, and she quickly rolled over and hid under the chair.

Miles instinctively looked out the window and was immediately terrified, his face turning deathly pale.

A surface-to-air missile, trailing a long plume of flame, swerved through the air and slammed into the Sky-1 air defense system, which had been completely decommissioned!

With a deafening roar, half of the Sky-1 aircraft caught fire, scattering debris across half the sky. The cabin shook violently, red lights flashed, and alarms blared incessantly.

Miles wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was bleeding from the head injury. Dizzy, she saw Song Zhaomei crawling out from under the chair and quickly grabbed her trouser leg.

"Akami, save me..."

Without saying a word, Song Zhaomei kicked Miles in the face, sending the noble president flying.

A surge of immense pleasure instantly filled Song Zhaomei's heart, and she couldn't resist wanting to kick him again, but V's consciousness spoke up.

"I know you enjoyed kicking, but I have to warn you, the second missile is coming soon."

"Damn it!" Song Zhaomei cursed angrily. She now knew how V was going to kill Miles, but she would rather not have known.

In the face of life and death, she didn't care about continuing to beat her boss. Instead, she quickly climbed into the escape pod using both hands and feet, and then locked the door with a click.

The next second, a second surface-to-air missile cut through the clouds and hurtled towards the Sky-1. Just before it was about to hit Sky-1, the escape pod ejected.

Then came another deafening roar. Space-Time One had been hit a second time, this time with even more severe damage and more intense shock. Miles was thrown violently into the air and then slammed back down inside the cockpit, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

But she did not give up. Although she was cold-blooded, ruthless, and selfish, it is undeniable that she was indeed outstanding in her personal abilities.

Before becoming the CEO of military technology, she was an excellent soldier who received full military training and achieved outstanding results. Simply put, she could also fly the Sky One spacecraft.

I stumbled and crawled into the driver's seat, entered the authorization code to switch to manual driving mode.

Miles gripped the joystick tightly with both hands, his eyes resolute as he began his desperate struggle for survival!

Sky One, wreathed in thick smoke and flames, roared across the sky above Night City like a giant otherworldly demon. Kurt Hansen looked up and couldn't help but exclaim, "That old hag really knows her stuff!"

The fact that two surface-to-air missiles couldn't kill him earned the deep respect of the Dogtown boss.

What a fine soldier! What a waste that he became such a worthless president!

Feeling the cyber madman struggling beneath his feet, Kurt Hansen lowered his head, said "Thanks, bro," and then blew the man's head off.

These are terrorists who attacked the new US president; of course, they must be killed immediately to avenge His Excellency the president.

"V, I've finished up here," the Dogtown boss reported over the comms.

"Roger that. Take the bodies with you and get out of here. Wait for the new America to give you a medal."

After answering, V asked Carter, who was monitoring the entire situation, "Has the crash site of SpaceX been calculated?"

"Theoretically, the crash site should be the ruins of the Great Empire Department Store, but the actual crash site is the unfinished circular building northeast of the Long Beach stockpile. This should be the result of Miles's manual manipulation. She wanted to crash headfirst into the research facilities of Project Little Big Dipper!"

The unfinished circular building is located beneath the site of the Little Beidou Project. Even in its current state, Miles has not forgotten his original aspiration, which is truly admirable.

"As expected of the new US president, he's really hard to kill," V praised, then shrugged. "But this was expected; contingency plans were prepared long ago. If one attempt doesn't work, try again. But before that..."

Taiping Prefecture, formerly Lu Ke Shuang Mountain Villa Health Spa.

Song Zhaomei's escape pod landed on this small hill.

The good news was that she adjusted her flight path and angle in time, avoiding being smashed to pieces. The bad news was that the impact was still significant, causing the escape pod to become stuck in the rocks. She kicked the door several times but couldn't open it, and ended up exhausting herself.

Just as she was about to despair, the hatch was ripped open with a snap, and V smiled and stretched out his hand: "Looks like there's a little bird that can't break its own eggshell."

Song Zhaomei was furious and slapped V's hand away: "You almost blew me up with you just now!"

“But you’re still alive, aren’t you? Don’t worry, everything is going according to plan.” V extended his hand again.

Song Zhaomei wanted to slap V hard, but considering that her life was still in the other party's hands, she could only helplessly endure it—just like V back then.

She pulled V by the hand and climbed out of the escape pod, where a stone sword was waiting nearby.

"Nice car," Song Zhaomei said with a cold expression.

V smiled ingratiatingly, "Of course we need a nice car to pick up the famous Nightingale. Come on, get in, I've prepared a welcome feast for you."

This attitude was acceptable, and Song Zhaomei's mood improved a little.

The two got into the car. Song Zhaomei thought they would head north to the company square, but V drove south instead. Song Zhaomei thought they were going to Baoshiqing, but V drove past the entrance of Baoshiqing without going in and ended up at a circular, unfinished building.

Looking at the remains of the Space Shuttle No. 1 at the bottom of the unfinished building, Song Zhaomei finally realized something was wrong.

"Damn, you weren't here to welcome me? Where am I?"

V did not answer directly: "Akami, I need your help one last time."

Song Zhaomei was furious: "You lied to me!"

"I lied to you, but please believe me, all of this was to cure you."

V's tone was sincere, just like the lark back then; Song Zhaomei had a fire in her heart, but in order to survive, she had to continue even though she knew there was a trap, just like V back then.

"This had better be the last time you lie to me!"

The two entered the unfinished building through the large hole created by the Space Shuttle 1, and continued downwards until they reached the research institute 200 meters underground.

Looking at the various control consoles and research facilities inside, Song Zhaomei asked in surprise, "Where exactly is this place?"

“The Little Beidou facility.” V said, connecting his personal data cable to the console. The screen lit up and a bunch of documents and technical information popped up: “The Little Beidou project, the atomic bomb of cyberspace, a magic weapon of military technology, comparable to Arasaka’s Soul Killer, a stupid thing that a giant company made in order to see who was more powerful.”

Song Zhaomei murmured, "It's something Miles has always wanted too."

V laughed: "That's right, Miles has always wanted this, but he doesn't know what it is."

Song Zhaomei was taken aback: "Isn't it the neural matrix?"

"That's just a smokescreen. Come on, you'll soon find out what the Little Big Dipper Project really created."

The two continued forward, finding signs of battle along the way. Various security doors had been forcibly breached, and even the "flat-top" that had terrified V was now a pile of scrap metal—likely the work of Miles's robot guards.

“V, I feel a chill down my spine.” The lark touched her arm.

"I felt the same way back then."

"Back then? You were here?"

“Yes, I’ve been here before, a long time ago.” V showed a hint of nostalgia, but it quickly disappeared: “Let’s keep going, we’ll be there soon.”

The two continued forward, taking the platform elevator down to the core area of ​​the Xiaobeidou facility.

This was a huge circular space. V and Song Zhaomei entered from the south end, and as soon as they showed their faces, a burst of bullets came flying at them.

"Watch out!" V pulled Song Zhaomei behind cover. When they peeked out, they saw that the circular space was filled with Kangtao's most advanced robot guards, roughly more than 30 in total.

"Should we make a move? I can probably take down 10 of them," Song Zhaomei asked.

Before V could speak, Miles' voice rang out first.

"It's no use, Zhaomei, you're too late." Miles strode out, her white presidential uniform stained with blood and dirt, but her expression was arrogant, like a peacock spreading its tail feathers.

"V, come out and let's talk. Don't worry, I won't shoot."

"Don't listen to her, she never tells the truth!"

Although Song Zhaomei said that, V still pulled her out.

“What do you want to talk about?” V asked.

“Come work for me, V, and I’ll give you the best treatment.” Miles’ tone was very sincere.

V sneered: "And then you'll sell me off like everyone else?"

"No, V, I promise. You are unique, and you deserve my special treatment."

"Tch." Song Zhaomei rolled her eyes. "That's what she said to me back then."

Miles's gaze swept over her: "Zhaomei, I gave you a comfortable life, but you betrayed me!"

Song Zhaomei clenched her fists: "I just want to live!"

"I told you I would heal you!"

"But you didn't. You're just saying it. You never did it. You're a liar, a liar who lied to all of us!"

Miles's face darkened: "Yeah, I lied to you, but so what? You're nothing but a maggot living in Brooklyn. I pulled you out of the cesspool. Even if I lied to you, you should be grateful!"

Song Zhaomei gritted her teeth in hatred: "Miles, you're a fucking bastard!"

“Say what you will, your foul language cannot tarnish my nobility. All I need to know is that a single word from me can decide the fate of scum like you.” Miles looked at V again: “V, what is your answer?”

V retorted, "What do you want me to do?"

"It's simple: fighting, what you do best."

"Where's the target?"

"Everyone except me. Military technology, Comtasia, all kinds of giant corporations, and countries."

"You want to challenge the whole world?" V shook his head: "You must be crazy."

"I'm not crazy, I've just gained power!" Miles took out a chip that emitted a golden light, the light so dazzling that it seemed to be the holy sword wielded by a god in legend!

"What is that?" Song Zhaomei asked in surprise.

“The results of Project Little Beidou.” Miles couldn’t suppress the smile on his face. “The data says it’s a neural matrix, but I only realized it was a smokescreen after I got here. The real goal of Project Little Beidou is to cross the black wall to capture and tame stray AIs, and this chip contains the captured and tamed stray AI.”