2077: V really knows how awesome he is

Song Zhaomei once again marveled at the beauty of life, then began cleaning the room while grumbling.

She wanted to live, but some people were deliberately courting death.

Lancelot came again the next day.

This time he didn't pilot a mecha, but instead wore the uniform of a High Knight.

He was a full 2.13 meters tall, with fair skin and a slender body. To Earthlings, he looked like a skinny stick, but to the "moon people," this was the most outstanding physique.

"President V, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"What is it?" V was displeased. Who would dare to block him at the hotel entrance? Did Knight Gao not know any rules?

"There's a secret club at the Cloud Sea Base, it's members-only, and it's full of exciting stuff. I can take you in."

Something exciting? How exciting? Is it the kind of excitement I'm thinking of?

V looked at everyone and said, "Since everyone wants to go, then let's go."

Everyone: Yes, yes, yes, we want to go, we want to go.

Sasha and Michiko each pinched V's waist from the left and right.

The group followed Lancelot, winding their way through various strange and unexpected places. They entered the underground warehouse of a souvenir shop and arrived at the so-called secret club—which was actually an underground boxing ring.

On the stage, the two fought with brutal force, blood flying everywhere. Before long, one of them was beaten to death and his body was put into a box and carried out.

Most of the gamblers placing bets on the sidelines were "moon people," shouting and yelling, overjoyed when they won and cursing their parents when they lost.

V was greatly disappointed: "That's it?"

"This is unrestricted combat, life or death is irrelevant," Lancelot said with a boastful look. "You can experience a thrill you'd never feel on Earth!"

Based on the information he'd gathered, Earthlings were portrayed as cowardly and foolish, bound by laws and regulations, making them a very weak species. They were far inferior to the "Lunar People," who were known for their bravery and fighting prowess. V, who had never seen such a bloody sport, would certainly enjoy it.

David replied innocently, "What's so exciting about that? There's no-holds-barred fighting every day in front of my house. Last time, some idiot died in the elevator, and no one came to collect his body for two months. I had to step over him every day on my way to and from school. He stank horribly."

River Ward also said, "The streets of Night City are much more brutal than this. There was a case before where the Vortex Gang and the Cleaners Gang were fighting, and then a female cyber psychopath with all four limbs replaced with blades appeared and killed both sides. The scene was like that, with entrails everywhere and blood so thick you had to wear non-slip boots to stand up."

Johnny, looking completely cocky, said, "What's so exciting about fighting in an underground boxing match? Dropping a nuclear bomb is what's truly exciting."

Even the ladies scoffed, after all, every woman here had been through a lot, and even Misty, who ran the fortune-telling shop, was Haywood's native daughter. Street feuds and gang fights were just childhood memories for her.

Lancelot was dumbfounded. This reaction was wrong. Weren't Earthlings supposed to be hothouse flowers? How come they all seem more cold-blooded and ruthless than the High Knights? Are they just bragging?

V is too lazy to explain, and there's no need to explain.

She was a little annoyed that she had wasted time, after all, she was quite busy and it wasn't easy to squeeze out a vacation.

"Thank you for showing us the way, Mr. Lancelot. Unfortunately, we're not interested in that." V said, transferring 500 yuan as a token gesture before preparing to leave.

Why would I go to the moon to watch underground boxing when there are so many unrestricted fighting games on Earth?

V thinks Lancelot is mentally ill.

It turned out that Lancelot was indeed sick.

Whether he was provoked by V's attitude or by the 500 yuan, as he was about to leave, he loudly challenged V.

"President V, I heard you defeated Adam Hammer, the strongest warrior on Earth. I happen to be the most skilled warrior among the High Knights. How about we have a match? The stakes are 10000 euros, how about it?"

If he wins, he earns another 10000 yuan; if he loses, he simply returns yesterday's money and doesn't lose anything.

Of course, he didn't think he would lose at all. Earthlings were just dirt chickens and clay dogs, and "moon people" were the future of humanity—that's what High Knight had been taught since he was a child.

The group from Night City were all shocked; they never expected that this skinny guy would dare to challenge V.

Furthermore, when did Kenichi Saburo agree to Adam Hammer being called Earth's strongest warrior? Did Takemura Goro agree? Did the super soldiers that major corporations were heavily investing in train agree?

Everyone looked at Lancelot as if he were a country bumpkin.

V is ready to accept the challenge because she hasn't punched anyone in a long time and her hands are itching. Even though it's just a nobody, she'll do it to humiliate Ou Kong.

"I……"

Before he could finish speaking, V suddenly received a call from Carter.

"What? I understand, I'll go back right away."

After hanging up the phone, V noticed River Ward's gaze and asked, "You found out too?"

“Yes.” River Ward’s expression was grave. “The NCPD has taken control of the situation.”

"Let's go. It's a pity that our lunar journey has to come to an end."

Although the crowd was puzzled, they all obediently followed.

They had barely taken a step when Lancelot started yelling again: "President V, are you trying to run away?"

Jack, David, and Rivers all turned cold, about to turn around and teach Lancelot a lesson, when V raised his hand to stop them.

V's eyes lit up with a blue light, which then went out after a few seconds.

"Let's go, I've already arranged my return flight."

The group from Night City then departed.

"Tch, what famous V? He'd run away with his tail between his legs if he faced me!"

Lancelot was feeling smug when Gawain appeared with several heavily armed soldiers.

"Hey, Gawain, you're too late. You missed the show. That V you were praising so much just now ran away with his tail between his legs. Now you understand, we High Knights are the strongest, and we are the future of humanity!"

Gao Wen remained silent, but simply sent a file over.

"Lancelot, following a tourist's report, you have abused your power and illegally amassed wealth. The Round Table Council has now decided to strip you of your knighthood and demote you to apprentice squire, sending you to the Blackrock Helium 3 excavation site to serve for 100 years. Execute immediately!"

Lancelot was stunned: "Are you kidding me? I just extorted a few tourists. Who hasn't done that? You're going to punish me for that? I don't accept this! I don't care! I want to see Lord Arthur! I'm the strongest of the Knights of the Round Table!"

Seeing him struggle, the soldier raised his gun without saying a word, and Gawain directly deactivated all of Lancelot's cybernetic devices, causing the "strongest knight" to collapse to the ground.

"Stop struggling. V has already called the European Space Agency." Gao Wen said softly, out of camaraderie, "Now you understand, right? We are all just mortals. No matter how strong we are, we are nothing more than ants in the eyes of the gods!"

Ignoring Lancelot's pleading gaze, Gawain straightened up, raised his hand, and said, "Take him away and carry out the law!"

Meanwhile, V had already boarded the shuttle.

She just made a call to the European Space Agency, mainly to temporarily request a special plane, and only mentioned Lancelot at the end, saying that she didn't like him.

The European Space Agency didn't ask why; he was just a common soldier, so they dealt with him and that was it.

As for how to handle it, V didn't ask, and the European Space Agency didn't say either, because Lancelot was just a common soldier, even if he was the strongest of the Knights of the Round Table, he was still just a common soldier.

The Night City group didn't care about Lancelot; they were more curious about why V was rushing back to Night City.

V's expression was a little strange. He rested his chin on his hand and gave the answer: "Mayor of Night City, Lucius Lane is dead."

Chapter 77 Misty's Second Divination

"Lucius Lane?"

Everyone pictured a bloated, fat man.

With a fat head, big ears, and a short stature, Lucius Lane had the natural look of a politician since childhood.

During the Unification Wars, New American forces attempted to occupy Night City and annex it to the Union. Lucius Lane led a valiant resistance, and under his leadership, the technologically advanced tanks were repelled, leading Night City to declare its complete independence.

Believe it or not, because this is all written in the mayor's brochure.

Don't believe it, because it's all written in the mayor's brochure.

In the eyes of most people in Night City, Lucius Lane is a political scoundrel who takes dirty money from the company and is the biggest liar in Night City.

He was greedy and lustful, ambitious but incompetent, and accomplished nothing during his tenure. Night City was even rated as the worst city in North America. His only advantage was his weakness; he was obsequious to the company and easy to control.

Simply put, it is a naturally born puppet body.

Before V arrived, Lucius Lane mainly obeyed the Night Corporation; after V arrived, Lucius Lane decisively broke off with the Night Corporation and only obeyed Arasaka 2077.

This wise decision earned him 91.5% of the vote in the new mayoral election, making his re-election a certainty, and his subsequent performance also greatly satisfied V.

As the nominal highest administrative official of Night City, Lucius Lane is completely obedient to V. He will diligently carry out orders he can understand, and he will also try his best to understand orders he cannot understand while diligently carrying them out.

Although the mayor is just a shameless politician who is greedy and lustful, it is precisely because of this shameless politician that V has been saved a lot of trouble.

As a result, he died.

He died in a car accident.

“A car accident isn’t so bad,” Lucy said, glancing at her boyfriend. “David gets into several car accidents every month. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he died in one.”

David: ?

V nodded: "A car accident is not surprising, but do you know what kind of car he was in when the accident happened?"

"What car?"

"Delaman's private car".

Everyone looked surprised.

Choose Delaman, and leave your troubles at the door. — This slogan is no joke. As V's initial choice for survival, the Delaman looks like a car, but you could also think of it as a tank shaped like a sedan.

With its sturdy body, powerful firepower, and windows that can even be blocked by a fully charged tungsten nail bullet from a Nekomamushi sniper rifle, you're now telling me this car was in a traffic accident, accidentally crashed into a roadside fire hydrant, and the passengers inside died?

“I feel it’s more likely that President V is possessed by a wandering AI,” David said with a wry smile.

“Exactly, how could someone die after sitting in Delaman? Nobody’s that unlucky!” Jack chimed in earnestly.

V glanced at Jack with a strange look in his eyes, leaving Jack completely baffled.

"What's wrong? Am I wrong?"

“No, you’re absolutely right,” V replied, then looked at David: “Am I possessed by a wandering AI?”

“Urban legends on the Night City internet,” David laughed. “V, you’re so amazing, everyone’s already come up with all sorts of weird and wonderful theories. Some say you’ve undergone genetic modification, a secret experiment in biotechnology; others say you’re actually an android, never human to begin with; and some even more outrageous ones say you’re an alien from the Centaurus constellation, called something like Death, Necromancer…”

"A necromancer?"

"Oh right, right, necromancer!" David slapped his palm: "V, you browse the Night City forums too?"

No, not really. But she had heard a lot about necromancers in her past life. After all, every time she went to Old Wei's shop to upgrade her prosthetic body, she would see that charlatan named Prophet Gary. She would occasionally give him a few dollars, until one day he suddenly disappeared. He was probably silenced.

"So, the thing about me being possessed by a wandering AI..."

"It's only recently become popular, and everyone thinks it's pretty cool, but that's all it is."

V nodded. She was a person, and she knew that better than anyone else. As for these rumors, there was no need to pay attention to them, because there was no way to stop them anyway.

Forget it, these are minor matters. The main task now is to clean up the mess left behind by Lucius Lane's death.

Although on the shuttle, V had already entered working mode and began to deploy troops.

"River, this matter is entrusted to you. Find out the truth about the mayor's death and give the public an explanation."

"Yes!"

"Jack, the factory is in your hands now. Keep a close eye on the production line and ensure the output and quality of the nanobots."

"no problem!"

“Rogge, stability on the streets is the most important thing, you’re in charge.”

"I'm not an employee of Arasaka2077, but never mind, I'll do it. Night City has finally gotten to where it is today, it would be a shame to let it fall apart again."

"Don't worry, things won't get chaotic. It's just Lucius Lane who died; we can just replace him with a new one." V asked the pink cat, "Sasha, I remember there was another mayoral candidate, what was his name again?"

"Jefferson Perales. Attorney, former district attorney, now a member of the Night City Council. He also ran in this mayoral election, but because he didn't get your support, his approval rating is only 4.3%."

What about his life and beliefs?

Jefferson Peralres came from a poor background and spent most of his childhood on the streets. Even so, he earned a law degree through tireless effort and intelligence. After becoming a congressman, Jefferson Peralres performed exceptionally well. He was flexible and adaptable, but when it came to serious matters, he was ruthless. Deep down, he was an extreme idealist, and his campaign slogan was to ensure that all poor children could receive an education and that all impoverished families could live a good life.

V raised an eyebrow: "What, are there still school-aged children in Night City who can't go to school?"

Sasha smiled: "Of course not, that's why his approval rating is so low. The poor children he refers to are actually from areas outside Night City. He wants to promote Night City's compulsory education and social security systems to other areas."

Everyone clicked their tongues in astonishment, and Johnny sneered, "This kid's pretty arrogant."

“Having ideals is a good thing, and he’s a good person, but taking too big a step can easily lead to disaster.” V shook his head and said, “I’m not a saint, and the places outside Night City are none of my business; Night City is not a holy city either, and the great situation that the people of Night City have created through hardship is not a gamble or a bargaining chip for realizing personal ideals. I don’t object to Jefferson Perales wanting to be a good person, but using Night City’s money to be a good person is unacceptable. This city doesn’t need a mayor like him; find someone else to run for mayor.”

What about the personnel requirements?

"Someone similar to Lucius Lane is fine."