บท 72: Progress on Multiple Fronts
[Interactions in Another World]
[Jackie: Leo, do you have a spare bed? Uh, my mom saw me on TV, or rather, she figured it out. Can I crash at your place for a couple of days?]
[Leo: I only have one bed, but you can sleep on the floor. There's plenty of space in the apartment.]
[Jackie: Thanks, bro, XD.]
[Leo: Don't thank me just yet. There are some stolen meds and vaccines in the storage room. Grab 5 vials of the slow-release agent and 10 doses of the vaccine, and have Rosanna come pick them up.]
[Jackie: No problem, still gotta thank you. My mom is really mad about this, I almost had to sleep on the street.]
As it turned out, Leo still haven't seen Gwen yet—not sure what she's been up to.
But Leo wasn't here to play the fanboy, so after having grasped a good sense of George's preferences, he bid farewell and went home to continue refining the first version of the cross-dimensional data barrier.
The server housing the tool AI was isolated in a separate room, disconnected from the internet, meaning it couldn't go anywhere outside this small house.
Leo left a linking software in all the devices that might have captured traces of their activities—whether in Santo Domingo, the Badlands during the raid on the 6th Street Gang, or during the hack at the Lamar's Armory and the one in Arroyo.
All their actions were now connected by a path leading to this data barrier.
In the Cyberpunk world, as long as the physical equipment isn't destroyed, netrunners can trace clues from electronic devices.
But from now on, these devices hacked by Leo would send misleading commands, directing to servers in different worlds.
This way, any hacker trying to track their movements would be even more confused: the trio's actions weren't just fragmented; there were also unknown methods hiding more clues.
Meanwhile, Skye was making significant progress—
According to the original development of the Watch Dogs universe, the protagonist Aiden Pearce would gain progress on this matter about a year later.
His nephew would receive threatening calls, and Aiden would first have to investigate who was calling him. A hacker named Clara would help him hack into the ctOS system, eventually discovering that the calls came from his hacker partner—Damien.
But now, just one week later in that world, Aiden had already hacked into enough ctOS servers.
Thanks to the system's assistance, Skye was getting all the ctOS technical codes she needed through her interface with Aiden. She was practically outperforming most hackers on her own.
Damien didn't die and revealed his plans—he believed those blurry images might be their ticket to riches.
As Leo inspected the program, Skye commented, "Boss, this whole situation seems like they brought it on themselves, doesn't it? Aiden asked me what I plan to do with those videos; he just wants his nephew to be safe."
Strictly speaking—this was indeed Aiden's fault.
He agreed to work with Damien to steal money, then stumbled upon secrets that couldn't be exposed, which ultimately led to one of his nephews dying on the spot and the other becoming catatonic.
Since then, Aiden became a ruthless "vigilante," shooting criminals without mercy.
This mindset drove him to trace and kill every criminal he encountered, even gunning down the biggest mastermind.
From the sound of it, now that Aiden's niece hadn't died yet, he wasn't as extreme.
"What's on your mind?"
"If the truth doesn't come out, Aiden won't be safe even if he hides in Washington. This system is just too powerful."
ctOS was even more useful than Skye had imagined.
Through her interactions with Aiden, she began to truly grasp the sheer power of ctOS in another world.
It monitored everyone, controlled all public facilities—in such a scenario, not only could cars be weaponized, but even heating ducts and power lines could become tools of murder!
Moreover, this system's meticulous control over the city could theoretically turn into a massive urban weapon—a blackout.
If it treated everyone equally, it might sound like a tool to prevent crime, but the mere existence of secrets proves that it inevitably answers to certain people.
This isn't fair.
"Then tell him what you think—did you make sure his family is safe?"
"I did, but there weren't any tickets available."
Leo raised an eyebrow, "Then have his sister drive away; that should set off some alarms."
"Actually, I already did." Skye pointed at the computer, "I'm just waiting for him to come back.
Boss, can't you give me a spoiler? What's in that video? I'm worried Aiden might die in the process."
Skye was fully immersed in the other world—under these circumstances, Leo didn't mind giving a spoiler.
Leo slowly said, "Sure—Chicago's mob boss is an investor in the world's ctOS developer.
After the initial deployment, the system happened to capture footage of the Chicago mayor accidentally killing his mistress, leading to blackmail that allowed ctOS to thrive.
That footage is what Aiden stumbled upon, bringing disaster upon himself.
Subsequent deployments of the ctOS system captured many compromising and illegal acts of major figures in Chicago's political scene. The entire city was gradually taken over by the Chicago mob boss's secret offensive."
Skye was stunned, then angrily said, "I knew it, stuff like this just happens in the world!"
Leo shrugged—hackers love digging up secrets, so naturally, they believe secrets hold immense value.
That's why no one likes hackers, especially politicians.
"Politicians use secrets as weapons, but they're also constrained by secrets. This system is a killer of secrets—or perhaps, a gatekeeper of secrets."
"I don't care about that, I just want to help Aiden take down this mob boss..."
"Then keep at it."
Overall, life was pretty pleasant and uneventful until the afternoon of the next day.
Leo took some time to visit Empire University, bringing Matt along to sign the formal contract with Professor Connors, while Matt also brought the signed contract with XMSC.
After finishing the work, Matt rarely showed a relaxed expression.
The two sat by the window in Professor Connors' office, unwinding.
Leo asked, "Busy lately?"
"Yeah, pretty busy," Matt admitted, "People aren't just taking matters into their own hands; they're also more confident in their lawsuits.
Recently, there was an incident where a lawyer defending Union Construction was beaten to death with a hammer by the plaintiff.
Many law firms are now refusing to defend people from Hell's Kitchen—leaving only fools like me who charge very little to do pro bono work for them."
"Well—that homeowner association raised a lot of dues for me. I believe they wouldn't mind if I appointed you as our dedicated lawyer, and you're already my personal lawyer.
We're about to get some funds soon, so be ready to get paid."
"Thanks—but I didn't become a lawyer for the money."
Leo smiled, "That's why I said, outside of fighting, you're more like a superhero than you think—
A lawyer who only defends the poor, sounds like a dream."
"Defending them doesn't mean making them innocent—and actually, this isn't good; it makes it harder for people who need help to get legal aid.
Plus, that guy didn't hit someone because of unfinished buildings; it was because Union Construction paid less than originally promised."
"I never said hitting someone with a hammer wasn't a crime." Leo sighed, "I'll find time to publicize the truth, but what's the saying?
Due process—by making this a high-profile case, you've set a somewhat silly example for your colleagues and given confidence to others who genuinely need help."
The guy who hit someone with a hammer definitely wasn't justice, but it was clear he didn't care about the law anymore.
Matt doesn't want others to reach that point of no return, so he stands up to provide defense, not for the perpetrator, but for others.
Matt didn't say anything more, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face—he felt that Leo truly understood him.
If he had to say, he didn't think the choices of those lawyers were particularly serious.
After all, most people choose the legal profession because it's lucrative and respectable, not because they really want to help people or uphold some sense of justice.
Working for money, banding together out of fear of being attacked—there's no so-called justice or lofty ideals in this, it's survival—
What kind of fool would go against survival?
But he is that kind of fool.
When others swore to "uphold due process and justice," but in reality, they comforted themselves by saying it was just for survival; When others consoled themselves that even murderers need defense attorneys, but then turned around and said wealthy murderers and poor murderers weren't the same species;
Matt Murdock still remembered his original intention.
Compared to that, Leo might just be right—
He really was like an outlier.
Matt suddenly asked, "You've got a silver tongue; how'd you get so good at it?"
"Talent, I guess."
"But a silver tongue won't fix your company's problems. Considering you're about to make a lot of money, you should find a professional accountant."
"Yeah, I need a professional accountant."
Leo sighed as well.
That's not easy to find—should I look in a prison?
"Let's post a job ad first—oh, by the way, the company's about to launch a website to publish and push living information, so you'll need to keep an eye on that too."
"Alright, alright, I'm stuck with you now."
[Unstable energy is about to erupt. Please prepare accordingly.]
Looks like the leisurely life in Marvel is about to end—what right does someone on the brink of death have to ask for rest?
...
"Sigh..."
Leo sighed as soon as he opened his eyes.
The skyscrapers of Night City were pretty stunning the first time you saw them, but within a few seconds, the piercing sirens of Trauma Team roared past the window, shattering the peace—
Leo cursed, "Isn't this crappy glass supposed to be soundproof? Damn."
Jackie was lying on the floor, having set up a sleeping mat in the apartment yesterday.
Mama Welles had always been unhappy about Jackie joining the Valentinos.
Even though Leo had concealed the trio's footage, and NCPD didn't release the shootout video, Mama Welles still figured it out—
There were rumors saying, "The Valentinos' leader is a guy built like an ox, holding a shotgun in one hand and a heavy machine gun in the other, tearing up the highway!"
And then there's Jackie's heavily cyber-enhanced body and his high spirits when he got home—how could she not guess?
But Jackie was born for this life.
Hopefully, after this, Mrs. Wells could come to terms with it.
"Jackie—Jackie?"
Leo called twice, but the big guy slept like a log, couldn't wake him, and reeked of booze—
Looks like he went drinking after delivering the goods yesterday.
Guess I'll need to call another driver today.
Leo: Archi, are you free today? If not, come drive for me. Is the Mackinaw fixed?
Archi: What could be happening now? Didn't you settle everything already?
Archi: The car's fixed; I'll be there soon.
Leo got up from bed, took a shower, and popped his daily meds. After all that, Jackie was still out cold.
He was sleeping so soundly—Leo was a little envious.
This big guy loaded up on so many implants and still acts like it's nothing, seems like he's on the same level as V in terms of physical resilience.
"Jackie—I'm off to class. You'd better head home and talk things over with Mama Welles, got it?"
Leo said as he nudged Jackie with his foot.
"Yeah, I got it...home..."
Leaving the guy be, Leo got dressed and headed out—
Today, he wore casual clothes in a regular style, but he still preferred outfits with lots of pockets, pinning an Arasaka Adult Education Academy badge on his chest to pass through the gates.
In these pockets, aside from his usual supply of immunosuppressants, he carried some emergency coagulants and painkillers.
Ideally, the best meds for mercenaries were Kiroshi and Forcal, but those were all-in-one emergency drugs marketed to the illiterate.
The same amount of coagulants, painkillers, and stimulants were much cheaper.
As for a gun...
Leo glanced at the Yinglong in the storage room.
There's only one magazine left for this thing, but I'll take it anyway.
After all, the Yinglong folds up to be just a bit bigger than a palm.
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