Chương 4: Dying Early
"No need for me to spell it out, you can probably guess—you've got a mole on your team."
Leo's opening line was blunt, and Zhu Shen nodded after hearing it, "It's my deputy, Cai Pin. Is she your client?"
"No idea." Leo shook his head, "The client's identity is a secret, I'm afraid."
There was no real confidentiality; Leo had no idea who V's client was, and it wasn't necessary to know.
First, the authenticity of the client's identity was questionable, and second, if Zhu Shen didn't even know who had the opportunity and motive to hack him, he might as well be thrown back to where he came from.
"Hmph, still playing this game? You're an Easterner?"
"You could say that."
"Then let's communicate in an Eastern language—I'm shutting off the translator. Turning off some systems will make me feel better."
In 2077, for those enhanced with cyberware, electronic viruses and biological viruses were indistinguishable; if your implants failed, it was equivalent to your body failing.
Leo nodded and switched languages: "Alright—go ahead, tell me what grudge you two have."
"Grudge? It's nothing more than her wanting my position. I just didn't expect her to make a move at such a critical time."
Zhu Shen frowned deeply, looking extremely irritated. "We've got a shipment that needs to go through Night City, to be transported back to headquarters. Now that I'm captured, they'll likely have Cai Pin take over to ensure efficiency.
Once she successfully completes the task and takes my position, no one will care about what happens to me."
"What's in the shipment?"
Zhu Shen glanced at Leo, "Some prototype products and semi-finished components. They're new products developed by the Atlanta market department, needing approval from headquarters for production.
Listen, I haven't rebooted my system or called Trauma Team and the cops for one reason: I want Cai Pin dead, and that shipment cannot be botched.
I don't want APD involved, and I don't want to end up in jail. I'll stay offline, and you need to catch her off guard while ensuring my work continues smoothly."
Leo didn't respond immediately. Instead, he looked at the television, where a ZetaTech commercial was playing, showing the company's dominance in the neural processor market.
But for some reason, the commercial was followed by another one stating that the top civilian neural processors were still from Militech.
It felt like a slap in the face—"Sure, you sell a lot, but don't forget mine are the top-tier goods."
But ZetaTech could only accept it; after all, this was Militech's territory.
Leo thought for a moment and then said, "Well, you're in luck. You've met the best mercenaries around. Let's talk about payment."
"The best mercenaries, huh?" Zhu Shen didn't fully buy it, but he understood he didn't have many options.
After some thought, he named his price: "400,000 for Cai Pin's head, 400,000 to get the shipment to Night City, and 200,000 for your discretion—remember, keep it quiet. I don't want to deal with the APD."
Leo shook his head, "A million for all that? Come on, we're talking about discreetly taking out a corporate executive in Atlanta here, and you have no other options.
Trust me, the moment you show your face on the street, relentless pursuers will follow, and then you'll be stuck choosing between staying offline or calling the cops.
The former has a near 100% death rate, and the latter means losing your job, which is practically the same as being killed.
But you don't want to choose either—2 million, this is a tough job.
And you need to pay a deposit first, plus I'll need internal intel on Kang Tao's local operations."
Almost without hesitation, Zhu Shen nodded, "Deal. I can't reboot my system, but I have a safe fund—400,000 euros in a European bank, she can't trace it."
Whistling, Leo opened the door, and V was standing there, having clearly heard every word of the conversation through the thin walls.
Zhu Shen looked constipated, while Leo just shrugged, "We're a team. She needs to know the mission's goals, requirements, and compensation, right?
V, let's drive. We need to find a ripperdoc—Mr. Zhu, I assume you have someone in mind?"
V looked calm as she drove, but she was internally reeling.
2 million euros!
Who the hell needs to be a merc with that kind of money? Just go live the good life!
She glanced at Leo, "You're not bad, kid."
Leo responded with mutual flattery, "You're too kind, really. I'll need your expertise soon, after all, you're the legendary V."
V didn't say anything, but it was clear that Leo's flattery hit the mark: "How are we splitting the money?"
"Seventy-thirty, street rules."
"What kind of crap street rule gives a bald donkey a seventy-thirty split?"
"You see, I'm now half a middleman. If you don't want to do this, you can cut me out, but if you take me out, do you think our client will keep working with you?"
Leo was confident—starting now, Street Kid V was in his debt, and he could play it however he liked.
In reality, middlemen do just that—deal with the clients, leverage their connections, and organize the operation.
Then they hire a hothead to get the job done—a hothead who's good at the job but whose head spins at the sight of money.
Neither middlemen nor mercs are liked by the corps, but the corps only deal with the middlemen, never directly with the mercs.
Leo played the role of a rookie middleman in front of Zhu Shen, but in truth, that was his role in this mission.
V, however, knew Leo wasn't just any middleman—it was a gut feeling.
V stayed silent, but Leo could sense the tension in the air. "Cough, cough… Considering I'm just starting out, you're taking on more risk this time, so you can take an extra share."
V glanced at Leo, "Fifty-fifty—you wouldn't pull this off without me."
Leo could only reluctantly agree, "Fine, it's our first job after all. But remember, we won't get all of this money, so don't be too greedy."
V's grip on the steering wheel relaxed a bit, "So, what's our next step?"
"First, we use the deposit Zhu Shen gave us. You need better combat cyberware, and I need a specialist to check out my condition.
Or rather, that's my primary goal."
The two drove to the bank and retrieved Zhu Shen's safe funds, then made their way to the city's edge to a ripperdoc recommended by Zhu Shen—a ripperdoc frequented by corp dogs.
As long as you don't cross the line, it's a real ripperdoc—according to Zhu Shen, that is.
Leo obediently lay on the operating table for a full-body examination.
The doctor looked like he only had cyberware in his eyes, but his arms were entirely cybernetic, assisting him with the examination.
He seemed like a relatively normal ripperdoc—after all, in the Rust Belt region, a more professional demeanor was the corporate norm.
"Hmm… your situation…" The doctor looked at the report only he could see, hesitating.
"What's wrong?" Leo opened his eyes, the anesthetic still numbing him.
"How old are you?"
"Should be 18, why?" Leo asked, curious, "What about you?"
"I'm 62."
Leo was shocked because the doctor didn't look older than 30, so he blurted out, "That old?"
"Quite old, indeed." The doctor glanced at Leo, then shifted his tone, "But you're going to die sooner than I am."
He handed Leo a tablet showing the examination results.
"All your organs are failing. If you don't get cyberware, that's one thing, but getting it will speed up the process several times over.
The worst part is that your cells are radioactive, which will affect precision implants, greatly increasing their failure rate. So you're stuck with top-tier second-gen implants and say goodbye to any off-brand junk.
And more urgently—your eyesight is about to go. You're probably seeing dark spots around the edges of your vision, things are blurry, doubled, maybe even some floaters?
But that's not your biggest concern because if that were all, you'd still have four or five years left.
Your biggest concern is that your spinal gray matter is losing activity. In other words, you're about to be paralyzed, and this will happen quickly—maybe in a month or two.
The solution… is to get a neural implant to enhance your central nervous system, but as I said earlier, that will shorten your lifespan."
The doctor wasn't blind; he could tell Leo was a street kid with no stable job.
For street kids, paralysis might as well be a death sentence—in fact, having a body that couldn't handle implants was also a death sentence.
"This is the first time I've seen such a contradictory body.
Honestly, your brain is well-developed, with excellent surface area and highly active brain signals.
But your body, your cells, are completely unsuitable for implants. Any implant will shorten your life.
Otherwise, you might have had a shot at… network security."
In 2077, everyone needed cyberware, including netrunners—only by fully exploiting the brain's potential could they handle real-world challenges.
Without cyberware, being an ordinary citizen was the only option, but it was tough to live long.
[Completed a full-body examination. Read the report carefully to earn technology points.]
[Note: Technology points can be used to assist in analyzing technology or carrying items.]
But considering that Leo had transmigrated with a system, he would find his own way to solve this problem.
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