Lucy also has parents, not only does she have parents, but her family is very affluent.
Her father is a senior employee at Arasaka, and he had a distinguished career during the Fourth Corporate War. Her mother is a hacker from Poland, highly skilled, and after marrying Lucy’s father, she ended her freelance work to enjoy wealth and prosperity—
David’s experience of having studied at Arasaka Academy seems to be the highest level of education within the team, but in front of Lucy, it’s nothing.
When Lucy was a child, she lived in a luxury villa in Warsaw!
But as she beca interested in the net and began to engage in cyber activities, these situations changed—
In the end, she was sent to the Arasaka Group by her father to breach the Black Wall, excavating old era data on the old net.
Then Lucy ran away, and before she reached Night City, her mother returned to her old line of work and started tracking her on the net...
Seeing this information, that fear of running away and being handed over to the corporation by family while still being pursued shrouded her once again.
"...David..." Lucy’s voice trembled, her emotions overflowed, and she could no longer control herself.
Seeing her like this, David was stunned.
She hung her head low: "Do you rember our... promise? We were so close... so close to going to the Moon together... please don’t take this job."
David had never seen Lucy like this before.
She was really scared.
Betrayed by her father, hunted by her mother, she was the only one who survived and escaped from Hell, suspicion beca the cornerstone of her survival, but once she had sothing...
The fear of losing it overshadowed everything else.
The situation here also caught the attention of other boasting companions; Man, Dolly, Rebecca, Pila, and Qi Wei all stopped boasting and looked over.
Man directly asked, "What’s going on?"
David didn’t hide it: "It’s a job from the Big Brother."
Qi Wei lit a cigarette: "I see, he wants us to court death, right? How much is he offering?"
"It’s not about the money!" Lucy was very agitated, pointing outside, "Look at the troops outside, this isn’t a joke!"
On the street, Arasaka’s drones could almost always be seen sweeping across the sky, and armored vehicles continually transporting robots and soldiers to Taiping State.
"It really isn’t about the money..." David said slowly, "The Big Brother’s offer is 1 million euro, but there’s no advance paynt, this job..."
"Damn," Man rubbed his chin, "This is indeed a tough call then."
Rebecca and Pila sat nearby, saying nothing; Rebecca watched Lucy and David, while Pila just looked at everyone.
Before Lucy could speak again, David firmly stated, "We have to do this job."
He looked at Lucy, sincerely holding her hand:
"Lucy, I know you’re scared, scared that our promise can’t be fulfilled, scared that sothing so close to being ours might vanish.
You’ve t my mom..."
Lucy interrupted him: "She’s a very gentle mother; she would never want you to die!"
"But just 10 months ago, we got caught in a gang shootout on the road, and like an idiot, I sent my mom to the hospital and went to school, nearly letting the Scavenger dismber her.
If it hadn’t been for the Big Brother, I would have lost her already, if it hadn’t been for the Big Brother..."
David looked at the people present—
Honestly, many tis the danger ca from working for Lille.
But the people here weren’t naive about the situation: even without Lille, would there be no other middlen offering dangerous jobs?
Other middlen might not offer such generous rewards, and they might even sell them out.
Working for Lille was dangerous, but each ti the rewards were substantial, and Lille provided considerable help: new cars, weapons, prosthetics...
And let’s not forget, Man’s ntal state is much more stable now.
Isn’t this why they work?
David said, "So say we’re sad people on the edges, running away from sothing, but I don’t think so.
My first fight wasn’t for money or to dodge sothing, it was to protect my mom—
The old bastard planned to sell my mom to the Scavenger, and I was an idiot at the ti, should have shot him then and there, but instead, I just slapped him; if it hadn’t been for the Big Brother, I’d be dead by now.
The second fight, I started learning to use a gun properly, not for anything else, just..."
David paused, his eyes so clear that Lucy felt a bit ashad.
"It was for you, I know you must be a girl with a story, but I’m as foolish as a bimbo.
I want to learn how to use a gun, I want to protect you, and then we’ll earn money together, chat together, talk about the future together, and go... to the Moon.
Until today, I will keep using my weapons for this goal and continue fighting—
Walking on the edge isn’t running away; it’s the only way I can protect you, the only way I can hold your hand and face the future in this city."
"But... but..."
Why are you going to sacrifice your life?
This sentence was left unsaid, as Lucy felt her throat choke up.
David paused for a mont, then pulled out a gun from his pocket—
Made by Constitutional Arms, Freedom model.
The sa type of gun was handed to him by others to protect his mom, and now this gun was helping him fight for a future.
The gun was pushed into Lucy’s hand, and David grasped both the gun and her hand:
"You’re right, Big Brother is sending us to our deaths: he wants us to attack Arasaka Tower.
I can’t understand why Big Brother is going to such lengths, why he’s decided to attack the Mayor, why he’s opposing the corporation...
Just like how I couldn’t understand before why Big Brother saved , saving soone as brainless as , like any other fool in Night City, but I will definitely take this job.
This is my third fight, Lucy, and I hope you can place this gun back in my hand because I want to be as strong as Big Brother; if Big Brother can’t do it, how can we?"
"But even if you don’t put the gun in my hand, I’ll still..."
Before finishing her sentence, Lucy lowered her head, grabbing David’s hand along with the gun, and pushed them back to his chest.
"You really are a..."
A real fool.
"Alright then!" Man chuckled, hugging Dolly, "Let’s get started..."
Click—
A very, very light sound was heard, and if not for the specially enhanced hearing of a Transhuman, this sound would be like a whisper in the thunder, dissipating instantly with the wind.
But David just happened to have enhanced his hearing system!
It’s the sound of a bomb sticking to the wall!
"Bomb!"
The world in David’s eyes instantly slowed down—
The building they were hiding in, the walls began to shatter, as invisible air punched through them like a fist!
Boom!
Shock waves and shrapnel instantly filled the entire room!
Thanks to David’s warning, everyone didn’t have to face this terrifying impact in confusion:
This imnse force even blasted through the entire room!
Fortunately, David detected the attack in advance, enabling everyone to at least hide part of their bodies behind cover before the explosion hit.
But the force was really too strong, they only felt the sky and earth spinning, and then were thrown through the wall!
Thud.
An Arasaka Ninja jumped into the breach, gun in one hand, sword in the other, almost completely invisible under the cover of smoke and dust.
Yet the ground was full of rubble.
Thud.
Bang!
The gunshot almost synchronized with the sound of him stepping on the rubble, the samurai sword in the ninja’s hand instantly deflected the bullet—
But an utterly invisible Single Molecule Wire swept through the air, firmly entangling his unsuspecting samurai sword, halting his attempt to continue slashing away the bullets!
Bang!
A series of bullets were fired into the ninja’s head, his corpse fell, and the Arasaka troops on the street stopped instantly!
Their colleague was killed!
"Man!"
David got up from Lucy, releasing her arm:
At the mont of the explosion, he had tackled Lucy and activated her Single Molecule Wire prosthetics, orchestrating this counterattack!
But the corporate forces on the street outside weren’t that easy to handle!
Man pushed aside the cover pressed against him: at the instant of the explosion, he had rushed towards Rebecca and Pila—
"Everyone’s fine! Dolly!"
Dolly ran towards the breach the mont she got up, and upon seeing it, her mood sank:
Their car parked outside was also blown up!
Mackinaw burned in raging flas, the sound of Arasaka drones ca from above, they were trapped in this building!
An Emperor Ragnar from Arasaka changed direction, rushing towards the building entrance—
It’s over!
Just as this desperate thought ford, a strong and familiar voice sounded:
Boom—
It’s the Mackinaw Mammoth’s engine roar!
"Screw you, Arasaka ahhhhh!"
A Mackinaw Mammoth fiercely crashed into Emperor Ragnar’s side, powerful torque directly slamd the corporate armored city vehicle against the corner of the wall, bending it out of shape!
But the driver didn’t stop attacking—
This wasn’t an ordinary Mackinaw Mammoth; it was the Valentino’s Mammoth, a Mammoth packed with weapons, the Mammoth Lille sent to Valentino for executing NCPD outsourcing tasks!
The heavy machine gun mounted on the pickup truck rcilessly fired at Emperor Ragnar at close range, bullets piercing through glass and armor, brutally turning the inside personnel into a pool of blood!
Whoosh—
Inside, a passenger popped his head, holding a rocket launcher, and fired a shot at the octant drone that had just flown in!
Boom!
The explosive scene was so intense, Dolly didn’t even have ti to speak, yet David saw it all at once!
And the driver inside...
He recognized him!
It was the guy who had slipped him a gun and told him to cuff the doctor—Acido!
"Tch, stupid corporate mutt..."
"Acido!" David jumped straight off the building’s outer wall, "Borrowing your car! I’ve got a mission, brother!"
Acido hesitated for a mont—
"Get in! I’ll help you!"
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