"So he just wags his finger and takes a million from us? On what grounds?!"
As expected, V indeed blew up.
Lille could only say helplessly, "Just because he’s the president of the Veterans Association, New Arica regularly distributes retirent pensions to them.
Do you think New Arica would give a pension to soone worthless? They definitely earned it themselves.
But since they earn this money, of course, there are corresponding responsibilities, as well as powers."
"Why does doing a job have to be so roundabout? We still have ti, explain— and this seems to be quite different from the ’covert operation’ Zhu Shen ntioned?"
"First, nobody would want to part with money, so ’money talks’ is universal. But Mr. Notte only opened up after hearing about Kantao.
It’s clear he’s interested in Kantao, which is good news— because he’s backed by New Arica, and New Arica and military technology go hand in hand.
So the second point: It’s precisely this way that can et the requirents for a covert operation.
New Arica, being a giant in the Rust Belt with a seat all to itself, only with this permit can we possibly get around web surveillance and take care of Kantao’s staff. Otherwise, the mont we step out the door, APD will be knocking."
You and I, two nobodies from the streets without any value, but if we’re doing their work, at least we have a chance to be used as a bullet, not just decay in the gun barrel, together with the gun dismantled and dunked in water."
Whoosh.
On the highway, cars were coming and going; V drove very rapidly, full of discontent.
All this was sowhat perplexing for him—he would have rather fought in an octagon cage with that seemingly terrifying Notte.
"But the terms you negotiated with Notte seem to have sold out Zhu Shen."
"Haha, maybe I betrayed Kantao, but Zhu Shen—what did he ask for? Cai Pin dead, the goods arriving at the headquarters.
He didn’t ntion anything about the design blueprints. He couldn’t be unaware of the risk of information leaks; as long as we keep silent, he won’t know.
We betrayed Kantao, but not the client, and as for the client? His requests are fulfilled, and he didn’t betray the company either.
Even if soday Kantao realizes sothing is wrong, everyone goes by the book, and everyone is happy."
V’s brows twisted, "So you an, he guessed we might pull a fast one, but he consented to it?
And if it cos out later, he’ll just carry on investigating as if nothing happened? Isn’t that just creating more work for himself?"
Lille spread his hands: "You have a choice between having a job to do, or being offed by a forr colleague—which do you choose? Even if it’s extra work for 007, that’s a blessing. And at the very least, you can get back at Cai Pin."
The traffic light turned red, and the car stopped at the crossroads. V fell silent for a mont, and the two of them listened quietly to the traffic report.
"Red light, no entry; red light, no entry..."
After a while, V finally said slowly, "So you an, middlen are all heartless, and I’m definitely not going to do it."
Lille thought internally, you probably can’t handle it, can you? Naive kid.
"What are you thinking? Don’t tell it’s sothing bad about ?" V glanced over. "Another thing, if we only need network support, why not find that... Network Worker’s Union?"
"Because they’re backed by web surveillance, and web surveillance has no competition with Kantao. On the contrary, Kantao is also one of their main clients, so there’s no reason for them to cross the line over Kantao.
Second, to put it simply, Veterans Associations would be regulated against illegal forceful actions, while Network Worker’s Unions would be regulated against illegal network actions.
That’s the compromise they need to make for their paycheck—finally, look at the weapons in the back of the car.
The Veterans Association may not be able to act directly, but they have plenty of gear. If soone were to check, they wouldn’t trace it back to us."
As Lille spoke, he adjusted the back of his seat and laid back relaxedly. "Consider it a bit of their sincerity. When the ti cos, just say the weapons were stolen... thief untraceable."
After listening to this long explanation, V concluded with furrowed brows:
"What you an is, New Arica offered benefits for them to give up causing trouble with their expertise, and they readily agreed. Although it’s less money, it’s stable...
Man, what a place... I’m starting to regret coming to Atlanta."
"I thought you regretted it long ago."
V shrugged, looking out the window: "The scenery is indeed nice here, and the streets aren’t full of exhibitionists playing with Fleshlights everywhere, no gunfire in sight.
But now... in the city with the lowest cri rate in the United States, a one million dollars cri permit... haha.
It seems beauty is hypocrisy, and reality is ugliness."
"That’s a good summary, that’s how it is."
Gazing at the majestic, beautiful buildings and the spotless streets outside the window, who would suspect that the acts deed criminal hadn’t decreased.
They were just legalized, weren’t they?
Lille said, "Think it over, whether you want to stay here or return to Night City—but either way, before we bring Mr. Zhu over, I need you to recomnd a prosthetics doctor.
One from Night City, with decent skills, but most importantly, soone we can trust."
"So this is why you set up the physical link? It won’t cause trouble? I don’t want to involve him."
"It won’t—we just need dical support, and Atlanta’s law enforcent can’t cross borders to grab soone from Night City."
"You heard it too, Notte can get our dical reports, people here can’t be trusted."
So-called physical channels are actually firewall bypass channels completely under control—unless web monitors co to check.
In this world, theoretically, only web monitors have the authority to perform cross-domain communications.
Broadly speaking, bypassing firewalls is illegal and dangerous, unless you report it to the web monitors.
But since the channel is provided by Notte, as long as it doesn’t involve classified information, no one will pay attention, and that is also why Notte believes he can collaborate with Lille long-term—
Because if Lille transmits any secret information through this channel, he can find out.
If sothing goes wrong one day, Notte can just backtrack, then assist the web monitors and New Arica in seizing Lille’s illegal gains, at most a minor loss.
V thought for a mont and said, "Okay, I do have soone in mind."
...
"Hey, Victor, long ti no see—how’s business lately?"
"So-so, V, didn’t expect you to rember to call . Have you made a na for yourself?"
"Uh... it’s complicated, but I need a little favor now—can you remotely control and help us check so prosthetics, and it would be best if you could..."
"Best if I play remote prosthetics doctor for you? I usually don’t do this kind of work, but, well, looks like you’re aiming to make a splash. Where’s the equipnt?"
While V was talking with Victor, Lille connected his personal link to the device’s port.
[First Ti Using Personal Link]
[Technology Points 10]
[Current Technology Points: 60]
The equipnt here is outdated—large surgical tables, CNC scalpels, connectors, and so on.
The equipnt’s data fully appeared in Lille’s prosthetic eye, and he could browse this data with just a command from his brain.
In 2077, prosthetics doctors would use dical prosthetics as surgical tools, but now they could only let Victor operate remotely.
Lille introduced himself, "Hello, Victor, V recomnded you for your excellent skills, and said you’re trustworthy. I’m Lille, nice to et you."
"Hmm... you seem like an honest man; I’m also glad to et you."
After hearing this, V pursed her lips, "Him, honest? Victor, you’ve misjudged him this ti."
"Alright, your friend is my friend, hook up the equipnt then."
Lille’s head was spinning.
Although his ability to learn was quite formidable, he had been in this world for less than 10 hours, and the actual learning ti didn’t exceed 4 hours, much of which was spent reviewing dical reports.
In the Cyberpunk World, prosthetics are just the surface; Cyberspace is actually the core, with countless network protocols and a myriad of interfaces.
He thought he could handle it, but now it seed... he needed to use a little hack.
While thinking, he stole a glance at V, who had already settled on the sofa and started munching on chips—no, since he was the team’s brain, he had to do it himself.
[Network Hacking Technology (Entry Level)]
[Learning Progress: 1%]
[Technology Points Required: 80]
[Note: All the technical skills required for an entry-level hacker.]
Lille clicked his tongue, he couldn’t afford it at all, so he had to settle for the next best thing.
[Cross-LAN Network Channel Construction (Entry Level)]
[Learning Progress: 30%]
[Technology Points Required: 14]
[Note: A basic hacking technique, used for building remote channels]
[Technology Points Spent]
[Current Technology Points: 46]
A flood of knowledge entered his brain without any discomfort, and Lille adeptly opened the required ports on the machine and then accessed the physical channel that Notte had made available to him—
The signal tower was right above; in fact, this average apartnt had been given to Lille by Notte.
Victor tapped on the armrest of his chair, saying:
"Not bad with the tech, I’ve got your signal... it’s ready for use; send over the machine’s info, I’ll give these relics a check-up first."
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