Qi Wei wasn’t naive.
She was a seasoned hacker who understood the cunning nature of the Voodoo Gang all too well. Their underhanded tactics were notorious across Night City, and their reputation wasn’t built on fair play. So when they politely invited her to "show up and talk face to face," her instincts flared like a red warning light.
She didn’t need anyone to spell it out for her—there was no guarantee that they’d play nice. What was said upfront might be polite, but what lurked behind the scenes? That was a whole different story.
No hacker who had dealt with the Voodoo Gang had ever walked away unscathed. Most vanished into digital oblivion or ended up as corrupted code in forgotten corners of cyberspace.
Even though Qi Wei was currently equipped with the cutting-edge [Source Project] armor—a marvel of virtual defense and infiltration technology—she couldn’t afford to be careless. Especially not when it ca to Bridget, the leader of the Voodoo Gang, whose presence alone could twist the very rules of cyberspace in this part of the Net.
This wasn’t neutral ground.
They were currently in the Hanbo Space Base, the digital fortress of the Voodoo Gang. It was their ho turf. Every piece of code, every access port, and every firewall favored them. If there was ever a place they could turn the tables, this was it.
That’s why Qi Wei didn’t hesitate. Her first instinct? Don’t show up physically. Stay hidden.
Instead, she would let these arrogant gang mbers experience firsthand the wrath of David’s elite squad—Team David. It was ti to shatter their cocky illusion and remind them that they weren’t untouchable.
Without delay, Qi Wei transmitted a string of voice commands into the local cyberspace, exploiting a subtle backdoor vulnerability she had discovered earlier.
"Hiss—Hiss—!"
Suddenly, a strange noise echoed through the space. Digital static surged through the air like a low growl.
Everyone from the Voodoo Gang snapped to attention, eyes scanning their surroundings. The walls of their base, made entirely of shifting 01 data streams, offered no answers. But the tension was palpable.
Then, a voice—cool, sharp, and emotionless—broke the silence.
"Stop scanning with your surveillance programs. Unless you want your location alerts to ping from the sewers and alleys of Night City, you’re wasting your ti."
The voice ca from everywhere and nowhere at once. It reverberated from every direction, layered with artificial echoes and distorted harmonics.
Qi Wei’s voice.
She was already inside their network—and she was toying with them.
A Voodoo Gang technician—labeled as unit 407—looked up from his interface, eyes wide, and shook his head at Bridget. The implication was clear: Qi Wei’s warning wasn’t a bluff. Their scans had returned no location data, no pings, nothing.
She was a ghost in the machine.
"You Voodoo punks love to play gas with people. But it must sting now that you’re the ones being played," Qi Wei’s voice taunted, laced with icy contempt.
Her tone shifted from one speaker to another, like she was walking in circles around them—yet no one could pinpoint where she really was.
For the first ti in years, the elite hackers of the Voodoo Gang were speechless.
They had never encountered this level of intrusion before, and worse—in their own domain.
To have soone invade the Hanbo Space Base and hold complete audio control over it? That was unprecedented.
And it terrified them.
One by one, their gazes shifted to Bridget, the undisputed leader of their gang. But her expression was even more grim than theirs.
This shouldn’t have been possible.
They were the Voodoo Gang. Even Arasaka’s cybersecurity teams had fallen to their thods before. Yet here they were—disoriented, confused, and digitally dominated.
Bridget’s frown deepened.
"Who are you?" she muttered under her breath. "And what do you want?"
Then she raised her voice, tone dark and guarded. "We, the Voodoo Gang, have had no quarrel with your Team David. What is this about?"
From the speakers, a soft laugh ca in response—low and unnerving.
"It’s not about whether we’ve clashed or not," Qi Wei replied smoothly. "David just believes that your gang has potential. Talented hackers. And that’s why... he wants to recruit you."
Bridget’s brows furrowed. "Recruit us?"
"No, no," Qi Wei corrected, mockingly. "Let rephrase that."
"From now on, the Voodoo Gang takes operational direction from Team David. Simple."
The silence that followed was thunderous.
Then ca the next hamr blow.
"Also, you’re prohibited from using your thods against innocents or uninvolved gangs. No more data blackmail, extortion, or psychological hacks. You’re done with that."
As Qi Wei relayed David’s full set of directives, the faces of every gang mber in the virtual room grew darker.
Bridget clenched her fists.
This wasn’t a partnership.
This was subjugation.
These demands weren’t negotiations—they were ultimatums. It was a power play, pure and simple.
"This isn’t cooperation!" one of the younger Voodoo hackers shouted, face flushed with rage. "This is a damn kidnapping!"
"Yeah!" another bellowed. "What makes you think we’d ever serve Team David like a bunch of lapdogs?! You think we’re scared of you?"
But before the shouting could escalate further—
"ENOUGH!"
Qi Wei’s voice bood through the virtual space like a thunderclap. Every speaker, every data stream, every artificial construct in the room vibrated with raw power.
And then silence.
Unsettling silence.
Her voice returned, quieter, but far more dangerous.
"If you dare to speak to like that again, I will make sure your avatar doesn’t just glitch—it will be erased."
A flicker of light pulsed across the data wall behind them. One of the gang mbers—an arrogant one who had shouted earlier—suddenly scread as his virtual avatar distorted, twisted, and pixelated into garbage data before vanishing completely.
Real-world heart rate monitors beeped in alarm. The man had passed out from the neural shock.
Everyone else fell back.
No one dared speak now.
Bridget swallowed her fear. She had no doubt now—this woman had complete access to their systems. And worse, she had done all this without even fully engaging her armor’s attack modules.
"How... how did she get in?" Bridget muttered, more to herself than anyone else.
"I’m not here to destroy you," Qi Wei said, voice finally stabilizing. "But make no mistake—David doesn’t need the Voodoo Gang. He’s offering you a choice."
"You either join Team David under his terms... or you can beco another file in the trash bin of Night City’s forgotten gangs."
For a mont, it seed like Bridget might refuse out of pride.
But she didn’t.
Because she knew.
In this mont—they had lost.
And the Voodoo Gang never bet on a losing hand.
Qi Wei’s virtual presence began to fade, her voice trailing off into whispers as the data storm around them cald.
"You have 24 hours to decide. After that... you’re either allies or enemies."
And with that, she was gone.
Silence filled the Hanbo Space Base. All the gang mbers turned to Bridget, waiting for orders, for guidance—anything.
But Bridget just stared at the data wall where Qi Wei’s avatar had never even appeared.
She clenched her teeth and growled softly:
"David... we’ll rember that na."
------------------------------------------------------
Get mbership in patreon to read more Chapters
Extra Chapters available in patreon
patreon/Dragonscribe31
-----------------------------------------------------
Reviews
All reviews (0)