"We're only just getting started."
A grin spread across Xiao's face, clearly still unsatisfied.
"I've got an even better gift for you~"
With that, he walked over and opened a mechanical compartment that shimmered with a cold metallic sheen.
Inside rested a medium-sized tech crossbow.
Its design was sleek, futuristic, and undeniably deadly.
Xiao carefully lifted it out and placed it in front of V, his face practically glowing with pride.
"Take a look."
He raised it slightly like a collector presenting a masterpiece.
"The Holy Silverlight Crossbow."
His voice carried obvious excitement as he launched straight into the explanation.
"It uses the most advanced energy-shaping technology available. It can compress solar energy into highly concentrated laser bolts and fire them at extremely high speed."
He tapped the side of the weapon.
"Not only are the shots completely silent, but their velocity approaches the speed of light."
Then his smile widened.
"And that's not all."
"It's equipped with an energy-link system. As long as you land three consecutive hits, the bolts will automatically trigger a chain reaction, causing extremely powerful secondary explosive damage."
He continued as if he were already imagining the battlefield.
"I also specially installed an output regulator. Under extreme load, it can generate tremendous kinetic knockback."
His tone turned proud.
"It can even punch through tank armor."
"Even those heavily armored soldiers inside Centaur mechs can be pinned to a wall with a single shot."
"And if someone's hiding inside a Scorpion vehicle…"
A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.
"One bolt is enough to blow their head clean off."
The more Xiao spoke, the more excited he became.
He looked like someone already immersed in the middle of a firefight.
"Cool…"
V couldn't help blurting out the word.
Her eyes sparkled with unmistakable anticipation as she took the weapon into her hands.
"I can't wait to start hunting down those lurking in the darkness."
The moment she held the Holy Silverlight Crossbow, she instinctively struck a stylish pose.
Then, almost as if possessed by some mysterious force, she excitedly declared,
"The hunt begins."
Her voice carried an uncontrollable thrill.
Xiao immediately looked at her sideways.
"Hey."
His mouth twitched.
"You're Evelyn, not Vayne. Can you stop quoting other people's lines?"
It was an obscure voice-actor joke that only a very small number of people would ever understand.
V stared at him blankly.
"Who?"
Her brows furrowed.
"Who's Evelyn? And who's Vayne?"
Then she pointed at herself.
"My name is Valerie Vincent, got it?"
Xiao could only shake his head helplessly.
A faint sense of loneliness rose in his chest.
"Sigh… knowing too much really isn't always a good thing."
His voice carried a trace of inexplicable melancholy.
The worst part was that no one around him ever understood the jokes he made.
Seeing the sudden shift in his mood, V stepped closer with concern.
"Are you okay?"
"Something bothering you?"
Xiao gave a bitter smile.
"It's nothing."
He exhaled slowly.
"Just feeling a little sentimental all of a sudden."
Then his expression sharpened.
"But instead of worrying about me…"
He raised a finger and gently tapped her forehead.
"You should remember this."
"You only have two weeks left."
The moment his finger touched her skin, a digital countdown instantly appeared before V's eyes.
It quickly shrank and settled silently into the lower-right corner of her vision.
V looked at the timer for a moment.
Then she turned back to him and said sincerely,
"Thank you."
Without another word, she clipped the crossbow onto the shell armor at her waist.
The next moment—
her figure vanished.
She seamlessly blended into the surrounding environment and disappeared without a trace.
This time, she had no intention of bringing Jackie along.
After all, Jackie had already died once.
And V had witnessed it with her own eyes.
That memory still left a lingering shadow in her heart whenever missions involving Jackie came up.
More importantly, the mission she was about to undertake was a stealth operation.
Jackie's massive frame simply wasn't suited for it.
So, V decided to handle the capture of Herman alone.
Watching her disappear into the distance, Xiao let out a helpless sigh.
"She's really nothing like the V I know…"
Most of Xiao's understanding of V came from the game.
In a way, it felt as though he had watched her grow bit by bit, almost like raising a daughter.
In the original setting, V had three completely different lifepaths:
Corpo, Streetkid, and Nomad.
But in Xiao's eyes, V's personality in the game truly only fit the Streetkid and Nomad routes.
As for the Corpo path—
aside from the opening scene where she nailed a basketball player with a ball and crushed another thug's throat with a single palm strike—
the rest of the storyline barely reflected the intelligence and composure expected of a corporate executive.
Her behavior throughout the story often carried a strangely naïve, almost foolish lack of worldly caution.
Putting on a random braindance purchased off the street—
only to get electrocuted, stripped naked, sold to the Scavs, and nearly have her kidneys harvested.
Trusting the wrong people and getting infected with a virus—
only to become a living cyber-bomb and nearly fry her brain again.
These incidents practically screamed poor judgment.
But this made no sense.
V's parents had both been mid-level managers within Arasaka.
She had practically been raised like corporate nobility.
She had even eaten real fish as a child—something almost mythical in Night City.
How could someone with that upbringing be so easily swayed by a few words from Johnny Silverhand and rush off to attack Arasaka Tower?
She wasn't some impulsive street punk.
She was supposed to be a seasoned corporate intelligence operative.
Even if she left Arasaka, someone with her credentials should have easily climbed into upper management at any other megacorp.
And yet, somehow, she ended up working as a low-level mercenary in Night City.
Worse still, she didn't even seem familiar with the city's major fixers or its legendary mercs.
An Arasaka counter-intelligence executive?
Please.
That lie wouldn't even fool yourself.
Perhaps CD Projekt Red had realized this inconsistency as well.
That was likely why, in the Phantom Liberty storyline, they deliberately added scenes to better reflect Corpo V's true stature.
After rescuing Reed, V managed to intimidate dozens of Barghest soldiers with nothing more than a single commanding shout.
That—
that was presence.
That was authority.
Something the Streetkid and Nomad routes simply lacked.
And the Corpo V standing before Xiao now felt far closer to what her character should truly be.
Yes, she could still act goofy at times.
But hidden beneath that surface was a calm, intelligent, knowledgeable, and elegant corporate operative.
She had mastered stealth assassination techniques.
She possessed exceptional hacking ability.
Xiao had no doubt—
this was the most elite Sakura-style agent Arasaka had ever cultivated.
The Motoko Kusanagi of Cyberpunk 2077.
Her ability and potential were beyond question.
As for why Arasaka had suddenly gone insane enough to fire such an asset—
that remained a mystery.
But one thing was certain.
Firing V was undoubtedly one of the greatest mistakes Arasaka had ever made.
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