"Well, beer isn't expensive. It's always been the same price—20 eurodollars a bottle."
Noah replied casually.
"The boss says this is called never forgetting your original intention."
Hearing that, V lifted the crystal glass and took a careful sip of the golden liquid.
The sweet taste of sugarcane lingered on her tongue.
"No wonder your boss makes so much money."
…
…
After a night of rest, Panam Palmer and V resumed their journey, fully refreshed.
According to Panam's carefully prepared plan, they intended to modify Kang Tao's power station into a giant EMP emitter, then use it to deliver a fatal blow to Herman's hovercraft.
The plan sounded perfect.
The only real problem was how to get inside.
After all, Kang Tao's power station was under heavy guard by the Mechanicus's sentries.
These guards were infamous for their professionalism and discipline.
For paying clients, the Mechanicus's credibility was ironclad.
They simply did not make mistakes.
Under normal circumstances, breaking in would have been almost impossible.
Fortunately, V's optical camouflage became the key.
To Panam's astonishment, it allowed her to slip past the Mechanical Priests' advanced radar systems and even their powerful Observation Haki scans.
She walked into the power station as if she owned the place.
Inside her mind, Johnny immediately shouted in disbelief.
"Holy shit!"
"What level is your optical camouflage?"
"You're this close and they still can't detect you?"
Even he was genuinely stunned.
V moved carefully through the facility while replying in her mind.
"How would I know?"
"But one thing's certain."
"This is definitely black tech beyond what the Mechanicus of this era possesses."
Once inside, V immediately began tampering with the system.
As a master hacker, she moved through the power network like a fish through water.
Complex streams of data meant nothing to her.
She easily found the core nodes and injected the malicious virus she had prepared in advance.
The moment the virus activated, the entire power system was forced into overload mode—
all without triggering a single alarm.
In just a few minutes, the power station had been transformed into a massive electromagnetic bomb.
As the system overloaded, powerful electric currents surged wildly through the data link and into V's body.
But instead of harming her, the current flowed through her cyberware as if it belonged there.
There was no interference.
No damage.
Only power.
The electricity became part of her.
A continuous stream of energy flooded her systems, pushing her cybernetics to even greater performance.
By contrast, Johnny looked absolutely miserable.
Under the intense electromagnetic interference, his engram kept glitching.
His voice stuttered.
His image froze.
He flickered like an old broken monitor.
V smirked.
"See?"
"This is the gap between Arasaka tech and Universal Technology."
"My cybernetics are completely immune to EMP effects."
"Not only that, they can actually absorb electromagnetic force and convert it into stored energy."
She walked out of the station triumphantly, not missing the chance to mock him.
Johnny immediately snapped back.
"You happy now, V?"
"Don't act like Universal Technology is so much better than Arasaka."
"They're all the same."
"Corporate dogs."
"Work with corps long enough and they'll screw you too."
His voice carried obvious irritation.
V let out a cold laugh.
"You really have the nerve to say that?"
"The great legend of Night City—Johnny Silverhand?"
"Heh."
"I don't even need to bring up your own mess."
As Arasaka's former Deputy Director of Intelligence, V had access to more than enough classified information.
She knew very well how Johnny had blown up Arasaka Tower back then.
Johnny immediately fell silent.
Because he had no answer.
The truth was simple.
The reason he became a legend was because he blew up Arasaka Tower.
But to do it—
he had relied on Militech's support.
In the end, he had still been acting on behalf of a corporation.
For all his talk of freedom, democracy, and liberation—
his actions had been driven by something far more personal.
Arasaka had killed Alt.
Everything that came after was revenge.
Whether it was Arasaka or Militech, to the people of Night City, both were still brutal corporate overlords.
Neither side was truly better.
For the first time, even Johnny felt the bitter taste of irony.
"V…"
"It's precisely because I worked with them that I know corporations can't be trusted."
He paused.
"Look at what happened to me."
"Isn't that proof enough?"
After saying that, he went silent again.
V snorted.
"Hmph."
"I don't trust Universal either."
"But am I supposed to trust the terrorist currently trying to hijack my body?"
With that, she turned and climbed back into Panam Palmer's Thorton.
Then the two women simply waited.
Silently.
For Herman's hovercraft to arrive.
The air around them became strangely still.
Neither of them spoke.
For a while, the only sound was the faint rhythm of each other's breathing.
Then V suddenly broke the silence.
"You know…"
"It's so quiet."
Her voice softened.
"The city's noise."
"The crowds."
"The smells."
"It's all gone."
"The wind's strong, but…"
She looked out into the empty badlands.
"I haven't felt this kind of silence in a long time."
Panam nodded.
"Yeah."
"It's quiet."
Then she smirked.
"Though there's still one smell you can't miss."
"The smell of coyotes."
V raised an eyebrow.
"Hm?"
"I thought that was just the scent of the air freshener in your precious car."
Panam froze for half a second.
Then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha—"
"Fuck you!"
Both of them laughed at the same time.
For a brief moment, the tension in the air eased.
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