The air inside the shuttle was razor-tense.
K tugged Li Pan into the first-class cabin, slammed the door—only for a squad of Blood Knights to force it off its rails and crowd the entry, hands on sword hilts and holsters, ready to cut him down at the slightest twitch.
K didn't bother with niceties. Brows knotted, she rose and drew her blade, barring the aisle.
Fair enough—this kind of standoff made sense. Judging by the heraldic pins, not a single knight here wore Cornelius's badge. Looked like House Yatsu wasn't just wary of Li Pan; they were wary of K as well.
And bold, too. Even with a super-flag hanging over the city, they still had the nerve to scowl at him like this.
Then again… so what if a super-flag was "in their face"? So what if "Correction Protocol Six" was on the table? They were off-worlders. All they had to do was yank the cord and log out…
"Hey—leave them. Your hands are literally burning."
Li Pan pulled K down beside him.
The knights didn't push into the inner cabin; K let him draw her to the seat, voice low.
"What's happening outside? Did the war start?"
"Oh? You really don't know?"
Li Pan blinked his aug. Signal bars still showed, but the net was a dead wall—Yatsu had clamped comms. He squeezed her hand.
"Relax. Your bosses invited me for tea."
K eyed the other knights—no way a tea invite required shackles—and shot Li Pan a look.
"Is this about our job?"
"What—oh. No. Not related. Don't worry. A little misunderstanding. We apologize and it's over."
As he spoke, he nodded "friendly" at the knights and memorized every face.
K still looked doubtful, but stopped pressing and kept her sword leveled against any sudden move.
The tension eased only when the shuttle settled on the Night Tower's pad and Emiliya arrived with a phalanx of Royal Bloodguards.
"Manager Li! Welcome, welcome to the Night Tower!"
Emiliya sashayed up, hooked his other arm, and pried him from K.
K narrowed her eyes at Emiliya's throat but let it pass for now, planted her sword at the hatch, and kept the other knights outside.
Li Pan lifted his gaze. The tower speared the clouds at the heart of the core district, literally above all Night City.
Security was… unsurprising. The moment he boarded, the net died. His augmented vision fuzzed into snow—hard countermeasures.
He didn't need a search to know the basics. This was Yatsu Group HQ: not just the Secret Party's parliament, bank, and Night Knights' command, but also the local offices of the 0791 Security Committee's own agencies—Tax, Forensics, Security, Fire, Quarantine, Customs, Cyber-Ops. The Tokugawa negotiation team was likely downstairs right now.
The lower commercial/offices were public; above that, internal Yatsu floors required direct-hire credentials. A human middle manager might reach the first hundred floors—higher rings were for special visitors and off-world vampires.
The knights didn't march him up from the lobby. Special case: the shuttle put down on a mid-tower pad. Even these high-rank knights couldn't fly higher; the top rings were for elders.
The ruling prince would, of course, be enthroned at the peak, looking down on all.
Emiliya knew how to read the room. She said nothing, tucked Li Pan close, and guided him inward. With each inner checkpoint the escort halved until only she remained. At a lift vestibule she stopped, held the door with one hand, and gestured him in.
"After you. Her Highness is waiting."
Maybe 01 was right after all.
Between Sky Companies, mutual respect is the only currency that matters.
A super-flag was literally blotting their sky, yet these vampires still wouldn't come over and apologize. Instead they sent a crowd to "invite" him, flexed, then expected him to ride up and petition. If this was their sense of their own station, they weren't far off from Takamagahara—and no wonder the two could fight to a stalemate.
Ding.
The lift stopped. Li Pan straightened his suit, thumbed the sword-pill in his pocket for comfort, and stepped—
—but a woman stepped in first.
A vampire, of course.
Early thirties by the look: pale gold hair to the shoulders, white formal gown, red eyes. She leaned against the door frame and a complex floral perfume unfurled from her skin. She smiled.
"Hey."
Li Pan went rigid.
Ahem. Look—she was "above average" pretty, nothing insane. He'd "seen enough films" not to be dazzled by faces. But the package was something else: proper formal dress, high collar, only a bit of shoulder, a side slit, a glimpse of leg—respectful. Yet the gown's single layer of silk was just translucent enough that two basic points of attention immediately hijacked his brain.
Then the scent filled the sealed car. A blunt, primal, physiological surge punched through him; true qi leapt like grassfire, racing against his meridians. Sweat slicked his spine. He was burning up.
Li Pan jolted.
Great. One "hey" and I'm about to go into qi-deviation?
So this is the Night Prince's level. A grand duchess? Terrifying…
"Yulia."
Seeing him freeze, the woman offered her hand, an eagle crest winking on her ring.
"Elder of the Junius line. Countess of Transylvania."
So not the princess herself—and still this scary.
Li Pan swallowed, took her hand. "Li Pan. Monster Company."
Yulia met his eyes, lips quirking.
"You should kiss my hand."
He hesitated—then his body moved on its own, as if his nerves were puppeted. He bowed, brushed her smooth wrist with his lips—
Perfume blossomed. Thick, mysterious pheromones detonated in his sinuses; a furnace of heat swelled in his gut, vaulting toward explosion. His body went from hard to about to.
Yulia smiled, her voice a velvet purr.
"If you want to lick, I won't mind."
Yep—something unnatural. Drug? Volatile agent? Or the elder's gift? Bad. Very bad.
"What does Your Ladyship want?"
He forced the neural governor online, unclasped her hand, and looked her in the eye.
Yulia shrugged, kicked off a heel, leaned on the door, toes tracing her calf.
"I should ask you. All this racket—did I offend your company? Or… did I offend you?"
Li Pan squinted, yanked his gaze off her leg. "I don't follow."
She chuckled.
"Mr. Li, the Asura Society is a toy. I'm a bit of a masochist, that's all—paid for services. Handle them however you like. Sincere enough for you?"
"Asura Society… oh. You're the Asura Wraith's plaything."
Right—that Countess. Those blood wines were probably hers.
Yulia didn't bristle. She stroked her ankle and flicked off the other heel.
"Mm-hmm. That's me. And I'm the only one in parliament with a direct conflict of interest with you. So I came to apologize in person.
"Happy now? No need to make it a thing, right?"
"Personal kink. Got it."
They'd clearly run his file front to back. He shook his head.
"No. I'm here on business. Not about you."
Her brows pinched. Barefoot, she hopped closer, tugged his lapel, breath warm enough to fog metal.
"I apologized personally and you're still not satisfied? What do you want, then…"
She stepped onto his shoe, pressed to his ear, breath tinged with a whispering laugh.
"Then hit me… here… first bleep-bleep-bleep… then bleep-bleep-bleep… and bleep-bleep-bleep-bleep-bleep… do it here, in front of everyone… in front of all parliament, just—bleep me—ah… gods, I'm excited already… come on, punish me…"
Li Pan: "…sorry, I've got tinnitus. Didn't hear anything but bleeps."
She snickered, slipped a hand into his belt, easing down.
"Oh, don't front. I can smell it. You reek—wonderfully. I've never caught such a strong male scent. It's stronger than a chimera's. What cologne is that? Or are you juiced?"
Li Pan clenched his jaw, pried her wrist off, and snapped,
"Hands off the pants. Try some self-respect. Where's the Grand Duchess? Still won't see me? Don't waste my time. No fight? Then I'm calling the shot."
Ding.
The doors opened.
Li Pan bolted. Yulia, disappointed, scooped up her heels and flipped him an impolite gesture.
Ding.
The doors closed.
Li Pan exhaled and looked around. The tower-top was… a garden.
Not holo. Not plastic. Real greens under a greenhouse shell. Wet soil, fresh cut grass.
"Here!"
A shout. He followed it to a thicket and found—an old woman dressed like a farmhand, rubber boots in a paddy-like bed, scooping plump LARVA proto-worms out of the muck.
"Say what you came to say!"
The crone barked like someone whose nap had been ruined.
Li Pan frowned. "And you are—?"
"You wished to see me. I am Parliament. Parliament is me."
She dumped the grubs into a wood-chip terrarium and sloshed out of the mud, eyes flaring gold. She glared.
"Speak. You bring a super-flag to 0791—what do you want?"
Li Pan blinked. "You're the Grand Duchess? But on broadcasts—"
She snorted.
"Are you stupid? CG. I'm about to enter hibernation; this is the low-power form.
"What—too old? Too ugly? I sent a pretty young one to talk first. You didn't want her.
"I'm half in the grave and came in person. Name your price."
All right. If the prince herself was here, they could talk straight.
"Out of respect for Yatsu, I, general manager of Monster Co. 0791, ask on the Company's behalf:
Does Yatsu intend to back the Collectors' Association?"
The duchess blinked, finally clocking the issue.
"ACA? No. Yatsu has no active contracts with the Collectors."
"So the destruction of ACA sites will be… tolerated."
Gold flickered in her pupils—parliamentary backchannel chatter—then she nodded.
"As I said: be my guest."
Li Pan inclined his head.
"Then we have a single request.
Extermination of the Fabius family."
Her impatience vanished. The gaze that settled on him was a pressure front—as if the entire parliament peered through her eyes.
"Impossible."
He stepped down one notch.
"Then surrender: half live, half die. But the head of House Fabius comes to us."
Her mouth tightened. Silence stretched.
He gave her a moment; she finally whispered, "Impossible."
"Then we're done."
He bowed and turned.
"Wait. What's the rush? We haven't even had tea."
She called him back, peeled off her gloves. An antique agri-droid trundled out a cart and began steeping leaves snipped from the greenhouse.
Li Pan paused to hear the rest.
The duchess studied the limpid green.
"Your quarrel with Takamagahara or the Collectors—we won't join.
"As for House Fabius: I will personally stand surety that Prince Maxim will submit a blood-oath—signed—to sever all ties with ACA, and cede one-third of Fabius assets for your company to take equity as apology.
"For the next century, Fabius obeys your command. Any 'rebels' or 'blood-beasts' they breed are yours to deploy. All elder appointments must have your approval.
"In exchange, the Secret Party will publicly purge the traitors who contracted with the Collectors—under your supervision. We turn blades into silk, and show respect. How about it?"
Li Pan looked at her.
"Your Highness, you think firing a few temps, paying damages, alliance, apology—that's 'respect'? That's your best sincerity?"
She held his gaze.
"Manager Li, the strong do not need the weak's consent to destroy them.
"I know you crashed the auto-grid; you're not playing. If you give the word, your Company can remove 0791 from the firmament. I'm offering our highest good faith. Isn't that enough?
"And since you came yourself, you likely don't want it to go that far.
"You're local, aren't you? You care about your home—your Earth?
"Few in your position resist Company decrees and hold to their own justice. I respect that—and thank you for giving Yatsu a chance to correct our error.
"If you'll mediate, speak well of us, we won't forget.
"I promise: the Secret Party will be Panlong Construction's loyal ally and client, and we'll seed a few special-purpose funds… Peace, mutual support, mutual benefit. Isn't that best?"
She offered a cup. Li Pan took it, sighed, and poured the tea into the bed.
"Keep the flattery. You think I'm staying the Company's hand because I care about you? About this Night City trash?
"I'm stopping the shot because I know that volley won't kill you.
"You start it, you cash it, and when it blows up you log out. I scorch the planet—every rich bastard floats off to a new world.
"And a hundred billion broke nobodies get turned into glass.
"Your Highness. How many are the Fabii? A few heads. Hand them over for apology—does that kill you?"
The duchess didn't anger—she smiled.
"We're not gardeners, Manager Li. We're bankers.
"We buy ruins cheap and repackage trash worlds as premium assets for relist and resale.
"You want Correction? Do it. We're not colonizers.
"New Tokyo's been rebuilt thirteen times. Night City can be rebuilt twice or thrice. We have the budget.
"And honestly? We're sick of strays. A cleanse would help us."
So—she didn't care.
Why would she? Pull the cord, wake up. 0791—a dream.
"So you'll dig in. No apology."
"We've heard your proposal; we've given ours. Headquarters will decide.
"And since you treasure 0791 so much, I believe you'll do your best to reach peace between us.
"Good day."
She ambled back to her paddies, not sparing him another glance.
Li Pan strode to the lift and jabbed the call. It didn't open; Yulia must've taken it down. Only the blue call light blinked.
Blue. Blue. Blue—
Dammit…
He rubbed his eyes. A red tide roared through his head.
I can't stand this.
I really can't stand this.
These self-important idiots.
"These well-frogged morons!!"
He raked his hair, spun on his heel, and marched into the garden—
—and a dozen figures burst from the soil to block him.
Blood Knights in ruined mail—three meters tall. Skin corpse-white, faces warped into beastly masks—half-evolved into blood-fiends. Each radiated pressure that dwarfed Yulia's.
All elders.
"Demon-cut! Kill!"
The black sword-pill arced out, hung, then with a snap blossomed into a golden storm.
Sword-qi fell like rain, roared like a gale, stripping leaves from every stalk. It shredded the blood-fiends—flesh, limbs, heads—into chaff, scattering red confetti through the garden like dandelion seeds on a wind, leaving only naked, snag-toothed trunks.
The duchess shrieked and tried to flee. A golden slash dropped from above, skipped, and scissored across her waist, severing her on the diagonal. Her upper half plopped into the paddy.
Li Pan fired his anti-grav spine, vaulted, and tore through the slow-regrowing bone-frames. He seized the crone by the collar and hauled her out dripping.
"Old hag! You think that ship is mine? I'm fifty million in the red—I can't buy a starship!
"They're taking my orders now because the Company named me acting GM.
"After 8 a.m. tomorrow—0791 is gone. No branch. No manager. Over. That's it."
Swordlight whirled around his head. The duchess trembled, helpless.
"You vampires—craven, faithless, greedy.
"I tried talking because I thought you were worth it. And you put your boots on my neck.
"What, I have to hurt you to make you listen?
"Last time:
The Company doesn't care about lives.
It doesn't care about Earth.
It cares about respect.
"If you apologize now, only the Fabii have failed to show respect.
"If you don't, then it's Yatsu who disrespects the Company.
"You think burning one world ends it? Think you can run?!"
The duchess blinked. Li Pan leaned in, spittle on her face.
"Hey—apologize. Will it kill you?
"You don't want to die, right? Then apologize. You're not afraid?
"Every day I pass the Company shredder, I'm scared out of my mind.
"If you're so eager to die, go die far away—don't drag me with you!"
The duchess: "I—I'm sorry…"
Li Pan roared,
"Not to me! I don't care!
"Apologize to the Company! Wipe out the Fabius to prove it!
"My word stands: once I finish pulling Tokugawa's guts, I'm coming for Fabius's head.
"Anyone in Yatsu who gets in the way is the Company's enemy—and my enemy.
"And then don't blame me for bloody hands. I said it:
If you offend the Company—
you die!"
He flung the stunned duchess onto the berm, stormed to the lift, and kicked the door.
"Open!"
Ding.
The doors obediently slid wide.
.
.
.
⚠️ 30 CHAPTERS AHEAD — I'm Not a Cyberpsycho ⚠️
The system says: Kill.Mercs obey. Corporates obey. Monsters obey.One man didn't.
🧠💀 "I'm not a cyberpsycho. I just think... differently."
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