"What's going on?"
V stared, dumbfounded, at the image of Arasaka Tower on the screen. It looked like a terrorist attack; flames and thick smoke billowed from its windows.
It wasn't just Arasaka Tower. All of Night City had descended into chaos. V opened her window and looked out into the distance to see numerous car crashes, explosions, flames, and smoke, as if it were the end of the world.
An attack on Arasaka Tower was understandable. Lunatics with a rebellious spirit, like Johnny Silverhand back in the day, would always turn up.
But now, all of Night City was in chaos. What in the world was happening?
"What the hell happened? No, I have to contact David first!"
Seeing the chaotic city, V was instantly jolted awake. Her first instinct was to contact David's crew; she needed her strong teammates for a sense of security.
Subconsciously, she already realized what had happened. This clearly wasn't the start of a corpo war, but rather a result she didn't want to face...
Speaking of which, what was she supposed to do today... It seemed it wasn't just the city that was in chaos, but V's memory as well.
She remembered leading her merc crew, successfully making a name for themselves, and even having an audience with Saburo Arasaka...
V began to recall her past, from a street kid to a merc, getting to know the Padre and numerous fixers, and eventually becoming a regular at the Afterlife.
That was usually the limit for a merc, but she had met the mysterious Fixer X, learned of the existence of ninjas, and decided to follow in Schwarzer's footsteps to become a True Ninja.
There was nothing wrong with her memories. V sorted through them again, confirming her physical state was normal.
—Countless eye-like patterns obscured the words on the television and various screens, which read: Saburo Arasaka arrives in Night City.
—Yesterday, Saburo Arasaka [REDACTED] corporation [REDACTED], personally met with [REDACTED]...
The Lord's jutsu had affected the entire city. Everyone had lost their memories of yesterday; no one knew why Saburo Arasaka had come to Night City, nor who he had met.
Explosions continued to erupt from within Arasaka Tower, as if a battle was still underway, but V had no intention of getting involved. What did she care if Arasaka lived or died?
So, the next mission was clear: figure out what was happening in Night City, and preferably, rendezvous with her team first.
"Beep, beep, beep."
The call connected quickly. David and Lucy appeared on the screen, along with Schwarzer, who suddenly patched in.
The day's events had put them on high alert as well, and they dared not make any rash moves.
"What the hell is happening in Night City? Did the corpos start a war?" V asked first, her mind a bit muddled and confused by the situation.
"Probably something slightly better than that. It's not a war between corporations, but a war between ninjas."
David spoke with a grim expression. His intuition was screaming at him, sensing an intense crisis.
Under V and Schwarzer's leadership, they had become Night City's strongest merc crew and had long since moved out of their old place into a newly constructed high-rise.
This was a residence exclusively for the wealthy, but since the building was new, they were lucky enough to buy an entire floor—the Marunouchi Super-High Tower.
From here, they had a commanding view of everything, which naturally included the sight of a burning Night City, with vast fires and thick smoke rising all around.
Not only that, but their building also seemed to be one of the targets. Inside his room, David felt a profound sense of danger.
His Karate was constantly sending him warnings! This aura... it was a ninja! A ninja?!
"[WARNING] This morning, a large number of ninjas suddenly appeared and launched attacks against Night City's various major corporations. At the same time, many ninjas are engaged in chaotic battles within the city. They are clearly not on the same side."
"[ADDENDUM] In other words, there are at least two different ninja factions active right now. The chaos in the city is being caused by them fighting each other."
Schwarzer could perceive the pervasive memory-altering effect, but she decided to ignore it for the time being. The Lord's plan seemed very crude to her, but it offered her a considerable advantage.
She had already figured out what the Lord wanted to do. Clearly, V meeting and collaborating with Saburo Arasaka yesterday had made him anxious. It would be disastrous if Saburo Arasaka truly obtained eternal life and the support of ninja power.
The top entrepreneur and capitalist in human society, coupled with his control over Arasaka's technology, plus the assistance of a ninja organization—the other ninja factions would never have a chance to rise again.
By borrowing the 'destiny' of a parallel world, he wants to push V down the path of rebelling against Arasaka and then use 'ninjas' as an outside force to crush them.
The hardest part is defying destiny at the end, because no matter the outcome, Arasaka is never truly affected in a major way. Mega-corps being impossible to defy is a fundamental rule in the world of Cyberpunk!
Schwarzer glanced impassively at V. Her memories were filled with the redaction effect, yet she was completely unaware of it.
It was like hypnosis, but the Lord's power was clearly more advanced. The subject of his 'hypnosis' was the entire world.
If things went as expected, the Lord would surely have something arranged to get V to enter the stage.
After all, to sabotage V's cooperation with Saburo Arasaka, he used the Virtual-to-Real Conversion Jutsu to change all of Night City. Now he had to find a way to pit V against Arasaka.
Sure enough, just a few seconds later, David's voice came through again, sounding extremely grave.
"It's a ninja. There's a ninja active in the Marunouchi Super-High Tower!"
His Karate perception made his whole body go rigid. It was the instinctive fear of facing a superior lifeform.
"Is he coming for you?" V's expression was grim; they were no match for a ninja.
"It doesn't seem like it... but... he's slaughtering everyone in the building..."
David suppressed his rage. He could feel the stench of blood growing stronger. This was a massacre, a slaughter of the defenseless.
Even with his Sandevistan and near-genin level Karate, he couldn't escape unscathed from a true ninja, let alone an ordinary person.
Most importantly, at this rate, it would soon be his and Lucy's turn.
"Damn it!" The feeling of helplessness was agonizing for David, but if you can't win, you can't win.
At this very moment, he desperately wanted power—more than ever before. He wanted the power to kill ninjas.
"Hee hee, found you. You didn't even try to hide? I made a point of saving you for last."
A figure reeking of blood appeared before David, holding two swords.
"Domo, Crime Ninja desu."
________________________________________
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