Sasha ultimately didn't get to see what she was hoping for. After all, Kuse Ryu and Lucy still possessed some common sense; they wouldn't just start a 1v1 live-action brawl right there under those circumstances. Instead, after cuddling for a while, they separated as if nothing had happened, waiting for Sasha to wake up.
The result was torture for the cat. While it made her heart race, it left her hanging—neither here nor there. When she opened her eyes, she looked so resentful that Ryu thought there was a glitch in the [Braindance].
The three of them tacitly understood the situation but deliberately avoided discussing it. The awkward atmosphere didn't fully dissipate until the two women said their goodbyes and left.
Lying alone in bed later, Ryu subconsciously rubbed his fingertips, seemingly recalling the lingering tactile sensation of warm, soft jade... then suddenly felt he was being a bit of a pervert.
He was still in a bit of a daze. Although it wasn't his first kiss, it was the first time he had been ambushed (in his opinion).
Lucy was different from the girls around him; she possessed both aggression and initiative. She was the type who appeared untamed but was actually an iceberg inside—hard to move, but once she truly fell in love, she would commit without turning back, burning until nothing was left.
If there hadn't been a third party present, Lucy might have truly "devoured" Ryu right then and there!
Her subjective initiative was vastly superior to those high school girls!
"What should I do now?" Ryu muttered to himself in distress.
At this point, simply wanting to earn Destiny Coins and casually bringing her to the main world to be the company's network director... he could no longer say such things!
Time in Night City always passed quickly. If nothing major happened, it was just day after day of repetition; a few years could pass in the blink of an eye.
Conversely, there were times when time seemed to stretch:
Encountering an incident or getting swept up in a storm, engaging in a life-or-death race between gangs, corporations, and mercenaries. The experiences of a single night could be more thrilling than a year in an ordinary person's life!
Ryu belonged to the former category. To avoid attracting the attention of megacorporations, he didn't get into direct conflicts unless necessary, nor did he show off. His social circle was relatively stable. He chose to be a "Ripperdoc" instead of a "cyberpunk mercenary" precisely to stay away from most disputes.
Collecting vintage technology and cyberware samples to piece together a relatively complete basic tech tree, while keeping an eye on the "protagonists'" actions to farm them for gold coins whenever possible—that was Ryu's current objective.
After the day he saved the cat, the members of the Cyberpunk squad learned about her mother's situation. Some were sympathetic, others indignant, but without exception, they believed Ryu's judgment was accurate. It was highly probable that the corporation was setting a trap, and they advised the cat not to step into it knowing it was a snare.
The cat was conflicted. She felt Ryu made a lot of sense and didn't want to be someone else's pawn, but the fact remained that Biotechnica had harmed her mother. If she stayed silent knowing the truth, she simply couldn't swallow that anger!
Sasha looked cheerful and cute, but she was a very stubborn girl at her core; she wasn't afraid of death if it meant getting justice!
The only problem was, even if she released the data, whether the TV stations would be willing to offend Biotechnica was one issue, and what kind of product the corporation hiding behind the scenes would launch was another... Sasha didn't fear danger; she feared doing a disservice out of good intentions.
However, she soon didn't need to worry, because a few days later, the matter exploded through other channels!
A mercenary squad and two gangs were involved. It was said that no fewer than five people died. The intelligence was eventually broadcast by "WNS News," and Biotechnica immediately fell into a whirlwind of public opinion.
"Still thinking about that?"
Sasha, lying on the bar table, looked up. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a flash of gorgeous, elegant silver—it was Lucy, walking over with a glass of fruit juice.
The cat gave that glass of yellow liquid a particularly meaningful look.
Lucy didn't notice her gaze. She sat down opposite her with light grace. "Didn't things resolve perfectly? Biotechnica's dirty laundry was exposed, the truth about your mother and the other victims came to light, and you weren't implicated. Isn't this the best ending?"
"I just feel like I can't let it go."
Sasha said unhappily, "I thought I was good at adapting to environments. I've been in Night City for many years, and honestly, I quite like my current life, including this squad..."
"Disappointed in Night City just like that?"
Lucy blinked and deliberately scoffed. "I thought you already knew what this hellhole was like."
Sasha fell silent, staring at the water droplets sliding down her glass, radiating a subtle atmosphere.
"That should have been me..."
"What?" Lucy didn't hear clearly.
"The hacker who exposed Biotechnica a few days ago... he was just like me. His family was also killed by the side effects of the drugs."
Sasha clenched her fists. "But now he's dead, and I'm still alive."
It should have been her there... It felt like someone had died in her place, and a sense of guilt she shouldn't have felt rose in her heart.
Lucy narrowed her eyes. She wasn't good at counseling others. In fact, very few people in all of Night City were qualified to be spiritual mentors, because usually, before someone needed confession or counseling, they had already died in an accident or from Cyberpsychosis.
Everyone lived in the moment!
The vast majority of mercenaries wouldn't have such thoughts. Sasha had too strong a sense of justice and responsibility. However, Lucy wasn't qualified to persuade her, because she herself harbored unrealistic, beautiful sentiments.
"I can only advise you to look on the bright side. After all, that's the style of Night City."
"...Hah! You've suddenly become so composed now that you have a man."
Sasha suddenly said mischievously, "If it were the old Lucy, you would be drinking sulkily with me and cursing up a storm. What? Does love make a woman elegant?"
"Man... Cough!"
Lucy choked and put down her cup.
"Look, you're even drinking orange juice now. This is a bar!"
"I'm, uh, doing this for my health."
"Liar~"
The cat leaned over the table toward Lucy, whispering mysteriously, "Tell me the truth."
"Hmm?"
"Are you pregnant?"
"Ahhh, I surrender! I surrender! Don't just pull my ear without saying anything!"
...After fooling around for a while, Sasha's mood improved significantly. After sitting back down, she switched to a very serious tone. "Are you leaving for a while?"
"Yes, I've already told Boss Maine. Since the squad has you, there won't be any problems without me."
"But of course!" Sasha was quite confident in her skills.
"Where are you going? Is he taking you on a trip to the Moon? Wow, that feels so romantic~"
"No, I don't think it's the Moon. He's very tight-lipped, and we even need to 'smuggle' ourselves to get there... Honestly, I can't imagine where."
"Could it be the Arasaka Tower's rooftop garden?!"
"If only it were that simple..."
Lucy had a feeling that a place which made Kuse Ryu look so serious and mysterious must be an extremely hidden location.
Could there really be an undiscovered pure land in this world?
On this Earth full of satellite surveillance?!
A few days later, Kuse Ryu finished this instance of Night City. He met Lucy at the agreed location and "hid" her using the same method he used to save Sasha.
Of course, Lucy's treatment was much better. He didn't prepare a common suitcase for her, but an expensive life-support pod, the size of which was exactly Ryu's carrying limit.
Lucy didn't see any vehicles, only this completely sealed life-support pod. Once she lay inside, she would be entrusting her life and death to someone else... If the other person weren't Kuse Ryu, she would never have accepted this method of "smuggling" under any circumstances.
However, precisely because it was Kuse Ryu, she didn't have a shred of hesitation or doubt in her heart and walked straight in.
"Sweet dreams." Ryu smiled, closed the hatch, and sent it into his personal space.
Then, after setting up shielding equipment around him and confirming there were no witnesses or surveillance, he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state—
A silver pocket watch emerged in the darkness. The three hands symbolizing the flow of time nearly overlapped. At that moment, they suddenly turned grayish-white and gradually faded into the dark void.
Subsequently, a flash of golden light appeared. The ornate hourglass began to flow again, and Ryu was enveloped by the phantom image of flowing sand, his figure gradually dissipating...
—Opening his eyes, the bright sunlight made Ryu slightly dazed.
The air no longer held that cloying sweetness. The concrete beneath his feet was replaced by handmade tatami mats. The incense in the burner had long burnt out, but even after a day, a very faint fragrance still lingered in the room.
He was back!
[Demon Back], [Demon Brain], [Demon Soul]!
Immediately, Ryu summoned the phantom image of the System Card. Before the time limit expired, he exchanged for all three skills. Eighteen Destiny Coins vanished with a crisp clinking sound.
No need to hesitate anymore. Although the upper limit of [Demon Back] wasn't as high as those heaven-defying constitutions, Ryu couldn't just hold a golden bowl waiting for pies to fall from the sky. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; there was no harm in taking something that could directly enhance his constitution.
Even if he obtained something better in the future that diluted the effects of [Demon Back], it wouldn't be a pity!
"Ruri!" Ryu shouted loudly.
"I am here, Lord Ryu." Ruri, who had calculated the time and was waiting there early, responded immediately.
Although from her perspective only twenty-four hours had passed, she still felt it had been a long time since she last heard Ryu's gentle yet majestic voice, and she was a bit excited for a moment.
"Shall I arrange a meal for you?"
"Not for now."
Swish~
Ryu walked out of the room. Ruri, who was kneeling to the side, immediately bowed and then stood up.
"Congratulations on finishing your meditation... Your state of mind has surely reached a higher level."
This wasn't flattery. As one of the people who knew Ryu best, Ruri could truly see certain differences in him. Although he had changed his clothes beforehand, women were all natural-born detectives, especially when facing the man they constantly thought about.
Lord Ryu... did he grow slightly taller? By a margin... of about five millimeters?
Ryu, however, didn't pay attention to Ruri's reaction. He closed his eyes to sense the situation inside his personal space, then spoke in a cheerful mood, "Arrange a helicopter to the 3rd Villa for me. Today, I'm going to climb Mount Fuji!"
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