I Want To Follow You

"Robbery?"

Katsuo Tanaka looked like he had just heard the funniest joke ever. He paused for a second, then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha—You said robbery? Look at you. How long do you think you've got left to live, a year, two?"

Leo shook his head: "To be precise, four to six months."

Katsuo Tanaka froze again.

Leo continued: "But if you don't hand over anything valuable, you won't live past today."

In the corner, David swallowed nervously, not sure what he was thinking. Suddenly, he dashed in front of Leo.

"What are you doing, Martinez? Are you a criminal too? By the way, what does your mom do to support you at the academy? Could it be…"

David didn't say anything; he just clenched his fist and threw a punch—

Smack.

Katsuo Tanaka blocked David's punch with one hand, a playful smile on his face: "What kind of cheap implant is that? Freeware?"

As he spoke, he made exaggerated "Hmm—hmm—" sounds while pushing David's hand away. David gritted his teeth.

But it was useless—Katsuo Tanaka suddenly swatted David's hand aside and began throwing rapid punches, each stopping just three centimeters from David's face!

His punches were so fast that David couldn't even see them! "Ah-dah-dah-dah-dah—"

Katsuo kept making strange noises with his mouth, and the pressure on David grew until he was utterly stunned.

Leo suddenly spoke: "Strong Arms 400 series chipware. Plug it in and fight like you've mastered martial arts. It's pretty decent for civilian use."

Katsuo continued throwing punches, laughing arrogantly: "This is the difference between us!"

David closed his eyes, but even after three seconds, he could still hear the punches slicing through the air.

And Katsuo Tanaka was already sweating—he couldn't stop!

[Daemon upload complete: Implant malfunction]

Leo walked around to Katsuo's side, clicking his tongue in admiration: "Technology really is something—just pay enough money, and you can buy what takes others years to master."

"What did you do to me?!"

"I already told you, robbery—your chip is locked. I could keep you like this until your body breaks down."

"You're a hacker!"

Katsuo Tanaka's expression turned to fear—this guy had hacked his ICE and locked his implant! Only hackers or scavengers would mess with ICE like that!

He desperately hoped Leo was the former!

"I'm your daddy, idiot. Hurry up and transfer the money—or you two think you can escape? You've got three seconds to pay up, or I'll sell you to the scavengers."

The two lackeys who had been quietly inching towards the alley's exit knew that if Leo wanted, he could fry their systems in an instant—

Compared to military-grade ICE, breaking through civilian ICE was a breeze, especially for students.

[Transfer: +4600 Eurodollars]

[Transfer: +1300 Eurodollars]

[Transfer: +1100 Eurodollars]

The three of them dropped to their knees with lightning speed, no hesitation at all. Leo didn't even start counting.

"You can try reporting me to NCPD—if you want to meet the scavengers."

Data flickered in Leo's eyes, and with a snap, the chip from Katsuo's Arms 400 series popped out, landing in Leo's hand.

With the chip secured, Leo turned and walked away, leaving Katsuo still throwing punches.

"Hey! You didn't unlock my implant!"

"It will unlock itself in 30 minutes—if you still want to punch, buy a new chip."

Leo tossed the chip in his hand and walked away, hands in his pockets.

Rich kids were so easy to rob, and they even knew to pick a secluded spot with no cameras. Easy 7000 eddies.

David glanced at Katsuo Tanaka, who was still punching the air, and felt even more certain about one thing—

School? Screw school.

At that moment, David's worldview shifted slightly.

Thinking back to what Leo had just said—David, who had been taught by Gloria never to curse, suddenly found it incredibly satisfying to do so.

So, he spat on the ground, looked at Katsuo, then at Arasaka Academy.

"Study? Screw studying, idiots."

Then he hurried to catch up with Leo.

"Kid, why are you following me?"

"I want to work for you."

Leo's expression changed slightly.

"To pull off big jobs!"

Leo sighed—anyone hearing this might think the kid wanted to take him to the moon.

He rubbed his forehead:

"Listen, don't act like a fool, all jumpy. If you want to do this kind of work, you should find partners in a bar. Not on the subway, confessing to a guy you just met like this."

"Uh…" David lowered his head in shame, feeling embarrassed about his immaturity.

Leo stroked his chin, finding the kid amusing. Though he seemed a bit naive, there was potential.

In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, this kid not only installed James Norris's Sandevistan but was also tricked by Arasaka into wearing the prototype Cyberskeleton.

His body wasn't too sensitive to the side effects of implants, allowing him to overclock them at will. Though it caused significant damage to his body, his combat strength was impressive.

But he was missing a few screws in the brain—mainly because he was too young and lacked experience.

David looked up and added: "Actually, this isn't our first meeting. Remember the freeway in Vista Del Rey? That incident two days ago, my mom and I were driving a G240."

"Do you remember how many buns you've eaten?"

"Uh? No."

"Then that's it. There are so many clueless kids in Night City like you, not to mention all the G240s. In the past few days alone, I've totaled at least 40 G240s. You might have seen me, but I didn't notice you."

"But I'm sure I can do this line of work! Please take me along!"

David clasped his hands together, bowing his head in sincere request, even displaying the etiquette he learned at Arasaka Academy, bowing formally on the spot.

Leo chuckled internally: If other mercs saw this, they might even praise him for his—

Purity.

Too pure.

David was lucky he asked someone as decent as Leo. If he'd asked any native Night City thug, he'd have been sold out and even helped count the money.

That being said, Leo felt that this David was different from the one in the story—more down-to-earth, in a way.

Life for ordinary people in Night City wasn't easy; finding work was a daily struggle, and losing your life in the process was just as common.

So Leo thought for a moment and asked: "Is your mom dead?"

"Huh? No, she's still in the hospital. I'm planning to pick her up this afternoon."

"Red Sash Psychiatric Hospital?"

"Yeah, you know it too?"

Looking at David's innocent face, Leo sighed again.

So the kid who slapped the doctor with a gun was indeed David.

"David, call your mom—don't ask why."

Seeing Leo's expression, David suddenly felt a surge of anxiety and dialed Gloria's number.

But there was no answer.

David's anxiety grew, and Leo said again: "Call the doctor and ask him to send you a real-time photo."

David did as he was told.

This time, the call went through.

Doctor: "David Martinez, your mother is in stable condition and can be discharged at any time."

David: "Why didn't she answer my call? Send me a real-time photo."

Doctor: "Oh, of course. She's just sleeping. Here, take a look."

In the photo, Gloria lay on the hospital bed with her hair down, looking peaceful in her sleep.

The medical instruments beside her showed stable vital signs, indicating she was still alive.

David: "Okay, thank you, doctor."

Doctor: "You're welcome. Please pick up Ms. Martinez at the agreed time."

Leo smacked David on the head: "Are you an idiot? You're thanking him?"

David rubbed his head: "Why not? He originally said the cheapest package didn't include visitation…"

"You really think after you threatened the doctor with a gun, slapped him twice, and nearly made him piss his pants, he'd still help you? Believe me, right now, there are at least three scavengers next to your mom—one specializing in harvesting organs, one with a gun, and one driving the getaway car.

They're just waiting for you to show up so they can kill you and reunite you with your mom in someone else's body."

David was stunned.