Chapter 98: Fury of a Small-Time Thief

Stealing a chip in Night City is like stealing a wallet on the subway in 2011. Getting caught is inevitable—of course, getting caught red-handed and then nabbed by the NCPD is less common; after all, if you can't run fast, what kind of small-time thief are you? However, David was an oddball in this regard— "I told you to cover our retreat, not to start a fight!" Inside the NCPD patrol car, David and Lucy were being treated to a set of shiny silver bracelets— David remained silent as Lucy ranted at him, while the overweight officer in the front seat chuckled. "You two, stealing is one thing, but you nearly beat the guy to death—kid, don't you think that's going a bit too far?" The officer cracked open a bottle of Bobo Monkey soda, sipping contentedly as he said, "But thanks to you, I don't have to go on any dangerous special assignments today. Heard someone launched a rocket in City Center, set the whole street on fire—not sure if it's a cyberpsycho or a terrorist." "A rocket?" Lucy asked curiously, "You're saying someone fired a rocket in City Center of Night City? Sounds like an urban legend." "Who knows? But the whole street going up in flames is real enough. I bet the damage to the cars alone will run into the millions of eddies." Lucy scoffed, "The NCPD is really slacking off, letting someone fire a rocket in the city center." "Who knows what's going on? Could've been the corporations doing it themselves." David stared wide-eyed, completely shocked. Ever since he dropped out of school, he'd been hearing these kinds of urban legends daily. But this was City Center! Firing a rocket in City Center? The officer glanced at the stunned David, "Kid, you don't look like these no-good street punks. When you get out of here, find a proper job and stop hanging around with these netrunners." "I..." David was about to say something when suddenly, an info box popped up in his cybernetic eye. Leo: "David, I've got a job for you. This is an encrypted comm line, that cop in front can't see it." David: "Boss! How did you know I got busted by the cops?" Leo: "Listen, I need you to start a fight with the cop in front." David: "Huh? Assaulting an officer? Won't that get me..." Leo: "Cut the crap! If you can't even fight a cop, how can you call yourself a street punk?" David: "But I..." Leo: "5,000 eddies. Just tell me if you're in or not." 5,000 eddies? That's nearly a month's salary! David gritted his teeth and swallowed hard, "What do I need to do?" Leo: "Do I really need to spell it out? Just go wild! Use the handcuffs if you have to, bash the partition if you can, pull hair if it comes to that—" Leo: "Just make some noise, the bigger, the better!" Inside the car, David suddenly fell silent mid-sentence, causing the cop to give him a strange look. But the look Lucy gave him wasn't strange—it was downright terrified— That was the same vibe David had before he started beating someone the other day! No way— Bang! David suddenly went berserk, slamming his head against the window. The bulletproof glass cracked, but it held strong. Then David kicked the front seat hard! The kick wasn't that strong but carried a lot of disrespect, and the cop was stunned— What the hell is wrong with this kid? All because I told him to go back to school? "We've got a situation, the guy in the back seems to be having a psychotic episode..." Lucy's face turned pale, but when she saw David glancing at her, she knew she had to act— Or rather, she had already planned to escape and was just waiting for the right moment. Now, she had no choice but to move! With a click, the electronic cuffs on her wrists popped open, and Lucy flung the door open, making a run for it! The cops outside immediately drew their guns and started shooting! Bullets bounced off the car, but fortunately, the NCPD vehicles were bulletproof, so they didn't penetrate the armor. Hiding behind the car, Lucy cursed under her breath, "David... you little punk, you've really screwed me over this time." Just then, Lucy's phone rang—it was Burgerking calling. Leo: "Well done, now give me 30 seconds." Lucy glanced at David, who had just leapt out of the patrol car but was being pinned down by a cop. A vein throbbed on her forehead. So that's what this is about! "The person hiding behind the car, don't even think about escaping—raise your hands and come out slowly." Lucy sighed and glanced up at the sky, then slowly raised her hands and began to stand. 30 seconds, huh? David, you've really got me in deep this time. "I'm being forced; my partner is a psycho, don't shoot." Lucy slowly got to her feet. The cop, seeing her sudden compliance, was baffled but cautiously approached with his gun drawn. However, Leo didn't actually need the full 30 seconds. He quickly sent a new message to the two of them: "In 5 seconds, their cyberware will malfunction—take care of the cops then." Just as the officers were about to cuff them, all six suddenly froze in place, shaking uncontrollably! David sprang up and landed a punch right on the cop's jaw! Lucy spun around, grabbed the raised gun, and smashed it into the back of her cop's head. After taking out the two nearest to them, they swiftly dealt with the remaining officers, who were still immobilized by the cyberware glitch, taking them down in no time. Watching the seamless teamwork between the two, Leo breathed a sigh of relief— If David had chickened out and Lucy had bolted, things would've gotten tricky. "My hand..." In the end, Leo noticed David clutching his hand and yelling again. It looked like he had overexerted himself and sprained it... "So, why did you come here to assault the NCPD? Planning to hack the subnet?" After taking care of the cops, Lucy and David moved over to Leo's side. Lucy was a bit shocked—she hadn't expected that the person who had contacted David was the same one she had pickpocketed on the subway. No wonder the subnet hack was so fast, probably done as soon as they linked up. While they had sprung into action, Leo had quietly made his way to the server, hacking into the municipal subnet. Conveniently, the cops guarding it were also on the network, making it easy for Leo to disable their systems. Leo quickly processed the road network information, guiding Jackie and V on their escape route. After sorting that out, he didn't bother explaining and headed straight for the patrol car. The patrol car was connected to the police network, and by using this channel, he could upload a daemon to the NCPD's intranet and initiate a remote hack. "Hey? Why aren't you saying anything?" "No time to explain, get in the car, David, you drive." Leo took the passenger seat, directing David to get in. The kid had just earned 5,000 eddies, so he would do whatever Leo told him without a word of complaint. But Lucy was hesitating—she was just a small-time thief, and hacking the NCPD's network made her uneasy. Connecting to the police subnet, Leo linked one hand to the unconscious cop and brought his personal link close to the car with the other. Using the same biometric spoofing technique, he posed as an officer. "Western and northern traffic nodes at the municipal center under attack, attackers fleeing, license plate and vehicle data uploaded, requesting backup." "Roger that." Leo randomly picked a sports car's data and stuffed a virus into the packet. With temporary access to the database, Leo began erasing V and Jackie's images and information from the NCPD network, replacing them with the details of that unlucky sports car. In the road network, traffic gradually began to block the NCPD's pursuit vehicles, and reinforcements were occasionally diverted to the doomed sports car. However, some of the NCPD's best were still hot on their tail— All on the same salary, but these guys were willing to risk their lives. What were they thinking? Looks like they'll have to be dealt with physically. "Jackie, V, head toward me. We'll exit through the southern side of Japantown into Westbrook." After doing all this, Leo tossed the cop aside just as David started the car. At that moment, Leo remembered something. "David, have you ever driven a car before?" David shook his head, "But if you say I should drive, then I can!" "Forget it, just go! A Mackinaw will be coming our way soon." "Hey, what exactly did you do here?" Lucy asked from the backseat, feeling a bad premonition. "I heard the municipal center is in chaos. Someone fired a rocket over there, and hacking the NCPD now isn't a good idea. It could link us to all of this..." As the engine roared to life, Leo was interrupted and glanced at Lucy: "...There's a burning motorcycle ahead. When you see it, plow through and clear the cop cars behind us, then follow it." A burning motorcycle? Just as he finished speaking, the sound of roaring engines came from a nearby street— A green motorcycle, engulfed in flames, flew high off a parked car, its exhaust spitting fire like a rocket! David and Lucy stared in shock, mouths agape— A rocket!!! So it was you who caused all that!!! "Follow it!"