Enduring the sickening pain of over-studying, Ruan Xian forced down a bottle of Manticore.
It tasted like beer with added sugar.
He followed it with an XXL burrito.
Aside from not tasting like corn and chewing like plastic, it wasn’t half bad—if one ignored the flavor.
Unfortunately, as a Chinese guy, he couldn’t just ignore the flavor.
“I can’t take this anymore.
Going to bed.” Ruan Xian collapsed onto his bed.
He set his Data Fortress to alert status; if the cameras caught a stranger or got taken out, his real body would wake up instantly.
Then, he went to sleep with his active camo on.
To be honest, losing Spiritual Energy was somewhat annoying, but he had to endure it to get through his developmental phase safely.
Despite his nausea and splitting headache, Ruan Xian drifted off to sleep.
[Status: Resting] [The High-Dimensional Overseer approved of your actions.] [Extra Attribute Point rewarded for this settlement: +1] [Multiple High-Dimensional Observers are spectating.] [Evaluation: D (Boring.
I want to see blood run like rivers.)] [Experience Bonus: 100%] [Experience Obtained: Netrunner Studies, Playing the Melodrama, Living Off a Sugar Mommy (Click to view details)] [Experience pool settling…] [You have received spiritual feedback.] [Attribute Point +1] [Perk Point +1] [Remaining Attribute Points: 2] [Remaining Perk Points: 2] [Spiritual feedback threshold increased.
Please acquire more experience.] [Skill Level Up: Netrunning (Basic) Intelligence +2, Technical Ability +2] [Netrunning (Introduction to Data Fortresses) Intelligence +1, Technical Ability +1] [Intelligence: 5 -> 8 (Elite Netrunner, powerful and robust)] [Technical Ability: 0 -> 3 (You can now proficiently use Night City’s electrical tools and tech weapons, but you still don’t know how to craft 5++ gear from scratch.)]
“Ugh, this feels just like a hangover.
But these Attribute Points are piling up fast.
Awesome.
Let’s keep dumping them into Intelligence.” After thinking things over with his now-formidable 8 points of Intelligence, Ruan Xian decided that 8 was still far from enough.
Having experienced the cognitive speed of 25 Intelligence, he currently felt like a complete moron.
Intelligence: 8 -> 10 (The limit of the mortal flesh, but not for you)
“So good.
Now it’s time to flash some firmware.
My Mimetic Masking Shroud, let’s see what backdoors you have.” Sandra’s basic netrunning tutorial covered every facet of netrunner applications.
Combined with the computing power of the Lotus Leaf totem and guided by his spiritual intuition, Militech’s backdoors were child’s play to him.
The netrunners Militech employed, those who sincerely worked their asses off for them, probably only had an Intelligence of around 10.
As for those higher than that, they had either already run away or were planning their escape.
Right, Songbird?
“Holy shit, what a pile of shit.
This too?
God, it’s a total spaghetti code nightmare.” Flashing the firmware was a breeze for him.
If other corporations wanted to flash Militech’s systems, they would have to physically disassemble them to find the firmware chip—which might cause the Militech tech to blow up.
But Ruan Xian could use spiritual infiltration, bypassing disassembly entirely.
Previously, when he used the Data Fortress to brute-force firmware data, he couldn’t make heads or tails of the code, thinking it was incredibly advanced and high-tech.
Now that he could actually read it, he realized Militech’s code was absolute hot garbage.
A massive pile of redundant code that increased energy consumption, degraded performance, and hogged cyberware capacity.
Ruan Xian cursed as he made modifications.
As for the backdoors, they were just like Denuvo DRM in games—completely penalizing legitimate users.
“Done.
Fucking idiot Militech.
But I’ve noted down these backdoors.
In the future, if anyone dares to fight me wearing Militech cyberware, I’m going to give them a massive surprise!”
Ruan Xian happily combined several universal Militech backdoors with a Cyberware Malfunction quickhack, whipping up a “Cyberware Malfunction (Militech Special Edition)” on the spot.
Uploading one was equivalent to uploading four standard Cyberware Malfunctions.
Uploading two in succession could directly detonate Militech cyberware, dealing catastrophic damage.
Ruan Xian happily finished crafting his new quickhack, naming it “Militech Killer” and loading it into his Militech Paralline MK.4 Cyberdeck.
Now, his combat capabilities had skyrocketed.
[Militech Paralline MK.4 Cyberdeck, Optical Camo, Epimorphic Skeleton, Biomonitor, Blood Pump, Lynx Paws, Spring Joints, Kiroshi Optics “Oracle”, Mimetic Masking Shroud, standard Gorilla Arms, Reinforced Tendons (Double Jump).]
“I am invincible!
Mwahahaha!” Feeling the cybernetic power surging from his root totem, Ruan Xian was completely hyped up.
“Wait, that’s not right.
Only Lynx Paws or Reinforced Tendons can be active at one time.
That’s a bit annoying.” Ruan Xian realized that for cyberware occupying the same slot, only one could be active at a time.
But relying on the devouring effect of the Spirit World’s root totem, he could switch between cyberware rapidly.
That worked well enough; it wasn’t a big deal.
Once he took over all of Night City, he could research and craft a customized leg cyberware that had every stat combined.
“Even though I only have cybernetic power within the range of my root totem, I can just not leave its range.
Time to fight, make eddies, and build altars!” Ruan Xian jumped around like a cyberpsycho for a bit before finally calming down.
“And there are these two things.
Let’s open them up and take a look.” Back when he first arrived in Night City and looted chests, he had found a datashard in a leather suitcase.
He had also found another datashard kept as an offering in Makoto Ito’s place.
Although he had bypassed their protection and accessed the contents back then, Ruan Xian had zero netrunning foundation and a measly 3 points of Intelligence, so he hadn’t understood a single thing inside them.
“Let’s check Makoto Ito’s first.” Ruan Xian decompiled the data within the datashard.
The encryption style was highly reminiscent of Militech, carrying a stiff, rigid feel.
“It really is Militech.
Looks like he looted it from that agent.” Ruan Xian once again felt grateful to the Scavengers.
He’d make sure to kill a few more next time.
[Unknown]: LD-73, primary objective is to infiltrate Dogtown and establish contact with [DATA CORRUPTED].
Support this individual in taking over Dogtown.
LD-73: Should I establish contact with Logistics Division agents in the area?
[Unknown]: Contact prohibited.
Execute corporate orders, and only corporate orders.
LD-73: Copy that.
[Unknown]: The identity profile linked to the Mimetic Masking Shroud has been uploaded.
Your identity is a corporate war veteran who has received multiple medals.
The primary records are stored on our database.
Once you arrive in Dogtown, configure your name, facial details, and other necessary information as required.
Barghest tends to recruit military veterans; make good use of this authentic fake identity.
LD-73: What if someone discovers a discrepancy in the ID profile?
[Unknown]: Impossible.
The registration has been routed through multiple city networks before final registration in Night City.
Even if we search it ourselves, it will show up as genuine.
The original creation records have been purged.
Rest assured.
Attachment: Linked ID Profile
“Damn, Militech is sneaky as fuck.
So devious.
How is this any different from sending a low-ranking demon to capture the Tang Monk and his disciples?” Ruan Xian found it hard to watch.
This guy had definitely offended his superiors.
“Let’s see what was in that suitcase…
Holy crap.” As soon as Ruan Xian decompiled the chip, he noticed it attempting to connect to a wireless signal to transmit its coordinates.
Too bad for the chip, it was currently in the Spirit World, so its signal connected to absolutely nothing.
“Interesting.
Looks like it’s pretty important.” Ruan Xian read it directly.
Abernathy: Masato Nakagawa, take your Half-Oni squad and eliminate this person.
[Image]
Masato Nakagawa: Who the fuck is this?
What about what you promised me?
Abernathy: Cut the crap.
If you want to be the sole boss of the Tyger Claws and reform the gang, get the job done.
Masato Nakagawa: You’d better deliver.
Where’s the intel?
Abernathy: Provided by a Militech informant.
My gut tells me something is off.
This person is highly likely a Militech elite agent, loaded with combat cyberware.
Whatever he’s planning, Arasaka won’t allow it.
Masato Nakagawa: That’s it?
I’ll send my strongest fighter, Red Oni Takeharu, to handle it.
Dead or alive?
Abernathy: Doesn’t matter.
Take this.
It’s a specialized quickhack provided by the informant.
Once uploaded, it will stun him.
It only works on him.
Keep it clean.
Masato Nakagawa: You corp suits are hilarious.
You could easily do this yourselves, yet you insist on paying extra just to use a middleman.
Abernathy: Shut your mouth if you’re stupid.
Get it done, and Arasaka will back you.
“I knew you offended someone.
Looks like more corporate dog-eat-dog warfare.
Terrifying office politics.
LD-73, tragic, simply tragic,” Ruan Xian mused, analyzing the situation.
Abernathy from Arasaka Counterintelligence received wind of something and wanted to stir up trouble.
But since she didn’t want to trigger a direct corporate conflict, she called on Arasaka’s dogs—the Tyger Claws—to act as her black-glove mercenaries.
Meanwhile, Masato Nakagawa of the Tyger Claws didn’t trust Abernathy one bit.
He had kept insurance, preparing disguise clothing, weapons, getaway cash, and incriminating evidence to screw her over if needed before even acting.
In the end, it was all for naught.
He was either killed by the Militech agent before he could upload the stun quickhack, or tie-loosened and disposed of by Arasaka.
“Well, well.
Night City really is a land of hidden talents, where everyone has eight hundred schemes running at once.
It’s hard for an honest guy like me to make a living.” Ruan Xian sincerely hoped that everyone in Night City could be a good person, but unfortunately, that was impossible.