By the time Lena and the others left Viktor’s clinic, it was almost noon.
Night City showed no sign of slowing down.
Self-driving vehicles streamed through the streets, weaving between impatient drivers and armored corporate transports.
Massive holographic advertisements filled the gaps between skyscrapers, while pedestrians walked with unfocused eyes as they browsed messages, newsfeeds, and braindance advertisements through their neural interfaces.
The city resembled a machine that had forgotten how to stop.
Valerie stood beside the street and slowly clenched her fist.
The installation of her Kiroshi Oracle Optics and Recoil Dampening System had been completed without complications.
Both implants had already established stable connections with her nervous system, and she could clearly feel the difference.
“How does it feel?” Lena asked.
Valerie touched the edge of her eye.
The new optics had fully adapted to her neural interface, responding to every command without delay.
She focused on a billboard across the street.
The advertisement was immediately separated into layers of information.
Her optics identified the corporation responsible for it, the product being promoted, the data-transfer nodes concealed inside the projection, and several vulnerable access points within the advertising network.
“This…”
Valerie smiled.
“It’s definitely different.”
Lena leaned against the wall and watched her experiment with the system.
“Give yourself time to adjust.
The real strength of Oracle optics isn’t their visual range.
They organize information and help you understand the battlefield before everyone else.”
Valerie nodded.
With the right database and enough experience, she would be able to identify weapons, cyberware, structural weaknesses, escape routes, and hostile targets within seconds.
“It suits you,” Lena added.
Valerie glanced at her but did not argue.
She understood why Lena had given her these implants.
Lena was not trying to turn her into a copy of herself.
She was helping Valerie develop the combat style that best matched her instincts.
Jackie listened to them from the side before shaking his head.
“When you two talk about cyberware, you sound like a couple of corporate researchers.”
Valerie turned toward him.
“And what would you call your modifications?”
Jackie immediately puffed out his chest.
“Mine are the true romance of a man.
Strength enhancement, Gorilla Arms, Subdermal Armor, two large-caliber pistols—and then you charge straight in and solve the problem.”
Lena considered his explanation.
“So wherever the enemy is, you run directly at them.”
Jackie paused before nodding seriously.
“Exactly.”
He spread his hands.
“It’s called the release-the-hounds tactic.”
Valerie burst out laughing.
While they spoke, Jackie glanced toward Misty’s Esoterica.
“I’ve got something to take care of.
Call me if a new gig comes in.
You two can handle whatever you’re doing.”
Without waiting for an answer, Jackie entered the stairwell and headed toward Misty’s shop.
Lena and Valerie watched him disappear.
They exchanged a knowing look but decided not to comment.
“Alright,” Valerie said.
“We should take care of our own business.”
She opened a real-estate search through her optics.
“We can’t keep living above Mrs.
Welles’s bar.
Jackie and his family treat us like we belong there, but we need a place of our own.”
Lena agreed.
Their weapons, ammunition, stolen equipment, cyberware components, and mission supplies were already occupying more space than they could reasonably borrow.
After filtering nearby listings, they found an available apartment inside Megabuilding H10.
The building was only a few blocks from Viktor’s clinic.
When they arrived, an automated real-estate agent connected to their communications and displayed the apartment’s information.
[MONTHLY RENT: €$1,500]
[ADVANCE DEPOSIT: NOT REQUIRED]
The price was reasonable by Night City standards.
Landlords rarely demanded three months of rent in advance from mercenaries.
There was no guarantee any tenant would remain alive long enough for the third month to matter.
Lena and Valerie entered the lobby.
Compared with the chaos outside, Megabuilding H10 appeared orderly—at least from a distance.
Advertisements played continuously from a central projector.
Residents crowded around elevators, restaurants, gun stores, vending machines, and market stalls.
Some workers dragged themselves home after long shifts, while others stood motionless as they browsed information through their optics.
“Welcome to your future,” an emotionless AI voice repeated.
Valerie surveyed the lobby.
“At least it looks safer than the street.”
Lena did not answer immediately.
Her Kiroshi Stalker Optics swept across the people near the entrance.
A profile appeared over one man sitting inside a booth.
[KENTA YAMADA]
[AFFILIATION: TYGER CLAWS]
[PUBLIC CHARGES: EXTORTION, THEFT, FRAUD]
Several Tyger Claws occupied the booth.
Weapons rested beside their terminals, partially concealed but ready for use.
Kenta noticed the two women.
His eyes brightened.
Night City was filled with every imaginable type of person, but Lena and Valerie stood out.
Neither displayed the extreme cosmetic modifications common among gangs and corporate elites, yet both carried themselves with the controlled confidence of experienced fighters.
Kenta mistook that confidence for vulnerability.
He stood, adjusted his clothes, and walked over.
“Hey, ladies.”
Lena and Valerie stopped.
“First time in H10?” he asked.
“Looking for an apartment?”
“We are,” Valerie replied.
“Standard listings here can get expensive, but we have access to private units.” Kenta smiled.
“Five hundred eddies a month.”
The offer sounded generous.
His gaze did not.
While speaking, he guided them toward the booth.
The other Tyger Claws stood and began surrounding the two women, malicious smiles spreading across their faces.
Kenta’s false friendliness faded.
“Of course, if you want to live comfortably, you should get to know your neighbors first.”
He gestured toward the booth.
“Why don’t we go somewhere private and talk?”
Valerie looked at the gang members closing in around them.
There was no fear in her expression.
“Did none of you install optics?” she asked.
“Or are you all naturally this blind?”
Kenta’s smile became a sneer.
“Why waste eddies on fancy eyes when you can install bigger guns?”
The other Tyger Claws laughed.
To them, Lena and Valerie were merely two attractive women carrying pistols for protection.
A little intimidation should have been enough to make them cooperate.
Lena moved before any of them could blink.
She did not draw a weapon.
Her body lowered, and her Reinforced Tendons activated.
Artificial fibers compressed inside her right leg before releasing their stored energy in a single explosive burst.
Her tactical boot struck Kenta across the side of his face.
The impact lifted him from the floor.
He flew sideways and crashed into the wall.
His head snapped to one side, and his unconscious body collapsed beneath a cracked advertisement panel.
The laughter stopped.
None of the remaining Tyger Claws had clearly seen the kick.
Lena lowered her leg and rolled her ankle.
“I kept him alive because I may work with Wakako in the future.
Killing Tyger Claws inside my new building without introducing myself would be rude.”
She looked around the group.
“Transfer two thousand eddies each as ransom.
Otherwise, I’ll turn you over to the NCPD and collect your bounties.”
The Tyger Claws recovered from their shock and reached for their weapons.
They stopped halfway.
Valerie had already drawn the Yinglong.
Her Smart Link connected to the weapon, and red targeting markers appeared over every gang member.
The gun’s tracking system had calculated firing paths through their skulls and vital organs.
“Don’t,” Valerie said calmly.
“If anyone finishes drawing, they die.”
The men looked from the Yinglong to Kenta’s motionless body.
They finally understood their mistake.
These were not defenseless new tenants.
They were professional mercenaries.
“Fine,” one of them said through clenched teeth.
“We’ll transfer it.”
Valerie kept the Yinglong trained on them while they opened their accounts.
[TRANSFER RECEIVED: €$2,000]
[TRANSFER RECEIVED: €$2,000]
[TRANSFER RECEIVED: €$2,000]
More notifications followed.
After dividing the forty-thousand-eddy payment from Padre’s gig among the team and collecting ten thousand from the five Tyger Claws, Lena’s balance had reached approximately thirty-eight thousand eddies.
She nodded with satisfaction.
“Excellent.
From today onward, we’re neighbors.”
The Tyger Claws lifted Kenta from the floor.
Before leaving, one of them turned toward Lena.
“This is Night City,” he said bitterly.
“Not whatever backwater you came from.
People who offend the Tyger Claws don’t live peacefully for long.”
The others stopped beside him, apparently hoping a final threat would restore some of their dignity.
Residents and vendors throughout the lobby began watching. Find the original chapter at g.com.
People in Night City rarely interfered in someone else’s trouble, but almost everyone enjoyed seeing a gang humiliated.
A middle-aged man standing beside a vending machine stole a glance toward the confrontation.
“Looks like the Claws finally picked the wrong targets.”
The nearby vendor continued arranging his merchandise.
“Quiet,” he warned.
“The Tyger Claws remember insults.”
“Think those two are cyberpsychos?”
“Too calm.
Cyberpsychos don’t usually demand ransom.”
The Tyger Claw continued glaring at Lena.
“Wakako won’t protect you when—”
Lena vanished from where she stood.
Slap!
Her hand struck his face hard enough to twist his head sideways.
His cheek immediately began swelling.
Before he could recover, Lena slapped him again.
She seized his hair and forced him to look up at her.
“You know this is Night City,” she said.
“So why haven’t you learned what happens to people who can’t control their mouths?”
She released him, and the man stumbled backward.
“I have your names, faces, and addresses.
If anything disappears from my apartment, if the building systems suddenly malfunction, or if anyone comes looking for trouble, I’ll assume you were responsible.”
Lena’s gaze moved across the entire group.
“Then I’ll find every one of you and cut you apart.”
The Tyger Claws paled.
After witnessing her speed and strength, none of them doubted that she could carry out the threat.
If Lena hunted them individually, they might not survive long enough to call for reinforcements.
“Do you understand?” she asked.
The man covered his swollen face.
“…Understood.”
“Good.
Get lost.”
They dragged Kenta out of the lobby without another word.
As the gang disappeared, every resident in the lobby reached the same conclusion: two extremely dangerous women had just moved into Megabuilding H10.
The conversations gradually resumed, though several residents continued casting cautious glances toward Lena and Valerie.
The two women ignored them and approached the rental terminal.
Identity verification took less than a minute.
They reviewed the contract, paid the first month’s rent, and bound the apartment access permissions to their neural profiles.
[MEGABUILDING H10]
[APARTMENT: H10-01]
[RENTAL STATUS: CONFIRMED]
[MONTHLY RENT: €$1,500]
[ACCESS PERMISSIONS: REGISTERED]
A residence notification appeared on both their personal terminals.
Valerie studied it with a smile.
“I didn’t expect us to have our own place this quickly.”
“At least we won’t have to store our arsenal at Jackie’s place anymore.”
They entered the elevator.
As it climbed through the megabuilding, the streets below disappeared behind layers of concrete, steel, market levels, and residential floors.
The apartment was not luxurious.
It contained a modest living area, a worn sofa, a data terminal, a bathroom, and several basic storage compartments.
The walls were bare, and the air carried the sterile scent of a room that had remained vacant for too long.
For Lena and Valerie, it was more than enough.
Valerie walked to the window and looked out over Night City.
Neon lights stretched to the horizon.
Corporate towers rose above the surrounding districts, their upper floors hidden among polluted clouds.
“How does it feel?” she asked.
Lena remained near the doorway, studying the first space in Night City that truly belonged to them.
“Not bad.”
“That’s all?”
“We can store weapons here, repair cyberware, and sleep without bothering anyone.”
Valerie gave her a helpless look.
“Your standards for a home are incredibly low.”
“We’re mercenaries.” Lena smiled.
“Having somewhere to return to is enough.”
She opened her backpack and began laying out their equipment.
The Mountain Ghoul’s Overture.
The RT-46 Burya.
The Yinglong.
A Lexington.
An Omaha.
Boxes of ammunition and several incendiary grenades followed.
Valerie arranged their personal belongings while Lena selected storage spaces for weapons and cyberware components.
The apartment slowly changed.
Weapons filled the racks.
Jackets appeared beside the door.
Ammunition occupied the cabinets, and two unfinished drinks were left on the table.
The empty apartment was no longer merely another cold room inside Megabuilding H10.
It had become their first home in Night City.