"Dead? No way. Just a few days ago, I was still getting messages from her."
Li Pan felt doubtful. But the cramped 1LDK apartment clearly couldn't hide anyone, and he couldn't sense Akiyama Masako's presence nearby. The place was linked to the police system as well—sure, the NCPA wouldn't care if he broke in, but the security system would deduct points, and that mattered to him.
So instead, he went downstairs and found a part-time worker from the building management. They exchanged coded words, locked eyes, recognized one another as fellow brats who'd grown up drinking wastewater in Night City. Two hundred bucks and a cigarette later, Eighteen chained into the building's surveillance system.
Masako had indeed never appeared. The tenant was only Akiyama Ayako. She'd arrived in her Five-Car Academy uniform, dazed, like a schoolgirl coming home to find her family ruined—bankrupt, defaulted, parents gone.
Well, that was all too common in Night City. If your parents died unexpectedly, or went bankrupt in disgrace, and you hadn't finished school to support yourself, you'd end up scavenging garbage.
Still, you could usually scrape by—loan, job, study assistance, an apartment. Li Pan himself had pulled through. But for someone spoiled by parents, with no social experience, the shock was harder.
No matter. Life's a bully—either it beats you today or it beats you tomorrow. Eventually you get used to it.
Checking NCPA and NCHC records, he found no death report for Akiyama Masako. But Akiyama Kageoka and Akiyama Daigo had indeed been registered dead: one from old age, the other from critical injuries—likely casualties of Night City's recent wars.
With the men gone, the family sank under medical bills and debts. With no cash or credit, Masako—always a homemaker type—was crushed into bankruptcy.
No wonder she'd demanded ten million last time. She must have wanted to pay debts and leave her daughter a little to survive.
As for her disappearance, odds were she'd fallen in with Amakusa Shirō—or rather, with the Akatengu group. Maybe selling her body to pay debts, whether by the sword in her hand or the one at her waist. Even if she was dead, her neural chip could still lead to Amakusa.
And thinking about it now, given the city's situation, Li Pan felt the undercurrents.
The Night Corporation and Takamagahara had been hammered, their infighting fierce. The Security Bureau was cowering after the purge. Night City was hollowed out. Perfect timing for Akatengu to make a move.
If things escalated, he might not even have the chance to run, let alone trade.
So he gritted his teeth, paid 2,500 yuan to the property kid for an "accidental wrong-room keycard," and opened Unit 209.
Inside, Ayako had just showered, kneeling in her underwear on the bathroom floor, sharpening a knife. She looked up coldly as Li Pan entered.
Continuing where he left off:
"Where the hell did your mother go? Take me to her—alive or dead, I want to see."
Ayako stared.
"How much does she owe you? I'll pay."
"You'll pay?"
Li Pan glanced around the shabby apartment.
"Find her for me, and I'll give you ten thousand."
"Twenty-five thousand, four hundred and thirty."
"Do you even know how to haggle? Why the exact change?"
She handed him a bill. 25,429.77—an overdue prosthetics notice from Muramasa Industries.
Li Pan skimmed it. The Akiyamas had invested heavily in her. She hadn't yet had the big skeletal or skin upgrades, but her modifications were already extensive.
Classic O-Ninja cyberware package—value-for-money level-4 implants, stacked high. No wonder she was twitchy.
Synthetic lung fibers for stamina. Ninja foot modules with alloy joints, reinforced tendons, triple ankle supports. Neural acceleration, synaptic optimization, feedback loops, micro-rotors, aerial maneuver systems. Agility, speed, endurance all boosted—while defense and toughness were low. No surprise she'd gotten wrecked fighting him last time.
The debt wasn't for the full package, just the monthly installment. With bankruptcy, payments froze, and her implants were shut down until she proved she could pay again.
She wasn't paralyzed, but her ninja perks—enhanced strength, speed bursts, double jumps—were offline. She was nearly normal now.
One payment, though, would reactivate them for the month—enough to earn and protect herself.
"Ten thousand," Li Pan said. "Find your mother, or lead me to her last known spot. If it gives me a lead, I'll pay the rest."
Ayako nodded. "Deal."
He transferred ten thousand. "Get dressed. I'll wait in the car."
Moments later, she came down still wearing her bloodstained sailor uniform.
"…You don't have anything else?"
She ignored him, climbed in, revealing a kitchen knife strapped to her thigh.
Li Pan sighed and drove.
"She told me she was going to pick something up, asked me to wait nearby. But she never came back from the Industrial Zone."
Ayako traced a line on the nav map, pointing to a factory in the center.
Li Pan frowned. "You're not luring me into a Whirlpool Gang nest, are you?"
"Believe me or don't."
"…Eighteen?"
"Found it, boss. Used to be a Takamagahara super-factory, a military lab. Now it's—"
"Whirlpool Gang," Ayako cut in.
Da-da-da-da-da!
Good god. They'd barely crossed two streets into the zone before being targeted. Li Pan had even looped around to scout, but a modified NCPA armored car burst from the trash, RPGs and cannons blazing. Just for an unfamiliar plate? Maniacs.
And their security net—this professional? Hidden sentries? Way too organized.
No time for analysis. He floored the Imperial 620, weaving as ceramic armor plates soaked up fire. Limited durability. Repairs would cost.
"Yaaah!" "Da-da-da-da!"
"Look out ahead!" Ayako shouted.
Shit—three more war wagons cut him off in a pincer.
The pursuit team boxed him with trained precision. Cyberpsychos leaned out, tongues lolling, firing wildly, bullets sparking against his windows.
"Bastards, hitting my car! You're dead!"
He fired back—bang, bang, bang—hit rate: zero.
…Damn. Forgot to sync the ballistic processor with his pricey implants. All because the Xingtian-11 Performance set didn't include a discount on the second piece.
He rolled up the glass, drifting into an alley to escape.
Ayako clutched the seat, glaring.
"Aren't you Company? Why doesn't this car have auto-defense weapons?"
"It's a modded civilian! A weapons suite costs more than I do! Stop hitting my car!"
The 620 wasn't built for this. Cheap materials, thin armor. Against the Whirlpool's monster rigs, it was nothing.
Da-da-da!Boom!
"Scratch my hood, will you?!"
Li Pan rammed one war wagon into a wall, smearing blood across graffiti. Another slammed into a pillar.
"Ha! Idiots!" He flipped them the finger.
"Watch the road!" Ayako screamed.
"…What road?"
The 620 plowed through a barrier, tumbled, and landed upside-down in a dry canal.
"Cough… damn municipal planning…"
Gunfire raked the wreck.
Three war wagons circled. Gunners laid down crossfire. One squad vaulted the levee to approach on foot.
Huddled behind the wreck, Li Pan's eyes narrowed.
Who trained these guys? Didn't Mars Military stop ground ops ages ago…?
Ayako scrambled out, filthy.
"We need to run! They'll swarm like locusts!"
"My car…"
"Forget the car! It's about to blow!"
"I'll avenge it!"
"…What?"
Then she froze as he heaved the overturned SUV onto his shoulders and charged.
The gangsters gawked. He hurled the 620 like a brick, crushing a war wagon flat, then launched himself at another. Gunfire poured in—useless against level-5 armor, qi shielding, and his Nine Yin flesh.
"You shot my car!!"
He flying-kicked a wagon, ripped off a machine gun, and swung it like a bat, scattering enemies.
"Anyone who shoots my car—I'll kill your whole family!"
Panic. The Whirlpool thugs scattered, screaming "Cyberpsycho!"
Boom! The 620 exploded behind him.
Ayako scrambled up the bank. "There. I told you where. Pay me and go on your own."
Li Pan eyed her thigh. "We haven't even reached the factory. Don't you want to find your mother?"
"She's dead. If she were alive, she'd have contacted me. If she's with the Whirlpool, death's a mercy."
"…Fair point."
He studied her again. "You're broke. Want to make money?"
She drew her knife. "Not here. If you're going to try that, wait until we're back at the apartment."
"What? No, I mean your legs. Your implants don't match the bill. You hiding mantis blades?"
She frowned, following him into an alley.
"How did you know? I just swapped them at the black market. The old ones don't work anyway."
Of course he knew—he'd been hunted by Tokugawa's mantis legs recently. No mistaking that kit. Already in Night City's underworld.
"Your family's set was integrated, guaranteed for compatibility. Mixing parts is how people go cyberpsycho."
He tossed her a black-ice inhaler.
"You're good. Efficient, vicious. With your implants dead, you won't get proper work. You'll end up selling yourself. Be my factory security instead. Base salary ten thousand. Extra for missions. Do we have a deal?"
"You'd hire me after I tried to kill you? Not planning to set me up with a double contract to screw me?"
"Hey, I'm generous. A hundred grand bought your forgiveness. You got other options?" He paused. "By the way—why did you try to kill me?"
Her eyes narrowed. "You smashed our dojo's reputation. No students. Grandfather coughed blood. You seduced my mother, wrecked my parents' marriage. Why wouldn't I kill you?"
Li Pan winced. "Uh… my bad? Wait, no! She came on to me! That marriage was already broken! …Anyway, the contract's in your inbox. Do you accept?"
She glared, then glanced at the sewage-soaked alley. Gritting her teeth, she inhaled the black ice.
"Fine. I'll do it."
A cyber killer, reeled in. She'd nearly killed him once—rare talent in Night City. For ten thousand a month? A steal.
He paid off her bill, reactivated her implants. Thankfully, she didn't kick him on the spot. She followed him deeper into the Zone.
"Hey, aren't you going the wrong way?"
"No. You're too conspicuous in that outfit. Whirlpool's tactics were too slick. If we charge in, they'll cut the trail. We need local contacts."
"My mother said it was their headquarters. An old Oda weapons lab. They won't abandon it. And locals? The Zone is nothing but Whirlpool psychos. Who'd help us?"
"Not everyone's insane. Most are just poor. Some will talk. This way."
He led her through alleys to a derelict garage, pried open a trash bin, and fished out a key.
"…You actually lived here?" she asked.
Inside was no car, just a mattress, stolen power lines, pirate net access.
"You're not afraid of infection?" she muttered, watching him plug in.
Li Pan shrugged. "Stop whining. Someone's coming. Clothes are in the box. Change."
"You're the one whining…"
Still, she swapped into ripped shorts and a shirt, smeared soot on her face, mussed her hair—passing for a delinquent. But carefully folded her sailor uniform.
"You're keeping that rag?" Li Pan asked. "To sell it?"
"Yeah. Five grand."
"…Five thousand?! Seriously?"
"Creeps online pay top dollar. With DNA proof. Needs a few more days' wear."
Perverts. But at least the girl knew the grind.
"By the way, last time you came to kill me, you had two partners. Why not ask them?"
"They're from the Kōga ninja clan. But lately, they've all vanished into the mountains. No word at all."
"Fine. What about you—Industrial Zone native?"
Motorcycles roared outside.
Li Pan stood, opened the garage, LED lights blazing on Ayako's face.
"I'm not from here. But my ex-girlfriend lived here."
.
.
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⚠️ 30 CHAPTERS AHEAD — I'm Not a Cyberpsycho ⚠️
The system says: Kill.Mercs obey. Corporates obey. Monsters obey.One man didn't.
🧠💀 "I'm not a cyberpsycho. I just think... differently."
💥 High-voltage cyberpunk. Urban warfare. AI paranoia.Read 30 chapters ahead, only on Patreon.
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