"That's right, I am V."
V didn't seem surprised that Dum Dum had instantly recognized her name; she merely crossed her arms and nodded confidently.
To be honest, the Gambi Tower incident had not long passed, so it was normal for people to know her name now.
After all, talking about data security in Night City was a joke.
"Hmph, I didn't expect the Afterlife to think so highly of me, sending out a Mercenary like you."
Once Dum Dum realized the person in front of him was V, the one who had caused chaos for the Arasaka Corporation, he became more relaxed. He propped his feet up on the desk, took out a new cigar, and lit it with a lighter.
"Since you have a bit of a reputation, I'll humor you for a moment. Don't be an idiot who gets played."
Dum Dum was speaking sarcastically and rudely. V remained silent, waiting to see what he had to say.
"I guess the owner of this land sold the building to some sucker, and the Afterlife acted as the Fixer in the deal, right?"
Dum Dum blew out a smoke ring, and while enjoying the moment, he pointed down with his hand, referring to the building.
"Yes, pretty much."
V crossed her arms, waiting for the other party to explain himself.
"I'm telling you, are you blind?"
Given V's nonchalant attitude, Dum Dum frowned, looking clearly displeased.
"Did you look clearly at what kind of place this is when you came in? A casino, understand? I run a casino."
"You have no idea how much money I make! Every idiot in this city willingly hands their cash over to me. Do I look like I'm short on money?"
Dum Dum glanced at the desk, speaking about money as if it were stacks of waste paper.
"Now, maybe you can start to think about why I wasn't willing to pay that property owner."
"What do you mean?" Watching the cruel smile on the other man's lips, V frowned, beginning to guess.
"Are you saying this is a double-cross?"
V pondered for two seconds, then voiced her suspicion.
"Yes, you must have gone to college! You guessed it, damn right!"
Dum Dum clapped his hands mockingly, as if praising V for her "intelligence."
"It's because I was about to kill that piece of trash, and he couldn't hide for much longer."
"That's how it should have been..."
Dum Dum, cigar in mouth, looked across at V.
"But then you idiots from the Afterlife barged into my plans without checking the situation, buying this building from that moron. That idiot deliberately concealed the situation from you. Isn't that clear?"
After hearing Dum Dum's explanation, V frowned.
She seemed to have figured out the gist of the situation.
The owner of this property and the tenant had a conflict—no, more accurately, Dum Dum unilaterally intended to kill the property owner. It turned out that her Berry had inadvertently rented this room right in the middle of it.
No wonder the price was cheap; it turned out to be such a huge trap.
It could only be said that the hunter eventually gets pecked by the goose. Her shrewd Berry had unexpectedly stumbled into a pitfall here.
Night City truly had pitfalls everywhere; one careless moment and you were trapped.
Also, did Rogue not even bother to check the intelligence?
She didn't even know if the building was still in the seller's hands.
V grumbled internally, but finally looked up, ready to settle the matter.
"So, you guys aren't planning on moving out honestly, are you?"
V's words came out, and even the other party was stunned for a moment.
Is this guy always so arrogant, even on someone else's turf?
"Heh heh, V, you should be grateful you still have some reputation on the streets. If it were some nobody, for what you just said, their head would already be on the ground."
"Hmm, then I should say thank you."
V nodded, indicating that she was truly "grateful."
Looking at the other party's arrogant demeanor, V pondered silently.
It seemed these guys had no intention of leaving, so she might have to think of another way.
Although Berry accidentally stepped into a trap, V had no intention of compromising.
After all, if her girlfriend got into trouble, shouldn't she, as her girlfriend, stand up for her?
Wait, it seems a bit messy, but that's the gist of it.
Berry had her plan, and V would make sure that plan was realized.
So, she wouldn't back down a single step now.
"Alright, I'll give you Afterlife ten thousand, consider it compensation for your lost work, how about it? Talk to your boss, take the money, and scram."
While V was silent, Dum Dum directly spoke up.
He immediately offered money to settle the matter.
After all, the name of the Afterlife bar was well-known in Night City, and he didn't want to offend them.
If he could settle it with money, that would be for the best.
After all, on the streets of Night City, fighting and killing were for the grunts; people with a bit of class talked business.
But unfortunately, Dum Dum didn't know that the V in front of him was a fake, not a Mercenary from Afterlife at all.
Moreover, she had no intention of letting the matter rest.
"Sorry, your business is your business, but we paid with real money. In my opinion, you only have one choice, and that is to leave obediently."
Facing Dum Dum's attempt to buy her off, V retorted unceremoniously.
Her words were close to a threat.
"Heh heh heh..." But this time, Dum Dum didn't get angry at V's harsh words; he just laughed mockingly.
"V, in my opinion, you might be a bit overrated."
"Are you threatening me? Are you serious? On my turf?"
Dum Dum spread his hands exaggeratedly, as if he had heard a hilarious joke.
Then, Dum Dum's smile gradually faded, and his bulging eyes took on a fierce glint.
"Take the money and scram, or else you 'Afterlife' better prepare to go to war with our Motorcycle Gang!"
Dum Dum, annoyed by V's unyielding attitude, issued his final ultimatum.
He felt he had been polite enough to Afterlife, but if they kept provoking him, he wasn't afraid of trouble.
"Hmm, I fully understand what you mean."
Looking at the pile of cash thrown in front of her, V said nothing, just nodded expressionlessly.
She stood up but didn't pick up the scattered money.
Under Dum Dum's puzzled gaze, V slowly spoke.
"War? A low-grade gang like yours dares to speak of war?"
V's words were utterly mocking, practically printing the expression "What are you, you don't deserve it" on her face.
"To be honest with you, before I came, our people had already completely surrounded you. If you don't believe me, call your subordinate and see if your money-making spot is surrounded right now."
V's confident and earnest demeanor made it impossible for Dum Dum to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
His heart sank, and anger immediately flared up.
"You motherfucker..." Looking at V's extremely arrogant appearance, Dum Dum cursed, but his movements were not slow. His eyes flashed, and he immediately dialed his subordinate downstairs.
"Hello, how's the place? Have people arrived?"
Dum Dum asked urgently, his eyes glaring hatefully at V. If the other party made any move, he would immediately pull out his gun and kill this woman.
"Boss? People, what? No, why?"
The subordinate who answered the phone was confused, not knowing why the boss suddenly called to ask about this.
However, just as Dum Dum dialed the phone, V's eyes lit up.
The other party finally fell into the trap.
The Magic Puppet, the module for rapid Hacker cracking, wasn't just for mechanical constructs; it could even invade people.
After all, most people now had a personal system installed, and invading the human system was also a Hacker's combat method.
And under Berry's generous spending, V's Net Access Port was implanted with the most advanced Magic Puppet modules, including virus software to explode enemy personal systems.
But unfortunately, as the saying goes, for every offense, there's a defense. There's an attacking spear, but also a defensive shield.
Personal systems also had their own firewalls. If the enemy's firewall level was too high, Hackers couldn't act and found it difficult to hack into the enemy's personal system.
Since earlier, V had been trying to invade Dum Dum's personal system, but unfortunately, this wealthy gang boss also had plenty of defensive plugins in his head. The thick firewall was as thick as the Jerusalem Wall, making it difficult even for V to act.
So V had been looking for a breakthrough, and now, Dum Dum had finally started a video call with someone else, which was V's opportunity.
Looking at the other party's angry eyes, V remained calm, while secretly cracking this guy's firewall, preparing to make this bastard's head explode.
Due to the pre-invasion of the local network, this process was very fast, at least faster than expected. V estimated that in just a few more seconds, this guy's firewall would be completely breached.
"No enemies, no, boss, everything's normal at the place."
"Fuck him, you played me!"
Dum Dum hung up the phone and slammed the table in anger.
His subordinate reported nothing amiss, and he immediately realized he had been tricked. His face turned red with rage, and he glared, reaching for the gun on the table.
He was going to blow this guy's head to smithereens.
No one could trick him, not even someone from Afterlife.
Fuck!
The atmosphere in the room instantly became tense.
V also cursed inwardly; it was only a matter of two or three seconds, but Dum Dum had now realized he had been tricked.
"Jackie! Detonate the bomb!"
Seeing the other party reach for the gun, V knew she couldn't stall any longer and decisively told Jackie to detonate the bomb.
"Yes!"
Jackie, who had been in the communication channel, heard V's urgent tone and acted decisively, pressing the detonator in his hand.
"I'm going to blow your head off!"
Dum Dum cursed, grabbing the automatic pistol on the table and preparing to fire.
"Don't even think about it!"
V gritted her teeth, blue light flashing wildly in her eyes. Under the invasion of virtual data streams, the computer on the table immediately exploded.
"Fuck!"
The computer on the table in front of Dum Dum immediately exploded with a piercing electrical sound. The force of the explosion made his hand, before he could even fire, be thrown back by the impact of the shrapnel.
With a cry of pain, Dum Dum clutched his bleeding hand, his eyes filled with ferocity.
"You're a Hacker!"
Dum Dum instantly understood what had happened.
"Smart, but unfortunately, you found out too late!"
V stood up, glaring at Dum Dum.
During the computer explosion, she had completely broken through Dum Dum's personal defense system. This guy was finished.
Therefore, V looked at the big Spanish man sitting in the chair, glaring at her, as if he were already dead.
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