Just as the group was stunned into silence by Lily Cross's earlier words, the speaker inside the vehicle crackled to life.
"Where are you guys heading? Coming back for dinner or what?"
On the screen, the Terminator vehicle appeared farther and farther away from the point of contact. Leon Black, already airborne in a "flying taxi" heading home, looked mildly exasperated as he radioed in.
"Ah—sorry! We'll turn back right now!" Ethan Cross blurted, realizing he had been so focused on driving, he hadn't noticed they'd gone completely off track.
Once the call ended, Takemura Goro spoke up. "Drop me off at the next intersection."
"You're not coming with us? We nearly died back there—we should celebrate," Lily said with a puzzled blink.
Takemura gave a polite shake of his head. Even though Leon wouldn't care if Lily invited him to dinner, he felt it inappropriate for an outsider to intrude.
"Suit yourself." Lily shrugged. She'd done what she could. He'd been patched up, and although not fully recovered, Takemura could at least defend himself.
After getting out of the car, Takemura quickly disappeared into the shadows.
A moment later, he activated the communicator Lily had slipped him earlier.
"Hello? Is this V? Where are you? We need to talk. In person."
His voice was grim. He could feel the storm brewing in Night City—it had already begun.
---
Elsewhere, River Ward watched V seated on a rock.
"You leaving already?"
"Yeah, time to head back," V replied, ending a call. She looked around at the NCPD officers collecting evidence nearby. "Nothing more to do here."
They had finally found Randy—Ward's missing nephew—in a Biotech facility in the southern district. He wasn't the only child there. Some were alive. Others… weren't.
"I can't thank you enough for what you've done. If we'd waited another two days, I don't think we'd have found them alive," Ward said sincerely.
"We're friends, right?" V smiled and bumped fists with him. "I'm off. We'll talk again soon."
"Need a ride?"
"I've got it. Thanks though." She waved him off, got into her car, and drove away.
"Heh~ That guy's into you," Johnny Silverhand teased as he materialized in the passenger seat, letting the wind tousle his hair.
"It's been forever, and anyway, we're just friends." V's tone was flat. With a ticking timebomb in her head and Arasaka's crosshairs on her back, romance wasn't on her radar.
"You know," Silverhand said, his tone surprisingly wistful, "if all you do is focus on the destination, you'll miss the view. Might regret that one day."
V glanced at him. "You? Regret? That's new."
Though their minds were linked, her memories of him felt distant—like watching a movie. She knew he was the lead singer of a band, but real information about him, especially regarding the Arasaka Tower bombing, was vague or buried.
Johnny looked out the window, expression somber. "My biggest regret… losing the one I loved most."
---
Leon Black's House
"Thank you all for showing up to rescue me!" Lily Cross declared, raising her glass with a wide grin. "Tonight's expenses are on me!"
"We were free anyway," Arasaka Yuto replied casually, tipping his glass.
"We're a team. No need for formalities," Ethan Cross added, practically glowing with excitement. This was his first real taste of action on such a scale.
Mike Taylor didn't say much. He simply lifted his glass silently, but the relief in his eyes was obvious. Though the squad's newer members hadn't done much in the battle, their courage had earned a sliver of his respect.
All eyes turned to Leon Black.
He smiled and raised his glass. "To the team. To freedom."
"To the team! To freedom!"
The five clinked their glasses together, a resounding clack marking their bond.
"Ahh~ that hit the spot!" Lily let out a satisfied burp. "Too bad Lena isn't here. That would've made this perfect."
"Yeah, Captain, where is Yui anyway?" Yuto asked between bites of chicken.
"She's handling something personal. Should be back in a week or so," Leon replied. He'd estimated Lena Fox's recovery time, but he wasn't about to explain the truth of their bodies to the group.
Hearing this, Lily's cheerful expression dimmed slightly. She and Lena had grown close—shopping, hanging out, sparring. Without her, Lily felt a bit adrift.
Leon cleared his throat and looked around the table.
"Before Lena returns, we need to wrap this up properly."
A black blur suddenly leapt onto the table.
It was Flathead, a spider-like bot with a sleek all-black body. Though it moved awkwardly, it was incredibly agile. The sight pulled everyone's attention back.
"This is the Flathead drone," Leon explained, patting it. "Originally, we were planning to exchange it with Stout for access to some of Lily's classified gear. But this drone… it's a new prototype—Military Tech's counter-hacking weapon. So, what should we do with it?"
"Sell it, obviously," Lily said without hesitation. "That kind of black-market tech fetches a fortune."
"Sell it?" Yuto scoffed. "Last time you tried that, you got kidnapped. One more time and you'll be dead."
"Military Tech isn't Biotech," Ethan added cautiously. "They're warmongers. They'll go nuclear over this. And don't forget—we're still officially Arasaka."
Unlike Biotech, which focused on commerce, Military Technology was deeply rooted in the power struggle. Biotech's branch in Night City was little more than a storefront, its presence limited and lacking military force.
Hess Weis had been unlucky. While his peers indulged in leisure, he'd tried to make something of himself. But with Arasaka and Military Tech dominating the region, there was no room to grow.
Even calling Hess a "big shot" was a stretch—Biotech had fewer than five security teams in the city, and barely any true elites.
Despite the promise of new biofuel tech, Biotech had been repeatedly crushed by Sueshihua and was still licking its wounds. Stability was their goal now, not expansion.
Leon's team had single-handedly crippled Biotech's entire Night City security division. The higher-ups were likely raging in boardrooms right now.
Recruiting and maintaining a security division was tough enough—but losing it in one day? That was a strategic catastrophe. If another corp decided to attack, Biotech wouldn't even have the strength to retaliate.
Night City was entering chaos, and for Biotech, the timing couldn't be worse.
"It'd be better if things got bigger," Mike Taylor suddenly said.
Everyone turned toward him in surprise.
Lily had almost died just days ago—why would anyone want to stir up another mess?
Clap!
Leon snapped his fingers and smiled.
"Exactly. The bigger the mess, the better."
If chaos reigned, Biotech wouldn't have the bandwidth to retaliate, and Military Tech would be preoccupied.
Besides, the city wasn't chaotic enough yet. In an era of immortal-grade cyberware, if you didn't shake the board, you'd never stand a chance of claiming victory.
He had a shot to flip the table—and he was going to take it.
---
Oakwood District
Ruth Zheng, out for her morning jog, suddenly stopped and stared at the package that had fallen from the sky.
She blinked.
Then grinned.
As one of the boldest investigative journalists in Night City, Ruth was no stranger to threats. But the bigger the story, the higher the value—and she thrived in storms.
The 54 Network, backed by Military Tech, wasn't afraid of anything. They were the first to leak the news of Arasaka Saburo's death, and Arasaka hadn't dared to retaliate.
Her employer, WNS News, needed a bombshell story to bury the fallout of Saburo's demise.
And this package?
This was it.
Her golden ticket.
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