Kotaro didn't know if he was being "professional" or just enjoying himself, but the guy dove into the dance floor, shaking his hips, instantly drawing a crowd of gawkers—and plenty of pimps' attention.
Li Pan, however, couldn't stomach the scene. If he kept watching, he'd vomit up the soda bucket. He slipped out quietly, wandering around the Reincarnation Bar.
Fishing, after all, wasn't just about bait and gear—it depended on the fish's mood. He'd cast the bait; now he had to wait.
He wandered, following a bunny girl into the casino—and unexpectedly ran into Nana.
In truth, he hadn't noticed her. He'd been staring blankly at the blinking signal of Kotaro's tracker while idly admiring bunny waitresses. It was Nana who approached him.
"Hey! Didn't I tell you not to contact me? Why are you sticking to me again! That drone last time—was you piloting it, wasn't it? You stalker!"
Nana wore a sharp suit, styled as a handsome croupier, gloves on both hands. Li Pan only smiled bitterly.
"Small world. Thought you wanted to be a singer? What are you doing here?"
Nana raised her gloved hands, wiggling her fingers like playing piano.
"How could I play with crippled cyber-hands? These are rented from the casino. Grade-5, fully monitored, impossible for hackers to tamper with, and precise enough to cheat at cards. Playing guitar's fine.
Now I work here. The gangsters leave me alone. You can relax. So—want to play a hand? Since you're here, support the business."
Li Pan glanced at her table—Texas Hold'em. "What's the minimum?"
"Five thousand."
He shrugged. "I'm a thousand short. Maybe another time."
She rolled her eyes.
"See? Not a stalker, huh? If you hate gambling, why walk in? Forget it—better not. No one ends well once they're hooked. Go on, don't block me."
He spread his hands and just stood at the side. Truth was, all the neon, booze, and decadence of Night City's underground didn't tempt him much.
He liked games, shooting, martial arts, SMS piloting, bikes. If not for the Moth Club mess, the simple life of a military engineer would have suited him.
As he daydreamed watching Nana deal cards, chaos erupted at the casino corner. A man was shouting. Lost two million. A "company dog," wailing: "That was my wife's life-saving money!"
"Bang!"
Gunshots.
The gambler had snapped. Guests and bunny girls fled, security rushed in. Li Pan grabbed Nana, shielding her as they moved out with the crowd.
Not unusual for Reincarnation. In this lawless underground, the rich never came in person—only via shells. The poor were expendable.
Within three minutes, security and medics restored order. Li Pan noticed the guards wore different uniforms per venue—each establishment had its own backers. That was why the Bar worked as neutral ground: a commuter-zone-style shareholding system. Cause trouble here, and you faced everyone.
The company dog was beaten to a pulp and dragged out. Casino closed temporarily, robots cleaned up, guests received ten complimentary chips each.
Li Pan too.
But the chips only worked here. Couldn't cash out, only trade for black-market virtual coins.
"Damn it. More crypto? I'm already bag-holding a million."
He shoved them to Nana.
She narrowed her eyes. "You… never mind. Come with me."
"Huh? Where? Wait—public restroom?"
Before he realized, she dragged him inside a stall.
"Hey, hey, that's not what I meant!"
She ripped open his shirt, probing his abdomen.
"Hmph. Not what you meant? …Wait—you're injured? Who hit you?"
"You can see that?"
Li Pan was startled. Even cyberdocs hadn't detected the handprint on his belly.
"How'd this happen? Branded with iron? Does it hurt?"
She touched it gently.
"So hot. Should I get the medkit?"
"I'm fine. …Wait, you said these hands are under casino surveillance?"
She glared. "Firewall surveillance! That's what you care about? Fine, fine—I won't use them."
After fifteen minutes' rest, Nana washed up and returned to work. Li Pan adjusted his suit and wandered the bar, though a nagging sense gnawed at him.
Then it struck him.
The signal was gone.
Shit. Kotaro again!
He cursed himself. Supposed to be fishing—yet he'd lost the bait.
He searched the Bar twice. No signal. Either jammed, discovered, or moved. Only option: contact Eighteen.
Outside the Bar, he waited. In a nearby alley, the beaten company dog was stripped naked but alive—probably so he could come back and lose another two million.
Now, thugs were prying his teeth out with knives.
Li Pan just stood, leeching the Bar's network, waiting on Eighteen's trace. The thugs, feeling guilty, turned on him.
"Oi! Yellow monkey! Staring? Want your kidneys carved out too?"
"Tsk."
Li Pan, in a foul mood, slapped one thug so hard his cheek shattered. The rest fled. The company dog curled up naked, sobbing.
Li Pan ignored him, focused on comms.
"Eighteen, found him?"
"No. Signal vanished inside Reincarnation. Must be hidden passages, comm blackout. Also, 0791 Security Bureau leadership just changed. Risky to pull camera feeds. We'll have to wait."
"Damn. With maniacs like Shura Association, if we wait, Kotaro might be dead."
Just then, the company dog crawled over.
"I… I know Shura Association…"
Li Pan stared expressionless.
"Give me one million… save my wife, I'll take you to them."
Li Pan looked down. "Don't have a million. Got 5.32 credits. Want it?"
The man cried harder. "Please! They'll kill her!"
"Wow. Weren't you the guy who lost two million just now? What, too stingy to spend your own money?"
"No, no… those two million can't be withdrawn unless I play ten more rounds…"
Li Pan laughed bitterly. "Your wife's about to die and you still want to gamble ten rounds? Think you're some Gambling God?"
Eighteen cut in: "Not Gambling God. Money laundering."
She sent a bounty slip: Kim Yongjun, blockchain analyst. Stole Company data. Ten-thousand bounty on his brain implant.
Li Pan was surprised. Confirmed his face—it matched.
"Reincarnation let him go? Didn't claim the bounty?"
Eighteen: "Would be bad business. Customers must feel safe to come back."
Made sense.
"Yongjun—how do you plan to wash that two million?"
He only sobbed.
So Li Pan asked another way. "What's your wife's name? Who took her?"
"Shuyan… Jiang Shuyan… Yuchi Group took her… it's all my fault!"
Eighteen supplied info: "Yuchi Group. East City Alliance affiliate. Loan sharks. 42 members."
Li Pan's eyes lit. "So you really laundered for gangs."
East City Alliance? Fair game to kill.
He grabbed Yongjun's hair. "And Shura Association? Speak."
Yongjun shuddered. "They're clients. We evaluated their blockchain deals, checked for safe currency paths…"
Eighteen added: "Gangsters don't understand blockchain. Most schemes are scams—empty shells, ponzi coins. I even heard of encrypted devices that were just USB sticks, with idiots wiring money straight in."
Li Pan nodded. "So you swapped dirty cash for Bar chips, then into crypto, then ransomed your wife. And the data you leaked—that was gang client lists and transaction records, wasn't it?"
Yongjun cried. "I had no choice! They threatened Shuyan! No matter how much I paid—fifty thousand, a hundred thousand, half a million—they still demanded more!"
Li Pan frowned. Shuyan didn't look special in Eighteen's records.
"You got yourself into all this—and still want to save her?"
"Yes. We met in college. She married me even when I had nothing. I just wanted her to have better. But the harder I tried, the more she suffered…"
Before Li Pan could answer, Eighteen pinged: "Kotaro signal found. Moving out of the city. Shall we intercept?"
Damn timing.
Yongjun begged: "Please save Shuyan! Shura's base is hidden in a converted LNG freighter. I don't know where, but I know what it looks like!"
Li Pan scratched his head. "Fine. Side quest. Kotaro can handle himself. Eighteen, keep watch."
Eighteen: "Sure. And ask him if that new 'SeafoodCoin' on the deep web is worth buying."
So Li Pan took Yongjun to save his wife.
"Yuchi Trading, this is it? Stay outside."
A few days ago, he'd have brought a vanful of Spider Drones. But now, after his third transfer, he didn't need backup.
Eighteen cracked the security. "ICE broken. Turrets friendly. Careful of cameras."
"No problem."
Li Pan peeled off his glasses, gloves, even face skin, stuffed them in his pocket, and swaggered inside like a cobra on two legs.
"Hey! Who—ugh ghost!"
"Ahhh! Cyberpsycho!"
Gunfire, screams, explosions.
Yongjun trembled outside as the five-story gang office was shredded by an invisible tornado, limbs and gore flying out windows.
Finally, silence. Then a tattooed thug was hurled through armored glass, crashed to the street. Moments later, Li Pan landed on his chest, crushing him.
Coughing blood, broken and beaten, the boss—Yuchi Ryuji—was dragged before Yongjun.
"Yuchi Ryuji. Talk to him yourself."
"B-boss Yuchi…"
Yongjun trembled. "Where's Shuyan? Please… give her back… I'll pay!"
Ryuji, face swollen, covered in demon tattoos, laughed like a hyena. "Her? Hahaha…"
Yongjun lunged, choking him. "Where is she!?"
Ryuji sneered at Li Pan. "I broke her. Minced her. Flushed her into the sewers."
Yongjun screamed, clawing, but couldn't harm Ryuji's reinforced cyber-body.
Li Pan sighed, then finished it. His palm, wreathed in sword-qi, split Ryuji's skull and tore out his implant. He handed it to Yongjun.
"No survivors inside. Basement's a mess—I didn't check carefully. Maybe he was bluffing. You can look yourself. Or turn yourself in to Security Bureau—they're cracking down on East City Alliance now. Your choice."
Yongjun clutched the chip, stunned.
The mission had failed. Shuyan wasn't saved. Li Pan just patted his shoulder, turned, and left.
.
.
.
⚠️ 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.
🔗 patreon.com/DrManhattanEN