"What's going on? An attack?"
The car's movement pressed Lucy firmly against her seatback; she couldn't see any attackers.
David, his expression grave, pulled the shuriken from where it was embedded in the headrest. It was a simple piece of metal, but the assailant had managed to accurately target his head while the car was moving at such a high speed.
If his intuition hadn't warned him of the danger, that shuriken would have been embedded in his forehead.
"I don't know who it was." David hadn't seen who launched the attack, either.
He inspected it briefly and found some characters carved on the shuriken—it was an address.
It seemed the other party was simply testing him, though their methods were a bit crude. A shuriken thrown with the precision of a sniper shot—if he hadn't dodged, he would have been dead for sure.
David connected this to what Ms. V had said before about Saburo Arasaka searching for ninjas, and he had a pretty good idea who the attacker was.
So, a ninja is after me? But why me?
David glanced at Lucy in the passenger seat, said nothing more, and put the shuriken away.
As for the address, he figured it was best to discuss it with V and Schwarzer first.
Before long, the car drove into a warehouse. They parked it and met up with the people already waiting there.
"Nice work, kid. Those Tyger Claws guys couldn't do a damn thing to you."
"How many times has it been now? I've lost count. They've definitely got a grudge against you."
Maine clapped David on the shoulder. After getting to know him, they had all grown quite fond of David. He had a great personality and solid skills; after surviving the initial rookie phase, he quickly became a mainstay of the crew.
"Let them hold a grudge. It's not like they can do anything to me, anyway. Nothing a few flashbangs can't solve."
David acted as he normally did, not telling the others about the suspected ninja attack.
"I really don't know how you do it. It's seriously impressive. You hit your mark perfectly almost every time." Seeing this, Maine could only marvel at him.
Besides his exceptional combat ability with the Sandevistan, David had another trick up his sleeve: throwing things.
Like accurately hitting another car from a full-speed vehicle, and timing it perfectly, no less.
And he preferred using flashbangs over lethal grenades. Those things weren't very effective against people with chrome, meaning they had to detonate at close range to have any impact.
This made the feat even more terrifyingly difficult. The others in the crew couldn't comprehend it and could only conclude that it was a skill that simply couldn't be replicated.
"I don't know either. I just go with my gut."
David couldn't teach them; he didn't even know how he did it himself. It didn't rely on cyberware, but purely on his own intuition.
It was a skill he had developed from the training chip. After a month of training, he had finally defeated the 'easy bot'—the one that had been constantly thrashing him at the beginning.
During this period, his Karate had improved immensely, and he had also mastered this throwing technique. By following his intuition, he could accurately hit any location. As for range, it was infinite as long as he had the strength for the throw.
It was the nascent form of 'Shuriken-jutsu,' and David had already reached the level of a Genin. And all this in just one short month.
"Alright, the gig's done. The split's been sent to your account. We're heading out."
Maine gave David and Lucy a knowing look before pulling the others away.
"That guy…" Lucy didn't know what to say. Her relationship with David was impossible to hide.
Anyone with eyes could see what was going on between them, and soon the crew had started teasing them about it.
"Today's gig is over. Got any plans?" Watching Maine and the others leave, she turned and leaned against David's shoulder.
"Sorry Lucy, but I actually have something to do today. I need to see Ms. V… on second thought, you should come too." David stopped halfway, remembering that Lucy was also a member of their team.
If he was going to see Ms. V and Schwarzer, why hide it from her? The ninja business only needed to be kept from Maine and his crew.
With that thought, David confirmed no one else was around and pulled out the shuriken, the one with an address carved into it.
"This is what attacked us on the way back today. Look familiar?"
"A shuriken? Ninjas?" Lucy was certainly familiar with its appearance. She had tried searching for information on ninjas before, but had obviously come up empty.
That ninjas existed in Night City was beyond doubt, but it was completely impossible for an ordinary person to witness their true nature.
For one, there was the NRS phenomenon. In a place like Night City, where cyberware installation was rampant and cyberpsychosis was common, not many people were in a stable state of mind.
This meant that NRS would undoubtedly cause them to die of shock or trigger an outburst of cyberpsychosis. Only a very small number of ordinary people with unshakable wills could survive.
As main characters, they were naturally among that small number, which was why they were able to learn the truth about ninjas.
And even so, the power of even the most common ninja was beyond what a normal human could contend with. The fact that no one had realized ninjas existed in all the time Night City had been established was proof of this.
As long as they didn't want to be exposed, whether by killing witnesses or using their speed to hide, they would never be discovered by normal people.
So why would they suddenly reveal themselves, and why target them specifically?
Lucy also realized the gravity of the situation. She straightened up, then contacted V and Schwarzer.
"I've confirmed with them. Tonight, the usual place. We'll meet in a private room at the Afterlife."
David breathed a sigh of relief at Lucy's words. This past month of merc life had not only greatly increased his strength but had also broadened his horizons.
At the very least, he could now distinguish his priorities. The gigs he took with Maine's crew were just minor skirmishes; the ninja business was what truly mattered.
The possibility that he was being targeted was enough to make David deeply uneasy. But now that Schwarzer and V knew, he found himself immediately relaxing.
David had subconsciously come to rely on the two of them. To put it nicely—when the sky is falling, let the tall ones handle it.
Although, it wasn't like any of them were particularly tall, especially Schwarzer... David didn't dare slander her further.
"Did they say to be careful or anything?"
"They said to just do whatever you were going to do."
So that meant there was no danger. David looked at the time. It was still afternoon, quite a while before their evening meeting.
"It's still early, why don't we go have some fun?" He wrapped an arm around Lucy, started up his newly bought car, and prepared to go for a drive.
"Just 'have some fun'?" Lucy was even more forward than he was.
The car moved fast.
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