Arthur quickly left the underground passage without looking back, rushing outside at full speed. As he sprinted, he tossed a few grenades behind him, collapsing the tunnel he had just escaped from.
After a while, he confirmed that no one was chasing him and finally emerged from the tunnel. Taking out a cigarette from his pocket, he lit it and took a deep breath, letting the sight of the sun shining on the earth calm him down.
"Next time I take a job from the company, I'll be a damn dog!" he muttered to himself.
Although he had caused quite a bit of trouble for that group of young men, the damage was minor. The losses they suffered wouldn't take more than three to five months to recover from, given the scale of their organization.
Overall, Arthur felt that this mission had been a mistake.
Fortunately, aside from the images recorded by surveillance cameras, he hadn't left any concrete evidence behind.
His plan was simple—let the Animal Gang clash with those young men and keep himself out of a mess that wasn't worth his time.
Just as he was deep in thought, a sudden explosion roared in the distance.
"Boom!!!"
Arthur flinched. For a second, he thought his grenades had somehow detonated all of Little China!
Looking toward the source of the explosion, he saw that it hadn't occurred at a chemical factory or anything similar. More importantly, the sound was different—not from a grenade or conventional weapon.
As he frowned in confusion, a small black shadow appeared in the sky, growing larger as it rapidly fell toward him.
Arthur's eyes widened.
"What the hell—"
Crash!
The object slammed into the ground right in front of him, leaving a small crater in the dirt. Dust settled, and Arthur stared in disbelief at what was now sitting before him.
A refrigerator.
A double-door refrigerator, to be precise.
Arthur scratched the back of his head, utterly baffled. Sure, people still used refrigerators in 2076, but why had one just fallen out of the sky?
Before he could make sense of it, the refrigerator door suddenly creaked open.
A thin, middle-aged man rolled out, his cowboy hat tumbling to the ground. He looked dazed, barely clinging to consciousness.
With a weak, trembling voice, he muttered, "Remember... staying inside a fridge to survive an explosion... is a damn lie..."
And then, he collapsed, completely motionless.
Arthur stared at the lifeless man, his lips twitching.
Only in Night City...
He couldn't help but respect the guy's dedication to his experiment, even if it had cost him his life. So, as a tribute, Arthur gave him a thumbs-up.
Unfortunately, the man was too dead to appreciate the gesture.
After a moment, Arthur pulled out his phone and dialed the network monitoring number. He had no intention of sticking around at Empire Mall—it was pointless since whoever was involved had probably already fled.
The call connected.
"You're still alive?"
Arthur smirked. "What do you think? Night City's mercenary fossil isn't that easy to kill."
"So, what do you need this time?"
Arthur got straight to the point. "Since you betrayed me, I'm increasing my price. I want a jamming program that prevents identity detection by scanners."
The voice on the other end chuckled. "Easy enough. And don't worry—I'll keep my end of the bargain. The Animal Gang won't harass your company or rob your employees. Also, I'll arrange the identity you requested for that night in the city. Just send me their details."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. That was... oddly cooperative.
"And the program?"
"I'll send it directly to your email. Install it yourself—I don't want to hear you accusing me of tampering with it later."
Arthur didn't expect the guy to be so straightforward. Not only was he following through on the original deal, but he was also delivering the extra reward.
This was like a weasel offering New Year greetings to a chicken—there had to be some hidden agenda.
"So, Arthur... are you short on cash lately?"
Hearing that, Arthur smirked. "Trust me, if I wanted to screw you over, you wouldn't be talking right now. I'd have cut you into 800 pieces. Anyway, I'm tired. If you have any more jobs in the future, let me know—I'll think about it."
Without waiting for a response, Arthur ended the call.
Despite his earlier complaints about working with corporations, he knew that surviving in Night City meant dealing with them eventually.
He sighed, shaking his head. "Woof, woof, woof," he barked sarcastically, then spoke to the system in his mind.
"System, sign in."
[Ding~ Sign-in successful. Congratulations, host! You have obtained the Mengdie System!]
Arthur blinked. "Huh? The hell is this?"
He was sure he had never heard of it before. Thanks to his strong mental ability after time traveling, he could recall everything he had done, down to the exact number of minutes he had spent in the bathroom.
He opened his brain-computer interface. If the system provided relevant information, it would be stored there for easy reference.
"Alright, let's see..."
As he read through the details, Arthur's eyes gradually narrowed.
"A live version of braindance?"
At first glance, the Mengdie System seemed like a sensory-based live-streaming device.
Users would wear a special spine-mounted device, transmitting their physical sensations as data to a server. Viewers, in turn, could wear a receiver and experience everything the streamer felt in real time.
For example, if the broadcaster went bungee jumping, the viewer would feel the exact same adrenaline rush.
If they went to Cloud district...
Arthur smirked. "Now that's interesting."
There were plenty of virtual reality experiences out there, but nothing quite like this.
However, as he continued reading, his expression darkened. Something felt off.
This thing wasn't really meant for live streaming.
Scrolling to the end of the document, Arthur finally found the truth.
He rubbed the back of his head, exhaling sharply.
"Damn it! Why is everyone so obsessed with immortality? No matter the world, people just won't quit!"
On the surface, the Mengdie System was a live streaming device.
In reality, it was designed for something far more sinister—eternal life.
It functioned similarly to Relic, but in a much more advanced and complete form. Unlike Relic, it didn't require a specific host. Anyone could use it.
And more importantly, it was safe and simple.
With the host's consent, all it took was the press of a button.
In a matter of minutes—no more than ten—the consciousness of two individuals could be swapped.
Arthur felt a chill run down his spine.
This wasn't just some fancy VR device. This was a tool that could let the wealthy and powerful live forever, stealing new bodies as their old ones decayed.
His fingers tapped against his leg as he stared at the data in front of him.
"I should've known..."
People in Night City never stopped looking for ways to cheat death.
And now, it seemed, someone had finally succeeded.
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