Old Wei

Speaking of which, at this point in time, Viktor should have already moved into Watson and become a Ripperdoc.

Chen Nuo sat on the NCART, feeling a bit uncertain.

Viktor's small clinic wasn't famous, but the esoteric shop on the floor above his clinic had some reputation on that street.

After all, there were many black-market Ripperdocs in Night City who repaired flesh, but Psychologists like Misty—who helped customers relieve mental stress and mend their broken souls through listening and divination—were rare.

"Found it, Misty's Esoterica, right?"

Lucy's cybernetic eye stopped flashing, successfully locking onto the shop Chen Nuo described.

"That's the place."

Chen Nuo nodded with certainty.

"Let me see... There actually is a Ripperdoc clinic on the floor below this shop."

Lucy was somewhat surprised, and from the feedback she gathered, although the Ripperdoc in this clinic hadn't been in the business for long, he was quite well-regarded.

"Let's go, it's our stop."

Chen Nuo said as he stood up, and Lucy quickly followed.

The real Night City was still somewhat different from Chen Nuo's memory; otherwise, he could have found Viktor's clinic with his eyes closed. For now, he had to rely on Lucy, his Humanoid Navigation system, to lead the way.

Kabuki sounds like it might be a nice place, but that was a long time ago.

A large number of medical corporations used to gather here, so the residents' standard of living was quite decent.

Later, due to the expansion of the Arasaka Group, many companies went bankrupt, and this place fell into being one of the poorest neighborhoods in Night City.

By day, it was dominated by cheap shops and Chinese-style Neon Markets; by night, it became a black market hub dedicated to the illegal trade of Implants, Combat Drugs, and so on.

Furthermore, it was partitioned and occupied by multiple gangs, leading to particularly chaotic public security.

Even walking during the day, the two of them attracted a crowd of malicious gazes.

The Scavengers here were also much more rampant than in other areas.

Chen Nuo had to flash the pistol at his waist to make these urban curs restrain themselves slightly; otherwise, if he started a fight in broad daylight, he worried he would be wanted by the NCPD.

"This is it."

Lucy led Chen Nuo deep into a dark corner covered in graffiti to the small door where Viktor's clinic was located. The "Open" light sign on the door frame flickered with a gentle glow.

Who could tell from this small basement curtain that it was actually a Ripperdoc clinic?

*Knock knock knock*

Chen Nuo took a step forward and knocked on the door.

A moment later, footsteps approached, and the iron door opened.

A burly middle-aged man with a beard appeared before Chen Nuo. His eyes behind black frames sized him up, and he asked in a wary tone,

"Who are you people?"

"Dr. Viktor, we have some business to discuss with you."

"Since when did a brat like you become a kidney-harvester? I'm warning you one last time, I won't do business with you!"

Viktor glared, his clenched fists carrying immense pressure. After all, he was once a legendary boxing champion of Night City. If not for Chen Nuo's youthful face, he probably would have thrown a punch already.

"It seems you've misunderstood something, Dr. Viktor. Do I look like one of those guys?"

Chen Nuo spread his hands, indicating he meant no harm.

Viktor looked closely at Chen Nuo and Lucy and didn't find any signature basic cyber-gear of Scavengers, such as Optical Equipment or Pain Editors, on them.

Only then did he step aside to make room, his tone softening as he spoke.

"Sorry, I've been harassed quite a bit by those kidney-harvesters lately. My nerves are inevitably a bit tense."

Most Ripperdocs in Kabuki had cooperative relationships with Scavengers, but Viktor was an exception.

However, it wasn't easy to be an exception in Night City.

"Understandable."

Chen Nuo led Lucy into Viktor's clinic.

Lucy didn't speak the whole way, scanning various items in the clinic and analyzing/judging Viktor.

Although Chen Nuo seemed to trust this doctor, Lucy had zero trust in street Ripperdocs.

After a scan, she found nothing suspicious. On the contrary, the medical equipment here was very standard, and the style didn't look like it came from a black-market Ripperdoc at all.

Furthermore, Lucy saw many boxing trophies. After a search, she learned that this Dr. Viktor was actually a retired legendary boxer.

"Then please, have a seat. What business do you have for me?"

Viktor asked with some curiosity.

Chen Nuo opened the bag he was carrying, revealing various cyberware, and spoke.

"I ran into two groups of Scavengers earlier. Although they're all low-grade Implants, I'd like you to see if they have any recycling value."

"..."

Viktor gave Chen Nuo a deep look, not quite believing his words. A kid your size has the ability to take down so many Scavengers?

However, after a careful inspection, they were indeed disassembled from Scavengers; many Implants even had their markings graffitied on them.

"Sorry, I can't recycle these Implants here. You know, kidney-harvesters are used to making their bodies a mess, like a living virus petri dish. If the Implants taken from them were installed in someone else, there would be huge potential risks."

Viktor was a good man, but not pedantic. If Chen Nuo had brought some better Implants, it wasn't impossible for him to accept them.

If it were another Ripperdoc like Fingers, he would certainly have accepted these Implants gladly. In his view, maintaining life was the first priority; any hidden dangers could wait until after surviving today.

These words surprised Lucy nearby. There was actually a Ripperdoc in Night City who considered things for others like this?

"Understood. Then could I trouble you to destroy these, Doctor?"

As Chen Nuo spoke, he glanced at Lucy as if asking for her opinion.

In broad daylight, carrying a pile of junk like this from one district to another was far too conspicuous.

In the end, they wouldn't sell for much and might even cause a lot of trouble. It was better to just destroy them.

You've already finished speaking, and now you're looking at me for what?

Lucy gave Chen Nuo a sideways glance, expressing no objection.

Viktor was also somewhat surprised. He didn't expect Chen Nuo to make such a decision. Although they were low-grade Implants, they were worth some money altogether. This kind of attitude shouldn't come from someone born on the streets.

However, this indeed won him quite a bit of favor. He spoke up,

"If you're willing to trust me, leave them to me to handle."

"Of course."

Chen Nuo answered very bluntly. In this Night City, if one couldn't even trust Viktor, there weren't many people left to trust.

"By the way, Dr. Viktor..."

"Just call me Viktor."

"Then can I call you Old Vik?"

"Old Vik? Haha, compared to you kids, I do look a bit old."

"Aren't you in some trouble right now? Let me help you solve it."

"By that tone, are you Edgerunners?"

"I suppose so."

"Too dangerous. You're still so young. If..."

Viktor instinctively wanted to offer some advice, but when his peripheral vision caught the blood-stained Implants on the floor, he didn't continue. After thinking for a moment, he sighed and said,

"I can give you this commission, but on the condition that I go with you."

"Deal."

Chen Nuo understood that Viktor didn't feel at ease about them.

(Did you just agree for me?)

A text message from Lucy popped up on Chen Nuo's cybernetic eye.

(Just a temporary cooperation.)

(A man who says one thing but means another.)

In fact, even without Chen Nuo's arrival, Viktor's patience with the Scavengers' harassment had reached its limit. He had already found the hideout of this group of Scavengers in advance, saving Lucy a lot of time.

"Are you sure you want to do this during the day?"

Viktor didn't expect Chen Nuo to be in such a hurry, setting out with Lucy as soon as they got the address. This made him feel increasingly uneasy.

Wasn't it said that Edgerunners always act at night? This seemed a bit unprofessional.

"Old Man Vik, you don't understand. Daytime is the best time to strike. If it were night, who knows where these cockroaches would scurry off to."

Chen Nuo gave Viktor a reassuring look and walked toward the dark basement.

"How did I become 'Old Man Vik' now? Is this kid a bit too familiar?"

Viktor took off his sunglasses and muttered a sentence while following behind.

Unlike other gangs, although the Scavengers were a gang organization, their structure was loose, with no fixed headquarters. They usually acted in small groups.

Therefore, their combat power was also poorer, almost at the bottom of all gangs in Night City.

(The surveillance feed has been synced to you. Be careful.)

Lucy did not walk with Chen Nuo; as a Netrunner, she had her own things to do.

This group of Scavengers had set up many surveillance devices in their base, but their network defense was too weak. A group of dozens didn't even have a single Netrunner.

So, these cameras could only become Lucy's eyes, locking onto the Scavengers one by one.

(Not bad, quite fast.)

Chen Nuo replied and took out his pistol. This time he brought quite a few magazines; they would definitely be enough.

The basement was pitch black, filled with a thick smell of blood.

This was the Scavengers' home turf. The Optical Equipment they wore all had night vision capabilities. They were all cockroaches living in the dark, so naturally, they would modify their bodies in this direction.

"Kid, what do you plan to do?"

Viktor watched Chen Nuo's straight-ahead downward pace and couldn't help but ask.

"Don't be nervous, Old Man Vik. Wait here for a bit, I'll be right back."

The closed iron door in front of Chen Nuo opened; Lucy had cracked the access permissions in just a few seconds.

"Wait a minute..."

Before Viktor could finish his sentence, he saw Chen Nuo close the door behind him and charge into the darkness ahead.

Then, gunshots and wails intertwined to compose a melody belonging to Night City.

"This brat!"

Viktor tried to push the door hard, but the permissions had already been locked by Lucy. He realized now that he had been played by Chen Nuo.

Modern ways of killing were just this efficient and simple, especially when facing a group of Scavengers. Except for a leader with Subcutaneous Armor who took two extra bullets, the rest only needed one.

With Lucy's help in locking them down, not a single one could escape.

Originally, Lucy thought about helping by hacking a few guys, but her intrusion speed couldn't keep up with Chen Nuo at all. In the end, she could only give up and silently admire Chen Nuo's art of slaughter, which combined two different worlds.

In fact, at the first gunshot, this group of Scavengers had already reacted, but by the time they saw Chen Nuo, hot bullets had simultaneously pierced through their skulls, blood and brains splattering on the walls.

When reaction speed, movement speed, and other aspects formed a massive gap, the ordinary pistol in Chen Nuo's hand could turn into the Grim Reaper's scythe, easily harvesting their lives.

These Scavengers didn't even have a chance to fire their guns.

In less than a minute, the gunshots ceased.

The iron door opened, and Chen Nuo walked out with a light step.

There was no pressure in executing these disgusting cockroaches, as long as he didn't let their blood get on him.

"You little brat!"

Viktor couldn't help but curse, but seeing the unscathed Chen Nuo, he couldn't help but look at him in a new light.

Now he finally believed that Chen Nuo had indeed dealt with two groups of Scavengers before; this guy was born for this line of work.

"Thirty-two guys in total, all lying inside. I believe for a long time to come, Old Man Vik, you'll be able to live a bit more peacefully."

Chen Nuo said with a smile.

Presumably, once this news spread, let alone Scavengers, even some other gang members wouldn't dare to easily provoke Old Vik.

No matter how weak Scavengers were, they were still a group of murderous thugs. A number of thirty or so was not small. One should know that the largest gang in the local district, the Moxes, only had a headcount of just over two hundred.

Viktor didn't know what to say. He originally thought they would have to negotiate first and then flip the table if it failed. Who would have thought Chen Nuo would directly take out all the Scavengers?

Is this the style of today's youth?

Feeling a bit out of touch, Viktor sighed and said,

"I don't have much money to pay you."

"Just give whatever. I mainly want to make a friend of you. Remember to give me a 20% discount here in the future."

"Alright, it seems I have no choice but to accept this friend."

Although Viktor said so, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up. It was too hard to make a friend in Night City; somehow he felt like he had come out ahead.

Since he was already at Viktor's, Chen Nuo also had him help perform a check-up and maintenance on his cybernetics.

He had very few cybernetics on him; he had only installed one cybernetic eye. Ninety-eight percent of his body was original hardware, which was quite rare in Night City; only those monks could compare.

For now, there was no need to implant combat cybernetics.

The vast majority of cybernetics couldn't compare to Chen Nuo's current original hardware, so why install anything? Was he tired of living comfortably and insisted on adding pressure?

Viktor sat aside flipping through the tablet in his hand, looking at the various physical data displayed on it, clicking his tongue in wonder.

Is this still a normal person?

With this reaction nerve and physical strength, could he be an experimental subject escaped from Biotechnica? Small-caliber bullets might not even be able to penetrate him.

Viktor didn't ask much about it, but simply made a suggestion.

"Kid, are you interested in learning boxing from me?"

"Male boxing or female boxing?"

"What kind of talk is that? I'm a man, how could I teach you female boxing?"

"No tuition fees, right?"

"Free."

"Then that's perfect."