Cybernetic bodies and firearms

In Viktor's clinic, Chen Nuo was wearing boxing gloves and sparring with Viktor.

Don't let Viktor's age fool you; his punches were still as powerful as they were in his youth—one hit could shatter a man's jaw. It was just his stamina that couldn't keep up.

A series of heavy punches failed to break through Chen Nuo's defense; instead, Chen Nuo landed a blow to Viktor's abdomen, disrupting his breathing rhythm. Unable to catch his breath, Viktor tumbled to the ground.

"You alright, Old Man Vik?"

Chen Nuo stepped forward and reached out to pull Viktor up.

"Quite a kick... *cough cough*."

Viktor laughed even as he coughed.

Chen Nuo's learning ability was too strong; he caught on instantly. Teaching him boxing was a pure joy, filled with a sense of accomplishment.

What was even more astonishing was Chen Nuo's physical fitness, which simply exceeded Viktor's understanding of flesh and blood.

Despite looking so lean, the explosive power he displayed was more terrifying than Viktor's own when he was a boxing champion.

The only regret was that Chen Nuo learned too fast. Viktor felt that if this continued, it wouldn't be long before everything he had to teach was completely drained.

"Have some water."

Seeing the two finish their session, Lucy, who had been sitting nearby, stepped forward to hand Chen Nuo some water and gently wiped away his sweat.

"The speed of your progress is honestly a bit much."

Viktor couldn't help but flash a knowing, doting smile. Then, remembering something, he continued.

"If only Jackie could learn from you."

"Jackie?"

Chen Nuo's heart stirred. So these two already knew each other?

"Right, you don't know Jackie yet. He used to be in a gang, but he's actually a very good guy with a lot of power in his fists. He's an Edgerunner now, just like you. I'll introduce you if there's a chance; I'm sure you'll get along."

Viktor said as he sat down in a chair.

"Sure."

Chen Nuo nodded in agreement. One could never have too many friends like Jackie, especially since he was connected to the legendary V.

Speaking of which, was V in this world male or female?

The question flickered through Chen Nuo's mind before being interrupted by Viktor.

"The Kiroshi Cybernetic Eye you wanted arrived today. It's not the latest model, but the quality isn't lacking at all."

As one of the agents for Kiroshi Optics in Night City, it was clear Viktor's connections were quite strong; he just kept a low profile about it.

This brand of Cybernetic Eye was originally developed to protect astronauts in space from external light damage, and it was considered a high-end product among cyber-eye brands.

"Not bad, Viktor. You got your hands on it fast."

Chen Nuo happily threw an arm around Viktor's shoulder and gave his arm a friendly punch.

"Not calling me 'Old Man Vik' now?"

"Hehe."

"I'll tell you upfront, the price for this thing isn't low. Even with a discount for you, it'll be tens of thousands."

Viktor didn't intend to profit off Chen Nuo, but he couldn't afford to take a loss either, or the clinic wouldn't be able to stay open. The most he could do was extend the payment deadline.

"I have the money here; it should be enough,"

Lucy spoke up proactively. She had saved a lot of money over the years for the moon landing, but now that money had a more important use.

The moon landing was merely a pursuit born out of a desire to escape.

Now that her heart had a new anchor, her original wish naturally became less urgent.

Hearing this, Viktor couldn't help but feel envious. In Night City, being willing to shell out such a large sum for someone else was definitely true love. If he could have met a girl like Lucy, would he still be single today?

"My dad still left me quite a bit of money..."

Chen Nuo noticed Lucy's gaze and didn't continue. He turned to Viktor and said,

"It looks like I have no choice but to be a kept man."

"You brat, don't act like you're the one suffering when you've got it so good."

The more Viktor looked at Chen Nuo, the more annoyed he got. He was clearly very handsome when he was young, too; why didn't he have such good fortune? Should he give this guy a little less anesthesia later?

Well, Viktor's conscience made it impossible for him to do such a thing.

One had to know that many ripperdocs didn't even use anesthesia when installing cyberware, cutting directly into flesh and bone under the guise of ensuring the surgery's success.

Many people died on the operating table from the sheer intensity of the pain while getting cyberware installed.

Of course, it was also possible that the patients didn't trust the ripperdocs, fearing that once they were under, they'd never open their eyes again, preferring to endure the pain without anesthesia.

Installing a cyber-eye wasn't a particularly difficult surgery, especially for Viktor. Chen Nuo, lying on the operating chair, felt as if he had only taken a short nap before the implantation was complete.

"The surgery was a success."

Viktor checked Chen Nuo's biometrics, and after confirming there were no issues, he let him get up.

For Chen Nuo, this cyber-eye was one of the few implants that could actually be of some help. Not only could it protect him from solar radiation, but even flashbangs would no longer affect him.

Besides that, this cyber-eye had many other capabilities.

For instance, data transmission—it could send stored information to other devices or cyber-eyes of the same model.

Like right now, Chen Nuo was quietly using his gaze to send flirtatious messages to Lucy, teasing this originally somewhat wild cyber-girl until she acted like an innocent maiden.

He hadn't expected that cheesy pick-up lines from the early 21st century would still be so effective today.

Viktor, seeing what was going on from the side, couldn't help but shake his head, looking like he couldn't bear to watch.

Then there was the enhanced vision capability, which could magnify an image tenfold without losing any detail.

And then there was the combat assistance function.

This function was useless to Chen Nuo because to make use of it, one not only needed the necessary plugins but also a certain percentage of cyberware in the body.

Chen Nuo didn't find this regrettable. He didn't believe his battle instincts, honed through countless trials, would be weaker than some auxiliary function.

"Alright, you two, stop making eyes at each other in my shop. I have an appointment coming in soon; don't hog my space."

Viktor said as he cleaned the used surgical tools.

"I'm just testing the new cyber-eye's functions, okay? I'm telling you, Old Man Vik, you really should find a partner. Otherwise, I'm afraid your hormones will get out of whack one day—actually, I think I'm already seeing signs of it."

Chen Nuo's words nearly made Viktor explode with anger. He raised his hand and pointed his index finger toward the door, his meaning very clear: if he stayed in the same room as Chen Nuo any longer, he really feared what would happen to his endocrine system.

"Fine, fine, I'm leaving."

Chen Nuo left the clinic with Lucy. Besides replacing his cyber-eye, he had something else to do today: buy firearms.

In Night City, buying a gun was as easy as buying a condom.

But that only applied to low-end firearms.

Those small-caliber guns were fine for intimidating ordinary people, but against gang thugs or veteran cyberpunks, they weren't enough. The bullets probably wouldn't even penetrate their subdermal armor.

Night City also had high-end weapon shops, but those were all in the City Center, beyond what Chen Nuo could currently afford.

Chen Nuo didn't expect to find any suitable firearms on the streets anyway. He planned to modify a few suitable ones himself to diversify his offensive methods.

An interesting thing was that Night City had a crime called illegal possession of a firearm.

So how did one possess a firearm legally?

The answer was simple: pay to get your gun a license.

All legitimate weapon shops in Night City provided this service.

Of course, you could also take a gun bought on the black market to a shop to get it registered; it just cost an extra tip for the clerk.

Otherwise, if a passing NCPD officer caught you with an illegal firearm, they'd have an excuse to extort you.

Business at gun shops was generally very good. Upon entering, you'd look up to see a fully automatic sentry turret aimed at your head, reminding you not to act a fool.

Even so, there were always people trying to make a quick score—just look at the thick glass partition between you and the clerk. Night City never lacked for psychos.

"Welcome, is there anything I can help you with?"

The clerk was a middle-aged man, but his attitude was very enthusiastic.

Well, enthusiastic for the money in Chen Nuo's pocket.

"Buying a gun."

"Of course, what else would you be here for? Looking at the beauty next to you, I don't think you need me to recommend any good joytoys nearby."

"*Cough cough*."

Lucy, standing beside him, shot him a cold look, causing Chen Nuo to swallow back the question he had subconsciously been about to ask, nearly choking him.

"Cut the crap. Bring out the best stock you've got and let me see."

"Young man, quite the big talker, aren't you? How about this one? New arrival. Look at this muzzle—it's big enough to fit my own 'big steel cannon' inside."

The shopkeeper took a shotgun down from the wall behind him, his mouth running with constant filth.

Well, maybe it wasn't just talk; he might have actually tried it.

That was just the atmosphere in Night City; civilized and elegant people like Chen Nuo were always in the minority.

"Shut your damn mouth. If one more piece of nonsense comes out of it, I'm going to the gun shop across the street!"

This threat was indeed very effective. The shopkeeper placed the gun on the counter and raised both hands in a gesture of surrender, closing his mouth.

Chen Nuo picked up the gun and fiddled with it for a bit.

This was a DB-2 Satara modified into a DB-2 Tester. Its power at close range was indeed staggering. You didn't need to worry about aiming—you couldn't anyway. With its spread, almost any enemy within ten meters in front of you would be covered.

For an ordinary street-side gun shop, this was indeed a piece of quality stock worth showing off.

But the corresponding disadvantage was also obvious: one shot at a time. You could add an extra barrel for a double-shot, but then you had to start manual reloading.

"A friendly tip: with a small frame like yours, if you plan to use this gun, you'd better get some hand cyberware first, or you'll likely snap your arm."

This shopkeeper still had a bit of professional ethics, surprisingly offering a fairly reasonable suggestion to his customer.

"I need a quieter weapon. Fire this thing once, and the whole street will know I'm here."

Chen Nuo's reason for rejecting the gun was exactly as he stated.

The shopkeeper clearly didn't believe him, but he still brought out two more guns according to his request.

One was a Militech Lexington, and the other was an Arasaka kenshin.

It was only in situations like this that you could see these two rival corporations serving the same person at the same time.

"The latest top-shelf goods. You can even smell that seductive machine oil scent on them; makes you want to give 'em a lick."

The shopkeeper seemed to be getting a bit carried away as he spoke.

"If your tongue touches this gun, you won't be handing it over to me."

Chen Nuo was already starting to regret choosing this gun shop. According to the intel Lucy had gathered, this shop was supposed to be the most highly rated in Japantown.

Could it be that the other shopkeepers were even more neurotic than this one?

That wasn't entirely impossible.

"A germaphobe? Not many people in Night City have that bad habit. You'd better correct it soon, or... never mind, never mind."

Seeing Chen Nuo turn to leave, the shopkeeper quickly called him back and handed over the guns with a smirk.

Chen Nuo took one look at the Lexington and crossed it off his list. While the gun met most of his requirements, it had one fatal flaw: it wasn't fatal enough.

Although Chen Nuo had the technical skill to modify and strengthen it, doing so would be a thankless task. Its design philosophy was to incapacitate enemies, making it a favorite of the Night City police.

The kenshin was different. This was currently the most lethal machine pistol on the market. It used electromagnetic technology to fire tungsten-tipped rounds that could pierce armor.

The only thing that could usually outperform a kenshin pistol was the next-generation kenshin.

Just like a certain tech giant in Chen Nuo's memory, the megacorporations of Night City were very good at 'squeezing the toothpaste tube'.

The same model of firearm would be updated every year, yet with no substantial improvements.

"This one."

Chen Nuo didn't feel like picking anymore. If there were anything better, the shopkeeper would have already put it out.

"Good eye! Since you're a new customer, I'll give you a ten percent discount and throw in a box of ammo for free."

"Just tell me how much."

"Fifty thousand."

Chen Nuo didn't say a word. He put the gun down and stared straight at the shopkeeper, giving him one last chance to quote a price.

"Thirty thousand."

"And add that Tester shotgun."

"Deal."

The shopkeeper smiled like a fox that had just stolen a chicken.

"..."

It seemed there was something wrong with the origin of these two guns. Using the regular market price as a reference had clearly been a mistake.

But it wasn't exactly a loss. Even if they were hot goods, the shopkeeper had surely laundered them. Chen Nuo didn't haggle further; he packed the two guns away and asked for a few extra boxes of ammo while he was at it.

"Let's exchange contact info, kid. If I get any more good stuff, I can let you know right away."

The shopkeeper said with a grin. He had a hunch that Chen Nuo would be a very good customer. Anyone who could shell out tens of thousands for guns already had proven spending power.

Most people in Night City with that kind of money would choose to buy themselves an armored car.

Chen Nuo accepted the shopkeeper's friend request and then gave him the middle finger before walking out the door.