Chapter 216 - 217
Chapter 216: Special Training (Part Two)
Lucy looked around with curiosity. The room was fully outfitted with medical equipment of all kinds, and at its center stood an extremely high-tech reclining chair—it was clearly meant for surgery.
“If you’re ready, lie down,” Roland said, gesturing toward it.
Lucy nodded and lay down without hesitation.
“When you wake up, you’ll realize that everything has changed,” Roland said as he slowly walked to her side.
“Is this the reason you’ve always wanted to recruit me into PROJECT Corporation?” Lucy asked, voicing the question that had been on her mind.
“Well… that’s part of it, but not all of it,” Roland replied after a moment. “Another reason is simply that I like you as a person.”
Lucy froze, then blinked.
“Do you mean what I think you mean?”
“Partly. There are other meanings too, but you don’t need to dwell on it.”
Roland nodded and waved his hand, signaling Lissandra to begin administering the anesthesia.
“I don’t dislike you. You’re different from the corporate types I’ve dealt with before.”
“Let’s talk about that after you wake up,” Roland said with a smile, shaking his head.
Lucy said nothing more, quietly waiting for the medication to take effect. Soon, her eyelids grew heavy, and before long, she lost consciousness.
Roland stepped closer, inserted the chip into Lucy’s slot, and silently waited for the modification process to finish.
“Should I pull Miss Lucy’s consciousness directly into the virtual space?” Lissandra asked.
“Hm… yes, pull her in directly. Oh—and bring me in as well.”
Roland thought for a moment before answering, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.
He hadn’t had many chances to interact closely with Lucy or V before. This was a perfect opportunity.
“Understood. I’ll grant you access now.”
Lissandra nodded, and a chair slowly slid into place behind Roland.
Seeing this, Roland didn’t hesitate. He lay down, inserted the chip, and entered the virtual world together with V, Lucy, and the others.
...
V crouched in the alley, checking the items on her person. She could now confirm one thing for certain: she had entered an unknown Braindance world.
And this Braindance was far beyond anything she had imagined—there was almost no difference between it and reality.
Next, she confirmed that the body she was using was indeed her own, but it possessed cyberware she had never had before, likely assigned as part of her identity in this world.
Finally, there was her identification: a card listing her as a member of PROJECT Corporation’s Counter-Espionage Intelligence Unit.
“Hm… I wonder whether each of us is in an independent world, or if everyone’s connected to the same one…”
V rested her chin on her hand, thinking it over. If everyone was connected to the same world, then the way to pass might very well be eliminating the other competitors.
“If that’s the case… my current identity gives me a built-in advantage. Is this considered using a backdoor?”
Sasha’s identity flashed through her mind, but V quickly shook her head and dismissed the thought.
Setting that aside, if this wasn’t a backdoor, then anyone starting with such an advantage would have to accomplish far more to attract the attention of those above.
If she simply played it safe and survived to the end, it would be easy enough with her current status—but that would probably mean her future in the corporation was effectively over.
With that in mind, V packed away her belongings and headed out. Since her identity was that of a PROJECT Corporation employee, the first thing she needed to do was find the corporation’s headquarters.
“This place is huge… finding it won’t be easy,” she muttered.
Ignoring the greedy and fearful stares around her, V walked out of what looked like a slum. She was already used to those kinds of looks.
Then, the moment she left the cramped district and saw the buildings ahead, she froze.
Towering steel skyscrapers rose into the sky. Roadways made of what looked like glass stretched through the air. And at the center of it all stood the tallest structure of them all—the PROJECT Corporation building.
Its enormous logo was impossible to miss.
“Uh… looks like that problem’s already solved.”
V shrugged helplessly, then scanned her surroundings, looking for a way to get over there.
Every one of her movements was being observed by someone hidden in the shadows.
“So… the corporation really does want us to compete with each other.”
A fit young man wearing a hood watched V’s actions from concealment. With competitors appearing in the same area, the corporation’s intentions were obvious.
It was unclear where the others had appeared, but they couldn’t be too far away. The corporation wouldn’t want someone who only knew how to run and barely survive.
“That girl looks like she already has a plan… I’ll follow her and see what she does.”
Having made up his mind, the man brushed his hand over the pistol at his waist. He was a minor gang leader.
...
Lucy slowly opened her eyes, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling above her, momentarily confused. She clearly remembered being inside PROJECT Corporation’s secret base—so how had she ended up here?
She began looking around. The decor was luxurious and steeped in sci-fi aesthetics. It looked like an office.
Lucy walked to the desk and picked up the documents on it, skimming through them.
Then she noticed her arm—and froze.
Silver-white exoskeletal armor covered it, with retractable energy blades housed in her forearm.
Only then did Lucy realize that her modification had already been completed.
Her attention immediately shifted to her body. First, her height had increased—she looked as though she had grown into adulthood overnight.
Then…
Lucy brushed aside the long white hair that fell across her chest and slowly walked toward the mirror.
When she saw the figure reflected there, she was completely stunned. She had never imagined she would look like this.
As if responding to her thoughts, Ambition’s internal system slowly retracted the combat mask covering her face. Staring at the reflection—at a face that looked like her own, fully grown—Lucy’s gaze became unfocused.
“Looks like the modification was a success.”
A voice suddenly sounded behind her.
In an instant, driven by pure muscle memory, Lucy moved. The blade at her waist snapped out and landed in her hand.
A streak of crimson-violet light shot toward the source of the voice. Lucy’s body followed, becoming a blur of the same color as she caught the blade and slashed downward.
Boom! Whoosh!
A sharp airburst rang out as violent gusts spread in all directions. Lucy’s white hair whipped wildly in the wind.
Realizing her attack had been blocked, she was about to strike again when a familiar voice came from below.
“Hey, hey, hey. What’s this? You just finished your upgrade and you’re already planning to take out the boss and go solo?”
“Uh… Mr. Roland?”
...
Chapter 217: Special Training (Part Three)
“Are you coming down or not?”
Roland loosened his grip and spoke.
Lucy finally snapped out of it. After glancing at the position she and Roland were in, she quickly flipped herself off him.
Earlier, Roland had grabbed Lucy’s arm, which had resulted in her straddling him.
“Mr. Roland, what exactly is going on here?”
Lucy asked immediately after landing.
Roland glanced at her but didn’t comment on her obvious attempt to change the subject.
“This is our corporation’s training ground. Today, nearly a hundred people are undergoing training here,”
Roland said as he slowly stood up from the chair.
“Training?”
“Yes. From those hundred people, I’ll select ten who will be guaranteed entry into the corporation’s departments afterward. They’ll receive even higher-level training. As for the rest, they’ll stay at the training base until they meet the standards.”
Roland nodded. As for eliminating the losers… human resources were still resources. Wasting them would be shameful.
Lucy nodded slightly. She was familiar with this kind of system—after all, she had gone through something similar herself. Compared to these kids, though, her experience had been far harsher.
“Then why am I here?”
Lucy suddenly thought of her own situation and looked at Roland with curiosity.
“You’re sort of the boss of this mission,” Roland replied after glancing at her, “but also a student.”
“I’ll mark the people who are considered ‘hostile’ to the corporation during this operation. If you run into them during training, you can take them out along the way. Of course, if you encounter insignificant ones, you can deal with them directly as well. As for the students… this is the best place for you to get a firm grip on your own power.”
Lucy immediately showed a look of understanding. Indeed, this place didn’t consume real-world resources or cause any actual losses, allowing her to freely test her strength. She could also clearly feel that she still hadn’t fully mastered this body’s power.
“Then what about you, Mr. Roland?”
Lucy asked curiously.
“Mm… more or less the same as you.”
Roland shrugged. An orange ring of data wrapped around him, and in an instant, he transformed into Light’s form.
“You’ve been modified too?!”
Lucy stared at him in shock.
In her understanding, those at the very top almost never subjected themselves to such high-level body modifications. It wasn’t conducive to extending their lifespan and could even lead to other complications—not to mention various hidden concerns she wasn’t fully aware of.
“There’s no need to use honorifics. Just address me the same way as before,”
Roland said, waving his hand.
“As for the modifications, I still need some means of self-protection. At the very least, if something really unexpected happens, I won’t be completely unable to fight back.”
Roland explained calmly. In truth, he felt Light was perfectly suited to his current identity. As for why…
Because the energy shield could keep him alive, and if things went badly, he could just activate acceleration and run. In this world, Roland doubted anyone could catch Yi (Light) at full speed.
Lucy nodded.
“Then what are we doing now?”
“Let’s head to the operations department,”
Roland said after a brief thought.
The two of them walked outside together. Before long, Roland spotted a familiar figure.
Lucy, on the other hand, instantly felt a strong sense of danger from that person and instinctively grew alert.
“Light, Ambition—since you’re both here, let’s move out. Heavenly Eye has already located those guys,”
Zed said coldly as he rose to his feet after glancing at Roland and Lucy.
Roland gave a slight nod in response, though he couldn’t help feeling something was off. After all… not long ago, this person had been his subordinate. Now, somehow, he’d become his superior. The feeling was undeniably strange.
As for the state of this world—it largely resembled the PROJECT world, but Roland had made some very minor tweaks for the sake of training and stirring things up.
Lucy wasn’t familiar with the situation yet, so she said nothing, simply following behind and quietly observing everyone.
Soon, a shuttle-type hovering armored vehicle arrived in front of the three of them.
Zed wasted no words and went straight inside. Roland and Lucy followed. There was no one else in the vehicle besides the three of them.
As for security robots…
Those things were only good for harassment in direct combat, and Heavenly Eye had already prepared plenty of them. There was no need to bring along extra burdens.
...
“Whew… finally made it into the inner city…”
V let out a long breath and stood there with her hands on her hips, surveying her surroundings. This place was completely different from where she’d been before—steel-cast ground, clean and orderly streets, small drones floating everywhere.
And PROJECT security robots patrolling the area.
“This feels like PROJECT Corporation’s vision of the city’s future…”
V muttered, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
Still, there had to be some underlying conflict here. It couldn’t be a place fully controlled by PROJECT Corporation, or it wouldn’t make sense as a training ground.
And precisely because of that, it felt even more real.
Meanwhile, Mibs—who had been following V—had already retreated. The reason was simple: he wasn’t allowed to enter the inner city.
“This place is even more tightly controlled than Night City… and the class divide is even worse. Low-level people don’t even have the right to enter the inner city,”
Mibs muttered irritably. “That girl’s probably going to be a real headache… tsk, lucky bastard.”
With a click of his tongue, Mibs quietly returned to his own territory. Since he was the small-time gang boss of this area, he needed to make proper use of the resources at his disposal and eliminate the other competitors as quickly as possible.
Author's Note
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