Gods, Ashes Descend

Chapter 25: Picked Up a Hacker

Li Wei runs a transportation business, and as long as the clients at both ends don't cause any trouble, everything is peaceful and safe. Regina also hands over all her transportation work to Li Wei, and occasionally she'll bully some thugs, but she's the kind of person who doesn't pull out a gun.

Regina wasn't stupid. She knew that professionals in the transportation industry couldn't easily let Li Wei and his partner go out and fight. What if they got into trouble and needed to pay for their services? She hadn't even mentioned the fact that transporting illicit goods for the company could attract unwanted attention.

They run a transport business every two or three days, earning between five hundred and one thousand yuan each time. The two of them can be considered to be living a comfortable life. Although they have spent most of their money on prosthetic bodies and still live in the same empty house, at least they can share a bowl of wontons and throw away another bowl.

Gradually, the two gained a little fame. Karl also had some prosthetics installed, but because of his age, he only had some defensive prosthetics to protect against stray bullets, since driving in Night City was a dangerous job.

One day, Li Wei sat outside the Cloud Top Gate with a can of Stupid Monkey soda, waiting for Karl to come out.

Cloudtop is one of the top nightclubs in Night City. Carl said he had to go to a brothel at least once in his life. The two of them had basically spent all their money on Levi, so it wasn't too much to ask them to fulfill Carl's little wish.

An hour later, Karl walked out with a smile as bright as a chrysanthemum, plopped down next to Levi, and let out a long howl.

"The girls here are really great, Li, why don't you give it a try?"

Levi handed Carl a can of soda and replied.

"Forget it, I have a phobia of germs, I'm not interested in sex dolls or human dolls."

Carl opened the soda, drank half of it in one gulp, burped, and then teased Levi.

"If it weren't for the fact that you watch Mewtwo sometimes, I would think you're gay. You're still young, you should find a girl no matter what."

"We can't just hide in the toilet every night and do this, what are we planning to do? Find a decent woman, but mercenaries like us who risk our lives aren't easy to find."

Li Wei glanced at Karl, who now had the smaller head dominating the larger one, speechless.

He tilted his head slightly towards the vending machine.

"Look there, she's right there when we come."

Carl turned his head and saw a little girl squatting next to the vending machine, leaning against the wall with her arms wrapped around her legs. She was dirty and looked like she was homeless.

Carl's eyes widened, and he exclaimed "WC!"

"Li, you wouldn't happen to be interested in this kind of thing... well, although the Night City police aren't very strict about this, but..."

Li Wei rolled his eyes, and before Karl could finish his nonsense, he stood up and walked straight towards the little girl.

Carl paused for a moment, tossed the soda can aside, and quickly chased after them.

"Brother, I won't laugh at you. It's not bad to raise a child bride. What if she thinks we're kidney harvesters and cries for help? That would be troublesome. Should we knock her out and take her away?"

Li Wei glanced back at Karl, who was already eager to try, and replied in a low voice.

"Screw you! Stop talking nonsense and just watch my signals later."

Carl scratched his head, puzzled. What was there to be concerned about with a little girl? There were plenty of them everywhere.

Li Wei walked up to the little girl, stopped, stared at her, and spoke.

"You've got some nerve. This is Tiger Claw Gang territory. You're rigging vending machines here, showing them no respect. Aren't you afraid of getting arrested and turned into a sex doll for prostitution?"

Tiger Claw Gang, a large gang in Night City, but they're all small fry.

Carl stared incredulously at the little kid in front of him. A hacker?

Carl only knew that hackers were awesome, and he had collaborated with other hackers once or twice. Each time, he could never see the person; they just talked inside his head.

Two seconds later, the little girl raised her head, and Li Wei and the others were able to see her face clearly. She was of Asian descent and had a pretty face.

But now the little girl looks utterly desperate.

"You two idiots, you've ruined me!"

At this moment, the guards in suits put on their earpieces, said a few words, and then surrounded them.

However, since Carl was a customer, these people still asked him a friendly question.

"Guests, are these your friends?"

However, their friendliness was only superficial; their hands were all on their lower backs.

Li Wei turned to look at the security personnel who had surrounded him and asked them a question.

"Do you think people who're short of money, like those black market vending machines?"

He then transferred 1,000 euros.

"Consider it compensation, how about letting this little girl off the hook?"

When it comes to money, Li Wei is generous; if he can't figure out where it came from, he'll simply give it to him.

"No problem, but this girl shouldn't show up here again. We've already recorded her face."

Li Wei nodded.

"rest assured."

He turned to Karl and said.

"What are you waiting for? Take her and go."

Inside the elevator, two men surrounded the young girl, cornering her against the wall.

"Tell me, where are your parents?"

The little girl wasn't scared, she just looked annoyed.

"Then you'll have to look in the cemetery. Don't expect me to thank you. If you hadn't bothered me, they would never have found me."

"Homeless?"

"What? Checking my household registration?"

At this moment, Karl asked the rather impetuous little girl curiously.

How much can you make by hacking into a vending machine?

Li Wei answered for the little girl.

"It depends on luck. It'll probably cost a few dozen or a hundred. This one in front of me is a piece of junk. It won't even be able to finish in an hour. If something goes wrong, it'll be all over."

The little girl stood with her hands in her pockets, looking unhappy.

"I'm incompetent? If it weren't for... never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway. What exactly do you want?"

Li Wei asked with a professional smile befitting a marketing professional.

"Want to join us?"

The two had considered inviting other hackers, but Night City was too slippery; no one would trust strangers, especially not someone who would entrust their head to a hacker they didn't trust. If the hacker messed up during the job, they would be finished.

Therefore, hackers generally have fixed teams, and training begins from the moment the team is formed, or they are acquaintances.

Moreover, hacking is not something just anyone can do. Their professional knowledge can easily defeat most people. This clumsy girl in front of me, who I don't know how she got by, is perfect for hacking vending machines.

"Cyberpunk?"

The young girl was savvy; she understood Li Wei's intention—to take care of her.

"Doesn't look like it?"

The little girl looked at the two of them suspiciously and shook her head.

"It doesn't look like it."

In the end, the girl left with Li Wei and the others, and Li Wei learned about the girl's background; her name was Aso Ryoko.

His parents worked for Arasaka Corporation, in the field operations department. His mother was a hacker, but she and his father were robbed and killed during a transport mission.

Unable to pay the rent, the girl was kicked out of her home and made a living by hacking vending machines, a skill taught to her by her mother.

Thanks to her quick wit, she wasn't tricked into going to get kidneys. As for why she was willing to go with Li Wei, it was because Li Wei was pointing the truth at her forehead.

Even so, while watching Li Wei and the others drive home, the location became increasingly remote. In a moment of panic, Liangzi secretly uploaded a virus to Karl for her own safety, causing Karl, the driver, to lose his senses and almost lose control of the car.