Ding Yue, a migrant worker with an ordinary name and appearance, has worked hard in Chinatown for ten years and dreams that one day he can buy an independent apartment in Night City.
His main job is to deliver raw materials to several restaurants. Thanks to the empty traffic environment in Night City in the morning, Ding Yue's work can always be completed before ten o'clock in the morning.
In order to realize his dream as soon as possible, Ding Yue will start from this time, park the electric pickup truck he bought with a loan on the roadside, and ride an electric motorcycle to serve as a delivery boy for several restaurants.
Years of cooperation have allowed Ding Yue to make an appointment with the takeout platform and cooperate directly with the restaurant, so that he will not be skinned again, and he will not be troubled by good and bad reviews.
Anyway, those few restaurants in Chinatown only deal with repeat customers, and there is basically no need to consider the factors of expanding the market and adjusting taste for the takeout market.
After finishing the hard work during the day, as night falls, Ding Yue will once again transform into a black truck driver, using his electric pickup truck to run taxis or help people deliver goods.
Long hours of excessive work, coupled with the lack of any bad habits, make Ding Yue's savings far higher than other migrant workers. He likes to divide his savings into three parts, one part is deposited in big banks, and only the most value-preserving financial products are purchased.
Earn high interest rates in the local gang's underground bank.
The last portion will be hidden in cash in the rental house for emergencies.
Ding Yue is very satisfied with his current living situation. According to the current speed, in at least two years, he will be able to buy an apartment of about 80 square meters in the area near the central area.
However, Night City never recognizes the dreams of ordinary people. It is a city of extreme evil, and what happens every day is the story of the weak eating the strong, and the big fish eating the small fish.
Even if Tang Ji is up there looking down at all living beings, it can't change the nature of Night City.
The Chinatown area is a very special part of Night City. It seems to have existed since the city was founded. It has a very different style from the Little Neon City next door, but most people in the Federation will never be able to distinguish the oriental style.
Although this area belongs to the Tiger Claw Gang's sphere of influence in terms of geographical division, the residents here extremely reject the Tiger Claw Gang. Several small local gangs would rather fight to kill or injure half of the young men in the gang than compromise. Of course, if they want to borrow
If you try to beautify the reputation of these gangs in Chinatown, local residents will probably spit on the ground and raise their middle fingers.
Before Tang Ji was admitted to the police academy, one of his major incomes was being paid to serve as a gunman for a local gang, which was considered the lowest-end mercenary.
The problem Ding Yue is facing now is that the local gang where he saved money failed in the previous underground struggle and was swallowed up by another gang.
Except for the gang leader who was sunk in Del Coronado Bay, the underground bank was still the same underground bank, and the security guard with the scorpion tattoo on his face at the front desk was still the same security guard, and it was his deposits that were not recognized.
"Xiao Ding, listen to me and don't make trouble. The Heyi Gang has been defeated. Now the Hesheng Gang has the final say. Your account no longer exists." Wearing a small vest and round glasses, he is about sixty years old.
The 20-year-old black accountant held a transparent thermos cup, blew on the tea leaves on it, and took a leisurely sip: "You should understand the risks of underground banks."
The accountant said this and didn't even look at Ding Yue. He just waved his hand towards the scorpion-faced man at the door, signaling that Ding Yue was not making trouble and not to be violent.
He has seen this kind of iterative change between gangs countless times. There are only a few underground banks in Chinatown, and they are all high-quality assets. As long as the new gang in power is not stupid, few people will touch a 'professional talent' like him.
.
Often, all the money in the bank is withdrawn directly, and then the account is written off and everything starts from scratch.
Ordinary people like Ding Yue suffer heavy losses every year. Accountants have become accustomed to it, and the interest they issue includes the responsibility to bear this risk.
Ding Yue, who was worried about gains and losses, walked back to his apartment, a rented apartment, in confusion. Several fire trucks roared past him, and the piercing alarm bells seemed to hit his heart directly.
Driven by an inexplicable sense of urgency, Ding Yue quickened his pace, turned at the intersection, and saw the burning small apartment building.
Boom!
A loud bang sounded seven or eight meters away from Ding Yue, and a corpse that fell from a height was smashed to pieces in front of him. But judging from his clothes, Ding Yue was sure that it was his landlord, the owner of that apartment building.
By.
Ding Yue looked at everything that happened blankly, and people around him were talking about it. It was said that someone among the tenants awakened and became a superhuman. Based on his disgust with the landlord, he set the building on fire before going to the world.
Ding Yue's third of the cash was also burned together. He just sat next to the landlord's body and whispered: "Why?"
Why did he wake up and want to vent his dissatisfaction and burn down other people's houses and savings? Who gave him this right?
It wasn't until the law enforcement officers who arrived belatedly dragged the landlord's body away from the ground, and the fire truck used a high-pressure water gun to clean up the blood on the ground, that the cold water with the smell of blood splashed on Ding Yue's face, and he shuddered.
, he stopped a car in a daze.
"Go to Pugins Bank." Ding Yue looked at the calluses on the driver's hands and the small bucket behind the car, and realized that the driver and he were traveling together, and they were working as a gangster in their spare time.
Perhaps because of the strong temperament of their companions, the two of them were silent for a long time in the car. The driver turned on the car radio and boring brokerage news was played on the radio. One of the news caught Ding Yue's attention.
"Without the continued market turmoil, Pukins Bank officially declared bankruptcy today. All its assets will enter the review stage. The personal information of millions of depositors will be regarded as Pukins Bank's most valuable asset."
The driver looked at the passenger behind him. If he remembered correctly, the passenger's destination was Princeton Bank. He was worried that the passenger would vomit in his car.
Ding Yue just responded with silence. The car quickly drove to the entrance of the Pukins Bank Building. Bank security had blocked the main entrance of the bank. Helicopters frequently landed and took off on the roof of the building, making it very busy.
Seeing Ding Yue's face, the driver stepped on the accelerator and drove away without even mentioning the money.
Ding Yue ignored the cordon outside the gate and walked straight in. He was immediately stopped by heavily armed bank security.
"Sir! Please step back! Pukins Bank is undergoing bankruptcy liquidation and entry is prohibited!" The big and round security guard pushed Ding Yue out of the cordon range and put his hand threateningly on the handle of the gun at his waist.
"I want to get my money back." Ding Yue walked into the cordon again. This time the security guard was not polite and knocked Ding Yue down with the butt of his gun. Two strong security guards picked up Ding Yue and threw him out. Bank gate: "This is the final warning, next time we will use lethal force!"
"I want my money back!" Ding Yue shouted heartbreakingly outside the gate, but received no response.
Tang Ji drove the car and patrolled the streets as he did before, as if he had returned to the days when he was a patrol law enforcer.
It's just that this time Edward wasn't in the car, but he could sense Edward's position. If Tang Ji wanted to, he could even vaguely sense Edward's movements at this time, but he didn't want to. Because it was really indescribable.
Although Edward had tried his best to stay out of the incident and not become a burden to Tang Ji, in fact the old man still withstood more than one attack. If the old man himself was not a cautious person with rich experience and was willing to run away when in danger, I am afraid he would not be here now. The opportunities are so open.
But now Tang Ji is confident that Night City will become a truly pure land without players. The only few "naturalized" players are under the surveillance of the FBAS Bureau, and every detail will be reported to them.
Other players who have entered Night City basically have malicious intentions against Tang Ji, and can be sensed by him in advance. For Tang Ji now, being discovered by ordinary players is equivalent to killing them.
After informing Wu Qianying of his increased abilities at the LV3 stage for analysis, Tang Ji finally had free time to walk around the streets, looking for someone he was destined for.
[Scarlet Disciple] This ability is very special. According to the wording of its description, it is not clearly stated that there is any necessary connection between the disciple and Tang Ji.
Walking on his path, it points to a wide range, and fighting tenaciously with the players is undoubtedly walking on his path, but the members of his team do not meet the conditions of [Scarlet Disciples] because of this. .
Obviously, the path followed by Tang Ji has a more complex core, which even he himself has not yet understood.
At the same time, in terms of affiliation, it is stated that Tang Ji voluntarily shares his power without asking for anything in return or gratitude. The [Scarlet Disciples] are not his slaves, nor his soldiers, but fellow travelers.
Tang Ji is actually looking forward to it. He certainly hopes that the more people traveling with him, the better.
The Haywood area is almost the area Tangji is most familiar with. Angelina and their first home was in this area.
The unassuming Thrace 368 is equipped with opaque bulletproof glass, which can effectively prevent curious Night City people from identifying Tangji's face.
Several street fighters from the Valentino Gang passed by in a hurry, and Tang Ji happened to know why they were so serious, because last night, he burned seven or eight superhuman beings from the Valentino Gang.
Tang Ji didn't even need to think about it to guess what these people thought of him now. Those graffiti boys along the way now stopped drawing Santa Muerte and began to draw Tang Ji's bust instead.
He doesn't like to engage in personality cults, but what happened last night was so shocking that many people couldn't understand it, so they could only respond in this way.
After driving around the Heywood area for several times without any results, Tang Ji drove into Chinatown.
This is the place where he grew up. Everything seems to be the same as it was yesterday, without any change.
The carefree children were chasing and playing with each other on the high platforms on both sides of the road. The number of children decreased from time to time as shouts came from the kitchen.
In the burned-out building, the residents who survived were looking for anything of value, even a lamp or a pistol.
Ding Yue sat on his half-burned bed. The whole room was in a mess. Unfortunately, one of the fire points was right next to him. The small secret compartment he usually used to hide money was under the floor next to the wall.
The fragile cash was ignited before the fire spread. Later, as a large amount of firefighting water was sprayed into the apartment building, the only remains were soaked in water. When Ding Yue pried open the charred floor, there was only a pot of porridge inside.
The desk lamp and pistol were the only things he had that were intact. Just yesterday, he was less than two years away from his dream. If the market was good, he could press on this time.
In just one night, his life plummeted, all his money left him, half of his face was swollen from the gun butt, and several teeth were loose.
The question Ding Yue faces now is whether he should find a place to sleep on the street at night, or stay one more night in this poorly burned apartment without even a window.
He only had less than one hundred federal dollars in his pocket, which was the tips he earned from delivering food yesterday.
After the initial blow, Ding Yue has calmed down now. The money is gone, and he can make more money. He has hands and feet, and a small truck with an unpaid loan. These things are enough for him to live in this city.
stay alive.
"Found it!" A shout interrupted Ding Yue's self-pity. The footsteps of several men hit the scorched floor with a thumping sound. Ding Yue's heart tightened, and he threw his only property on the ground and chased after him.
Got out.
In addition to distressedly packing up the few post-disaster belongings, the tenants in this apartment building that was destined to be irrecoverable were also helping to search for Grandma Zhao's six-year-old granddaughter.
The fire broke out during the day, and most of the tenants were working outside. Only a few elderly people stayed in the apartment, but most of them escaped before the fire spread, except for the little girl.
Ding Yue followed the flow of people up the stairs. Because the fire started from the top and gradually spread downwards, the higher up, the more seriously damaged the floor and stairs were, but no one stopped because of this.
Everyone knew what it meant to find the body. The atmosphere became more solemn as one went up. Ding Yue saw four men with heavy faces walking down, wrapping something in black plastic bags. The crowd naturally gave way to a path.
, let them pass, and instantly realized what was happening.
Not only that, after these four men, there were four other men, carrying another bag of corpses in the same way, and the people standing behind waiting to go downstairs could hardly see the end. In the end, there were four children's corpses in total.
He was carried down in front of Ding Yue.
They were all children nearby. They were too playful to realize that they were in danger and did not have time to run out of the burning building.
In this area, these tenants living in the same building have always taken care of each other and protected themselves in an environment full of gangs. They are not relatives, but they are better than relatives.
Ding Yue, who had experienced a lot today, felt as if a string in his heart was broken. He silently followed the funeral procession, turned back to his room, and crushed the lamp he usually liked very much under his feet.
I picked up the pistol, wiped the dust off it with my white shirt, turned around and walked down the stairs, no longer as confused as when I came up.