Chapter 30: Growth

She danced amidst the torrential rain and gunfire.

The vicious, life-snatching bullets were merely a dim backdrop to her magnificent dance.

Raindrops fell to the ground one by one, joining in to offer applause for her perfect performance with death.

January 16, 2074, Night.

A commission from Regina Jones: capture the Cyberpsycho alive.

Santo Domingo District, an abandoned warehouse.

Under Yahweh's all-pervasive information search, Xida quickly located the mission target.

To her surprise, this Cyberpsycho was not acting alone.

In Night City, it is common knowledge that Cyberpsychos indiscriminately attack every living person within their line of sight, regardless of gender, age, or whether they are friends and family.

Now, she needed to think carefully about whether the "rumors" were reliable.

But before that, she had to first deal alone with the six armed thugs before her, plus one dangerous Cyberpsycho.

Alone.

Hitata Castedei was an independent and strong-willed girl.

Beneath her flawless exterior lay a power that combined both hardness and softness.

Yahweh had realized this on the very first day he met her.

Thus, he chose to follow Xida's request.

He stood in the rain, upon a throne built from stacked, dilapidated containers, watching from afar the silver-haired girl dancing proudly amidst the flames of war with an imposing demeanor.

A dangerous and deadly beautiful flower bloomed only for him.

Rationally understanding she faced no mortal danger, his growing emotions compelled him to make a secondary preparation.

From the moment the battle began, the entire battlefield was already under his control.

Every bullet from the thugs' guns had its destined endpoint fixed the instant it left the barrel.

Under his gaze, nothing in the world could harm her in the slightest.

However, Xida's growth was unexpectedly beyond his expectations.

Up to this point in the battle, he had not once attempted to alter the trajectory of the bullets fired by the thugs.

Because it was simply unnecessary.

Xida's agile movements were like a hidden dragon swimming through shadows, darting back and forth freely amidst the hail of bullets.

Using the walls of the abandoned warehouse as leverage points, she dodged and flipped again and again.

The vicious thugs could only catch glimpses of her shadow lingering in the air from three seconds prior; the bullets they futilely fired never even grazed the hem of her clothes.

In comparison, her dual pistols were more like the scythes of Death claiming souls.

The guns' names: "Archangel".

Two kinetic revolvers; every time they spat the tongues of flame simultaneously, a thug's hands were severed at the roots by high-caliber bullets, and he collapsed painfully on the ground, emitting futile wails.

Twelve bullets left the barrels.

Twelve palms hit the ground.

Finally, she landed lightly on the ground.

The dance was over.

The deadly waltz danced between the ground and the containers had nearly exhausted her frail strength.

One Cyberpsycho remained.

He was a strange man.

Not particularly burly, yet his arms were extremely thick.

Mad and insane, yet he could distinguish friend from foe, and had not killed his six companions.

But now was not the time to consider such things.

The instant the Cyberpsycho launched his charge, she opened her cybernetic eye and activated "God's Eye".

Amidst the interweaving of billions of data streams, she and the deity jointly wielded the Sword of Damocles.

She waved her hand, as if delivering judgment.

The man ran, roaring, as a gust of wind blew past.

Thus, his arms and legs were all severed from his body, blood gushing forth like a spring.

Finally, the Cyberpsycho fell three meters away from her, humbly bowing his head to the ground.

Yahweh curled the corners of his mouth, leaped lightly from the high sky, and his body instantly transformed into a sky full of black clouds.

They rapidly converged beside her, reforming into human shape.

"Xida is truly amazing!" Yahweh gently embraced Xida, who was about to collapse from exhaustion, half delighted and half heartbroken.

"I am the famous..."

Before she could open her mouth to brag about herself again, Yahweh covered her mouth with his lips.

"A reward." He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"More..." Xida, like a greedy child, after tasting the sweetness, demanded more candy from the adult with no end.

"Contact Regina Jones quickly! The commission is complete; call someone to clean up." Yahweh tapped her head.

"We'll talk about it tonight..." Seeming to catch a glimpse of dissatisfaction in her eyes, he helplessly scratched his hair and added quietly.

"Oh..." Xida nodded in satisfaction, left his warm embrace, dialed Regina's number, and notified her to send someone to clean up.

"Can a Cyberpsycho really distinguish friend from foe?" After a brief exchange of pleasantries, she hung up the phone and turned to ask Yahweh.

"Perhaps these few people held some important significance to him..." Yahweh flipped the Cyberpsycho, who was lying on the ground, onto his back to prevent him from suffocating to death.

"This model of cybernetic arm..." Xida, with no awareness of being a lady, sat down heavily on the ground, observing the two cybernetic arms stripped from the Cyberpsycho.

"Careful not to catch a cold!" he helplessly reminded, but seeing she turned a deaf ear, he simply used his nano-simulated trench coat to wrap her up entirely and pulled her up from the ground.

"Oh! This looks very similar to the one Mann took; it's probably the same model." Xida struggled to poke her little face out of the trench coat, shouting excitedly.

Previously, she had asked Rogue who had intercepted that batch of junk.

Benefiting from his gradually improving strength, Rogue no longer hid anything from her, explicitly stating it was the work of Mann's team.

Naturally, another entry for Mann's team was added to Xida's ledger of favors.

Now, having discovered the potential massive side effects of the arm cyberware, both emotionally and logically, she had to inform Mann.

Otherwise, this cyberpsycho lying incapacitated on the ground might just be a cautionary tale for Mann.

"Let's arrange to meet Mann and the others another day," Yahweh instantly understood Xida's thoughts and spoke up proactively.

"Then let's meet at the Afterlife; we can also ask Rogue if he can help us gather together."

In Night City, mercenary teams have always operated alone, with little direct communication between different teams.

This is because most mercenary squads are fairly fully equipped.

They include: team leaders, tech experts, Hackers, main and secondary assaulters, snipers, drivers, and so on; these people combine together, each performing their own duties.

As for the number of substitute members and peripheral members, that is a matter of underlying strength.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, a fully equipped squad can basically handle all missions without needing to seek cooperation from outsiders.

In other words, a complete squad is a fierce beast with sharp teeth and claws.

And fierce beasts always walk alone.

Unless a Fixer negotiates in between, or the mission commission requires it, different squads rarely manage to come together.

Xida and Yahweh were exceptions.

The team composed of just the two of them was sufficient to handle any situation.

This was also the main reason why Xida's team rose to fame in such a short span of a few days.

In Night City, having a big fist is the hard truth.

In the past at the Afterlife nightclub, Xida was famous for her perfect appearance and capricious personality.

Now, when outsiders mention her name, they must do so with respect.

She is the piercingly proud Red Spider Lily, a flower of hell blooming atop blood and corpses.

When you see her, you are probably already walking on the road to the underworld.

Yahweh's reputation, on the other hand, was not prominent, which was also the result of his deliberate actions.

It was foreseeable that his strength and uniqueness would easily attract annoying flies to lurk around and swarm him; having to swat a bunch of them every day was very tedious.

"Heehee, wrapping up! Wrapping up!" Xida patted the damp dust off her buttocks.

As a result, not only did she fail to clean her pants, but her fair hands also became stained with filth.

Yahweh helplessly rolled his eyes, took out a towel from his bag, carefully wiped her hands clean, and then laid a layer of plastic sheeting on the front passenger seat cushion to prevent her damp little buttocks from dirtying the seat.

Cleaning this old car would be quite time-consuming.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Yahweh let out a soft sigh.

Xida giggled secretly, quietly observing his every gentle movement.

Just as Yahweh was about to start the car and nag a few words, his vision was caught by a magnificent figure flashing past.

"What's wrong? Did you see a pretty girl?" Xida had been paying attention to his expression all along and couldn't help but teaseingly ask.

"Looks a bit familiar..."

"Ho ho ho..." Xida laughed strangely and gently pinched him.

"So you're not denying that you were looking at a pretty girl..."

"Tsk..." Yahweh rolled his eyes and started the car.

"What an attitude! Don't expect any good fruit tonight!"

While they were playing around, they brushed past that night elf who looked like a ghost.