Chapter 31: Catching the Little Thief

For the first time, Hita Castelli woke up earlier than Yahweh.

January 17, 2074, 8:00

As usual, she casually slapped off the tinkling alarm clock, lazily rubbed against his chest, indicating she wanted to nap for five more minutes.

Unexpectedly, after she rubbed for quite a while, nearly chafing her tender cheeks raw, the person beside her pillow offered not a single reaction.

"So you can rub, but I can't, is that it!"

The angrier she got thinking about it, the more she gritted her teeth; she opened her eyes, preparing to let this hypocritical stinky man experience the power of her morning temper.

She swung her palm in a wide arc and slapped his sideways-turned buttocks several times in succession.

Unexpectedly, this man was sleeping like a pig, showing not a single reaction.

She hurriedly reached out and placed her hand beneath his nose.

Fortunately, he was still breathing.

She lay prone on his chest again, pressing her ear to listen to the steady heartbeat that accompanied her to sleep every night, and let out a long sigh of relief.

Hita Castelli was amused by her own groundless worries, tears nearly overflowing from her eyes.

Yahweh was actually sleeping in?

An AI was sleeping in?

Strange news!

But Yahweh was always different from the rest.

Hita Castelli thought again; perhaps it was her own fault.

Could it be that they had gone too far last night?

She rubbed her slightly sore waist and swollen legs, feeling it was very likely.

Lying prone on his chest, after confirming one last time that his heart was still beating, Hita Castelli held her breath, crept out of bed on tiptoe.

She picked up several pairs of torn stockings from the floor and casually tossed them into the trash bin beside the bed.

Back when they were poor, they could not afford such extravagant play.

She chuckled lightly, walked to the Bathroom, and simply washed and cleaned up.

After confirming Yahweh was merely sleeping in, she set her mind at ease, and all sorts of clever ideas for pranking him surged into her mind.

First, she could not go too far, or else she would be subjected to his "severe punishment."

Prices had risen quite a bit recently; stockings were precious now.

Frowning, she rejected one strange idea after another that would result in mutual destruction.

She sat lightly on the edge of the bed, letting wild and imaginative thoughts come pouring in.

Strangely enough, Yahweh had a particular fondness for sweets.

Specifically, the strawberry-flavored Bear Gummy Candy that she had loved most as a child.

She had quit that stuff when she was four years old!

Because when she was little, her mother always liked to tease her, saying that eating too many gummies would make one ugly, so the beauty-loving little Hita Castelli had to painfully give up her favorite.

Unexpectedly, she had recently rediscovered them in Yahweh's bag!

Her thoughts reaching this point, she immediately had a brilliant idea.

Hita Castelli walked to the Sofa in the living room and unzipped Yahweh's backpack.

Inside the bag, apart from some daily necessities for her use, there were six bags of Bear Gummy Candy.

She secretly opened one bag, tasted one, and it was still the familiar flavor.

Industrial syrup paired with strawberry flavoring, sweet to the point of being cloying.

Hita Castelli frowned slightly, a bit unable to understand why Yahweh favored this particular taste.

Although she used to love eating it too, that is.

She gave up trying to figure it out, looked at the opened bag of gummies in her hand; there were eight left, just perfect!

She zipped the backpack closed, carried the bag, and lightly walked from the living room back to the bedside.

Fortunately, she had specifically washed her feet just now.

Although they were not dirty to begin with, she had still performed a careful cleaning.

Fun and games were one thing, but hygiene and safety also needed attention.

She sat at Yahweh's feet, legs extended straight.

There was still a little distance missing.

She shuffled forward a bit.

Now she could reach.

After confirming the distance was suitable, Hita Castelli nodded in satisfaction and quietly drew her legs back.

She carefully sandwiched the remaining eight Bear Gummy Candies one by one between the gaps of her ten round toes.

The reason Hita Castelli could come up with this idea was entirely due to someone's strange preferences.

So you like eating candy, and you like feet, do you?

This time, both wishes will be fulfilled at once!

Pouting her lips, Hita Castelli slowly extended her demonic claws (feet) toward the sleeping man.

"Hita Castelli? Why are you putting your feet on my face?" Yahweh rubbed his sleepy eyes and touched the two crystal-clear little feet approaching his mouth in confusion.

Perhaps because they had just been washed, they felt cool to the touch, yet smooth and lustrous like jade.

The trimmed toenails resembled tender red petals, tightly adhering to the branches of a jade tree; between the tips of the branches, several "fruits" were tightly wedged.

Holding the two delicate and lovely little feet, Yahweh quietly glanced at Hita Castelli.

The silver-haired girl covered her mouth, her face flushed red, too shy to speak, yet her feet remained obediently in their original position.

Some things feel completely different when done at night versus during the day.

Yahweh tickled the soles of her pink feet, and upon hearing her few shy responses with satisfaction, he sat up in bed.

Hita hastily withdrew her mischievous little feet.

"Good morning, Hita..."

"Good morning, Yahweh..."

They exchanged a smile.

She rose from the bed and walked slowly to stand before him.

"What's wrong?" Yahweh looked up, gazing at her exquisite beauty from every angle.

Hita said nothing, merely spreading her legs to sit gently in his lap.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, their breaths drawing close to one another.

Under the blessing of the warm winter dawn, they kissed passionately and wildly.

Words they wished to speak were conveyed instead by the tips of their tongues.

January 17, 2074, 12:35

"Catch a thief?"

Hita collapsed onto the finest leather sofa in the Afterlife nightclub, her eyes devoid of spirit.

Were it not for the sheer number of Mercenaries coming and going, and had her skin not been too thin, she would have undoubtedly rolled about acting spoiled toward Rogue.

"You've worked hard lately..." Rogue turned to glance at Yahweh sitting nearby, implying something.

Yahweh spoke helplessly, "Let's discuss the commission in detail, Rogue."

"A joint commission issued by several Company dogs; they claim their Storage Chips were stolen, resulting in significant losses..." Rogue handed a Data Chip to each of Hita and Yahweh.

By rights, such a minor skirmish of a task did not qualify for the Queen of the Afterlife to issue personally.

It was merely a bit of support, given that Hita's earnings did not come easily.

Hita understood this logic as well; the earlier playfulness was simply her daily routine to amuse Rogue.

"The suspect is likely a Hacker, and quite skilled at that..." Hita flipped through the documents, stroking her chin as she slowly stated her conjecture.

"And their hacking techniques must be exceptionally superior," Yahweh added, "Cracking the advanced encryption protocols on Storage Chips is not something any amateur Hacker can accomplish."

He was consciously cultivating his persona as a top-tier Hacker in front of outsiders.

"That might have been acceptable before, but hasn't Night City recently been inexplicably flooded with a batch of Hackers?" Hita secretly glared at the culprit, frowning in distress, "Who knows how many experts are hidden within that group."

"No rush, take your time." Rogue took a delicate sip of the spicy "Johnny Silverhand," "This commission has a very long deadline."

"It seems those Company dogs are determined to catch this thief..." Hita chuckled, her tone mocking.

"In any case, I wish you good luck..." Rogue smiled, draining the remaining strong liquor in his glass.