Players Invade Cyberpunk

"Damn! Where the hell is this? Which bastard brought me here? If you've got the guts, face me, your dad, head-on. I'm going to send each and every one of you to the heavens!"

"Where's Tutu?"

"Tutu, where are you? Your dad Hu Yingjun is here!"

No response.

Jianxue cursed and got up, seemingly ready to find a way out of here.

At this moment, his voice finally got a response from others.

"You better keep your voice down. If you bring the Scavengers here, you'll be the first to die."

It was a man's voice, but it sounded weak, almost like he was on the verge of death.

"Scavenger?"

Jianxue was silent for a moment.

"What Scavenger?"

This faction had very few details on the official website's guide, only a word or two heard at Adcardo's camp, which Jianxue hadn't paid attention to.

At least in terms of presence, it's way inferior to the Sixth Street Gang.

"Idiot..."

After cursing, the man was too lazy to talk to Jianxue.

"You still dare insult me?"

Jianxue glared, followed the voice, and found the man, realizing only then that he was a man missing his right hand, looking grubby, with mechanical bearings visible at the stump of his arm.

Besides him, there were five or six more people here, all young men and women, but none in good shape, appearing to be in extreme fear, hugging their knees and curled up in the corners, not speaking.

Jianxue wandered around once more, finally confirming that he was likely locked in some cellar, about twenty square meters, but unsure of the exact location.

He found a slightly dry spot, sat against the wall cross-legged.

What Scavenger, he'd never heard of it, but that wasn't important.

Grabbing players like this already marked a path to death.

He gave a thumbs up to the air.

"Mad, just you wait, I'm gonna open a portal on the forum and call people to smash these Scavengers."

After saying this, he leaned against the wall and fell asleep.

The others heard his words, thinking them nothing more than the ravings of someone captured.

Those grabbed by Scavengers here had their signal transmitters blocked, unable to send out any signal at all, so how could they possibly contact the outside?

And this fool directly fell asleep, calling people in his dreams?

"Indeed a fool..."

...

After players entered Night City, guide updates on the official website were almost daily, and each update was a mass of text data.

The amount of text was several orders of magnitude higher than during the Evil Land period, leaving forum users dumbfounded.

There were even city screenshots shared by players on the forum, dazzling to behold.

The version 0.4 update announcement was already overwhelmed by wishful replies.

Many people on the forum shared their daring conjectures or experiments, hoping those with play access would go in and test them.

Some had already started posting advice on the website on how to quickly gather useful information, identify target groups, self-disguise, rapidly understand the terrain, and find observation points.

Through the screen, none knew who was behind the posting computer.

And once Jianxue logged out, he immediately started typing, showcasing the hand speed of a single dog for twenty-seven years.

[Call for backup! I've been double-crossed by a gang called Scavengers — Jianxue]

[Really screwed! Tutu and I were out on the streets trying a sting operation, then got ambushed, now no idea where we've been taken by this group.]

[Pictures, pictures]

[With me are several others who got grabbed too, looks like we've been held here for some time, but I didn't see Tutu. Don't know if he's caught in a different cell.]

[Hurry up, get help, remember to bring loads of explosives. Those bastards even took my explosive vest; I bet there are loads of bounties on these criminals here.]

After finishing, he posted a thumbs-up selfie, seemed to be taken with his cybernetic eye.

[MasterMasterMaster: Weak is just one word, and I'll only say it once]

[Super Balloon Democracy Officer: This is when you need to call the Super Earth support hotline, ↑↑↓↓←→←→BABA, we'll parachute the No Pooping General from orbit to rescue you]

[Super Balloon PR Office: This comment is suspected of treason, under investigation]

[I am Hao Ren: You call this multiple acts of injustice leading to self-preservation. Always thinking crooked, sure to flip over in the gutter. Young people should walk the straight path]

[I read the official site saying Scavengers are Night City's darkest group, specializing in kidney theft and cybernetic part theft. It's like the cursed northern Burmese game version]

[Red Barrel: Look on the bright side, Jianxue, perhaps the boss of this Scavengers gang is a domineering female CEO who fancies your looks (funny), don't forget us if you get taken care of]

[Jianxue: Less talky, get online and help me gather people!]

[Red Barrel: Warming up.... why don't you make the phone call yourself]

[Jianxue: QAQ, seems the network is blocked, can't contact anyone]

[Red Barrel: Fine, I'll goof off and log in.]

[Jianxue: Next time I'll give you a 20% discount on explosives, dear]

Red Barrel shook his head in the office, helplessly put his phone in his pocket, stood up, and put on a safety helmet, saying to the colleague in front.

"I'm gonna grab some sleep, can you watch over here for me?"

"Alright, get me a pack of cigarettes, Red Pagoda Mountain."

"Got it."

Then turned around, dashed back to the dormitory, didn't even remove his clothes, and lay on the bed.

As for the helmet delivered from who knows where, Red Barrel cherished it greatly, as in this destitute development zone, even entertainment was hard to come by, only going out drinking with project folks, drinking still meant damn drinking.

Sometimes he felt no different from those so-called company dogs in the game world, at least they had implants.

After crossing through a red data sea, the world in front of his eyes suddenly lit up, the original drowsiness and fatigue disappeared without a trace, filled with energy!

"Back to full health!"

No more words, he immediately ran to the bar to prepare to gather people, but to his surprise, there were only the Nina sisters in the agency polishing tables and Lucy sitting at the bar teaching Pandora to make a Demonic Puppet.

"What's up, rushing around like this."

"Report Lucy Mentor, Scavengers want to harvest Jianxue's kidneys, have him locked up."

Lucy was a bit surprised. "Scavengers? How did they target you guys?"

For an agency full of such daredevil operators, Scavengers were the sort who wouldn't open their heads to find trouble, logically they'd retreat if detecting this is tough stuff.

"Ahem..." Red Barrel was a bit embarrassed, he obviously couldn't say all the players went out for sting operations, tracking to induce crime, then someone screwed up.

Red Barrel shrugged. "I don't know either, anyways, he said he got caught, and probably someone else too."

???

Lucy's face was full of questions, what do you mean by he said he got captured?

How did he contact you if he got captured?

Scavengers couldn't possibly leave such a loophole.

But Lucy quickly gave up probing this issue, might be psychic connection of androids or some other damned thing.

But this wasn't important, she patted Pandora's shoulder, waking this girl still shorter than her chest.

"Time for practice, today I'll teach you how to hack into the city network and find people."

Then looked at Red Barrel.

"Go find others, Scavengers usually bring captured people back to their base for cybernetic disassembly or ransom, there won't be a small number."

"Understood!"