"Holy shit, fuck!"
Inside the executive office, the male NetWatch agent—normally calm and restrained—burst out swearing without restraint.
V pointed at her own eyes and looked at the female agent, J.
J immediately explained, "Visual sync is only enabled during formal negotiations. That's protocol. It's already shut down."
Hearing that, V dropped all pretense and shot back at the male agent,
"Whenever you're fucking, count me in."
The people in the room didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was obvious—both of them were genuinely furious.
Everyone understood why V was angry.
But why K, a NetWatch agent, was this furious—that left everyone confused.
J cleared her throat awkwardly and explained,
"The cooperation between President V and Night City was personally pushed through by K. The movie's success earned him a promotion. But now that Night City is caught in a scandal like this, he's inevitably dragged down with it."
"To be honest," she continued, "some people inside NetWatch have already begun attacking us. This visit is… our chance to 'redeem ourselves through merit.'"
Now it made sense.
NetWatch might present a united front to the outside world, but internally it was far from monolithic.
Where there were people, there were ideologies.
Within NetWatch, there were moderates like K who favored cooperation—and naturally, there were also cold-blooded hardliners who believed themselves superior to everyone else.
Even if both sides claimed to serve the same ultimate goal, that never stopped them from trying to kill each other before reaching it.
Human infighting had existed since the day humanity was born.
It would probably only disappear the day humanity went extinct.
After venting a few curses, K gradually calmed down.
He looked at V.
"Jefferson Peralez has been in contact with NetWatch for a long time. That's why we arrived so quickly. I don't know how he convinced upper management, but this time… NetWatch intends to go all in."
V raised an eyebrow.
"What, planning to wipe Night City off the map?"
"Not quite," K replied helplessly.
"Since the Blackwall was established, humanity regained safety. But as the old Eastern saying goes—once the birds are gone, the good bow is put away. That safety caused NetWatch's authority to steadily decline."
"Megacorps began paying lip service while ignoring us. Governments learned to speak one way and act another. The higher-ups want to make Night City an example—to strike the mountain and scare the tiger, kill the chicken to warn the monkeys."
"They want NetWatch back on top."
Sasha stared in disbelief.
"You've got to be kidding. Night City has V."
"Exactly because it has V," K said bitterly.
"Her reputation is at its peak. If they defeat V, it's as good as defeating everyone. That's probably how those idiots upstairs see it."
K looked utterly exhausted.
He had personally witnessed V fighting rogue AIs.
He had seen the Blackwall seemingly fail to affect her at all.
He had written everything down in his reports.
But upper management stubbornly clung to the doctrine of 'The Blackwall is supreme.'
They even said things like, 'If the Blackwall doesn't work on V, then V must be eliminated even more.'
The logic was insane.
Humanity finally had a weapon of unimaginable power—and instead of recruiting it, befriending it, or even bribing it, they insisted on forcing it into rebellion.
A bunch of delusional pigs sitting in offices, drunk on authority for too long, so warped they'd lost basic reasoning.
When NetWatch announced it would "investigate" Night City, K had been stunned speechless.
When he was told he'd be sent as the vanguard, his mind had gone completely numb.
You want me to tell V that NetWatch is taking over Night City's network?
Does everyone not know Night City is her lifeline?
I say that, she kills me on the spot.
But the upper brass left him no choice.
As a rising figure among NetWatch's moderate faction, K had long been a thorn in the hardliners' eyes. With the perfect excuse now available, those people probably wanted him dead even more than they wanted V gone.
I need to protect myself.
After some thought, K decided to bring J along.
J's internal reaction: Wow, thanks a fucking lot.
She knew coming to Night City was practically a death sentence. But as K's direct disciple, they were tied together—two ants on the same rope.
If K died, she'd be purged from NetWatch soon after anyway.
So they planned it out.
K spoke official jargon.
J sent private messages.
An overt path in the open, a covert crossing underneath.
That was how they'd avoided being turned into paste by V on the spot.
After hearing the full story, V understood.
As long as the Blackwall functioned normally, rogue AIs couldn't launch large-scale invasions. One or two rogue AIs? V could handle those herself.
NetWatch knew that.
V knew that NetWatch knew.
There was no reason for this level of escalation.
Which meant NetWatch didn't actually care whether Night City had rogue AIs at all.
They were using the incident to expand their influence.
At the end of the day, it was still humans fighting humans for power.
Hard methods didn't work on Night City.
Soft methods didn't work either.
So now they were using "righteousness" to suppress it.
We just want to live our lives, V thought.
Why does everyone feel the need to step on us?
Fine.
You can step on us—
but don't expect to keep your leg.
V's thoughts raced. A massive plan began taking shape.
K, thinking V was struggling with how to respond to NetWatch's pressure, said apologetically,
"I'll delay things procedurally as much as I can. But the pressure from above is intense. Clearing Night City's name… that part depends on you."
"Clear its name?" V scoffed.
"Night City has no guilt. What's there to clear?"
"NetWatch has already issued a public notice," K said carefully.
"Nothing final yet, but the implication is obvious."
"NetWatch can go fuck itself!" V slammed the table.
"You said it yourself—NetWatch is fading! Night City is rising, and I fought for that with my own hands!"
"The international community values credibility," K argued.
"You can't change everything with just a few victories."
"Spare me," V sneered.
"The international community doesn't give a damn about credibility. It cares about interests."
"What can NetWatch offer them? And what can Night City offer them?"
"Don't forget—the world already despises NetWatch for hoarding intelligence and monopolizing the Net. They tolerate you only because of the Blackwall."
That hit the mark.
Cold sweat instantly beaded at K's temples.
"W-what are you planning?"
V said nothing.
That silence only made K more nervous.
"V, don't do anything rash. NetWatch has always protected humanity!"
"Am I not human?" V snapped.
"Aren't the eight million people of Night City human?"
"When you plan to use us as stepping stones, is that protecting humanity?"
K had no answer.
J forced herself to speak up.
"This was the decision of a small group. Most people in NetWatch are still good."
K stared at her in shock. He'd never realized his apprentice could talk like this.
V looked at J with mild surprise. Beneath the fiery exterior, she had some real cleverness.
J, meanwhile, was terrified. Is she going to kill me now?
She forced out a painfully awkward smile.
V winced—it hurt to look at.
So she asked casually,
"How would you like to be the head of NetWatch?"
"…What?" J froze.
V nodded.
"Good. Decision made."
"…Huh?"
J's brain shut down completely.
K snapped back to reality and immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.
Stupid apprentice. This is as far as I can take you.
If you make it big, remember to give your master a raise.
Meanwhile, V had already opened a group call.
The screen showed only silhouettes labeled "sound only", but the names below were thunderous.
Xu Shiming of Kang Tao.
Lucas Harford of Militech.
Biotechnica's chairman.
ESA's director.
European Bank's head.
Petrochem, SovOil, Zetatech—
Titans gathered like gods descending from the heavens. Faces unseen, pressure overwhelming.
"What the hell, it's midnight here!" Xu Shiming complained.
The ESA representative replied smoothly,
"President V isn't reckless. If she's invoking emergency contact privileges, it must be serious."
Militech's Lucas Harford chuckled.
"Isn't this just NetWatch coming after Night City? Why doesn't President V just storm over and throw NetWatch's boss off a tower?"
It sounded like a joke.
No one treated it as one.
The executives laughed.
V laughed too—then said calmly,
"I'm planning to kill NetWatch."
The laughter stopped.
"…That might be excessive," someone said.
"NetWatch is still useful. Who maintains the Blackwall if they're gone?"
"Arasaka fell," V replied.
"And Arasaka 2077 still exists."
Understanding dawned.
"You're replacing leadership. New rules?"
"Already have a candidate."
V pulled J into view.
J looked like she was about to cry.
The gods nodded unanimously.
"Excellent choice."
"…Huh?"
She was dragged off-screen again. Her opinion was irrelevant.
The discussion continued.
"How do you plan to proceed?"
"Simple. NetWatch made a public accusation. If the investigation proves baseless, then the instigators must take responsibility. Resignation for misjudgment is only proper."
"But does Night City have rogue AIs?"
"Yes," V said bluntly.
"Delamain is one. What—are your territories completely clean?"
They weren't.
Many rogue AIs had been trapped on the human side after the Blackwall went up. The hostile ones were destroyed early. Those that remained were generally moderate.
Some disguised themselves as ordinary software.
Others established digital fortresses—like Busan.
Human leadership knew Busan was controlled by multiple rogue AIs, but since the city was still physically occupied by human forces, it was publicly labeled a "ghost city."
There was also the famous digital space known as Elysium—rumored to be paradise, but in reality a Biotechnica–rogue AI joint experiment on the human soul.
Even Antarctica had an AI-run bar. Harmless. Useful. Ignored.
Rogue AIs were dangerous—but humanity relied on AI far too deeply to pretend otherwise.
Only idiots tried to exterminate neutral parties.
Everyone here had dealt with rogue AIs.
So when V proposed going after NetWatch—
"Let's do it."
Xu Shiming concluded,
"Once Night City is cleared, we'll help push things along. Time to change the weather at NetWatch."
No objections.
"Thanks for the support," V said.
"But one thing—the Blackwall stays untouched."
Silence.
They all wanted Blackwall tech.
V continued calmly,
"Don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Our goal is space colonization. Blackwall tech is still experimental, and uneven scavenging will lead to imbalance."
"Imbalance leads to war."
ESA nodded vigorously.
"Absolutely."
"So nobody touches it," V finished.
"And if someone does?"
V smiled.
"I'll throw them off a tower myself."
That settled it.
Satisfied, the gods dispersed.
Finally, Xu Shiming asked,
"So—what's the solution?"
V replied evenly,
"Jefferson Peralez is a pawn. Behind him is Mr. Blue Eyes, affiliated with Night Corp."
Understanding spread instantly.
"And Night Corp is controlled by—"
"Another rogue AI," V confirmed.
"The true mastermind."
"My objectives are simple:
First—find it.
Second—kill it."