Chapter 39 - 37 Acute Failure (Midnight Edition)

Night City was a sprawling metropolis with a population of 7 million people.

The high level of urbanization resulted in various architectural marvels, and its lax and corrupt public security governance formed its unique urban style.

The NCPD did a half-assed job, and citizens retained the primitive right of blood-for-blood, living freely in America’s worst city.

Feeling the stench from the sewers, listening to the wind blowing from afar, mixed with the sounds of gunfire—

Lille suddenly said, "Night City is a bit too urbanized..."

The car had been slightly modified in appearance to avoid detection. The plan was to ditch it once they got into the city.

"Living like this for ten thousand years, until the son takes over..."

V hummed a tune in the passenger seat, one hand draped over the door, savoring the familiarity of it all.

Jack, who was driving, showed a curious expression, "What song are you singing? Did you write it for Arasaka Saburo? ’Til the son takes over,’ huh."

V pointed to Lille lying in the back seat, "Ask him—anyway, I think it’s pretty funny, but you poor bastard wouldn’t get it."

V shook his head and sighed, giving off that "there’s a sad barrier between us" vibe.

Jack clenched his teeth in irritation.

"So what the hell did you do in Atlanta? Did you really make a lot of money?"

Lille answered, "Not that much. If we start using it, it’ll all be gone in no time."

"Then why come back?"

V chimed in, "Remember that cybermonster—the one I was lucky enough to take down? But I figured killing a cybermonster every day was a bit too much to ask for."

"Holy shit!" Jack was stunned, "You were involved in that? So, what’s the situation? Is Kantao really going to war with Military Science?"

"The reality was way more brutal than what they showed on TV. Like I said, it was all sparks and lightning; that guy cracked the asphalt with one stomp.

I reckon there were two platoons of Military Science soldiers, armed and ready. Then I just went on a rampage with my raccoon dog—"

V mimicked shooting a sniper rifle, going "biu biu," only to be cut off mercilessly by Lille, "He’s full of shit. The main thing is we made a little money off it."

V rolled his eyes and gave Jack a look, pointing to Lille, mouthing, "Sneaky bastard."

Then pointed to himself, "Honest guy, trust me."

Jack freed a hand and gave a thumbs up, "Trust you, take me in?"

V nodded, "Take you in."

Lille didn’t want to keep arguing with these two jokers. The urgent matter was to get to Old Vic’s clinic.

Ever since the car got onto the overpass, he felt increasingly drowsy, and his vision was starting to blur...

"Lille?" V glanced back and found Lille had closed his eyes, but didn’t look peaceful at all.

His body temperature was plummeting, lips turning pale...

"Fuck, Jack, step on it, Lille’s having another episode—"

"Got it—there are two groups ahead about to get into a fight..."

"I’ll handle it." V pulled out his Night Pistol, half his body sticking out.

Two vans were driving side by side ahead.

One was Valentino, the other was the Six Street Gang; punks in the cars were spewing trash talk when suddenly gunfire erupted from behind—

"Get the fuck out of here!"

The hot-headed punks in the vans looked back, prosthetic eyes scanning, they saw V’s implant list wide open—

V’s implant list was full of combat prosthetics: Subdermal Armor, Recoil Control, Enhanced Tendons, Skeletal Reconstruction, Bionic Joint, Krensky, Neural Coordinator, Blood Pump, Reaction Coordinator...

They quickly ducked back into their vans—

"Damn, cyberpsycho!"

...

"Ha—"

Lille felt like a ball of fire was expanding in his chest, the heat spreading from the center, just like the first time V jabbed him with meds.

When he opened his eyes, he was on the operating table, and the doctor was Old Vic.

Had they reached the clinic? Did he pass out?

"Easy, kid, easy. Your condition’s really bad. If Jack and V hadn’t acted fast, you might not have woken up."

"What happened?" Lille asked, only then realizing he was hooked up to a respirator.

He saw V sitting by the side, not looking as upbeat as usual. Jack stood beside, also looking a bit complex.

Old Vic wiped his glasses and said, "You used that thing again, didn’t you? And not lightly either."

"Had no choice. Life demands it."

"Sigh..." Old Vic looked at the ceiling, "I gotta say, your willpower is iron-strong, but your prosthetics have caused a severe immune response, making your body’s burden even heavier. This isn’t something willpower can overcome.

This violent prosthetic system sped up your original problems, especially yesterday.

When you activated the implant in your spine, the oxygen consumption skyrocketed, completely trashing your respiratory system.

Since last night, your lungs went into acute failure, causing oxygen depletion, which led to the coma."

"You mean the Si Anweisitan?"

Old Vic nodded, "Honestly, I’m more and more convinced it’s something different from the Si Anweisitan on the market, a suicide implant that humans simply can’t handle.

And you’re even crazier. Your brain burn through energy at a rate far beyond ordinary people. After multiple overdrives, your already weak organs got even worse.

The lungs were the first to go from chronic to acute failure. As long as you keep using combat prosthetics, this is just the start."

Lille stared at the ceiling, his brain oxygenated, his thoughts slowly becoming clear.

The operating room was very quiet. Everyone waited for someone to speak.

Lille was the first to break the silence, "Let’s start with synthetic lungs. I can’t just lie here forever. Along with the synthetic lungs, give me a set of bio-monitors, only the top-grade ones."

Old Vic forced a smile, "I forgot you had money, but there are other issues. Your body is too weak.

Your respiratory system can hardly meet the minimum requirements. Now with the acute lung failure, installing synthetic lungs might make them necrotic."

"Then what do we do?" Lille’s mind was crystal-clear, "Should I go find a live lung for a transplant?"

"Good idea, but the immune response might trigger more issues, and you’d be living on meds for the rest of your life."

Another silence fell. Old Vic finally said, "Maybe... you should enjoy the rest of your life."

V looked at Lille without a word, waiting for Lille’s final decision.

If Lille chose to retire, she would respect his decision, but from then on, they’d be on different paths.

Considering Lille’s lifespan, maybe he’d drop dead in six months, and in two years, no one would remember this friend.

At that moment, Lille received new information from the other world.

[New Event: Matt has found a genetic biology expert for you, Professor Conners Kurt]

[Professor Conners is an expert in genetic biology. He’s very interested in the DNA breakdown phenomenon happening in your body and invites you to join his research team.]

[You have agreed.]

[Professor Conners’ research is in its early stages. They’ve had some success combining different spider DNA, and now he wants to study lizard DNA.]

[According to him, this research might give you the ability to counteract the gradual loss of cellular vitality.]

[However, the technology is at a bottleneck and requires more interaction for details.]

Lille immediately made a decision—

What wasn’t available in 2011 will be in 2076.

"Old Vic..." Lille struggled to sit up, "It’s too early to retire, what can you do with fifty grand?

I’ll find a lung—whatever, since we got money, let’s use Moore Technology. Prep the synthetic lungs.

For the issues you mentioned, we’ll use immunosuppressants for now. I’ll think of other solutions."

"That’s the spirit!" V stood up excitedly, "As an old friend, I’ll give you a 20% discount wherever you need me!"

Lille chuckled, "Shouldn’t it be free?"

Jack also showed an approving expression, "Amigos, not many can face death with such an attitude. I’m glad I still have the chance to see if you’re as miraculous as V says."

"You’ll see—Jack."

Old Vic watched the three in the operating room and shook his head with a smile—

Maybe death will come one day, but courage can banish the shadows.