Matt is a sports star in Night City. Lille originally nurtured this sports star, hoping he could take the Human Lizard Cyborg and other Night City industries out of the city.
Mackinaw General Vehicles Company is a local industry in Night City, co-owned by Lille and V Holdings.
"Hey... Jack, do you think Matt will really not get sliced up by Europeans when he goes to the European Union?"
Outside Night City, in the barren land of North Americaâs wasteland, the crownless king of Adkaduoâs caravan is traveling through the desert.
The huge trailer towed by a truck is the Wanderersâ houseâ
Inside the house, V leans against sitting next to the compartment, holding a lighter repeatedly igniting and extinguishing it.
Also in the compartment, not alone, Mrs. Wales and Misty are each busy with their own things: the former is cooking, while the latter is watching the person in the Life Support Chamber.
Old Vicâs dialogue box appeared in front of V.
[Victor: V, Jack still needs some time. The Lizard Serum will overdraw the bodyâs potential, and even Jack is almost at his limit.]
[Victor: Matt carries significant commercial value, so the Europeans wonât mess around.]
Pop.
V put away the lighter.
Although there were cigarettes on the table, she never learned to smoke.
[Victor: V, letâs call off your plan. Attacking Washington is basically courting death! I canât watch you go to your death alone, and neither will Lille...]
"Enough, old Vic, even though Iâm not as smart as him, Iâve learned something. If Military Technology really possesses the same technology as EBM, once they launch the satellite and re-establish the Space Army, Night City is finished.
Itâs not for him, itâs just... for all of us."
Old Vic was silenced.
V certainly got smarter than before. No matter what, the logic she used to brush off Old Vic was flawless:
This world is like thisâwhen you climb step by step, trying to reach a broader world with your people, youâll always find someone blocking your path.
After all, Earth is only so big.
Once upon a time, V thought Night City was immense, and places like Atlanta, New America, Europe, and even the entire Earth were even larger. But now it seemed, Earth was incredibly small.
Only after Lille was gone did she begin to understand why Lille did these things, even when his life was at risk.
"Let Jack rest here, Iâll go alone..."
Bang bang.
Just as V stood up, Jack in the Life Support Chamber opened his eyes. Though exhaustion was written across his face, it was still clear he was trying hard to smile.
The earlier noise was him knocking on the glass.
He traced on the glass: "Iâm going too."
Inside the compartment, only the sound of vehicles moving remained, Mrs. Wales and Misty both looked at their son and loverâ
They certainly did not want Jack to take any more risks, but they couldnât say it out loud, so they could only look at V:
V couldnât stand such a gaze.
However, a piece of news broke the silence in the room: the TV on the roof was connected to a signal, flickering a few times before lighting up.
[Friends in Night City, welcome to Your Business I Care About, the latest news: An automobile bomb attack occurred in Berlin, and our sports star Mattâs floating car was attacked by unknown forces and crashed!]
[A villainâs "Weiler" vehicle exploded in Berlin, and Herreraâs stock price fluctuated immediately...]
[The sports star Matt Kenâs Mackinaw Floating Shadow vehicle happened to pass the incident area, affected by an unknown cyberattack...]
[After the incident, Mackinaw Companyâs stock price plummeted, but 30 minutes later, sports star Matt Ken and his father Mr. Ken were found safely landing in different areas of Berlin...]
[The vehicle wreckage was discovered crashed at Berlin Station, the frame largely intact. Automobile experts say they might not have been injured even if they were in the car...]
[Lark: I have reached out to Matt, they are both fine...]
[Lark: But he said something feels off, I sense he doesnât dare say much on European Unionâs territory, somethingâs wrong.]
Somethingâs wrong?
V increasingly felt that something indeed was wrong: how could their group, setting Lille aside, which represented the pinnacle of Night City, suddenly be involved in a world-class event upon arrival?!
She even had a strange thoughtâ
Ever since the Old Netâs collapse, world-class cases seldom occurred, the mercenary industry had declined, it wasnât until Lille appeared that the fight two years ago was finally triggered...
In these two years, although friction big and small continued, which one was world-class?
But recently, the European Union had plenty of major incidents! And they were all converging towards Matt!
Come to think of it, it seemed like their first shocking appearance already signaled the death knell to the corporate dogs in Night City...
Perhaps the previous Black Dog incident, including this attack, too?
This made Arasaka Yorinobuâs claim more reliableâ
Vâs gaze grew firmer: "I need to go to Washington, I canât let Miles deploy the Space Army!"
...
The Mackinaw Floating Shadow streaked across the sky like a fireball, the drone having no braking measures, with several shattering on impact due to failing to dodge!
The orderly sky turned chaotic until the car crashed through the stationâs roof!
Boom!
"Terror attack! Run!"
Thick black smoke filled the entire station, and the chaotic crowd had neither the time nor courage to rush in for a closer look:
This was Berlin, not Night City! Few would risk their lives for first-hand news, everyone was petrified by the sight of this crash!
Nobody saw Bryce climb out of the smoke-filled car with difficulty.
"This damn car sure is tough, no wonder it passed Night City quality check, damn it... Lille, you heartless bastard..."
The disorganized crowd failed to notice Bryce limping, staggering out of the car.
Nearby surveillance and the power grid ceased operation due to the vehicular crash, leaving him to quickly disguise himself.
He cursed Lille under his breath and joined the crowd in shouting:
"Terror attack! Run!"
....
On the streets of Old East Germany, bodies scattered around the car bomb, terrified people fled in all directions, but a worker stood frozen, staring blankly at the sky:
He just wanted to bomb the jerk in the car to boost ratings.
But he hadnât expected that car in the sky would make such a commotion, nearly crashing into the New Berlin District.
Of course, if the car hadnât crashed the station and actually charged into the New Berlin District, he was sure heavy firepower would take it down.
No matter whatâ
"Alright, there must be other comrades, others who wonât bow down...
Weâll definitely catch the attention of the ones above, damn IEC, damn European Union, damn... aristocrats..."
The worker melted into the crowd, casually disposing of the detonator.
If someone picked up the detonator and verified the hardware equipment and code inside, it would certainly link to a person:
Harlin Eck.