chapter8:A freeze that thickens over time doesn’t happen overnight

"Thank you, Mr. Ye, for protecting me so quickly."

Ye Guilong knelt on one knee before Rahu and Qingyun, letting out a sigh.

"It was my duty..."

Nanshan asked cautiously, "If your bodyguards need emergency help—"

"They're fine," Ye Guilong interrupted.

"A few replacement implants will fix them right up. They just had a temporary shutdown. If there's nothing else, I suggest you leave this place as soon as possible."

"Well then... goodnight, Mr. Ye."

On the rooftop, as soon as Nanshan finished summoning the hovercar, Beihai spoke up behind her, "Do you really need to be this dense?"

The hovercar descended in front of Nanshan.

"What do you mean?" Nanshan looked back at Beihai, confused.

Beihai shrugged helplessly. "Seriously... even when death is staring you in the face, you have no sense of danger. You don't really think that cyberpsycho showing up was just a coincidence, do you?"

Nanshan was still puzzled. "I don't get it."

Beihai was almost amused by this clueless girl. "Can't you use your brain for a second?"

"Think about it! First off, that cyberpsycho couldn't possibly afford a hovercar. Second, anyone trying to enter Candlelight Tower, especially to use that elevator, has to get past two armed guards at the entrance!"

"Okay—let's assume the cyberpsycho got the jump on them, took out both guards before they could react, and hacked the elevator to reach the 48th floor. But what about the dual AI and human surveillance? Were they just blind? How did he manage to move from the entrance directly into the Golden Hall without a hitch?"

Nanshan finally started to grasp what Beihai was getting at, her face turning pale. "Are you saying... someone wanted to use the cyberpsycho to kill me?"

"I don't know," Beihai replied.

"I'm not sure what the mastermind's ultimate goal is, but letting an out-of-control cyberpsycho loose in the Golden Hall and allowing him to go on a rampage, with MaxTac conveniently arriving late—that's clearly aimed at the big shots in the hall."

Beihai stroked her chin, analyzing thoughtfully, "For someone to pull off something that even MaxTac played along with, it's not just some anti-corporate extremists. This is probably corporate warfare... Hey, what are you doing?"

As Beihai was deep in thought, she noticed Nanshan tiptoeing to pinch her wolf ears!

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"

Beihai quickly swatted Nanshan's hand away, smoothing down her ears.

"Well... it seems like your big ears twitch whenever you start thinking, and I just couldn't resist..." Nanshan said with a hint of guilt.

"You—" Beihai felt a deep sense of helplessness.

She massaged her temples. "Do you realize how serious this is? And don't randomly touch a beastman's ears; it's really rude."

"Alright, I'll be more careful."

Nanshan playfully put her hands behind her back, looking at Beihai with interest. "So, any good suggestions?"

Seeing Nanshan finally getting to the point, Beihai said, "Don't stay at your hotel for now. If they're really after you, they might have already tampered with your room."

"So tonight, you'll have to rough it—no luxury bedding. You'll probably have to settle for a cheap motel where the blankets haven't been washed in decades."

Nanshan retorted, "That's nothing! I've even slept in the desert with nomads! I can sleep on the floor if needed. You're underestimating me!"

Beihai chuckled, "There's a rumor that even the second son of Arasaka spent some time with the nomads, but in the end, he still went back. Do you have any implants?"

Nanshan stretched out her arms. "I've had 'cybernetic rejection' since I was a kid. I haven't even installed the most basic neural processors."

"Well, you're practically invincible then; netrunners won't be able to mess with you. Leave your headset in the hovercar, change your clothes, and follow me."

Beihai watched as Nanshan obediently placed her only means of external communication—the headset—into the hovercar, feeling a strong sense of pity.

This girl wouldn't last a night on her own in Night City. The "Rippers" would love someone as naive and clueless as her.

Nanshan patted her clothes. "Okay! What now?"

"Where's that punk outfit of yours?"

"Who brings that kind of clothing when they're out?"

"Forget it... follow me."

Beihai led Nanshan to another elevator down to the basement—the parking garage of Candlelight Tower. The place was filled with luxury cars as far as the eye could see, dazzling anyone who looked.

"Why are we in the parking garage?" Nanshan asked curiously, following behind Beihai.

Without answering, Beihai ran her fingers over one luxury car after another.

Finally, she stopped in front of a "Snail" van, a faint smile appearing on her face.

"This is the one."

She smashed the driver's side window with her elbow and reached in to unlock the door. The van immediately blared a piercing alarm, startling Nanshan, who quickly covered her ears. "What are you doing?!"

Ignoring her, Beihai sat in the driver's seat and started hotwiring the car, her fluffy wolf ears twitching above the steering wheel.

"So cute..." Despite her fear, Nanshan couldn't help but comment on the fluffy ears.

With a roar, the van's engine started, and the alarm stopped.

Beihai pushed open the passenger door. "Get in!"

"Were you just stealing a car?" Nanshan asked incredulously, though she obediently got in.

"What, you think nomads don't steal cars?"

"The Red Rock tribe only hijacks corporate vehicles; they never bother regular folks."

"That's because you haven't seen enough."

Beihai smoothly drove the van out of the garage onto the highway.

"For a rich, naive girl like you, nomads will only show you what they want you to see—the Robin Hoods of the wasteland, heroes fighting the corps. They'll never tell you about their dirty deals with the Rippers, how they set up roadblocks to collect tolls, or how they work with one corp to take down another—"

"They're different!" Nanshan protested.

"No investigation, no right to speak! I've spent way more time with nomads than you have. I know some nomads are just bandits, but the Red Rock tribe is different!"

"Oh? How so?" Beihai asked.

"They read a lot of books, more than both of us combined!"

Nanshan counted on her fingers excitedly, "Like 'Das Kapital', 'The State and Revolution', 'Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism', and even 'On Guerrilla Warfare'—"

"Stop, stop," Beihai interrupted quickly.

"Those are all banned books. Only fanatics from 'The Storm' group read that stuff. If the Red Rock tribe is reading them, you should stay away; your idealism is going to get you killed."

"You don't get it." Nanshan pouted.

"You're just a precarious worker, living from one day to the next by chance. You should read these books; they're not meant to make you a fanatic but to make you more clear-headed—"

"A clear-headed person would be constantly giving incendiary speeches in the D-Zone and bombing industrial parks in the C-Zone?" Beihai retorted sharply.

"That's—" Nanshan tried to defend.

"Things like that—ugh, I can't explain all this to someone who doesn't get it! It's complicated."

"In my view, a clear-headed person shouldn't blindly believe any narrative. Not the corporate propaganda, nor the reckless destruction of fanatics. A truly clear-headed person knows their limits and does what they can to live their life—that's me."

"Hmph!" Nanshan crossed her arms angrily. "Stubborn!"

"You think you're clear-headed? Fine—whatever, I don't care, I just want my money."

Beihai slammed on the brakes, stopping the van beside a junk market.

"I'm going to get you some decent clothes. Stay in the car and don't go anywhere."

With that, Beihai got out, lit a cigarette, and walked into the market.

"Hey..."

Nanshan sighed deeply, feeling a profound sense of helplessness.

She caressed her ID card, her heart heavy with sorrow.

"Uncle Zhao, Bull, and now you. Is there really no chance for change in this world?"

Every time she talked about revolution and equality, Uncle Zhao would look at her gently, with a genuine smile.

When she mentioned those classic theories that clashed with the stratified society, Bull would scratch his head and say he slacked off, that reading was too boring and he couldn't get through a page before going out for target practice.

Whenever she brought up ideals, all she got in return was gentle gazes, playful dismissals, or outright mockery.

No one understands me... it hurts so much...

A commotion erupted outside the van.

"Let me go!!!"

A calico beastwoman screamed hysterically, desperately trying to break free from several masked men.

"I'm not going with you! I don't want to be in some black braindance!"

"Hold her down! Get the collar on her!"

A "Ripper" slapped Xiao Qi hard across the face, and blood immediately seeped from the corner of her mouth.

Xiao Qi screamed and struggled with all her might, "I won't go with you! I won't go with you! Someone help me, please!"

Hundreds of passersby glanced over indifferently, quickening their pace to leave.

"Damn this little bitch!"

Nanshan's heart ached as if pierced by needles. She couldn't just sit by and do nothing, no matter what.

"Let her go!"

Nanshan resolutely approached the vicious Rippers. Her body trembled with fear, but she mustered her courage, pressing a hand to her ear as a bluff and gripping her ID card tightly. "If you don't release her, MaxTac will be here in ten seconds to take you all down! If you don't want this street to turn into a battlefield, let her go now!"

The Rippers paused their actions. Seizing the moment, Xiao Qi clung desperately to Nanshan's leg. "Help me, help me! I don't want to go with them!"

"Don't worry," Nanshan's lips quivered.

"With me here, they won't take you."

"Put your hands down."

The Rippers approached Nanshan with malicious intent.

"A corpo girl playing hero in Night City without bodyguards or weapons? You're the cutest little lamb we've seen around here."

Nanshan realized she'd been found out and quickly shielded Xiao Qi behind her, backing toward the van.

"Hey! That face is pretty nice, not some cyberware knock-off. Stripping it off for a mold would fetch a good price."

The Ripper leader licked his lips with an unnaturally long, piercing-studded cybernetic tongue. "Selling you for organs would be a waste. Making you a black braindance actress would be much more profitable!"

"Let me teach you a rule of Night City, sweetheart—without bodyguards and gear, even a corpo girl is just a lamb to the slaughter on these streets!"

Hearing such evil laughter, laughter no human should make, Nanshan felt chills down her spine. How could someone be so cruel?

"Just try it!"

A Black Cloud smart pistol appeared in Nanshan's peripheral vision.

Immediately, Beihai grabbed Nanshan into her arms, raising the pistol and glaring coldly at the Rippers. "You scumbag organ thieves, get lost before I tear you to pieces. Otherwise, things are gonna get real nasty."

Nanshan's face was pressed against Beihai's chest. Surprisingly, Beihai didn't have the usual musky scent common to beastfolk. Instead, she carried a "furry" kind of fragrance—it might sound odd, but it was like the scent from hugging a plush toy for a long time.

And that scent brought... a kind of heartwarming "cuteness."

"What are you doing?"

Realizing her behavior of savoring Beihai's scent was a bit odd, Nanshan's face flushed as she quickly pulled away. "N-nothing!"

"Get in the car," Beihai ordered coldly.

Nanshan hurriedly helped Xiao Qi into the van.

The Rippers were immediately displeased. "Hey! That girl was sold to us by the Fierce Beasts for big bucks! You can let the corpo girl go, but leave her!"

Xiao Qi frantically shook her head, clinging tightly to Nanshan's clothes. "Don't give me back to them! Please!"

"Nanshan, don't meddle!" Beihai said sternly.

"Over my dead body!" Nanshan shouted.

"Do you think I'm as heartless as you? Get in!" She pushed Xiao Qi into the van.

"Fuck it, kill them!!"

The Rippers lunged forward. Beihai cursed under her breath, shooting several of them in the head before jumping into the driver's seat. She floored the accelerator, speeding away with Xiao Qi and Nanshan.

"I told you to stay in the car!" Beihai scolded harshly.

"You know I can't just watch her get abused by those traffickers!" Nanshan argued.

"You're a naive corpo girl and a saint, what a combo! If you don't pay me extra for this trip, I'm definitely causing you trouble!"

"Just lose them first!"

Nanshan glanced at the rearview mirror anxiously. "Those Rippers are catching up!"

"I see them!" Beihai watched as Ripper vehicles emerged from various alleys in the mirror, pulling out her Black Cloud pistol.

"Buckle up; things are about to get really—wild!!"