Chapter 241

"It seems that you hate the company."

Lin Qiao slowed down the car and threw the plastic bag of medicine into the back seat.

--This is not something that can be cured by taking motion sickness medicine.

"....I.....just..."

"Rather than saying I hate it, it's more appropriate to say I feel hatred and fear - especially the people of Arasaka."

".....You are wrong..."

The voice rose several degrees and denied it flatly.

"I just feel a little uncomfortable...that's all!"

Lin Qiao sighed and wanted to reach out and touch her head, but the latter dodged and then shook his head helplessly.

"I have seen your prosthesis. Although I don't understand the specific model, it is undoubtedly a cutting-edge product that is hard to find on the market, and it also has the symbol of Arasaka...You should know the rest even if I don't say it."

"No! I have nothing to do with Arasaka!"

She bit her lower lip tightly, as if to emphasize this point, she deliberately read the last few words very heavily.

There was a begging look in her eyes, as if she hoped that Lin Qiao would not pursue the matter any further.

But things did not go as planned.

"Lucy, you are a good child, and that is why you are really not good at lying."

Her violent overreaction made Lin Qiao more certain of her inference.

"....."

Stop talking!

It was as if a sore spot had been poked. At the moment when she was exposed and told what she feared, Lucy felt guilty and panicked, and had the urge to jump out of the car and run away.

But the endless open plains around her stopped her.

Even if she really jumped out of the car, she could not run far.

Just thinking of the terrible ending of being betrayed and taken back to Arasaka, she felt as if she had fallen into the cold sea, her hands and feet were numb, and even breathing was a luxury.

Fear drove her actions.

Subconsciously, she reached out to touch the pistol beside her.

'Wait! What am I doing? '

Her heart skipped a beat.

But when he realized this and came to his senses, the trembling muzzle of the gun was already pointed at Lin Qiao who was sitting on the side.

He wanted to put down the gun immediately, but he was afraid that after putting down the weapon, Lin Qiao would do something unfavorable to her, so he stopped.

For a moment, he was in a dilemma.

He turned his head and glanced at the white-haired girl who was holding the gun unsteadily and her face was full of struggle.

Lin Qiao still looked calm and composed.

"You know, sometimes it is easier to accept a lie than to simply deny it."

"For example, you are the daughter of a senior executive of Arasaka, but because your parents stood on the wrong side in the power struggle, all kinds of things happened, and in the end, in order to save your life, you had to escape alone."

"And there is one more thing-"

He slowly raised an arm and stretched it to Lucy's hands, but Lexington was trembling.

"Don't move!"

Lucy tried her best to pretend to be fierce.

But that look, no matter how you look at it, is like a kitten baring its teeth at people after being bullied.

There is no point except to make people want to tease it more.

Therefore, Lin Qiao did not listen to her and grabbed her hand holding the gun.

"!"

The white-haired girl was instantly panicked... but the expected pulling and snatching did not happen.

After helping her stabilize the trembling muzzle of the gun, Lin Qiao slowly put it down.

"When pointing a gun at someone, remember not to wave your hand around, or people will see that you are guilty, and then take advantage of you."

Glancing at Lucy who was a little surprised, Lin Qiao continued: "Also, if you want to threaten someone, remember to open the safety first next time."

"....."

After a silent silence, Lucy finally put down the gun.

Chapter 296 Your Promise with Me

The sun was high in the sky.

The scorching sun made the car shell hot.

Lexington, who had never opened the safety, was thrown to the ground.

The atmosphere in the car became more tense, and Lucy looked more depressed... and self-blaming.

She didn't eat a single bite of the fast food burrito and soda, or she had no appetite at all.

She hugged her knees tightly and squatted on the passenger seat, just like a hedgehog that curled up after being frightened.

But there were no sharp thorns that could hurt people.

".... When we get to the next town, just put me down."

She buried her head between her legs as much as possible, and her tone sounded a bit self-destructive.

"Because of Arasaka?"

"...."

Lucy remained silent, but her ten fingers were nervously clasping her thighs, and her nails were deeply embedded in the flesh.

Sometimes, not answering is also an answer.

"Although it may sound hypocritical, I still want to ask, you must be blaming me for not understanding the situation and insisting on asking me the truth, right?"

"... Well, a little..."

Having said that, but thinking carefully, it would be better to talk it out than to be suspicious of each other and end up with all kinds of things.

Although you can't completely recognize a person's true face after two days of getting along, you should be able to barely see the outline.

He has a somewhat bad personality, but he is very good at taking care of others. He should not be a bad person... Lucy also hopes that Lin Qiao is not a bad person.

But despite this, after just two days of getting along, it was still difficult for Lucy to trust him in all aspects.

After all, it is difficult for someone to say "I refuse" when facing a company.

As a consumable sent by Arasaka to retrieve data from the old network, the data stored in her mind can definitely be described as valuable.

I think Arasaka would be willing to give some "small money" to the person who turned her in.

——For ordinary people, that is a huge sum of money.

Those who can resist the threat of force may not be able to resist the temptation of money.

Will Lin Qiao betray her?

Frankly speaking, she didn't know, but Lucy hoped not, and hoped that she could trust the other person.

After all, her strength is self-evident if her opponent can destroy an entire Luandaohui team, and without a prosthetic body in her body, her hacking ability will not work at all.

This means that if the other party wants to do something, she can't resist at all.

Lin Qiao could have completely deceived her into trusting her, and then used her to receive the reward from Arasaka...but the other party chose the "worst" approach.

The method of exposing her true face is more like helping her optimize the details of her lies to ensure that she can better deal with it next time someone else discovers something unusual...

It is precisely because of this that we need to stay away.

In this way, if one day Arasaka's dummy comes to visit, at least he won't implicate the other party.

For herself and for the other party, leaving may be the best choice...at least in her opinion.

"....Sorry, I can't go to Night City with you."

Maybe I was simply not suitable to travel with others from the beginning.

There was some self-deprecation in my heart.

"That's it."

He maintained a calm tone from beginning to end, making it difficult for Lucy to hear his true inner emotions.

Then, like magic, a large chip card appeared in Lin Qiao's hand - this can be regarded as the bank card of this era.

"Since you have already decided, I won't stop you... This was found from the Luan Dao Club camp, and it contains 40,000 euros. This is my apology."

"...You should need this money more than me to go to Night City, right?"

"Believe me, it's much easier for me to make money than it is for you."

"....Thanks....."

He reached out to take it hesitantly, but the next second, Lin Qiao took the chip back.

"But before I give it to you, can you listen to me for a little longer?"

"...Hmm...Also, driving too fast..."

He nodded and did not refuse.

The outline of the town appeared on the horizon, and Lucy signaled Lin Qiao to slow down slightly.

"Okay, let me think about it, where to start..."

Lin Qiao pinched her chin, thought for a moment, and said, "To be honest, it's actually a little inconvenient for me to go to Night City alone."

"There is no prosthesis in the whole body, but when it comes to electronic accounts, there is not even a chip interface, so it is really not easy to do things."

Therefore, when she learned that Lucy was also going to Night City, Lin Qiao was secretly relieved.

After all, having a highly skilled hacker by your side really helps a lot.

....Of course, he also understands the other party's current choice.

Under the premise of being hunted by a super company like Arasaka, it is somewhat too extreme to put your wealth and life on a person you have only known for two days...

"Also, I lied about something before... When we first met, do you remember when you shot me?"

Lucy glanced over, as if asking him, why did he mention this matter again?

Lin Qiao smiled: "Actually, your marksmanship is pretty good...at least within twenty centimeters. That shot hit my left eye very accurately."

He raised a finger and tapped the corner of his eye.

But Lucy noticed that his left eye was still intact, and there wasn't even a dark circle on it from staying up late.

If you can do this without a prosthetic body like subcutaneous armor, you are either lying or there is something wrong with it.

Although some curiosity arose, I no longer cared much about the specific reasons.

"...Now that things have happened, it's useless to mention this again, right?"

"Hey, you're too cold, aren't you? It's rare for me to take the initiative to tell you... Don't kids of your age like you to punch me and I'll hit you back, and use the same means to retaliate? ?"

Lin Qiao used an exaggerated tone of "I'm already like this" and poked Lucy's face, causing the latter to remind him to concentrate on driving.

——Exchanging secrets for secrets, you think it’s not a loss for you, right?

This is probably what I want to express.