The notification tone rang in the ears of all group members simultaneously.
"The group mission function was actually triggered directly?"
Hearing this, Lin Mai looked slightly surprised. It was not that he had never played Cyberpunk 2077; he knew the plot and map inside and out, yet he had no recollection whatsoever of this Fuyuki Electronics company.
The reason was simple: this corporation was relatively small. Even after raiding Arasaka Tower at the end, it never had any screen time—only a desperate mercenary like The Infamous V would take on such a low-tier trash gig.
However, since the group mission had already popped up, there was no reason to pass it up. Earning points was nothing to be ashamed of.
Lin Mai decisively accepted it with his mind.
"Ding! Congratulations, you have successfully grabbed the mission qualification."
"As the inaugural group mission, a group livestream will be simultaneously enabled for this event."
"Participants: Viaduct in the Storm, The Infamous V. Group points will be awarded based on the scale of contribution."
Following the consecutive prompts, Lin Mai was just about to see what else was stirring in the chat when his vision suddenly distorted, followed by an irresistible suction force.
The next moment, like water flushing down a drain, the entire Maybach instantly transmigrated to another world.
...
The world of Cyberpunk 2077.
"Wait, this can trigger a mission too?"
V looked a bit bewildered. He had joined the chat group quite a while ago and had taken on plenty of mercenary work during this time, but this was the first time a group mission had successfully triggered.
He didn't understand—was there some specific mechanic at play here, or was it purely random?
"And it was snatched up by a newcomer big shot..."
The veteran mercenary stroked his chin with his hand.
With these two things happening at once, V found it a bit hard to handle. Was a car going to appear out of nowhere next?
He watched quietly to see how things would develop, listening as the group chat prompts slowly played out to the final character.
"Boom!"
As the voice faded, a black luxury sedan unlike anything from the current era suddenly materialized in front of him. The aristocratic air of the wealthy and an aura of decadence instantly filled V's field of vision.
"Ah, this..."
Beneath the Fuyuki Electronics building, V covered his face as he stared at the massive vehicle that had suddenly appeared before him. He hadn't expected the atmosphere of his first in-person meeting with a group member to be so bizarre.
"You—are you the Viaduct big shot?"
V asked hesitatingly, gazing at the Maybach in front of him.
"It's me," Lin Mai said. The headlights flashed instantly, and the sound was pieced together by mechanical parts.
【I Am the Cosmic Rich Woman】: "It really is a car."
【Drop-Resistant King of Cybertron】: "That makes complete sense. After all, life finds a way."
Along with their initial meeting, two bullet comments flashed across the vision, adorned with the group members' avatars.
V immediately pushed the messages aside. He planned to make a quick job of it tonight; it wasn't an extremely critical mission with nothing to drag it out, so he pointed a finger toward the adjacent building:
"So, shall we go complete the group mission now?"
Hearing this, Lin Mai's gaze immediately shifted to the towering skyscraper beside them.
"Sounds good to me."
In the worldview of Cyberpunk 2077, every megacorp possessed the capacity for warfare. Towers symbolizing the shift of power were naturally built to a height of at least a hundred meters, fully proclaiming the corporation's dominant rule over the city.
As the saying goes, when an avalanche strikes, not a single snowflake is innocent. Every corporate lackey slaving away for the company automatically became an accomplice to tyranny.
"Alright then."
V nodded. "We agreed on this: this time we're infiltrating this branch office. I'm in charge of uploading the virus and crashing their system, so we need to keep it as low-profile as possible..."
"There's no need for that."
Lin Mai completed his transformation in an instant. The parts of the entire vehicle reassembled into a humanoid figure roughly three meters tall, and in the blink of an eye, he swung a steel blade to knock out the security guards at the entrance.
Then, grabbing the collars of the two dazed guards, he pressed their irises against the scanner at the entrance of the corporate building.
"Click!"
In a split second, the security gate unlocked.
V stared in utter astonishment. So efficient?
But seeing that Lin Mai had already made his move, he naturally had no room to hold back either. He immediately caught up, and the car-turned-robot successfully slipped into the interior of the company.
【I Am the Cosmic Rich Woman】: "Whoa."
【I Am the Cosmic Rich Woman】: "The newcomer's combat power is actually this strong. Looks like he really could beat a bull, not just boast about it."
【Group Owner / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "This is a bit more than just beating a bull."
【Group Owner / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "This mobility and strength are already enough to make him half a Cybertronian."
As the very first group livestream, all members in the chat were still quite curious about the contents of the mission. What's more, there were no foul ads here—it was simply chatting in a different venue, so naturally, no one was unhappy about it.
"Isn't doing it this way a bit too reckless..."
V pressed the button for the first-floor elevator and whispered to Lin Mai, who had already transformed back into his humanoid shape beside him.
"I merely lulled them into a baby-like sleep."
Lin Mai shook his head, flatly denying it.
V: "..."
Looking at the rugged three-meter-tall physique of the Autobot before him, he could only let out a helpless sigh. *Damn it, he's aiming straight for the group mission MVP.*
"Ding-dong."
As the elevator doors opened, the spacious interior instantly came into view. Without wasting words, the two of them stepped inside.
"According to the buyer, the computer system is on the 20th floor."
"It's the middle of the night, and only a single security squad is stationed inside a small company like this. If we sneak in quietly, the whole thing will be sorted."
V spoke in a low voice, casting a glance at Lin Mai beside him, though he had no idea how much of that the other party had actually taken in.
As a professional mercenary, he had done this kind of job more than once, and naturally knew how to minimize the difficulty. But alas, the chat group had gone and issued a mission—wasn't this just roasting him over an open fire?
To be saddled with an Autobot who loved to hack and slash—no matter which group member it was, they would undoubtedly be sweating bullets right now.
It would be one thing if the other guy replied. But right now, Lin Mai kept his lips tightly sealed and refused to utter a single word, which made V's heart flutter with anxiety.
...
In truth, Lin Mai was well aware of all this.
However, compared to the other's approach, his own plan seemed just a tiny bit reckless. After all, his intention was to render everyone unconscious.
In front of these corporate lackeys, what Lin Mai needed to do was a speedrun with zero technical content: knocking out every single person with his own body.
Kill gods if you meet gods, kill Buddhas if you meet Buddhas. After all, this was the correct way to earn a high rating, and if push came to shove, there might even be a need for bloodshed.
Right at that moment—
"Ding-dong."
The elevator reached the twentieth floor.