KyokaSuigetsu
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Chapter 65 – A Brief Farewell
🕑 Added 2025-05-07 11:10:23 +0000 UTCAs time passed, the light peeking through the curtains dimmed from glaring white to a soft amber.
When the first streaks of fire-red clouds appeared in the sky, the two finally wrapped up the day's training—reluctantly.
The real reason? Leo had hit his limit again, brought to his knees by V's iron fists.
After the bullet-dodging session, they added a new round of training—hand-to-hand combat—which completely shattered any smugness Leo still had.
That feeling… of reading your opponent's moves perfectly, but having your body be too slow to react and just standing there taking the hits… was miserable.
He was like a toddler with top-tier perception but a feeble body, utterly dominated by V—who had also installed a Kerenzikov implant.
Still, it wasn't a total loss.
After two days of high-intensity Kerenzikov use and only experiencing mental fatigue, it was clear both of them still had plenty of "cyberware capacity." Once they passed the adaptation phase, they could upgrade even further.
He'd already heard V talking about Sandevistan several times.
Over dinner, as V watched TV, she casually shared her experience:
"Kerenzikov Type-2, the best civilian model on the market. At max gear—level 5—it increases your reaction speed about fivefold. And if you stack it with a Synaptic Accelerator and Reflex Tuner, it gets even better."
Leo listened quietly, then caught something:
"Wait—how do you know 5th gear is 5x? Did you actually try it?"
"Yup. Switched to 5 yesterday. Just dropped back to 1 about half an hour ago."
"How was it?" Leo asked, intrigued.
"Honestly? Awful. Everything moved like slow-mo… like I was stuck in a world running at 0.2x speed. If you keep that up too long, you'd go nuts."
Leo nodded in agreement. Even at level 1, he wasn't fully comfortable. Cranking it higher sounded like a terrible idea for now.
After dinner, they enjoyed some downtime. One glued to the computer, the other watching TV—peacefully coexisting.
February 24th
The moment Leo opened his eyes, he checked the countdown to his "jump."
08:35:05
Eight and a half hours to go—he'd be jumping to Gotham around 5 p.m.
[Dear Father, you will have a 3-hour layover in the transfer station. I suggest reorganizing the server room layout to free up more space for trade cargo.]
[Got it. Plan the layout for me. I'll start reorganizing as soon as I get in.]
[Command received. Executing now.]
Task +1.
Leo stretched, hopped out of bed, quickly freshened up, had breakfast, then headed out with V—straight to the local gun shop.
It was a small hole-in-the-wall place, much tinier than Second Amendment. The owner was a no-nonsense, stone-faced middle-aged man.
Leo checked his bank balance and began his final spree.
Two regular-grade Lexington pistols.
A whopping 2,000 rounds of handgun ammo.
Fifty fragmentation grenades—at a discounted 200 eddies apiece.
Ten EMP grenades—300 eddies each.
As his shopping list grew longer, the store owner's gaze got weirder and weirder.
Fifty frag grenades? Ten EMPs?
What was this guy planning—a gang war?
Leo ignored the suspicious stares and paid up.
Wallet -20,000 eddies.
Balance: a little over 5,000.
He figured it was wise to keep at least some funds on hand, just in case.
So that was it. Final prep: complete.
Back at home, the stoic "bodyguard" V could no longer hold it in:
"Okay, seriously—why the hell are you buying this many grenades? I thought you were visiting some big-shot, not planning to assassinate him. Also, pretty sure they don't let you fly with explosives."
Leo didn't want to reveal his pocket dimension powers just yet, so he vaguely said he was building a home ammo reserve.
V didn't buy it one bit:
"What kind of kid logic is that? Why don't you try stashing a grenade box under your bed—see if you can still sleep at night."
Leo rolled his eyes, lugging the crate upstairs anyway.
V didn't get what he was up to, but chose not to press further.
Everyone's got secrets. As long as he didn't go off the rails, she could live with it.
With all preparations done, Leo flopped onto the couch, savoring a final moment of peace.
He'd soon be in goddamn Gotham—a place where he knew no one and wasn't sure he could even get a foothold.
V noticed his mood slipping again and silently sat beside him on the sofa—a quiet show of support.
After a while, Leo perked up. He chatted with V while checking in with Shironeko, confirming she had recompiled the home surveillance system to be compatible with Gotham's "ancient" operating systems.
Time ticked by.
By 4 p.m., Leo slapped the empty soda bottle on the table and stood up abruptly.
"Time to head out. I'll go to the airport first."
"Mhm."
V stood with him—only to be stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.
"I'll go alone. I called a Delamain cab. I'll be fine."
"I'm a bodyguard. This is literally my job." V frowned.
Leo sighed:
"Come on, you know how high-tier clients can be—super paranoid. The guy I'm meeting hates surprises. Even the tiniest detail could piss him off."
"Big shots… always so high-maintenance."
V slumped back on the couch, frustratedly scratching her scalp.
Leo looked at her one last time, grabbed his silver blazer from the coat rack, and pressed the elevator button.
"See you in seven days, V. When I get back, dinner's on me!"
He forced out a laugh and stepped into the elevator.
Ding—
The doors closed. The car began its descent.
Watching the numbers tick down, V's heart grew restless.
She couldn't explain her feelings—it was a mix she'd never felt before.
She only knew one thing: she was pissed.
Super pissed.
The kind of pissed where you wanted to smash something, scream, destroy—just do something.
She paced the apartment, everything around her suddenly annoying.
Eventually, she ended up by the window, just in time to catch Leo getting into a black Delamain cab.
The car disappeared down the street…
…and the weird feeling in her chest spiked to its peak.
She furrowed her brow, thinking hard.
And finally, a few puzzle pieces clicked.
With that mysterious man—who had suddenly barged into her life—now gone…
The city had returned to what it used to be.
Steel and concrete. Soaring skyscrapers. Ruthless corporations towering over desperate lives.
That brief glimmer of change in her life vanished with him, resetting everything back to zero.
"Stupid fing place. Stupid fing Night City."
For the first time, she kind of wanted to leave.
Maybe, just maybe—if she ever made it East, she'd see a different world.
But for now, she pulled the curtains shut and headed to the empty space under the stairs.
"Hm… This would be a good spot to hang a sandbag. Maybe some dumbbells, some workout gear... Oh, and I need to restock on MuscleMax."
It was time to push harder. When he came back—
She'd be ready to shine. No more freeloading!
Street Brawler V – entering hardcore training mode!
