At two in the morning, Jiang Heng returned to his apartment. After taking a shower, he put on a bathrobe, held a glass of red wine, and went outside. Leaning on the railing at the edge, he admired the night view of Night City.
It has to be said, Night City truly deserved its name. The night scenery was truly beautiful.
Unfortunately, beneath this beautiful exterior lay endless filth and corruption.
After finishing his glass of red wine, Jiang Heng went back inside to rest.
He had no idea that Lucy would actually go to the Lai Sheng Nightclub to inquire about him.
Upon learning some information about Jiang Heng, Lucy was simply stunned. The guy had told the truth, and even seemed to be understating things.
But Lucy couldn't fathom how a person who hadn't even installed a single cybernetic enhancement could complete those tough mercenary missions.
"Could he be like those guys from the Animal Gang who use all kinds of hormones and testosterone? But that physique doesn't look like the kind that comes from using animal supplements like hormones either." Lucy couldn't figure it out.
The Animal Gang was a unique gang in Night City. They didn't use traditional cybernetics but instead relied on massive doses of testosterone, growth hormones, and other animal supplements to enhance their bodies.
They were also obsessed with the untamed side of humanity—their wild nature. They held an almost dangerous devotion to their self-identity, which was why the gang was called the "Animal Gang."
While animal supplements could enhance the body, they also came with side effects, such as excessive growth and a large physique.
It was why nearly everyone in the Animal Gang was a hulking brute.
Although Jiang Heng was six feet tall and had a sturdy, muscular build, his muscles looked natural. They were incredibly strong yet aesthetically pleasing, which was impossible for steroid-induced muscles.
Fortunately, Lucy wasn't the kind to dwell on things. If she couldn't figure it out, then she wouldn't. After all, this was Night City. Even dead people could be resurrected. What was impossible?
Lucy then began to consider whether or not to team up with Jiang Heng.
Just as Jiang Heng had said, he knew Rogue, and the jobs Rogue gave out were bound to be lucrative. After all, ordinary jobs wouldn't even pique his interest.
With Jiang Heng's skills, if they teamed up, they'd definitely make more money than selling second-hand chips.
For a moment, Lucy was tempted. Her only concern was Jiang Heng's character. After all, she knew absolutely nothing about him.
"Hey, why am I worrying? I'm a hacker. All I need to do is help from behind the scenes. Even if he wants to screw me over, he can't," she said to herself.
In the end, Lucy convinced herself. Perhaps, after all these years of being alone, she was just lonely.
Lucy had been an orphan since she was little. As a child, she and a group of friends were selected by the Arasaka Corporation. They were constantly indoctrinated with the idea of growing up and serving the company.
Holding onto this dream, which wasn't their own, Lucy and her friends persevered. They endured the grueling hacker training.
However, even this dream that didn't belong to them was actually fabricated by the Arasaka Corporation. Arasaka's true objective was to cultivate Lucy and her friends as tools to dig up vast amounts of lost data, information, and technology from the old Net.
To enter the old Net, they needed to breach the Black Wall. To breach the Black Wall, they had to "deep dive." This meant hackers using their own consciousness to enter the cybernetic world.
Directly entering the network with consciousness inherently carried a huge risk. If a consciousness was attacked, the person would die. The old Net was swarming with illegal malware and attacking AIs. Deep diving into the old Net was basically suicide.
Many of Lucy's friends had perished this way. Later, with the mentality of "We're going to die anyway, so why not try?", Lucy and several surviving friends fought back. They used the hacker skills Arasaka had taught them to kill the guards and attempt to escape the company. However, in the end, only Lucy managed to get away.
After escaping the Arasaka cage, Lucy never dared to stay in one place for long. She'd been to many cities over the years, and had only arrived in Night City recently. She discovered that this was a paradise for someone who wanted to disappear, so she chose to settle here temporarily.
Years of living on the run had left Lucy exhausted, both physically and mentally. She was filled with loneliness and isolation.
Therefore, when Jiang Heng extended his invitation, Lucy was already tempted, even though she didn't know him at all.
But Lucy was incredibly cautious and wouldn't easily agree.
So she personally went to the Lai Sheng Nightclub to inquire about Jiang Heng. And surprisingly, Jiang Heng had given her quite a few pleasant surprises.
Lucy wanted to try to connect with Jiang Heng. If she could find a confidant in this cold world, maybe her life wouldn't be in vain.