A day in Night City starts with the radio.

"Hello! Night City———! I'm your Stanley, and it's been another long day in our City of Dreams. I love this city like you love your mother, I think back then, she threw you at the door of the orphanage, and now she walks into the street and touches you, asking you to smoke a cigarette———! ”

"It's better to listen to some music in the morning."

D directly changed the channel, and then looked out the window again.

"So, you want me to do it?"

"Yes, D."

"Uh-huh..............."

Hearing the voice on the other side, D frowned slightly. She was contacted by another intermediary in Night City, named Regina. Jones. She was originally a reporter for News 56, and she is quite a thoughtful person. She has worked with D a few times, mainly on cyberpsy research——— well, D doesn't have much advice on research. But catching cyber madman D is very good, after all, those cyber psychopaths are some guys who are beyond ordinary people, and even the NCPD can't deal with them.

But in front of D, even a cyber maniac is no different from an ordinary person, and he can easily be knocked down.

Because of this, Regina and D have reached a consensus on catching cyber maniacs, and she hopes that D will capture them alive, and then she will find a way to find a cure for cyber psychosis and investigate how these cyber psychosis are created.

And this time Regina's commission to D is also about cyber maniacs, but the client is a bit surprising, it is a group of wanderers.

According to Regina, one of the teams of wanderers named Adicado was stationed in the Badlands outside of Night City, and when the family sent men to find them again, they found that they had been completely killed. Judging by the traces of the scene, it should have been a cyber lunatic who killed them.

The wanderers are all in the group to keep warm, and their own family members were killed, of course they will not give up, so the patriarch led a group of people to the bad land again to find the cyber madman, the two sides fought a big battle, the patriarch was seriously injured, and the cyber madman also fled.

The Adrecadors are understaffed right now, and they seem to have been targeted by that damn cybermaniac. So in the end, they decided to come forward and find a middleman and ask her to find someone to help them solve this problem.

So I found D.

"Cyber Maniac......... Anyway, you didn't tell me there were cyber maniacs in the badlands. ”

"He's not like any other cybermaniac."

Regina shook her head.

"Truth be told, this guy is just a legend in the Badlands, and I've heard ——— ghosts of the Badlands attack lost travelers when I was a journalist. Of course, there were several attacks on the Badlands at that time, all of which were said to be the work of the Badlands ghosts, saying that they would appear with a storm and kill everything, but we didn't find any evidence. ”

"So this time you found the evidence?"

"That's right, so I need your help, D. Rumors of ghosts in the Badlands have been around for more than a decade, and it's really hard to imagine how such a cyber madman could survive in a place like the Badlands. So, it's best to be able to capture each other alive. ”

"The badlands are so big, where am I going to find them?"

"You don't have to worry about that, it just so happened that I found a wanderer to help, she was also from Adicado, but she left her family to come to Night City to earn a living. Tracking down enemies in the badlands is her specialty. ”

"Alright then, where to meet?"

"Martin Street."

"It's coming soon."

After this, D contacts Lucy, and then goes to the location Regina said, and in an abandoned parking lot, they find the wanderer who is responsible for connecting with them.

"You're the mercenary?"

The woman in front of her was wearing a ponytail, dressed as a wanderer, with her hands in her arms, and looked at D with questions.

"I want Regina to find the best."

"D is the best."

In the face of the woman's questioning, D didn't care, but Lucy raised her eyebrows, stared at the woman and said.

"I see that you are a rookie who has only been in Night City for a short time, and you don't even know D."

"What do you say? I've paid a lot of money! ”

"Your little money isn't enough for D's dinner! If it weren't for ........."

"If you want to quarrel, you can quarrel on the road."

Seeing that the client and Lucy were about to quarrel, D just snorted coldly and spoke.

"To go or not to go? One word? ”

“…………… All right. ”

Hearing D's inquiry, the woman withdrew her gaze, glanced at the other party a few more times, and then opened the car door and got into the car.

"I'll trust Regina this time, I hope she won't cheat me, get in the car!"

Soon, the group got into the car and drove out of the city.

On the way, D also listened to the introduction of the woman——— her name is Panan. Palmer, also a wanderer. In other words, she was actually one of the wanderers who came to Night City with the Adcarddo family, but now she has parted ways with the other party, intending to start a new life in Night City.

Although Panam didn't say why she left the family, it was clear that she still had feelings for the family, so after she heard from her friends in the family about it, she immediately approached Regina for help, who introduced her to D.

Although after the meeting, Panam was full of suspicion about this slender strange man wrapped in a cloak all over his body, but ......... She's going to trust Regina once.

And from Panang, D also heard more detailed information.

Everywhere they go, wanderers will go to abandoned buildings or small towns to collect and find something useful. The Adcardo family was no exception, and one of the search teams went to a nearby abandoned town to search, hoping to return before the storm arrived, but did not make it back.

Of course, at the beginning of the storm, the family camp also contacted the gathering team, knowing that they had collected a lot of good things and were currently sheltering from the storm in a house. Once the storm is over, the search team will return to camp.

And then there was no then.

After the storm passed, the family camp never received any more contact from that team, and there was no response to the call, so they were not at ease, and the patriarch personally led people to find them.

And then they found out......... Horrific corpses.

"Our people were chopped to pieces, and all the supplies they had collected were destroyed. Of course, Thor couldn't swallow this breath, but luckily the other party left traces, so he continued to lead people to search for him, trying to find the murderer. At that time, the second wave of the storm was coming, but Thor refused to listen and forced to continue the investigation, and as a result, they were also attacked. ”

"Do you know what a murderer looks like?"

"I don't know, I just know that the other party is a person, fast, using a mantis knife, and our people didn't even see what the other party looked like, and they were hacked to death by the bastard hiding in the storm. Even Thor was seriously injured, but luckily he wasn't stupid at the time and evacuated with the others. ”

Panam sighed, then slammed on the brakes.

"This is it."

As she spoke, Panam opened the car door and stepped out, while D and Lucy also got out of the car and looked around. It was supposed to be a remote farm——— but of course there was only a barely habitable simple house left, surrounded by bloodstains and the remains of firearms. Lucy stepped forward and reached out to pick up the remains of the weapon, which was almost buried in the sand.

"Is this your weapon?"

"That's right."

Panam nodded.

"What are you going to do? I don't have any clues. ”

"Lucy?"

"Let me see."

Hearing D's inquiry, Lucy looked around, quickly swept around, and then shook her head.

"There were no other electronic devices nearby, and the generator stopped working......... Nothing good to use and no traces remain. ”

"Then we'll just wait here."

As he spoke, D raised his head and looked at the blank Gobi Desert in front of him, and on the other side of the horizon, the yellow sand in the sky seemed to be moving towards it like angry waves and dark clouds.

"I heard Regina say that the ghosts of the badlands always appear with sandstorms, so let's see if this guy has this kind of ability. But until then........."

As he spoke, D looked at Lucy.

"It's almost time for afternoon tea."

“…………… Afternoon tea......? ”

Hearing D's words, Panam looked puzzled, while Lucy's eyes lit up.

"I see! D！ ”

The sandstorm came much faster than one might think, and it didn't take long for the yellow sand to cover the sky so tightly that it was dark outside the window, and the howling wind mixed with stones and gravel hit the walls and windows with a clattering sound. Luckily, the hut, though long abandoned, looks good enough to withstand the wind and sand.

Panang is no stranger to this situation, wanderers often encounter sandstorms during their travels, and they will always seek refuge in some remote, abandoned places.

But Panam couldn't understand the situation in front of him.

I saw D take out a suitcase and put it on the table, and then opened it——— however, what was placed in this suitcase was not any weapons and equipment, but a set of tea sets and desserts!

“……………？？？”

Seeing this, Panan was already confused. But compared to Panan, Lucy seems to have been quite accustomed to this situation, only to see that when D took out the tea set, she had already picked up the boiling water and poured it into the teapot, and then a wisp of fragrance overflowed, while the two held the steaming teacup in their hands, picked up a piece of cake and put it in their mouths, and then slowly sat down on the sofa.

"Hoo ..............."

"Wait, what the hell are you doing here?"

Looking at the scene in front of him, Panan couldn't bear it anymore.

We're here to chase cybermaniacs, not camping!

"What's the matter, Miss Pannan, anyway, you should enjoy the moment before the goal comes."

Lucy was also sitting on the sofa at this time, with her eyes closed and her face comfortable. At first, she also thought it was bad to do this, but ......... Well, who told D that everything he brought was too delicious?

You must know that D's desserts are made with raw organic food, and the taste is completely different from ordinary industrial manufactured products. Lucy is also a girl, so if there is a delicious dessert, she will not miss it. Not to mention that D's tea is also good.........

"I still think the wine is better."

Seeing that the two of them looked like salted fish, Panan frowned, also picked up the teacup and took a sip, and then muttered.

"It's bitter, and I don't know where it tastes."

"Drinking alcohol is not good for your health."

While drinking tea and tasting cookies, D said lightly.

"Tasting food, rejuvenating the body and mind, can also relax the mind, and at the same time can be used as bait."

“……… Bait? ”

"That's right, you see, isn't that the bait?"

"Huh?"

Hearing D's words, Panam was stunned for a moment, and at the same time, she seemed to hear something.

"Da Da Da......... Da Da Da ........."

At first glance, it sounded like the sound of sand and stone hitting the glass and walls, but in normal times, I'm afraid Panan wouldn't care at all. But after D's reminder, for some reason, Panan suddenly felt that something was not quite right with this voice. She subconsciously turned her head and looked out the window. I saw that it was still dark outside the window, and the sand and gravel were flying all over the sky, shrouding everything in darkness.

However, at this moment, suddenly, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of Panan, and it was stuck to the glass, staring at her deadly.

It was a distorted, weird, ugly face!