Cyberpunk: I'm Not a Scavenger - Chapter 27: Post-Battle Summary (Patreon)

“Hello there, Ms. Cat Ears.”

Pantheon eyed Sasha’s cat-ear hairstyle with interest. He was rather tempted to see how it felt.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. King.” Sasha bowed apologetically. “Rebecca was frightened. She didn’t mean any harm. Thank you so much for helping us. Without you, we could’ve been in serious trouble today.”

Pantheon silently approved. As expected, Sasha was the sensible one.

Rebecca, meanwhile, snorted and pouted at the black cat in his arms.

“Give me back the kitty, and I’ll admit you’re a good guy.”

Pantheon shrugged.

“Why don’t you ask the cat? See who it wants to stay with.”

Rebecca had been the one feeding it, so she was certain it would choose her. She put on the most pitiful expression she could manage and looked pleadingly at the kitten.

“Meow.”

As if it couldn't bear to look at her, the black cat buried its head against Pantheon’s chest and presented Rebecca with its backside.

BOOM!

Rebecca looked as though she'd been struck by lightning. She stumbled back two steps in disbelief.

“Come on, Rebecca. Enough.”

Sasha soothed her affectionately, then turned to Pantheon again.

“Mr. King, thank you for saving us. Here's my personal contact information. If you ever need help, please don't hesitate to call.”

Pantheon smiled and nodded. With the gift box in one hand and the cat tucked in his other arm, he turned toward the alley entrance.

“Hey! Old man!”

Rebecca had called after him.

“I... I owe you one for today! Next time, drinks are on me!”

Her face was bright red, and she'd practically shouted the words. Then she added, much more quietly, “Thanks...”

Pantheon smirked. Without turning around, he waved over his shoulder and vanished into the disorderly crowd.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Incoming call: Wakako Okada.

“King, you've caused me quite a bit of trouble. Next time you decide to act, try to be more discreet. I don't appreciate you terrifying my poor, innocent customers.”

Wakako looked distinctly displeased. She might have been sitting in her office, but she knew exactly what had happened outside. Pantheon realized he'd been a little heavy-handed and caused a minor incident, so he did something quite unusual for him. He took the criticism without arguing.

Seeing him behave so reasonably, Wakako sighed and let the matter drop.

“Thank you for saving that girl. I never imagined the Scavengers would dare cause trouble on my turf. I've evidently been too lenient. Young punks have started thinking they can ignore my rules.”

There was a trace of weary reflection in her voice. She treated Pantheon kindly enough, like a friendly old lady from the neighborhood, but that was merely one side of her. Wakako had survived countless gang struggles and outlasted every rival. A woman with a soft heart wouldn't have made it this far. The local Scavengers were in for a very unpleasant time.

“We'll leave today's incident at that. Just don't let it happen again.”

Pantheon made a few agreeable noises and ended the call. Still carrying the black cat, which absolutely refused to leave him, he made his way out of the chaos on Jig-Jig Street.

The moment he got back into the car, he sensed something was wrong.

Lucy sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed and a frosty expression on her beautiful face. She stared at him without a word. Pantheon pretended not to notice, deposited the gift box and the cat on the back seat, and grinned.

“Who pissed you off this time? Is that jealousy I smell?”

“Why would you risk your life for a bunch of strangers? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!”

She ignored the teasing. Beneath her anger, Pantheon could hear how badly she'd been frightened.

Dangerous? Had it been? That was news to him. But he knew Lucy was worried about him, so he didn't say what he was thinking.

“Come on, you know what I can do. Those losers couldn't hurt me if they tried. I just happened to be passing by.”

He laughed it off, wearing his usual shameless grin.

“Which of those two girls was prettier?” Lucy asked abruptly.

Sasha, obviously. Smart, beautiful, straight out of an anime, and she had that whole cat-girl thing going for her. What wasn't there to like? Rebecca, on the other hand, was a foul-tempered little firecracker with thick legs. Not his type, though plenty of degenerates would surely disagree.

All those thoughts passed through his head in an instant. One look at Lucy's puffed-up cheeks, however, told him exactly what answer she wanted.

“My Lucy, of course. Nobody's prettier than you.”

He laid his head in her lap and looked up with an exaggeratedly innocent wink. Lucy knew perfectly well he was fooling around, but she couldn't help laughing. With a soft sigh, she ran her fingers through his hair.

In Night City, simply being with someone you loved was a rare enough blessing. She didn't want to waste their time together dwelling on things like this. Still, she'd made a private decision. Tonight, she was going to wear Pantheon out completely.

...

Night settled over the city. In the distance, another spacecraft climbed into the sky from Night City's orbital spaceport, bound for space.

Pantheon stood by the window in a wonderfully good mood, enjoying the lingering satisfaction of their time together. Lucy, meanwhile, slept soundly in bed. She had clearly overestimated her stamina.

He hadn't had a chance to inspect the traits he'd acquired earlier. Now was as good a time as any.

[Genius Netrunner] (Blue)

Description: A one-in-ten-thousand genius. There are ten thousand of them here.

Effect: Intelligence +3. Special effect: Doubles learning efficiency for netrunning techniques.

[Ace Attorney] (Blue)

Description: Objection!

Effect: Cool +3. Special effect: Makes it easier to identify flaws in an opponent's words, behavior, or reasoning.

[Senior Engineer] (Purple)

Description: This isn't just any engineer. This one's the stuff of legend.

Effect: Intelligence +4, Technical Ability +4. Special effect: Disassembling objects improves your understanding of them and allows you to recreate them.

Pantheon broke into a delighted grin as he examined their effects. These three traits filled precisely the gaps in his abilities.

System, keep them all! Add the points!

This transformation felt unlike anything before. His scalp began to itch, almost as though he were growing an entirely new brain. The sensation spread from his spine and gradually swept through the rest of his body. Along with the physical changes, an immense body of knowledge from a senior Militech engineer poured into his mind.

Pantheon clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as sweat ran down his temples. He had no idea how much time passed before the transformation finally ended. When it did, he dropped onto the sofa and lay there limp with exhaustion.

He summoned the familiar status panel. His attributes were almost unrecognizable.

[Name: Pantheon]

[Attributes]

Body: 14 (+8)

Reflexes: 10 (+5)

Intelligence: 13 (+7)

Cool: 10 (+3)

Technical Ability: 10 (+4)

[Essence: 279]

[Items: [Magnetically Contained Plasma Energy Shield] (Blue)]

[Abilities: [Dead Eye] (Red), [Stronger with Every Battle] (Blue)]

[Traits: [Senior Engineer] (Purple), [Genius Netrunner] (Blue), [Ace Attorney] (Blue), [Battlefield Instinct] (Blue), [Scientific Superpower] (Blue), [Cyberware Capacity Upgrade] (Blue), [Built Different] (Green), [Quick Start] (Green), [Workhorse] (White)]

Looking at the panel, Pantheon couldn't hold back his laughter. Every one of his attributes had now reached at least ten points. All his basic physical abilities were at the limits of an ordinary human, and he felt as though he could take on three versions of his former self at once.

That was the benefit of fixing his weaknesses. Now his strengths could reach even greater heights. The foundation for victory was in place. All he had to do was make the most of his potential.

He knew it wouldn't be easy, but Pantheon had made up his mind. He would put his talents to work in Night City and build a dynasty of his own.