Chicken Soup Is Here

Nor did it feel oppressive in the slightest.

The two continued chatting for a while before finally ending the call.

At that moment, the system, which had been silent for a long time, finally came online.

"Your I Guess skill has determined that AR Glasses aren't merely toys for the rich, and that they have room for improvement. A few adjustments will be enough to achieve it. Would you like to spend 5 Potential Points to obtain the improved blueprint?"

Su Xiao froze for a moment.

Then he was overjoyed.

So the I Guess skill triggered passively.

What a guy. Su Xiao couldn't help exclaiming, "What a guy."

He had stayed with the Buckle Family for nearly half a year.

Now that he had arrived in Night City, even more time had passed.

His true golden finger had finally come online.

It had taken its sweet time.

What on earth had infected it with such a pigeon-like attribute?

After finishing his complaints, Su Xiao summoned the panel.

He took a look.

Earlier, while resisting Serpent Nation warriors at the Buckle Family camp, he had obtained 3 Potential Points.

Later, the Cyberpsychosis in that small town outside Night City had contributed another 2 Potential Points.

Not one more, not one less—exactly 5 points.

"5 Potential Points have been consumed. Improved blueprint obtained—Tactical Goggles."

In the next moment, a massive amount of blueprint content and manufacturing knowledge poured into Su Xiao's mind like rivers flowing into the sea.

Even the learning chips used by the children of rich families uploaded knowledge very slowly, and they could only upload a portion each day.

If someone like Su Xiao received it directly, his head would have exploded like a watermelon.

Fortunately, he had the system's protection. Although his skull hurt terribly,

he still absorbed all the knowledge.

With a thought,

the materials required to manufacture the Tactical Goggles appeared clearly in his mind.

Su Xiao left the garage and found Jack, who was helping V with something

at the Wolf Bar.

"Are these the AR Glasses you bought from the Padre? They look really good on you."

V's praise was full of feeling, without the slightest hint of insincerity.

"Thanks. You've all worked hard. Leave dinner to me tonight. I'll show you what I can do."

"You can cook Ceresian food? The real thing?"

There were quite a few Ceresians and Ceresian restaurants in Night City.

There was even an area in Watson District where Ceresians gathered, called Chinatown.

However, there were very few truly authentic Ceresian restaurants in Night City.

Most had been localized to suit American tastes.

Jack had always wanted to try truly authentic Ceresian food.

He had even once considered traveling to Ceres, but his painfully empty wallet had rudely rejected him—"No, you don't!"

Jack rubbed his hands and happily walked away.

V wanted to stay and help.

However, Su Xiao also laughingly pushed him out of the kitchen.

Once Su Xiao was alone in the kitchen, he seemed to think of something and called Jack.

"I need you to buy some things for me. Sorry for the trouble."

"Ingredients for Ceresian food, right?"

"Yes, but there are also some things unrelated to Ceresian food. They're important to me too, and you'll need to buy them from the Padre."

"No problem. Leave it all to me."

Jack agreed readily without giving it a second thought.

Su Xiao then sent Jack the materials needed to manufacture the Tactical Goggles through the AR Glasses.

The materials Su Xiao needed were delivered a few days later by one of the Padre's men.

He borrowed Jack's garage and locked himself inside.

V, Jack, Mrs. Wells, and Peppy all tacitly refrained from disturbing Su Xiao.

They delivered food and water to the tightly shut garage door.

Then they delivered another serving at dinnertime and collected the plates and water bottles.

Time passed bit by bit.

Night gradually deepened.

Even the Wolf Bar closed for the night.

The garage door remained tightly shut, showing no sign of opening.

V and Jack simply made do with spending the night at the bar.

The next day was the same.

The third day was the same as well.

This continued until three days later.

Inside the garage,

Su Xiao stretched his body as hard as he could, easing his exhaustion.

A black-and-blue mask lay on the workbench in front of him.

This was the Tactical Goggles he had finally managed to manufacture after spending three days on them.

Su Xiao put them on.

The Tactical Goggles were large.

Once worn, they covered almost half his face, exposing only his forehead and hair.

But they did not feel stuffy at all.

They were remarkably well ventilated.

The field of vision was excellent, and he could zoom in on or pull back from distant objects.

Everything was exceptionally clear.

Besides the communication, money transfer, and personal-link functions already included in the AR Glasses,

the Tactical Goggles also had night vision, thermal imaging, and scanning modes.

The scanning mode was especially impressive.

In 2077, weapons manufacturers had developed a new type of grenade called the Reconnaissance Grenade.

This grenade could detect the deployment of personnel within a certain range and feed the information back to the user's cyberoptics.

The Tactical Goggles came with a scanning mode that had the same effect as a Reconnaissance Grenade.

It could detect targets not only across open ground but through walls as well.

The only exceptions were special materials or walls coated with anti-surveillance detection paint.

Su Xiao tested the night vision and thermal imaging functions separately first and was extremely satisfied.

Then he switched to scanning mode.

A ring of red light spread in all directions.

The image in his field of vision did not turn into the white-hot, black-hot, or colored display of thermal imaging, nor did it become an expanse of sickly green like night-vision goggles.

Instead, the image remained exactly as it had been before.

There were simply many more red human-shaped outlines.

These were the people detected by scanning mode.

They could be detected even through thick walls.

Moreover, because the Tactical Goggles were connected to the NCPD database,

each human-shaped outline displayed the person's registered name and personal information from the NCPD database in real time.

He could even see Jack secretly drinking in the bar again, only for Mrs. Wells to angrily take away his bottle, as well as V in the bathroom...

Ahem.

Su Xiao silently switched off scanning mode.

Besides those active functions, there was also a passive function.

Anti-surveillance interference.

It caused any scan targeting someone wearing the Tactical Goggles to fail.

In other words, as long as Su Xiao wore these Tactical Goggles, he would not have to worry about revealing his true appearance even if he swaggered directly beneath a surveillance camera.

The entire human-shaped outline captured on camera would be blurred, automatically covered by a thick layer of mosaic.

Chapter 27: Chicken Soup Is Here

"Sebastian Ibarra."

Hearing the voice, the Padre moved his gaze away from the Bible resting on the dining table before him and slowly raised his head.

He saw a man "standing" in front of him.

The man wore a suit and tie.

A watch gleaming with silver light adorned his wrist.

His leather shoes had been polished to a mirror shine.

He was dressed like a Corp Dog.

However, more eye-catching than his outfit were the man's eyes.

His left eye was no different from an ordinary person's.

His right eye, however, consisted of three narrow cybernetic eyes arranged vertically downward.

These spider-like modified compound eyes gave off a strange sense of pressure and chill.

"Waiting for someone?"

"No, I'm here to eat." The Padre closed the Bible, pushed it aside, and smiled faintly. "The food at Tom's Restaurant is quite good, so I came specifically to try it. As for you..."

The Padre sized up the man. "Weren't you said to rarely leave Santo Domingo, Faraday?"

"Coming outside for a walk once in a while isn't so bad."

Faraday sat down in front of the Padre without waiting for an invitation.

He rested both elbows on the table, clasped his hands together, and lightly propped his chin on the backs of his hands.

The temperature in the air seemed to drop considerably.

With Faraday's four cybernetic eyes fixed on him without moving, anyone else would have felt a chill run down their spine, with every hair standing on end.

Yet the Padre seemed completely untroubled. He looked like nothing more than an ordinary, elderly, balding man making small talk with a neighbor.