Here comes the chicken soup

There was no sense of pressure, either.

The two chatted a little longer before ending the call.

Just then, the system, which had been silent for ages, finally came online.

You figured AR Glasses weren't just toys for the rich and still had room for improvement. A few small adjustments would make it possible. Spend 5 potential points to obtain the improved blueprint?

Su Xiao froze for a moment.

Then delight swept over him.

So the skill "I Guess" triggered passively.

Well, damn. Well, damn!

He had spent nearly half a year with the Buckle Family.

And plenty of time had passed since he arrived in Night City.

Only now had his real cheat finally come online.

Talk about slacking off.

What on earth infected it with this chronic habit of flaking out?

Done complaining, Su Xiao brought up the panel.

He took a look.

He had earned 3 potential points fighting off Serpent Nation warriors back at the Buckle Family camp.

Later, the cyberpsycho in that little town outside Night City had contributed another 2 potential points.

Exactly 5, no more and no less.

Spent 5 potential points. Obtained improved blueprint-Tactical Goggles.

The next instant, a flood of blueprint details and manufacturing knowledge poured into Su Xiao's mind like rivers rushing into the sea.

Even the learning chips used by rich kids uploaded knowledge very slowly, and only a portion could be uploaded each day.

If anyone tried taking it in the way Su Xiao did, their head would burst like a watermelon.

But Su Xiao had the system's protection. Though his head throbbed painfully,

he still absorbed all the knowledge.

With a thought,

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

Su Xiao left the garage and found Jack,

who was busy helping V in the Wolf Bar.

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

V's praise was all feeling and no finesse.

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

"You can cook Chinese food? The real, authentic kind?"

Night City had quite a few Ceresians and Ceresian restaurants.

There was even a Ceresian neighborhood in Watson District called Chinatown.

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

Most had adapted their food to suit American tastes.

Jack had always wanted to try truly authentic Chinese food.

He had even considered traveling to Ceres once, only for his empty wallet to bluntly turn him down: "No, you don't!"

Rubbing his hands together, Jack walked away in high spirits.

V wanted to stay and help.

But Su Xiao ushered her out of the kitchen with a smile, too.

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

"There are a few things I need. Sorry for the trouble, but could you buy them for me?"

"Ingredients for the Chinese food, right?"

"Yeah, but some of them aren't for cooking. They're important to me, too. I'll need you to buy those from Padre."

"No problem. Leave it all to me."

Jack agreed without a second thought.

So Su Xiao sent Jack the list of materials needed to make the Tactical Goggles through his AR Glasses.

A few days later, Padre's men delivered the materials Su Xiao needed.

He borrowed Jack's garage and shut himself inside.

V, Jack, Mrs. Wells, and Peppy all tacitly agreed not to disturb him.

They brought food and water to the closed garage door.

At dinner, they brought another serving and collected the plates and water bottles.

Time ticked by.

The night grew late.

Even the Wolf Bar closed for the night.

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

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

The next day was the same.

So was the third.

This continued until three days had passed.

Inside the garage,

Su Xiao stretched as far as he could, easing his fatigue.

A black-and-blue mask rested on the workbench before him.

These were the Tactical Goggles he had finally finished after three days of work.

Su Xiao put them on.

The Tactical Goggles were large.

Once on, they covered almost his entire face, leaving only his forehead and hair exposed.

Yet they did not feel stuffy at all.

They were very breathable.

Visibility was good, and he could zoom in on distant objects.

Everything was exceptionally clear.

Besides the communication, money transfer, and personal link functions already available on the AR Glasses,

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

The scanning mode was particularly notable.

In 2077, weapons manufacturers had developed a new type of grenade called a recon grenade.

These grenades could detect personnel positions within a certain range and feed that information back to the user's optical implants.

The Tactical Goggles came equipped with a scanning mode that achieved the same effect as a recon grenade.

It did not just work in open spaces. It could detect people through walls, too.

Unless special materials had been used, or the walls had an anti-reconnaissance coating.

Su Xiao tested the night vision and thermal imaging functions separately first and was very pleased.

Then he switched to scanning mode.

A ring of red light spread outward in every direction.

His view did not turn into the white-hot, black-hot, or color display of thermal imaging, nor the green wash of night vision.

Instead, the image looked exactly as it had before.

Only now, many red human outlines had appeared.

These were the people detected by the scanning mode.

It could detect them even through thick walls.

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

each outline also displayed the person's registered name and personal information in real time.

He could even see Jack sneaking another drink in the bar, Mrs. Wells angrily taking away his bottle, and V in the bathroom...

Ahem.

Su Xiao quietly turned off scanning mode.

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

Anti-detection interference.

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

In other words, as long as Su Xiao wore them, he could stroll brazenly past surveillance cameras without worrying about his real appearance being recorded.

The entire human figure in the recording would be blurred, automatically covered by a thick layer of pixelation.

Chapter 27: Here comes the chicken soup

"Sebastian Ibarra."

At the sound of the voice, Padre lifted his gaze from the Bible on the dining table before him and slowly raised his head.

He saw a man "standing" before him.

The man wore a suit and tie.

A watch gleaming silver adorned his wrist.

His leather shoes were polished to a shine.

He looked every inch a corp dog.

But more striking than his clothes were his eyes.

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

On the right, however, three narrow optical implants were arranged in a vertical row.

Those modified, spiderlike compound eyes gave off an inexplicable sense of pressure and menace.

"Waiting for someone?"

"No, I came to eat." Padre closed his Bible and pushed it aside, smiling faintly. "The food at Tom's Restaurant is quite good, so I made a special trip to try it. But you..."

Padre looked the man over. "Rumor has it you rarely leave Santo Domingo, Faraday."

"It's nice to get out and about once in a while."

Without waiting for an invitation, Faraday sat down across from Padre.

He rested both elbows on the table, interlaced his fingers, and gently settled his chin on the backs of his hands.

The air seemed to grow considerably colder.

With Faraday's four optical implants fixed unblinkingly on them, anyone else would have felt a chill down their spine and their hair standing on end.

Yet Padre seemed utterly untroubled. He looked like an ordinary, balding old man chatting with a neighbor.