Chapter Summaries

Kiryu Baima and Clementi met under armed guard to discuss who had attacked both their groups, and Clementi suspected Father Ibara’s forces. Kiryu believed him but demanded compensation anyway, threatening that the Kiryu Group could fight a war on two fronts.

• Kiryu Baima and Clementi agreed to bring only three men each into the Imperial Hotel and had the private room checked for danger.
• Kiryu Baima explained that he suspected a third party had attacked both groups and warned that the hotel’s food could be poisoned.
• Clementi said Father Ibara’s forces were the likeliest attackers, though neither man knew how they had obtained precise intelligence.
• Kiryu Baima told Clementi he believed the Clementi Family was innocent but demanded compensation for his losses.
• Clementi objected that his family had suffered greater losses, while Kiryu threatened war and warned that Clementi could not afford to fight on two fronts.

Su Xiao ambushed the meeting between Kiryu Baima and Clementi, killing Baima and his three men before taking Clementi hostage. After Su Xiao released Clementi, gunfire from Clementi’s men struck Kiryu Group members entering the room, while the chapter revealed that Kuroda Kazuma and Utsugi Goro had been discussing the supposed misunderstanding ten minutes earlier.

• Clementi agreed to compensate Kiryu Baima after the two men haggled over terms.
• Su Xiao stabbed Kiryu Baima and killed Baima’s three men before the Kiryu Group could react.
• Clementi’s men opened fire, but their bullets bounced off Su Xiao’s Exoskeleton Armor as Clementi tried to flee.
• Su Xiao caught Clementi at the door and held Muramasa to his neck while Clementi’s men froze.
• Su Xiao released Clementi and shoved him forward, causing Clementi’s men to fire at Kiryu Group members entering the room.
• Ten minutes earlier, Utsugi Goro asked Kuroda Kazuma for a light and claimed the afternoon’s attack had been a misunderstanding.

After Utsugi Goro and Kuroda Kazuma entered the Imperial Hotel to find Lord Senma, they discovered that Kiryu Baima and his guards were dead and Utsugi had been shot. Kuroda’s report sparked a deadly battle between the Kiryu Group and the Clementi Family, which drew reinforcements from the Tiger Claws Gang.

• The wakagashira selected Kuroda Kazuma and Utsugi Goro to enter the Imperial Hotel while the Kiryu Group and Clementi Family brawled outside.
• Utsugi Goro found the lobby manager hiding and forced him to reveal the location of the luxury private room.
• As Utsugi Goro opened the room’s door, the Clementi Family men inside shot him, while Kuroda Kazuma took cover and survived.
• Kuroda Kazuma saw Kiryu Baima and his three guards dead, then fled and told the wakagashira that the Clementi Family had killed Utsugi Goro and Lord Senma.
• The wakagashira drew his smart pistol and ordered the Kiryu Group to attack, escalating the brawl into a bloody gun battle.
• Kiryu Group reinforcements arrived, while the distant Sixth Street Gang could not reach the Clementi Family in time.

Su Xiao explained how he manipulated the Imperial Hotel meeting to make the Kiryu Group blame the Clementi Family for Kiryu Baima’s death, triggering war between the gangs. The Clementi Family faced a growing threat from both the Kiryu Group and Valentino Gang families.

• Su Xiao described how he infiltrated the Imperial Hotel under camouflage, killed Kiryu Baima and his bodyguards, then provoked a firefight that made Clementi’s men appear responsible.
• The Kiryu Group rejected Clementi’s peace offers with the code phrase “Tora, tora, tora” and prepared for war.
• The Clementi Family began preparing for conflict as the Kiryu Group’s revenge campaign became unavoidable.
• The Valentino Gang’s Manuel, Juan, Gonzalez, and Hernandez families, along with Gustavo, saw the conflict as a chance to drive the Clementi Family out of the Glen.
• The chapter recounted that the Clementi Family had entered the Glen after a civil war fractured the Valentino Gang.

The Valentino families moved to seize Clementi territory in The Glen despite Su Xiao’s warning, while Clementi’s men had booby-trapped the abandoned establishments. The traps devastated the families’ advancing forces, and Juan was left deciding whether to recall his men.

• Su Xiao warned Manuel and Gustavo not to touch Clementi territory, and Gustavo stayed put while Manuel sent only half his men.
• Juan sent his family’s forces to claim abandoned Clementi establishments, alongside the Gonzalez, Hernandez, and Manuel families, while Gustavo and the priest’s forces held back.
• Juan’s men entered an empty nightclub and triggered a booby trap when an underling took a bottle of tequila from a cabinet.
• Booby traps exploded across former Clementi territory, causing heavy casualties, especially among Juan’s forces.
• Juan heard the casualty report at his base, and his second-in-command asked whether they should pull the men back.

Su Xiao assassinated Juan to weaken the Juan Family, then learned that the priest had awakened and gone to the hospital. The priest specifically asked to see Su Xiao, who entered his ward to meet him.

• Juan learned that nearly half his men were dead and the Juan Family had gained nothing, then dismissed his deputy.
• After the deputy left, Su Xiao shot Juan through the window and escaped across the rooftops under Optical Camouflage.
• Su Xiao called a Delamain Taxi and learned from Jack that the priest had awakened.
• At the hospital, Marcus told Su Xiao that the priest needed a long recovery, and the priest asked to see Su Xiao alone.
• Su Xiao entered the ward, and the priest greeted him weakly.

Su Xiao persuaded Padre to consider Jack as his successor, and Padre agreed to evaluate him after leaving the hospital. Jack and his crew prepared to act, while Clementi considered seeking help from Militech against the Kiryu Group.

• Su Xiao told Padre about events on the streets and urged him to consider a successor rather than fight indefinitely.
• Padre agreed to assess Jack as a potential successor after he was discharged, while warning that Jack still had much to learn.
• Su Xiao told Jack and Marcus that Padre intended to groom Jack, and Jack eagerly offered to follow Su Xiao’s lead.
• Su Xiao said it was time for Jack and the others to stop lying low and get back into action.
• Clementi weighed asking Militech executives to help the Clementi Family deal with the Kiryu Group when someone knocked on his office door.

Su Xiao assassinated Clementi as Jack’s forces struck the Clementi Family’s glitter operations, escalating Night City’s gang war until the Riot Control Unit intervened. On the twelfth evening, Jack received a call from a New American military-looking man who identified himself as Firepower.

• Su Xiao infiltrated the Clementi compound, killed Clementi, and fought his way out past the family’s members.
• Jack led the priest’s men in a counterattack against the Clementi Family’s secret glitter shops, using intelligence from Rogue.
• The gang war spread across Night City, drawing in mercenaries and prompting Mayor Ryan to authorize the Riot Control Unit’s violent crackdown.
• Jack answered an unfamiliar call at the priest’s safehouse, and the caller introduced himself as Firepower.

Su Xiao and Jack rejected Cannon’s offer to end the war between the Clementi Family and their forces, even after Cannon produced Nikola’s corpse. Su Xiao explained that the Clementi Family had forfeited any chance of peace by attempting to assassinate the priest, leaving Cannon with few allies and no credible leverage.

• Cannon called Jack to propose a ceasefire and offered compensation from the Clementi Family.
• Su Xiao told Jack to demand Nikola’s head, and Cannon soon showed Nikola’s dead body during a second call.
• Su Xiao hired Rogue to send Emmerich, Crispin, and her best mercenaries to kill Cannon.
• Jack stalled while Cannon offered up to fifty million euros, but Su Xiao rejected the offer and said the war would continue.
• Cannon threatened to seek help from other Sixth Street families and Militech, but Su Xiao dismissed both claims, leaving Cannon furious.

Su Xiao learned that Padre had named Jack his successor and spent the morning talking with Johnny, who had become a shut-in after waking in a robot body. Johnny decided he wanted to visit Rogue, though he had not figured out what to say to her.

• Emmerich reported that his men had killed Cannon and everyone in the Clementi compound, ending the Clementi Family and allowing the Sixth Street families and Kiryu Group to agree to a ceasefire.
• The Juan Family weakened in a leadership struggle after Juan's assassination, and Padre's forces took its territory.
• A month after leaving the hospital, Padre announced that Jack would succeed him, surprising some of his men but giving Jack years to prepare.
• Su Xiao found Johnny playing a computer game at home and discussed Padre, Kerry, and Johnny's decision to attack Arasaka Tower.
• Johnny asked Su Xiao to take him to see Rogue, and Su Xiao agreed, prompting Johnny to freeze when he realized they were leaving immediately.

Su Xiao brought Johnny Silverhand, whose consciousness was inside a small robot, to the Afterlife to meet Rogue. After Rogue doubted his claim, Johnny tried to prove his identity with a gesture, leaving Su Xiao confused.

• Su Xiao and Johnny entered the Afterlife after Emmerich let them pass.
• Su Xiao heard a tanned young woman argue with Rogue and warn him to be careful doing business with her.
• Su Xiao greeted Rogue and thanked her for providing information on the Clementi Family job.
• Johnny recognized Rogue and complained about her while Su Xiao explained that she both loved and hated Johnny.
• Su Xiao told Rogue that Johnny's consciousness was inside the robot, and Johnny attempted to prove it with a strange mechanical-leg gesture.

Su Xiao introduced Rogue to Johnny Silverhand, who convinced her he was real, and Rogue later asked Su Xiao to help with a job connected to the Relic. The chapter ended with Rogue revealing that Anders Hellman had defected from Arasaka and pointing to a chip as a clue to his whereabouts.

• Su Xiao explained to Rogue that Johnny Silverhand was stored inside the robot, and Johnny spoke with her privately until she accepted that he was real.
• Claire told Su Xiao that Rogue had set up a Nomad woman with a partner and that something had happened between them.
• Two days later, Rogue summoned Su Xiao, V, and Lucy to the Afterlife and asked Su Xiao to help free Johnny from the robot shell, though he said he could not do it.
• Rogue revealed that Anders Hellman had designed the Relic, had left Arasaka, and pointed to a chip on the table as a clue to where he had gone.

Su Xiao learned that Militech planned to move Herman out of Night City and agreed to prepare an ambush in Jackson Plains with Rogue’s help. Rogue chose the stranded Nomad Panam Palmer as their guide, and the chapter ended with her explaining that Panam had left her family over a dispute involving their future and Nomad ideals.

• Su Xiao read Rogue’s intel that Herman had joined Militech and was scheduled to leave Night City the day after tomorrow.
• Rogue explained that Militech would hide Herman in a transport convoy guarded by drones and security robots, then revealed the ambush site would be Jackson Plains.
• Rogue offered to send Emmerich and her people, but said they also needed a local guide; Su Xiao identified Panam Palmer as the likely choice.
• Rogue told Su Xiao that Panam’s former partner had stolen her cargo and vehicle, leaving her in need of work and able to guide them through the desert.
• Su Xiao asked why Panam had come to the city, and Rogue said Panam had left her family over their future and Nomad ideals.

Su Xiao recruited Panam to guide him and his team to an ambush site in exchange for helping her recover her car and cargo. After learning Nash had stolen them, Panam agreed to stop at her family’s Aldecaldos camp for weapons before heading to Stone Ridge Mountain, and they reached the camp after driving through the Badlands.

• Su Xiao called Panam and persuaded her to meet him at an abandoned rail freight yard by offering to recover her car and cargo.
• Panam agreed to guide Su Xiao, V, and Lucy to a suitable ambush site in exchange for help retrieving her belongings.
• Su Xiao told Panam that Nash and the Random Blade Society had stolen her car and cargo and were planning a deal at Stone Ridge Mountain.
• Panam arranged for the buyers to be stood up and said they needed to stop at her Aldecaldos family camp so she could get weapons.
• Su Xiao, V, and Lucy followed Panam along Highway 9 into the Badlands, where they spotted the camp after a little over an hour.

Panam sought help from Mitch and Scorpion to recover her car from the Random Blade Society, but they could only lend her equipment because their family leader, Saul, had forbidden them from leaving camp. As they drove toward Stone Ridge Mountain, Panam told Su Xiao she believed Saul’s leadership was ruining the family.

• Panam met Mitch and Scorpion outside their camp and asked them to help her confront the Random Blade Society, which had hacked her car.
• Mitch and Scorpion refused to leave camp but gave Panam a kinetic sniper rifle and her other equipment.
• Panam drove toward Stone Ridge Mountain with Su Xiao and the others following in the Delamain Taxi.
• Su Xiao asked Panam about her relationship with Saul, and she explained that he had promised the family a better life but had failed to improve their camp.
• Panam called Saul a coward and said the family would be doomed if it continued to rely on him, while Su Xiao reflected on how poor leaders had led to the Buckle Family’s destruction.

Su Xiao, Panam, V, and Lucy prepared an ambush in Stone Ridge Mountain for Nash and the Random Blade Society. The convoy entered the dark ghost town without finding its customers, and the chapter ended when a gunshot dropped one of its members.

• Su Xiao and Panam discussed Skar and Mitch, the Unification War, and the abandoned towns of the Badlands as they traveled to Stone Ridge Mountain.
• Su Xiao, V, and Lucy planted EMP devices around Stone Ridge Mountain while Panam questioned who they were and why they planned to seize someone from a corporate convoy.
• Nash stayed behind as Random Blade Society members drove toward their meeting with the Sixth Street Gang, mocking Panam for trusting him along the way.
• The convoy entered the unlit town, found no sign of the Sixth Street Gang, and sent several members to search nearby houses.
• The remaining Random Blade Society members grew uneasy when the searchers did not return, and a gunshot sounded as one of them fell to the ground.

Su Xiao, V, Lucy, and Panam ambushed and killed the Random Blade Society members who had stolen Panam’s vehicle and cargo. When Panam learned Nash had not appeared, Su Xiao agreed to help her attack the gang’s hideout, leaving the group on their way there.

• Su Xiao, V, Lucy, and Panam wiped out the Random Blade Society members in a coordinated ambush, using an EMP to disable their escaping vehicles.
• Panam reclaimed her vehicle and told Su Xiao that Nash had avoided the fight and was still at large.
• Su Xiao pretended to hesitate before agreeing to help Panam kill Nash, and she revealed that the gang’s hideout was in a nearby tunnel.
• Su Xiao, V, and Lucy set out in the Delamain Taxi while Panam drove her recovered vehicle toward the hideout.
• Panam called Mitch and Skar to collect the abandoned vehicles and bodies for the Aldecaldos.

Su Xiao, Panam, V, and Lucy attacked Nash’s Random Blade Society hideout in an abandoned tunnel. As Nash watched the assault through security cameras and aimed at an attacker, Su Xiao detected him and blasted through the wall of his room.

• Panam told Su Xiao over comms that Nash had betrayed her by stealing her car and cargo.
• Su Xiao detected fewer than thirty enemies ahead, and the group stopped to prepare their weapons and plan an attack.
• Su Xiao, V, Lucy, and Panam spread out and opened fire on the Random Blade Society guards, killing several and throwing the hideout into chaos.
• Nash watched the attack through his room’s surveillance cameras and recognized the four attackers’ weapons.
• Nash aimed his Widowmaker at one attacker, but Su Xiao turned toward his room and blasted through its wall before Nash could fire.

Panam delivered the Six Street Gang’s cargo after killing Nash, while Su Xiao’s presence unsettled Boz. The deal was completed without conflict, and Boz transferred the payment to Panam.

• Su Xiao killed Nash after spotting him through the surveillance monitors, and Panam vented her anger by shooting Nash’s corpse.
• Panam called Rogue to boast that Nash was dead, but Rogue revealed she had already received her money and mocked Panam before hanging up.
• Panam and Su Xiao went to the Sunset Motel, where Panam met Boz and handed over the cargo case.
• Boz recognized Su Xiao and made clear he would not stand up for the Clementi Family.
• Boz’s subordinate confirmed the cargo was complete, and Boz said he had transferred a large sum to Panam.

Su Xiao offered to help Noah protect the Sunset Motel from the Random Blade Society by arranging sentry turrets. After Panam agreed to meet him the next morning to plan an ambush on Militech’s convoy, someone asked how they would snatch Herman.

• Boz warned his men not to provoke Su Xiao and recognized that Panam had gained a powerful connection.
• Panam brought Su Xiao and his companions to the Sunset Motel bar, where Su Xiao learned the Random Blade Society regularly extorted Noah.
• Su Xiao offered to arrange sentry turrets and professional installation to protect the motel, and Noah accepted.
• Panam asked why Su Xiao helped Noah, and Su Xiao said he could help people even when he did not know them.
• Su Xiao and Panam agreed to meet at the bar at eight the next morning to find an ambush site for Militech’s convoy.
• After Su Xiao and Panam returned to their rooms, someone asked how they planned to take Herman from Militech.