Chapter Summaries

Su Xiao stopped the group in the wilderness and revealed that he planned to return to Tijuana to eliminate Hector Salamanca. He then identified Maria as the likely mole, and she exposed herself by taking Jose hostage before the group could scan her Cyberbrain.

• Su Xiao told the group that they had to eliminate Hector Salamanca to end the threat, and said he already had a plan to return to Tijuana.
• Su Xiao pointed out that a mole must be revealing the group's location, and accused Maria after noting that the Salamanca Group had left her unharmed while cutting off Jose's fingers.
• Jose refused to believe Maria had betrayed him, so Su Xiao proposed that Lucy inspect her Cyberbrain to confirm whether she had contacted the Salamanca Group.
• Maria seized Jose, revealed her concealed Mantis Blades, and threatened to kill him if anyone moved.
• Maria denied betraying Jose and accused him of having betrayed her and toyed with her feelings, then asked whether he loved her.

Maria revealed that she had betrayed Jose by giving the Salamanca Group his location, then died when Su Xiao killed her. Su Xiao planned to return to Tijuana and kill Hector Salamanca, while Jose demanded to join the mission and was paralyzed by Su Xiao.

• Maria admitted that she had told the Salamanca Group Jose was the driver who killed Hector Salamanca's son and had lured Jose to Tijuana.
• Maria offered Su Xiao and his companions half her payment in exchange for letting her go, but Su Xiao killed her and pulled Jose away from her body.
• Jose knelt beside Maria and wept as Su Xiao confirmed her death.
• Su Xiao told Jack, V, and Lucy that they would return to Tijuana to kill Hector Salamanca, believing Hector's successor would not pursue revenge.
• Jose demanded to join the mission to avenge Maria, but Su Xiao refused and used a neural attack to immobilize him.

The Salamanca Group’s leaders debated how to protect their interests after Hector’s assassins attacked San Diego City. The Turbaned Leader proposed severing ties with Hector by sending his head to the Californians, but the chapter ended before the leaders decided whether to act.

• Su Xiao restrained Jose with a blocker, then assigned Jack to drive Jose toward Night City while he returned to Tijuana with V and Lucy.
• Salamanca Group leaders secretly gathered to discuss the threat of Western States sanctions and rival groups moving against them.
• The older leader challenged Juan’s claim that they were countrymen, pointing out how the leaders exploited ordinary people in Tijuana.
• The Turbaned Leader argued that the leaders could claim Hector acted alone and that the Salamanca Group had known nothing about the attack.
• The Turbaned Leader proposed proving their sincerity by cutting ties with Hector and sending his head to the Californians.

Hector confronted Salamanca Group leaders who had gathered secretly to discuss killing him over his actions after his son's death and the San Diego City terrorist attack. He revealed that Mad Dog had informed him of the meeting and demanded to know why the leaders had plotted against him.

• The leaders restrained Mad Dog and debated killing Hector, eventually agreeing to act against him.
• Hector arrived with enforcers, freed Mad Dog, and asked the leaders why they had met in secret.
• A leader claimed they were discussing rumors linking the Salamanca Group to the San Diego City terrorist attack, and Hector admitted responsibility.
• Hector reminded the leaders that he had promoted them and denounced their focus on money while grieving his only son.
• Hector accused the leaders of plotting against him and said Mad Dog had tipped him off, shocking the older leader.

Hector killed the Salamanca Group leaders who opposed him, while Su Xiao, V, and Lucy returned to Tijuana to find Hector’s hidden residence. They learned that a low-level thug had a cousin guarding Hector’s estate and prepared to use him as a lead.

• Mad Dog revealed that he had implanted a tracker beside his heart, and Hector confronted the older leader over the San Diego City attack and the cost of revenge.
• The Turbaned Leader proposed blaming New America and buying support in the Western States’ council, but Hector shot him and ordered his men to kill the other leaders.
• Su Xiao, V, and Lucy disguised themselves as tourists, crossed back into Tijuana, and discussed how Hector might be hiding his estate.
• Su Xiao overheard Salamanca Group thugs boasting that one of their cousins worked as a perimeter gunman at Hector’s estate, and he decided they could lead the group to Hector.

Su Xiao lured a group of thugs into attacking his SUV, killed all but one, and had Lucy hack the survivor’s Cyberbrain. He then called Dante Gonzalez to reassure him that Jose was safe and confirmed that the Salamanca Group had caused the airport attack to stop them returning to Night City.

• The thugs followed Su Xiao’s SUV, hoping to steal his money, and agreed to attack despite the Salamanca Group’s warning against targeting foreign tourists.
• Su Xiao deliberately led the thugs to a secluded area, then shot several and captured the last one after dragging him through a car windshield.
• Su Xiao and V drove away with the captive, and Lucy began hacking his Cyberbrain for information.
• Su Xiao remembered something he wanted to take care of and called Dante Gonzalez from the car.
• Dante asked about his son Jose, and Su Xiao assured him that Jose was safe.
• Dante asked whether the Salamanca Group had caused the San Diego City airport attack, and Su Xiao confirmed they had done it to prevent their return to Night City.

Su Xiao persuaded Dante Gonzalez to pay another ten million euros for a plan to kill Hector Salamanca, who threatened Dante and Jose even if they returned to Night City. After Lucy confirmed Hector was targeting Jose and revealed his heavily guarded mansion, Su Xiao's group prepared to deal with the threat.

• Su Xiao warned Dante that Hector would pursue him and Jose, then proposed killing Hector and secured Dante's promise of another ten million euros.
• V discussed how the group would divide the payment, insisting Jack receive his share, and kissed Su Xiao before Lucy called them back to the car.
• Lucy revealed that she had killed their captive by frying his Cyberbrain and confirmed Maria had told Hector that Jose was responsible for his son's death.
• Su Xiao concluded that Hector had to die to end the danger posed by the Salamanca Group.
• Lucy reported that Hector lived in a mansion guarded by three hundred Salamanca Group members, alarming V.

Su Xiao, V, and Lucy attacked a Salamanca Group logistics warehouse hidden beneath a fried chicken restaurant to force Hector to divert guards from his estate. After the attack ended in a massive explosion, the story left Hector’s response to the destruction unresolved.

• Lucy proposed striking Salamanca Group businesses to draw guards away from Hector’s estate, and Su Xiao and V agreed to the plan.
• Su Xiao, V, and Lucy identified a fried chicken restaurant used to ship glitter into North America and attacked it.
• Su Xiao drove the restaurant’s customers outside, then led V and Lucy through a hacked door into the underground warehouse and killed the armed defenders.
• Salamanca Group gunmen arrived after the attackers had cleared the warehouse, and their squad leader began calling Hector to report the loss.
• The restaurant exploded, knocking down the gunmen and leaving the squad leader stunned beside the burning building.

Hector tried to protect the Salamanca Group after Su Xiao and V destroyed its glitter warehouse, bargaining with a colonel to send troops into Tijuana and hiring Animal Gang members through a fixer. As Su Xiao and V watched the estate, Lucy reported that the army had entered the city to protect the group's businesses.

• After learning the glitter warehouse had been destroyed, Hector decided he could not send his estate's gunmen to defend the Salamanca Group's businesses and called a colonel for help.
• The colonel demanded a share of the group's profits, and Hector agreed to give him twenty percent in exchange for troops and continued protection.
• Hector contacted Mr. Hanz in Pacifica and asked him to hire the Animal Gang's best people for a job, promising generous payment.
• Su Xiao and V watched the Salamanca estate after their warehouse raid while Lucy observed another Salamanca Group business.
• Lucy told Su Xiao that the army had entered Tijuana to protect the Salamanca Group's businesses, surprising V.

Su Xiao rejected help from Padre and planned to lure Hector out of his fortified estate. After stealing Hector's son's ashes from the lightly guarded cemetery, Su Xiao used them to provoke Hector, who received his call at the estate.

• Su Xiao told Jack not to send Padre's men or hire mercenaries, saying he had a plan to draw Hector out.
• Su Xiao left V and Lucy waiting in the car for nearly three hours, then returned carrying Hector's son's ashes.
• Su Xiao explained that he had taken the ashes from the Salamanca Group's cemetery, and Lucy realized he intended to use them as bait.
• Su Xiao called Hector from the estate and confirmed he was one of the people who had helped his son's killer escape Tijuana.
• Hector tried to sound defiant while privately struggling with the threat to his son's ashes.

Su Xiao used Hector’s grief over his son’s ashes to arrange a midnight exchange at the Salamanca Group cemetery, while anticipating Hector would bring more than the permitted three men. Hector deployed a Scout Drone and hundreds of gunmen to surround the cemetery, but its scan found no enemies there.

• Hector offered to pay Su Xiao to bring him Gonzalez and his son, but Su Xiao refused and revealed that he had his son’s ashes.
• Su Xiao pressured Hector into agreeing to exchange the money and ashes at the Salamanca Group cemetery at two the next morning, allowing no more than three men.
• V and Lucy discussed ways to deal with Hector’s likely ambush, and Su Xiao opened the weapon case he had brought from Night City.
• Hector personally searched the cemetery with an optically camouflaged Scout Drone, while three hundred of his gunmen surrounded the area.
• Hector’s drone detected no enemies near the cemetery, only his own gunmen.

Su Xiao killed Hector and his three hundred gunmen with an Armed Drone, then reunited with Jack and the others outside Night City. After Su Xiao told Dante Gonzalez that the Salamanca Group no longer threatened him or Jose, Dante sent Cicero to prepare a car so he could meet them.

• Su Xiao used an Armed Drone to kill Hector and all three hundred men at the cemetery.
• Days later, Su Xiao and his companions reunited with Jack at a restaurant outside Night City, where V recounted the attack.
• Su Xiao explained that he had rented the Armed Drone from Rogue as a backup and warned Jack against using it carelessly in Night City.
• Su Xiao reassured Jose that he remembered their plan for Jose to train at his company and told him to rest first.
• Su Xiao called Dante Gonzalez and confirmed that the danger from the Salamanca Group had passed.
• Dante asked Cicero to prepare a car so he could drive outside the city and meet Su Xiao and Jose.

Dante reunited with Jose and agreed to let him train at Su Xiao’s company, while the Animal Gang pursued Su Xiao’s group after losing and rediscovering their car. On a nearby highway, Gloria scolded David over his costly trouble at Arasaka Academy as he began to tell her what he had been thinking about.

• Dante reunited with Jose, who asked to train at Su Xiao’s company so he could protect himself, and Dante gave his permission after clearing up a misunderstanding.
• Su Xiao’s group left town in Dante’s armored sedan, and the Animal Gang spotted the car and began following it.
• The Animal Gang members argued over losing track of the target, then recognized the sedan passing their van and set off after it.
• Gloria scolded David in their old Gallina for his unauthorized visit to a ripperdoc and the resulting debt to Arasaka Academy.
• David reflected on his loneliness and bleak prospects at Arasaka Academy before telling Gloria he had been thinking about something.

David told Gloria he wanted to leave Arasaka Academy, prompting her to explain how hard she had worked to give him a chance at a better future. Their drive was interrupted by an Animal Gang attack that caused a collision, but someone inside the executive sedan killed the gang members who returned to check the wreck.

• David told Gloria he could take a leave of absence because he felt he did not belong at Arasaka Academy, and Gloria broke down over his decision.
• Gloria described how she had raised David alone and sent him to Arasaka Academy, then urged him to prove his classmates wrong and rise within Arasaka.
• An Animal Gang gunner fired a Heavy Machine Gun at an executive sedan traveling near David and Gloria's car, leaving both of them unharmed.
• An Animal Gang member fired an RPG at the fleeing executive sedan, which overturned and crashed into David and Gloria's car.
• The Animal Gang returned to inspect the wreck, and a person inside the executive sedan shot four gang members with a Smart pistol before killing the driver.

Su Xiao rescued Gloria and David after an attack on Dante, then returned to Stone Ridge Mountain to check on the Dawn Society’s headquarters construction. He found the Aldecaldos guarding the transformed site and asked Panam about the work and any trouble.

• Su Xiao found the injured Gloria and David after the attack and stayed behind to call Trauma Team, paying their initial medical costs while Dante transferred him one hundred thousand euros.
• Su Xiao reunited with Dante and the others at Azure Tower, then declined Dante’s invitation to visit Cloudy Peak so he could return to Stone Ridge Mountain.
• Su Xiao arrived at Stone Ridge Mountain with V and Lucy and saw that the old buildings had been demolished and construction was underway.
• Panam greeted Su Xiao and explained that the Aldecaldos were guarding the approaches in rotating shifts.
• Su Xiao thanked Panam and asked whether the Random Blade Society had caused trouble; Panam said no.

Su Xiao reviewed Stone Ridge Mountain’s construction plans, arranged to hire T-Bug, and asked Rogue to obtain corporate-grade VR Training Equipment. Rogue explained the equipment’s four tiers and began describing how advanced VR training differed from a braindance.

• Panam explained why scavengers avoided Stone Ridge Mountain, and Su Xiao thanked her before asking the construction foreman for an update.
• The foreman presented plans for an office building, employee housing, a shooting range, and a VR Training Room, and Su Xiao approved them.
• Su Xiao asked T-Bug to find the best corporate-grade VR Training Equipment, and she said she could not obtain it but then asked to join his company as a hacker.
• Su Xiao hired T-Bug for an interview, gave V and Lucy money to take Panam and the others into the city, and headed to the Afterlife.
• Su Xiao asked Rogue for VR Training Equipment, and Rogue outlined its four tiers before explaining the difference between advanced VR training and a braindance.

Su Xiao tried to obtain advanced VR Training Equipment through Rogue, who said she might know a seller and would contact him. Back at Stone Ridge Mountain, Pacifica fixer Mr. Hanz apologized for the Animal Gang attack and explained how Hector had used his contacts to arrange it.

• Rogue explained that advanced VR Training Equipment let users move their bodies while training, but said she had none and that megacorporations controlled the top models.
• Su Xiao decided to pursue the equipment, and Rogue offered to contact someone who might be able to sell it.
• Su Xiao returned to Stone Ridge Mountain, where Mr. Hanz arrived in person to apologize for the Santo Domingo overpass shootout.
• Mr. Hanz explained that Hector had asked him for the strongest Animal Gang faction's contact, but after that faction was unavailable, Hanz had connected Hector to the second-strongest faction without learning their plans.
• Su Xiao understood that Hector had arranged the attack through Mr. Hanz and believed Hanz had not known what Hector intended.

Su Xiao forced Hanz to agree to pay five hundred thousand euros and learned where the Animal Gang was hiding. He and V and Lucy prepared to attack the gang’s motel base, leaving the three of them in position to begin their assault.

• Su Xiao rejected Hanz’s initial offers and settled on five hundred thousand euros in compensation.
• Su Xiao asked Hanz for the Animal Gang’s hideout, and Hanz gave him the information.
• Su Xiao, V, and Lucy traveled to the Animal Gang’s motel base in Coronado Farms and spotted more than a hundred gang members inside.
• Lucy disabled the motel’s surveillance cameras while Su Xiao and Lucy placed Laser Tripwires around the base.
• V kept watch from a separate position, and the three prepared to surprise the Animal Gang.

Su Xiao and his companions wiped out the Animal Gang at a motel, then returned to Japantown. Goro Takemura called Su Xiao and asked him to meet a Japanese friend who might improve Takemura’s situation.

• Su Xiao, V, and Lucy bombarded the Animal Gang’s motel and killed the members who tried to escape or charge them.
• Su Xiao confirmed that no gang members had survived, then drove V and Lucy home before the NCPD arrived.
• Su Xiao tucked the exhausted V and Lucy into bed and was about to return to his apartment when Goro Takemura called.
• Takemura asked Su Xiao to give false testimony again, but Su Xiao refused and prepared to end the call.
• Takemura apologized and asked Su Xiao to accompany him to meet a Japanese friend with influential connections.

Su Xiao met Goro Takemura at an abandoned Japantown pier and agreed to accompany him as a witness against Arasaka Yorinobu. Takemura revealed that their contact was Santaio Oda, Hana Arasaka’s bodyguard, and the chapter outlined Hana’s position within Arasaka.

• Su Xiao agreed to accompany Takemura to meet someone, while refusing to promise false testimony.
• Su Xiao found Takemura hiding near the abandoned pier and called him down to meet.
• Takemura described his fall from Arasaka’s favor and declined to discuss the company’s internal situation.
• Takemura identified their contact as Santaio Oda, Hana Arasaka’s bodyguard.
• The chapter explained Hana Arasaka’s ties to Yorinobu and her leadership of Arasaka’s conservative Pheasant Faction.