Chapter Summaries

Su Xiao helped Jack and V investigate Kirk’s dealings with the Vortex Gang, and V stole a chip of information from Kirk’s home. The next morning, Su Xiao woke in Jack’s crowded garage and considered finding an apartment before dealing with the information they had recovered.

• Jack said Kirk’s loan-sharking scheme left them little choice but to find another way to handle Peppy’s debt.
• Su Xiao suggested using Kirk’s shady business as leverage, and Jack learned that Kirk was connected to the Vortex Gang.
• Su Xiao, Jack, and V watched Kirk’s building in Kabuki District, then V entered room 302 and took a chip.
• Su Xiao woke in the garage beside Jack and V and recalled that V had copied the files from Kirk’s laptop onto the chip.

Su Xiao, V, and Jack set a trap to make Kirk’s driver fail a smuggling job for the Vortex Gang. Su Xiao waited above Santo Domingo’s main road and fired as the truck passed beneath the shoes he had hung on an overhead wire.

• Su Xiao learned from the chip that Kirk had hired a driver to haul glitter for the Vortex Gang and planned an ambush on the only main road to the eastern Badlands.
• Su Xiao gave Peppy money to buy glitter and promised that Kirk would soon stop bothering him.
• Su Xiao, V, and Jack drove to River Valley and chose an abandoned construction site overlooking the road.
• Su Xiao hid a packet of glitter in a shoe, tied it to another shoe, and tossed them onto an overhead wire.
• A truck bearing the All Foods Factory logo approached, and Su Xiao waited until it passed beneath the wire before firing.

Su Xiao’s staged shooting exposed a glitter-smuggling truck at the border checkpoint, where the chief tried to turn the bust into leverage against Brick. Mayor Ryan intervened and ordered the NCPD to handle the case, while the chief realized Ryan had kept his position with New America’s help during the Unification War.

• Su Xiao shot open a shoe containing glitter in the truck’s cargo compartment, prompting the driver to speed toward the border checkpoint while Su Xiao, Jack, and V headed back.
• Border guards detained the driver, searched the truck, and discovered glitter hidden inside its tires.
• The checkpoint chief stopped his subordinate from reporting the bust to Militech and planned to use it to extract money from Brick.
• Mayor Ryan called the chief about the smuggling and said the NCPD would handle the case.
• The chief suggested letting Brick discipline his subordinates and pay a fine, but Mayor Ryan rejected the proposal and warned him not to collude with criminals.
• The chief recognized Ryan’s public stance as a performance and recalled that New America had helped Ryan retain his office during the Unification War.

Su Xiao brought Jack and V to watch the NCPD raid the All Foods Factory, proving that the police had acted on the mayor’s orders rather than taking a payoff. Brick escaped and learned that Kirk had arranged the delivery that triggered the raid, while Su Xiao left to report the news to Peppy.

• Su Xiao bet Jack that the NCPD would attack the All Foods Factory, and Jack wagered that he would eat Su Xiao’s laptop if he lost.
• The NCPD arrived in force, using Walking Mechs to blast open the factory gates and overwhelm the Vortex Gang.
• Brick escaped through a secret passage with his trusted men and drove to the Dance of Death Bar.
• Brick learned that Kirk had hired the arrested driver and swore revenge on him.
• Su Xiao told Jack that the show was over and said they should return to tell Peppy that Kirk would no longer be a problem.

Kirk fled after learning the Vortex Gang was after him, while Su Xiao asked Jack and V about starting a gun-making side business. Jack explained that running a legal shop in Night City required costly licenses, rent, taxes, and gang protection, leaving Su Xiao to reckon with how difficult the plan would be.

• Kirk received a warning from his driver and fled, fearing the Vortex Gang would capture and modify him.
• Su Xiao asked Jack to find him a clean apartment on a high floor and asked where he could obtain gun-making materials and parts.
• Su Xiao told Jack and V that he could build many kinetic and tech weapons and wanted to earn extra money from making guns.
• Jack and V offered to introduce Su Xiao to Padre, who could help him obtain materials and parts.
• Jack warned Su Xiao that opening a gun shop required permits, manufacturer licenses, costly rent, taxes, and protection payments.
• Jack explained that ordinary Night City shopkeepers struggled to escape poverty because officials, manufacturers, and gangs took much of their earnings.

Su Xiao arranged with Padre to sell his tech weapons and received AR Glasses to use in place of cyberware. After putting them on, he tested them by answering a call from Jack Wells.

• V suggested that Su Xiao let Padre handle sales of his tech weapons, and Jack called Padre to discuss the arrangement.
• Padre offered to take thirty percent of the profits after materials costs, leaving Su Xiao with seventy percent, and Su Xiao agreed to make about five weapons a day.
• V asked whether Su Xiao had cyberware, and he said he disliked implants; she suggested AR Glasses instead.
• Padre's crew delivered materials and parts, and Padre arranged daily payments and sent Su Xiao a pair of AR Glasses.
• Su Xiao put on the AR Glasses and answered a call from Jack Wells, telling him they felt good.

Su Xiao used five potential points to obtain the Tactical Goggles blueprint, built the goggles, and tested their advanced functions. The chapter then shifted to Padre meeting Faraday at a restaurant, where Faraday sat down across from him.

• The system rewarded Su Xiao with the improved Tactical Goggles blueprint after he spent five potential points.
• Su Xiao asked Jack to buy the materials and sent him the list, then shut himself in the garage to build the goggles.
• After three days, Su Xiao finished the Tactical Goggles and tested their night vision, thermal imaging, scanning, and anti-detection functions.
• Faraday approached Padre at Tom's Restaurant and sat down across from him.

Su Xiao, V, and Jack joined Mann’s crew to plan an ambush on the Animal Gang leader who had attacked their client. The teams headed to Pacifica to intercept him at a black market, leaving the operation about to begin.

• Faraday and Padre met with a corporate client who hired both fixers to eliminate the leader of the Animal Gang crew that had tried to assassinate him.
• Su Xiao, V, and Jack ate breakfast at the Wolf Bar and learned they would share the target with another mercenary team.
• Su Xiao and his companions met Mann, Dorio, Rebecca, and Sasha at an abandoned construction site in Santo Domingo.
• Sasha showed the teams the Animal Gang leader’s photo, and Mann explained that he regularly bought enhancers at a Pacifica black market.
• Mann proposed that the two teams cover opposite entrances to the underground parking garage and surround the leader after he entered.
• The teams drove toward Pacifica to put the ambush plan into action.

Su Xiao, V, and Jack prepared an ambush at Pacifica’s black market and waited with Mann’s team for their target. When the Animal Gang leader arrived, two young men walked into his group while arguing about Arasaka.

• Su Xiao, V, and Sasha disabled the black market’s cameras, and Su Xiao killed the Scavengers in the surveillance room.
• Su Xiao’s team and Mann’s team watched the black market for two days before Sasha reported that their target had appeared.
• Jack checked the shotgun Su Xiao had made for him and told Su Xiao to stay behind him when the fighting started.
• The Animal Gang leader arrived at the black market with a crowd of muscular gang members.
• Two young men praised Arasaka as they left the black market, then walked into the Animal Gang leader and his group.

Mann’s team ambushed the Animal Gang after its boss sent an underling into the black market, but the boss’s suspicions and the gang’s firepower left the attackers struggling to stop his escape. As Mann’s team fell behind in the firefight, Su Xiao’s group was still approaching from the other side.

• The Animal Gang boss sensed danger near the black market, sent an underling inside to buy medicine, and waited for him in the car with the rest of his men.
• Mann’s team argued over whether to attack or withdraw, then voted to continue while Su Xiao’s group circled around to strike from the other side.
• Mann and his companions ambushed the underling and the Animal Gang, but the boss used a subordinate as a shield and ordered his men to retreat while returning fire.
• Mann’s team began losing ground, and Mann stood up to blast two Animal Gang members with his shotgun.
• Someone kicked Mann’s calf, making him fall and dodge the bullets that followed.

Su Xiao stopped the Animal Gang leader from escaping by killing him and the driver with an Ice Storm sniper rifle, allowing Mann's crew to defeat the remaining gang members. As the crew prepared to leave, Mann discovered something strange beneath the leader's sleeve.

• Dorio kept Mann under cover while Sasha and Rebecca helped Mann's crew fight the Animal Gang.
• Two vans arrived and gave the Animal Gang cover, letting its leader escape with the driver.
• Su Xiao shot the leader and driver, then picked off fleeing Animal Gang members.
• Mann regrouped with Su Xiao and his companions, thanked them, and sent photos of the dead leader to Faraday.
• Mann noticed the leader's oversized arm beneath his trench coat, cut into it, and stared in shock at what he found.

Mann invited Su Xiao to join his crew, then offered him a pair of powerful mechanical arms recovered from a job. While inspecting them, Su Xiao triggered a system prompt for an improved mechanical prosthetics blueprint, but he lacked the 20 potential points required to obtain it.

• Mann invited Su Xiao to join his crew, but Su Xiao declined while leaving the offer open for the future.
• Mann showed Su Xiao the mechanical arms taken from the Animal Gang's leader, who had secretly replaced his hands with them.
• Mann offered to buy the arms after Faraday paid him, and Su Xiao agreed to let Mann purchase them after examining them.
• Su Xiao's I Guess skill triggered a system offer for an improved mechanical prosthetics blueprint costing 20 potential points.
• Su Xiao checked his potential points and found he had earned less than a fifth of the required amount.

After a month of taking jobs, Su Xiao, Jack, and V viewed a luxurious apartment in The Glen. Su Xiao decided it was the home he wanted, while Jack reflected on how quickly Su Xiao had advanced since arriving in Night City.

• Su Xiao stopped Jack from arguing with the receptionist and paid ten eurodollars to view the apartment.
• Jack showed Su Xiao and V the apartment’s industrial decor, smart windows, armory, entertainment area, liquor cabinet, and upstairs rooms.
• V was stunned to learn the rent was forty thousand eurodollars a month, while Su Xiao judged the price reasonable.
• Su Xiao admired the view and style, decided to rent the apartment, and left Jack feeling happy for him but conflicted about how quickly he had progressed.

Su Xiao bought an apartment, gave Jack and V access, and lent V money to find a place of her own. The next morning he woke alone, went to the Wolf Bar to find them, and learned they had left early.

• Su Xiao bought the apartment and gave Jack and V resident access; Jack celebrated by drinking from the liquor cabinet.
• Su Xiao sent V three hundred thousand eurodollars so she could rent her own apartment, and he and V watched over Jack as he drank.
• Reporter Max Jones received a call from Esteban Ramirez and agreed to meet him that afternoon.
• Arasaka counterintelligence learned of the planned meeting and ordered a Special Assault Unit to eliminate Esteban and all witnesses.
• Su Xiao woke in his new apartment feeling lonely, then went to the Wolf Bar and learned from Peppy that V and Jack had gone out early.

Su Xiao accepted a job protecting reporter Max Jones as he went to meet Esteban, an unknown contact with information about a corporation. When they reached the meeting area, they spotted two Arasaka AVs taking off and realized the situation might be dangerous.

• Su Xiao agreed to protect Max Jones while he met Esteban, who claimed to have corporate secrets.
• Su Xiao called Jack, but Jack hurriedly ended the call while V and Jack were apparently busy elsewhere.
• Su Xiao and Max drove toward the Northside Industrial District for the meeting.
• Max spotted two heavy AVs bearing Arasaka markings rising into the sky, and he slumped back in shock.

Su Xiao and Max found the camp destroyed by Arasaka, and Max discovered that the dead contact, Esteban, had been mutilated to prevent data recovery. Su Xiao found a wary white-haired girl hiding in a storage box, and they realized they had mistaken each other for the attackers.

• Su Xiao and Max reached the camp and found its tents overturned, its chapel burning, and the residents dead.
• Max examined Esteban’s corpse and found his Neural Slots, cybernetic eyes, and brain destroyed, then paid Su Xiao and left.
• Su Xiao returned Esteban’s body to the fire and heard a strange noise from a storage box.
• Su Xiao opened the box, dodged the girl’s Monofilament Wire, and pinned her down after she attacked him.
• Su Xiao and the girl learned they had mistaken each other for the Arasaka unit and the Cyberpsycho responsible for the massacre.

Su Xiao took Lucy in, arranged a Japantown apartment for her, and gave her money despite her confusion about his kindness. After he left, Lucy checked the apartment for surveillance and cautiously confirmed that the money was real.

• Su Xiao offered to help Lucy and brought her to a restaurant in Kabuki District.
• Su Xiao showed Lucy an apartment listing in Japantown and paid its rent and deposit for three months.
• Su Xiao and Lucy ate together, and Lucy enjoyed the meal while quietly watching him.
• Su Xiao took Lucy to the apartment, where she watched a rocket launch from the window.
• Su Xiao gave Lucy 20,000 euros, introduced himself, and left.
• Lucy searched the apartment for surveillance, then tested the vending machine and confirmed she could use the money.

Su Xiao reflected on Lucy’s escape from Arasaka and helped her because he recognized his former self in her situation. After earning 20 potential points, he acquired an improved Power Gauntlet blueprint and began gathering materials to build it.

• Lucy remembered how Arasaka trained orphaned children for dangerous dives into the Old Net, where many of her companions died.
• Lucy escaped the underground facility with surviving companions and eventually fled to Night City, where Su Xiao gave her money and a place to stay.
• Su Xiao drove back toward Heywood and decided he wanted to recruit Lucy into his team.
• Su Xiao, Jack, and V completed several jobs against kidney harvesters, allowing Su Xiao to save 20 potential points.
• Su Xiao spent the points to acquire an improved Power Gauntlet blueprint and called Padre to obtain the tools and parts he needed.
• Three days later, Padre’s men delivered crates of materials, and Su Xiao secured his Weapon Modification Room before beginning work.

Su Xiao finished making a pair of Power Gauntlets, but Jack called with news that something had happened to Padre. A week earlier, Fidel had bought weapon-making supplies for Padre, and the men who sold them began plotting to sell information about Padre’s possible gunsmith to the Sixth Street Gang.

• Su Xiao tested the Power Gauntlets and decided to find someone outside to try them on.
• Jack called Su Xiao and told him that something had happened on Padre’s end.
• A week earlier, Fidel collected materials and parts from a concealed room in a Heywood hotel and drove them away for Padre.
• The sellers speculated that Padre’s new tech weapons came from a gunsmith making weapons with their supplies.
• One seller urged the others to sell the information to the Sixth Street Gang, and another man was shot when he refused to join them.

Fidel was captured and tortured by Malmer and the Sixth Street Gang, who used his memories to lure Jack into a trap. Su Xiao joined Padre’s preparations to rescue Fidel and proposed a way to limit casualties; half a day later, an SUV approached the gang’s hotel.

• Malmer’s men ambushed Fidel, tied him up, and used a hacker to search his memories for information about Padre’s gunsmith.
• Malmer’s hacker found Jack Wells’s name and impersonated Fidel to trick Jack into bringing Su Xiao to the hotel.
• Jack went to Padre, who learned that the Sixth Street Gang had gathered reinforcements near the hotel and warned the Valentino Gang.
• Su Xiao arrived at Padre’s base, learned the situation, and offered a plan to minimize losses while rescuing Fidel.
• Half a day later, Sixth Street Gang members spotted an approaching SUV and signaled it to stop.