Chapter Summaries

After leaving Lizzie’s Bar, Su Xiao rejected Evelyn Parker’s attempt to get close to him, then returned home with Jack, Lucy, and V to count their earnings. The crew discovered that Su Xiao had secretly taken a million euros from the Phoenix Casino, adding it to their other job payments.

• Su Xiao and his companions declined Suzie’s cash and left Lizzie’s Bar with a promise of a discount and a favor from the Mox Gang.
• Evelyn Parker approached Su Xiao and tried to charm him, but he refused to speak with her privately and left with the others.
• In the Delamain Taxi, Jack teased Su Xiao about Evelyn and was shocked by Lucy and V, while Su Xiao said Evelyn was not his type.
• The group went to Su Xiao’s apartment in The Glen to count the job’s earnings.
• Su Xiao counted 150,000 from the Law Enforcement Group’s truck, revealed he had secretly taken a million euros from the Phoenix Casino, and added Suzie’s 300,000 payment.

Su Xiao and his crew divided the Phoenix Casino earnings, and V suggested a way for Jack to make things right with Misty before she and Lucy joined Su Xiao for sushi. Meanwhile, Mann’s team gathered to discuss a risky Biotechnology job, and Dorio pressed Mann about his evasive behavior.

• V, Jack, and Lucy each accepted only 100,000 from the casino haul, leaving Su Xiao to hold the remaining 1.15 million for them.
• Jack asked Su Xiao how to cheer up Misty, but V privately offered him advice and he left to try it.
• V persuaded Su Xiao to treat her and Lucy to sushi in Japantown, and Rebecca called Su Xiao as they entered the elevator.
• Earlier, Mann told his team that their job was to retrieve Biotechnology data from the company’s building in Corporate Plaza, but he had no further details.
• Dorio noticed Mann acting strangely and repeatedly questioned him, while he tried to scoot away from her on the couch.

Mann revealed that Faraday had hired his team to steal data from Biotechnology, and Sasha agreed to infiltrate the building. Sasha bypassed the entrance and surveillance systems and reached the target office with three minutes left before the interference device failed.

• Dorio pressured Mann until he admitted Faraday had commissioned the job, then challenged his decision to accept it.
• Mann explained his plan to use an interference device and asked Sasha to hack the Biotechnology building; Sasha agreed.
• At two in the morning, Mann's team drove Sasha to Corporate Plaza, where she entered the dark Biotechnology building.
• Sasha used her personal link cable to open the entrance, disable lobby cameras, and evade the scanning indicators.
• Sasha reached the target floor and hacked into the office with three minutes remaining before the interference device stopped working.

While stealing Biotechnology data, Sasha discovered that SECURICINE had caused her mother's death and sent confidential evidence to News 54. She remained inside the building as a Zeta Tech Surveyor Heavy Armored Hovercar arrived, leaving Mann and the crew worried about what would happen next.

• Sasha used Juliette’s Temporary Access to bypass the ICE and send Faraday’s requested Biotechnology data to Mann.
• Before leaving Cyberspace, Sasha found a top-secret SECURICINE file revealing that the painkiller caused neural degeneration and that Biotechnology had ordered its side effects concealed.
• Sasha recognized SECURICINE as the painkiller her mother had used and sent the confidential documents to News 54.
• Mann, Dorio, Rebecca, and Pila tried to reach Sasha over communications, but she did not respond.
• A Zeta Tech Surveyor Heavy Armored Hovercar flew toward the Biotechnology building.

After Sasha disappeared from comms as security robots entered the Biotechnology building, Rebecca called Su Xiao for help. He set out alone to rescue Sasha at Corporate Plaza, leaving V and Lucy waiting for him at home.

• Sasha apologized and left the team's comms channel as security robots poured into the Biotechnology building.
• Rebecca tried to rush inside, but Dorio restrained her; Rebecca then clung to Pila and called Su Xiao for help.
• Su Xiao listened to Rebecca's account and promised to come, reassuring her and Mann's team.
• Su Xiao declined V and Lucy's offer to join him, and Lucy said they would wait for him at home.
• Su Xiao called Rogue and asked for an AV to rescue someone at Corporate Plaza.

Su Xiao hired Rogue’s Rayfield Holy Sword and two gunners to reach the Biotechnology building, where Mann and the others were under attack. After surviving missiles from a Heavy Armored Hovercar, Su Xiao leaped onto it and destroyed its missile launcher, landing on the building’s platform.

• Su Xiao called Rogue, rented a Rayfield Holy Sword, and set off with Emmerich and Crispin toward Corporate Plaza.
• The Heavy Armored Hovercar targeted the AV with missiles, but the AI’s flares and Emmerich’s gunfire kept them from being destroyed.
• Su Xiao ordered the AV to approach the hovercar, and Mann and the others feared he had died when explosions swallowed it in smoke.
• The Rayfield Holy Sword emerged from the smoke, and Su Xiao jumped onto the hovercar’s roof.
• Su Xiao used Cannon Fist and his Power Gauntlet to knock the missile launcher into the Biotechnology building, then landed on its platform.

Su Xiao rescued the wounded Sasha from the Biotechnology office while she tried to upload information about SECURICINE to News 54. He carried her out before the upload finished, and the group escaped in the Rayfield Holy Sword as more Biotechnology reinforcements arrived.

• Su Xiao offered Crispin a Power Gauntlet, and Crispin agreed to buy one after Su teased him about saving his money.
• Su Xiao destroyed the security robots surrounding Sasha’s office and gave her a Type 3 Pneumatic Syringe for her injured thigh.
• Su Xiao fought through the security robots outside the office while Sasha waited for her SECURICINE upload to finish.
• Su Xiao pulled Sasha’s link cable from the terminal and carried her out, leaving her without a copy or backup of the information.
• Emmerich and Crispin dealt with the Biotechnology hovercar, and Su Xiao and Sasha escaped in the Rayfield Holy Sword as more reinforcements approached.

Su Xiao brought the wounded Sasha to Old Wei’s clinic, where Victor and Misty began treating her, and learned more about Rogue’s intelligence on Biotechnology’s SECURICINE. Rogue secretly moved against the corporation and arranged to erase evidence from Corporate Plaza, while Su Xiao later attacked Mann when he and the others arrived asking about Sasha.

• Su Xiao forced his way into Old Wei’s clinic and asked Victor to operate on Sasha, then went to fetch Misty.
• Rogue told Su Xiao she would provide intelligence about SECURICINE at Afterlife without charging him for it.
• After ending the call, Rogue ordered Biotechnology stock sold and Corporate Plaza surveillance footage erased before the site was cleaned.
• Mann and the others arrived at the Divination Parlor asking about Sasha, and Su Xiao punched Mann into a shelf.
• The others intervened as Mann got back up and demanded to know why Su Xiao had attacked him.

After Sasha was injured during the mission, Su Xiao and Mann reconciled, and the team discussed how to fulfill Sasha’s goal and deal with Faraday. Faraday secured one last chance from Arasaka and arranged to meet Mann that night, unaware that Su Xiao was planning to eliminate him.

• Su Xiao explained that Sasha had stayed behind to transmit information about SECURICINE to News 54, and the team learned that her data upload had been interrupted.
• Su Xiao pulled Mann to his feet instead of hitting him again, and the two made peace.
• Su Xiao said Rogue could help obtain intelligence and asked Mann how he wanted to deal with Faraday; he suggested killing him without attracting attention.
• At Tom's Restaurant, an Arasaka employee berated Faraday for failing to obtain the data but gave him one final chance.
• Faraday called Mann angrily, and Mann claimed the team had the data but asked Faraday to meet them that night because a teammate was injured.
• As night fell, a Villefort Cortes V5000 Valor (2040) drove along the roads of Santo Domingo.

Mann confronted Faraday over his treatment of the crew and exposed his ties to Militech, then tried to turn the meeting into an ambush. Faraday revealed he had prepared armed Sex Dolls and outside reinforcements, leaving Mann and his team under heavy fire.

• Faraday demanded the data from Mann, and Mann said the team had failed to obtain it.
• Mann argued with Faraday about his dangerous orders and mocked his resentment toward the Old Captain, Muammar Reyes.
• Mann revealed that Faraday had come from Pacifica and was trying to become a corporate operative through Militech.
• Dorio, Rebecca, and Pila drew their weapons as Mann threatened Faraday, but Faraday pretended to surrender before deploying a rotary gun from his abdomen.
• Faraday's three Puppet Chip-equipped Sex Dolls emerged from his car and used their firepower to pin down Mann's team.
• Faraday called for his reinforcements outside to enter the garage and kill the mercenaries.

Su Xiao helped Mann and the others kill Faraday, then obtained Rogue’s intelligence about Project Nightingale and brought it to Sasha. The chip revealed that SECURICINE was only a by-product of a deadly experiment, and the group began reading the information.

• Su Xiao used Time Zero to kill the Sex Dolls and disabled Faraday before leaving him to Mann and the others, who shot him dead.
• Su Xiao visited Rogue at Afterlife and received intelligence about Project Nightingale, a Biotechnology experiment for Militech that killed more than seventy members of the Red Ochre Nomad family.
• Mann and the others told Su Xiao that Faraday’s Trauma Team Platinum membership had brought Trauma Team to collect his corpse.
• Su Xiao checked on Sasha at Victor’s clinic and gave her Rogue’s chip after she regretted losing the SECURICINE data.
• Sasha, Mann, Dorio, Rebecca, and Pila read the chip’s contents in turn.

Mann considered using the Project Nightingale data to get revenge for his teammates, but Su Xiao warned that corporate executives would use the delay to identify and target them. Su Xiao offered to help with another plan, and two days later Dr. Diana began her morning at her North Oak mansion before a servant urgently interrupted her.

• Mann asked Su Xiao to sell him the complete Project Nightingale data and proposed threatening its leaders, Joanne Koch and Diana Kuno, with exposure through WNS News.
• Su Xiao warned Mann that the executives would stall, investigate his team, and put them in danger; Sasha urged Mann not to risk everyone for her sake.
• Mann lowered his raised fist at Victor's clinic, remembering Old Wei's help, and Su Xiao offered to share a different plan.
• Two days later, Dr. Diana woke at her North Oak mansion, enjoyed breakfast while looking down on the poorer districts, and imagined the residents' misery.
• A servant urgently interrupted Diana and asked her to look at something.

After WNS News exposed Project Nightingale, Diana tried to contain the scandal by finding scapegoats, but Joanne turned the plan against her and forced her to flee. Diana escaped her villa and drove toward Santo Domingo.

• Diana learned that WNS News had exposed Biotechnology and Militech’s experiments on more than seventy members of the Nomad family and called Joanne for an update.
• Joanne told Diana that the Biotechnology building had been infiltrated and damaged, then said the public-relations team was preparing a response.
• Diana suggested finding scapegoats and privately considered making Joanne take the blame, but Joanne instead thanked Dr. Diana Kuno for her noble sacrifice and ended the call.
• Diana discovered that her bank account and Trauma Team Platinum membership had been canceled, while her villa security system labeled her an intruder and summoned Biotechnology security.
• Diana escaped in a sports car she had bought with embezzled funds and drove toward Santo Domingo.

After Biotechnology scapegoated Diana Kuno for Project Nightingale, she tried to flee Night City but was killed by the company’s security forces. Emilia Morton then discovered that Biotechnology had revoked her employee access, leaving her barred from entering the building.

• Diana called Okada Wakako for help escaping, but Wakako refused and warned her to leave immediately.
• Diana decided to flee to the Badlands and use her knowledge of Biotechnology to bargain with other Mega Corporations.
• Biotechnology security ambushed Diana’s car on the road to Santo Domingo and shot her dead.
• Emilia’s employee card failed at Biotechnology’s entrance, and a guard refused to let her inside.
• Emilia argued with the guard and threatened him, but backed down when he drew his gun.

After Biotechnology fired Emilia and blamed her for Project Nightingale, she threatened to expose evidence of Joanne Koch’s crimes unless Joanne reinstated her. Joanne took refuge in a locked-down Biotechnology hotel, where security prepared to inspect everyone.

• Emilia learned from a friend and WNS News that she had been fired, while Dr. Diana Kuno had died by suicide and other Project Nightingale engineers had been suspended or demoted.
• Emilia bought a new phone and eSIM in Kabuki District, then called Joanne Koch and accused her of framing her.
• Emilia threatened to publish video and audio evidence showing Joanne’s role in poisoning the Red Ochre family’s camp and passing poison off as an antidote.
• Joanne said she needed time to consider Emilia’s demand, and Emilia gave her until the next day to respond.
• Joanne arrived at a Biotechnology Corporation hotel with an armed escort, and a major ordered the hotel placed under martial law with all guests subject to inspection.

Emilia Morton removed Biotechnology’s tracker and escaped the soldiers Joanne sent to hunt her, but she was left shaken and uncertain about her future. She decided she would leak her evidence to WNS News.

• Joanne ordered a major to send soldiers after Emilia, who she considered a Level Two threat to Biotechnology.
• Emilia went to a Cybernetics Clinic and paid the Cybernetics Doctor to remove her Biotechnology Employee Tracker.
• Biotechnology soldiers raided the clinic after Emilia left, but the sergeant found only her removed tracker and soon reported that they had lost her.
• Emilia watched the raid through a hacked camera while hiding nearby, then sat in an alley, furious at Joanne and unsure what to do next.
• Emilia decided she would leak the evidence she possessed to WNS News.

Emilia agreed to meet Rogue at the Silent Motel after a young man offered her a job and asked for evidence against Joanne. Back at the Afterlife, Su Xiao’s crew reacted to his apparent connection with Rogue, and he turned his attention to Kiwi.

• Emilia received a call from a young man who offered her work as a fixer and asked for evidence against Joanne.
• The caller said Rogue wanted to recruit Emilia, and Emilia agreed to negotiate her pay and demand two hundred thousand euros in compensation.
• After haggling over the meeting terms, Emilia chose Room 106 at the Silent Motel and allowed Rogue to bring several bodyguards.
• At the Afterlife, Mann and the others expressed surprise that Su Xiao seemed to know Rogue and had called her about Emilia.
• Su Xiao addressed Kiwi, the team’s new hacker, and Kiwi extended her hand in a friendly greeting.

Su Xiao used Emilia Morton as bait to draw Joanne out and prepared to confront her at Silent Motel. When the motel’s entrance camera went dark, Emilia realized someone was acting and decided to flee.

• Su Xiao told Rogue to retrieve the evidence in Emilia’s Cyberbrain, explaining that Emilia had participated in Project Nightingale and was only useful as bait.
• Su Xiao, Kiwi, Rebecca, and Pila waited in a medical-center van while Mann and Dorio took positions at the motel’s back exit.
• Su Xiao assigned Rebecca and Pila to guard the front entrance, then used his goggles to locate Emilia in Room 204 instead of their agreed Room 106.
• Kiwi disabled the motel’s entrance camera, and Su Xiao and Kiwi entered the motel; he gave her a Yukimura smart pistol as a welcome gift.
• In the van, Pila tried to pat Rebecca’s head, but she glared at him and told him she hated being touched.
• Emilia saw that the entrance camera had gone offline, suspected a hacker was involved, and decided she could not stay at the motel.

Su Xiao captured Emilia Morton and had Kiwi extract the files he needed before killing her. He then contacted Joanne with proof of Emilia’s death, leaving Joanne unsure whether Su Xiao knew about their secrets.

• Su Xiao and Kiwi subdued Emilia in the motel and carried her out in a body bag.
• Su Xiao and Kiwi brought Emilia to a hacker hideout, where Kiwi used professional equipment to obtain the files Su Xiao wanted.
• After Kiwi transferred the files, Su Xiao confirmed them and killed the unconscious Emilia.
• Su Xiao used Emilia’s phone to call Joanne and sent her a photo of Emilia’s corpse.
• Joanne froze at the photo, relieved that Emilia was dead but worried about what Su Xiao knew.

Su Xiao blackmailed Joanne Koch with evidence of her crimes and arranged a cash handoff at Stone Ridge Mountain Town, while secretly preparing an ambush. Joanne arrived with an armed convoy intending to kill him, and a Nomad rider drew alongside as the chapter ended.

• Su Xiao exposed Joanne Koch's crimes with a video and demanded one million in cash at Stone Ridge Mountain Town, threatening to publish her secrets in WNS News.
• Su Xiao destroyed his phone to prevent Biotechnology from tracking him, then planted inactive Electromagnetic Pulse Mines in the eastern Badlands.
• Joanne decided to attend the meeting with an armed convoy, planning to eliminate the person who held her secrets instead of paying him.
• As Joanne's convoy traveled toward Stone Ridge Mountain Town, a Brennan Apollo motorcycle pulled alongside, and Joanne reacted with disgust at its Nomad rider.