Chapter Summaries

Su Ming, disguised as Johnny Silverhand, arrived at the Afterlife Nightclub and drew the attention of its patrons. He met Jack and V at the bar and ordered the cocktail named after him while waiting for Rogue.

• Su Ming arrived at the Afterlife Nightclub in a taxi and walked inside as Johnny Silverhand, surprising people who recognized him.
• Patrons followed him into the club, hoping to learn why Johnny had returned and whether he planned to confront Rogue.
• The guards admitted Su Ming, and he tipped them while asking them to tell Rogue not to hurry.
• Su Ming found Jack and V boasting to the bartender about their meeting with Johnny and sat beside them.
• Su Ming ordered the cocktail named after Johnny Silverhand and complained that Rogue had never paid him royalties.

Su Ming, posing as Johnny Silverhand, took V and Jack to confront the fat black man and killed him and his bodyguard. They returned to the Afterlife to wait for Rogue and discuss their next job, where they reunited with Ciri and Songbird.

• The bartender recognized Johnny Silverhand, and Johnny invited V and Jack to join the job.
• Su Ming led V and Jack to a private room and shot the fat black man and his bodyguard dead.
• Su Ming told Jack and V that Rogue would help handle the bodies and said they would discuss the plan after she arrived.
• Su Ming, Jack, and V returned to the bar and met Ciri and Songbird, who asked for the strongest drink.
• Su Ming directed everyone to Rogue's private booths to wait for her and discuss the plan.

Su Ming met privately with Rogue while posing as Johnny Silverhand, revealing his plans to recover Johnny and Alt and asking Rogue to give the Afterlife Bar to Ciri. Rogue heard his offer to restore her youth and hide her and Johnny from the corporations, but she remained skeptical.

• Su Ming introduced Songbird to Jack and V as the hacker supporting their operation.
• Rogue arrived, recognized that Su Ming was not Johnny, and asked him why he was impersonating him.
• Su Ming explained that Johnny was trapped in a Relic and Alt had become a Rogue AI, then described his plan to retrieve Johnny and reach Alt through Mikoshi.
• Su Ming asked Rogue to transfer the Afterlife Bar to Ciri in return for renewed youth, a long lifespan, and a place beyond the corporations' reach.
• Rogue doubted such a place existed, and Su Ming suggested the moon or Mars.

Su Ming persuaded Rogue to join his plan to rescue Johnny and attack Arasaka Tower, promising to help her kill Adam Smasher. The group prepared to move out, with Rogue keeping Su Ming’s disguise secret and Jack saying goodbye to his family before the mission.

• Su Ming convinced Rogue that his face-changing technology was real and explained that he needed her to help Johnny trust him so Johnny could persuade Alt to trust him.
• Rogue agreed to support the Arasaka Tower attack on the condition that Su Ming kill Adam Smasher, and he accepted.
• Su Ming impressed Rogue by leaving a handprint in her tank-armor coffee table and assured her he could defeat Smasher without additional fighters.
• Rogue signed the contract, and Su Ming told Jack and V that Rogue would join them in blowing up Arasaka Tower.
• V checked her weapons while Jack called his mother and girlfriend to say goodbye, and the group later shared a drink before setting out.

Su Ming, Rogue, Songbird, and their allies drove toward their target with a miniature nuke, while Rogue asked Su Ming to restore her youth before Johnny returned. Su Ming made Rogue eighteen again, and the group continued toward their mission.

• Rogue showed Su Ming and Songbird a miniature nuke left behind during Night City's Independence War, and Su Ming chose to use it for their plan.
• Songbird joined Rogue's convoy, and Rogue led the cars through Night City while avoiding patrols and surveillance.
• Rogue questioned Su Ming about Songbird's abilities and his identity, but agreed to remain partners as long as he saved Johnny.
• Rogue admitted she wanted to look young when Johnny returned, and Su Ming agreed to make her eighteen again.
• Su Ming restored Rogue's youthful appearance, grabbed the steering wheel to keep her from crashing, and told her he had killed a god.

Su Ming led Rogue, V, Jack, and Ciri in an assault on Arasaka Tower, planning to plant a nuclear bomb before using the chaos to reach Mikoshi. After Rogue’s sudden rejuvenation stunned the team, they charged into the tower under Su Ming’s overwhelming gunfire.

• Su Ming planned to storm Arasaka Tower, plant the bomb, and later infiltrate the underground ruins to reach Mikoshi.
• The team was shocked when Rogue emerged from the car looking eighteen, and Su Ming jokingly claimed it happened because she saw him.
• Rogue took the nuclear bomb from the trunk and reminded the team to check their weapons and stay together.
• Su Ming shot down Arasaka guards from hundreds of meters away and destroyed the mechs and turrets by hitting their gun barrels.
• The team formed a single-file line and charged into Arasaka Tower’s blood-soaked first-floor lobby.

Su Ming’s team fought through Arasaka Tower with Songbird disabling security and killing waves of soldiers through the Blackwall. They rode toward the sixty-fifth floor to plant bombs as police and MAX-TAC closed in.

• Songbird shut down the lobby’s defenses and hacked Arasaka soldiers while Jack, V, Rogue, and Su Ming fought their way inside.
• Su Ming ordered Songbird to burn nearly a hundred soldiers by routing their squad channel through the Blackwall.
• Rogue praised Songbird’s hacking, and Su Ming directed the group to plant bombs in Arasaka’s Intelligence Division on the sixty-fifth floor.
• The group entered the elevator as Songbird warned that police and MAX-TAC could reach the tower within minutes.
• Su Ming said he would demonstrate Spine Rip if MAX-TAC arrived, and Johnny explained the move to Jack.

Su Ming’s team planted a timed nuclear bomb in Arasaka Tower and prepared to continue toward Saburo Arasaka’s office. As the elevator ascended, they agreed that Su Ming would fight Adam Smasher while the others searched for valuables and Songbird looked for Soulkiller files.

• The team exited the elevator after Songbird disabled a guard, and Jack envied her hacking skills until Rogue warned him about the dangers hackers faced.
• Su Ming chose an unmonitored conference room, where Rogue set the nuclear bomb’s countdown to ten minutes and hid it beneath the table.
• Johnny declared that he would fight Adam Smasher, while V and Jack planned to take paintings and calligraphy, and Rogue chose to search for a katana.
• Ciri said she would look for safes, and Songbird asked the team to bring her any offline Soulkiller file or program storage medium they found.
• Su Ming told the others to prepare to loot while he took responsibility for fighting Adam Smasher.

Deathstroke, disguised as Johnny Silverhand, fought Adam Smasher on the top floor of Arasaka Tower while V, Rogue, Ciri, and Jack searched for valuables before the nuclear bomb exploded. Adam charged at Deathstroke with his Sandevistan, and the chapter left their fight about to continue.

• Adam Smasher tore through the elevator doors, but Deathstroke caught his punch and sent him flying into rubble.
• Deathstroke told the others to collect what they wanted quickly, while Ciri warned them that enemies might still be nearby.
• Ciri urged V and Jack to loot, and Deathstroke sent Rogue away to look for Katana collectibles rather than fight Adam.
• Adam rose, shouted at Johnny, and charged Deathstroke after activating his Sandevistan.
• Deathstroke judged Adam's speed unimpressive compared with the speed he had encountered in the DC Universe.

Su Ming toyed with Adam Smasher by making him repeatedly crash into things, while Ciri searched a safe nearby. Adam kept charging and attacking despite the traps, and the chapter left him battered but still able to fight.

• Su Ming made Adam Smasher slip on a sticky banana peel, sending him crashing through several rooms and into a toilet.
• Ciri complained about the noise while picking a safe, and Su Ming suggested using explosives or asking Songbird to unlock it remotely.
• Su Ming taunted Adam, who charged back at him and slipped on a second banana peel, crashing into an office.
• Su Ming called out to Adam through the broken doorway, but Adam showed no fear and fired a rocket from his arm.
• Su Ming reversed the rocket with a finger tap, sending it back to blast Adam, whose armor sustained only a slight dent.

Su Ming, disguised as Johnny Silverhand, toyed with Adam Smasher before defeating and burning him. The fight ended with Smasher apparently dead, though the story left open whether he had a backup in Mikoshi.

• Adam Smasher hesitated to use his Big Jump after Su Ming placed a wet-floor sign in his path.
• Su Ming caught Smasher’s punch and redirected him into a courtyard of electronic sakura blossoms.
• After Smasher attacked wildly with his overloaded cybernetics, Su Ming knocked him down with one punch and disabled his body.
• Su Ming poured gasoline over Smasher and burned him, then lit a cigarette from the flames.
• Strangle laughed with Su Ming as he smoked beside Smasher’s remains.

Su Ming and Strangle waited for the nuclear bomb while joking about souvenirs and watching Adam the club burn. Rogue emerged with several Katanas and attacked Adam’s remains, venting her decades-old grudge against him.

• Su Ming recited a haiku while Adam the club burned, then joked with Strangle about taking electronic sakura trees or Adam’s skull as souvenirs.
• Strangle suggested taking the Mikoshi server array after Su Ming finished using it, and Su Ming agreed to bring it back as office decoration.
• With four minutes left before the nuclear bomb went off, Su Ming added fuel and threw white phosphorus grenades onto the club.
• Rogue emerged carrying several Katanas and hurried toward Adam’s burning remains.
• Rogue hacked at Adam’s body in a furious barrage, damaging her Katana but failing to harm his sturdy mechanical frame.

After defeating Adam Smasher, Su Ming and the others withdrew from Arasaka Tower with their loot as a nuclear bomb destroyed the building. They planned to return beneath the ruins in half an hour to deal with Mikoshi.

• Rogue finished venting her grief over Adam Smasher's death, and Su Ming told her Ciri would discuss the Afterlife Bar deal with her later.
• Jack and V returned carrying large packs of loot, and Su Ming told Jack to spend his earnings on a better home for his mother and a ring for his girlfriend.
• Ciri reported that she had found no trace of Songbird but had taken documents and financial records, then urged everyone to evacuate.
• Rogue's crew extracted the group from Arasaka Tower in a flying car, and the tower exploded behind them in a nuclear blast.
• Su Ming watched the destruction from the vehicle and said they would return in half an hour to settle the matter of Mikoshi.

Su Ming sent Ciri to kill Saburo Arasaka and retrieve the Relic while sparing Yorinobu Arasaka and Goro Takemura. Ciri returned with the chip, and Su Ming inserted it into a customized body resembling Johnny Silverhand as Adjutant began the data transfer.

• Rogue learned that Saburo Arasaka was heading to Konpeki Plaza to meet Yorinobu Arasaka and inspect the Relic.
• Su Ming ordered Ciri to kill Saburo, retrieve the cryogenic box, spare Goro Takemura, and knock out Yorinobu.
• Ciri returned within minutes with the box after killing Saburo and incapacitating Yorinobu and Goro Takemura.
• Su Ming summoned a customized Biochemical Cyborg resembling Johnny Silverhand and inserted the Relic into its chip slot.
• Adjutant began transferring the Relic data into the new body.

Su Ming revived the real Johnny Silverhand in a new body and let Rogue confirm his identity. After Rogue took Johnny aside to explain that it was 2077, Su Ming told V and Jack to prepare to hide while he and Johnny dealt with Arasaka Corporation.

• Johnny Silverhand woke in a new body, shouted at Saburo Arasaka, and learned from Su Ming that his surgery had succeeded.
• Su Ming revealed himself to Rogue, V, Jack, and Johnny, then asked Rogue to explain what had happened to Johnny.
• Rogue embraced Johnny, slapped him, and confirmed to Su Ming that the resurrected man was the real Johnny.
• Rogue took Johnny aside to catch him up on the years he had missed, including that it was now 2077.
• Su Ming gave V and Jack snacks and alcohol, told them to sell the loot and hide with a month’s worth of food, and said he and Johnny would handle Arasaka Corporation.

V and Jack left the factory to avoid becoming targets for the corporations, while Su Ming stayed behind and pondered whether the revived Johnny Silverhand was truly the same person as before. His thoughts on identity and consciousness gave him possible insight into how to observe CAAT, but he still needed further inspiration.

• V decided that she and Jack should leave before the corporations learned of their connection to Su Ming, then hugged and kissed Ciri goodbye.
• V and Jack departed the factory by arranging a Mandela taxi, while Rogue's people guarded the area and Ciri watched.
• Su Ming roasted marshmallows by the campfire and observed Johnny and Rogue as Johnny repeatedly lost his temper.
• Su Ming considered the Ship of Theseus paradox and questioned whether copied memories could make the revived Johnny the original person.
• Su Ming connected questions of consciousness and identity to his effort to understand CAAT, then decided he needed another source of inspiration.

Su Ming stopped contemplating metaphysical questions and settled a dispute between Johnny and Rogue before Rogue explained what had happened since Johnny's death. Johnny then asked Su Ming to save Alt, and the group prepared to enter the depths beneath Arasaka Tower.

• Su Ming interrupted Johnny and Rogue's argument over the guitar Rogue had sold after Johnny's death.
• Rogue told Johnny about Soulkiller, Mikoshi, the Relic, Alt's fate, and how Johnny had been resurrected.
• Johnny asked Su Ming to save Alt and offered him another favor in return.
• Su Ming said saving Alt was already part of the plan and had her explain Rogue AIs, the Blackwall, and Cyberspace to Johnny.
• Su Ming gave Johnny a pistol and said they could leave immediately, assigning him the task of convincing Alt to trust him.

Su Ming, Ciri, Johnny, and Rogue waited for Songbird to prepare for their rescue of Alt while discussing Johnny’s hatred of corporations and possible ways to change Night City. Rogue learned Su Ming could supply real food and immediately recognized its potential as leverage.

• Johnny paced impatiently while Rogue’s people repainted the aerodyne, but Su Ming told him they had to wait for his hacker before entering Mikoshi.
• Johnny regretted that Ciri had killed Saburo Arasaka, and Su Ming urged him to focus on the broader fight against oppressive corporations.
• Ciri suggested Johnny overthrow the New United States Government, but Johnny dismissed the idea of becoming president and doubted people could be roused to revolution.
• Su Ming proposed that Johnny and Rogue sell goods through a trade route and build enough capital to pursue political power, but Johnny rejected the presidency.
• Su Ming offered to bring real plant-based food to Night City, and Rogue immediately asked to hear more because food could help her build an army or found a country.

Su Ming and his companions disguised themselves as firefighters and headed to the ruins of Arasaka Tower to find a way underground and lure Alt through Johnny. They reached the fire scene as police began withdrawing after Saburo Arasaka’s death was discovered.

• Su Ming told Rogue to lie low after their discussion of a possible food business, and Rogue arranged firefighter uniforms and a fire truck through her contacts.
• Songbird explained that she would use Johnny’s brain chip to connect Mikoshi to the Internet and draw Alt in, while Su Ming revealed he had alerted Mandela so Alt would learn of the attack.
• Rogue and Johnny traded insults on the way to Arasaka Tower as traffic crawled past police checkpoints.
• The group arrived at the burning ruins in the fire truck, put on their gear and gas masks, and entered the scene.
• Su Ming noticed police officers leaving after Saburo Arasaka’s death was discovered and focused on finding the route underground.

Su Ming led Johnny, Rogue, and Ciri through the burning ruins of Arasaka Tower and down a ventilation shaft toward Mikoshi. After a guard killed himself rather than answer questions, Su Ming stayed behind to interrogate the corpse while the others moved ahead.

• Su Ming used Strangle to locate an underground passage and led the group through the smoke and fire toward a secret ventilation shaft.
• Su Ming cleared the shaft entrance, formed ropes from Strangle, and sent Ciri, Johnny, and Rogue down before following them.
• The group emerged into Arasaka's underground air-conditioning system and entered a red-lit corridor in search of the main server room.
• Rogue grabbed an Arasaka guard, but he shouted a loyalty cry and killed himself with poison before she could question him.
• Su Ming secretly activated Strangle and told Johnny and Rogue to wait ahead while he interrogated the corpse.