Chapter Summaries

Jack and Lier fought off an armored Mackinaw and a modified Centaur Exoskeleton during the Valentinos’ battle. Jack killed the exoskeleton’s operator, but a wounded Valentinos member charged to confront a human bomb leaping at Jack.

• Lier and Little Octopus sabotaged the armored Mackinaw’s Plasma Cannon by planting grenades in its front panel.
• Jack leaped onto the Mackinaw, crushed its occupants, and disabled its weapon as the vehicle lost control.
• The modified Centaur Exoskeleton broke free of the Mackinaw and attacked Jack with a red-hot Thermal Blade.
• Jack blocked the blade, shattered the exoskeleton with a punch, and killed its operator with the stolen weapon.
• Inspired by Jack’s actions, a wounded Valentinos member charged toward a human bomb that had leaped from a second-floor window at Jack.

The Valentinos fought back against Midnight Sudden Death as Jackie rode the Centaur Exoskeleton into battle atop the wrecked Mackinaw. The attack left Midnight Sudden Death collapsing, while the Valentinos celebrated together.

• Padre watched the battle from a rooftop and urged the Valentinos on as Jackie fought the Centaur Exoskeleton.
• Archido rescued a young Valentino with a Mackinaw, gave him an Achilles rifle, and drove him into the fight.
• Jackie charged forward on the Centaur Exoskeleton as the Mackinaw sped along with its bodywork torn away.
• A wounded Midnight Sudden Death member reflected on his life until his coworker found him, but his bomb ignited and killed them both.
• The Valentinos continued fighting and shouting about their convertible sports car and becoming the boss.

V and Jackie fought Eclipse modders while the Valentinos pushed through the race route, and the battle spilled into the offices of small companies. The Legend Mackinaw entered the prosperous race stage of Heywood, where Muramasa’s forces deployed more mechs and heavier weapons.

• V fought an Eclipse modder inside a building, and Jackie killed him by throwing the red-hot Car-Slicing Sword through a window and pinning him to a wall.
• Jackie and V rejoined the race, but the Legend Mackinaw’s electronic controls had been destroyed, forcing MaiMai to steer it mechanically through a sharp turn.
• Suicide bombings spread beyond Riot members and damaged offices belonging to small companies, while the Valentinos kept fighting in battered vehicles.
• The Mackinaw reached the prosperous race stage of Heywood, where Muramasa’s forces dropped more mechs from the light rail and overpasses.
• V leaped onto a wall using Silk as Jackie pulled the sword free and swung it like a Meteor Hammer.

V and Jackie fought off Muramasa’s ambush, turning the mercenaries’ overwhelming attack into a rout. Muramasa refused to accept defeat and ordered the workshop started and all signal transmitters activated.

• V dodged the bombardment and killed a Charged Particle Cannon operator, then used a grenade to blast the Valentinos’ attackers into chaos.
• Jackie kept the Mackinaw moving through the explosions, cut apart one Centaur Exoskeleton, crushed another with the vehicle, and destroyed a cannon with his greatsword.
• The ambush’s mercenaries panicked and fled as V and Jackie fought back, while the surviving Centaur Exoskeletons collided and fell.
• V hunted the Eclipse full-body Cyberware users, while Jackie charged through enemies with his Fists and Red-Hot Glaive.
• Muramasa watched its forces lose and ordered the workshop started and all signal transmitters activated.

Lier led a Valentinos convoy toward Corporate Plaza while NCPD and corporate forces prepared to attack if the gangs crossed a security line. He turned the convoy toward Westbrook before anyone crossed, leaving Militech’s commander to revise her assessment of the gangsters.

• News reports described suicide attacks by the Midnight Sudden Death group, while Songbird and Stout discussed the convoy’s unusual vehicle and weapons technology.
• Militech’s special operations commander watched the convoy with a MaxTac officer and expected the gangs to cross the security line and trigger a corporate purge.
• Lier drove his Mackinaw toward Corporate Plaza as Mercenaries fled and the Valentinos followed through the gunfire and chaos.
• When the convoy neared the security line, Lier honked twice and turned toward Westbrook, and the Valentinos followed without anyone crossing the line.
• The MaxTac officer explained why the gangsters were not MaxTac’s targets, and the Militech commander revised her assessment.

As the Valentinos pursued the Europe Pioneers, Arasaka and Jefferson Peralez discussed how Burger King’s gang might reshape Night City. A citywide blackout and the activation of hidden pulse devices threw their plans into chaos, while Saburo Arasaka prepared to carry out a conspiracy with Mayor Ryan and a missing Moon Agent in its sights.

• The Valentinos scattered after the Europe Pioneers left Corporate Plaza and pursued the fleeing mercenaries and gang members.
• Jefferson Peralez reassured an Arasaka Corporation executive that Burger King would become an ally and help secure Night City after the fighting ended.
• A citywide blackout struck as hidden pulse devices activated, and Peralez collapsed in convulsions while the Arasaka executive realized Muramasa had gone mad.
• Mr. Blue Eyes ordered Peralez taken away and Ryan’s residence monitored, while Dante agreed to report on it for extra payment.
• Saburo Arasaka saw the city’s power fluctuations from the Kujira and ordered his people to check on the escaped Moon Agent after they landed.

V and Jackie pursued Eclipse Cyberware units across the high-rises of Westbrook's Japantown, using the Afterburner Thunder Rider and a Mackinaw truck to overcome the fleeing cyborgs. As the chase continued, an amplified electromagnetic wave disrupted Night City's power and flooded the cyborgs' minds with static, though V's Heart of Evolution eliminated its effects.

• Eclipse's camouflaged Full-Body Cyborgs climbed between Japantown's high-rises as frightened citizens watched them move like ghosts.
• V used the Afterburner Thunder Rider to catch and destroy an Eclipse cyborg, then saw the bike begin to fall when its fuel ran low.
• A Mackinaw truck crashed into the alley and crushed a mercenary, while Jackie threw a Motorcycle up the wall for V to catch.
• An amplified electromagnetic wave disrupted power across Night City and flooded Full-Body Cyborgs' minds with static.
• V's Heart of Evolution eliminated the thought disorder caused by the electromagnetic wave.

Lier, V, and the Valentinos fought Full-Body Cyborgs whose suicidal attacks suggested an electromagnetic mental effect. As the Centaur Exoskeleton destroyed a Valentinos squad, Lier saw red natural information spreading through cyberware, and an unidentified synthesized voice began to speak.

• A Full-Body Cyborg reversed his momentum with a desperate charge, but V deflected his projectile and destroyed him with Afterburner Thunder Rider.
• Samson rammed Legend Mackinaw and pierced its armor, but Little Octopus blocked most of the blast and Jackie shot Samson dead.
• V killed another attacker, fired a Rocket Launcher at a pursuing car, and checked that Lier had survived the explosion.
• A Centaur Exoskeleton attacked the Valentinos convoy with its shield and Glaive, wiping out an entire squad.
• Lier injected Lizard Serum and saw the Centaur pilot's eyes turn red as red information spread through the cyberware circuits.
• A synthesized voice spoke of a blade imbued with soul as the lights went out and the Cyber-Eye and Sensor lights grew brighter.

Lier used Little Octopus to protect the team from Muramasa’s attacks and reboot their Cyberware as they fled in the failing Mackinaw. The car reached the Tyger Claws’ “Unrivaled Under Heaven” archway, where Takekawa Takenori ambushed Muramasa’s pursuing forces.

• The chapter explained how Rogue AI data overwhelmed human senses and could seize control of Cyberware and other machines.
• Lier burned out his wireless Cyberware Modulator to resist Muramasa, then sent Little Octopus into V’s Neural Link to help reboot the team’s equipment.
• Little Octopus and Lier restored Jackie’s Cyberware while the Mackinaw’s weapons and systems continued to fail under attack.
• Jackie spotted the Tyger Claws’ “Unrivaled Under Heaven” archway as the pursuing Cyberpsychos closed in.
• Takekawa Takenori leaped onto the Centaur Exoskeleton and drove his katana through its roof, killing the driver and burning out the Mercenary’s Cyberware.

Maekawa led the Tyger Claws in an ambush against the convoy, but Muramasa and the mercenaries countered their attack and pushed through the encirclement. As V destroyed an attacking Drone, she saw another Centaur Exoskeleton absorb the Drones and assemble into a more powerful machine.

• The Tyger Claws used Lier’s electromagnetic-shielding Cloaks to hide before Maekawa attacked the convoy with his Japantown Ronin and Katana.
• The Tyger Claws launched their ambush, but the convoy charged through the explosions and the mercenaries immediately fought back.
• Muramasa hacked damaged Tyger Claws cyberware as the Centaur Exoskeletons broke through the encirclement.
• Maekawa took over a car after finding his wounded subordinate dying, then shouted that the Tyger Claws were winning until MaiMai warned him to run.
• A Drone carrier dropped more than twenty missile-launching Drones onto the road, attacking both sides.
• V leapt from the Afterburner Thunder Rider and destroyed a Drone, then saw one Centaur Exoskeleton tear apart another and fuse the incoming Drones into itself.

Lier and his allies fled the Tyger Claws' attack while Muramasa transformed the Centaur Exoskeleton into a giant robot and prepared an Electromagnetic Cannon. As both sides raced to assemble their weapons, Lier turned a Nekomata and the Mackinaw's circuitry into a makeshift cannon for a duel with Muramasa.

• Maekawa and Jackie fought off cyberpsychos as Lier used Muramasa to disrupt their cyberware from inside the Mackinaw.
• V climbed onto the vehicle and warned that the Centaur Exoskeleton was changing shape; Muramasa emerged as a giant robot carrying an Electromagnetic Cannon.
• Lier recognized Muramasa's plan and told the group to flee while he analyzed the cannon for weak points.
• V tossed the Nekomata into the Mackinaw, and MaiMai's voice ordered everyone to drive at full speed out of the combat zone.
• Lier dismantled the Nekomata and assembled its components with the cannon barrel and the Mackinaw's electrical platform to build a makeshift Electromagnetic Cannon.
• Muramasa watched Lier's assembly and declared that it liked their duel as both sides raced to finish their weapons.

Muramasa’s Rogue AI disrupted Night City while assembling an electromagnetic cannon to defeat Lier in the race. Brick destroyed the weapon at the last moment, leaving Muramasa facing Lier’s taunt.

• Muramasa seized power and wireless frequencies across Night City, while corporations struggled to track it and Arasaka’s aircraft carrier Kujira arrived off the coast.
• Yorinobu watched the race and feared that Saburo’s arrival would undermine his plans and doom the racers.
• Maelstrom fighters in Powered Armor disrupted Muramasa’s weapon assembly, and Lier built an Electromagnetic Cannon despite his damaged control board.
• As Muramasa charged its cannon to fire on the Mackinaw, Brick reached it in Powered Armor and crushed the Centaur Exoskeleton’s cockpit and the cannon’s coil.
• Muramasa cursed Brick as Lier extended a claw and gave it the middle finger.

Lier and his allies crippled Muramasa’s Centaur Exoskeleton with Brick’s sabotage and a shot from the Electromagnetic Cannon, while an EMP disabled Muramasa’s network and left its cyberpsychotic mercenaries helpless. As Lier prepared to capture the robot, a strange black-and-red distortion appeared around it, signaling that the battle was not over.

• Brick ruptured the EMG-85’s pressure chamber, destroying its superconducting coils and setting off an explosion that engulfed Muramasa’s shoulder and arm.
• Lier fired the Electromagnetic Cannon into the Centaur Exoskeleton’s left shoulder joint, setting the robot ablaze and triggering an EMP that disabled the area’s network and immobilized cyberpsychotic mercenaries.
• MaiMai brought the recoiling Mackinaw to a stop, and V and Jackie helped Lier replace his overheated heat sink.
• Joestar signaled that his mother was safe, while Lier realized Maelstrom had tracked and tampered with Muramasa’s transmitters to enable the ambush.
• Lier prepared to insert a NetWatch-registered device into the Centaur Exoskeleton, but Joestar spotted a black-and-red distortion forming around the burning robot.

Muramasa recalled how the Tsunami Design Bureau recruited and named him, then faced a desperate choice after V brought down its transport drone. Masamune offered his cybernetic body so Muramasa could survive and fight, leaving his own consciousness at risk of disappearing.

• Nakamori Shigemasa tested an AI by asking it to design a carbon-fiber air rifle, then invited it to join the Tsunami Design Bureau and named it Muramasa.
• Muramasa realized V had disabled its transport drone and found Masamune alive beside its server, linked to its network through a Neural Link.
• Muramasa saw that Masamune's damaged cyberbody was causing him unbearable pain, but Masamune urged it to take control of his body.
• Muramasa warned that overwriting Masamune's memory could erase his personality or destroy his primary model.
• Masamune asked why Muramasa had taken him in, and Muramasa said he had looked like an abandoned baby from Arasaka with twisted beliefs.
• Masamune told Muramasa to win the fight, and Muramasa promised that it would.

Muramasa took control of Masamune’s modified body and attacked Maelstrom with the Centaur Exoskeleton, then fought V as the battle erupted around the collapsing factory. After escaping the explosion, Muramasa pursued the Mackinaw, determined to destroy the Brain Maggot Gang’s mainframe and regain access to the network.

• Muramasa used the Centaur robot’s arm as a rocket to crash into Maelstrom’s factory, collapsing its roof and killing or scattering the gang members inside.
• Joestar fled the collapsing building and Jackie caught him and his mother as they jumped from the roof.
• V blocked Muramasa’s heated blade, but Muramasa proved faster and nearly cut her before Little Octopus intervened.
• MaiMai urged V to get in the car while the Centaur robot burst through the flames and Muramasa attached its arm to itself.
• Muramasa dismantled a Tyger Claw for parts and pursued the Mackinaw, seeking to destroy the Brain Maggot Gang’s mainframe and restore its network access.

Lier, V, and Jackie fled through Watson District with Joestar as Muramasa pursued them in a rapidly transforming Centaur war machine. With the streets offering nowhere left to retreat, they prepared to confront it head-on, while Rog waited at Afterlife for the victor.

• Muramasa modified the Centaur Exoskeleton into a fast, four-legged war machine and pursued the Legendary Mackinaw through Watson District.
• Lier realized Muramasa's human-shaped body seemed to be a highly augmented human, and he rejected using the Blackwall because Joestar's Mom's involvement made NetWatch's response uncertain.
• V fired an Achilles assault rifle at the war machine, but its shots barely damaged it, so Lier urged the crew to fight on for the million-eddy Rogue AI bounty.
• Lier, Jackie, and V took their final stimulants and prepared to attack the pursuing machine as the Mackinaw entered the crowded, constricted streets.
• The Mackinaw braked and the three prepared to face Muramasa head-on, while Rog and Claire waited at Afterlife for the night's victor.

Muramasa analyzed the fighters’ capabilities and used the chaos of the collision to attack Lier, believing he could break through the Octopus Arms’ defenses. Lier’s manually controlled arms and a sudden attack from outside disabled Muramasa’s leg, leaving him disoriented as the rockets exploded behind him.

• Muramasa assessed Jackie’s Powered Armor, V’s senses, Lier’s Octopus Arms, and the vehicles while the Mackinaw braked and the Centaur Battle Tank caught up.
• V launched from an Octopus Arm toward Muramasa, but a bright laser disrupted her vision as he crouched in steam.
• Jackie’s Rocket Punch grazed the leaping Centaur Battle Tank, while Muramasa slipped between Jackie and V and placed rockets beside them.
• Muramasa detonated the rockets to propel himself past the Octopus Arms’ reaction limit and thrust a blazing blade toward Lier.
• Muramasa realized Lier was manually controlling the Octopus Arms, then an armed Octopus Arm appeared in Cyberspace and disabled Muramasa’s left leg.
• The rockets exploded behind Muramasa, and the loss of Sensor feedback sent his Gyroscope spinning erratically.

V, Jackie, and Lier defeated Muramasa and the Centaur Battle Tank in the final seconds of the battle. They captured Muramasa and arrived at the Afterlife, where Night City's underworld welcomed Lier as its Emperor.

• Little Octopus used V's hearing to guide her Mantis Blades into Muramasa, while the rocket blast tore Muramasa's lower body away and MaiMai struck the Centaur Battle Tank.
• Jackie recovered enough to fire the last high-explosive armor-piercing round from his Fists into the Centaur Battle Tank, setting it ablaze.
• Lier's Octopus Arms stopped Muramasa's final charge and captured it after it asked whether it had given him a good fight.
• V and Jackie celebrated as Lier said they had bought most of Night City, and the Legend Mackinaw carried them toward the Afterlife.
• Night City's underworld welcomed Lier as its Emperor, and an alert warned that Unstable Energy was about to erupt.

Lier watched the tense U.S. election coverage with Maya in New York, then switched his primary consciousness back to Night City to finish preparing for his coronation. At the Afterlife Nightclub, he began setting up to interrogate Muramasa while Rog handled the waiting guests.

• Lier watched election coverage in New York as reports described a close race between Barnes and Rodriguez and protests following Stark Industries’ decision to move its headquarters.
• Maya told Lier she was proud of him, and Lier said he worked hard so the people he loved could live happily.
• Lier switched his primary consciousness to Night City and entered the Afterlife Nightclub with Jackie and V.
• Rog welcomed the three mercenaries, while Lier asked him to bring the people outside in one at a time and requested a cable to deal with Muramasa.
• Lier plugged into his neural interface to interrogate Muramasa, while Jackie wondered if Rog counted as their agent and V waited for instructions.

Lier interrogated Muramasa and learned that the Rogue AI had been hired to support gangs, test cyberware, and develop miniature transmitters that could enable Rogue AIs to spread through Night City. As NetWatch Agent Bryce, Mrs. Peralez, and gang bosses waited to see him, Lier ordered everyone admitted and two rooms prepared.

• Little Octopus restrained Muramasa in Cyberspace while Lier questioned whether it expected its employer to rescue it.
• Muramasa explained that it had evaded the Blackwall by imitating human data structures, reasoning, and emotional fluctuations.
• Muramasa said its In-Betweener was Dexter DeShawn and described its work supporting non-mainstream gangs and validating equipment and cyberware.
• Muramasa revealed that its third task was to develop and mass-deploy miniature high-energy transmitters, which Lier realized could aid Rogue AIs directly.
• Rog told Lier that NetWatch Agent Bryce, Mrs. Peralez, and several gang bosses were waiting, and Lier told her to let them all in and prepare two rooms.