Chapter Summaries

Chen Mo arrived in Night City, where he killed three Bloods corpse collectors and absorbed their bodies and memories. He learned that Nite Owl and Lex Luthor ruled this cybernetic Gotham, and the Bloods were on their way.

• Chen Mo killed the chainsaw-wielding Bloods collector with a single blow and used Blacklight matter to kill his two companions.
• Chen Mo absorbed the three corpses and received their memories.
• Chen Mo learned that Bruce Wayne had died as a child and that Thomas Wayne had become Nite Owl, dividing control of the city with Lex Luthor.
• Chen Mo learned that corporations controlled daily life in Night City, where debtors became factory workers or cybernetic laborers and the Bloods harvested corpses.
• Chen Mo recognized Night City as a cybernetic Gotham with no heroes, and alarms sounded as the Bloods arrived.

Buck led a heavily armed Bloods gang to confront Chen Mo for killing three corpse collectors, but Chen Mo slaughtered Buck’s men with Blacklight while leaving Buck alive. Chen Mo called himself an environmentalist, and Buck wondered whether that was an organization or company.

• Buck learned that a young man with no cyberware had killed three Bloods corpse collectors and drove out with his gang to retaliate.
• Buck confronted Chen Mo in the rain and felt terror despite his scans detecting no threat.
• Chen Mo asked whether Buck’s armored vehicle had paid its parking fee.
• Chen Mo unleashed black-and-red strands that killed Buck’s dozen subordinates, while Buck remained standing.
• Chen Mo told Buck he was an environmentalist passing through, and Buck asked whether that was an organization or company.

Chen Mo killed Buck the Butcher and learned that Night City was controlled by Nite Owl and Lex Luthor, while street gangs exploited the slums. After silencing locals who blamed him for provoking the Bloods, he reached the inner city and set his sights on Nite Owl’s tower.

• Buck injected himself with a drug and attacked Chen Mo with a power axe, but Chen Mo caught it with a black-and-red hand, crushed it, and killed Buck.
• Chen Mo absorbed Buck’s memories and learned how the gangs and the corporations divided control of Night City.
• Residents blamed Chen Mo for killing Buck and feared the Bloods would retaliate, so Chen Mo impaled the ringleaders and warned the crowd to be quiet.
• Chen Mo left the slums and reached an elevated roadway in Night City’s inner city, where he disrupted some surveillance feeds.
• Chen Mo chose Nite Owl’s central tower as his starting point and vanished toward it.

Lex Luthor ordered his Obsidian troops to capture Chen Mo alive, while Nite Owl watched to see what the newcomer could do. After Chen Mo killed the troops that surrounded him in the inner city, V introduced herself and offered help on behalf of the Joker Gang.

• Lex Luthor classified Chen Mo as a maximum-threat specimen and ordered the Obsidian elites to bring him back alive.
• Nite Owl watched the footage and decided to see whether Lex could capture Chen Mo.
• Chen Mo walked through the inner city, where he saw its cybernetic advertisements, poverty, and a hovercar passenger urinating on pedestrians.
• The Obsidian troops surrounded Chen Mo and demanded that he surrender for examination.
• Chen Mo used Blacklight to kill the troops, and V emerged from an alley and offered help from the Joker Gang.

V rescued Chen Mo from Luthor’s forces and led him through Night City’s sewers to the Joker Gang’s underground base. Chen Mo entered the gang’s headquarters, intrigued by V and the city’s unusual factions.

• V warned Chen Mo that Luthor’s drones and armored vehicles were approaching, then led him into a sewer escape route.
• As they traveled underground, V explained that the Joker Gang opposed Nite Owl and had saved Chen Mo because both factions wanted to control him.
• Chen Mo noticed V’s name matched that of a Cyberpunk 2077 protagonist and wondered whether the worlds were connected.
• V brought Chen Mo to a sealed underground weapons factory that served as the Joker Gang’s base.
• V welcomed Chen Mo into the Joker Gang’s headquarters, and he followed her inside.

V brought Chen Mo to the Joker Gang’s base, where the gang questioned his motives and learned that he had fought the Luthor Corporation’s Obsidian Troops. Chen Mo agreed to join them, and Joker welcomed him to the gang.

• V led Chen Mo into the Joker Gang’s base, where the members challenged her decision to bring in a stranger.
• V said Chen Mo had defeated an Obsidian Troops squad, and Chen Mo revealed the Blacklight matter beneath his skin to prove he was not ordinary.
• Chen Mo told the gang he had killed the soldiers because they had tried to capture him, not to rescue anyone.
• V explained that Chen Mo could help the gang challenge Nite Owl and Luthor, and Chen Mo agreed to join.
• Joker returned to the base, welcomed Chen Mo to the Joker Gang, and offered to show him his cooking skills.

Chen Mo shared a meal with Joker, V, and Harley Quinn as Joker described the failed rebels and the corporations ruling the city. Joker asked Chen Mo to help overthrow Nite Owl and Luthor, but Chen Mo demanded to know why he should help.

• Chen Mo ate the stew while Harley Quinn joked about the scalpel she had used to cut the meat.
• Joker told Chen Mo that earlier rebels had been killed by Nite Owl and Luthor, and Harley Quinn described how their corpses and abilities were exploited.
• Joker explained why he wanted someone to challenge the corporations, while Chen Mo listened without agreeing to help.
• Joker asked Chen Mo to join them in smashing Nite Owl's and Luthor's thrones.
• Chen Mo stabbed a rusty knife into the table near Joker's fingers and asked why he should help.

Joker revealed that a mysterious man with a black-crystal communicator had contacted him and predicted Chen Mo’s arrival in Night City. Joker proposed that he and Chen Mo work together to defeat Nite Owl and Luthor while tracking the man down.

• Joker admitted that he had no right to ask Chen Mo to join his operation without offering anything in return.
• Joker identified Chen Mo’s quarry as a man who communicated through a black-crystal device and laughed after conversations.
• Joker said the mysterious man had contacted him twice, knew his true identity and plans, and promised to solve his problems if he brought Chen Mo to him.
• Joker told Chen Mo that he had refused the offer and wanted to cooperate instead.
• Joker proposed helping Chen Mo find the mysterious man if Chen Mo helped destroy Nite Owl and Luthor, and Chen Mo agreed the proposal was interesting.

Chen Mo agreed to help Joker bring down Nite Owl and Luthor, but his overwhelming power made Joker’s carefully prepared uprising plan seem unnecessary. Chen Mo chose to support Joker’s approach while warning the group not to betray him, and Joker ended the discussion worried that Chen Mo might consume the world.

• Joker laid out a phased plan to disable Nite Owl’s surveillance, destroy data centers, and attack Luthor Corporation’s energy core.
• Chen Mo argued he could kill or brainwash Nite Owl and Luthor instantly, or take control of the planet with Blacklight.
• Joker insisted that killing the rulers would not free the city because new corporations would replace them.
• Chen Mo agreed to help break the strongest defenses but said Joker and his people would have to handle the rest themselves.
• Chen Mo warned that he would kill anyone who plotted behind his back, and Joker decided preventing Chen Mo from eating the world was now the priority.

Chen Mo joined the Joker Gang’s assault on a Nite Owl surveillance hub and easily broke through its defenses. In the data center, a black crystal addressed Chen Mo and revealed that the attack had been anticipated.

• Chen Mo reviewed the Joker Gang’s map of surveillance nodes and learned that destroying the District Nine transit hub could disrupt Nite Owl’s surveillance for twenty to thirty minutes.
• Chen Mo used telekinetic force to inspect the hub, then joined V, Joker, Harley Quinn, and the Joker Gang members on the assault.
• Chen Mo disabled the scanners with Blacklight and kicked down the hub’s blast door, killing the guards before the gang could engage.
• Chen Mo and the gang entered the data center, where a black crystal appeared on the central screen and addressed him.
• The servers activated and the data center’s walls unfolded as the black crystal said it had been waiting for Chen Mo.

The Batman Who Laughs revealed that the data center controlled the life-support chips of 1.37 million Night City residents and threatened to kill them if Chen Mo destroyed the motherboard. He challenged Chen Mo to choose between stopping his advance and letting the hostages die, leaving Chen Mo silent before the screen.

• The data center's turrets fired at Chen Mo and the Joker Gang, but Chen Mo blocked every beam with his tendrils.
• The Batman Who Laughs revealed that the turrets were not meant to kill Chen Mo and displayed a map of Night City with 1.37 million linked life-support chips.
• The Batman Who Laughs explained that destroying the motherboard would disable the chips, drive residents' cyberware out of control, and release biological agents.
• Joker and V reacted with alarm, while Joker realized he could not destroy the control network without endangering the city.
• The Batman Who Laughs asked whether Chen Mo would stop for the hostages or continue over their corpses, and Chen Mo remained silent.

Chen Mo neutralized the identity chips threatening 1.37 million people in Night City, but The Batman Who Laughs escaped after provoking him. Chen Mo decided to copy the data center’s contents before tearing it down, while The Batman Who Laughs reunited with the Dark Knights and called their near-death encounter thrilling.

• Chen Mo used telekinetic force to disconnect all 1.37 million identity chips from the data center’s control network without harming their owners.
• The Batman Who Laughs said he had wanted to see Chen Mo’s reaction to the threatened deaths, and Chen Mo admitted he had mostly thought the situation was a hassle.
• Chen Mo sent Blacklight after The Batman Who Laughs through the communication signal, but the signal vanished before Chen Mo could reach him.
• Chen Mo told V they would copy the data center’s data before tearing it down.
• The Batman Who Laughs met with Red Death and Dawnbreaker, dismissed their concerns about the lost routes, and said they had all almost died.

Chen Mo copied the District Nine data center into the Blacklight Network and tore the facility apart before leaving with the Joker Gang. Nite Owl and Lex Luthor each blamed the other for the destruction and ordered their forces into a war footing.

• Chen Mo transferred the data center's servers and data into the Blacklight Network, then consumed the facility's metal and wiring as the building collapsed.
• Harley Quinn dragged Joker toward the exit, and Chen Mo escaped with the Joker Gang before the passage was buried in rubble.
• Night City's surveillance network recovered but showed no record of the data center, while Nite Owl identified Chen Mo in footage from the ruins.
• Lex Luthor blamed Nite Owl for the data center's destruction, while Nite Owl recognized the Blacklight's involvement and watched the footage.
• Luthor deployed heavy armored forces, and Nite Owl unlocked low-orbit weapons.

After the Joker Gang destroyed the District Nine data center, Joker waited for Night City’s residents to react, but they carried on with their daily lives. He realized the resistance needed to address people’s immediate needs first, and the chapter left the gang preparing to start by feeding them.

• The Joker Gang celebrated destroying the District Nine data center without suffering any casualties.
• Joker checked city forums and news for public reactions, but residents focused on everyday concerns and ignored the attack.
• Harley Quinn told Joker that ordinary people might care more about having food than about who ruled the city.
• V said people struggling to eat would not care who was in charge, and Chen Mo agreed while asking for more meat at future victory feasts.
• Joker closed the forum and said the gang would start by making sure everyone had enough to eat.

Joker abandoned his surveillance-node investigation and planned a raid on the Maelstrom Gang’s All Foods Processing Plant to secure food for Night City’s outer districts. Chen Mo agreed to stay and watch, promising to intervene if Joker’s crew could not handle the gang.

• Joker erased the surveillance nodes from his map and chose the All Foods Processing Plant as his next target, hoping to seize the Maelstrom Gang’s food stores.
• V flirted with Chen Mo and asked why someone so powerful stayed with Joker’s crew, and Chen Mo decided to remain for two more days.
• Joker warned Chen Mo that the Maelstrom Gang and its leader Morok were heavily armed and dangerous, and Chen Mo said he would step in if the crew failed.
• Joker’s crew prepared for the operation, and Chen Mo noticed the message beside the target: “First, make sure they have enough to eat.”

Joker led V and the Joker Gang in an assault on the All Foods Processing Plant while Chen Mo watched to test their resolve. After they breached the plant and secured the first floor, a massive armored figure attacked and stopped its war hammer inches from Joker’s head.

• Joker coordinated a diversion at the east gate and a power cut at the drainage outlet while three trucks rammed through the plant’s western gate.
• Chen Mo stayed behind cover eating sunflower seeds as V and the Joker Gang faced the plant’s defenses without his help.
• Joker led a team through a weakened section of wall, and the attackers used smoke, jamming, and focused fire on exposed joints to defeat the Maelstrom Gang members.
• The Joker Gang cleared the first-floor entrance and advanced into the hall, where a huge figure smashed through the ceiling.
• The figure swung its hydraulic war hammer at Joker, but the hammer stopped inches from his head.

The Joker Gang defeated Morok and opened the warehouse at Night City's largest whole foods processing plant, expecting to find synthetic meat. Instead, Joker and V discovered hundreds of culture tanks holding dismembered humans with only their brains and spinal cords intact.

• Chen Mo stopped Morok's warhammer with a sunflower seed shell, but Morok struck Joker and launched him into a pillar.
• The Joker Gang opened fire on Morok, and V blinded him by shooting through gaps in his armor.
• V shoved a live high-explosive grenade into Morok's mouth, killing him and disabling his thermobaric launcher.
• Joker entered the decoder and opened the warehouse doors after urging the gang to follow their plan.
• Joker and V saw that the warehouse held hundreds of tanks containing dismembered humans instead of synthetic meat.
• Chen Mo cracked another sunflower seed as the gang stared at the tanks.

Joker and the Joker Gang discovered that Maelstrom Gang was making synthetic nutrient paste from people and mutant cockroaches, shattering Joker’s belief that small acts of resistance could reform Night City. He stopped V from charging into the factory and resolved to destroy the system that allowed such atrocities.

• Chen Mo and the Joker Gang watched the factory’s production line turn living people and mutant cockroaches into nutrient paste while preserving the victims’ brains separately.
• The Joker Gang recognized the paste as the food they had been eating, and many members collapsed in horror and nausea.
• V cursed the Maelstrom Gang, armed herself, and charged toward the factory hall to kill them.
• Joker reflected that ordinary people were treated as raw materials and concluded that minor raids and protests could not stop the system.
• Joker grabbed V’s arm to stop her and, after steadying himself, resolved that the world had to change.

Joker asked Chen Mo to rescue the captives and destroy the Maelstrom Gang and the corporations behind it, and Chen Mo agreed. Before Chen Mo could act, Luthor's forces surrounded the factory and a heavy military mech broke into the warehouse.

• Joker stopped V from rushing after the Maelstrom Gang and admitted their group could not defeat the system alone.
• Joker removed his mask and begged Chen Mo to save the people in the warehouse and destroy the Maelstrom Gang and its corporate backers.
• Chen Mo agreed to help and told V to watch from the sidelines while he tore down the factory and went after Luthor and Nite Owl.
• Luthor's forces surrounded the factory with armored vehicles and aircraft, and Joker realized the factory had been bait.
• Chen Mo checked that the captives in the cultivation tanks could survive, then said he would deal with the forces outside.
• A military mech blasted through the warehouse wall and announced that the uprising was over.

Chen Mo destroyed Luthor’s attacking force in seconds, prompting Nite Owl to prepare an escape contingency while Lex Luthor mistook the attack for Nite Owl’s trump card. As Luthor reached for the command button to launch an all-out assault, his supposedly nuclear-proof door shattered.

• A mech pilot threatened the Joker Gang, but Chen Mo tore the mech apart with Blacklight tendrils before it could fire.
• Chen Mo’s tendrils destroyed the armored units, vehicles, and gunships surrounding the All Foods Processing Plant in one second.
• Nite Owl watched the force’s destruction on surveillance footage and decided to prepare a contingency plan to escape if his trump card failed.
• Lex Luthor concluded that Nite Owl had revealed his trump card and reached for the button to launch his super force against Night City.
• Luthor’s custom alloy door shattered just as he was about to press the command button.