In the end, Xu Wanxue still left.
Under Lin Mo's gaze, she boarded a gray-white private AV and flew off toward the far side of the ocean.
It was bright and sunny when they parted in the morning.
In a few hours or so, the AV would safely reach an airport back in the mainland.
As for whether this flight would be safe, Lin Mo had already run a simulation in advance.
The result showed everything would go smoothly:
the AV would arrive without incident, and afterward, Xu Wanxue would place a long-distance call to let him know she was fine.
Night City does have an airport, mainly linking major cities across the Americas by both air and orbital routes.
Though AVs had largely replaced traditional helicopters and small aircraft in a lot of travel scenarios,
for transoceanic flights like this, a standard corporate AV simply didn't have the range or energy capacity.
Of course, it wasn't as if there weren't long-range AVs on the market.
The truly big players' private AVs all came with that kind of capability.
But that tier of ride still wasn't something Xu Wanxue could just casually enjoy.
Even her day-to-day company AV was just standard-issue corporate transport.
Lin Mo had also considered buying one in that class—
for example, Rayfield's recently released Caliburn III-series AV.
He'd watched the ads for it when he had time.
On the screen, that AV gleamed like a pearl, its entire design radiating futuristic sci-fi flair.
Back then he'd really wanted to buy one.
But when he saw the price tag, he had no choice but to abandon the idea.
With a sale price in the hundreds of millions of eurodollars,
even with his current net worth he could afford one—
but afterward, he'd basically be chopping off twenty or thirty percent of his assets in one go.
With that kind of money, isn't there a hundred better ways to spend it?
Why blow it on a glorified flex-mobile?
He still remembered very clearly what the money cap had been in Cyberpunk 2077 back when he played.
Out of curiosity, he'd tested it before:
even with cheats, the most you could get—after that familiar ding—was 2.2 billion in-game currency.
Of course, once you hit that level, money basically stops being anything but a number.
Even so, Lin Mo still wasn't willing to burn that much cash on an AV.
The cost-performance ratio was abysmal.
With that kind of cash, I could buy several Basilisk APCs from the game…
"If I ever really need to make transoceanic trips, I'll think about picking a few up then…"
He mulled it over in his heart.
…
At noon, in a Chinese restaurant facing the company plaza.
In a corner booth, Lin Mo and Liu Ruoying sat across from each other.
The table was packed with steaming hot dishes, making anyone's mouth water at a glance.
"Why is it that every time we come out to eat,
you always pick some corner seat like this…
Every meal feels like we're here for a covert gang meet-up."
Liu Ruoying kept nagging on and on,
but the faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth gave away her very good mood.
After all, with her best friend gone, it was just the two of them having lunch together.
A lone man and a lone woman… heh.
There probably wasn't anything in the world more wonderful than that, right?
Well—maybe there was.
As long as Lin Mo was willing to accompany her,
they'd always have chances to create even better memories down the line.
"Corner seats are quieter, and it's easier to observe the surroundings.
Picking this kind of spot means you're in the position of an observer looking in from the side.
I really like that feeling."
Lin Mo gave her a brief explanation, then took a sip of the tea here.
The flavor was pleasantly mellow.
"That's true.
Only in a corner can you, you know… do a few private things without being noticed…"
The corner of Liu Ruoying's mouth finally betrayed her and lifted.
Her eyes drifted off, spirit clearly wandering somewhere not PG-13,
and Lin Mo could pretty much guess what she was imagining.
"Let's drop the nonsense. Ruoying-jie, the real reason I asked you out to eat today
is because I wanted to talk to you about something."
Lin Mo slightly lowered his posture, deliberately leaning into his youthful face and age advantage.
He'd always looked down a little on this "cute puppy" act—
but he had to admit, sometimes it was ridiculously useful…
Sure enough, the moment he asked so earnestly,
Liu Ruoying's red eyes softened and grew moist like water.
Even if this kid made some outrageous request right now,
she doubted she'd have the heart to turn him down.
She really hadn't expected that the moment Xu Wanxue left,
Lin Mo would immediately drag her out to a restaurant,
saying he had something important to ask.
Earlier, she'd promised Xu Wanxue that she'd help Lin Mo with whatever trouble he ran into
and look after him carefully during this period…
But she really hadn't thought that "this period" would kick in so fast.
Resting her chin in her hand, Liu Ruoying stared at Lin Mo and asked softly:
"What is it?"
"Before my sister left, she probably gave you some private instructions, right…
Like having you report on how I'm doing every day,
and making sure I don't stir up too much trouble during this period. Am I right?"
Lin Mo laced his fingers on the tabletop, resting his chin on the backs of his hands,
smiling gently as he looked at the woman across from him,
making sure his face was close enough for her to fully appreciate his features.
…Why do I feel like I'm such a freaking tea-master right now…
he complained inwardly.
Liu Ruoying's throat moved slightly,
her eyes flicked aside and she replied in a slightly flustered tone:
"Yeah, that did happen.
Your sister asked me to keep an eye on you,
which naturally includes not letting you go wild during this stretch.
And I'm supposed to report Night City's recent situation to her every day…
She's basically treating me like her personal maid."
Maintaining his smile, Lin Mo calmly stated his request:
"Ruoying-jie, what I want to ask is…
I'd like you to help me keep something from her.
I've got a few things I need to handle in the near future,
and they might make quite a bit of noise…
I just don't want her to worry."
The moment she heard that, Liu Ruoying started shaking her head like a rattle drum.
"No way, no way.
If I do that and you end up in trouble,
Wanxue is never going to forgive me.
I'd go down in history as a sinner."
"'Trouble' is overstating it.
I just have some things I have to do—
and I'm doing them for her, too.
If I keep swallowing this down and letting it go,
then I'm not me anymore…"
Lin Mo said quietly.
He wasn't anxious.
Last night's simulation had already told him the outcome—
in the end, Liu Ruoying would agree to his request.
As for why she would agree,
he didn't yet know the specifics.
Her bright red eyes fixed on him, vivid and animated, as she asked:
"Do you really have to do it?"
"I do.
And besides, I'm not the type to charge in without a plan.
If I didn't have confidence,
I wouldn't be throwing my life away."
Lin Mo replied with a confident smile.
"In that case… fine. I'll say yes."
Liu Ruoying answered, crisp and decisive.
Lin Mo froze for a moment, eyes widening slightly as he stared at her in surprise.
Seriously? You surrendered that quickly?
There went all the carefully crafted reasons and arguments he'd prepared in his head.
Now they were completely useless.
"What's with that look?
You think I'm the kind of person who has no principles?"
Catching his expression, Liu Ruoying could more or less guess what he was thinking.
Her tone sounded a little disgruntled.
"I never thought that," Lin Mo said "honestly."
She let out a deflated sigh, propping her chin in her hand.
"To be honest, this was all your sister's idea."
"Hm?"
"Right before she left, she told me:
'With the little bit of power he used to have,
Lin Mo still grew this fast and pulled off what he's done so far.
Now that he's implanted Qiante 4 and gotten even stronger,
he's bound to stir up an even bigger storm.'
Her exact words were:
He's not someone who'll settle for an ordinary life.
I don't believe he'll quietly live a safe, stable routine.
If he comes to you asking for this kind of favor,
just say yes.
Your sister totally pre-read your read."
Liu Ruoying said, laughing.
Lin Mo was silent for a long moment.
Finally, he let out a long sigh.
"She was right."
"Oh, that reminds me, Ruoying-jie—
that thing I asked you to help with before,
is it all sorted out now?"
Lin Mo asked.
The chopsticks in Liu Ruoying's hand paused mid-air,
then she answered casually:
"Oh, that.
Yeah, small matter.
I've already put in the order for another batch for you.
But I don't have the same pull Wanxue does.
Once they're done manufacturing that batch,
it'll probably take about two weeks."
"No problem. I can wait."
Lin Mo smiled, not bothered in the slightest.
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