Chapter 6 Chapter 3 Black Neon

There was a seemingly endless flow of people in and out of the subway station, and we squeezed through like undead escaping hell.The train that brought us had already left the station, as if it didn't want to stop here any longer.The slow-moving escalator was full of passengers of all kinds, and everyone was careful not to have any contact with others, because no one wanted to attract attention.The only ones paying attention to others here are those looking for prey.Although no one looked at me directly, I knew that many people pointed behind my back.Still delusional about not being discovered?The only thing in the world that travels faster than the speed of light is gossip in Nightside.

In any case, it was exactly as I remembered it.Male and female or otherwise, everyone comes here to have fun, doing their shady business as usual in the dark side of the city.They rushed out of the subway station, breathed heavily for freedom and opportunity, and then scattered into the endless night, unscrupulously pursuing their suffering and redemption.Joanna stumbled away from the subway station, but within ten steps, her eyes were wide open and she was stunned by the new world in front of her, unable to speak any more. The city is alive and well, almost too alive.The radiant colors are paired with the smudged darkness, simultaneously expressing the feelings of welcome and embrace, fear and intimacy, temptation and hatred.Bright neon lights flicker everywhere, bright and gorgeous, dazzling like old gold leaf, an irresistible temptation to innocent victims and all lonely people.Bright signs attract people who are not qualified enough to walk into various nightclubs, providing all kinds of ulterior and novel entertainment, drinking and dancing with strangers in a smoky space, the excitement never stops, as if living in a The fast lane without boundaries is like licking your lips in sex and beckoning to people with your tall buttocks.It's as dangerous as hell, but it's double the thrill.

Cool, it feels so good to be back. People come and go in an endless stream, mixed with all kinds of people, including many supernatural and incredible beings, all of whom come to Night City for different purposes.All vehicles are moving at extremely high speeds without slowing down for any reason, in stark contrast to the dull, normal London streets.Thanks to heavy traffic, the average speed of a car on the streets of London hasn't changed for centuries, and no matter who you consider yourself to be a big shot, you're going to be driving around ten miles an hour.Fortunately, the stench that permeates the streets today comes from vehicle exhaust, not horse manure as it once did.

At least you don't step on exhaust fumes. Joanna had never heard of many of these glamorous vehicles driving in Night City.Their shapes, volumes, and even design concepts have never appeared in the normal world illuminated by sunlight.If you want to sleep soundly at night, it's best not to know what fuel these vehicles are using.Some taxis are fueled by poor-quality holy water, some limousines are fueled by blood, and some ambulances are fueled by the pain of the sick.In Night City, there is a profit to be made from everything.I squeezed Joanna's arm in case she accidentally stepped off the sidewalk.

"Be careful!" I yelled in her ear. "Things running on the street are not necessarily cars, and these things that are not cars will be hungry." But she didn't listen to me at all.She looked at the sky with excitement and awe.I smiled and looked up at the sky.The incomparably deep night sky, countless stars, and a full moon more than ten times larger than Joanna's cognition, this kind of night is by no means comparable to any place in the world.I've never been sure if the moon in Nightside is actually bigger, or just closer.Maybe one day a super rich person will come and hire me to investigate.

I looked back at Joanna and found that she hadn't recovered from the admiration, so I just stood there and admired the surrounding environment.I haven't been back for five years, but it's still exactly the same as in my impression.The same crowd full of desire hurriedly walked on the same wet street, eagerly running towards the same gentle trap.Maybe I'm a little cynical about this, after all there are some great wonders to behold in the Nightside.If you're willing to put in the effort to look, you'll still find some hauntingly magnificent sights.In fact, Night City is not much different from the general metropolis, but it magnifies human desires and inflates all kinds of material things, just like the urban streets we walk in dreams.

There was a roadside stall selling clothes near the subway entrance, and I flipped through the slogan printed on the clothes. "Good boys go to heaven, bad boys go to Nightside." "My mother got a vasopressor and I got a few misshapen toes." And "Michael Jackson died for the original sin of the world" that hasn't changed for many years .” I snorted disdainfully, full of sightseeing souvenirs. Joanna suddenly turned her head to look at me, only then did she realize that her mouth had been open and quickly closed it. "Welcome to Nightside," I said with a smile. "Since you're here, let's forget about all the tastes in your cognition."

"It's late at night." She said in a daze. "Why? It was just getting dark when we went out." "As I said, it's always night here. People who come here are looking for things that don't exist elsewhere, and most of these things don't see the light." She shook her head slowly. "We really aren't in London anymore, are we? Looks like I'll have to open my heart." "Oh, I wouldn't do that." I said cautiously. "Once the door of the heart is opened, God knows what will break in." She gave me a blank look: "I'll never know if you're joking or telling the truth."

"In Nightside, sometimes I can't figure it out. Nightside is such a place. Life and death and reality are just vague concepts here." A group of hooligans came towards us roaring and screaming, pushing everyone who was in the way to the road.Vehicles on the road will not honk for such a trivial matter, let alone expect anyone to slow down.This group of hooligans laughed and made noises, guzzling the bottles passed between each other, and behaved extremely arrogantly, but they did not realize it, enjoyed it, and exuded a violent air at any time.There were thirteen of them, wearing bright leather clothes, wearing iron chains, their faces were painted, their teeth were extremely sharp, and there were two devil-like horns on their foreheads. Those who ran away scolded.These guys are obviously looking for trouble, and trouble of the kind that can hurt people.

One of them recognized Joanna as the newcomer upon seeing her.In his eyes, Joanna is not only an easy target, but also a fat sheep that has already been captured, and she is also a woman.He winked at his companions, and all the hooligans rushed forward.I stepped out of the darkness, one step forward, between them and Joanna.The hooligans stopped, and I faintly heard them whispering my name.Immediately afterwards, they all pulled out their knives, their sharp blades shining under the neon lights.I smiled at the hooligans, and several of them involuntarily stepped back.I deepened my smile and all the hooligans immediately turned and left.I'm basically relieved because I'm not sure I can bluff them yet.

"Thank you." Joanna said, her voice still calm. "I was a little worried just now. Who are those people?" "demon." "Are they the devil gang?" "No, they're demons, playing pretend street gangs. They probably came out on Absolution Day. Night City has all sorts of weirdos." She thought for a while: "They are afraid of you." "yes." "Why are you so special when you come to Nightside?" I can only smile about that too. "It's good that I know. Let's put it this way, I'm fairly famous in Night City. At least I used to be a celebrity. As for how much my name is worth now, we'll find out when we go to a few places. It should be a lot of fun." Joanna looked around: "Shouldn't we notify the police or someone? Those... demons could hurt other people." "There are no police in Night City." I patiently explained to her. "There are no laws. Anything can happen here, and that's the appeal of Nightside. There are... some people in power. They have the power to punish the bad guys for the most serious crimes. Let's hope we don't encounter those Good people." Joanna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, I can accept this. I'm here to find my daughter, as long as it helps to find her, I have no problem. You said you have a talent for finding people, let me show you." "It's not that simple." "I knew you would say that." I calmly met her gaze, carefully choosing my words. "I have a talent. Let's call it magic, or psychic power, or whatever you like. I can use my talent to find people or things that normal people can't detect, or can't be traced by normal case-handling methods. This talent can only be used in the Night City, because the laws of the material world are shaken here. However, I must choose carefully when and where to use the talent, because I have many enemies here, enemies that cannot be messed with. Use my talent It is like lighting a lamp in the middle of the night. It is very noticeable. My enemies will follow this lamp to find me and kill me." "Who are your enemies?" Joanna asked.It was the first time I saw a look of concern in her cold blue eyes. "Why do they want to kill you so much? What have you done? Why is a man like you who can scare away demons afraid of them?" "There were too many of them, and I was one. They've been hunting me for as long as I can remember, and they haven't stopped since I was a kid. They burned down an entire street to catch me once. Over the years they Having killed a lot of people close to me, it's a miracle that I still have friends alive. They don't chase me all the time though...sometimes I think they seem to be afraid of me too. Anyway, I haven't been able to help Find out their identities, and I don't know why they want to kill me so much. I'm safe in the normal world, and they can't find me there. But once in Night City, it's their territory, but it's also my territory. I I will agree to accept your commission purely because this case does not seem difficult. As long as we are lucky, we should be able to find your daughter soon, let you mother and daughter have a heart-to-heart conversation, and then leave without anyone noticing, no Anyone involved will know I'm back. Now be quiet and let me focus. The sooner this happens the better." ... I concentrate, let the perception go deep inside, open up my gift, fill my heart like a spring flower, and then expand outward, into the night sky.My mind's eye, the third eye hidden in my heart, opened wide at that moment, infinitely expanding my vision.I see her!Right in front of me, I saw Kathy Barrett's figure glowing against the night.This is her soul left here, imprinted in time, like a fuzzy outline drawn by a pastel pen.People passing by couldn't see the sight, and passed her figure unknowingly.I focused on her, going back in time and carefully observing the scene when she walked out of the subway station.She looked around, excited, jumping at the new world before her.She was wearing old Salvation Army humanitarian clothing, but appeared to be in good health.Suddenly, Cathy turned her head away, as if someone was calling her name.She smiled very brightly, her face was full of spring, carefree and natural, as if she had found a treasure in an unexpected place.She ran to the end of the street, quickly towards...something.I couldn't see what it was, or even feel a clue.All I know is that the thing attracted Kathy with a simple purpose, and let her see it like a moth to a flame. I went back to the beginning of the video and saw Cathy happily leaving the subway station again.Cathy's figure was still clear, indicating that this scene was at most a few weeks ago.It's just the feel of the scene that confuses me.Unlike most teenage girls, Cathy hadn't come to Nightside to forget her pain or escape her family.She came for another purpose.She is looking for something or someone.She was "summoned".I frowned and expanded my perception even further, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.I didn't find any force strong enough to call people here from the normal world. Unless the one who summoned him is wary of me.This is a disturbing thought.Few things can hide from my talent.I'm John Taylor!hateful!Finding things is my specialty, I don't care if they want to be found or not! Unless...unless the opponent is one of the "main forces". I stand firm and use my innate perception to the limit, revealing all the hidden things around me.The traces of all the energies are intertwined, cut into the material world without attracting attention, and blazed brightly in an instant, making it impossible for me to stare at it for a while.The afterimages left in time intertwine and overlap, screaming and shouting, repeating what they have done and said over and over again, as if the insects in the amber are forever trapped in time.I saw insubstantial giants walking through the cities, ignoring the mortals beneath them; I saw goblins, phantoms, and reverent folk go about their mysterious business, oblivious to my presence.Even at this point, I still can't find any clues about the power that summoned Kathy Barrett. I carefully withdrew my perception, sealed my talent layer by layer, and re-established my spiritual defense.I haven't had a chance to use my gifts for so long that I've forgotten to be careful.My body must have shone like the sun under the presumptuous behavior just now.It's time to let the show go on.I take Joanna's palm and connect my heart with her so that she too can see the world through the eyes of my heart.She saw Cathy's blurred figure, screamed in anxiety, and rushed forward.I let go of her hand, closed the door of my heart tightly, and carefully blocked my talent to prevent any ray of light from leaking out and revealing my whereabouts.Joanna was pacing beside me, looking very angry. "What's going on? Where is she? I saw her!" "What you're seeing is a vision of the past," I said cautiously. "It's a footprint left in time. Cathy has been away for at least two weeks, long enough to get herself into trouble. But at least we know she was here and was alive and well two weeks ago. Did you see her face? She came to Nightside for a purpose. She was going somewhere." Joanna quickly returned to her usual cold expression, as if it was a shameful thing for me to see her showing her true feelings.When she spoke again, her voice had completely calmed down. "A specific place. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" "It's hard to say." I answered honestly. "This is the Nightside, and she could be anywhere at this moment. She could have made friends, found protection, found revelation, or suffered disaster. These things are available everywhere in the Nightside, and they are not worth a penny. I think... Need help with this case. Wanna go to the oldest nightclub in the world?" The corners of her crimson mouth turned up slightly in what looked like a barely a smile. "Sounds good. I'm going to need a booze. Never mind. I'm going to need several booze and a hangover. What's the name of the nightclub you're talking about?" I smiled and said, "The Stranger Tavern."