"Is this ability necessary? When entering cyberspace, we hackers can also control smart devices."

The street punk was quite puzzled.

Lucy countered, "How many drones can you control simultaneously?"

"Three... maybe three..."

The street punk spoke hesitantly. Hackers excel at manipulating code in cyberspace, writing programs that belong to them, but that doesn't mean they can handle multiple sources of real-time information and give the corresponding feedback simultaneously.

Just like a person can only focus on talking to one person at a time, even if they have exceptional talents, they can only do two to three things simultaneously. If the number increases, the precision of control rapidly declines.

Drone feedback signal—hacker receives the signal—converts it to a visual scene—analyzes the situation—and then provides feedback. Even though hackers have computing speeds and volumes many times that of ordinary people, they can't make the right judgments on five completely different screens simultaneously.

But AI is different. They don't need extra steps; receive—analyze—feedback, efficiently processing multiple threads at the same time.

"I haven't tried her out, but I can guarantee, if fully utilized, she can at least simultaneously handle signals from over twenty smart devices and provide feedback."

Lucy put her hand on Yoshida Saki's head, changing the topic.

"If you don't want it, I can arrange treatment right now. I don't want you to feel like I'm coercing with the kindness of saving your life. I hope you can make decisions based on your own will and thoughts."

Lucy always treats players and locals differently.

The former can be remade endlessly and enjoy it, but locals are different; they only have one life, once it's gone, it's gone. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

If she forces Yoshida Saki to consider Horizon Corporation's interests, how would she differ from Huang Ban back then?

"Think carefully."

Lucy spoke to Yoshida Saki in a tone as gentle as the soothing moonlight, calming her easily.

"I've sealed the digitized field of your brain, and it won't affect your normal life in the coming days. You can take a walk around Stone Ridge Mountain, or if you have family in Night City, they can take you back home."

"Hmm...."

Yoshida Saki still couldn't understand what problem her consciousness had experienced because she had no memory of the pause period; all she knew was she got sick.

But the players eavesdropping outside thought they had caught big news.

Brother Ni: "Hey, hey, hey, did you understand? Explosive news!"

Tutu: "Understand what? Didn't they say the girl's brain seemed to have some issues? What's there to understand?"

Jianxue: "Anyway, our brains don't seem normal either, let's call it blending in with the locals."

Brother Ni: "Get lost, your brain isn't normal; my brain is perfectly fine! I'm talking about what Lucy just said, this female NPC seems to be able to control many drones simultaneously in combat."

Youzi Chef: "What does it have to do with us? I'd rather have an AI born in my brain than be able to control drones, and dress her up like Hatsune Miku..."

Everyone: "You deadbeat, go hug your Hatsune Miku!"

Brother Ni: "You guys didn't get it. This is a new profession! A new profession! This woman's brain got modified by Zeta Technology to control assembly lines, then got invaded by rogue AI to control those Hellhound robots, and now the mentor says she can control a lot of drones simultaneously? Didn't that make you think of something?"

The previous smart machines had always been controlled by AI, including the drone swarm in the fight against Dog Town, which was under Skynet's control for targeting high-threats with heavy bombing, also analyzing and planning battle strategies. It's fair to say that winning this battle, Skynet played a significant role in it, many players envy this ability to manage thousands of machines.

Tutu came to realization first: "Are you saying... we sell our brains to Zeta Technology for an overhaul?"

Jianxue: "I get it, Daoist with ten dogs walks sideways at the start."

Youzi Chef: "Sounds promising, but the problem is we don't have Zeta Technology's brain modification technology, unless we actually sell our brains to Zeta Technology as Tutu said? Moreover, you can't be on the front line anymore if you do."

Though it might be the preview of a new profession, this career seems to hold great potential in the future, but its function overlaps with AI, not every player sees promise in this technology.

Especially not being able to be on the front line is quite disappointing to many players.

The frontline combat that others avoid is the perfect chance for players to gain experience and feel the thrill of intense gunfights.

Lurking behind playing with robots doesn't give you that kind of experience.

Brother Ni rubbed his chin.

"Selling won't do; we could steal it instead."

The mission panels simultaneously lit up in everyone's eyes.

[Main Mission: Technology and Humanity]

[Mission Background: When capitalism loses control, humanity becomes a slave to it. For profit, our blood, our flesh, even our brains become tools for value increase. Technology won't drive social progress; it even becomes a prison for each of us. But technology should serve humanity, never be above it.]

[Mission Introduction: Find a way to sneak into Zeta Technology and pilfer the tech without triggering their defense system. No limit on the number of participants.]