After a quick rinse, Vash headed straight for the armory.
Finally — time to push his DIY weapons project forward.
The Mantis Blades and Monowire had been more than enough for average gonks, but his run-in with Adam Smasher made one thing painfully clear: against real monsters, that kit was basically a joke.
And Smasher was "just" a walking war crime Arasaka had bolted together. The same Arasaka that had been quietly stockpiling tech and steering the Relic/immortality program for more than fifty years. How deep their R&D vaults went — and how much they'd kept off the books — nobody could say.
And that was before you even started counting the other megacorps.
If Vash wanted to carve out a name in Night City — where capital could blot out the sun with one hand — he needed to push his own combat power up another tier.
He opened his personal storage space. By now it had expanded to a full 100 m³. Stuff like the Rayfield Caliburn, the Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X, and all kinds of random "rewards" were stacked inside like a hoarder's dream.
He dug through it until he finally found the piece of vibranium he'd gotten a few days ago.
Vibranium was straight-up Marvel-universe material — an absurdly hard special metal. Some of it came down in meteorites, some got mined out of places like Antarctica and Wakanda.
Vash had no idea where his chunk had come from. He only knew one thing: it was hard enough to make most alloys in 2077 look like tinfoil.
And vibranium wasn't just tough — its defensive properties were ridiculous. It absorbed destructive vibrations from impacts, then "re-sang" at the same frequency to cancel out the force.
As the core material for a custom weapon, it was damn near perfect.
With that in mind, Vash pulled out the weapon design drafts he'd left on the workbench.
With 〈Perfect Weapon Mastery〉 — plus a few blueprints he'd picked up — he'd already sketched multiple concepts days ago: blades, spears, swords, halberds, axes, hooks, forks. He'd tried his hand at everything.
But looking them over again, he spotted the real problem.
Choosing the weapon type was secondary. The key issue was processing the vibranium itself.
Its weakness was sonic attack. Only specific frequency bands could make vibranium "flow" and change shape. And if he couldn't reshape it, he couldn't forge it into anything.
Right now, Vash didn't have a skill that could generate that kind of sonic field. Worse — he didn't have the right gear or conditions.
He set the drafts down, thinking hard… and one name surfaced.
Sandra Dorsett.
Vash called immediately. The line connected fast.
Sandra: "Mr. V… didn't expect you'd ping me out of the blue."
Vash cut to the point, "Ms. Sandra, I've got a personal matter. Need a favor."
She agreed without even asking for details, "Go ahead. If we can help, we will."
Vash: "Militech — do you have any equipment for emitting controlled sound waves? Something like a dedicated sonic field rig?"
"Acoustic-field equipment?" Sandra replied, "That's usually in Militech's acoustics lab. Mostly used to simulate how different sonic and ultrasonic bands affect aircraft and flight hardware during testing."
Vash said, "Yeah. That's basically what I need."
Sandra said, "I'm about to leave the office. Can you pick me up? We can talk in person."
Vash: "Sure. Send me the spot."
❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
Since it involved forging his custom weapon, Vash wasn't about to half-ass it. He hopped on the Kusanagi CT-3X and rode straight to Militech's corporate district.
City Center was the spine of the Night City's power — politics, finance, tech, all of it. So of course the megacorps clustered here. It was basically a corporate CBD, just drenched in chrome and surveillance.
The surreal part was this: out in the badlands and backstreets, corp competition turned into bloodsport. But here, you could have rival towers staring each other down across the same street, like sharks in suits — because the best real estate in Night City was all here.
It was Vash's first time in the district. Watson to the north, Westbrook to the east, Heywood to the south — the whole place sat like a fortress in the city's center.
The moment he arrived, it felt like stepping into a different world. The streets were clean. Neon spam was minimal. NCPD patrol AVs and security bots ran constant loops, making sure the "right" people stayed safe.
Anyone walking these blocks was an elite — corporate blood, "people above people".
At the checkpoint, even the guards stopped him and hit him with a €$100 entry fee.
After parking the Kusanagi in a garage, he picked a high-end café along the street. A robot server glided over with the place's signature items.
Vash ate while watching the forest of towers.
The two most eye-catching were, naturally, Arasaka Tower and Militech Offices. But there were others everywhere — Trauma Team, Kang Tao, Kiroshi Optics, Zetatech, Night Corp, Petrochem, Delamain, Biotechnica… the whole board of directors of hell.
People in City Center were either clocking in or visiting from outside. Vash, meanwhile, was here to scout.
By the time he finished a cup of coffee, he'd already had Friday scan and compile data on the nearby buildings and zones.
"Mr. V…"
Sandra showed up then, dressed in clean corpo officewear. It hadn't been long, but she somehow looked even more striking.
"Got held up a bit — sorry." She sat across from him, apologizing more than necessary.
"No stress. I only just got here too."
Sandra nodded, "Meeting again… should I congratulate you on becoming a legend in Night City?"
Vash smiled helplessly, "Even you heard?"
"I think everyone heard about what you pulled at Konpeki Plaza." Sandra said, not bothering to hide the admiration in her voice, "Brandy, apple brandy, grenadine, lemon, and a touch of strawberry. I went all the way to El Coyote Cojo in Heywood to try it. 'The V'… it's actually good."
So far, Vash had only given the recipe to Claire at the Afterlife and Pepe at El Coyote Cojo.
He didn't expect Sandra to cross the city just for a drink. She'd put real thought into it.
Vash switched gears, "Alright. About what we discussed on the phone."
"Sure." Sandra hesitated, "The acoustic-field lab… my access at HQ won't cut it. And the alternative I can use is… complicated."
Vash asked, "What's the catch?"
Sandra explained, "To authorize the HQ acoustic lab, you need Level-1 access. I'm only Level-2. But it's not impossible — Militech set up the Research Institute No. 2 in Watson's industrial zone. My Level-2 clearance can access the acoustic lab there." She frowned slightly, "Problem is, Research Institute No. 2 is understaffed. Even if we get inside, there might not be any technicians on-site."
She didn't have the clearance at Militech HQ, but she did in Watson — just without personnel.
For Vash, that was perfect. Vibranium didn't exist in 2077. A never-before-seen black metal showing up in a corp lab would bring heat fast. The fewer eyes on it, the better.
"Ms. Sandra." Vash said, "Can you take me to that lab and let me use it?"
Sandra nodded, "If it helps you, I'll do it."
❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
They left the café, and Vash rode with her to Watson — Northside Industrial District.
When they arrived, Vash almost didn't believe his optics. It had only been about a month, but the All Foods Factory compound — Maelstrom's old haunt — had been cleared out completely, and a Militech research institute had already risen in its place.
That kind of industrial integration was terrifying…
With Sandra's credentials, they got inside fast and located the acoustic-field laboratory.
The lab was basically a workshop-warehouse — about 523m³. Through the glass, Vash could see the geometric echo walls and the specialized emitters positioned around the room.
One look told him: this place could handle vibranium.
"Ms. Sandra." Vash asked, "Can I use it?"
Sandra looked surprised, "Starting up and tuning an acoustic lab is complicated. Without professionals, it's usually impossible."
"You don't need to worry." Vash said, "I'll handle it."
Sandra nodded readily, "Alright. I'll go outside, use my authority to get usage clearance, then I'll stand watch."
With that, she left.
No time to waste. Vash stepped into the lab.
"Friday." He said, "I want control and usage rights for this lab."
「Happy to be of service!」
「Connecting to laboratory network…」
「Compromising laboratory electronics…」
「Overwriting access and usage commands…」
「Simulating acoustic-field particle oscillations…」
「Hack successful!」
Friday really was Friday — took only a few seconds to crack the system.
Vash issued orders rapidly, "Cut all video output and uplink signals from the lab. Rewrite the experiment record to a negative result. Block thermal traces, biometric recognition, and any sonic feedback logs."
Almost the instant he finished speaking, Friday completed the whole package.
Once everything was locked down, Vash finally pulled out the vibranium.
The metal was so black it looked unreal — no matter the lighting, it drank it all in, standing out like a void.
"Friday." Vash asked, "The sonic frequency we need to break down vibranium — will it mess with the human body? Should I step outside?"
「Mr. Vash, no need to worry. The frequency required exceeds the typical auditory range of biological organisms. It is inaudible and harmless.」
Vash nodded once, "Then let's start."
❖❖❖❖❖
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
If you want 20 chapters ahead, smut chapters or spicy images of this novel for just $5, or enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations (free or starting at $1.5): MrBlackWing (you know where to search)
Take a look at the new book I'm translating on my profile, Umamusume Pretty Derb: I'm Just a Trainer! Its also on my website for $5 too!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)