Chapter 164 - 148: The Wanderer Beset by Internal and External Troubles

"So Hector didn’t kill the old bastard..."

Cedric, having returned to the Tribe, appeared somewhat dull, seemingly a side effect of curing cyberpsychosis.

His Prosthetics had been completely replaced with basic functional Prosthetics, no longer capable of combat.

"Are you disappointed?" Navi sat beside him, debriefing him on recent events.

"No..." Cedric shook his head, "If it were me, I would have definitely killed that guy, but I know that old Hector would never do such a thing. The old Clan Leader chose him as his successor for this reason.

You don’t know what he was like before he took action; he would always think for a long time. In my opinion, he’s capable at what he does, but when it comes to killing..."

"You think he should be more ruthless?"

"No." Cedric shook his head again, looking rather disheartened, "I now understand what the old Clan Leader meant."

Putting aside the story of what happened and what he went through.

Killing a Zig Q, there will be another host to take his place, maybe even the next day Zig Q’s double would appear.

The television station would only remember a Wanderer committing murder in public.

But now, everyone knows that the shot didn’t kill Zig Q and that red mercury has been experimented on, its blood containing toxins, and nobody dares to claim and treat such a virus.

Whenever Zig Q appears on television, whenever people see his processed face, they’ll recall the gunshot fired by Hector.

They’ll remember what happened that night.

Zig Q’s career is ruined, not just as a person but also as a brand—this is an equal response to the humiliation.

Maybe one day, the Zig Q brand will be completely discarded. The disgraceful host, deprived of his spotlight, forced to drift in society, might then regret what he did today.

Cedric looked at the people in the Tribe, his figure wrapped in reflective cloth—

He’s now the only one with the same symptoms; all the others are dead.

It was as if a generation had been cut off.

The plight of the unprotected Tribesmen became increasingly difficult, even the mass-produced, cheap dog food had to be soaked with beverages.

Watching family members only able to consume such food is always torturing within.

Cedric gazed at all this—he was the one who recklessly pursued Biotechnology, and he was the first one.

And now he’s the only one who survived, also the one who suffers the most.

He suddenly remembered what the old Clan Leader had told him, and he said blankly:

"...Navi, remember, we Wanderers are not psychopaths...

When you decide to kill someone, you should look into their eyes, see their eyes, and be sure they will definitely go to Hell after death.

Or maybe—you’ll go to Hell."

Navi was startled for a moment, then nodded.

At this time, Lille happened to walk out of the tent—he had just finished checking the supplies delivered by Regina.

Mainly some food and drinks, and some standard civilian implant Prosthetics, not expensive and not as good as military Combat Prosthetics, but the stable kind.

Cedric’s words just happened to be heard by Lille, who nodded in agreement, "Are you talking about Zig Q? Hector’s choice in this matter did us a huge favor. That shot at least cost our enemies several million euros.

Cedric, I have something to ask you. I need to find a Wanderer Camp with complete Prosthetics doctor equipment."

"Then you’ve come to the right person." Cedric stood up with the help of a crutch, "Although you’re already a legend in Night City, if you want to deal with Wanderers, you need a ’big brother’ like me—I mean, a ’big brother’ among the Wanderers.

Navi, you come too; the other Tribes haven’t seen the new Clan Leader yet."

...

"Inside Adkaduo, there are many Tribes, each specializing in their own thing—but that was over a decade ago, and now it’s becoming increasingly blurry.

As for the why, it’s because someone started a bad precedent."

A decade ago, the Clan Leader of Santiago disappeared, and all sorts of people began emerging from the clan.

Corporations started to court these tribes with special abilities, and some people eagerly followed, completely forgetting all that the companies had done to us!

It was from that time that many tribes were recruited, became divided, and gradually, we lost touch with each other, leading to what we have today...

Alas, you’ve seen it for yourselves."

In the vehicle, Lille nodded slightly; this was very close to the truth he had surmised:

Dividing a large organization into several departments each specialized in a certain field is a method to enhance operational efficiency.

It is also extremely adaptive to the way organizations operate in this society.

However, specialization means strong coupling, and conversely, it leads to weak cohesion.

The Wanderer, by nature, is a clan-based organization tied together through tribal kinship bonds, with some individuals possibly excelling in a certain skill, but overall, they still need to help each other with various issues and thus learn knowledge and abilities in other areas.

Specialization facilitates efficiency in a certain field but turns the internal organization of the tribe into a group of small organizations with strong coupling.

Those with particularly outstanding abilities then start to ponder: why remain in this "family" held back by others when they can join another "civilized society" that offers better conditions and earn more money?

This kind of group hardly withstands the onslaught of the capitalist world—because for them, their distinctly superior specialized abilities can be exchanged for money, a unit of measure of power.

Then they find that a large portion of their earnings must be invested in the development and aid of other fields to facilitate the growth of the rest.

This wouldn’t be a bad thing—what’s bad is that after Santiago’s disappearance, it’s clear that the leaderless Adkaduo Clan has no one capable of exercising this power of distribution properly.

When the power to distribute income is misused, there’s no wonder subordinates start to harbor other intentions.

What was once an excellent concept became poison dispersing the large organization, as outsiders just needed to provide a little enticement to poach people.

No wonder in the game, every Wanderer is considering a cooperation with a corporation... With both carrot and stick, internal and external troubles are all there.

Lille thought for a moment and asked, "What is Hematite known for within Adkaduo?"

"Hematite used to be a small group of miners who ran off to form their own organization; we can find water, explore for minerals, but if you want to roam the Evil Land, these skills are fundamental.

We taught this knowledge to other tribes, and then we started learning vehicle modification—that Mackinaw is not bad, right?"

"Indeed, it’s not bad—haven’t you seen the news?"

"What news?"

"You might as well see for yourself later, I won’t spoil it for you—continue telling me about Adkaduo."

"Where was I? Right, vehicle modification—but then again, this is also a skill necessary for a Wanderer, to understand one’s own vehicle.

Although vehicle modification is more of a survival skill, we still have to find some dangerous work to do now and then.

Overall, Hematite doesn’t really stand out in anything, but we possess all the skills necessary for a Wanderer."

Logical—if the tribes with specialized skills were poached, then it’s only natural that what’s left would be the tribes without standout abilities.

To protect themselves is feasible, but to live well is extremely difficult—clearly, the tribe they were about to meet was no different.

"So, the tribe we are going to find now is the Bright Family; their situation is quite similar to ours, though they are mainly engaged in smuggling.

They’ve been in Night City for a while and life isn’t easy— I have some connections with their leader from the times we fought over oil.

By the way, their leader is named Sol Bright; he also considered cooperating with Biotechnology and even asked about our situation—alas, but we haven’t been in touch for a long time."

Cedric sighed, "The contract with Biotechnology has this clause, so... it’s a real pain. We’re almost there; I’ll give them a heads-up."

Lille watched the white tents and RVs growing larger in the distance, thinking to himself: Sol Bright, the man in the game who would storm towers with V.

There were prosthetic doctors in the Bright Family camp, perfect for borrowing equipment to do some repairs and check-ups on V and Jack.

Suddenly, Cedric said, "...An intermediary wants to talk to you, Dakota Smith, a reliable old woman. Do you want to chat?"

"Of course."

"Hmm... she says she’ll be here soon."