Chapter 291 - 270: Holiday Ends

Homelessness in Night City had always been a big problem.

The recent economic crisis, triggered by New America’s war of unification, had ravaged Taiping State; it caused massive investor withdrawals and companies to flee, leaving a mess in their wake.

Given the existence of Dog Town and the hopeless economic collapse, Mayor Luxius Lane took proactive measures in the face of such adversity:

He simply excluded the crime data and other statistical indicators of Taiping State from the Night City statistical yearbook.

You could say statistics is an art, and Mayor Lane really got the hang of it.

With this exclusion, the crime rate in Night City plummeted dramatically.

Now, he was about to launch an even more significant plan: to eradicate the homeless!

Yes, the policy was exactly as it sounded, truly meant to eradicate homelessness.

This issue became a major point of criticism from his opponent, Perares, in the upcoming mayoral election.

And to truly understand this policy and eliminate related risks, one needed to look to the candidate, Jefferson Perares.

After briefly checking on the stronghold’s situation and understanding the financials, Lille and V embarked on their return journey.

Hand resting by the window, V yawned again, showing a lack of interest, "Ah, feels like we just went for a drive."

"What else did you expect, a shootout every day?"

The car started, and Lille turned on the radio, tuning into the Body Temperature Station, which was playing "Night City."

As the electronic music began, V raised an eyebrow, "Quite timely, so are we getting involved in the mayoral election? Sounds like there could be a lot of money to be made."

"These things usually involve more trouble than money; you might even end up taking the blame. Politicians are much darker than you think."

"Darker than you?"

Lille glanced at her helplessly, "Can’t you compare me to something else?"

"No way, you’re the darkest person I’ve met. If we get involved, who should we help?"

"Tell me your thoughts."

"Me?" V thought for a moment, "Hot is a piece of shit, no one would vote for him; Ryan is a cunning fat man, but he has indeed done some real things.

Peralez... he talks a good game, but online people say he was put forward by Military Technology intending to integrate Night City back into the United States, ending up as a corporate dog.

Talking from a corporate dog is as good as farting...

Wait, aren’t we getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, even discussing elections?"

In Night City, elections existed but were implemented in the form of a concentrated democracy.

This democracy was formed by the election of representatives by the ten largest giant corporations in Night City, who then elected the Mayor.

In other words, from a direct view point, the elections didn’t really concern the citizens of Night City much.

But all that was on the surface; a qualified politician should be aware of that, because the requirements for this democratic condition are: headquartered in Night City, and held among the ten most powerful companies in Night City.

Essentially, the resources that various companies invested in Night City and their policies towards the citizens were reflected in sales revenue data, and then they were granted democratic rights.

Of course, considering the scale of these companies and their impact on society, the influence of the citizens on democratic elections was still in a very subtle position.

Saying it didn’t concern the citizens much wasn’t far from the truth.

However, Lille shook his head, "We are big shots now, if we don’t get to participate, then the people of Night City are truly just numbers.

So, Ryan or Perares?"

"You say that as if my saying a name would make you elect them—

I’ll pick Ryan, considering my experience in Atlanta, I guess I should thank Ryan, someone like me can probably only make a name for themselves in Night City."

"Who isn’t?"

V looked at Lille with slight surprise, "Being humble?"

"Absolutely," Lille laughed, "Without the well-known V, where would I be today?"

"You know what’s good," V pleased, shifted in her seat, scooting it back a bit, "Though it would be nice if he could be as upright as Perares.

Ah, why do we have to pick sides among jerks?"

The car passed over the Saint Domingo Bridge, entering Scenic Area, where the lights became brighter.

The corporate skyscrapers blocked the sky, artificial light sources replacing the stars and moon, hanging overhead.

The musical intro concluded, and a female electronic voice started: "good morning, Night City..."

V relaxed, stretching her long legs onto the car’s dashboard—

Lille glanced over and moved her legs back with his mechanical arm.

"What!"

"It’s enough not wearing a seatbelt, now risky moves?"

"You sure like to control..."

.....

The next morning, Lille and V went to Mrs. Wales’s house to find Jack—

The guy was glowing with health, which made Lille wonder, "Jack, didn’t you hold some fancy ’Thursday Bash’ last night?"

"What ’Thursday Bash?’ It was the ’Wild Wolf Beer Festival!’"

In Jack’s garage, the big guy patted his motorcycle.

It was an ARCH Nazare, painted in red and black.

"Feeling that good?" V clicked his tongue in surprise, "Besides drinking, what did you do yesterday?"

Jack waved his hand with a smirk, leaning to one side and ’accidentally’ revealing a hanging décor on the wall behind the bed.

This decoration looked like a circle made of some kind of branches, with a net woven out of fine threads in the middle, and colorful beads and dyed feathers hanging below...

It was a delicately made ornament, clearly handmade.

Upon seeing this, Lille raised an eyebrow, "A dream catcher?"

"Wow, you know your stuff, hermano, how did you know this dream catcher was a gift from Misty?"

Jack chuckled and hugged Lille, "Looks nice, right? Only good dreams pass through this net, flowing down the feathers while nightmares... get trapped in the dream.

They vanish with the next morning’s sunlight—Boom."

While saying this, he also cupped his other hand and blew on it towards the sunlight.

You’ve got to admit, Jack really looked like a kid showing off a new toy...

Obviously, the big guy hadn’t drunk too much yesterday and had even taken a short ride out with Misty.

Jack, hugging Lille, said, "Bro, you should think about these things too, otherwise why earn so much money..."

Jack suddenly stopped halfway through his words, remembering that Lille was kind of broke...

V stood behind them, watching the two share their feelings, "Nice piece, but shouldn’t we be talking about the job ahead?"

Jack let go of Lille, scratching his head, "True, what’s our next move?"

Lille responded, "Let’s go meet our candidate for mayor, Jefferson Peralares. He might have some work for us.

After meeting him, I’ll think about how to proceed. I guess the candidate has a lot to talk with us about."

Jack hopped onto his motorbike and added,

"Mayoral candidate... There are three cliché pieces of advice on the streets: First, when offered a ’top-secret’ task: don’t take it."

V shrugged, "Second, the first rule with politicians: don’t cooperate."

The two exchanged glances and said in unison, "Third, the first rule with cops: don’t engage."

V added, "But here we have more cunning folks."

Jack nodded, "This job’s gonna be lucrative, right?"

Lille frowned, "No, do you guys have some misunderstanding about me..."

The two looked at each other and shook their heads.

"..." Lille seemed choked up for a moment but quickly moved to the next subject.

"Whether the job’s lucrative or not is hard to say until we meet. But this task will likely involve dealing with corporates and gangs. We might be able to make a decent score.

If there are no objections, I’ll get in touch with Peralares and then see how we can hit the next jackpot—

So, vacation’s over, no objections, right?"

Jack rolled up his sleeves, ready to go: "Absolutely, mano!"

V, looking at the enthusiastic Jack and Lille, suddenly asked, "I’ve been feeling less driven recently. Any clue why?"

"Losing drive?" Jack puzzled, "You’re not OK, girl! Got a house yet? A car? And..."

Lille raised his hand, gesturing Jack to stop, and looked at V, "Don’t worry, you’ll get your mojo back soon."

[Contact: Jefferson Peralares]

[Burger King: Heard you’re looking for us for a job.]

[Jefferson: You guys are really busy. Hiring you is not easy.]

[Jefferson: Yes, I do have some things I intend to entrust to you.]

[Jefferson: I’ve booked a spot at the Remnants, let’s meet there.]

[Jefferson: I’m looking forward to meeting the heroes of Night City. We have a lot to talk about.]

[Jefferson: By the way, I know you’ve got a mean ride. If possible, please don’t bring that car to the city center.]

[Burger King: Got it. See you then.]

V crossed her arms, "I’m curious to see why you say that."