Chapter 306 - 285: You Get What You Pay For

This was destined to be an eventful day in Watson District.

After the failed carjacking, Royce headed straight back to his old headquarters, the abandoned Whole Foods factory.

Hidden here were the spoils of past company convoy heists, it was also the gang’s best defended factory, worth a fortune.

As soon as he got back, he immediately contacted his people, seized control of the factory from within, and then declared that there was a new boss in town.

Similarly, this was a long-premeditated usurpation, Royce’s men rose up and chopped up Brick’s loyal followers, leaving only the fence-sitters and his own guys.

The order quickly spread beyond the Whole Foods factory to locations outside, reaching as far as Royce had coveted for a long time—the bar "Dance of Death."

There they really kicked a hornet’s nest, Ellis Carter, Brick’s close brother, powered up on a large dose of Black Lace, and stormed out like a war god.

Royce flew into a rage when he heard the news because he had another reason for hunting down Brick’s men.

[Sender: Anthony Gilchrist]

[Anthony: I know you robbed the company convoy, the company won’t let you get away with this.]

This message came from Military Technology, buzzing in Royce’s head:

Didn’t they fail to rob anything?

Is Military Technology getting this desperate?

Soon, he heard that people from Military Technology were spreading word around town, looking to hold the Vortex Gang accountable, which made him feel like he was dreaming!

He thought these corporate dogs must have hoarded the goods themselves and pinned the blame on the Vortex Gang.

After looking into it, he found out that they were indeed in a rush!

Royce started to panic: if the convoy had been robbed, Brick could still be alive!

They said they robbed the convoy, but actually didn’t, yet this crappy development also birthed a favorable outcome—that coward Brick was finally gone.

But now Brick might still be alive.

After considering back and forth, he found himself somewhat fond of the Military Technology guys and thought of a good way to cut his losses.

[Royce: I heard some idiot was throwing money around town today, looking for answers. Looks like that idiot is you, huh.]

[Royce: In a rush?]

[Royce: If I were you, I wouldn’t be using that tone when asking for a favor.]

[Anthony: Good, so it was you guys. Wait for death.]

[Royce: Drop the act, I think you’re the one who’s gonna wait for death!]

[Royce: I know what you want, it’s just a dog-eat-dog world for you corporate folks.]

[Royce: I didn’t rob anything, if you’re looking for something, you’ve got the wrong guy.]

[Anthony: Do you think I’m a three-year-old kid?!]

[Royce: Listen to me first!]

[Royce: The stuff was stolen by a guy named Brick, it was his doing, you’ll have to find him if you want to know anything.]

[Anthony: Vortex Gang psychos being this generous? What do you want?]

[Royce: I want him dead!]

[Anthony: I get it now, he’s the boss, and you’re the one who planned to usurp him.]

[Royce: I should have been the boss from the start!]

[Royce: Help me kill that bastard, then we can talk about your business, otherwise I’ll delete all the data and you won’t find anything!]

[Anthony: Fine, don’t think about playing me.]

[Royce: Send some heavy firepower, you know what’s in the cars.]

[Anthony: They’re at most driving the cars, the Mecha is locked up.]

This was the deal between Royce and Military Technology—Night City is truly a wonderful place; in the morning, he was a robber, yet by nightfall, he could be cooperating with the victims of his heists.

Armor-piercing rockets were just the heavy hardware he got from Military Technology.

Turned out he actually needed them.

[Keni: Boss, there’s a Bimong Armored Vehicle for real! Looks like it’s Brick!]

[Keni: Hit it! Holy shit, that’s freaking awesome!]

Royce sat on the sofa, watching as another of Brick’s half-dead loyalists was dragged off, leaving behind a long trail of blood.

He was in a great mood and suddenly got up, walking over to the guy. The henchmen dragging him immediately stopped in their tracks.

The towering figure showed a twisted smile, grabbing the half-dead guy: "Traitors... will be dismembered and hung on the wall.

If you’re lucky, you’ll get to exchange a few words with that piece of trash Brick, of course..."

He grabbed the guy’s chin, turned to the others, and said, "Hanging on the wall! Hahahaha!"

A few who shared Royce’s revolting sense of humor took a hit of the drug called Black Lace and laughed along!

The laugh was so forced that even the slightly more normal minions had to awkwardly go along.

On second thought, it seems that the real traitor is you, you old pervert.

They could only think this to themselves, after all, whoever is the boss, calls the shots.

Royce let go of the guy’s head, ready to leave, but then he received another message:

[Keni: Crap, they have backup!!]

...

Meanwhile, Brick could only hunker down with his men behind cover!

He hadn’t expected that in less than a day, the Vortex Gang would get their hands on a rocket launcher capable of blowing through a Bimong Armored Vehicle!

Luckily, both Ellis and Brick were no ordinary people; once Si Anweisitan fired up, they quickly took out several guys huffing on Inhalers, taking cover behind blown-up cars and concrete walls to shoot.

But bullets would eventually run out!

Royce was now the official boss, and he certainly had more men than them!

Click!

The Shotgun was out of ammo!

Carter tossed away his Shotgun, and with Mantis Blades springing from his hands, he pierced through a car door and killed a screaming henchman!

"Any bullets left?" he shouted to Brick from behind the car door.

But Brick was also out of bullets, his Sadara Shotgun turning into a baseball bat he slammed onto an enemy’s head!

"Yes, I’ve got a badass supplier!"

"Supplier? Are you fucking kidding me? Not a mercenary?!"

"Ah, you wouldn’t understand..."

Before he could finish, Brick’s Si Anweisitan roared to life!

The trigger was the heavy sound of gunfire his ears picked up.

That kind of gunfire... he had heard it today already.

It was a machine gun sound, an MK31!

Brick peeked out from behind the car door to see orange-yellow bullets dragging orange streaks across his visual sensors, streaking across the battlefield.

The bullets were almost continuous, sweeping towards all the cars on the battlefield—

All of them targeted the vehicles present!

Brick ducked down; as Si Anweisitan shut down, the heavy sound of gunfire instantly became the only sound that existed on the battlefield!

Bang bang bang bang bang!

The bullets struck the cars, ringing out crisply, mingling with the gunfire, and then quickly escalating into explosions!

Boom!

All twelve cars on the scene blew up one after another as the Wanderer convoy entered, blasting the surrounding Vortex Gang members away!

Those with better prosthetics pushed off the ground and ran desperately towards the buildings on both sides of the street, while the slower ones were torn apart by stray bullets and explosions!

Screech—

Tire marks carved black traces on the ground as six Wanderer modified cars stopped in the middle of the road, all of them modified versions of the cheap Galena G240.

The smoke-belching machine gun turrets on top of the cars were indeed impressive, though.

The scene suddenly quieted down as a few Wanderers quickly got out of their cars.

Doors slammed noisily, and a few Vortex Gang members huddled inside tried to peek out...

Bang!

With a bang, their heads were blown off by sniper rifles.

The Wanderers got out of their cars and ran towards two black Mackinaws on both sides of the street—all Wanderer vehicles.

Pan’an and V each stood behind the vehicle beds, wielding sniper rifles, keeping the Vortex Gang from daring to look up.

As the Wanderers disembarked, Lille started to make a call to Brick.

[Mysterious Hero: Everything is in the cars; cash on delivery.]

Hiding behind cover, Brick gave Ellis a knowing look: "Pretty badass, huh? The bros insisted on cash on delivery."

"Idiot! Get it sorted quickly!"

[Brick: Badass, bro! You’re awesome.]

[Mysterious Hero: Of course, you get what you pay for.]

[Mysterious Hero: You want the cars? Selling them with the turrets.]

[Mysterious Hero: Six Viper models, all fitted with heavy machine guns; the cars are old, but the guns are very handy.]

[Mysterious Hero: Giving you a deal at 400,000 for the lot, that’s mates’ rates.]

[Brick: Buy, buy, buy!]

Brick was supremely amped up this minute, itching to jump into one of the cars and wreak havoc.

However, when he entered the transfer amount and hit confirm, he ran into trouble...

[Transfer Failed: Insufficient funds in your account]

[Current balance: 652,148 Euro]

The total was 740,000, and he could only free up 650,000 immediately!

[Mysterious Hero: Can you hurry it up?]

[Brick: I’ve only got 650,000 on me; can...]

[Mysterious Hero: That’s fine, then it’s 800,000, settled within the month.]

[Brick: Done!]

[Transfer: -650,000 Euro]

No sooner had the money transferred out than two cars immediately left the street.

Brick gestured broadly, signalling his remaining few minions to hurry onto the cars!

"Lads, get in the car!"

The Vortex Gang from Royce, hearing the sound of the cars leaving, quickly raised their heads just in time to see Brick and his minions jumping into the vehicles!

These minions, arms cache in hand, shot and threw hand grenades recklessly, plus with the cover of the heavy machine guns, they broke through the siege in no time, making their enemies cower!

Brick manned the machine gun turret, firing and throwing grenades outside—

The unique industrial pollution of the Watson North District blew in his face, and Brick laughed wildly into the wind:

"Fuck you, Royce! Wait to die!!!"

The car sped off the street, quickly leaving those without vehicles far behind!

Brick and his minions were ecstatic!

He could almost see the sight of Royce, that freak, hanging dead by his hand!

And then the wind slowly died down...

Clack clack clack clack clack—clack.

The Canary produced a noise like a tractor.

Was it car trouble?

No.

Ellis yelled, "Stop fucking laughing! We’re out of fuel!"

Brick snapped to attention and quickly got out, motioning his minions to push the car into a nearby alley.

Well, this really was you get what you pay for...