Chapter 365 - 337: Mercenary Feast

The two mercenaries were as stunned as statues.

As Jimmy’s bodyguards, they had of course watched those Black Superdreams when there was nothing else to do.

Thrilling, truly thrilling, and what they were watching was the original footage.

They had seen cases of memory manipulation and personality interference using Super Dream before, there was no doubt that Jimmy had been adjusting the device just now to achieve that.

But this guy from Night City was different; he was completely unaffected.

Lille got up from the chair; his mechanical arm in sync with his movements, took away the original footage and Super Dream Device, and methodically placed the items in a box.

The dexterity of his movements silently impressed the two men.

While coordinating with Little Octopus to pack things into the portable box, Lille asked,

"First off, the first question: name?"

The woman, that is, the Russian, quickly spoke up, "Call me Phantom; this is Iron Hand."

A series of frames popped up in Lille’s HUD; Little Octopus had finished the prosthetic scan and data capture during this time.

[Prosthetics: Dinara Light Subdermal Armor, Jilafa Operation Chip Type 4 (modified for engineering), Memory Augmentation x4, Rear Thermal Fins...]

This was a hacker; most of her prosthetics were developed around the brain area, and she had wet drive access links installed on all four memory enhancements.

Memory augmentation referred to a type of brain memory release device that enhances computing power by integrating it into cybernetic offensive and defensive strategies more effectively.

The wet drive access link, however, is a more powerful memory retrieval device. It allows the user to tap into memory stores directly through the mind, rather than relying on external interfaces, turning the human brain more into a wetware computer, enhancing its calculation speed.

In critical situations, it allows the user to temporarily and controllably enter Cyberspace by running the Brage-Jing Yuan transformation algorithm.

This suite of implants was of the high-risk, high-reward type, as releasing more brain memory came at the cost of more easily burning out nerves; there’s heavier wear and tear for everyday use, making it a life-risking maneuver.

You had to credit foreigners; many of the implanted prosthetics on her body were brands not commonly seen in Night City, such as chips from Dinara and Jilafa.

Finally... This Lone Wolf still had quite the standout cosmetic modifications.

[...Pheromone Control, Subcutaneous Video, Nymph Perfume Release Valve...]

Lille looked into Phantom’s eyes. Pheromone control made her pupils display different colors, the subcutaneous video was implanted in her chest, not for combat enhancement, but rather... for pleasure.

Nymph Perfume is a special pheromone perfume from Biotechnology that stimulates the brain’s central system; it’s quite seductive to both genders. This woman, having installed four release valves on herself, was like a walking hormone.

She wore a tight leather jacket that clung closely to her body, damaged and torn from combat, her meticulously sculpted skin visible through the holes.

It seemed mercenaries from every city liked to indulge in such fanciful stuff.

Iron Hand’s prosthetics were much simpler: a pair of weight-bearing arms modified from Jilafa Corporation and a wrist-mounted rocket launcher, Heavy Subdermal Armor, a full set of enhanced muscles and alloy bones.

Simple yet brutal, clearly he had been injured many times, even upgrading to a large-caliber cannon.

Lille barely glanced at Phantom when she suddenly shifted, her breasts almost bursting from her clothing.

"Tsk."

V clicked her tongue; Phantom, in return, threw her a flirtatious wink, "We don’t have any beef, right? This job was a bust for both of us, so how about we exchange contact details?"

Lille looked at Phantom, then at V...

Turns out it’s a lesbian thing.

Bang!

V punched towards Lille’s head, but fortunately, Little Octopus protected him, "Stop gawking! Get on with the questions!"

"Uh... all right." Lille continued the conversation with Phantom, "Couldn’t make it in the Soviet and came to Night City? Any news stirring?"

Phantom shrugged, "Obviously came here to hit the big time. The Lizard Man situation has even spread to Moscow—honestly, it’s rare to see a scene like this, airships filled with mercenaries."

Lille’s eyebrow twitched, "All mercenaries?"

"Yeah, all mercenaries. They might look like regular folks, but you know, we can tell our own kind at a glance.

Mercenaries from all over the world are flocking here; something big must be going on, but that’s all we know.

I think the jobs in Night City are on the rise, but you’d better hang on to your cash tight and get your gear upgraded at a clinic soon.

You, this..."

Phantom suddenly realized she didn’t know Lille’s "stage name" and hesitated for a moment before saying, "By the way... how do I address you?"

The Jimmy on the floor kept mumbling to himself:

"Burger King... why is there no fluctuation in your emotions? Why does such a high degree of prosthetics not affect your psyche at all?!"

Jimmy looked up, his eyes a mix of excitement and fear, his voice suddenly growing louder:

"There’s only one answer: you are the rare case of a high-functioning cyberpsycho! You’ve gone mad! Ha..."

Bang!

Just as Jimmy was about to burst out laughing, Jack punched him out cold.

"What the hell, making such a fuss."

Lost in thought, Phantom mused, "Burger... what?"

"Burger King, big shot idiot." Man rested his arm on the filing cabinet, producing a dull thud.

With a face full of seriousness and pride, as if to ensure they remembered, he repeated, "It’s Burger King, big shot idiot. Keep that in mind, it’s Night City’s toughest mercenary."

Phantom looked at the expressionless faces of the Burger King mercenary squad.

It was somewhat like watching a silent film from the last century when suddenly a narrator appears, reciting a long string of unrelated material.

But this name... sounds familiar.

"Okay then... you guys... get ready." Phantom suddenly became cautious, "Because you seem quite valuable."

Phantom and Iron Hand had come over on a transoceanic floating cargo ship.

These cargo ships can be roughly understood as massive vessels from the old era, packed with a plethora of nuclear fission reactors and floating engines, enabling them to carry heavy cargo quickly and safely across the oceans.

Seemingly expensive, but it’s all to avoid the ghost machines in the ocean.

Mercenaries usually can’t save much money and can’t afford the costly flights, so seeing many fellow mercenaries on the cargo ships... wasn’t impossible.

Are all the world’s mercenaries converging on Night City?

Or rather...

Lille glanced at Phantom and Iron Hand. Although these two guys were tied up by them, in terms of experience, they were certainly ranked in Night City.

Only the best mercenaries from all over could cross thousands of kilometers to have a chance at a big score in this city.

And they were unsupported; among this huge number of mercenaries, there must be some big shot’s real operatives—possibly mercenaries themselves, or... their own elite task force.

Lille stroked his chin: "Hmm... Night City has become a nuclear bomb now."

"What do you mean?" V put his hand on Lille’s shoulder, "Tell me?"

"It means that mercenaries from all over the world are rushing here. I remember you wanted to be the strongest in the city, right? Now the standard has gone up."

"That’s interesting. I was just getting bored not being able to stretch my muscles lately."

[Drip——]

[Contact: Rogel]

[Rogel: Got time? Come help hold down a spot.]

[Lille: Will be there shortly.]

"Let’s go," Lille waved his hand, "Head over to Next Life for some intel. David, you can disband if there’s nothing else, I’ve transferred your tip."

[Transfer: -30,000 Euro]

[Account balance: 90,000 Euro]

[Transfer: -80,000 Euro]

[Account balance: 10,000 Euro]

The second transfer went to V’s account, who followed satisfactorily: "Not bad, everyone’s getting proactive."

"Hey! Wait up!" Seeing the three people leave without looking back, Phantom suddenly panicked and yelled at Lille.

"Big bro, we botched our first job, got any scraps of work? I still owe money for the ship ticket!"

"Wait for notification."

The trio left the scene without looking back.

Outside the door, Jack became excited and edged closer to Lille: "You mentioned mercenaries from all over the world? Might we see legends from the past? Like Susan Forrest, Old Snake Waylan...

These people are still unconfirmed dead!"

Jack began to list names like a connoisseur, while Lille shrugged helplessly: "How should I know?"

...

"Alright, wrap it up," David also signaled his people to get ready to leave.

The others walked in front, and out of curiosity, David picked up a Black Superdream original from the table and waved it at Jimmy: "Where do you get these from?"

Military prosthetics come with built-in Super Dream recording capabilities, he knew that already.

But... the data wouldn’t flow into Jimmy’s hands by itself.

Jimmy wagged his head: "Trade secret, kid. If you want to have a go, I’ll tell you for free."

David stared at the disk, and Lucy looked at David.

Black Superdream is addictive, and David used to watch these things all the time.

After contemplating for a while, however, he put the disk back: "Forget it, I don’t want to become a cyber psycho. I’m just an ordinary person."

Lucy secretly breathed a sigh of relief and pondered over her bank balance. As they walked, she suddenly said, "I’ll show you something when we get back, also related to Super Dream."

Once everyone left the room, the restraints on Phantom and Iron Hand were completely turned off. Iron Hand picked up Phantom and jumped out from the window edge—

"Hey! Take the two of us with you!"

By the time they caught up to David, he and his crew were already situated in the car ready to drive off.

"Take the two of us with you, we have some skills too..."

David rolled down the window and shook his head: "No deal, go back and wait for notification."

The car zoomed off, and Iron Hand started running, grabbing Mackinaw’s car window, while Phantom was tucked under his arm, shouting and patting the side of the car:

"Don’t go, bro... Take just me, ah, don’t run! Here’s my contact info...

I didn’t even get your names yet! Kids’ meal? The full chicken bucket? Don’t leave...!"

Mackinaw sped away, and Iron Hand finally couldn’t keep up anymore, panting heavily as he put Phantom down.

The latter’s face was flushed red: "Damn it, Su Ka!"