Chapter 367 - 339 Another Type

Entering the nightclub, the gaze of numerous mercenaries lingered on the trio, as the scanner updated their features once again.

Outsiders didn’t know, but the locals were well aware of just how outrageous these three bosses were, hoping they wouldn’t clash with them during the mission.

There were more people here than usual—if you were close to the source, you’d get first dibs, and foreign mercenaries had no right to come here looking for work; the locals held that information.

But the money wasn’t easy to make.

"I told you to fucking come over here! If you don’t come over for the surgery, I’ll be the first to put you down outside..."

"What? I’m in danger myself? You fucking wait for me!"

Inside an open private room, Lille saw a man lying on a table, gasping for his last breaths.

His neck was fitted with reinforced components, but they were smashed to bits, apparently cut by some kind of high-temperature blade, the ports charred black and neat.

His companions were gathered around, some squatting on the ground, some with broken arms, and the team leader was anxiously making phone calls at the tableside, contacting any prosthetic surgeon he could.

However...

The man on the table was beyond saving, that was Lille’s judgment.

Walking all the way to Rogue’s private room, the queen of the afterlife had been waiting for a while.

She was evidently well-informed about the incident at the entrance; as soon as Lille entered, she spoke:

"The one you guys killed earlier is called Arctic Lone Wolf, squad name Frost Hunter, from Oslo, quite well-known over there."

Rogue had already assumed the guy was dead.

V casually flopped down on the sofa, grabbed the tequila from the table with no reservation.

"Not so impressive, really, apart from liking to play dirty tricks, that’s all there was to it."

Rogue motioned to an old buddy to bring a chip and place it in front of Lille: "They’re not simple, if you’re interested, you might want to have a look."

With the intention to learn and expand his database, Lille chose not to pass up any chip.

This one contained confirmed intel on the Frost Hunters.

This was a squad that had been operating for just over a year in the vicinity of the Nordics.

Norway is a small country, and in the Cyberpunk world, this highly nationalized little country still held a not insignificant status, getting by on its rich oil resources.

While oil’s role as an energy source had been largely supplanted by ChooTwo, its industrial applications remained in place and on the whole, the country was quite affluent. Affluence breeds all sorts of problems.

There was no shortage of assignments, most of which revolved around the rights to oil resource extraction, and the majority of the time, the clients were Su Petrochemical.

Due to the demands of the operational environment, their prosthetic systems had to be resistant to severe cold and adapted to the harsh terrain of the wild. This, in turn, took up space for bullets and other supplies; more space had to be reserved for carrying fuel.

This cultivated their preference for melee and small weapons. If there was a need to engage at long range, they would consider equipping combat vehicles.

Transitioning to Night City, their prosthetics underwent some changes, but clearly, they were still not quite adapted to the local environment.

Experience with cold weather... Filling the database wasn’t bad, but he wouldn’t need it for a while.

At the same time, Lille also noticed a pattern: the two groups of mercenaries from outside the city he had come into contact with were both from Europe and they were both from the Nordics.

"Indeed, not simple...just too hot-headed."

Rogue nodded slightly, "Sometimes you talk like a seventy or eighty-year-old man, like me."

Lille shrugged, "I’m just stating facts, young doesn’t necessarily mean hot-headed, I’m young, but it was he who was hot-headed.

Any word from the city? Tell me about it, I know a lot of foreign mercenaries have been coming in lately."

Rogue had a strange expression: They are hot-headed?

They didn’t smash up Company Square.

"This situation...I reckon it was all your doing."

The story had to start from that big job back then—

Lille’s target at the time was Biotechnology’s DNA editing equipment, which he indeed managed to secure.

And his way of escaping was to find a pure scapegoat, Faraday.

Faraday was investigating the Nightingale Project; Lille fashioned himself as a super blockhead, and at the same time very loyal, helping Wanderer to vent a big breath.

As of now, not many people would think he’s that Lizard Man anymore, the issue is that the action involved a secret device of Biotechnology, and this device created a formidable Biological Weapon.

"Biotechnology is the creator of ChooTwo wheat, Peizhuo Petrochemical and Su Petrochemical are the monopoly sellers of ChooTwo wheat, they don’t care how many Biotechnology executives are killed, but the risk of technology leaks gives them an excuse.

An excuse to come to Night City."

V spoke in bewilderment, "But we don’t know anything about ChooTwo wheat technology; we were just doing a job."

"On the surface, yes." Rogue looked at Lille, "Really nothing?"

Lille shook his head.

Indeed, he had none; the distribution of ChooTwo wheat seeds was very stringent, and the DNA editing method was completely confidential.

To get this thing, one either had to physically invade the highest security locations of these companies or have a netwar with them.

Doesn’t Su Petrochemical know? He might not know.

"But it’s not up to you to decide," she said, "do you get what I mean?"

V understood suddenly, "So they want to turn white into black, just to snatch a bite to eat here in Night City."

Jack thought for a moment, "But why? Which piece of meat do they exactly want to eat?"

"Good question." Rogue took a puff of her cigarette and paused, "Everyone knows each company wants to control the world, but no one knows what they want to do right now.

So, to find out the answer to that question...you’d have to ask the CEOs themselves."

Night City wasn’t large, but there was no shortage of events.

Since Lille began to stir, Biotechnology had taken a serious hit. Executives were assassinated, the company’s reputation plummeted due to the leakage of experimental secrets, and even a lizard escaped from the building.

Military Technology was brutally thrashed in the city center, with numerous combat personnel casualties, senior military officers killed at border checkpoints, and helicopters shot down. The Centaur Mecha especially shone brightly in the heart of the city.

Arasaka Company was hit hard by cyber surveillance, even a small piece of the Soul Killer had been snatched away for research.

On the surface, Kantao didn’t suffer much damage, but since the debacle at Atlantropa, they were already shrouded in misfortune and even targeted in secret due to suspicion from Arasaka and Military Science when passing through the border checkpoints.

In the end, Su Petrochemical used this as an excuse to lock horns with Peizhuo Petrochemical. If the troops couldn’t come, why not let some immigrants through?

All five major companies had faced rare significant issues—a major news story.

There were likely more than just Su Petrochemical wanting to come over. With local companies in serious trouble and secrets spilling out, which company wouldn’t want to keep up to date with their competitors?

Rogel continued, "The good news is, the rich are now willing to spend money. The bad news is that the work has become more dangerous.

And like that brain-dead guy at the door earlier, some of these out-of-towners just don’t follow the rules."

"Any big names we might see?" Jack asked the question he cared about most. "You know... like Old Snake, Black Hand..."

Rogel chuckled, "Hard to say, but if you do run into them, are you really going to ask for an autograph?"

"That’s not what I mean..."

"They’re mercenaries, not celebrities. If you face off with them, it won’t be a pleasant experience."

That was the truth.

People adored these legendary Lone Wolves, not because they were kind to their juniors or offered autographs.

The admiration came from the outrageous deeds they performed. But mercenaries had employers, and if you crossed paths, it was a life-or-death struggle.

Morgan Black Hand, the most famous, was idolized for striking at Arasaka Tower, but in reality, his employer was another notorious company, Military Technology.

Who knew which celebrated mercenary had already been hired this time?

Jack once had fantasies about these big shots, but now, fantasy wasn’t so far-fetched for him.

Rogel looked at Lille, "Things are complicated now. With what’s happening in Coming Life, it’s unlikely anyone would take the risk to break through forcefully.

Other places, I’m not sure. I suggest you stay active recently, it’s not just my hope."

Lille gazed deeply at Rogel, "If conditions allow... that’s what I was thinking too."

"Good—you’re smart for a young one, it’s reassuring to talk to you. If you have any trouble, let me know, I’ll handle it for you.

You help me, I help you, that’s how Night City works."

With that, a mercenary entered the private room and whispered something to Rogel.

Almost simultaneously, Lille received a call from an old acquaintance.

[Contact: Morton "Sergeant"]

[Sergeant Morton: We’ve got a situation, our spot in Saint Domingo was raided!]

[Sergeant Morton: Urgent job, come now!]

Rogel looked at Lille, "Seems like you’ve got the message too. Six Street Gang’s spot got smashed. Whoever did it is demanding protection money from now on.

I heard you helped the Sergeant with a traitor before, looks like he didn’t sort it out completely.

Now he’s got the person cornered there."

"This guy’s quite interesting." Jack laughed, "He’s even asking for our help."

"Why not? You’re the best in the city."

Night City was no place for the lazy, and strictly speaking, Burger King’s only skirmish with the Six Street Gang had been official business.

They not only had no grudge against Sergeant Morton, but on the whole, their relationship was quite good—after all, the Six Street Gang had contributed a significant amount of start-up capital.

Lille stood up from the sofa.

Knowing more or less what the situation was, he indeed had to help.

There were already enough corporations in Night City, with sufficient urbanization—it was time to exert some control.

"It’s quite fascinating," Jack remarked, "Used to fight to the death with the Six Street Gang, now we’re picking up jobs for them."

"We are mercenaries," Lille shrugged.

"Just working for money?"

"Of course not, we’re a different kind—" Lille patted Jack’s shoulder, "working for ourselves. That’s why in our line of work, there are no competitors. Get in the car, I’ll explain on the way."

The three walked out of the private room. At the entrance of Coming Life, Jack suddenly pulled out a booklet:

Enforcer’s Handbook—Author: Morgan Black Hand.

V saw this and commented, "You’re not seriously thinking of getting his autograph, are you?"

"No, no! I’m just thinking, maybe I could write something like this in the future... just a reference..."

...

Watching the trio leave the nightclub, Rogel suddenly felt sentimental.

She gestured for her subordinate to pour her a drink while saying, "Does it excite you to hear others speak your father’s name?"

The man chuckled, "A little, but that’s not me."

Rogel also smiled and began sending messages to a few contacts.

[Rogel: I told you they’d make a move. I can tell, Burger King isn’t the type to wash their hands of a matter after the kill.]