Chapter 111

The storefront was decorated with cheap neon strips, the entrance was filled with messy graffiti, and there was even a pile of garbage bags in the corner. It was a den of filth and dirt, and its appearance was extremely inconsistent with 'Afterlife's' status in the mercenary world.

On the street, countless people are eagerly anticipating entering this place.

Passing through the rusty corridor, Emeric, an old acquaintance with whom I had never met before, stood like a gatekeeper at the entrance to 'Afterlife'. The uncrowned queen of Night City's middlemen, Rogue Amandias's watchdog, and the most convincingly boss-like watchdog in the underworld.

"Welcome." Nodding and clasping his hands in front of his abdomen, Emeric, whose physique was no less robust than Maine's, stepped aside.

Maine's crew are frequent visitors to 'Afterlife', so there's no need for extensive investigation.

"Thanks, bro."

Stepping into the Afterlife.

The flashing neon lights, practically light pollution, buzzed and pulsed incessantly; the frenetic heavy metal music blasted straight to your head, sending shivers down your spine; and there was a strange mix of various concoctions, cigarettes, leaves, pills, and so on—one inhale, ah...

The taste of 'the Afterlife'.

Maine felt that the discomfort caused by the erosion of his prosthetic body had been somewhat suppressed.

There were many people at the scene, including middlemen, Edgerunner, clients, information brokers, and financiers.

"Long time no see, Viego (my friend)."

A call brought Maine back to reality.

Looking in the direction of the sound.

At the bar, a burly man with a bun hairstyle sat alone; it was Jackie Wells. He waved to Maine.

"Dorio, take everyone to the booths. Kiwi, come with me."

Maine lightly pressed down his sunglasses with his finger, calling out to himself as the team's external brain.

Snap! "Two old-fashioned tequilas, with some beer and chili." Jackie snapped his fingers with a boss-like air as he spoke to the female bartender, whose arms were muscular and showed no signs of cybernetic enhancements.

"Two Johnny Silverhands. Coming right now."

After ordering, while the bartender was mixing the drinks, Jackie looked at Maine.

"Brother Maine, how have you been? Sigh, Night City has only been peaceful for a few days and it's already in trouble again. I heard you landed a big job with Faraday. That must be tough work. In this chaotic situation, several great teams have already had their expenses reimbursed while working for him."

He winked at Maine.

Short-range communication adapter.

[Jackie: Hey, you're in great shape. Looks like the top-notch stuff my sis provided really works.]

[Maine: It's good, but it's too expensive.]

[Jackie: You get what you pay for. The price will come down once the girls get more expensive. Before Cyberpsychosis develops, I'll try to find out about the updated version for you. Seriously, Maine brothers, your Militech -Militech grade Sandevistan...

[Maine: We'll talk about it after this mission. So what's the deal? When is Ms. V going to make her move? Faraday is already suspicious of us. He has people watching me. Although he hasn't thought about Arasaka yet, that bespectacled bastard is using his connections to spread rumors that I'm slacking off, procrastinating, and not putting in the effort during the mission. He wants to force us to take it seriously, or rather, to risk our lives.]

[Jackie: Gilipolas (bastard), that middleman will get his comeuppance sooner or later.]

"Hey, Johnny Silverhand, two glasses, ready." came the bartender's voice.

"Thanks, sis."

Jackie gestured to the female bartender to give Maine and Kiwi the two glasses of Johnny Silverhand.

[Jackie: The Militech side has probably lost patience with Faraday Future too. I heard that quite a few middlemen received secret commissions from Militech... The final tasks are all in the Separate Chip. I'll give it to you when the show ends. Oh, by the way, Faraday Future's four-eyed guy's henchman is also in 'Afterlife'.]

Jackie ended the encrypted communication.

He raised his glass and clinked it with Maine and Kiwi.

May you receive unexpected wealth and peace. And may Afterlife in the next life.

He gulped it down in one go.

"Yours is the one with the added love."

Maine glanced at Jackie's glass with some curiosity.

"Yes, Jackie Wells cocktails. Aha, aren't you going to treat yourself to one?"

"No thanks. Dorio said it's bad luck; you have to die first to leave a name behind. That's too high a price to pay. I don't want to die halfway through. I have to live and protect my team," Maine said, shaking his head.

"Hey, everyone's going to have this day eventually, why not go for something stylish?"

"I'd like to go later."

Just as the two continued to chat and joke, the frenetic heavy metal music suddenly stopped, and an old lady wearing a yellow top and black leather pants came out from the inner private room.

It's Rogue.

Although entering the Afterlife a few years earlier had made Jackie more resistant to the worship of the 'legendary' attributes of the Afterlife, and he was no longer the naive young man he was when he first entered, he still had considerable respect for the King of the Middlemen, the living legend of Night City, Rogue, and immediately fell silent.

"I am Rogue, no need for introductions."

The old lady walked to the center of the bar and spoke calmly.

"These are all big shots and big names in the underworld. Time is precious, so I won't keep you any longer. To be frank about my invitation, it's due to a personal business adjustment."

"You all know about the situation at the US-Mexico border, right? All the jobs involving New Mexico and Arizona are in such high demand because of the big spenders' continued lavish spending—it's practically exploding. Now, I, Rogue, have decided to completely abandon this business. You don't need to know more; I have my own connections. 'Afterlife' will still be in business. That's all I have to say."

The statement was brief, yet packed with information.

It's important to understand that 'Afterlife' is under Rogue's control; and practically speaking, she calls the shots in almost the entire Night City mercenary network. Every big deal requires her approval. She can influence the Badlands of Southern California, and she also has connections with large groups of Nomads in other states.

Now, her statement is tantamount to saying that she has given up the interests and say that are most suitable for her, involving New Mexico and Arizona!

"Rogue, are you scared? Going to lay low? The people of the Ghost Hounds have been investing heavily in this area lately. Could it be that you've reached an agreement with Dogtown?"

One of the more troublesome mercenaries couldn't help but speak up.

Rogue remained calm and collected. "Are you trying to teach me how to do things? You'll have to be alive to get the intelligence."

"Rogue, whose side are you on?"

"It's a mercenary from Santo Domingo," asked the man.

"I'll help whoever wins."

Rogue is still the same Rogue.

With ease, her decades-long accumulated authority allowed her to suppress every nitpicker.

Back to the private room on the second floor of the nightclub.

Exhaling heavily through his nose, his expression turned particularly grim. Rogue narrowed his eyes, his irises beginning to glow with an orange-red light. "... I've complied with your demands. What exactly do you want? To start the Fifth Corporate War?"

"That's none of the Night City's concern, Queen of the Underworld. All you need to know is to delegate your task to Kurt Hansen's hounds."

"Then I at least need to know whose orders it was! You should know that it was Ms. Michiko Arasaka endorsed me."

[Hmph... Indeed, but I might as well tell you. It's Director Russell Vera Adelheid Russell. Lady Michiko has already transferred your affairs and control to Lady Vera. Rogue, a wise person knows when to yield. You should know that every step you take against Arasaka will bring disaster to countless people. So, be a good underground queen; this is Arasaka's reward for her meritorious servant.]

The call ended.

"Arasaka..."

She bit her lower lip hard and plopped down on the sofa. Rogue covered her head with her hands, looking at the photo frame next to her. It was a picture of her with her former companions from Atlantis.

"Those days are gone forever."

"I'm sorry... Johnny, I'm sorry... everyone."

In that instant, Rogue's unfocused gaze was like that of a blind fly desperately trying to break through the translucent glass.

Outside the 'Afterlife' nightclub.

[Jackie: Big news, really big news! I never thought the last legend of Night City would consider retiring... Hermanos (brother), take care.]

[Maine: You too.]

In a blind spot of surveillance, after a brief conversation at the nightclub, Jackie handed the Separate Chip to Maine in a fleeting moment.

When Jackie walked away, Maine returned the way he came.

Along the way, he could see that the demonstrators from both sides had been violently dispersed by the NCPD, leaving behind only a mess and scattered corpses. When he crossed the curb, he saw the body of a homeless man lying in front of a trash can, a tragic stray bullet piercing his head.

As the group walked through the alley, after receiving assurances of safety from Kiwi and Lucy, Maine inserted the Separate Chip into the chip slot.

Is that so?

[The mission is to successfully steal Arasaka's important personnel transfer records and documents under a false pretense and then pass the information to Faraday.]

Driving towards Bradbury Street, Jackie dialed an encrypted phone number.

"Hey, V, are you busy?"

Jackie said with great enthusiasm.

"The details of the commission have been sent to Maine... Don't worry, old Jackie never leaves a trace. I specifically arranged the meeting and handover at 'Afterlife,' which is where I met him. Today happens to be the day the middleman queen revealed the business adjustments, yet quite a few people showed up. It makes perfect sense, unless Militech gets involved, but do they have the time? Faraday doesn't have that kind of power."

"Hmm, safety? I'll be careful... You too, little sister."

"That big shot of yours, Vera Adelheid, is really something else, really impressive. The scenes in New Mexico and Arizona on the news, wow... is she going to start a war of independence?"

Chapter 114: Under the Light and Shadow of Vera, Vastly Different Fates (5K)

"Arasaka, your wolfish ambitions are now crystal clear! Russell, do you think what you've done is foolproof?! Ugh—"

With a muffled thud, Heywood David Martinez, dressed in Arasaka light combat suit, swiftly slammed the head of a protester who was about to climb onto the "Rebirth" monument to spray paint and make outrageous statements, slamming him against the base of the monument.

"Lackey... Waaaaaah!"

They had barely finished their rant when the Washington -supporting protesters were unable to utter a complete sentence.

With two powerful punches aimed at his forehead and eye sockets, David, behind his compound eye tactical goggles, controlled the force exerted by his arm after installing a military-grade Combat Cybernetics, knocking him unconscious before throwing him off the base. Then, looking at the crowd gathered in front of the monument, the Kiroshi Tsukasa prosthetic eye, perfectly matching the original iris color, focused, his thought process synchronized, and the scanner activated.

Accessing the NCPD database

Facial recognition, biometric scanning.

[Civilian]

[Civilian]

[Civilian... behavioral record, political leanings... Miles supporters]

Suddenly seeing Arasaka's henchman fixate on him with the compound eyes that had flashed the indicator light, three passersby in the crowd, carrying backpacks and wearing baseball caps, realized something was wrong and took off running.

David took off after him.

The increased jumping power from his strengthened tendons allowed him to knock one of them down on the spot. The immense force sent the tattooed black guy flying more than three meters away, landing face-first on the ground until his head hit the curb and stopped.

He fainted on the spot without even uttering a sound.

The second one ran while looking back. Seeing that things were not going well, he actually pulled out a pistol from his chest bag. But David was faster. The bullet-time-like reaction speed brought by [Krzysztof Amplification] allowed him to grab the other's hand and twist his wrist with one hand.

The third one didn't get far either, and was knocked to the ground by Sheriff Arasaka.

The crackling stun gun swung down on his nose with a 'whoosh,' sending bone fragments and bits of flesh flying.

"A bunch of reckless fools."

The sheriff cursed under his breath and led his men to surround the area from other directions. After arresting two more people in the crowd, they dragged the group of rioters who intended to disrupt the Lijiang scenic area together.

Seeing David examining the pistol in his hand, he glanced at it and said, "Lexington with Militech." With that, he stunned the thug at David's feet, who was clutching his arms and screaming in pain, with a stun baton.