Jackie Welles

## Chapter 10. Jackie Welles

The Afterlife bar in the Heywood district wasn't hard to find. After all, in a place like City Hall, where the Mayor's Office, Courthouse, and NCPD Headquarters were all clustered together, a bar that looked completely out of place was bound to stand out.

Parking the car on the side of the road, Oliver hesitated about whether to put on the bulletproof vest he'd bought with his share of yesterday's money. Having grown up in a neighborhood controlled by the Sixth Street Gang, and being a former Sixth Street member himself, he was still a little afraid of the Valentinos gang, even though it was said that many people in the Sixth Street Gang had good relationships with them in secret.

Who knew if the Valentinos gang members gathered in this bar would just decide to kill him because of his former Sixth Street affiliation?

While Oliver was hesitating, Karl had already nimbly put on his bulletproof vest under his clothes.

After putting it on, Karl looked at Oliver a little strangely. "What are you hesitating about? We're going to look for an employer in a minute. You don't even have basic protective cyberware or a bulletproof vest. You're trying to be a mercenary ready for a mission? If I were the employer, I'd think you were an idiot."

True.

Oliver then realized that he was still being influenced by his old gang mentality. When he was a civilian, or rather, a gang member, in the Santo Domingo district, there was no need to be so vigilant all the time because the entire territory belonged to their Sixth Street Gang. But now his identity was that of an unemployed mercenary. Mercenaries don't attract employers by showing off their equipment and strength? Are they going to rely on their faces to get jobs?

They weren't some famous legendary mercenaries. Those mercenaries could wear a shirt, carry a pistol in one hand, and hold another 'pistol' in the other, and still kill their way in and out of a crowd. Those people had missions coming to them, not the other way around, so naturally they didn't need to dress so defensively. The more handsome, the better. But he couldn't do that. Naturally, he had to look as threatening as possible.

He also put on his bulletproof vest, then a jacket. Oliver inserted his Nova revolver into its holster, learning from the movies he'd seen not to buckle the holster. This way, he could draw the gun instantly, and he could also show off the grip of the gun so that others could recognize what kind of weapon it was.

'A Nova for real men, very powerful.'

Completely unaware that his partner could have so many mental activities just from putting on a gun, Karl simply inserted his Lexington into its holster. After hesitating for a moment, he still didn't bring the Copperhead assault rifle in the trunk.

It was just going into a bar. A pistol was enough. Bringing an assault rifle inside would be a bit like trying to kick down the door.

After preparing completely, under the curious gazes of the Valentino gang street members walking around the Afterlife bar, these two newcomers to the mercenary world stepped into the bar.

As soon as they entered the bar, they could clearly feel that the light inside was dimmer than outside. Inside the Afterlife bar, there weren't the dense billboards that were everywhere on the streets outside. Instead, only a few fluorescent lights were lit. If the bar counter wasn't so bright, and there weren't groups of people drinking inside, one would really suspect that the bar wasn't open during the day.

Standing at the bar was an old woman with white hair, wearing a leather jacket. Although she looked quite old, she seemed very energetic. At first glance, if one didn't notice her hair, one would never think of her age.

"Oh, two children I haven't met before."

Seeing Karl and Oliver walk in from outside the bar, the old woman greeted them. "You're a little early, but you're both very welcome. Would you like something?"

"Mrs. Welles - I'll have another bottle of Blue Mood Vodka."

Before Karl and Oliver could speak, a customer at a table in the distance raised his hand, wanting another bottle of alcohol.

"No, Ernesto, you've already had a bottle today. You have something to do tonight, go sober up."

"Why like that, I was planning to wait for Jackie to come back and have a drink together."

"Not even Jackie."

While this old woman, who was called Mrs. Welles, was talking to the member who could be identified as a Valentinos gang member by his clothes, Karl heard a very familiar name.

Jackie?

Could it be that Jackie, Jackie Welles?

If it was that Jackie, Karl was quite familiar with him. In the demonstration, that Jackie was V's good brother and teammate.

It should just be a coincidence that they have the same name.

Jackie is a pretty common name.

As he thought this, Mrs. Welles had turned her head back to them. "So, what would you like to drink, kids?"

"I'll have a bottle of Buddy Lager (beer)."

Oliver immediately chose a drink that wasn't too strong and shouldn't affect his ability to take on missions.

"Okay, a bottle of lager, and you?"

Being watched by this kind old woman, Karl thought for a moment, glanced at the list on the bar counter, and chose a drink that had Chinese characters on its appearance.

"I'll have a Sweet Tea, and a side of fries."

"Then find a place to sit for a while, I'll bring it to you in a moment."

Mrs. Welles nodded, turned around, and began searching the bar counter for the drinks. Oliver pulled Karl to a place where they could see the people coming in from the door.

"You actually only drink non-alcoholic beverages when you come to a bar, and you even ordered a side of fries... I wish I could be like you."

Compared to beer, Oliver preferred to drink beverages, but he felt that it wouldn't be good to not order alcohol when coming to a bar. Karl didn't care about this at all.

"Then I can share some fries with you later."

"Okay, I'll eat yours first, and then I'll order some more to share after I finish. I'm always happy to have some fries."

"I'm more curious about what the raw materials for the fries will be."

As long as it's not bugs.

While the two were waiting, they observed the people in the bar and found that most of them were drinkers. Only a small number of them, like them, had ordered some things and were waiting, with weapons hanging on their waists and wearing bulletproof vests, or rather, cyberware implants that could be seen as having subdermal armor.

Okay, at least what Oliver's father said was true, that this place could find work. There were indeed a bunch of mercenaries waiting for work, but they all looked like the same kind of low-level mercenaries as them, the kind without even a middleman.

Oliver lowered his voice. "Logically speaking, the middleman industry is basically the same as mercenaries. There are the most awesome middlemen who can interfere in company affairs, and there are also those whose missions are just to deal with small fry and neighborhood feuds. But mercenaries who don't even have the cooperation of the lowest-level middlemen are quite miserable."

When this guy spoke, he didn't realize that he and Karl were also members of the miserable mercenaries he was talking about.

"Who knows."

Casually responding to Oliver's words, Karl's peripheral vision swept to a person walking in through the door of the Afterlife bar. After finding that he looked a little familiar, he subconsciously looked over.

The person who walked in was a tall and strong man who blocked the sunlight shining in from outside the bar. He had black braids, obvious cyberware modification marks on both sides of his cheeks, and a leather jacket open, revealing a chest full of tattoos, giving off a very intimidating feeling.

This person is...

'Jackie Welles!'