Commission

Oliver and Jack both thought the Corpo Dog had overheard them and was about to come over and take a bite out of them. Instead, she stopped in front of Carl and stared at his face for a few moments.

Carl did have a handsome face, but in this era, anyone could get a handsome or pretty face by visiting a Ripperdoc. Naturally, it was not Carl's face that had caught the Corpo Dog's attention. It was Carl himself.

"I reviewed the surveillance footage from Little China in Watson District yesterday. You took out sixteen Maelstrom members by yourself, didn't you?"

What happened yesterday had already become known today. Surveillance in the cyberpunk world really was thorough.

Though that was what Carl thought, he could not figure out what this Corpo Dog was after. Even if taking out gang members caused trouble, that should have been the Night City Police Department's business, shouldn't it?

Still, there was one thing he needed to correct.

"Not by myself. My friend helped too."

As he spoke, Carl pointed at Oliver.

But the Corpo Dog did not even spare Oliver a glance. Standing before Carl with her arms folded, the things beneath her corporate uniform—whether they had been modified or not—were pressed together by the gesture, revealing a rather impressive curve.

"I saw the footage. I'm not blind; I know who did the heavy lifting. Relax, I'm not with the Night City Police Department, nor am I some busybody looking to indulge a sense of justice. I'm definitely not a relative or friend of the trash you killed, either. I have something I want you to do. The pay is one hundred thousand eddies. Interested?"

"One hundred thousand eddies?"

Just as the Corpo Dog had expected, Carl was instantly drawn in by the number. But he quickly came to his senses. "So you're here to offer a job."

Carl's expression changed at once. A smile appeared on his face, and his tone became warmer.

"You should've said you were a client, miss corporate employee. Please, sit down. Tell me the details. As long as it's within our capabilities, we'll get the job done properly."

The Corpo Dog had become a client, so any prejudice could be put aside for now.

Oliver and Jack exchanged glances, each seeing a measure of contempt for Carl in the other's eyes. Still, they moved quickly, getting to their feet and making room for Carl and the corporate employee so they could have a proper conversation.

If there was a job to take, she should've said so earlier.

They were all friends here. Why stand on ceremony?

One hundred thousand eddies was money that low-level mercenaries might not earn in an entire year.

This time, the corporate employee did glance at Jack and Oliver. Yet she seemed somewhat disgusted by the seats they had kindly vacated, apparently unwilling to sit where two mercenaries had just been sitting. She looked around and noticed an empty seat beside Carl. It was not particularly clean either, but at least no one had been sitting there when she arrived, so she reluctantly sat down.

After sitting, she pulled out a strip-shaped Data Chip and motioned for Carl to take it.

Carl accepted it, then inserted it into the Access Port he had only gotten modified yesterday. The contents it held appeared before his eyes.

After reading it in a few seconds, Carl pulled out the Data Chip and handed it back.

"What do you think?"

"What should I call you?"

Carl's tone carried more seriousness this time. This job was doable.

"You don't need to know my name. Just finish the job. Can you do it or not?"

"Of course. But how am I supposed to send you proof?"

"When the time comes, send photos to this number. Don't call it unless it's necessary. I'm very busy."

Carl received the information the corporate employee transmitted to him, memorized the number, and then she transferred thirty thousand eddies to him.

"This is the advance deposit. Don't think you can take the money and run, unless you're not afraid I'll use the rest to buy your life."

After issuing that warning, the corporate employee stood up and hurried off, clicking away in her heels. From the moment she entered the Afterlife bar until she left, she had not said a word to anyone else, nor had she given anyone else so much as a second glance.

"Carl, what was that about?"

Oliver understood that Carl had just accepted some kind of job and asked curiously.

"Sorry for taking it without asking you first."

"It's fine. We're buddies, so don't mention something so minor. Besides, you're seriously amazing. We only just started, and someone's already coming to hand us jobs. I'm happy as hell."

What Oliver was even more curious about was the job itself. "So tell us about it."

"Hold on."

Holding up a hand to tell Oliver to wait, Carl looked at Jack, who had been watching from the side, and invited him. "Jack, since you're working solo now, want to try taking a job with us?"

"Me? I can too?"

A Corpo Dog's job would never pay poorly. Jack naturally knew that, but he had not expected Carl to want to bring him along to make some money.

"The more hands, the better."

Carl smiled. "So, what do you say? Want in?"

"We're buddies. Of course I'm in."

Perhaps infected by Carl's smile, Jack smiled as well. He accepted Carl's invitation without even asking about the job details or how the pay would be split. His actions were truly straightforward.

Jack had always been direct with people he got along with.

"Then let's split the money first."

A gleam flashed through Oliver and Jack's eyes. Before they had even started, their ten-thousand-eddy share was already in hand.

As it happened, Carl was generous when splitting money too.

"Dios mío, she was willing to put down that much as a deposit? What kind of job did you take, brother?"

"It's not something immoral or disgusting, right?"

As Jack marveled, Carl explained the job—the kind that would make ordinary low-level mercenaries jealous enough to go mad—to the two men who had given up their seats for nothing and sat back down.

The details were rather complicated, but Carl summed them up concisely.

Simply put—

Go to a Maelstrom territory in Watson District with twenty people stationed there, find a company box that was stolen, destroy it directly without returning it to the client, and take a photo of the remains.

"Sounds like that corporate chick has some dirt in that box."

Well-traveled and experienced, Jack guessed that the box might contain something serious.

"Probably compromising photos or something. Isn't that how those Japanese movies always go?"

Oliver, who knew quite a lot, said so.

But Carl was considering the connections between certain things.

Maelstrom had previously robbed the Sixth Street Gang, and now this corporate employee's things had been robbed after she saw him beat up Maelstrom. Was there some connection? Or was it simply the season for Maelstrom to go on a proper robbing spree?

There was too little information. No need to think so much.

What mattered now was—

"Go?"

"After we finish eating."

Oliver and Jack stuffed their mouths full of Spanish ham slices.

The kind with unknown ingredients, naturally.