Hospitality

Oliver panted as he stared at the corpses strewn across the ground before him, unable to believe he had actually survived a firefight like that. Bullets had flown past his head several times, and each time, he had been lucky enough not to have his head where the bullet passed. It was simply absurdly lucky.

But that was only because someone had helped him. If not for the other person who had suddenly joined halfway through the fight, he would have long been killed by those Maelstrom bastards pressing in on him.

"There's still one alive."

As Oliver slumped weakly against the cover, he heard a rather young voice. Following the sound, he saw an Eastern face that perfectly matched the voice.

Just one person? And at that age, eighteen, or perhaps nineteen?

At that age, he would still be an ungraduated student at Arasaka Academy, which specialized in training Corpo Dogs. Even among Night City's street gangs, that was rather young.

No beard, no reliability. Night City did not have that exact saying, but it had proverbs with roughly the same meaning. At the very least, Oliver's Sixth Street Gang would never accept anyone under twenty. Veterans hated rookies dragging them down most of all.

Oliver examined Carl's face, pondering her identity.

Chinese, or Japanese? If she was Japanese, was she one of the Tiger Claws? Watson Kabuki District was Tiger Claws territory. Had she acted because of a conflict between the Tiger Claws and Maelstrom?

While Oliver was thinking, Carl had already walked up to him and pointed a Lexington at his head.

"Name."

Having witnessed her firing speed and accuracy, Oliver had no intention of resisting and answered honestly, "Oliver."

"Age?"

"Twenty-four. Gang member."

"Affiliation?"

"Sixth Street Gang."

"Purpose?"

"The Maelstrom guys might have hijacked our goods. We came to ask around, and then we ended up fighting those cybernetic lunatics."

"I see."

After saying something Oliver did not quite understand, Carl held out her hand to him.

"Hand it over."

"What?"

"Your gun."

Was she planning to capture me as a bargaining chip for negotiations with the Tiger Claws? Judging by how she had also attacked Maelstrom earlier, was she trying to seek cooperation?

Oliver obediently handed over his gun. He was very cooperative, but then he realized that she had no intention of paying him any more attention. She wandered among the corpses, crouching down now and then to pick something up from the ground.

Fourteenth gun.

Muttering the count in her heart, Carl stuffed pistols and Eurodollars into the bag she had casually taken from a stall when she left. Looting the spoils after killing people was only natural to Carl, but it made Oliver somewhat afraid.

Looking at how thoroughly she's looting, she isn't actually a Tiger Claw, is she? Could she be some kidney-harvesting Scavenger?

In Night City, Scavengers were cold-blooded scum who viewed people as merchandise to be sold. They liked targeting civilians and isolated gang members, attacking them to seize money, organs, and cyberware. Carl's looting habits already resembled theirs somewhat.

However, Oliver's newly risen concern eased a little when he saw that Carl had no interest in cyberware and had no intention of dissecting the corpses.

Thinking it over, someone with shooting as fast and accurate as hers did not seem to need to become that sort of bottom-feeding scum. But her looting was just far too meticulous and serious.

Seeing Carl even rummage through people's hair to check whether they had hidden money in it, Oliver could not help standing up and walking over to her. Naturally, the moment he approached, a gun was pointed at his head.

"Something?"

Without turning around, the busy Carl said this. Her haul was not bad. These people were not particularly rich, but all the bits and pieces added together came to a little over three thousand Eurodollars. She would have to count them to know the exact amount.

"Well... if we don't run now, the NCPD cleanup crew might be here soon. It probably won't look too good if we're still at the scene then."

"We?"

Hearing Oliver's words, Carl temporarily stopped looting. She turned to look at the blond Sixth Street Gang member with a small mustache on his chin and said, "I'm not some gang member. I was just an ordinary civilian caught up in this because of you people. I can't even eat a meal in peace. I don't need to worry about the NCPD."

An ordinary civilian?

What kind of ordinary civilian could use a common Lexington, a gun Oliver himself would not even bother using, to blow the heads off more than a dozen Maelstrom members? Those Maelstrom lunatics loved getting cybernetic modifications in their heads, leaving very little flesh there. To accurately find the gap between metal and flesh and send a bullet into their brains was definitely not something an ordinary civilian could do.

In Oliver's mind, he had already made an accurate guess about Carl's identity.

She was probably a mercenary, a lone wolf at that.

Listening to the approaching police sirens, Oliver thought for a moment before speaking. "Then consider it payment for saving my life. You were interrupted while eating, right? If you don't mind, how about I treat you to a meal at a nearby restaurant? You can wash your face too."

Oliver's gaze focused on the blood slowly beginning to congeal on Carl's face.

"A meal is fine."

Having looted just about enough, Carl looked at the bag that could no longer hold any more pistols and did not mind being treated to a meal.

"But it has to be vegetarian."

A person who killed without blinking ate vegetarian food?

The corner of Oliver's mouth twitched, but he responded quickly.

"Sure. On the way here, I saw a Chinese restaurant. They should have at least some vegetarian dishes."

After saying that, Oliver looked at his Sixth Street Gang companions lying all over the ground, all of them now corpses, and sighed.

He would have to tell his father about what happened here later. Everyone who had come was dead, and he was the only one left alive. Whatever the reason, he had to give the gang an explanation. As for Maelstrom, he would also have to suggest that his father and the others discuss it carefully after he returned.

Those lunatics had gone too far with their looting. The Sixth Street Gang did not particularly want to invade other gangs' territory, but that did not mean they were weak cowards to be bullied.

The gang was mainly made up of retired soldiers. How good could their tempers be? Maelstrom would definitely pay the price for this!

But before that.

Oliver had to properly treat this lone wolf who had helped him. He still knew how to remember someone who had saved his life.