Chapter Thirteen: Follow Your Bro and Go Hungry Nine Days Out of Three

"Yesterday's dead-man lottery ended with a grand total of thirty dead!"

"Thanks to the endless gang warfare, ten of them died in Heywood alone."

"But one police officer died too. I think you'll all have to pay up."

"Because there's no way NCPD will swallow this."

"Another blackout occurred in Santo Domingo. The power grid was sabotaged—another fine piece of work by netrunners."

"Meanwhile, Trauma Team in Westbrook was still collecting the bodies of Cyberpsychosis victims from the sidewalks."

"And as for Pacifica... well, Pacifica was still Pacifica."

"I'm your buddy Stan. Join me as we begin another day in the City of Dreams."

Su Xiao was jolted awake by the voice coming from the radio.

He opened his eyes.

He found himself sleeping on a sofa with cracked leather.

He was alone in the room. Jack was nowhere to be seen.

He turned off the cash register.

He walked out of the garage.

The sunlight outside was somewhat harsh.

He crossed the alley and entered the Wolf Bar.

There weren't many people in the bar during the day.

Peppy, the bartender wiping down the counter, greeted him. "Hey."

"Hey."

"I haven't seen you before. You're not from around here, are you?"

"I'm Jack's friend."

"So you're the one Mrs. Wells told me about. In that case, no problem. Mrs. Wells said you could order whatever you wanted to drink. It's free."

"Then give me a Coke with ice, please."

Peppy muttered somewhat strangely, "What's the difference between not drinking in the early morning and being a salted fish? You don't look that old. Are you already trying to live a healthy lifestyle?"

Su Xiao couldn't make out what Peppy was muttering. "Speaking of which, Jack—have you seen him?"

Peppy brought over the Coke. "He drove off early this morning. He wouldn't say where he was going when I asked."

"Oh, I see."

Su Xiao fell silent.

He took his Coke and found a seat.

He pulled out the laptop he had brought from Zank the Decapitator and began surfing the net.

He had just finished reading "The Social Situation in 2077" when a familiar voice sounded behind him.

"Su, you're awake. I was thinking that if you were still sleeping, I'd let you sleep a little longer before waking you."

Chapter Thirteen: Follow Your Bro and Go Hungry Nine Days Out of Three

Su Xiao was just about to get up when Jack stopped him.

"Don't rush. Let me get something to drink first. I'm dying of thirst."

He held up two fingers toward the bar.

"Peppy, vodka with ice, lime juice, and ginger beer. Make it a double."

"Mrs. Wells said I'm not allowed to let you drink anymore."

Jack walked up to the bar. "Then I'll pay for it."

"Mrs. Wells said I'm not allowed to sell you alcohol."

Jack held his forehead. "She really is my mother."

Su Xiao shut his laptop, drained his Coke in one go, and walked over as well, placing the glass on the counter.

"It's fine, Peppy. I checked just now—my mom isn't here. A few of the Valentino Gang's boys are having a dispute, so she went to mediate."

Jack leaned his elbows on the counter and bent forward. "She won't know if you give me two bottles."

Peppy said helplessly, "Jack, don't make things difficult for me. I'll be the one getting yelled at later."

Jack pointed at the bar's sign.

"Peppy, who owns this bar?"

"Mrs. Wells, of course."

"What's her full name?"

"...Mrs. Guadalupe Alejandra Wells."

Jack pointed at himself again.

"Then what's my name? Say the full name."

Peppy looked completely baffled. "Jack, what are you—"

"Give me a reminder, Peppy."

Peppy sighed. "Jack Wells."

Jack grinned, spread his arms, and looked as if he wanted to hug Peppy.

"Peppy, what are the odds? The owner of this Wolf Bar and I just happen to share the same surname."

"Do you think there's a possibility—I mean, just a possibility—that I'll be the future owner of this bar?"

Peppy: "..."

He had truly been defeated by Jack.

He sighed and was just about to fetch the drinks when someone suddenly entered through the door and silently came up behind Jack.

They hadn't made a sound the entire time, moving as lightly as a master assassin.

Peppy's expression immediately changed, and he quietly warned him, "Jack, behind you."

"Ha, don't try to fool me. Do you take me for a three-year-old?"

Su Xiao coughed.

Jack looked at Su Xiao strangely.

"Su, is something wrong with your throat?"

"No, Jack. Maybe we should leave."

"No rush. Don't worry, Su. I remember your... matter very clearly. I haven't forgotten. We can discuss it later. Let me have a drink first and wet my throat. I'm dying of thirst."

Seeing that Jack wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted, Su Xiao could only say, "How about a glass of happy water instead? It doesn't taste any worse than alcohol. What do you say, Peppy?"

Peppy understood the meaning in Su Xiao's eyes and hurriedly nodded.

"Yeah, yeah."

"What's wrong with you two today? You're acting so strange."

"Jakie!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried an imposing authority that brooked no anger.

The cheerful look on Jack's face instantly froze.

He trembled as if he were standing in Siberia's icy wind wearing nothing but a thin shirt.

Mrs. Wells beckoned to Jack, who looked as though he had done something wrong.

"Come with me for a moment."

Jack didn't come back out until half an hour later.

"Let's go, Su."

"You're not drinking anymore?"

"Cough, cough." Jack suddenly began coughing loudly, then shouted in an equally loud voice, drawing the attention of the other customers in the bar. "That's right! Your bro has decided never to drink again!"

Only after leaving the Wolf Bar did he add quietly, "At least not at the Wolf Bar."

Seeing Jack like this, the corners of Su Xiao's mouth lifted.

In 2077, maintaining one's health through dietary control was no longer as fashionable as it had been in his previous life.

Why say "previous life" instead of "the early twenty-first century"?

Because this world's timeline had developed very differently from the Earth where Su Xiao had lived.

The CCCP had survived all the way to 2077.

Didn't see that coming, did you?

Instead, a certain superpower had become a bride split into five.

New America, the Western States, the Republic of Texas, and the Pacific Alliance were locked in a deadly struggle across North America.

As for Night City, it belonged to no country.

Geographically, it was still located within New America's territory, but in reality, it had long since broken free of California and even New America's legal control. It was a lawless land.

Rather, it was an independent metropolis completely controlled by corporations.

In this world, the rich could replace any organ in their bodies with a new one.

As a result, they no longer had to worry about alcohol damaging their livers, smoking damaging their lungs, or... kidney deficiency.

Some might ask: There was no problem with the rich replacing their organs whenever they pleased.

But what about the poor?

They had little education, or none at all.

They worked diligently to maintain their small businesses.

Forced to rent homes in impoverished areas with low safety standards, they were more vulnerable to criminal activity.

They had to pay for their own social and medical insurance.

They also had to pay protection money to the gangs controlling their neighborhoods.

These people couldn't replace damaged organs whenever they wished.

Not to mention the unemployed and homeless.

Actually, there was no need to worry about that either.

Compared to drinking themselves into poor health, they were better off worrying about the endless shootings and murders.

They could be walking down the street one day and get killed by a stray bullet...

Or they could be selling synthetic meat at a market stall when members of the Tiger Claws Gang stormed in, simply because one customer had offended the gang, dragging everyone in the market into a gang conflict...

A corporate executive might also get drunk, drive his sports car onto the sidewalk, and send you—who had offended neither him nor anyone else—flying.

Then he would leave the scene without even slowing down.

He certainly wouldn't get out to check on you.

As if he had merely crushed an ant.

See? Compared with so many terrible endings, ruining your health by drinking actually seemed like a good one, didn't it?

Don't mention it. It's all thanks to the others in the same line of work.

After leaving the bar, they returned to the garage.

Jack pulled down the rolling door, then took a thick wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to Su Xiao.