But one look at Jack and V made it clear what an unreliable person Kirk was.
Worse, V had almost been dragged into trouble, and that was also because of Kirk.
Could they really keep dealing with someone like him?
"No, we didn't agree..." V glanced at Jack's grim face. "At least, not at the time."
Su Xiao understood what V meant. "But if Kirk calls you, you'll still go?"
V looked helpless. "Peppy never said how much he owed, and Kirk didn't say either. But we probably can't come up with that much."
Jack cut in. "Even if we could, we can't let Kirk profit from it. Otherwise, once he gets a taste of success, he'll scam people again."
Jack drained the alcohol in his glass and slammed it back onto the table.
"Peppy, Peppy... What were you thinking? Sigh."
One wrong step led to another.
If Peppy had borrowed money from him in the first place, none of this would have happened.
Even if he really couldn't pay it back, that would have been fine.
For friendship's sake, Jack wasn't the sort to quibble over every little thing.
But why had he gone to that bastard Kirk?
Jack was troubled too.
Kirk was a bottomless pit. Working with him was worse than eating shit.
But if they didn't work with him, there was no way to put Peppy's matter to rest.
Frustrating! Infuriating!
"Isn't there any other way?"
Jack shook his head.
Kirk was a bastard, but he followed the rules of the underworld.
As long as he hadn't forced Peppy to borrow the money, then no matter who they were, they couldn't do anything to Kirk morally speaking.
That was what people meant by, "Even thieves have principles."
Some might wonder: did people running around on the streets really have the nerve to talk about principles?
But that was simply the truth.
As unofficial powers, gangs had to establish certain rules to maintain their legitimacy and order.
That was how gangs could survive and grow stronger.
At least, that was how things appeared on the surface.
Su Xiao wiped his glass and smiled.
"Perhaps we can turn things around by looking at it from another angle."
Jack froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up.
"Su, you have an idea?"
"If we can't solve the problem, then we'll solve the person who raised it."
"Explain."
"Kirk is both a middleman and a loan shark. That means we can look for a breakthrough through him. Someone who keeps dancing along the edge of legality like that must have some vulnerability we can seize on."
Jack's face brightened.
"You two keep drinking. I'm going to make a few calls."
With that, he downed the alcohol in his glass and got up to leave.
Only Su Xiao and V remained.
V held her glass in both hands, her fingers gently rubbing against it. "Have you and Jack known each other for long?"
"No, not long."
Since he had nothing better to do, Su Xiao told V how he had met Jack.
V was surprised.
"You really managed to bluff that customs officer?"
Su Xiao smiled. "Serpent Nation has a powerful background and a fearsome reputation. Anyone who wanted to mess with Serpent Nation had to think twice. He was only a border guard, not even a formal company employee."
"But you're not from Serpent Nation."
"That's true, but he didn't know that, did he?"
The two chatted for a while. Before long, Jack returned.
Undisguised delight showed between his brows.
"I found out. I never imagined that damn idiot's business reach was so broad."
Jack glanced around.
There weren't many customers today. The first floor was deserted, with everyone upstairs.
Even the nearest customers were several tables away from them.
Only then did he relax and lower his voice. "Su, you guessed right. That bastard Kirk has another line of business... Guess what it is? He's in contact with the cyberpsychos in the Vortex Gang."
"The Vortex Gang?" V was startled. "Isn't that the gang operating in Watson District?"
"Exactly."
"What business could those people, who modify their bodies until they look like machines, possibly need someone like Kirk for?"
Jack scratched his head awkwardly. "That, I don't know. They don't know the details either."
"That's not enough. If only we knew what they were really doing." V looked disappointed.
Su Xiao pondered. "Perhaps I have a way to find out exactly what Kirk's connection with the Vortex Gang is."
Watson District had once been the beating heart of Night City.
When the nuclear blast of 2023 hurled disaster into the center of Night City, nearby Watson District became an ark. Citizens who had suffered grievously but refused to abandon hope poured into it to take shelter.
By the 2050s, Watson District began to fall to the margins and decline.
It had once been filled with rows of skyscrapers, nightclubs, corporate towers, and even a top-tier medical center.
Until the financial crisis destroyed it all.
Now Watson District was the poorest area in Night City. The Vortex Gang and the Tiger Claws Gang occupied its impoverished streets and alleys.
Within Watson District, the liveliest subdivision was undoubtedly Kabuki District.
It was a tangled stretch of dazzling little alleys.
It was not far from the old medical center, and its name reflected its long Japanese heritage.
Although it was notorious for being crowded, filthy, chaotic, and crawling with con artists,
if you loved haggling and hunting for treasures, you absolutely had to come here.
Members of the Tiger Claws Gang carrying katanas, clubs, and firearms could be seen everywhere.
The Scavengers, hiding in corners beside the garbage, sized up everyone on the street with greedy eyes.
Maybe some newcomers who had just arrived in Night City didn't know what Scavengers did.
In one simple sentence—
They harvested kidneys without anesthesia.
Night fell.
An SUV stopped beside a neon streetlamp.
The three people inside stared intently at the small building hidden in the narrow alley.
Half an hour later, Kirk walked out of the building.
He cautiously looked around, then left along the sidewalk.
After his figure had gone far away and vanished completely into the crowd, Jack reminded them once more.
"Third floor, Room 302."
"Got it."
V nodded, opened the door, and got out. She walked toward the building Kirk had emerged from.
Su Xiao and Jack continued watching from outside.
After ten nerve-racking but uneventful minutes, V returned to the vehicle and waved the chip in her hand.
"Done."
Su Xiao nodded, started the car, and drove away.
Me and Gambling Are Mortal Enemies
"Hello, Night City!"
"I'm your Stanley, and our City of Dreams is beginning another long day."
"I love this city, just like you love your mom."
"Back then, she dumped you at the orphanage entrance. Now, whenever she runs into you on the street, she asks you for a cigarette."
"Every day, another eighty or a hundred newcomers arrive here, but only half of them can last a year—and that's only in a good year!"
"Why are they so eager to come to Night City?"
"Isn't it because they want to become street samurai like Morgan Blackhand or Whelan Old Snake?"
"Here's a saying. Remember it."
"The timid starve, while the bold feast."
"It's a pity that when people become famous, they become targets. The more thrilling a life is, the shorter it tends to be."
"And that's not even counting the people who blow your skull open with a single shot."
"Do you know where Night City's legendary figures tend to gather?"
"In graveyards!"
"In our part of the world, heroes aren't judged by their origins. What matters is whether you can carve out your own path."
"This is Night City. This is the City of Dreams."
Hearing Stanley's booming voice from the cash register, Su Xiao opened his eyes.
Jack was sleeping soundly beside him, while V on the sofa had her eyes tightly shut, lost in dreams.
Three people were crammed into the tiny garage.
There was no way it could be anything but cramped and stuffy.
Because V was a woman, Su Xiao and Jack had given her the only sofa.
The two men had slept together on the floor.
Su Xiao stretched broadly.
He had to find an apartment soon. They couldn't keep squeezing in here forever.
But first, he would deal with the mess on hand.
When they returned to the garage the previous night,
V took out the chip.
She had copied everything she could find on the laptop in Kirk's home onto the chip.
Before you continue