If he had been well-informed, he would have packed his bags and run by now.
For Kirk, his good days were still ahead of him.
Compared to the huge mess that was the Vortex Gang, the debt Peppy owed was nothing.
As long as the Vortex Gang still existed, Kirk would never dare show his face again.
By then, even if he really dared to go back to Wolf Bar, it would no longer be Peppy begging him for a few extra days. It would be his turn to beg Peppy not to report him to the Vortex Gang.
On the way back, Su Xiao asked Jack to help him find an apartment.
It wasn't practical to keep living in Jack's garage.
Jack's garage had no windows. Once the rolling garage door was shut—which they couldn't afford not to do, considering Night City's abysmal security—it became stuffy and hot.
And there were so many people crammed into that tiny garage.
Now that he had some money on hand, it should be enough to pay several months' rent.
"I don't mind if the place is a little old, but it has to be on a higher floor, and it has to be clean. I don't want to live alongside garbage."
Night City was full of towering buildings. If he wanted a decent view, he had to live on a high floor.
Otherwise, once he opened the window, the buildings next door and across the street would block his view completely. It would be like Kowloon Walled City. How depressing would that be?
"Sure. Leave such a small matter to your buddy."
Jack readily agreed.
Then he put on a bitter expression.
"Uh, about that thing I mentioned earlier, the bet I lost..."
Su Xiao said indifferently, "Jack, we were just joking around. You didn't actually take it seriously, did you?"
"So it was a joke? Hahaha, that's right. Su, you really know how to joke around."
Although Jack also felt that Su Xiao probably wouldn't really make him eat his computer,
it had still been Jack who brought it up. If he went back on his word, wouldn't that be humiliating?
Now that Su Xiao had taken the initiative to say it was a joke, a huge weight fell from Jack's heart, and he immediately felt much more at ease.
"There was one more thing."
"Go ahead."
Jack was in a great mood.
He even began humming a Mexican folk song.
One thing? Even if there were three or five, he, Jack, wouldn't even frown. Otherwise, he would accept the loss.
"Do you know where I can get materials and parts for making guns?"
"Fixers can get them, but if they don't trust you, they won't sell you the materials or parts. If you don't go through a fixer, there are other channels, but the risks and prices will both be higher."
Jack asked curiously, "But why are you asking about that?"
"Nothing. I just want to make a little more money."
"What the hell? How did this happen?"
After receiving a call from his driver, Kirk hurriedly packed his belongings and fled his home.
The driver he had hired was an honest man.
Even after being arrested, he had secretly called Kirk to warn him while the border guards weren't paying attention.
Kirk immediately realized that something was wrong.
None of the gangs in the city were kindhearted.
But if one had to name the gang that should never be offended, the Vortex Gang would certainly be near the top of the list.
Take the Tiger Claws Gang and the Sixth Street Gang, for example.
If you offended them, you might get beheaded or shot.
You would still die, but at least it would be quick.
The Vortex Gang was different.
Those lunatics were utterly deranged and loved using people as test subjects.
They were cyberpunks among cyberpunks—true modification fanatics.
If you fell into their hands, they wouldn't let you off easily. They might not even kill you outright.
They would install implants in your body.
And you could forget about those implants being legitimate products bought from a corporation.
They were all knockoff or secondhand cyberware scavenged from the black market, or even from the Scavengers.
It wasn't only installing too much military-grade cyberware that turned someone into a Cyberpsycho.
If you installed knockoffs or cracked versions, the poor quality of the cyberware itself, as well as its incompatibility with your body, could also trigger Cyberpsychosis.
Kirk didn't want to suffer a bloody disaster, much less become a Cyberpsycho.
He had no choice but to run.
Just as Su Xiao had predicted, he had no time to worry about Peppy's debt at all. The Vortex Gang was the real headache now.
"You're not planning to be a merc anymore?"
"No. I just want to develop a side business."
Back when he had still been with the Buckle Family,
his Firearm Maintenance skill had already reached LV5.
It had not only instilled a vast amount of maintenance knowledge in him, but also knowledge of firearm assembly.
That included all Kinetic Weapons, as well as quite a few Tech Weapons.
Tech Weapons used electromagnetic energy to accelerate all-metal ammunition to extreme speeds, allowing it to punch through cover or walls.
These weapons weren't sold in supermarkets or convenience stores.
You could only buy them at specialized weapons shops.
Their exorbitant prices went without saying.
But if you had the materials and parts, along with a gunsmith,
you could greatly reduce the cost. The profits would be astonishing.
Su Xiao told Jack his idea.
"You can actually make guns? All of them?"
"If I have the parts and materials, I can make any Kinetic Weapon. For Tech Weapons, I can make all of them except for overly complicated models like the Achilles and Cat Mat. I'm not familiar with Smart Weapons yet."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Xiao saw V and Jack staring at him in shock.
It wasn't that V and Jack had never seen the world. It was just that...
There were plenty of people in Night City who knew how to use guns.
But there were far fewer who knew how to make them.
And someone like Su Xiao, who could even build Tech Weapons—
that was rare among the rare.
Extremely rare.
"Then what are you planning to do? Open a gun shop?"
"I don't know. That's why I asked you, isn't it?"
The fact that his brother had been hiding such an unknown skill left Jack deeply shaken.
After his brief shock, Jack calmed down.
He seriously began considering his brother's problem as if it were his own.
"The materials and parts can all be obtained through a fixer."
"But I don't know any fixers in the city. I'm not familiar with a single one."
Jack patted his chest. "No problem. You still have me, don't you? Padre and I go way back."
"And me." V winked at Su Xiao. "I know Padre too. I can put in a word with him."
"Oh, right. I almost forgot that you're a Child of Heywood too." Jack stroked his braided hair. "Then we'll go together. Padre will have to give us both some face. Hahahaha—"
The three of them laughed.
"But opening a gun shop would be troublesome. You'd need to register with the NCPD, handle the paperwork at City Hall, and finally apply for a sales permit from the weapon manufacturer."
"You can leave out the weapon manufacturer. I wasn't planning to stock their products."
Jack seriously emphasized once again,
"You can't. Su, whichever manufacturer's guns you sell, you need that manufacturer's sales permit first. Otherwise, you'll be running a black-market shop. All it takes is one person reporting you, and you're finished. When they come knocking, it'll either be the manufacturer's security forces or the NCPD..."
"The NCPD would be fine. At worst, they'd fine you and order you to close for rectification. But if it's the manufacturer's security forces... Anyway, you really don't want to run into them."
Just listening to this gave Su Xiao a headache.
He rubbed his aching temples.
"It's that troublesome?"
He hadn't been in Night City long, but he had seen weapons shops everywhere along the roads.
Guns were even sold in supermarkets and convenience stores, so he had assumed that selling firearms would be simple.
"And that's not all... To open a gun shop, you need to find a location, right? Places with good surroundings have high rent. Places with cheap rent have poor surroundings, little foot traffic, and you'll also be robbed."
"Besides, in Night City, no matter what business you run, you have to pay taxes. In addition to City Hall and the NCPD, you also have to pay protection money to the gang in your area."
Su Xiao frowned.
"Jack, if that's the case, isn't opening a shop in Night City incredibly difficult? Then where did all the gun shops, stores, and stalls in Night City come from?"
"Su, you've only been in Night City for a few days. It's normal that you don't know."
Jack had known Su Xiao would ask that.
"Most of those people running businesses have struggled for most of their lives, barely managing to save enough money to open a shop."
"Some inherited the family business. Their parents ran shops, and when the children grew up, they took over as owners."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but although shops are everywhere, those people's circumstances are just as difficult. Most can only rent storefronts or set up stalls in poorer districts with lower safety standards, because the rent is cheaper there."
"More importantly, in Night City, has anyone ever reached the peak of their life by running an honest business? No, right?"
"Dad runs a gun shop, and when his son grows up, he takes over. Mom runs a small supermarket, and then her daughter inherits it."
"At the end of the day, they close up and return to their shabby apartments—or simply sleep in the shop."
"Have you ever seen any of them buy a villa in North Oak through honest business? I haven't."
"North Oak, a recognized wealthy district, isn't a place you can enter by running a shop or setting up a stall."
"Why can't they get in? Is it because those ordinary people who rise early and work late aren't trying hard enough?"
"Of course not. It's because after the NCPD, City Hall, weapon manufacturers, and local gangs take turns charging them all kinds of fees, there are barely any pennies left to actually make it into their pockets."
"That is why, even after working so hard, they can never leave this land."
At the same time.
Before you continue