"Right at this point in time? I've heard that Santo Domingo hasn't been peaceful lately. And I don't know where he came from, but there's a fixer called the Old Captain."
At the mention of the Old Captain, Faraday's eyelid twitched.
But he immediately acted unconcerned.
"What Old Captain? Muammar Reyes used to be nothing more than a Corp Dog. Now he's come running to stir up trouble in the fixer business."
"Being a fixer isn't easy. One careless move, and you could end up hunted by both your employer and the mercenaries."
The priest smiled kindly and benevolently. "You seem pretty confident."
"It's not that I'm confident. That so-called Old Captain simply isn't cut out to be a fixer. Just wait and see. At most, he'll last a year. If he isn't dead by then, he'll quit the business anyway. The only fixer in Santo Domingo will be me—and it always will be me."
Just as the two were exchanging pleasantries without sincerity, a voice suddenly came from nearby.
"You're already here. Good. I knew the city's reliable fixers wouldn't disappoint."
They both turned their heads at the same time.
Another well-dressed man in a suit was walking over from the side.
Unlike Faraday, however, this man hadn't gone under the knife to alter his face.
He was dressed like an ordinary Corp Dog.
The suited man came to the table where the priest and Faraday were sitting.
The priest and Faraday occupied opposite sides of the table.
But the priest reacted faster.
He took the initiative and moved farther inward.
"Child, you don't mind sitting a little closer to the Lord's servant, do you?"
"Of course not, Father."
If Mann's team had been there, they would have recognized the suited man sitting at the same table as the priest as the employer they had protected before.
The priest and Faraday exchanged a glance.
When they had seen each other at Tom's Restaurant, they had already guessed that the other might be competing for this contract.
Now it seemed that was indeed the case.
The suited man coughed, drawing their attention back.
Adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose, he said,
"I'll skip the small talk. I'm short on time and don't have any to waste here."
"A few days ago, I was targeted in an assassination attempt. It was carried out by the Animal Gang at the behest of a former colleague of mine. Why do I call him a former colleague? Because that man is currently lying in an abandoned factory in Santo Domingo. After several days, I'm afraid his corpse is already starting to stink."
"He may be dead, but the Animal Gang he hired to attack me is still roaming free."
"So, gentlemen, I want you to eliminate the leader of that Animal Gang crew. I want his head."
The priest nodded slightly.
Contracts like this appeared by the dozens every day in Night City. This one was probably considered a relatively minor job.
"I understand, sir, but what I don't understand is why you hired two fixers?"
Faraday deliberately glanced at the priest sitting beside the client. "We've had an excellent foundation for cooperation. Didn't my people leave a deep impression on you?"
"Because I want to make absolutely certain. I don't want any survivors slipping away and coming back to take revenge on me. Do you understand?"
"I have one request, my child," the priest said slowly. "My people will complete the task you requested, but they cannot split the payment with Faraday's people. We want a separate share."
What the priest meant was...
Since the job had been assigned to two fixers,
the client shouldn't expect to get away with paying only one fixer.
"Chinese food coming through."
Su Xiao carried over the breakfast he had prepared.
He placed the snail noodles V had ordered and the hot-dry noodles Jack had ordered in front of them.
Only then did he sit down and take a sip of the beef-noodle soup.
The soup slid down his throat.
Refreshing.
"What's the job?"
Early that morning, Jack had received a call from the priest.
Then he had hurriedly gotten the other two out of bed.
The Chinese food Su Xiao had made last time had suited both their tastes perfectly.
They had strongly insisted on having it again.
Now the three of them sat around a table in Wolf Bar, eating and talking.
Jack swallowed a mouthful of fragrant noodles. "Remember the highway shootout you saw on the overpass in Santo Domingo when you first came to Night City?"
Su Xiao nodded.
He wasn't so forgetful that he could already fail to remember something that had happened so recently.
"The employer for this job was sitting in that Godtler Sedan the Animal Gang attacked. His request is simple: kill the leader of the Animal Gang crew that attacked him."
"The Animal Gang crews in the city all fight their own battles and aren't part of a unified whole. We only have to deal with one of them."
"This contract doesn't involve just the three of us. There's another mercenary team active in Santo Domingo. Their target is the same as ours."
Su Xiao asked curiously, "The priest hired them too?"
Jack shook his head.
"No. The employer found a fixer in Santo Domingo in addition to the priest. That doesn't happen often. Usually, people only hire one fixer, but it's not unheard of."
"Don't worry. I've got your back when the time comes."
Jack patted his chest, looking like he was saying, "I'm reliable."
"Thanks, but I can take care of myself."
Chapter 28: Whether to Forgive Them Is God's Business. I'm Only Responsible for Sending Them to Meet Him
After breakfast, the three of them got into the car.
Several dozen minutes later, Su Xiao drove the car to an abandoned construction site in Santo Domingo.
"Keep driving in. They're inside."
He drove deep into the construction site.
Sure enough, a pink sedan was parked there.
Four mercenaries of varying heights were sitting or standing nearby.
When they saw a car approaching, their eyes all turned toward Su Xiao and the others.
Su Xiao and the other two got out and walked toward them.
"You're Faraday's fixers, right?"
The big man in the lead nodded. "Then you must be the priest's people."
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Mann." The big man pointed at himself.
"Dorio."
The muscular woman, built like a man but actually the eldest sister, raised a thumb.
"Rebecca."
The twin-tailed little girl they had seen once before on the Santo Domingo overpass waved with a smile.
"Sasha."
The catlike girl with a fluffy hairstyle, lacking only a pair of upright ears, gave them a faint smile.
Su Xiao's side introduced themselves as well.
Mann wasn't fond of wasting words.
"You all look pretty capable. Let's hope you don't drop the ball when the time comes."
"Now, let's go over the plan first."
Mann nodded at the catlike girl. "Sasha."
She took out a laptop, set it on the hood of the pink sedan, and beckoned everyone over.
They gathered around the laptop.
After she worked the controls, a photo of a muscular man appeared on the screen.
The man in the photo was even bulkier than Mann.
"This guy is the leader of the Animal Gang crew we're dealing with. The Animal Gang has always respected strength above all else. Whoever has the biggest fists calls the shots."
"They like using powerful testosterone and animal enhancers, such as Horse Growth Hormone, to make themselves stronger."
The Animal Gang had distinctive tattoos and headscarves, and a natural bestiality radiated from their bodies.
They looked different from ordinary people, with features such as spots and striped skin. Advanced cosmetic surgery and automated biotechnology, or cybernetics, also affected their appearance, such as jaws resembling those of beasts.
They were the exact opposite of the Vortex Gang, who were obsessed with modification.
The Animal Gang was fascinated by the untamed side of human nature and had an almost dangerously intense attachment to their identity.
They combined ferocity with toughness, pursuing the most savage and primitive side of humanity.
They sought to break through the boundary between humans and beasts and turn themselves into a new subspecies—beastmen, perhaps.
To that end, the Animal Gang constantly underwent all kinds of brutal combat training and often challenged dangerous opponents equipped with enhancement components.
Yet such an aggressively inclined gang had no fixed territory.
Watson District was the Vortex Gang's territory.
Japantown and Kabuki District were within the Tiger Claws Gang's sphere of influence.
The Valentino Gang was in Heywood.
The Sixth Street Gang was in Santo Domingo.
Only the Animal Gang could be found everywhere.
That was because they weren't a centralized gang, but a collection of scattered groups led by independent "leaders."
Now, Su Xiao and the others had to deal with one of the many groups within the Animal Gang.
Mann folded his arms across his chest and explained, "We've already looked into him. Every so often, he goes to a black market in the Pacifica waterfront district to purchase enhancers."
V raised his hand. "Wait. He's already the leader. He still goes to buy them himself?"
"Because he doesn't trust anyone else with it. He's afraid they'll buy defective products. This isn't a household appliance. If you buy a secondhand appliance, the worst that happens is you lose some money. Enhancers are injected into the body. If they're defective, they could ruin the body itself."
"The apartment building where this Animal Gang crew is hiding has plenty of civilians living in it. If we raid their base directly, it'll be difficult to avoid being discovered. They outnumber us, and if it turns into a prolonged battle, we'll be at a disadvantage."
"Therefore, ambushing the Animal Gang leader at the black market while he's out buying drugs is the best option."
"The black market is in an underground parking garage. I scouted it in advance. There are only two entrances and exits in total. You'll cover one, and we'll cover the other."
"When the Animal Gang leader enters, no matter which entrance he uses, don't alert him. Let him go inside, then immediately notify the people guarding the other entrance. Once everyone is in position, we'll surround him."
The plan sounded quite reliable.
Su Xiao and the others had no objections.
Since no one had any questions, they got into the car without delay and headed for Pacifica.
If you didn't look closely, Pacifica was almost identical to the blueprint envisioned back then.
Before you continue