Starting from Night City

The silencer on the handgun smoked lightly.

He passed the gun to the next person.

The person beside him hesitated for a moment.

Taking the gun, they fired a shot at the person lying on the ground.

Just like that, the gun was passed down.

Everyone in the room had blood on their hands.

"Good, now we're all in this together. Leave the contact with the Sixth Street Gang to me, and you can all wait to get paid."

Five days later.

When Fidel returned to the dingy hotel, the people he saw were not just the ones from their last transaction.

In the room, there were several new faces wearing cowboy hats and clothes with the American flag pattern.

These were the members of the Sixth Street Gang.

Fidel instinctively sensed danger and turned to leave.

"Grab him!"

Hearing the roar of the Sixth Street Gang behind him, he didn't hesitate and ran.

However, as soon as he ran from the corridor to the stairwell, members of the Sixth Street Gang, who were ambushing on both sides of the stairs, smashed his face with a rifle stock.

Fidel immediately fell backward, his back hitting the ground hard.

Blood flowed uncontrollably from his nose.

A military boot stomped heavily on Fidel's chest, and several Kinetic Rifles were pointed at his head.

"Kid, you still trying to run? Still running now?"

Fidel quickly raised his hands.

"Not running, not running anymore."

"That's more like it. If you cooperate, you might be able to avoid a beating."

The owner of the military boot removed it and signaled his subordinates to pull Fidel up from the ground, and to bring over a chair.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Malmer. If you've spent any time in Santo Domingo, you should have heard my name. Now, tell me everything you know."

Fidel, held down by two Sixth Street Gang thugs like a cat being bathed, glanced at the few people standing behind Malmer.

The few people who had done business with Fidel either lowered their heads or averted their gaze.

They didn't dare to meet his eyes.

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"Don't play dumb with me, I know why you're here."

Malmer held a Kinetic Handgun.

The muzzle pressed against Fidel's forehead.

Malmer grinned, revealing his poorly maintained teeth.

"I advise you to think carefully. You've fallen into our hands now, and there's no one to call for help. Even if your backer is the Priest, he can't help you."

"Your only way out is to cooperate with me."

"I don't need to describe how chaotic Heywood is, do I? Although the public order in Heywood isn't as bad as Pacifica, a few more bodies in the street trash cans won't be questioned."

Chapter 41: Bringing Justice to the City... Bullshit

Inside the black hotel.

Fidel was tied to a chair.

One eye was swollen, his lips were split, and his body was covered in bloody wounds, indicating he had undergone severe torture.

"The Priest will kill you."

"I don't think so. Fine, since you insist."

Malmer nodded to a man standing behind him. "I'm out of patience, get it done."

The Sixth Street Gang prided themselves on not being an ordinary gang.

Their slogan was "Bringing Justice to the City."

This was why Malmer wanted Fidel to "abandon the darkness and embrace the light."

Seeing Fidel's stubbornness, Malmer's patience ran out, and he decided to take a direct approach.

The man wore a full-body black tight Netrunner suit, clearly a hacker.

He walked to Fidel's side and opened a case.

Inside the case was a small, high-tech machine.

The man turned on the machine, then pulled a personal connection cable from his wrist and plugged it into the machine.

He then pulled a data cable from the machine and plugged it into Fidel's neural slots.

Fidel, of course, was unwilling to comply.

But he was tied securely to the chair.

He couldn't resist at all.

Dangerous red light glinted in the hacker's eyes.

Basically, everyone had ICE to prevent hacking.

Just like every house has doors and windows.

But ordinary people's ICE wasn't high-end; in front of a skilled hacker with enhanced equipment, it was like paper.

The hacker easily cracked Fidel's ICE and began searching his brain.

"Got it."

The hacker informed Malmer of the Priest's recent cooperation with a gunsmith.

But unfortunately, the Priest was cautious.

Only a few people knew about the gunsmith.

As it happened, Fidel was not one of those few.

Important information like name, gender, age, phone number, and address was unknown.

But they weren't entirely without reward from the information dug out of Fidel's brain.

The name Jack Wells did come up.

This man named Jack was once a member of the Valentino Gang, not only familiar with the Priest but also seemingly a friend of the gunsmith.

So Malmer had the hacker impersonate Fidel and call Jack.

He promised a high price from the Sixth Street Gang.

He claimed he had already reached an agreement with the Sixth Street Gang, as long as Jack brought Su Xiao to the black hotel.

Just as the Sixth Street Gang was reserving a position for a captain for both Jack and Su Xiao.

After Jack ended the communication, he immediately went to find the Priest.

The Priest also had a bad premonition.

Fidel was a subordinate he trusted deeply, which was why the Priest had assigned this task to Fidel.

He didn't believe Fidel would betray him; it had to be the Sixth Street Gang causing trouble.

Time returned to the present.

Inside the Priest's stronghold, hundreds of the Priest's subordinates were performing weapons checks.

There were many people in the stronghold, but no one spoke.

They were all silently checking their firearms.

A murderous aura permeated the air.

Su Xiao arrived at the Priest's stronghold and met V and Jack, who were with the Priest in the office on the second floor.

"Su, you're here."

Su Xiao greeted the three and got straight to the point.

"What's the situation?"

"My subordinates have investigated clearly. Sixth Street Gang members have been seen entering and exiting the black hotel where the transaction is to take place. In addition, reinforcements from the Sixth Street Gang, numbering about fifty to eighty people, are hidden near the black hotel."

Jack's anger was written all over his face: "These Sixth Street Gang bastards..."

The Priest turned his head and looked at Su Xiao.

"This is a personal conflict between me and the Sixth Street Gang. I'm sorry to have dragged you into this, kid, but don't worry. I've already warned the Valentino Gang, and they've agreed to increase manpower in the block where your apartment is."

Su Xiao appreciated the Priest's good intentions.

However, he wasn't planning to sit back and wait.

There's a saying: a thief can steal for a thousand days, but a guard can only guard for a thousand days.

On the way here, Jack had already explained the detailed situation to Su Xiao.

Su Xiao knew that this group from the Sixth Street Gang had their sights set on him.

Although they didn't know his name, appearance, phone number, or address for now.

But if he truly wanted to gain a sense of security.

The best way would be to eliminate this group from the Sixth Street Gang that was targeting him.

The gangs in the city are scattered, not a monolithic bloc.

Take the Valentino Gang in Heywood, for example; they're actually divided into many factions.

The Sixth Street Gang is the same.

The ones targeting Su Xiao were just one branch, not the entire Sixth Street Gang.

"Putting my safety aside for now, how do you plan to handle Fidel's situation?"

The Priest seemed surprised that Su Xiao asked about Fidel. "My subordinates work for me, so of course, I can't just stand by and do nothing, lest I chill their hearts."

The Priest knew that if a conflict broke out with the Sixth Street Gang.

Even if they managed to rescue Fidel in the end.

The number of casualties among his subordinates would definitely be far greater than Fidel alone.

If one were to view the problem purely from this perspective, it might seem like a bad deal.

But often, things cannot be measured by simple numbers.

Su Xiao already had a plan in mind and said to the Priest.

"Although you said this is your feud with the Sixth Street Gang, it ultimately concerns me too, and I can't stay out of it. Actually, I have an idea that might allow your subordinates to minimize their losses."

Half a day later.

The Black Hostel.

Several members of the Sixth Street Gang saw a car approaching on the road not far away.

"Attention, a car is coming," one of them quickly said over the comms channel.

He then raised his hand high, signaling the vehicle to stop.

The SUV slowed down and then came to a gentle halt.