Whether God forgives them is his business. Mine is sending them to meet him

"Right at a time like this? I heard Santo Domingo hasn't exactly been peaceful lately. Some fixer calling himself the 'Old Captain' popped up out of nowhere."

Faraday's eyelid twitched at the name Old Captain.

But a moment later, he spoke dismissively.

"What Old Captain? Muammar Reyes used to be nothing but a corporate dog. Now he's trying to wade into the murky waters of the fixer business."

"Being a fixer isn't that easy. One wrong move, and you could have both your clients and your mercs hunting you down."

Padre wore a kind, benevolent expression. "You seem very confident."

"It's not confidence. That so-called Old Captain simply isn't cut out to be a fixer. Just watch. Within a year, if he isn't dead, he'll leave the business. Santo Domingo's fixer is me, and it always will be."

While the two exchanged empty pleasantries, a voice suddenly came from beside them.

"You're both here already. Good. Just what I'd expect from the city's reliable fixers."

Both men turned.

Another man in a sharp suit was walking toward them.

Unlike Faraday, however, this man hadn't had surgery done on his face.

He simply looked like your typical corporate dog.

The suited man approached the table where Padre and Faraday sat.

Padre and Faraday occupied opposite sides of the table.

But Padre reacted faster.

He slid farther into his seat to make room.

"My child, you don't mind sitting a little closer to the Lord's servant, do you?"

"Of course not, Padre."

Had Mann's crew been there, they would have recognized the suited man sitting with Padre as the client they had protected before.

Padre and Faraday exchanged a glance.

When they had spotted each other at Tom's Restaurant, they had suspected that they might be competing for this job.

Now their suspicions were confirmed.

The suited man coughed, drawing their attention back to him.

He adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"I'll spare you the small talk. I'm on a tight schedule, and I don't have time to waste here."

"A few days ago, someone tried to assassinate me. A former colleague hired the Animal Gang to do it. Why former? Because he's now lying in an abandoned factory in Santo Domingo. It's been several days. His corpse probably already stinks."

"He's dead, but the Animal Gang members he hired to attack me are still walking free."

"So, gentlemen, I want you to eliminate that Animal Gang crew's leader. I want his head."

Padre nodded slightly.

Eighty or a hundred jobs like this cropped up in Night City every day, and that might even have been an underestimate.

"I understand, sir. What I don't understand is why you approached two fixers."

Faraday's gaze drifted, seemingly casually, toward Padre beside the client. "We've had a very successful working relationship. Didn't my people leave an impression on you?"

"Because I want this to be foolproof. I don't want anyone slipping through the net and coming after me for revenge. Do you understand?"

"I have one condition, my child," Padre said slowly. "My people will complete the task you've requested, but they won't split the payment with Faraday's people. We'll need a separate payment of our own."

What Padre meant was...

Since the client had hired two fixers for the job,

he shouldn't expect to get away with paying for just one.

"Chinese food's ready."

Su Xiao came over carrying the breakfast he had prepared.

He set V's river snail rice noodles and Jack's hot dry noodles in front of them.

Only then did he sit down and take a sip of his beef noodle soup.

The broth went down.

So good.

"So what's the job?"

Jack had received a call from Padre first thing that morning.

Then he had hurried to wake the other two.

The Chinese food Su Xiao had made last time had been a hit with both of them.

They had insisted he make it again.

Now the three sat around a table in the Wolf Bar, eating and talking.

Jack swallowed a mouthful of fragrant noodles. "Remember that highway shootout you saw on the overpass in Santo Domingo when you first came to Night City?"

Su Xiao nodded.

His memory wasn't so bad that he would forget something that recent.

"The guy in the Godtler Sedan the Animal Gang was attacking is our client for this job. His request is simple: take out the leader of the Animal Gang crew that attacked him."

"The Animal Gang crews in the city all operate independently. They aren't one unified group. We're only going up against one of those crews."

"This job isn't just the three of us. There's another merc team active in Santo Domingo. They have the same target we do."

Su Xiao asked curiously, "Did Padre hire them too?"

Jack shook his head.

"No. Besides Padre, the client also approached a fixer in Santo Domingo. It's unusual. People normally only hire one fixer, but this isn't completely unheard of."

"Don't worry. Your buddy's got your back."

Jack patted his chest, looking every bit the dependable friend.

"Thanks, but I can take care of myself."

Chapter 28: Whether God forgives them is his business. Mine is sending them to meet him

After breakfast, the three got into the car.

A few dozen minutes later, Su Xiao drove into a long-abandoned construction site in Santo Domingo.

"Keep going. They're farther inside."

He drove deeper into the construction site.

Sure enough, a pink sedan was parked there.

Four mercs of varying heights stood or sat around it.

When they saw the car approach, all their eyes settled on Su Xiao and his companions.

The three got out and walked toward them.

"You're fixer Faraday's people, right?"

The big man at the front nodded. "Then you must be Padre's people."

"Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Mann." The big man pointed at himself.

"Dorio."

The tough woman, built as solidly as a man but very much a big sister, raised a thumb.

"Rebecca."

The petite girl with twin ponytails they had seen on the Santo Domingo overpass smiled and waved.

"Sasha."

The girl with fluffy hair, who looked like a catgirl missing only a pair of upright ears, gave them a faint smile.

Su Xiao and his companions introduced themselves in turn.

Mann wasn't one to waste words.

"You all look pretty good. Hopefully you won't drop the ball when the time comes."

"Let's go over the plan first."

Mann nodded toward the catlike girl. "Sasha."

She took out a laptop, set it on the pink sedan's hood, and beckoned everyone over.

They gathered around the laptop.

After she worked on it for a moment, a photo of a muscular man appeared on the screen.

The man in the photo was even bigger than Mann.

"This guy is the leader of the Animal Gang crew we're targeting. The Animal Gang respects 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 bandanas, and its members exuded a natural animal ferocity.

Their appearances differed from ordinary people's, with features such as spots or striped skin. Advanced cosmetic surgery and automated biotechnology (cybernetics) also affected their looks, giving them features such as beastlike jaws.

They were the exact opposite of the modification-obsessed Vortex Gang.

The Animal Gang was fascinated by humanity's untamed side and possessed an almost dangerous fixation on its identity.

Combining ferocity with toughness, its members pursued the most savage, primal aspects of human nature.

They sought to break through the boundary between human and beast and become a new subspecies-orcs?

To that end, the Animal Gang constantly underwent all kinds of brutal, violent training and often tested itself against dangerous opponents equipped with enhancement components.

Yet this highly aggressive gang had no fixed territory.

Watson District belonged to the Vortex Gang.

Japantown and Kabuki District were the Tiger Claws Gang's turf.

The Valentino Gang was in Heywood.

The Sixth Street Gang was in Santo Domingo.

Only the Animal Gang was everywhere.

That was because it wasn't a centralized gang, but a collection of small groups, each led by an independent "leader."

The group Su Xiao and the others were targeting was just one of the Animal Gang's many crews.

Mann folded his arms across his chest and explained, "We've already asked around. Every so often, he goes to a black market in Pacifica's Coastview area to buy enhancers."

V raised her hand. "Wait. He's already the leader, and he still buys them himself?"

"Because he doesn't trust anyone else to do it. He's afraid they'll buy defective goods. These aren't home appliances. If you buy a used appliance, the worst that happens is you lose some money. Enhancers get injected into your body. If they're defective, they could ruin it."

"A lot of civilians live in the apartment building where this Animal Gang crew is holed up. If we raid their base directly, it'll be hard to avoid being

spotted. They have the numbers. If it turns into a drawn-out fight, we'll be at a disadvantage."

"That's why our best option is to ambush their leader at the black market when he comes out to buy his drugs."

"The black market is in an underground parking garage. I've already scouted it. There are only two entrances in total. You cover one, and we'll cover the other."

"When the Animal Gang leader goes in, whichever entrance he uses, don't alert him. Let him enter, then immediately notify the people guarding the other entrance. Once everyone's in position, we'll surround him."

The plan sounded solid.

Su Xiao and the others had no objections.

With no questions remaining, they wasted no time. Everyone got into their cars and headed for Pacifica.

At a casual glance, Pacifica looked almost exactly like the vision laid out in its original blueprints.