Time Is Money

Vehicle manufacturing was not what Militech did best, nor was it their primary business.

Yet the Behemoth Armored Vehicle, as an armored vehicle product, had made it onto the list of most trusted armored vehicles year after year, capturing the majority of the high-end armored vehicle market.

Seeing this vehicle, Andrew quickly cast aside his doubts-

Because this vehicle was simply not sold to the public; only governing entities and corporations could purchase this armored behemoth, and the border saw Militech using these vehicles to transport soldiers every day.

It was probably the suit-wearing man handling business, and it was better for him to ask fewer questions about this and that.

Thus, he had introduced Lier to the mechanic Mike-hurry up and finish the repairs so you can be on your way.

"Whoa... This is my first time laying hands on this vehicle. Even though the entire car is covered in 3.8-centimeter armor and a windshield that can withstand heavy machine gun fire, the formidable driving force still allows the Behemoth to travel through the environment in Sin...

Oh, look at this huge cargo bed, the Behemoth... Oh, wait, how come a part of the cargo bed seems to be missing?"

Aside from seating people, the Behemoth's rear cargo compartment also had pop-up cargo boxes on both sides, and the one Lier and V had unloaded was precisely one of those pop-up cargo boxes.

When the mechanic Mike saw this vehicle, he was already deeply captivated-unlike the junkers driven by nomads, this was a true behemoth.

However, why was a piece missing? No wonder he felt like this car looked a bit..."uneven-legged"?

Lier wore a smile. "Just fix it, don't ask questions."

"Uh..." Mike's heart tightened; the sheriff had already warned him not to talk too much. "Alright, sir, alright, I guess maybe the wiring got misaligned..."

"Just get it fixed." Lier checked the time. "I'll give you two hours. Fix it and there's a tip; don't fix it... you might have some of your 'performance pay' deducted.

Where's the communication tower?"

"Just not far away, go out the door, turn right for 300 meters, then turn left. It's pretty obvious, you can use it freely."

Lier nodded slightly, signaling V to follow along.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw the signal tower not far away, which stood out very clearly across this barren wasteland.

Connecting the communicator to the signal tower allowed him to find the channel the sheriff had given him over a very wide area and contact the person he was looking for.

Willie McCoy, that nomad In-Betweener.

Climbing up the signal tower, one could feel the desolation of this place even more.

In fact, looking out at the wasteland from a higher vantage point, it wasn't completely empty here either-many Ghost Towns could be seen.

These Ghost Towns were left behind by corporations wanting to develop the wild, but they went bankrupt before they could carry out the development, and now they had become nomad camps.

V found the right connector in the electrical box and hooked up the mobile radio. "So now we're looking for nomads to help us smuggle?

You know how Night City talks about them, right? Parasites of society, criminals hiding in the Badlands."

"Of course I know, but actually, real nomads were farmers a few decades ago. Night City, Washington... many of the tall buildings in the cities were built by them, and the ghost towns and oil wells on this Badlands are the same.

You came from Heywood, so just think of them as wandering Heywoodites."

"That's terrifying-wandering Heywoodites, sounds like locusts."

Bzz-

The communicator rang.

"Hello hello? Who is this?"

Lier spoke immediately: "Dennis Burger King, you're Willie McCoy, right? Got some questions for you, can you smuggle right now?"

"Ah-who the hell are you? Someone saw a Behemoth drive into town this morning, are you the guy in the truck?"

"I ask, you answer. If you want to make money, keep your mouth shut."

"Hmph-you think everyone's like you, willing to do anything for money? I don't trust you..."

"Fifty thousand eddies."

"...I said..."

"One hundred thousand."

"I..."

"Still playing tough, one hundred fifty thousand."

On the other side of the phone, it was obvious that McCoy's train of thought had been thoroughly disrupted-

Everyone had to remember that nomads were dirt poor, far poorer than anyone could imagine.

Aside from cars, weapons, medicine, cyberware, food, and even clothes, they lacked everything.

Nomad in-betweeners weren't much better off; out on the wasteland, there was nothing except freedom, and making some money was truly too hard.

So everyone had to rely on so-called "family ties" to support each other-which, of course, also significantly reduced people's demand for high pay.

Fifteen thousand eddies was an astronomical sum they couldn't even begin to imagine.

McCoy's breathing grew heavy, but he quickly recovered. "Damn it, devil! Shut up! I... I said this isn't about money!

Border checkpoints aren't even processing customs declarations right now; nobody can smuggle, understand! At the earliest, it'll have to be three months from now!

I can't file customs declarations for you right now!"

V's heart sank-they couldn't possibly wait three months in this ghost place, could they?

She looked at Lier, only to find that Lier gave a soft, effortless laugh and said, "Good, looks like you still know the rules."

What? You... you fucking tricked me!"

"Not entirely-you said it can't be done now, which means there were shipments previously declared that haven't cleared yet? Names, locations, I suspect this batch of cargo has to do with Militech."

"You fucking bastard, you..."

"Why are you rushing? I only suspect it has to do with a corporation, and I have nothing to do with corporations-how about this, you assign this job to me, and I'll haul the cargo for the client.

And I'm even willing to give you a ten-thousand introductory fee."

On the other end, McCoy directly hung up the communicator for a moment.

He deeply admired Lier's ability to tell boldfaced lies with a straight face-everything Lier said pointed to one thing: that he was a Militech agent here to investigate recent smuggling anomalies!

Yet he deliberately avoided stating it directly, giving McCoy an offer he could hardly refuse while also giving him a way out.

McCoy couldn't tell anymore whether this guy was running a legitimate investigation or just taking the opportunity to make some extra cash on the side-though it could very well be both.

His flushed face quickly cooled down after taking a drag of a cigarette, and just as he was about to speak, Lier spoke again:

"Think about it, ten thousand eddies is enough for an entire clan to buy medicine for a good half a year, and if you use it to buy fuel-grade alcohol, it's enough for a convoy for four or five months."

McCoy was somewhat confused-what did that mean, was he trying to tempt him?

Yet didn't he just say the pay was one hundred thousand eddies?

Lier continued, "Too bad, time is money; the pay right now is ninety thousand eddies. Congratulations, your medicine and fuel are both gone."

McCoy's newly cooled face flushed with anger again-

"Damn it, are you playing with me? You're driving a Militech Behemoth armored vehicle, and then you want me to tell the client that this is the guy helping them smuggle?

Who do you think is going to believe that?"

"Eighty thousand eddies-I can pretend to be a Barkley Family nomad who refuses to merge into the Snake Nation, but the car really is a problem.

So you'll have to lend me a car too. The good news is I can leave my car with you as collateral; a car is life, isn't it?

Alright, now it's seventy thousand eddies."

McCoy felt his heart pounding wildly with every word he spoke-money! That was all money!

"Asshole! Weren't we negotiating!"

"But you didn't take the job, so I can only deduct some from the budget to compensate for my wasted time. Sixty thousand eddies."

McCoy lost his mind-in just this short moment, a convoy's yearly fuel supply was gone! Not to mention medicine, food...

He hated Lier for reminding him of what ten thousand eddies could accomplish, and now his head was full of the money he had lost!

He had to make a decision!

"Fine, fine, fine! You damn smelly dog, do you have nothing except money? I'll do it! I'll do it!"

Lier's tone shifted, turning from the previous relaxed mood to bone-chilling cold: "In that case, I am your superior and client now, so do a good job.

Also, you curse so much, I guess nobody ever taught you how to speak properly?

Including Mr. McCoy, who lacks everything except money, the price right now is fifty thousand eddies. Do you need me to give you some more time to think about it?"

McCoy was about to bite his teeth into pieces-this money was truly fucking hard to earn.

"No need! I'm calling people to drive over right now! Yes, you stay right where you are! I don't want to expose the clan's location to you, you...

Sugar daddy!"

As the words fell, V burst out laughing, secretly giving Lier a thumbs-up while silently mouthing: Badass, Lier.

It felt like McCoy's tongue was about to cramp up.

Good thing the wind was blowing pretty hard right now, otherwise McCoy would probably have dropped dead of anger if he heard that laughter.

Lier smiled and continued, "Then I'll wait right here for you. I'll give you three hours."