The instant the chaos began, the guys in the Afterlife drew their weapons, and V vaulted outside-
But the sight outside made her hesitate for a second-
Melissa, the slightly stooped old woman, was already lying in a pool of blood, her eyes wide open in death.
Crack!
A bullet struck V's shoulder and bounced off her thick Subdermal Armor.
The tremendous impact sent V staggering, and she barely managed to stay on her feet as she retreated behind cover.
The hail of bullets dropped several Valentinos in an instant, throwing the scene into utter chaos!
"What the hell are you doing? Focus!" Lier roared inside her head. "Six enemies. Two of them have Ajax rifles. I'm marking their positions!"
"Got them! Jackie, cover me!"
"On it!"
Jackie had been having a heart-to-heart with his mother, but he ran outside as soon as he heard gunshots. He was now right on the flank of the firefight!
The two enemies carrying Ajax assault rifles appeared in both Jackie's and V's vision at the same time!
He immediately drew his pistol and fired at the marked enemies. The thunderous report of his Nue startled them, and its bullets blasted chunks of concrete off the wall, pinning both marked shooters down!
The Ajax was made by Militech, a durable, reliable weapon commonly used by Sixth Street.
As an assault rifle, a direct hit could deliver more kinetic energy than even V's Subdermal Armor could fully absorb!
Aside from those, however, none of their weapons posed a threat to V-at least not yet!
V pushed off hard, unleashing the explosive power of her Fortified Tendons in an instant. She shot through the air like a superhero!
The reflexes granted by her Kerenzikov let her see the enemies clearly-and lock onto them!
Her Dying Night pistol fired fourteen shots in midair. By the time V reached another piece of cover, three bodies hit the ground with a thud.
"Fuck! They've got military-grade chrome! Use grenades! Get a few shots off and pull out!"
Sixth Street immediately lost their nerve. The combat prowess V had displayed was already far beyond that of a street thug!
Behind cover, a Sixth Street assault trooper pulled a grenade out of his crotch. Lier marked it the instant he saw it-
"V, you're up!"
"Leave it to me, buddy-"
V raised her pistol and aimed. The moment the grenade emerged from cover, a bullet struck it dead-on!
Boom!
Shrapnel flew everywhere. The Sixth Street gangers howled in pain, while the recruit leading them felt his hands and feet turn cold-
Fuck, this was supposed to be a robbery! Where did a monster like her come from?
"Pull out, pull out! Get out of here!"
But he and the other guy carrying an Ajax were the only ones left to retreat-the two of them had the most firepower, yet they hadn't even caught a glimpse of their target!
They scrambled into their vehicle, started it, and floored the accelerator toward the intersection, not caring whether the light was red!
"Been waiting for you..."
Blue light flashed in Lier's Cyber-Eye-in the world of 2077, even a beat-up pickup was connected to the net!
At the intersection, a car that had been about to flee suddenly accelerated into the middle of the road and slammed into the side of Sixth Street's pickup!
In an instant, everything went tumbling.
Only then did they realize-the enemy had a netrunner, too!
"Fuck!"
By the time the ganger recovered from the crash, the unlucky bastard in the driver's seat had already been crushed by the mangled vehicle.
He struggled out of the wreck and ran away from the bar without another thought-
His eyes fixed on a nearby manhole cover. If I can just reach it, if I can just jump down there, the netrunner won't find me. None of them will. The sewage will wash me toward the outfall, right in the direction of Santo Domingo...
If I can just get there...
Click-
A string of error messages suddenly popped up in his Cyber-Eye. His synthetic left leg froze, refusing to move.
His body began heating up, and his thoughts grew muddled-
Then his Cyber-Eye shut down.
"I'm done for..."
Bang!
Another car drove past and sent him flying, scattering blood and cyberware components across the road.
Beside the intersection, the three watched from a distance. They could hear the sirens of Trauma Team AVs from where they stood.
Things had gotten a little out of hand, but it had been necessary. This was Jackie's mother's place.
"Scum." Jackie spat, still shaken. "Thanks, guys. Without you, this could've gotten complicated."
"What are you talking about? Of course we'd help." V changed magazines as she spoke. "Those Sixth Street bastards are getting more brazen by the day. I wonder what Padre plans to do."
Neither of them tried to hide their hatred of Sixth Street.
Only Lier watched the Sixth Street assault trooper whom Trauma Team had abandoned, the first piece of a puzzle falling into place in his mind.
A gang war would offer plenty of opportunities to insert network data barrier nodes.
"Remember that job I mentioned? We're going to take a few bites out of Sixth Street."
Sixth Street was a large gang, and even by Night City's standards, its top-end combat strength was respectable.
That was because Sixth Street had originally been formed by a group of old-school American patriots, most of whom had fought in the Fourth Corporate War.
In other words, in Night City, where street firefights were an everyday occurrence, Sixth Street's founders were actual war veterans.
The gang's original purpose had been to protect the people of Vista del Rey and replace the incompetent NCPD, but by now, that mission had become twisted.
Comprehensive military training and highly organized operating procedures made it almost impossible for the NCPD to function in the area.
They had indeed succeeded in replacing the NCPD to some extent. The corporations had even passed legislation recognizing Sixth Street's legal status in Vista del Rey-as long as they stayed within their territory.
Later, however, Sixth Street had crossed those boundaries and taken control of nearby Santo Domingo.
And that law had one serious problem-Vista del Rey was actually controlled by the Valentinos.
By passing legislation recognizing Sixth Street's right to self-governance, the corporations had turned Vista del Rey into Night City's Middle East. The Valentinos and Sixth Street fought every day.
Padre would wholeheartedly support a move against Sixth Street.
In fact, Padre arrived just ten minutes later. Several Valentinos who had been drinking there had also died, and their bodies were waiting for him to collect.
"Thank you for dealing with those men for me. If we'd had to wait for the Valentinos' reinforcements to arrive, my losses would have been heavy.
"Jackie, this was my mistake. I didn't think they'd dare do something like this."
Jackie had once been a Valentino himself, even something of a leading figure, and the Valentinos placed great importance on blood ties and gang connections.
That was why the Afterlife could thrive in Heywood. You watched my back, and I watched yours-that was the Valentinos' particular code, even though Jackie was no longer a member.
Jackie merely waved a hand. "Forget it, Padre. This wasn't your fault. But Sixth Street really is getting out of control. Can't we hit back?"
Padre only shook his head lightly. "Let's leave that aside. Lier, you wanted to speak with me?"
"Here's the thing, Padre. We have some goods to move-and a vehicle."
"Oh? What sort of goods? Weapons, medicine, cyberware, or something else?"
"Weapons-and some very troublesome Smart Weapons at that. As you know, we came back from Atlanta recently."
Inside the bar, Lier and Padre sat facing each other.
After hearing that, Padre gently rubbed his ring.
"That is troublesome indeed. Moving them may take a few weeks."
Lier hadn't spelled it out, and Padre didn't ask further.
But the word "Atlanta" carried a great deal of meaning-
First, Kang Tao and Militech had exchanged fire near Atlanta. That was a major incident.
A clash of that scale would have been no small matter even in Night City, let alone Atlanta, in the Rust Belt Network.
Then... the people of Night City didn't know, but the fixers all did:
Militech and Arasaka had conducted operations at the Great Wall. The details were unclear, but the scale had been enormous. Even a Basilisk had opened fire.
Padre had seen the battered vehicle Lier wanted to sell-it was clearly a Nomad Family's vehicle.
If Lier and V had driven it back across the border... that made things sensitive.
Putting those clues together, along with Lier volunteering that the goods were "troublesome," Padre had a pretty good guess.
Lier added, "That's too long, Padre. I need money urgently-I can move them myself."
"You?" A ripple finally crossed Padre's normally placid face, showing just how surprised he was.
"Yes. Padre, I can move them through Sixth Street's channels. Of course, I don't mean 'borrowing' them by sitting down for a friendly chat."
Padre hesitated again.
Behind Lier, V and Jackie discreetly exchanged glances, each seeing surprise in the other's eyes.
As far as they remembered, Padre had always been an authority figure who never let his emotions show.
But now, his surprise and hesitation were genuine. There were even... other emotions mixed in.
Padre's pause was no longer for dramatic effect. He was genuinely thinking.
He would certainly welcome an attack on Sixth Street, but Lier intending to take control of those resources made things more complicated.
Who could say whether Lier might become another unfriendly neighbor?
People in the same trade were rivals. If Lier stopped being a mercenary, would Padre still have any reason to help him?
Padre voiced his question. "This may be a little offensive, but I'd like to know why you're in such a hurry to sell the goods. Are they too hot to handle?"
Faced with that question, Lier suddenly revealed his urgency, placing both hands on the table.
"I'm dying, Padre-I'm dying. Remember that Moore Technologies AV that came in a few days ago? It was delivering something for me.
"A lung and a heart that met my requirements cost me a full three hundred thousand. I'm out of money, and I'm running out of life."
Padre's gaze flickered, and he glanced discreetly at Jackie and V. They were equally surprised, but that was all.
They seemed more surprised that Lier had chosen to say it himself at this moment.
Since he was dying...
Padre stopped rubbing his ring and said:
"Sixth Street does have channels like that. I can give you some information. This one is free."
Before you continue