"Hehe... If you’d just said that earlier, we could’ve avoided all the bloodshed, don’t you think?"
Pyrrha’s voice was laced with a twisted sort of humor as she stared down at Dorisk, the scavenger boss who now knelt pitifully before her, drenched in a cold sweat and streaked with grime and fear. Her tone was casual, almost teasing, but every syllable carried the weight of death.
The God of Death had spoken—and the whole base felt like it was holding its breath.
Dorisk dared not raise his head, too terrified to meet her eyes. He had seen what she was capable of—no, he had barely survived witnessing it. It wasn’t just violence. It was butchery performed with precision and grace, like a dancer twirling through blood and shrapnel. She had reduced his most loyal men to broken piles of meat in under a minute.
Now, she was negotiating.
"We’ll keep it simple," Pyrrha continued, her voice dropping into something colder. "Four conditions. Accept them, and maybe you’ll get to keep your pathetic life—and your place here in Taiping Prefecture."
Dorisk nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, I’m listening!"
Pyrrha began listing them off, each one like a bullet slamming into his already broken pride.
"First," she said, "from this moment onward, every single scavenger in Taiping Prefecture is forbidden from harassing or extorting the forces that have already surrendered to Team David. You mess with our allies—you’re dead. No negotiations."
"Got it! Understood!" Dorisk nodded.
"Second," she continued, "when Team David gives you an order, you follow it. No questions. No resistance. We’ll pay you, of course—we’re not unreasonable. But loyalty and obedience are non-negotiable."
"Right, of course," he mumbled. "That’s fair..."
"Third," she said with a smirk, "you’re free to target anyone affiliated with Night City’s corporate entities. Go wild. Just know this—we’ve got your back. No company dogs will be able to retaliate, because Team David will be your shield. You’ll have protection unlike anything you’ve ever dreamed of."
At this, Dorisk’s ears perked up slightly. That was... tempting. The corporations were always a problem, and Pyrrha was promising a way to strike without consequence.
"And fourth..." she paused and narrowed her eyes, "you scavengers get 64% of the monthly income generated in Taiping Prefecture. We take 6, you take 4. That’s your punishment for the idiocy and disrespect you showed earlier."
Dorisk flinched, but nodded again. He was in no position to argue about percentages.
Then Pyrrha’s tone changed—like a velvet rope hiding a steel blade.
"Of course," she said softly, almost sweetly, "as long as you meet all four requirements... then when Team David conquers Night City—you’ll have your place. You’ll be more than just rats in the dark. You’ll be recognized. A ’Qing Dao doctor’ of the new order."
Dorisk blinked in disbelief. "Wait... what?"
The shock hit him hard. Not because of the terms—they were brutal, yes, but survivable.
No, what shook him to the core was her last sentence.
Team David plans to rule Night City?
Night City—the pit of chaos, the heart of corporate tyranny, gang warfare, and underground warfare. The City of Eternal Madness. Everyone wanted a piece of it. No one had ever truly conquered it. Not the corpos, not Arasaka, not Militech, not the gangs, not even the fabled Edgerunners.
And now she said her team—just a group of mercenaries—wanted to rule it?
It was laughable. It should have been laughable.
But Dorisk wasn’t laughing.
He’d seen what she did to his elite enforcers. He’d seen the dead, their bodies torn apart like paper dolls. He’d watched her dodge bullets like shadows, her twin knives dancing like vipers in the moonlight. One against dozens—and she didn’t even break a sweat.
If she was just one member of Team David, then...
How terrifying were the others?
Dorisk felt like ice water had been poured into his skull.
His voice trembled as he stammered: "Ah? Ah—AH?!"
Pyrrha’s eyes narrowed. "What are you moaning about? Don’t tell me you can’t meet the requirements I just laid out?"
Her fingers flexed, and a subtle glint flickered across the blade resting on her hip.
She tilted her head, tongue flicking across her lips like a predator about to bite.
Dorisk felt his stomach drop. The moment she made that subtle motion, every cell in his body screamed danger. He knew it instantly—if he refused, if he so much as hesitated—he would die right here. No ceremony. No last words. She would slit his throat like a butcher carving meat.
She doesn’t care who leads us, he realized in horror. To her, I’m just a name. A placeholder. If I say no, she’ll find another puppet. Another scavenger. And they’ll say yes before their blood hits the floor.
"No no no!!" he yelped, waving his hands frantically. "That’s not what I meant! I agree! I agree to everything!"
He clasped his hands together, prostrating himself like a man begging the heavens for mercy. "Brother—no, big sister—no, Boss! We can meet every condition! No problem at all! Consider it done!"
There was a long, tense pause.
Pyrrha’s expression softened. The killing aura around her faded, like a retracted blade sliding back into its sheath.
She chuckled. "Heh. Didn’t expect you to be so... sensible."
"Alright then. From this moment forward, we’re partners. Does that sound acceptable to you?"
"Achieved! Of course! We’re partners now! Loyal allies!" Dorisk blurted out, his voice almost cracking with relief.
Pyrrha’s tone returned to its usual lazy menace. "Good. Then let’s not waste time."
She pulled out a compact device and flicked it, projecting a holographic comms screen.
"Add my contact to your secure list. From now on, when David gives you an order, you obey. No excuses, no second-guessing. He’s the one orchestrating this whole plan."
"Y-Yes! I’ll follow it to the letter!"
After syncing their information and data channels, Pyrrha gave a casual wave—like she’d just finished ordering noodles at a food stall—and walked away.
No fanfare. No dramatic exit.
She just turned her back on the dozen surviving scavengers—uncaring, unafraid—and strolled out of the base with her hands in her pockets, blades tucked neatly away, and blood splatters still drying on her boots.
Everyone in the scavenger base exhaled at the same time.
The nightmare was over.
The hurricane had passed.
Some collapsed to their knees, sobbing with disbelief. Others scrambled to collect the bodies of their fallen comrades, too afraid to speak aloud. No one dared to curse her. No one dared to even raise their voice.
They were all alive—at least, the ones who hadn’t been diced into ribbons—and that was more than anyone expected.
Dorisk wiped his forehead and gasped for air like he’d just climbed out of drowning waters. His limbs were shaking, but his mind was already racing.
Team David... ruling Night City?
But then again, so did Pyrrha.
Maybe... just maybe...
Maybe this was the beginning of something no one had dared to imagine: a rebellion against the corpo gods, a mercenary coup, a violent birth of a new sovereign power rising from the gutters.
Dorisk looked at the broken corpses around him—then at the exit where Pyrrha had vanished.
And for the first time in a long time...
Twisted, blood-soaked, fear-drenched hope—but hope nonetheless.
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