"Good morning, Night City!" "Yesterday's Body Lotto ended with a solid count of 30!"
"Thanks to the never-ending gang wars..."
Click.
Jackie switched off the radio:
"Good morning, my ass! That's total crap. The people chasing us alone were more than 30, and I doubt three of them even survived."
"The lottery is a scam anyway. Body Lotto? The only winners are the high-ranking NCPD pigs; it's all rigged. You know, they say they control the numbers."
V chimed in, though she wasn't in great shape, covered in wounds, with her gun hand blown to shreds.
Now she looked like a true nomad, her clothes all torn up.
The three of them finally found an old, long-abandoned house in the Badlands to rest for the night. The good thing about this place was that it had a couch and a bed.
The bad thing was that besides the trash, there was nothing else, making you feel like trash yourself.
"And you've got the nerve to talk?" Jackie wanted to snap, but he was too exhausted.
"What nerve? Didn't you think that was exhilarating?"
Jackie crossed his arms, grumbling, "This was supposed to be a smuggling job! We were supposed to get through without a hitch! But Militech and Arasaka showed up, and there was even a Basilisk! Damn it, you don't even need that to deal with cyberpsychos!"
"Well, you're going to have to ask for a raise—because we're still alive, aren't we?"
V forced herself to stand up from the couch, in a surprisingly good mood. She patted Jackie on the shoulder. "Come on, brother, let's be real. We did use your customs form, but look at us now. We made it! And you don't need to pay me; seeing how straight you are, I couldn't just let you do this for nothing."
With that, her cybernetic eye flashed blue, and Jackie immediately received a notification.
[Transfer: +5000 Eurodollars]
Jackie froze, "Whoa... That's a lot of money!"
The transfer made Jackie a bit dazed—wasn't he supposed to be the one hiring them?
Then Jackie realized, "Wait, so you guys..."
[Transfer: +5000 Eurodollars]
V leaned in, wrapping her arms around Jackie, "Alright, brother, you've just pulled off a big job; you just haven't realized it yet. Once we move this cargo, we'll make even more. What's not to love? Thrilling life, thrilling pay."
Jackie was at a loss for words—there's nothing like the calming effect of a good Eurodollar.
And, honestly, this job didn't pay him nearly that much.
Jackie sighed, "You know, V, you're not as bad as I thought."
"Look at you, talking like that—when Leo wakes up, we'll head out."
"That guy looks pretty sick," Jackie said bluntly. "Last night, when the car crashed in, it was only because you and he weren't in great shape that you didn't see it. If I hadn't been awake, this car would've been totaled."
"Well, let him explain it himself—but don't be fooled by how he looks; we really couldn't do without him."
Leo was actually already awake, but he couldn't move, couldn't even open his eyes.
Ever since he got that strange Sandevistan implant in Atlanta, his whole body hurt.
And whenever he used it, his body would go into extreme pain and lock up, like a corpse.
Luckily, he had an edge—this kind of pain, which should drive someone insane, didn't affect him mentally too much—strangely enough.
As he felt the stiffness leave his body, Leo felt a deep, tingling numbness all over.
Listening to V and Jackie talk, he felt a bit off—hadn't their lines just changed slightly?
POV: If we switched roles, I'd show you what it means to have money?
"Ha—"
As his body returned to normal, he took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Finally awake—don't die before we even reach Night City," V said, her words harsh, but it was clear she was genuinely concerned about Leo.
"I'm not dying—but I'll be dead soon. Where are we?"
Jackie answered, "An abandoned farm in the Badlands. V said to wait until you woke up to make any decisions."
Rubbing his temples, Leo asked, "Did you check the cargo? I mean your cargo."
They both shook their heads, but after a glance at each other, Jackie made up his mind—might as well check.
The client wouldn't want their package opened, but at this point, who cares about the client?
This smuggling job was only worth 4000 Eurodollars, and with the bribe added, it was 5000. Risking their lives for that?
Jackie wasn't stupid—he'd rather find a middleman and sell it off himself.
As for Leo, he was just worried that the butterfly effect might have caused the cargo to be something other than a lizard.
But it was a lizard.
When Jackie touched the cargo switch, the Arasaka logo appeared on the cargo info tag.
"Holy—an extinct lizard! Looks like it's from the Lesser Antilles! We've struck gold!"
"So..." V had a different question, "Arasaka chased us for miles just for a damn lizard, and even went up against Militech?"
"This isn't just a lizard; it's an endangered species..." Jackie started but then realized, "But yeah, that still doesn't make sense."
Leo kept rubbing his temples, trying to piece things together.
If he didn't figure this out, he might not be able to sleep.
"Based on what we know, I can only guess that Militech's attempt to rob us caught Arasaka's attention. Maybe Arasaka has been watching Militech, waiting to see which smugglers they'd target so they could swoop in?"
Jackie asked, "Why would they be watching Militech?"
"My guess is it has to do with the Atlanta incident. Arasaka might think what happened in Atlanta was a big deal. After all, the official report says Kang Tao attacked Militech. Based on that, they probably really need dirt on Militech or similar information right now. But that still raises more questions—why do they need this information so badly?"
Leo pressed his temples and suddenly remembered something—
In the upcoming year 2077, Arasaka would be exposed in a scandal—they installed electromagnetic catapults on the moon—
But in this world, only the ESA (European Space Agency) was allowed to set up and operate such devices.
Militech discovered this and reported it to the ESA, leading to a threatening investigation from Europe.
It's currently early 2076... maybe Arasaka caught wind of something? So they're hypersensitive to any Militech news?
But Militech's biggest scandal is actually their secret work with NUSA on the Blackwall, so what does that have to do with me?
There are too many conspiracies and deceptions in this world, and being a transmigrator doesn't make the mysteries any fewer. On the contrary, the butterfly effect might stir up a storm.
"On the surface, this theory seems to hold up... but, forget it, there's no point in guessing here. For now, let's figure out how to handle this stolen cargo—starting with the iguana, who are you planning to sell it to?"
Jackie shrugged, "The only middleman I trust is the Padre—oh, right, you probably don't know him."
"Who says that?" V suddenly said, "Jackie, actually, I'm from Heywood too. I'm real tight with the Padre."
Jackie was stunned.
He pointed at V, then at Leo.
"So... you guys aren't even nomads, you're from Night City?"
Leo spread his hands, "That's right. Okay, no need to dwell on it. Let's just offload the goods to the Padre. But the smart weapons will have to wait a bit before we move them. Besides, with you two as the connection, I have some questions I need to ask him."
So... from start to finish, was I the only one left in the dark?
Jackie looked at V, who was grinning, and Leo, who didn't care—
He suddenly felt like he'd already been back in Night City when they were on the other side of that wall.
Everyone's a hustler.
Sigh, Night City, good morning my ass.