113: "Tricky" little tasks

“Fang Yun, the mission intel for the delivery commission has been sent by the fixer.”

“……”

“Here, I've already sent it over, take a look.”

“Oh right, the fixer said he wanted to chat with you. Do you want to call him now?”

“I'll send you the fixer's phone number, you decide for yourself.”

“As a mercenary making your first appearance in Night City, I personally recommend you talk to the fixer.”

Toke's eyes lit up with a yellow glow, sending the mission intel to Fang Yun and Valentine.

Then, Toke separately sent Fang Yun the fixer's phone number.

Having received the mission intel and phone number, Fang Yun opened the intel summary function of ‘Human Intelligence Ascension’.

「Hmm, in summary, it's to deliver the goods requested by the fixer from Westbrook to the designated location in the North City Industrial District.」

「A pretty simple mission, doesn't look difficult.」

「……Call the fixer and see what he wants to talk about.」

After understanding the mission intel, Fang Yun called the number Toke gave him.

After about two or three seconds, the call was connected, and a steady and reliable-sounding middle-aged male voice came from the other end of the call channel:

“Hello? Who is this?”

Fang Yun was silent for a moment, then replied:

“……I am Fang Yun. I heard Toke say you wanted to chat?”

Hearing Fang Yun's reply, the middle-aged male voice immediately said with realization:

“Oh~, so you are Fang Yun.”

“Pleased to meet you, pleased to meet you.”

“Let me introduce myself, I am Muamar Reyes, you can also call me Old Captain.”

Fang Yun's eyebrow raised when he heard the three words “Old Captain”.

「Hmm? Old Captain? Is it that NPC from the cyberpunk 2077 game, or someone else with the same nickname?」

「Muamar Reyes.」

「Tsk, I really didn't pay attention to Old Captain's real name when I played the game before, it's hard to judge.」

「I remember the time Old Captain made a name for himself, it shouldn't have been 2075.」

「……Forget it. Whether he is that “Old Captain” from the game or not, it doesn't affect me.」

Fang Yun's mind raced because of the nickname Old Captain.

On the other end of the call, Old Captain found that Fang Yun had gone quiet after he finished speaking, and couldn't help but ask in confusion:

“Hello? Fang Yun. Are you still there?”

Old Captain's voice immediately brought Fang Yun back to his senses.

（PS: Fang Yun's 'One Mind, Three Uses' is an active ability, not a passive ability.）

“I'm still here. Something came up just now, and I suddenly spaced out.”

“Since we both know each other's identity and name, let's cut the small talk and get straight to the point.”

“What do you want to talk about with me?”

Hearing Fang Yun's question, Old Captain paused for a moment, then began to speak slowly:

“Last night, the Buckle Family eliminated the ‘Black Hand’ settlement. This surprised and confused many people, and I am one of them.”

“Through various inquiries, I learned that in the battle to eliminate the ‘Black Hand’ settlement, there was an external helper from the Buckle Family who performed exceptionally well.”

“So I contacted Karl to find out about that external helper from the Buckle Family—which is your specific situation.”

“According to Karl's description, your strength is very powerful.”

“As a qualified fixer, a powerful mercenary like you is definitely someone I want to connect with.”

“So I planned to use Karl as a channel to send you some commission missions.”

“You should be able to guess what happened next.”

“Karl handed over the matter of contacting you to Toke, then Toke explained the situation to you, and then you accepted my commission.”

Fang Yun listened while complaining inwardly:

「You've talked so much, but you still haven't gotten to the point.」

「These fixers are all like riddlers, it's as if they can't speak unless they beat around the bush.」

「Could it be that you're only looking for me to explain the whole process of how the delivery commission ended up in my hands?」

“So? What do you want to talk with me about? (So? What do you actually want to talk about?)”

Fang Yun opened his mouth and interrupted Old Captain's rambling.

“Just say what you need to say directly, no need to beat around the bush.”

Old Captain was choked by Fang Yun and fell silent for two seconds.

After reorganizing his thoughts, Old Captain spoke again:

“As a mercenary who is new to Night City and possesses great strength, Fang Yun, you must want to quickly increase your reputation, right?”

“And the best way to increase your reputation is to complete high-difficulty commissions and add a significant entry to your mercenary resume.”

“I just happen to have a few high-difficulty commissions here.”

“However, I cannot just hand them over to you rashly. Doing so would be irresponsible to myself, as well as to the clients and to you.”

“Therefore, I need to ask you to complete a slightly tricky ‘small’ commission to prove your strength.”

“Of course, I don't mean to offend you.”

“It's just how this line of work is; you need not only strength but also reputation.”

“Only with both can clients and fixers confidently entrust commissions.”

Fang Yun slapped his forehead.

「Old Captain, hurry up and grow.」

「Once you become a top fixer in Night City, you won't be so long-winded.」

Fortunately, ‘thunder’ had an automatic sensing System and emergency avoidance System, otherwise Fang Yun's slap would have sent the car into a ditch.

“So, this delivery commission is a test? If I complete it well, I'll be able to take on high-difficulty commissions from you in the future?”

Old Captain confirmed Fang Yun's guess.

“That's right, that's how it is.”

“This delivery commission was originally very simple, but it has become a bit tricky due to the sudden interference of a small leader from the Vortex Gang.”

Fang Yun raised an eyebrow.

“Vortex Gang? Why wasn't that mentioned in the mission intel?”

Hearing this, Old Captain was momentarily speechless.

“Uh. Because this was a sudden development, and I am still negotiating with people from the Vortex Gang, it wasn't added to the mission intel.”

“But it's not too late to tell you now.”

After listening to Old Captain's explanation, Fang Yun stroked his chin and thought to himself:

「It seems Old Captain's influence isn't that ‘big’ yet; even a small leader from the Vortex Gang dares to disrespect him.」

「Has his fixer career just started?」

Fang Yun was thinking on his end, while Old Captain was waiting for his reply on the other end.

After a few seconds, Fang Yun lowered the hand that was stroking his chin and held the steering wheel with both hands again.

“Leave this ‘tricky’ small commission to me.”

“Wait for my good news.”

Hearing the reply he was expecting, Old Captain immediately beamed with joy and said cheerfully:

“Alright, I was just waiting for you to say that. Then I'll leave it to you.”