158: Mercenary Mission Part 2

A very ordinary checkpoint inspection upon entering the city.

There was no famous car chase scene from the game, and Fang Yun passed the checkpoint with ease.

There were no "contraband" smuggled goods in the car, and with the Buckle Family's endorsement, he naturally wouldn't be targeted.

The "thunder" passed through the border between the Badlands and the city, the tires rolling over the wet asphalt, splashing up water reflecting the neon lights.

"As expected of Night City, known as the 'City That Never Sleeps', the neon lights are actually on 24 hours a day without interruption."

"They have money to turn on the lights, but no money to help the homeless veteran soldiers on the streets, right?"

Fang Yun complained in the car, his tone somewhat sarcastic.

"1 euro has been transferred to the other party's account." ×1

"1 euro has been transferred to the other party's account." ×2

"……"

"1 euro has been transferred to the other party's account." ×7

Seven communication channels popped up consecutively, and the veterans expressed their gratitude to Fang Yun in sincere tones.

"Any random street, and you can find a full seven homeless veterans in its small alleys, and that's not even counting those veterans who have already died or whose bodies have broken down beyond help."

"This is Night City."

"Using human lives as raw material to extract endless wealth."

The green light turned on, Fang Yun closed the communication interface, and continued driving towards the agreed-upon location.

The "thunder" sped along the road, the neon signs on both sides of the street rapidly receding backwards, drawing streaks of colorful light.

Twenty-five minutes later, a small, unknown restaurant in Little Chinatown.

Fang Yun pushed the door open and got out of the car, closing the door casually while setting the "thunder" to "conservative alert mode with passive counterattack".

「Valentine and Toke should be inside.」

「Staying up late yesterday to do a job, and only now having time for breakfast, hagi Valentine, you guy.」

Fang Yun's lips curved slightly upwards as he walked towards the restaurant entrance.

The restaurant name - Ri Ri Lai, is a bit strange, but also a bit reasonable.

Pushing open the door, a holographic projection device was placed in the center of the restaurant, and above the device, a scantily clad virtual geisha was dancing gracefully in the rain.

「The dance moves have the meaning of 'Ri Ri Lai', which is why the restaurant name is Ri Ri Lai... I always feel like this doesn't seem like a proper restaurant.」

Fang Yun ignored the swaying virtual geisha, walked into the restaurant, and began to look around.

The air inside the restaurant was somewhat pungent, mixed with the smells of synthetic food, machine oil, cheap perfume, and various other things.

Several street kids wearing fluorescent jackets sat at a table by the window, eating skewers and laughing loudly.

On the fluorescent screen above the ordering counter, an advertisement for N54 News Channel was playing in a loop:

"Arasaka Corporation's latest neural interface, making your life more convenient!"

A line of small text scrolled below the screen:

"If you don't have enough funds, you can call ******, and by just being a test subject for Arasaka Corporation for three days, you can get the latest neural interface modification for free."

In the back of the restaurant, Valentine and Toke were sitting in the innermost booth, with three bowls of steaming noodles on the table.

Valentine was the first to see Fang Yun; he raised his arm and waved, indicating that the two of them were there.

Fang Yun walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down; the wooden chair let out a creaking sound.

A hint of excitement was on Valentine's face:

"'Ri Ri Lai' is holding its monthly big spending event today – using 'real meat' with a meat content as high as 80% to make meat patties, meat buns, meat balls, and even the thinly sliced meat in the tonkotsu char siu ramen, which is almost invisible, is 'real meat'."

"The most crucial thing is that the prices of all dishes remain unchanged... although this discount only applies to customers who have reached the diamond VIP level of spending at 'Ri Ri Lai'."

Toke added:

"This is 'real meat', not that kind of mass-produced, uniformly synthesized garbage meat paste."

"Generally speaking, 'real meat' costs five times as much as low-end meat paste. But at 'Ri Ri Lai', even if you don't have diamond VIP, you can still taste 'real meat' for only three times the price."

Valentine nodded in agreement:

"Toke is right."

"No matter what, I had to invite you over to have a taste."

"Even if this restaurant is a bit shady at other times, today, and only for the 'real meat', it's not to be missed."

After Valentine and Toke finished speaking, Fang Yun immediately showed a look of realization.

"So that's it, I was wondering why you two chose to meet here. It seems the power of foodies is quite strong."

Fang Yun looked at the ramen in front of him; several thin slices of meat were floating in the bowl.

He picked up his chopsticks and poked; below the meat slices, several meatballs and a large piece of 'real meat' char siu were revealed:

"Real meat, huh? I guess its taste should be able to barely compete with high-grade synthetic food?"

Valentine grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth:

"Just try it and you'll know."

"That's true."

Fang Yun unceremoniously picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks; the steam instantly blurred his vision.

"Old Captain just sent me another piece of intel. Ling Bu's consciousness upload virus has a trigger vulnerability; if his neural interface detects a strong electromagnetic pulse at the moment of death, the data will prioritize attempting a local backup instead of uploading directly to the network." (Comms)

Valentine and Toke also picked up their forks and knives and started eating their noodles.

"So, an EMP grenade plus a precise headshot?" (Comms)

"Theoretically, yes." (Comms)

"In reality, we also need to deal with the Vortex Gang psychos guarding her." (Comms)

"Bingo. *snap fingers*.jpg" (Comms)

"According to the intel you sent, the Vortex Gang patrol teams rotate every 15 minutes." (Comms) (Valentine)

"Each team only has three people. We'll coordinate with each other, quickly take down a team, and then see if we can sneak in, first use an EMP bomb to disable Ling Bu, and then quickly take care of her." (Comms) (Toke)

"This time, we'll prioritize using the standard approach and procedure for mercenaries doing a job. If the stealth fails, I'll cover the retreat." (Comms)

"Alright." (Comms)

"No problem." (Comms)

"By the way, how does the 'real meat' taste?" (Valentine)

"Hmm..., it's okay, a bit better than the meatballs Katat makes." (Fang Yun)

"Hahaha, if Katat heard that, he'd definitely go buy some 'real meat' and come back to make you meatballs." (Toke)

The three of them, Fang Yun and the others, ate while chatting and laughing.

Ten minutes passed, and the three of them put down their noodle bowls at the same time.

"Clang."

"Burp."

The former was the sound of the bottom of the bowls hitting the table, and the latter was the sound of Fang Yun and the other two burping.

After exchanging glances, Fang Yun nodded slightly at Valentine and Toke.

"Just finished eating, can we stealth well?" (Comms)

"Trust me." (Comms)

"Trust the foodies." (Comms)

"Then let's go."

……

Neon lights bled across the streets of the Watson District, dyeing the wet pavement a morbid purplish-red.

Fang Yun leaned against the rusty fire escape, a thermal imaging scan transmitted by Toke flickering in his vision, his hand gripping the hilt of the 〈nichirin sword · Flower Breathing · Cherry Blossom Fall〉, a hint of cold light faintly visible at the blade's edge.

「Let's play around with Third Order strength first.」

"The third patrol team just turned the northeast corner."

Valentine's low voice came through the communicator:

"Just as the intel said, rotating every fifteen minutes."

Fang Yun adjusted the focus of his cybernetic eye.

Fifty meters away, three Vortex Gang members with poorly installed cybernetics were boredly kicking an empty can back and forth.

The one leading them had a mechanical spine installed on his back; it seemed to be a Sandiwestan.

Fang Yun pressed his earbud:

"A maximum of twenty-seven seconds of network cutoff time... if I were just an ordinary Hacker mercenary."

"That's enough."

In the alley behind the clinic, Valentine sent the signal that he was in position.

Fang Yun took a deep breath; the pungent smell of mixed garbage and low-quality coolant rushed into his nostrils.

"Go."

Fang Yun leaped down from the fire escape.

Before the first Vortex Gang member could react, a fan-shaped mist of blood sprayed from his throat.

At the same time, a flash of gunfire appeared at the alley entrance.

Valentine fired a bullet from his silenced kinetic pistol, precisely blowing open the second target's skull.

Toke jumped down from the rooftop, bringing the silence of eternal sleep to the last remaining Vortex Gang grunt.