103: Chapter 102 Lai Xuan's New Commission?

The mellow party was lost to alcohol last night.

It was already noon the next day.

Lin Yi pushed his body up from the sofa, his elbow accidentally knocking over an empty wine bottle.

The bottle rolled half a meter away on the wooden floor, stopping only when it hit another overturned cup.

He looked at the messy party scene in front of him—pizza boxes with leftovers spread on the table, a few nearly empty bottles of tequila, and sunglasses someone had dropped. The cushion from the chair against the wall had flown to the window, as if someone had picked it up to use as a weapon.

This chaotic scene suddenly triggered a flashback in his mind: in his past life, when he sneaked into Kerry's villa, that old rocker's living room looked just like this—messy beyond measure, yet strangely full of life.

"Even hallucinations are coming for me now, I swear." Lin Yi muttered, shaking his dizzy head, struggling to stand up while holding onto the back of the sofa.

His brain felt like it had been filled with paste; the kick of that last bottle of aged tequila from last night hadn't worn off yet.

Need to get something to sober up.

He walked barefoot across the floor, and as he passed the guest room door, his footsteps stopped.

The guest room door wasn't closed properly, leaving a gap a palm wide.

Lin Yi subconsciously glanced inside, his pupils suddenly dilating.

"Holy shit." He immediately turned on the recording function of his Kiroshi optics. "I have to record this."

What happened?

Our dear Jackie Welles, a tough guy over 1.8 meters tall, weighing nearly 200 pounds, who could lift a Tyger Claws thug with one hand, was currently curled up in Misty's arms like a baby.

His face was buried in his girlfriend's shoulder, revealing only half of his sleeping profile. Misty had one hand gently resting on the back of his head, as if protecting something fragile.

Jackie moved, his head nuzzling further into Misty's arms.

From the side, it almost looked like he was sucking his thumb.

Just this image.

Compared to the entire impression Lin Yi had built of Jackie since they met—the tough guy who charged into the Maelstrom's gunfire laughing, the reliable brother you could trust with your back—it wasn't just unrelated; it was like seeing two completely different people.

Lin Yi held up his finger to record, staring for a full ten seconds, unable to suppress the corner of his mouth.

"This dark history is enough for me to blackmail him for a month's worth of drinks."

He retracted his hand with satisfaction and continued walking toward the kitchen.

As he approached the kitchen door, he almost tripped over something.

He looked down, his mouth twitching.

Our old friend, Viktor—Viktor Vektor, the most reputable ripperdoc in all of Watson, a middle-aged man who usually stood as steady as an old tree—was lying at the kitchen entrance in a position completely against ergonomics, holding a trash can in his left hand and clutching a half-empty wine bottle in his right.

He was blocking Lin Yi's path into the kitchen perfectly.

"Viktor?" Lin Yi called out tentatively.

No response.

"...Why are you so pathetic?"

Lin Yi squatted down and patted Viktor on the shoulder.

Viktor groaned unconsciously, muttering something about "that boxing match that year" and "could have knocked him out in one more round," before turning over, hugging the trash can tighter, as if it were a championship trophy.

Lin Yi sighed, propped up one of Viktor's arms, and hauled him up from the floor.

Viktor wasn't heavy, but when drunk, he was dead weight.

It took a lot of effort for Lin Yi to drag him to the living room sofa and carefully lay him flat.

"One more round... I can still fight..." Viktor was still mumbling.

"Fine, fine, you're the best fighter. Sleep." Lin Yi put a cushion under his head and turned to walk to the kitchen.

There wasn't much left in the fridge.

He dug out two things from the very back: a portion of pollution-free natural mineral salt and half a jar of honey.

Natural, pollution-free salt was already a rarity in 2077.

Honey was even more expensive than its weight in gold.

This was something brought back from a trip to Europe last time—V had said she wanted to experience "local flavors" and ended up buying a bunch of rare things. Most of them were just left there, but these two lemons were barely suitable for use right now.

Lin Yi added a pinch of salt to each cup, mixed in warm water, added a spoonful of honey, and stirred.

When he brought out the cups of warm, light honey-salt water, there was finally some movement in the living room.

Misty came out of the guest room first, her hair loose, still sleepy.

Jackie followed behind, rubbing the back of his head, looking at Lin Yi with a momentary guilty conscience—he didn't know his sleeping posture had been completely recorded.

Viktor was also woken up by the sunlight, emitting a painful "hiss" on the sofa, sitting up while pressing his temples.

Lin Yi handed the water over cup by cup.

He took V's cup into the master bedroom.

V was still buried in the pillow, wrapped in the quilt like a cocoon.

Lin Yi sat on the edge of the bed, gently lifted her head from the pillow, and brought the cup to her lips.

V drank two sips with her eyes closed, finally opened a slit to look at him, mumbled something, and turned over again.

Lin Yi didn't force-feed her.

This girl drank the most last night.

V needed a few minutes of quiet time when she had a hangover.

Placing the bowl on the nightstand, he returned to the living room.

A few minutes later, the sobered-up group began to clean up spontaneously.

Jackie took the initiative to do the dishes.

Misty wiped the wine stains on the table with a damp cloth.

Viktor rubbed his sore neck and gathered the scattered wine bottles.

No one organized it, but they cooperated as if they had rehearsed—after all, it wasn't their first time drinking together.

"Oh, it's been a long time since I've drunk like this, refreshing!" Jackie stretched, his voice too loud for someone who had just had a hangover.

Viktor glared at him: "Don't do that again, my old bones can't take this kind of tossing frequently. Unless you're trying to kill me."

Jackie grinned: "Don't worry, Viktor, I promise to let you drink less next time."

"You said the same thing last time."

Once it was mostly cleaned up, the friends said their goodbyes one by one.

Viktor had to go back to the clinic; he had an appointment in the afternoon.

Jackie said Misty's esoteric shop was still open today, so he had to take her back.

The door closed.

The villa returned to its usual quiet.

Lin Yi leaned on the sofa, feeling that his stomach was finally not churning so much.

V was also completely awake, coming out of the master bedroom, her hair tied in a casual ponytail, sipping the now-cool lemonade.

Buzz.

Lin Yi's personal terminal suddenly rang.

It wasn't a normal incoming call notification; it was a special alert from an encrypted channel.

He looked down—the sender's encryption ID showed a string of garbled characters he was familiar with.

The key to contact Yorinobu.

Lin Yi walked to the terminal in the corner of the living room and answered the holographic call.

"I'm here."

The voice on the other end paused for a moment, then said something.

"...What's wrong?"

Lin Yi listened, his gaze tightening slightly.

"...Okay, I'll be there in a bit."

The communication hung up.

V walked over from the kitchen doorway, still holding the cup.

Her eyes swept over the gravity that hadn't yet dissipated from Lin Yi's face, and she asked: "Something up again?"

Her voice was very flat, as if she were already used to this kind of tranquility that could be interrupted at any time.

"Yeah." Lin Yi took off his headset and put it back on the terminal, "I'll have to go to Yorinobu's side to know the specifics. But there's no rush—after all, he said 'as soon as possible,' not 'immediately.'"

V nodded.

Lin Yi got up to go to the washroom, stopping for a moment when he passed by V.

"Before I leave—won't my dear Lily give me a kiss?"

V looked up at him, her expression shifting from confusion to disgust.

"Get lost." She tilted her head and looked up and down at the man in front of her with messy hair and the smell of alcohol on him, "You stink. A kiss on the cheek is all you get."

She leaned over and touched Lin Yi's cheek perfunctorily, then raised her foot—the sole of her slipper imprinted precisely on his butt.

"Get in there and wash up, fast."

Lin Yi rubbed his butt and walked into the washroom, muttering: "I didn't mind you last night, and you're already disgusted with me?"

He turned on the cold water, cupped his hands to catch it, and splashed it directly on his face.

The coldness spread along his skin to his scalp, washing away the residual drowsiness bit by bit.

He squeezed out toothpaste, started brushing his teeth mechanically, and only after rinsing twice did he get rid of the overnight taste of alcohol in his mouth.

The ventilation window of the washroom was open a palm's width.

The afternoon light slanted in, casting onto the small piece of floor tile in front of him, reflecting a bright rectangle on the ceiling.

Lin Yi looked up at the spot of light.

The same question turned in his mind:

What could it be this time?

The last time they met, Yorinobu said they might have to go to Dogtown next to deal with things regarding "Little Beidou."

But now, suddenly, there was an encrypted communication saying there was "new intelligence," and the tone sounded more serious than usual.

Not about Dogtown? Or has something changed with the Dogtown situation?

He spat out the last mouthful of mouthwash, wiped the water droplets on his chin with a towel, and looked at his own eyes in the mirror.

The fog of the hangover in those eyes was gradually dissipating.

Whatever it was, he'd know when he saw it.

He hung the towel on the rack, opened the ventilation window to let more cold air in, and then pushed the door open to go out.