84: Chapter 83 Willing to Take the Bait
Goro Takemura stood outside the heavy metal doors of the Afterlife bar, feeling his temples throbbing.
He was dressed in civilian clothes meant to be inconspicuous, but the deep-seated sense of superiority belonging to an Arasaka elite clashed sharply with his current humiliation.
The mercenaries passing in and out cast disdainful glances his way from time to time.
"These uncivilized native mercenaries, pah!" He spat viciously in his mind, though his face maintained a mask of unwavering indifference.
"If it weren't for that usurper Yorinobu watching me like a hawk, just waiting for me to make any mistake he could use as an excuse... this foul-smelling den of yours, built from a morgue, would have been razed to the ground long ago!"
He had hoped to glean some clues about the Konpeki Plaza incident in Night City, the largest and most chaotic intelligence hub; any scrap of rumor could be a vital piece of the puzzle.
However, he couldn't even get through the door.
"Rogue said," the hulking giant of a bouncer, Emerick, looked down at him with emotionless eyes, his voice sounding like dull thuds against sheet metal, "she doesn't want to deal with you corpo rats. Please leave immediately and don't disrupt our business."
He even waved a hand impatiently, a gesture completely dismissive, as if shooing away a stray dog blocking the path.
Takemura's fingers curled slightly at his sides, a fierce urge to snap the man's neck surging up within him.
He, a dignified Arasaka super-ninja, a being capable of taking down even Adam Smasher, was now treated like dirt.
But he took a deep breath, suppressing this violent thought.
Times had changed.
He had lost Saburo's protection; in Night City, the status of an Arasaka agent was sometimes a privilege, but other times, a target.
Especially with Yorinobu clearly harboring hostility toward him, he had to endure.
"Once I uncover the truth and expose Yorinobu's conspiracy... then we'll see if you ants can still be so arrogant!" He swore to himself, as if this could slightly soothe his sense of humiliation.
He forced himself to turn away, leaving the awkward atmosphere of the Afterlife where he had hit a wall.
For the next while, Takemura wandered aimlessly through the chaotic districts of Night City like a stray dog roaming the steel and concrete jungle.
Work at the corporation couldn't provide more clues for the time being, so he had to rely on the most primitive methods—using his eyes to see and his ears to listen.
For so long that exhaustion and frustration, like a bone-deep gangrene, began to slowly erode his nerves.
Near noon, he wandered into Heywood, preparing to find any roadside stall that looked relatively clean to make do with some synthetic food, before returning to the company to deal with gazes that might be full of probing and hostility.
Just as he stood in front of a taco stand, hesitating whether to endure the questionable hygiene, the conversation of a few Valentinos thugs squatting in the corner—dressed in flashy clothes and bearing traces of cheap cyberware modifications—hooked his attention.
"Hey, boys, you'll never guess what kind of hot info I picked up yesterday!" A Valentinos member named Enzo, skinny as a pole and with shifty eyes, lowered his voice and said to his companions with feigned mystery.
"Get lost, go play with yourself!" Gino, who looked sturdier, pushed Enzo impatiently, his face full of distrust. "You bastard, every time you talk, it's just bullshit, not a word of truth! Last time you said you knew where to get scrapped Militech weapons, and it turned out to be a damn toy water gun!"
"Fuck! This time it's different!" Enzo seemed greatly insulted, gesturing excitedly. "You know that whole commotion, that Konpeki Plaza thing! The one where Saburo Arasaka croaked! I recently caught wind of something. The people who did it seem to be a group of mercenaries hired by that fat fixer named Dexter Deshawn, calling themselves... the 'Wrench' squad!"
"Wrench?" Gino sneered. "What kind of shitty name is that? And then what?"
"And then?" Enzo widened his eyes, revealing a "you know what I mean" expression, rubbing his fingers together. "Then you at least owe me a drink! Such explosive news, tsk tsk, you're not playing the game right."
Gino clearly thought this was just another of his companion's old tricks to scam free food and drink. He cursed and insulted him a few more times, then beckoned the others and left without looking back, leaving Enzo alone, stomping in frustration.
However, while the speaker was casual, the listener was not.
Standing not far away, Goro Takemura's heart gave a violent jolt.
"Konpeki Plaza," "Dexter Deshawn," "Wrench squad"... these keywords struck him like lightning.
Although the name "Wrench" was unfamiliar, the name Dexter Deshawn, along with the time and location of the incident, matched the intelligence he had previously investigated!
In these chaotic low-level districts, fragments of truth deliberately covered up by the upper echelons could often be found circulating.
He no longer hesitated, locking his gaze onto the lone, cursing Enzo.
Like a silent shadow, he quietly followed.
Enzo was clearly in a bad mood, cursing his companions with foul language as he turned into an alley filled with trash cans and smelling of rot, seemingly looking for a shortcut to find the next place to sponge off someone.
This was exactly the opportunity Takemura had been waiting for.
Just as Enzo reached the middle of the alley, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck. A massive force instantly pressed him against the damp, dirty wall, and a cold metal gun barrel was pressed firmly against the back of his head.
He was scared out of his wits, and just as he was about to scream, a voice as cold and devoid of human emotion as possible rang in his ear, carrying an unquestionable threat:
"I ask, you answer. Dare to utter a single lie, or dare to cry for help, and your life ends right here."
Enzo immediately began shaking like a sieve, his crotch instantly wetting, and he stammered with a crying tone: "B-bro... y-you ask away, huh? I-I'll tell you everything! D-don't kill me!"
Takemura ignored his pathetic display and asked directly: "Tell me everything you just said about Konpeki Plaza and the 'Wrench' squad, word for word, in detail. Where are they now?"
Enzo, as if grabbing a lifeline, answered incoherently yet smoothly according to the script he had long memorized: "I-it's... I heard that after they pulled off that big job, they... they went into hiding! It seems... it seems they are hiding in Watson, no, Kabuki, in that area with the abandoned factory construction site! Yes! That's it! There aren't many people there, good for hiding! That's all I know! Really! Big brother, spare my life!"
Kabuki, abandoned construction site... Takemura quickly noted this location in his mind.
This sounded reasonable; Kabuki was a mixed bag with many abandoned areas, truly an ideal place for hiding.
"If you lie to me..." Takemura pressed the gun barrel harder.
"I wouldn't dare! Absolutely not! I swear on my mom!" Enzo cried.
Takemura snorted coldly, quickly holstered his pistol, and vanished like a ghost at the other end of the alley, without even sparing another glance at the thug slumped on the ground.
Time was tight; he had to rush to that location immediately to confirm.
After confirming that Takemura had completely left, Enzo, who had just been scared shitless, scrambled up from the ground. There was no trace of fear on his face, replaced instead by a cunning and relaxed look of mission accomplished.
He disgustedly brushed off the filth on his body and hurriedly contacted his superior via encrypted communication.
"Hey, mano? Yeah, it's me. The job is done... yeah, that's right, that idiot corpo rat didn't suspect a thing, took the bait straight away! He's probably trotting off to Kabuki right now... hehe, don't worry, it was a convincing performance!"
On the other end of the line, Jackie heard Enzo's reply and smiled, replying: "Good job, knew I could count on you kid. I'll take you out for a good drink later. Go find somewhere to change those pants of yours, it's embarrassing."
Enzo couldn't help but look around upon hearing this: "Damn, you've picked up some sneaky habits, where are you spying from?"
Jackie replied: "Don't worry about it. I'll swipe something good from Lin Yi later, and when we have time, we'll have a good feast."
Enzo replied: "Alright then, I'm clocking off."