Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 25 The Redemption of the Kidney-Draining Patient [Please Read Further]

Dogtown, [Known Area] (Note).

For the first order, Hanz had already assigned the contact person to Lin, which was a random number that Lin Yue had used to forward V's calls.

But this idiot who wanted Lin Yue and his team to do the work just wouldn't answer the phone.

Lin Yue could only squat on the curb in Dogtown, staring blankly at the shipping containers across the street covered in colorful graffiti, waiting for news.

"There are quite a few cleaners in Dogtown too."

Lin Yue shook his head inwardly, wondering how many jobs the street cleaners made every day in this wretched place, Dogtown.

The graffiti depicts a giant hand gripping a heart with a cyber implant, with blood seeping through its fingers.

This is their graffiti; these "corpse diggers" love to use this method to make their presence known.

Knock you unconscious with a blunt object, kidnap you, extort money from you, and then kill you... One trick is all you need.

These scumbags are as numerous in Night City as cockroaches in a cellar. As long as the money is right, these guys with Eastern European accents will get things done for you without hesitation—provided the client doesn't have a super good prosthetic body, otherwise these ruthless villains with no moral bottom line might have other crooked ideas.

"Mann, this place smells weird. Are there this many people getting kidney harvested in Dogtown?"

Rebecca poked her head out of the car. It was Mann's car, simple and unpretentious, with a thick alloy shell and a gasoline engine.

Mann looked at Lin Yue, who was looking worried, and asked, "What's the price for this order? How many of us can split it?"

"Thirty thousand."

Lin Yue gave a direct quote.

"Holy crap! Thirty thousand?" Pila's Arasaka tech glasses collapsed. "Are they telling us to wipe out a whole bunch of scavengers?"

Dorio also offered her opinion, "No wonder you didn't swallow this whole thing by yourself."

It's difficult for a small team to maintain the same opinions from the very beginning. For example, right now, everyone is thinking their own thing, and they're just temporarily living together.

Lin Yue is now like a laborer squatting in the labor market waiting for a boss.

Very frustrating.

【message】

[Agata Lesz] (Note): Why did Hanz push me to you? Did they change the person?
[Lin Yue]: Yes, I can do it too.

[Agata Lesz]: A $40,000 order, are you kidding me? Anyway, Hanz, get someone to handle this for me, I don't fucking trust you!
[Lin Yue]: Thirty thousand, if it can't be done, I won't take a penny.

[Agata Lesz]: You should have said so earlier! Dude, are you in? Want to take a kidney harvesting job?
[Lin Yue]: Kidney harvesting? You have to tell me what you're up to.

[Agata Lesz]: What?! It's... pretty simple work, within known territory, see you there :D
"Ugh, the stench of kidney harvesting around here is wafting into my ass! Seriously though—"

Lin Yue was kicked by Pila with her toe. "If someone who's donating a kidney hires us, would you do it?"

“Damn, I’ll take care of killing the kidney harvesters,” Lin Yue replied.

"Oh! Quite righteous, huh?" Pila teased.

Lin Yue shook his head. What's going on? He had reason to suspect that Hanz was messing with them. It would be too funny if the NCPD were labeled as the Cleaners.

Dorothy spoke up to remind her, "Pira..."

Dinglingling——

Lin Yue's phone received a new message.

[Agata Lesz]: Are you here yet? Are you here yet?

[Lin Yue]: Where are you?
[Agata Lesz]: It's not convenient outside, go inside and walk a bit, there's a Dogtown power plant here—we're filming Superman Dream, don't worry, it's definitely a good job, sending someone out of Dogtown, simple, right?

Lin Yue's expression turned grim. Could it be that he really was doing business with people who sell kidneys?

There was nothing he could do but confirm with Hanz, who spoke calmly and unhurriedly on the phone.

"The person you're in contact with for the company's legitimate business is a friend who had no choice but to hide in Dogtown."

"I can guarantee that I'm not helping the cleaners do those dirty tricks."

"Saving a life is an act of kindness and good deeds."

Lin Yue hesitated. This was the first order, and the first business that [Lin] had ever taken on.

But why did it turn out so disgusting? Lin Yue cursed his bad luck as he walked toward the power plant in the distance. "You were right, it really is related to the kidney harvesting, but Hanz said that the company was the one doing the deal with our boss."

Mann looked at him and said, "Damn, I have a feeling this is going to be associated with kidney harvesting."

As soon as Lin Yue entered the power plant, he noticed that the cameras were constantly scanning their group.

"The Vortex Gang, the Cleaners... Damn, your boss wants to make a peaceful deal with these guys. Lin Yue, he'll definitely regret this."

Mann spat.

"here!"

Behind the debris of the power plant's roller shutter door, a furtive-looking, red-haired man with a pockmarked face beckons.

"I'll give you three seconds. If you don't tell me who you work for, I'll shoot you dead."

Pila, holding a pistol, walked around between Mann and Lin Yue and pointed it directly at the cleaner.

"Lin Yue, I'm not doing this job! Those cleaners are all bastards!"

Rebecca also pulled out a gun along with her brother.

Lin Yue frowned.

The team members didn't seem to believe this was company work.

The red-haired man smiled obsequiously, "Don't be like that, I'm resigning today. The company wants to hire me, I'm not doing this anymore."

Lin Yue scanned it up and down and found that this guy did not have the [turbulence mask] that the Cleaner usually wore, nor did he see any bloodstains or bits of flesh.

It really does look like they've left that line of work.

Lin Yue shrugged. "You've seen it too, these guys all want to mess with you. You'd better explain what they want to do."

"Biotechnology gave me a lot of money, so I'm giving back this lucrative deal. You can take the person away now."

Lin Yue and his group suddenly realized what was going on.

Pila said, "Oh, you're a traitor, aren't you? You took money from the company to release people for your boss?"

"Hurry up, buddy, get him out of here—if he comes back later, we'll be in big trouble!"

As he spoke, two henchmen behind the former scavenger dragged out a black body bag.

Dorothy looked at the remaining blood on it, cursed, and hurriedly unzipped her pants.

A man was soaking in a mixture of ice and water. His prosthetic body appeared to have been violated, and there were red patches on his arms. His face was extremely pale.

"Take him to Tai Ping Chau Scenic Area. The company will send someone to pick him up. Let's go quickly."

Agata Lesz sent the address to Lin Yue, quickly waved his hand, and sneakily shrank behind the box. At the same time, 60,000 euros appeared in the fictitious [Rin] account.

The middleman pocketed 20,000?

Lin Yue thought it was no wonder that middlemen were doing so well; if you could make a good living, it was definitely more lucrative than being a mercenary.

The prerequisite is that you need to have a powerful backer, such as a company or gang.

The reason Lin Yue dared to do this was simply because Arasaka had connections.

"Are you still alive?"

Mann quickly asked.

Rebecca retracted the soft thread in her palm. "The trauma team's program is stuck. The person is on their last breath. We have to hurry."

The group picked up the bags and hurriedly headed towards the parking lot.

There wasn't even time to swear at these maggots and have a fight with them.

"The people who donated kidneys have all been released, but the company has had to pay a huge price."

Mann looked at Lin Yue, and as they looked at each other, they were both certain of each other's thoughts. They had a feeling that this job, which seemed like a case of a man having a change of heart and releasing a person who had donated a kidney, might have some hidden agenda.

The idea that someone would have a change of heart after donating a kidney is as absurd as the idea that the Night City NCPD wouldn't be greedy for money.
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[Known Area]: A location within Dogtown.

【Agata Reisz】: One of the logistics managers of the Scavengers in the 2077 side quest. This guy can be seen from the computer emails as a scavenger who does all sorts of evil.

(End of this chapter)