Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 23 Cowboy Cassidy

"Yes, Adcardo, I came all the way from New America. I didn't have any particular purpose. I just couldn't stay in my original small family anymore and wanted to move to a different place."

But he hadn't decided where to go yet, so he just wandered around, stopping and starting, taking delivery jobs when he ran out of money, and continuing his wanderings when he had enough, hoping to find a place to call home.

After Cassidy finished speaking, he noticed Mercer staring at him intently. After a while, Mercer looked at him with a look of sudden realization.

"I understand. Is there anything else you want to say?"

Mercer had actually already decided to let him go.

Because he knows this guy.

In the game, players can accept a side quest called 'Adding Fuel to the Fire', and one of the characters who appears in the quest is Cassidy.

An old cowboy who seems to have a lot of life experience, to put it simply, should be a good person.

In the game, he is a member of the tribe of Adcardo, where one of the female protagonists, Panan, lives outside Night City.

Mercer actually had a good impression of the Adka group; they were a group of loyal and good brothers.

If you trigger the Star Ending while playing the game, these guys will even be willing to follow you and help you clear the Abandoned Tower.

Many people died along the way, but in the end no one complained about you, all because you helped them a few times.

But out of caution, Mercer decided to give the guy a hard time first, and then figure out how to trick the old cowboy into leaving.

Although he searched for a lot of knowledge online, he realized that what he learned from books was ultimately superficial.

If they really had to travel thousands of kilometers to Night City, having an experienced wanderer to help them would definitely make their journey much easier.

"I don't have much money on me. All my savings amount to only four thousand euros. If you want it, I can transfer it to you!"

If you're willing to leave my car with me, I can try to get some help from my old friends to raise a small ransom.

But the amount won't be much; you know I'm just a homeless person.

After Cassidy finished speaking, he paused and said:

“I don’t think you care much about the past of an old American. I’ve been wandering the wilderness since I was a child. If you want to hear stories, I can tell them for several nights.”

If you want to know anything else.
Child, I assure you, my presence here is purely accidental, and if you allow me to leave, I will selectively forget everything once I step out of this door.

Then he drove away from there, far away, to continue his wanderings.

Mercer stared at him for a moment, then said, "What if I don't intend to let you go?"

"That would be even better, it means you need me in some way."

I can tell you're not a bad person—the kids around you trust you a lot.

And you don't look very old, so perhaps my life experience as an old man can be of some help to you.”

Cassidy said calmly:

"You guys seem to have a distinguished background; the black market goods you're carrying are worth more than all of my assets."

So, kid, believe me, I'm completely different from the scum you killed.

The wanderers of Adcado always repay kindness!

"Okay, then that's settled."

Mercer stood up decisively, grabbed a dinner knife from the table, and handed it to Cassidy: "Do you need my help?"

"No need, I already solved it a long time ago."

Cassidy smiled, tightened his grip on his wrists, and with a sharp pull, the rope binding him fell to the ground.
"I was just afraid you'd get nervous and open fire on me. The girl's gun was shaking a little when it was pointed at me."

Lucy awkwardly looked away: "You're hesitating about where to aim."

"Yes, just remember to stick to the 'golden finger' principle next time; don't keep your hand on the trigger when not firing."

Cassidy chuckled softly, then pointed to a dead member of the Chaotic Blade Society lying on the table:
"Can I get my gun back? It's an old revolver, the oldest one I've ever had."

"Go ahead, loot a bit, it's time for us to set off."

There should be more people in this town than just these few. We need to hurry, or we'll run into the other gangs trying to get home.

Mercer gave the order, then turned off the safety and stuffed the gun into his coat.

"You're not taking their money?"

The old cowboy noticed that these men were only searching people's bodies and not trying to extract money from them, so he assumed they were clueless.

"Generally speaking, people like us don't keep all our money in banks because we have to pay them transaction fees when we need to use it."

Therefore, we usually put the money directly into the data wallet in the brain-computer interface.”

Mercer shook his head and told the truth:

"Our previous card numbers will soon be frozen, and the virtual wallet for this interface will also be cancelled. To reopen the data wallet, we need to open a bank account and activate it first."

However, our current identities won't work; we'll have to wait until we get new ones.

"Oh, I got it."

The old cowboy immediately understood and cautiously probed, "I heard that Arasaka loves doing this kind of thing."

"As far as I know, large companies do this too."
The Arasaka logo on our black customer service account is quite eye-catching, so you don't need to worry about guessing wrong.

But we have nothing to do with Arakawa now, or rather, we have a very bad relationship, you understand?

After Mercer finished speaking, the old cowboy sighed and shook his head:

"Look at what Arasaka has done. He's forcing a group of children to wander in the wilderness."

"I understand. I'll keep it for you for now, and return it to you after we get to a big city and open an account with a European Community bank."

He activated the brain-computer interface: "You can stare at me."

"No need. If you doubt someone, don't use them; if you use someone, don't doubt them. I think I'm pretty good at judging people."

Mercer smiled and then took off a holster, the kind of tactical sling that can be used to hang guns, grenades, and other items.

"Then I'll keep it for now. My suggestion is that you take advantage of this opportunity to strip them of their clothes as well, at least their jackets."

Cassidy continued to offer suggestions.

Mercer nodded: "Okay, you're right that I think it's dirty. It's not convenient for us to wear these clothes to buy new ones. Xingzi, which one do you want?"

[Apricot: They're all so ugly, just pick one for me.]

Mercer took off an ordinary black coat, then took out the wind chimes that were originally stuffed inside the coat and put them in the new pocket.

Then he took a dirty brown coat from a female member of the Chaotic Blade Society and gave it to Xingzi.

Where are these guns?

Cassidy pointed to the guns scattered on the ground: "We didn't have time to take the prosthetic body, but the guns are worth some money. If we find a suitable way to sell them all, we can get three or four thousand euros."

"I'm not sure if there's enough room in the car, and I don't plan to stop and make too many repairs."

Cassidy, you'll have to lend a hand later; we've brought quite a lot of stuff.

After Mercer finished speaking, he turned to look at Tetsuya Daichi:

“Earth, take Cassidy and drive his truck to pick up my things. We’ll just throw the unimportant stuff in the pickup truck later. We’ll have three cars.”

Tetsuya Daichi nodded and turned to look at Cassidy.

Cassidy found his silver revolver, holstered it, and adjusted his hat. "Looks like you need me to come with you?"

"Hmm, we do need an old cowboy as a guide."

Mercer curled the corners of his mouth:

"It just so happens that you're also wandering around and will take us to Night City. The reward is what we've collected along the way, plus 10,000 euros. However, I'll only give you the 10,000 euros after I sell the stuff in Night City."

Cassidy shrugged with an relaxed expression.

I don't think I could refuse.
I heard there's a group of Adcardoss in Night City; maybe that's the perfect new family for me.

As for payment, there's no need. Consider it as traveling together as companions; after all, you're my saviors.

“Very good. I’ve heard that the people of Adcado are always helping each other and are very loyal and righteous. I consider myself to be someone who always repays kindness, so let’s not talk about money. If you ever have any trouble in the future, I’ll lend a hand.”

Perhaps you could help us find a temporary place to stay over there.
"It's been a pleasure working with you. My name is Mercer, and my new name will be—Alex Mercer."

Mercer extended his hand.

"Just call me Cassidy. So, should I call you Alex, or Mercer?"

Cassidy extended his rough, large hand and shook it firmly with him.

"Well, the latter, I'm used to hearing it." Mercer said, and also shook hands firmly.

"Pleasant to cooperate?" Cassidy smiled.

“It’s a pleasure working with you.” Mercer looked him straight in the eye and nodded slightly.

Thus, the hacker who escaped from Arakasaka made contact with Adcardo, whom he had originally planned to cooperate with.

　I revised the paragraph breaks in the original text because I found that each paragraph was too long to read on a mobile phone, making it tiring to read.

　　So I spent half an hour fixing them all. This might cause some chapters to be missing. Please don't misunderstand, I never delete comments.

　　Unless it's a personal attack on me, or just pure nonsense and provocation, accepting criticism is the ladder to progress.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)