Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

The underling wasn't sure about Vito's background either, so he had to ask Margot for instructions. Margot then told the underling to bring Vito to the office.

"Come with me, leave your weapons here, and don't try anything funny!"

After leaving his weapons in the locker, Vito went to the office and met Margot.

This guy, true to his name, looks like a maggot. He is Japanese, but has very fair skin. The perfect connection between his neck and head is like a capsule. His head has lost the ability to turn, and every time Margot turns his head, he has to turn his whole body.

"Why are you being so secretive yet still wanting to see me? What brings you here?"

Seeing that his boss wanted to talk business, the younger brother was about to leave the office, but Vito stopped him.

"Wait, come here."

The younger brother, not understanding what was going on, walked up to Vito.

“They pointed a gun at me.”

"what?"

The younger brother was completely bewildered, and he looked at Margot.

Margot, also curious to see what Vito was up to, nodded.

The younger brother pulled out a Constitutional Military Freedom gun and pointed it at Vito. Vito asked, "..."

"Do you have bullets?"

"Have."

"Alright, put it away."

The younger brother instinctively wanted to put away his gun.

Vito snatched the gun away the instant it was pointed downwards.

boom!

He pointed the pistol at his underling's nose and fired, blowing his cerebellum apart.

Bang bang bang!

Vito turned his gun on Margot and fired four shots, knocking Margot off his chair.

"Ah! Damn it! My hand! Who the hell are you?!"

Vito walked up to Margot.

"I am Arasaka Yorihiro!"

Margot turned the pain regulator to its maximum, preparing for a desperate fight.

Boom!

Vito stomped on Margot's chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Night City is full of all sorts of scoundrels. Tell me, who is your superior?"

"W-what's online?"

Vito increased the force.

"Without anyone protecting you, you dare to sell a Night City citizen like livestock?"

Margot remained defiant.

"Damn it! Kid, I'm protected by the Tiger Claw Gang. If you don't want to die, let me go, and I can pretend nothing happened!"

Bang bang bang!

Vito estimated the location of Margot's pain regulator and fired three shots.

"what!!!!"

Margot let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Go online and get to the bottom of things quickly. I'm busy and don't have time to waste with you."

Without the pain regulator, Margot twitched on the ground like a maggot.

"I'm one of Jotaro Seiho's men, kid. I advise you to be sensible. This kind of big shot could kill you with a flick of his finger! The NCPD also protects us. You'd better pray you don't die today!"

"Thank you, but you don't need to trouble yourself."

After saying that, Vito fired the remaining four bullets into Margot's eyes.

Vito then sat down in a chair and began hacking into Margot's computer.

It's still the same old tactics: invasion, control, and poaching from the Euro. Bartmos is back with these three moves.

"Done! That bastard has saved up quite a bit of money."

After leaving the office and closing the door, Vito spoke to the Tiger Claw gang members who were guarding the premises.

“Hey, you guys, come with me to get Margot’s stuff.”

After saying that, Vito didn't wait for them and went to the locker to get his gun.

"Take what?"

Euro.

Bang bang bang!

The four Tiger Claw Gang members who were guarding the area collapsed instantly.

"what!!!"

The receptionist screamed and crouched down. This freak had actually killed members of the Tiger Claw Gang in the sex doll club.

Vito ignored the screaming crowd inside, left, found a corner to remove his disguise, and then took a taxi to the old Vito Stadium.

As soon as Vito got out of the car, he saw an NCPD sheriff standing next to Misty's morgue.

"Vito? Seeing is believing."

Vito scanned the area with his prosthetic eye open and then spoke.

"NCPD and I have no business dealings. What do you want?"

The sheriff smiled and said with his head held high in arrogance.

"I'm Sheriff Stings, and you're Jack Wells' new buddy?"

Vito gestured for him to go to a side alley to talk.

“Jack is an old friend of our station, and you, my friend, have you been behaving properly lately?”

When they reached the alley, Vito suddenly grabbed Stins' right hand, bent it backward, and then pulled out a euro, pointing it at the back of Stins' head.

"I'm furious today, I don't have time to listen to the bullshit of these corrupt cops. You bunch of pigs, how the hell are we going to manage Night City with you guys around?"

Stings couldn't understand why Vito was so angry; he had only exchanged a few words with him before Vito pointed a gun at his head.

"Damn it! Let me go! I came to find you because of that psychopathic killer, fuck!"

Upon hearing about the psychopathic killer, Vito thought of the secret room in Yoo Young-chul's house, so he released Stings.

Stings rubbed his hands and said through gritted teeth.

"Your methods don't seem like those of a street thug."

Chapter 27 Farewell

Stings is from Haywood. After joining the NCPD, his flexible approach to things pleased many people, so his path to promotion was a bit smoother than that of those rigid officers.

As a seasoned veteran of the NCPD, Stings is ruthless towards petty thugs, but he tends to turn a blind eye to powerful and influential figures in the company.

Perhaps because he still had a conscience, he was very concerned about the innocent people being tortured and killed by the serial killer. During this period, whenever he had free time, he would wander around the vicinity of Yoo Young-chul's apartment. If anyone wanted to provide Yoo Young-chul with services, he would put on airs as an NCPD member and chase them away.

Until he saw his old acquaintance Jack and his partner Vito come to Yoo Young-cheol's door.

Stings had also heard a little about Jack becoming a mercenary. In his opinion, Jack, this reckless and hot-blooded Haywood kid who kept talking about the afterlife, would only end up dying casually in a mission.

To Stings' surprise, this guy quickly rose to prominence. His partner was daring, ruthless, and incredibly efficient. When Stings first saw the two of them enter the apartment, he thought they had just run into them by chance.

After a brief commotion, the two lads whistled as they left the apartment, leaving Yoo Young-cheol beaten to a pulp.

Stins frowned as he inspected Yoo Young-cheol's room, not because of the violence, but because of the trouble that was about to come.

Stings called headquarters to schedule an operation, but a group of company personnel arrived immediately, faster than the police officers. Three black, armed company vehicles roared down from the sky, driving the NCPD sheriff away from the scene like flies.

Half an hour later, the communicator received an order from headquarters: "The case of Yoo Young-cheol has been classified as a suicide following a cyberpsychotic episode. The case is closed." Stins sneered. He knew that the real hunters were never the madmen on the street.

As a Night City resident, Stings witnessed the murder of a corporate dog with a powerful background, yet the company not only refrained from causing trouble but also hastily closed the case, suggesting there was more to the story.

When Stins got back, he checked Vito's identity and found that the man seemed to have appeared out of thin air. He had no ID, no immigration records, and an account, but it was opened out of nowhere.

In this case, either Vito popped out of nowhere, or he has a very powerful background, possibly an agent of New America or a corporate spy, and with a very high level of secrecy.

I've heard that President Miles is going to strengthen the government recently, and Vito might be one of the people sent down by the government.

Now, seeing Vito's efficient methods, Stings was increasingly convinced that he had guessed correctly.

“I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. The psychopathic killer got his comeuppance, which is good. I heard you’re one of Heywood’s hottest mercenaries now. I have a commission for you. How about it? Are you interested?”

Stins spoke, his arrogance vanished, and he spoke in a gentle tone.

Vito also put away his gun. He knew that some people in the NCPD would hire mercenaries to help them with their work, such as Regina Jones, whose missions were all related to cyberpsychosis.

“Sheriff Stings, you can assign jobs through a middleman; after all, that’s the rule in Night City.”

Stins smiled.

“Rules? You don’t seem like the kind of person who follows rules. To be honest, the job I’m assigning is a bit tricky, and the fewer people who know about it, the better.”

Vito gestured for Stins to continue.

“There are some scum in the NCPD. They have gangs supporting them behind the scenes, and in return, they protect the gangs. If it were just about covering up gang fights, I wouldn’t bother offending my colleagues. But one thing has crossed the line, and I have to intervene.”

Vito asked, "What is it?"

“There’s a sheriff in the department named Dutt. He and a few cronies are keen on catching petty thieves on the street. You know, this year the NCPD went private, and half the police were fired, but Dutt and his scum got away scot-free. That’s because he sold the people he arrested to gangs and had money to pay his superiors.”

This is similar to what Vito knew; Margot also mentioned the NCPD.

"So, you want to expose Duterte? Then you might as well go directly to the TV station."

Stins shook his head, looked around to make sure there was no one there, and then lowered his voice and said.

"Dut usually entrusts the human trafficking business to his confidants, but occasionally he meets with gang members. I want you to keep an eye on him and launch a surprise attack when he meets with those people."

Vito lit a cigarette.

"It doesn't have to be so complicated to take him down."

Stins shook his head again.

“It’s not about killing him. You need to let me know before you make a move. I’ll be patrolling the area with my men. You take out his men and gang members first, but leave Dut alive. I’ll bring my men to catch him red-handed.”

Vito was puzzled.

Why don't you just go and arrest him?

Stings crossed his arms and said helplessly.

"Please, look at the NCPD's equipment, who can they beat now? All the money went to those terrorist mobile units, and now all we can do is issue tickets on the street. You expect me to take a piece of paper and go fight against fully armed gangsters?"

If Stins catches Dutt in human trafficking, the department will at most handle it internally if the news doesn't get out, and Dutt will still be alive. The gang behind him won't bother Stins either. If he does it well, Stins can even make Dutt owe him a life-saving favor.

Vito looked at Stins in front of him. One sheriff was trying to take down another sheriff. He guessed that Dutt was Stins's rival for promotion. Stins's words sounded high-sounding, but in reality, he was just taking the opportunity to attack his competitor.

"This can be done, but it won't be cheap. We'll require a 30% deposit first, and there's no room for negotiation."

Stins considered for a few seconds and nodded.

After evaluation, Vito offered a price of 40,000 euros.

Stins first transferred a deposit of 12,000 to Vito.

Vito raised an eyebrow; it seemed Stins had also set up his own slush fund within the department.

“I’ll keep an eye on this. Anything else? If not, you can go home and iron your police uniform.”