Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

Happy times always pass too quickly. After settling Liying in, Vito went to Okada Wakako's pinball shop. Today, he was going to visit the queen behind the Tiger Claw Gang.

"You've finally arrived, Vito. I thought you didn't like coming to old people's shops."

Seeing that Okada Wakako didn't intend to invite him to sit down, Vito casually replied.

"I came as soon as I heard there was business, Ms. Wakako. I don't have much time."

"Don't rush, young man, there's a big job here that will benefit you greatly."

"What kind of work?"

"We need to find someone, a foreign friend, who disappeared after coming to Night City. This is a major diplomatic matter and cannot be taken lightly."

Vito looked around Wakako's office with interest, seemingly unconcerned about what she had said.

"People in the underworld say that Wakako's big job is like a pile of shit wrapped in gold paper."

Wakako wasn't angry at such offensive words; she continued speaking slowly.

"If I were you, I wouldn't listen to other people's gossip. This person is called Jin Yan, and she's hiding a lot of secrets. The whole of Night City is looking for her now."

Upon hearing the name, Vito instinctively approached Okada Wakako and asked the bodyguard at the door to bring over a stool from in front of the pachinko machine.

The bodyguard glanced at Wakako Okada, and Wakako nodded slightly.

"It seems you're quite interested in this job?"

Vito sat down at his desk.

"Who is the client, Arakawa? Or some other company?"

Wakako Okada frowned; she hadn't even frowned when she heard the "golden paper wrapped in shit" comment.

"Vito, you know the rules. If I were to leak the client's information, my reputation would be ruined. Is this your first day on the job?"

Vito didn't press further. He had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on. The companies that Wakako would usually find troublesome were the major companies in Night City. He just didn't know if it was Arasaka, military technology, or Night Corporation.

"Dead or alive?"

"Try to capture her alive, but don't damage her brain. This is the client's specific request."

"Okay, I'll take the job. Give me the details."

……

Arasaka Tower, Rintaro's office.

"So, you believed everything that mercenary said?"

Rintaro had his back to Yoshitaka Sato and was looking at a briefing.

"I've verified it, and I've confirmed that this Solomon should be Solomon Reed, a former Joint Logistics Command agent. I just don't know what his motives are."

Rintaro turned around.

"It's ridiculous that a former agent who was betrayed is now back in the spotlight. This mercenary is really talking nonsense."

The Crimson Bird of the East has flown to Night City, carrying something important, but now it has escaped our control.

Have all the fake documents been released?

Yoshitaka Sato nodded.

"They released him, and those guys in the counterintelligence department didn't even notice. But Zhu Er is so important, why...?"

Rintaro interrupted Yoshitaka Sato.

"Sato, you can go now. Have the counterintelligence department track Zhu Ai down. During this time, fulfill any requests those pigeons may have."

Sato Yoshitaka bowed and left the office, but a strange glint appeared in his eyes.

Rintaro placed the briefing on his desk.

Kim Yeon

code name Zhu Er

Arasaka, an Asian hacker and corporate spy, defected to Night City with secret program data.

Their upstream contacts could not be tracked, and their downstream contacts all died from overheating of their prosthetic bodies, suspected to have been assassinated by a virus program.

Zeta Technology, Military Technology, and Ye's Company have all become involved in tracking Zhu Er. Lin Xiaohan, head of Kangtao Company, has checked into the Night City Azure Hotel. Currently, no evidence has been found that Kangtao is involved in the Zhu Er incident.

"Even I can't see Zhu Er's detailed information, this seems to be a tricky situation."

Rintaro had been battling with military technology for many years, and he knew about Solomon Reed, the Joint Logistics Command agent.

When he heard the name, he had already roughly determined in his mind that the square-headed man was Li De, after all, the new America was very unwilling to let Night City be in the independent city sequence.

President Miles of New America is an ambitious man. According to intelligence gathered by Arasaka's corporate spies, Miles is preparing a weapon of mass destruction even more powerful than Soul Killer.

Zhu Er's defection was likely facilitated by someone from the military technology group; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to travel safely all the way to Night City.

According to Rintarō's analysis, the fact that the square head, which was initially used as a smokescreen to attract attention, has suddenly disappeared recently suggests that he is secretly preparing to cover for Zhu Er.

If the counterintelligence department's pigeons find Zhu Ai, Saburo Arasaka will clean up the entire counterintelligence department in Night City. If the pigeons can't find Zhu Ai, then Rintaro can directly reach out to the counterintelligence department, which is already considered incompetent.

Those who play with fire know best how to control it. Rintaro applied to headquarters for Class A defense pre-construction measures, which was essentially digging a firebreak to prevent the fire from reaching him.

drop.

[Application for Level A defense pre-construction has been approved]

Rintaro glanced casually at the security personnel list and saw a familiar name.

Adam Hammer.

……

Vito had no idea that the nonsense he made up to scam Arasaka for funding would lead the Night City Arasaka leadership to imagine so much.

He now sensed that this was a very serious matter, as there were discrepancies between the information Okada Wakako provided and the information Valerie had given him.

Valerie's message stated that Kim Yeon was just an Arasaka employee transferred to Night City, while Okada Wakako's message said that Kim Yeon was a company spy.

To be optimistic, the two sides' intelligence agencies have different information. The worst-case scenario is that both sides' information is false.

"The waters won't be shallow in 2076 either!"

Vito sighed, then made a phone call to Jack.

"Hey Jack, hold off on looking for anyone. Get V out of here. We need to sort out this commission; there's definitely something fishy about it!"

"What's going on? Didn't you go to Wakako's place? Did you get any inside information?"

"It's hard to say over the phone. The situation is very complicated this time. Let's meet in person and talk to her at the auto repair shop, and ask her to avoid people around."

"Okay, I'll send her an encrypted one."

After hanging up the phone, the radio in Vito's car was broadcasting news from Channel 54.

"Kangtao's Executive Director, Lin Xiaohan, visited Night City and is staying at the Ganbi Building tonight. According to Kangtao, Chairman Lin's trip is to deepen the cooperation between Kangtao and Night City and achieve synergistic development between the two companies..."

beep~ beep~

"Hey Vito, how's the repair shop? Not bad, buddy, right?"

"For anything related to cars, you're the right person to call in Night City, Captain. What's up? You're not just calling to ask about the auto repair shop, are you?"

"Hey, your keen sense is amazing! There's a big job out there, the pay is really good!"

Vito paused.

"Uh, are you looking for someone?"

How did you know?

After thinking it over, Vito ultimately did something that violated the ethics of a mercenary.

"Send the attachment over."