From Gotham to Night City, my infamy is known to all.

The chilly air blowing over the wine bottle, I wonder if it will add some special "flavor".

Absurdity combined with a touch of dark humor—that's Night City.

They walked around the operating table being used as a table and the apple cart placed in the corner, and entered the interior area.

The automatic door closed, shutting out the frenzied rock music and the acrid smell of smoke.

"I heard that this used to be an emergency room, an autopsy room or something, but it was later changed into a VIP room."

Jack introduced it with great enthusiasm.

Leo and V exchanged a glance, seeing the same helplessness in each other's eyes.

After his "introduction," I felt that the prestige of Laisheng Bar had plummeted, and even the private rooms didn't sound so impressive anymore.

Leo successfully found the private room with the number "7" written on the door and pressed the scanner.

A green scanning beam carefully swept across his palm, and the tightly closed door of the private room ripped open.

The first thing they saw was an empty lobby with magazines scattered on the floor, several empty paint buckets piled in the corner, and a beverage vending machine.

The ring-shaped light tubes overhead emitted an orange-yellow light, which was different from the cool blue light outside.

Leo went in first, activated his prosthetic eye to scan around: "My God, 988 euros a day, and not even a cleaning service? I'm really afraid someone has put listening devices or hidden cameras in these junks."

"You guys go in and take a look; I need to check this place."

Jack and V's prosthetic eyes lit up as they walked inside, scanning the area.

Leo seized the opportunity to call for pure white:

[Pure white. Inspect the electronic devices here.]

Don't worry, Father, I automatically check your electronic devices 24/7. There's no need to be so paranoid.

Better safe than sorry.

Even though Chunbai said there was no problem, he still scanned it roughly out of caution.

Saburo Arasaka suffered from this very mistake; he didn't allow Takemura to undergo a full scan, resulting in his foolish death by being strangled by his own son.

He can't be careless.

After the inspection, he went into the living room.

Without a doubt, the first thing he saw was the morgue cabinets covering two entire walls, directly in front of him and to his right.

Alright—this is the real morgue.

"What a stupid place!"

He couldn't bear it any longer and started cursing.

Jack stepped out from the side, chuckling and teasing, "Don't rush, Mano, I think this place is pretty good. Look, we have so many 'good brothers' with us for a meeting, doesn't that make us look impressive?"

Just as Leo was rolling his eyes, a loud "bang" suddenly came from beside him.

He was so startled that his blood pressure spiked and his fingertips went numb.

Turning around, I saw that V had stomped his foot hard... This behavior was exactly like those naughty kids who like to scare people.

"How childish of you!!"

In response to Leo's loud accusations, V smiled rudely:

"Look at your cowardice, you've never seen a dead person before, have you? Let me tell you, dead people are much better than living people, because they won't shoot at you or bite you. When I'm on a mission, I wish I could fill every enemy with a magazine of bullets to make sure they're all dead."

After their antics, Leo's initial unease dissipated.

He then led them to see the real private room in the center of the living room.

In a sense, this small room, surrounded by high-tech glass on three sides and with only one wall for installing electronic equipment, is the real private room.

The outer ring serves as the activity space, reserved for bodyguards and accompanying personnel.

Important figures who want to discuss serious matters naturally go inside.

"The private room in the next life looks really high-class. I've been wanting to sit in it for a long time!"

Jack went inside and walked around, knocking on various things.

"The glass is very soundproof, and it seems to be bulletproof. Once the door is closed, no one outside can hear a sound."

Leo was pushed inside by V.

The space inside is not large, only about ten square meters, with an L-shaped sofa and several single sofas.

There is a long table in the middle, which is currently empty.

Apart from that, it was completely empty.

what?

You mean the fruit platter and the complimentary drinks?

Of course, you won't get it if you don't pay. 988 is just the price for the private room; there are no extra services included.

Leo felt like a sucker, with the ghosts lying in the morgue mocking him.

“Don’t just stand there, come inside.” V shoved him hard from behind. “You paid for it, so go sit in the center and let me see where the big guys are.”

Leo sat down speechlessly in the seat directly in front, facing the door, which is the so-called "center position"—the seat where the big shots sit.

Jack stepped aside and gestured for him to proceed.

So V moved inside and sat next to Leo. Jack sat on the outermost side, closest to the door, so he could stand in front and act as a human shield if anything happened.

After sitting down, he leaned back and casually rested his right hand on the back of the sofa: "Ah—this is where the big brothers stay, it feels pretty good!"

“That’s right.” V also crossed his legs, his eyes darting around restlessly.

Leo felt this scene was somewhat familiar and took a closer look.

Jack sat by the door, and V sat between them, in the center position, facing the door.

A sudden flashback in his mind showed him a scene.

I go!

He suddenly remembered that the layout of the private room, including the positions of the three of them, was exactly the same as the meeting in the "stealing goods" mission.

The difference was that he sat in Dexter's seat, V sat in T-Bug's seat, and Jack's seat remained unchanged.

No wonder it felt so familiar.

Oh no, I've become Dexter DeShawn!

Unknown Soldier: Chapter Fifty-Two: The Queen of the Afterlife Bar—Rogge

Leo looked down at his still flat stomach and his right arm, which remained unchanged, and breathed a sigh of relief.

The damn sense of déjà vu was driving him a little crazy.

Forget it, let's not overthink it. We should call Miss Hacker over.

I hope she's happy with this meeting place.

Leo gestured for V and Jack to be quiet, his eyes lit up, and he started making a phone call.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

The call connected instantly, and it felt like they were waiting for me.

"L?"

Sasha's voice came from over there, still using a voice changer.

Leo's lips curled slightly: "Miss Sasha, what have you thought about my proposal?"

"Didn't you say we'd talk in person?"

"That's right, Laisheng Bar, Room 7. If security stops you from going in, just give them my name—L. That's all for now, see you later."

After saying that, he hung up the phone decisively, not giving the other party a chance to react.

The two people who overheard the conversation looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Did you date someone else?"

Jack was unaware of the hacking at this point.

Leo realized he hadn't told him yet, so he quickly explained—he had found a hacker for the team.

"Hackers...that's awesome!" Jack exclaimed excitedly again. "We even have our own dedicated hackers! We're practically a professional team now! Once I'm healed, we'll pull off a massive heist!"

V recalled the "ghost story about the mother's death" he had heard the day before yesterday and became quite interested in this hacker lady.

The three chatted casually for a few minutes, envisioning a bright future.

"When I'm rich, I'm going to buy a Nazaré motorcycle. Let me tell you, it's really beautiful, more beautiful than the girls in bars! It's won first place in the audience's vote on Guns N' Roses for two years in a row!"

“You get in the car, and just twist the accelerator like this—” Jack raised his right hand and made a twisting motion like turning a car handlebar, “Vroom vroom vroom! The whole street will stare at you! That feeling will be heavenly!”

He slapped his thigh and gulped down the Coke.

Wow...that feels so good!

Leo remembered that V, who came from a nomadic background, seemed to have had a special conversation with Jack about that car. Once Jack bought the car, he would steal the lines and show off.

"Sigh, men... I just can't understand them." V, holding a can of cola, offered a different perspective. "Motorcycles are like meat wrapped in iron; if any beat-up car hits you, you're done for. You'd be better off buying a couple of good guns, aiming at the enemy, and pulling the trigger all the way down—that's much more satisfying!"

Leo's lips twitched as he listened, thinking that the street girl V was probably a bit violent.

Unexpectedly, her intuition was too sharp, and she instantly noticed the accusing gaze.

Why aren't you saying anything? Whose opinion do you think is right?

The ball was kicked directly to Leo's feet, putting him in a dilemma.

On one side is my good brother, on the other is my good wife... cough cough, although we're not together yet, it's really hard to choose.

Just as he began to consider the third option, an opportunity to break the deadlock arrived in an unexpected way.

Ding-dong-

The doorbell on the wall of the private room suddenly rang.

Someone is ringing the doorbell from outside.

The three of them were all startled.

"So fast? You're the kind of person who never shakes his head?"

V glanced at the time subconsciously. Only five minutes had passed since Leo finished the call. The hacker was incredibly efficient!

"It shouldn't be..."

Leo was also surprised, as Sasha hadn't made a name for herself yet and shouldn't be able to stay in the afterlife permanently.

The two's hesitation drew Jack's mockery: "What are you two thinking about? This is the Next Life Bar, the most awesome place in Night City. Electronic peepholes on the doors are standard equipment here."

He awkwardly clicked a few times on the control panel and turned on the surveillance camera outside the door.

The next second, he gasped in shock—

"Holy crap! It's Roger! What's she doing here!?"

Leo and V couldn't resist crowding over to watch.

No doubt about it, this exaggeratedly made-up, extremely assertive, and unapproachable old woman is none other than Roger, the queen of the Rebirth Bar.

Jack sped up his speech, rattling off the details: "The most powerful middleman in Night City, the legendary figure at the Next Life Bar, Roger... Damn, I've only ever seen her photos online, I never thought I'd actually see her in person today."

"Don't get excited. In my opinion, she's probably here to cause trouble."

V glanced at Leo, as if to say, "Look what you've done."

Leo knew that Roger was definitely after him, after all, his way of entering the afterlife was a bit high-profile and not very friendly.

[Pure White, are you sure the hacker in the next life will be alright?]

[Confirmed. I just sent him some junk data to distract him from other things for the time being.]

With that reassurance, Leo calmed down a bit.

As the old saying goes: what is meant to be will be, and what is meant to be will be.