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

Mercenaries inevitably come into contact with alcohol, sometimes for social purposes, sometimes for relaxation, and sometimes for disinfection or anesthesia.

She had tasted all kinds of wines, good and bad, produced in Night City.

But this... is definitely not something that can be brewed here.

The aromas of tropical plants and citrus fruits blended together, repeatedly assaulting her taste buds and nasal cavity.

This stuff is 1000% good wine!

"Phew... Holy crap, so this is what euros taste like..."

That's right, that's what they call paying for drinks, at least that's what V thinks.

Leo smiled, then took out a few more glasses and asked her to taste all six kinds of wine.

V's opinions were unanimous—they were all good wines!

Leo took the opportunity to tell her the price he had set and ask for her opinion.

The thought that the first two glasses of wine cost three or four hundred euros made V feel guilty, as if he was wasting something.

"I think... drinking cola is fine too. Since this alcohol is an expensive product, we shouldn't waste it."

Leo discovered her thrifty and hardworking side and was very pleased with it.

However, this wine is actually quite cheap, so there's no need to worry about it.

Knowing that V had been waiting for him and hadn't eaten yet, he took out roast chicken, sausages and other cooked food he had bought from the supermarket from his spatial storage, and ate a little with her along with a few bottles of wine.

V remained in a state of CPU overload throughout the process, feeling as if he might still be dreaming, because these were delicacies and fine wines that only existed in dreams.

Real meat, real fruit, and a salad that appears to be made of organic vegetables—if that's really organic food… it might be more valuable than an average person's life.

And this wine, made from 100% grape juice, is something that the small bar she went to didn't even have...

After a satisfying meal, Leo unbuttoned his shirt collar and lay comfortably on the sofa.

"V, let's get down to business. I'd like to invite a few of our team members, along with Old V, Misty, and Mrs. Wells, to dinner tomorrow."

Besides building rapport, I also want to ask Mrs. Wells to help arrange a meeting with the priest to discuss the deal. What do you think of this plan and the people you've chosen?

When the conversation turned to business, V's dazed expression quickly vanished. Perhaps due to drinking too much, her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her features appeared much softer.

After a moment's thought, she gave her answer:

“I’ve been keeping an eye on things for you these past few days. Sasha is fine; she’s a pretty reliable girl.”

I know Mrs. Wells, but we're not very close. Considering Jack is there, it shouldn't be a problem.

Old Vie and Misty… they are among the few good people in Night City. If it's just a meal, and not 'magic tricks' for them, I think it's fine.”

Leo understood the key point in her words and immediately assured her, "I'm not stupid; I wouldn't tell outsiders about such advanced technology."

"Then what were you showing off just now? If you ask me, you shouldn't have revealed that ability. Night City is full of lies and betrayals, so you'd better not trust anyone here."

“Your view is quite similar to the big shot I’ve met. He doesn’t trust anyone, not even himself. But that would be exhausting, V. I don’t want to be a lone wolf, so I choose to share the benefits.”

Besides, this is a little secret only you and I know. As long as you don't betray me, no one else will know.

V paused breathing for a few seconds, then suddenly turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

"I don't understand... Are we that close? We've only known each other for a few days? You... Sigh, never mind, you should be glad I'm the kind of person who keeps my mouth shut and values ​​honor. Unless I get caught and brainwashed, I'll keep your secret."

She talked a lot in one breath, but her eyes didn't meet his. It was unclear what she was thinking or... avoiding something.

Early Signs of Talent: Chapter 90 Leo: "Can't be taught, hopeless..."

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Leo admired V's beautiful yet resolute profile, and seeing that captivating pink hue, his heart pounded uncontrollably.

Since his body regained its youth, his primal desires have also returned to their peak.

After experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions every day for half a month, he sometimes really wanted to let loose and relieve the immense mental pressure with physical pleasure.

What's worse, the V that perfectly matches his aesthetic preferences is constantly being displayed in front of him, just like that...

The air in the room seemed to be filled with her wonderful body fragrance.

It made him...very upset.

Seeing V's shy expression as she turned her head away without saying a word, he really had the urge to kiss her.

Unfortunately, reason told him that doing so would lead to death...

The silent stalemate continues.

He suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered Chunbai's teachings—you should be more sincere and it's okay to express your feelings directly.

Just say it... what should I say?

I love you……?

It feels a bit too radical and might scare V.

Yes, we need to be more tactful.

“V—” he called out affectionately, “Didn’t you realize it from the very beginning? I fell in love with you at first sight, I’m serious!”

The color on V's face deepened rapidly, quickly turning from pink to bright red.

They'd only known each other for half a month, and she was already saying things like that... If it were anyone else, she would have immediately dealt them a severe beating, letting them know that flirting comes at a price.

But Leo... he was strange from the start; no one else on drugs was as crazy as him. And he was smart one minute and stupid the next, leaving her completely baffled.

Her intuition told her that the other person's feelings were genuine.

But rationally, I can't understand it; it feels like I've skipped through life and fast-forwarded directly to the ending.

The burning gaze made her feel uncomfortable all over, but unfortunately, the two of them lived under the same roof, so there was nowhere to run away.

Say something

Just saying something...

"I've never thought about such a thing, and I don't plan to for the time being. Your words are useless. I am... well, right, I am Lone Wolf!"

Since her mother passed away, she has been living alone for nearly six years. She doesn't even watch romance movies and never thought that such a thing could happen.

Men... they're so annoying! Can't they just talk about serious business and stop with all this nonsense?

Leo wasn't angry after being rejected; on the contrary, he felt that V's attitude was much softer and more gentle than he had imagined.

He had prepared for the worst-case scenario that the other party would refuse him firmly or even resort to violence, but he didn't expect it to be like this.

Just like acting cute, or why not add fuel to the fire and try giving her a kiss!

Just as he was getting restless, another troublemaker arrived—

【Don't do anything rash! This is just right; don't push her too far. Human emotions are like springs—the harder you compress them, the stronger the rebound. Give her some more time. I've figured it out; she has no past romantic experience, so she's easy to handle!】

After being scolded by her, Leo realized that what she said made sense; one couldn't deal with a brat like V by force.

But he still wanted to ask one more question: "Are you sure? I feel like if I kiss you now, we might just get to the point in one go."

I think it's like a punch to the stomach—she punched you so hard that you vomited up the food you just ate.

Listen to me, I'm constantly on the internet between two worlds, receiving enough information in a day for you to study for a year. In my opinion, you're all just stupid, two-legged, carbon-based beings...

How come you've even learned to swear?!

Leo felt that she had gone astray and was showing a strong tendency to develop into "Skynet".

While he was busy arguing with Pure White, V was already eating a watermelon to relieve his tension.

After a moment of silence, the two tacitly skipped the topic of personal feelings and started talking about business.

"You absolutely mustn't show your subspace technology to anyone else. If it's exposed, the consequences will be unimaginable. Doing business is fine, of course, but I'll say it again—"

The best middleman for the wine business is a priest; he used to be a Catholic minister, and he knows wine all too well.

Leo nodded in agreement: "That's exactly what I think. With Jack and Mrs. Wells acting as a buffer, the chances of the priest doing legitimate business with us, rather than cheating us, are much higher than with other middlemen."

"Hmm... I think it's a good idea. How much did you bring back? Is this all yours, or did that 'big shot' ask you to sell it on his behalf?"

Upon hearing this, Leo's eyes lit up.

coming!

He deliberately left a handwritten purchase order in his online space, just to show off. He finally got to the point—

"See for yourself!"

A small white sticky note, about the size of a palm, was tossed lightly towards V, who caught it.

"3750 bottles... Hmm, that's quite a lot. If they were all sold, we'd have..."

Seeing V frowning and struggling to calculate, Leo sighed: "Look at you, so clueless! The unit for alcohol is a case, and a case has twelve bottles!"

V suffocated...

"How much does that cost?"

"It's hard to say. The total price will definitely exceed ten million, but the middleman will take a cut. I don't know how much the priest will ask for."

Ten million……

V couldn't even imagine how much such a large sum of money was; it was an amount she could never earn in her entire life.

Then she thought of the middleman's cut, and her brows suddenly furrowed:

"I've never run a business, but I've worked for middlemen. Their most commonly used rule is the '5-3-2' rule—"

The middleman retains 50% as an intelligence network maintenance fee; the mercenary receives 30% as basic operational compensation; and the remaining 20% ​​is used as a floating stake to bribe the NCPD, buy off company informants, etc.

Top-tier mercenaries or those performing exceptionally dangerous or specialized jobs can break this ratio, but the middleman must still take at least 30%.

“50%? Absolutely impossible. 30%…we can discuss it further.” Leo stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Before he could even think it through, V exclaimed anxiously, "No, you're really going to give it to them? You're also a middleman. When you cooperate with other middlemen, you absolutely can't do it at this ratio. Besides, you've already brought the goods into Night City and taken on the biggest transportation risk. How can you just let others benefit from it!"

"You're right, but your perspective is too narrow."

"What!?" V was unconvinced.

“This batch of goods is my personal property, and the purchase price is much lower than the lowest price you can imagine. To be honest, I can make a profit even if I only take 10%. So my bottom line is 70%, and the rest is entirely negotiable.”

Leo wasn't lying; this batch of goods was ordered by Afu, and of course, it was at the lowest price, with a total cost of only 39.

It's impossible to lose money; the question is how much we can earn.

"But...the priest didn't do anything, and we gave him so much money for nothing, what a waste!"

“No, no, no, V, you’re oversimplifying things.” Leo picked up an unopened bottle of wine and pointed to it as he explained to her, “The most important thing about products is the distribution channel, not just the channel for buying, but also the channel for selling.”

“Look at this, it’s good wine. It’s definitely not good to sell it cheaply. This is where we need a middleman with a wide network of connections to distribute this batch of wine to bars, rich people, and the tables of company executives.”

“Our four-person team is simply incapable of handling this kind of thing. On the contrary, because the potential profits are enormous, we lack the ability to protect them, which has become a source of trouble.”

“The priest is different—he has channels to sell his goods. The reason I chose wine is because wine is ‘the blood of Christ,’ a perfect match for a priest who was once a pastor, and for the predominantly Latino region of Heywood!”

V muttered to himself in a daze, "Heywood... Catholicism!?"

Leo nodded: "That's right. Catholics, Christians, and Orthodox Christians all like wine because it's an essential part of communion. As long as my wine has the best value for money and the best taste, I can even sell it in Night City and other cities in New America."

"Unfortunately, I'm too busy to dedicate my time and energy to selling alcohol. So, we need a spokesperson."

Yes, a spokesperson, not a middleman.

As long as the profits are large enough, Leo is confident that he can develop priests into his downline rather than partners.

“V, don’t value money too much, and don’t focus too much on short-term gains or losses. What I want, what we can get, is far more than this insignificant ten million. First, use benefits to bind others to our cause, and then seek more. Do you understand?”

V turned his head, his bulging cheeks quickly swallowing the fruit in his mouth: "I'm just a henchman, what are you babbling about? If you think it's okay, then it's okay..."

Leo understood—it's like talking to a brick wall!

He must be insane to try to teach a V with an intelligence of 5!

First Glimpse of Talent: Chapter Ninety-One, Leo: "Hehehe, watch me get that V-Zhentian drunk and do whatever I want!"

V-Zhentian's re-education plan was a major failure.

Leo could only sigh as he watched her, his eyes filled with disappointment.