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

Small-scale scavenger outpost.

Risk level: Low to medium.

Enemy numbers: 5 have been detected, estimated to be no more than 10.

Equipment level: Low, with the cheapest pistols, rifles, and shotguns.

Mission objective: Annihilate them, leave no survivors.

Compensation amount: 80,000 euros.

Note: All loot and rescued personnel belong to the mercenaries. After completing the mission, take photos of the dead enemies and upload them to the hacker in charge.

That concludes the information; it's very concise.

However, this is enough for the mercenaries; it's a very common way to handle scavenger missions.

Sometimes it's to save lives, sometimes it's because family members want revenge.

Nobody cares why they're being attacked; the Scavengers are just like monsters in a game—you eliminate one batch today, and another batch will appear a few days later.

After all, in a hellish place like Night City, anyone can be a cleaner as long as they abandon their conscience and put on a mask...

Mann quickly checked the other locations and found that they were all scavenger outposts, including medium-sized outposts with a reward of 15 and large outposts with a reward of 30.

Considering the difficulty and type of the task, the reward is quite generous; it's just unclear how much the middleman will take.

After he finished reading it, he took out the chip and turned his head to see a brilliant blue halo shining in Rebecca's eyes. It was clear that he had secretly taken a chip to check.

Mann sighed inwardly. That's the downside of children—their excessive curiosity, their boundless energy, and their occasional overflowing compassion.

Back then, he and Dorio were persuaded by Wakako to accept the local brother and sister who were "familiar with the rules of the street." They thought it would be a powerful alliance, but it turned out to be more like they had become parents...

He shook his head and was about to put the detachable chip back into the box when he heard the mysterious L speak.

"Keep it. The information on it will soon be outdated and won't be of any value anymore."

Upon hearing this, an absurd thought flashed through Mann's mind.

"You... you're going to deal with these cleaners?"

"Yes, I gathered a bunch of people at the bar and kicked them all out. Who told them to offend me?"

"So that's why you called us here?"

"Yes and no." Leo shifted to a more comfortable sitting position and crossed his legs. "My team needs to practice at a large base, but we're a bit short-handed, so we're planning to find a few temporary teammates. Sasha recommended you guys, that's all."

"Sister Sasha...she was supposed to be our team's hacker!"

Rebecca suddenly interrupted the conversation, her tone somewhat displeased.

"Rebecca, children shouldn't interrupt adults!" Dorio covered her mouth and pulled her back to the sofa.

Leo glanced at her rounded calves kicking wildly for a few moments, then turned his gaze to Mann's face. "Two teams working together, how about we split the pay in half? 15 euros, are you in?"

The reward is already quite generous, and it also allows me to build a good relationship with L.

Mann agreed after only a few seconds of thought, but out of caution, he still asked, "You're both the middleman and the client, what percentage do you want?"

"This is my own commission, so I'm waiving the commission. The listed fee is the actual fee."

Mann was excited inside, but he had to remain calm on the surface.

15 euros is no small sum; it's the largest order their Edge Walker team has ever received since its inception.

"Okay, we'll join."

Leo had anticipated his answer and casually asked, "Speaking of which, is your entire team here? No hackers?"

"Ugh...ah...ooh..."

Rebecca mumbled something, but her mouth was covered, so no one could understand her.

Mann replied, "We've found a temporary partner, and we can bring her in if needed for this mission."

When Leo heard the word "she," he had a vague guess in his mind.

"Bring them in; there might be opportunities for cooperation in the future. I need to learn more about you."

This request was reasonable and in their best interests, so Mann quickly contacted a temporary partner and got her to join the mission as well.

Leo asked Sasha to create a new team channel and bring in the five people from Mann's side.

Shortly after, the hacker spoke in the channel—

"Qiwei: I am Qiwei, nice to meet you."

Sasha: I'm Sasha, hello everyone (>^ω^)

Rebecca: Sister Sasha!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

With the lively Rebecca around, the team channel instantly became bustling.

After Leo saw that it was Qiwei instead of Lucy, he quickly stopped paying attention.

Compared to Qiwei, who has a "criminal record," he prefers Lucy, who is more beautiful... ah, no, more like a person with better character!

Since she hasn't joined Mann's team yet, he'll find an opportunity to poach her.

The team is now taking shape, and protecting Lucy shouldn't be a problem.

After a moment of distraction, he turned to Jack and said, "Call in the Valentino gang. They're practically family. Let them choose their missions first."

Shortly after the order was given, about twenty mercenaries from the Valentino gang entered. They were easily recognizable, covered in gang tattoos and adorned with various gilded religious-themed jewelry on their hands and faces.

Jack greeted them warmly, and seemed to recognize some of them.

Leo knew that these people were the most capable fighters in the gang, sent by the priest to protect him, so he said a few polite words and let them choose the mission first.

When the leaders discovered that this was just a routine scavenger task with very generous rewards, they had an argument.

The reason is that several teams wanted to take on the mission of clearing out the large stronghold.

In the end, it was Leo who intervened, merging a four-person team and a six-person team to take on the most rewarding mission together.

Subsequently, the other teams also quickly selected their mission targets.

Leo originally thought they would choose the easiest strongholds, but unexpectedly they chose the more difficult ones.

“The priest asked us to help, and you’re offering such a generous reward. Leave these tough nuts to us; we promise you won’t be disappointed.”

The leading men generously took on the heavy responsibility and showed him goodwill.

First Glimpse of Talent: Chapter 144 Mercenary Gossip: L is a vengeful and incredibly rich madman!

The Immortal Squad, the Mann Squad, several squads from the Valentino gang, and all their true allies were in place.

With these people, Leo felt confident enough to recruit more peripheral mercenaries, unafraid that they might turn the tables.

"Alright, Jack, go and call the mercenaries in."

"Ah."

Jack maintained his serious, unsmiling demeanor and strode out of the conference room.

Soon after, a series of hurried footsteps approached rapidly from the corridor.

Leo looked out through the glass and saw a large group of mercenaries of different styles scrambling to squeeze into the room.

There were too many people and the corridor was too narrow, yet they still managed to walk out with the imposing presence of a massive army.

Due to limited space, the Valentino gang's mercenaries only kept a few captains, and the rest left.

Mann hesitated for a moment, and seeing that Leo did not respond, he led his squad to sit further inside, next to the Immortal Squad.

Immediately, the mercenary squad leaders rushed into the conference room. Those who arrived first were able to get a seat, while those who arrived later had to stand behind the sofa.

Upon closer inspection, Leo realized that the number of people entering was far less than he had imagined.

There were only sixteen people.

Sixteen squads, but twenty outposts remain.

"Why are there so few people? I thought there should be quite a few mercenaries outside."

Upon hearing this, the mercenary captains exchanged bewildered glances.

The number of people they brought, plus those already in the private room, is definitely over a hundred. Is that not enough? What kind of job requires so many people?

Leo, too lazy to explain, pointed to the discrete chip on the table.

After checking, the mercenary captains discovered that the so-called 300 million euro job was actually just eliminating the Cleaners...

They've been discussing this since yesterday, focusing on extremely difficult missions like attacking the company's convoy, but the outcome was completely different.

This job is way too easy, so easy that it doesn't seem like something the guys at the Rebirth Bar should be doing.

Leo could tell from their expressions that these people were complaining and felt they were being misled by the headline.

But he already had a plan to make them obey—

"I am the client. This is a personal matter, so I won't use any middlemen. The reward listed on the location is the actual reward you will receive. I will also cover the 5% commission that the Laisheng Bar will take."

"If you're going to do it, just pick a task; if you're not, you can leave."

Before he could finish the last sentence, more than a dozen tasks had already been chosen.

The mercenary captains' attitudes made a complete 180-degree turn—this job should be done by the big shots at the Life Bar!

A commission of 2 to 3 euros per person, and such a simple task as bullying cleaners, this is just picking up money!

The only five medium-sized strongholds were snapped up in an instant; it was truly a case of first come, first served.

The mercenary captain, whose team was large and had failed to capture a medium-sized stronghold, even suggested to Leo that they split their squads so that they could clear two small strongholds at the same time.

Leo agreed, on the condition that each team must have at least three members.

This requirement is too simple.

The mercenary captains, who frequented the Rebirth Bar, used their unique skills to quickly recruit a group of reliable lone wolves from the lobby. These lone wolves joined the existing mercenaries to form a new team and took on all the missions.

At this point, things entered the final stage—the pep rally!

Having composed himself, Leo calmly drew his two sidearms and placed them crossed on the table.

The golden light once again blinded the mercenaries.

Many people activated their prosthetic eyes to scan and carefully examine the gleaming firearms.

"Now that the tasks have been assigned, let me explain the specific action plan."

"First, the timeline—it's now! After I finish explaining the action plan, we'll move out immediately!"

This statement unsurprisingly caused a stir, because it was so hastily made.

Leo didn't give them a chance to ask questions and continued, "I think everyone knows about the Cleaners. Their networks are intricate and complex. They might get a tip-off and escape. My goal is a major purge; not a single person will be spared!"

"Once you're out this door, I'll give you only half an hour to get to the mission location. Once you arrive, await my instructions and launch a full-scale attack after the first shot is fired."

“My hacking team has blocked the nearby network signals, so neither the cleaners nor the surrounding residents can call the police. You have one hour to complete the mission and evacuate safely.”

"Now, you have one more chance to back out. But remember, if anyone leaks information to my enemies, they better pray that I don't find them, or my next target will be the leaker."

His tone was calm and indifferent, with hardly any fluctuation, but the underlying threat made the mercenary captains' hearts tighten.

He spent 300 million to buy the lives of a group of cleaners... If he wanted to buy the lives of everyone here, it probably wouldn't be difficult for him either...

Those who had initially harbored some thoughts now calmed down. It wasn't worth getting involved with a rich and capricious middleman for a group of cleaners with whom they only occasionally did business.

Seeing that no one spoke, Leo picked up his gun with satisfaction and stood up.

"Since no one has any objections, let's set off. Once I fire the first shot, you can begin your operation."

As he spoke, he walked towards the door, drawing surprised glances from the mercenaries.

Finally, a curious mercenary captain spoke up and asked, "L, are you going to the front lines too? Ah, I don't mean anything by it, I just mean... you can just wait here and we can take care of those bastards for you, you don't need to take any risks."

Others also offered a few words of advice, and Leo felt that they were afraid that something might happen to him, causing the agreed-upon reward to go down the drain.

But this was precisely the topic he deliberately steered the conversation towards. Even if the mercenary hadn't asked, he would have arranged for one of Valentino's mercenaries to ask the question.

Thinking of this, he smiled and raised the golden weapon in his hand: "I spent 150 million to customize these two guns, just so I could personally poke a few holes in them and enjoy their expressions before they die. Who told them to dare to mess with me, or even attack me?"

"They... dare to attack you?"