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

Only Pila, too shocked to look away, stared blankly at her younger sister.

Rebecca waved to him in a friendly manner—drawing a circle on his face with the muzzle of her shotgun.

Pila wisely lowered her head and began to study the pattern on the floor.

A crisis was quietly averted.

Leo was afraid that Rebecca would do something even more reckless, so he quickly moved away from her.

On the communication channel, V and Pure White's conversation continued—

"V: Battle over, quickly send out the results!"

"Pure White: Large Scavenger Outpost, 24 people, all confirmed to be wiped out. V eliminated 16 people, Mann's team eliminated 4 people, Vera eliminated 2 people, Jack eliminated 1 person, L eliminated 1 person, and the Hacker Team eliminated 1 person."

L: Isn't there 25 people?

"Pure White: When selecting the mission location, I turned that amateur hacker into a vegetable. He was actually brain dead long ago, and later I let Sasha practice on him."

L: Okay, how are the other 26 outposts? Do they need support?

"Pure White: You underestimate the mercenaries born in the world. They are all battle-hardened elites, and there are many tough guys who can defeat an entire Arasaka assault team on their own. They can't possibly fail to deal with the Scavengers."

V: So we're just doing nothing? It's only been a few minutes?

"Pure White: Excluding waiting time, the mission only takes 7 minutes, most of which is spent moving around, and the combat time is extremely short."

L: Okay, this is all so abrupt and unsatisfying, just like a spring outing.

V: I won! I wiped out two-thirds of the enemy all by myself!

This record is so impressive, V is really awesome, he should put his hands on his hips.

Leo felt guilty and didn't dare to provoke her, so he clapped his hands to signal everyone to look over: "The battle is over, it's time to collect the spoils. Take any valuable items that are easy to carry, and we'll distribute them outside."

He himself looked down on these junks and didn't want to stay in the smelly basement any longer, so he decided to go to the ground floor to get some fresh air first.

Rebecca's eyes lit up, and she decided to follow him.

But this time, V walked up to him first, "Come on, I'll go with you. Just let Jack help collect the loot, it'll be divided equally anyway."

Rebecca wisely turned and walked towards her teammates, not wanting to be a third wheel.

Later, Leo and V went outside the factory and found a shady spot away from the corpse to stand.

"How are you feeling?" V reached out her right arm and hooked it around his neck. "If you feel like throwing up, just throw up. They can't see you from here."

Hearing this question, Leo's heart finally settled down. He had thought V had discovered something and was following him out alone to kill him to cover it up...

First Glimpse of Talent: Chapter 153 The Great Purge (End)

“I’m not as fragile as you think. I just… have a sense of unreality, as if I’ve broken some kind of shackle, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.”

V listened quietly, and after a few seconds, she put her arms around his neck and shared her experience:

"When you pull the trigger for the first time and see someone bleeding profusely in front of you, you realize—life is such a fragile thing. After experiencing this, you will grow, a very dangerous kind of growth..."

"Some people become madmen who disregard life. Some people undergo a drastic personality change, hate their past weak selves, and then do whatever they want. Of course, both of these are negative examples. The truly strong people who can control themselves will learn to respect life and treat it with kindness."

Leo glanced at him: "That's a really philosophical statement... You didn't come up with it yourself, did you?"

The arm around her neck suddenly tightened, almost bringing their faces together.

V originally wanted to be considerate of the "newcomer," but since he wouldn't give him face, he had to change his teaching method: "Yes, this is a quote from Morgan Blackhand's 'Lone Wolf Manual.' By the way, there's another quote in it. Would you like to hear it?"

"I don't want to..." Leo tried to struggle, but her biceps were so strong and powerful that they made his neck ache.

V ignored him and continued, "Morgan Black Hand said—you must respect your elders, especially those whose fists are harder than yours."

As soon as she finished speaking, her left fist struck out with lightning speed, delivering two powerful punches to Leo's waist.

"Awooooooo!"

Leo let out a scream like Tom the cat.

Those two punches weren't actually that hard, but they hit the kidneys!

You can't fight like that!

V's lips curled up slightly, and just as she was about to playfully tease him, she suddenly sniffed twice.

"That's strange... why do you smell like bubblegum?"

Leo, who was performing ventriloquism, suddenly couldn't shout anymore.

As V pressed herself against his clothes, searching for the source of the scent, he panicked and, without thinking, cupped her face in his hands and blew a sharp breath into her.

"Rebecca gave me a piece of bubble gum, you must have smelled her breath, right?"

This kind of behavior is not very friendly to women, and V angrily punched him twice more to punish his rude behavior.

However, since he did have the taste of bubblegum in his breath, she didn't think much of it.

After all, bubble gum can only be placed in the mouth, not anywhere else.

Leo barely managed to fool her, but his back was already covered in a layer of cold sweat.

Rebecca cleaned it herself, but he couldn't very well take it out and wash it in the street...

No, we must distract V.

"V, contact the other mercenaries and see how they are doing."

"Alright, let's see how these 'big brothers from the next life' fared."

V loved this mission so much! The thought that these people were not as good as her made her feel proud—maybe she could become No. 1 in her next life!

Public Channel —

V: Everyone, how's the mission going? Do you need any support?

"Valentino Gang: The strongholds we're in charge of are fine. Except for the large strongholds which are still being finished, we've started collecting loot in other areas."

"Sixth Street Gang: We've already taken care of them. None of these scavengers are any good fighters. They're just collecting their loot."

"Torch Squad: There was a small mishap at our outpost. There were too many residents around the H10 mega-skyscraper, and we accidentally attracted an NCPD cop who was on vacation. We knocked him out, so it shouldn't affect the mission."

"..."

Just as Chunbai said, these mercenaries from the afterlife were quite capable, and they all completed the mission with ease, mostly searching for valuable loot.

Some of the teams also rescued some of the kidnapped people and planned to contact their families in order to earn some extra money.

V sighed regretfully and looked at Leo: "It seems there really is no war to fight. I shouldn't have let Pure White block the information so tightly. If we could attract some cleaners from outside Little Chinatown, we could have had a good fight!"

Leo reached out and pressed his hand against her forehead, struggling to free himself from her grasp: "No, we're not afraid of our team's amazing strength, but it wouldn't be worth betraying the mercenaries we've just built trust with. Besides, there are also the NCPD and the Terrorist Mobile Unit as variables."

V knew he was right, and could only regretfully pat the gun barrels of Kenshin and Achilles, comforting them—he would find someone to "sharpen" them next time.

The two wandered aimlessly around the repair shop for ten minutes before Mann's team and Jack emerged carrying bags and bags of their spoils.

Leo himself certainly didn't care about these things, but the team members had a share in them, and as the captain, he couldn't just hand over everyone's interests to others so easily.

"These things are too varied; I don't have time to deal with them." He rummaged through the bag of spoils a few times. "Does anyone have a way to quickly convert these things into cash?"

V shook his head: "I can sell the guns to Wilson; he offered a fair price. As for the other things, I can't handle them."

Mann also looked troubled: "If we come, we can only sell it to black market dealers, and the price will be very low."

Finally, Jack stepped forward and took on the job: "Leave it to me. I can pack it up and dump it on the gang's grocer. The price will definitely be much higher than on the black market."

The problem was successfully resolved.

Leo nodded in agreement: "Then Jack will sell the spoils, and half of the money will go to Mann's team."

Mann nodded quickly. This was already an ideal distribution plan. If he were to say that they had contributed less effort, they shouldn't have received so much.

But since the team was just starting out and needed money, he shamelessly accepted it.

With the mission drawing to a close, Leo told everyone to put the spoils on the vehicle and keep an eye on the Scavenger's stronghold from a distance.

Just a few minutes later, a few scattered passersby suddenly appeared on the previously deserted street. They all gathered furtively by the repair shop and peered inside.

V explained to Leo beside him, "Most of these people are homeless or poor people from the neighborhood who are planning to go in and try their luck, picking up some valuable trash. Even if the cleaners just take some of their surgical instruments and stuff, they can sell them to earn enough for a few days' worth of food."

Leo wasn't interested in these scavengers and had no intention of stopping them. Letting them rummage through the trash would allow them to conveniently vandalize crime scenes and cause trouble for the NCPD.

After waiting for another ten minutes or so, all the mercenary teams returned fully loaded and withdrew from the mission location.

The cleanup operation took less than 40 minutes from start to finish, and all the cleaners in Little Chinatown were wiped out.

It's time for the NCPD cops to come out and clear things up—

Leo dialed Stings's number.

"Whoosh...whoosh..."

The phone rang for more than half a minute before it was finally answered.

"I'm Stings, and who are you?"

Leo glanced at the top left corner; his profile picture, displayed to the public, had a black border with red text and a large "L" in the center.

“I am L, a middleman.”

Early Signs of Talent: Chapter 154 Leo: "Let's put a chain on the NCPD..."

"middleman?"

Stins, who was on duty on the street, slightly changed his expression, waved to his subordinates, and walked alone to a quiet corner.

"I'm an NCPD officer, not a mercenary. What do you want with me?"

"It's very simple. I'm going to give you a huge benefit. It's just a matter of whether you can seize it."

Before he could answer, Leo continued, "There have been 27 attacks in the Little Chinatown area, resulting in 261 deaths and injuries. I can send you the detailed address; you can find a way to report it and maybe even make some money on the side. You might even get promoted. How about that? Isn't that a good thing?"

There was a nearly one-minute silence on the other end of the phone before Stings' slightly stiff voice came through again.

"How do you know so clearly?"

"I did it, of course I know it," Leo said frankly.

"So you're turning yourself in?"

"No, I just want you to come out and clean up the mess, and at the same time reassure the public so they won't be too scared."

Stings rubbed his temples, his expression incredibly interesting.

It's truly a case of "you never know what you'll see in your lifetime"—what kind of monsters and demons are roaming around Night City?

He took a deep breath, his voice laced with threat: "Do you think the NCPD will turn a blind eye to something like this? Besides, I'm responsible for this area, how come I haven't received any reports?"

"It's simple. They were all cleaners who died. If someone really wants to avenge them, I don't mind killing another batch. As for why we didn't receive any alarms, it's because I was cautious and set up signal jammers in advance."

Leo leaned against the car door, leisurely gazing at the scenery outside the window.

"Think about it, Inspector Stings, is it better to have a news story about a large-scale attack in Little Chinatown, with mercenaries massacring a Cleaners' stronghold, or to have the NCPD launch a major offensive, destroying multiple Cleaners' strongholds and protecting the safety of citizens?"

As a veteran, Stings certainly knew the latter was better. Even if those who needed to know the truth could still know it, most ordinary people wouldn't know, nor did they need to know. This would become an achievement for the NCPD… and for him personally.

The question is—"What do you want?"

There is no such thing as a free lunch; even the greatest benefits come at a great price.

"I'll help you, you help me, and when I need your help in the future, I'll just pay you back once. Don't worry, it'll definitely be within your capabilities."

It sounds simple, but often the simplest things are the hardest to do perfectly.

"If I refuse—"

“I don’t accept rejection.” Leo interrupted him coldly. “I’ll send you the information later. Don’t mess things up, or you’ll lose your head.”

"Click... Beep beep..."

The call was immediately hung up.

Immediately, a red warning pop-up appeared in the AI's eye, indicating that it was being hacked.

Stings looked terrified, and before he could even cry for help, a professional hacker had already breached his personal system.

Fortunately, the hacker only stuffed some data into his data chip and left; otherwise, a simple synaptic melt could have forced him into early retirement.

As a full-fledged NCPD officer, he has to take a professional skills test every year.