Chapter 38 - 36 Good Morning, Mother of Night City! (Posted Early Morning Today)

"Good morning, Night City!"

"Yesterday’s dead man’s lottery had a final count of a full 30!"

"Thanks to the endless gang wars..."

Click.

Jack turned off the radio:

"Good my ass, what a load of bullshit. We had more than 30 people chasing us just yesterday, and I’m not sure if even 3 survived..."

"Lotteries are scams, dead man’s lottery my foot. The only ones who win are high-up NCPD officers, all insiders.

You know, people say they control the numbers..."

V, in agreement but looking rough, was covered in wounds, her hand holding the gun was a bloody mess.

Now she looked like a wanderer, her clothes were all tattered.

The three of them had found an abandoned house in Evil Land to rest for the night. The good thing about the place was the sofa and bed.

The bad thing was it was filled with trash, making them feel like trash themselves.

"And you have the nerve to talk?" Jack wanted to say angrily, but he was too exhausted.

"Why wouldn’t I? Doesn’t this get you pumped?"

Jack crossed his arms and said irritably, "This was supposed to be a smuggling job! We should’ve gotten through without a hitch! Instead, Military Science and Arasaka both came down on us, and there was even a Mo Xi!

Damn it, not even dealing with cyber-psychos needs that kind of firepower!"

"Then you better ask for more money—because we’re still alive, aren’t we?"

V used some effort to stand up from the couch, feeling good, and patted Jack on the shoulder: "Alright, brother, to be honest, we did use your clearance documents, but look at us now?

We made it! And don’t worry about paying me, you’re too honest for me to let you do this for free."

As she finished, her prosthetic eye flashed blue, and Jack instantly received a message.

[Transfer: +5000 Euro]

Jack was stunned: "Whoa... that much money?"

The transfer left Jack dazed—he remembered he was supposed to be the one commissioning.

Jack quickly came to: "Wait, so you guys..."

[Transfer: +5000 Euro]

V threw her arms around Jack: "Come on, brother, you did the heavy lifting, you just haven’t realized it yet. Once we move this cargo, we’ll make even more. What’s there not to like?

Exciting life, exciting income."

Jack was speechless, the de-escalation drug called "Okin" was really kicking in.

Plus, this job wasn’t worth that much anyway.

Jack sighed: "You know, V, you’re not such an asshole after all."

"Look at you talking—let’s move once Lille wakes up."

"That guy looks like he’s about to keel over." Jack was blunt, "It was because you two were so out of it last night that the car got wrecked smashing in. If I wasn’t awake, the car would’ve been totaled."

"Well, that’s something he should explain himself—but don’t underestimate him, we couldn’t do without him."

Lille was actually awake, but he couldn’t move or even open his eyes.

Ever since he implanted that weird Si Anweisitan in Atlanta, his whole body hurt.

And once he used it, his body would go into excruciating pain and freeze up like a corpse.

Fortunately, he had a workaround, something that should make one go insane didn’t affect him much mentally—a strange feeling.

Feeling the stiffness fade, Lille was overwhelmed by a numbing sensation.

Listening to V and Jack’s conversation, he had a strange feeling—were these two’s lines slightly different than before?

If I switched places with you, I’d show you what it means to have money?

"Ha—"

As his body returned to normal, he took a deep breath and then exhaled.

"Finally awake—don’t go dying before we even get to Night City." V’s words sounded harsh, but it was clear she genuinely cared about Lille.

"Can’t die—though I feel like it, where are we?"

Jack replied, "An abandoned farm in Evil Land. V said to wait until you woke up to decide."

Rubbing his temples, Lille asked, "Did you check the goods? I mean your stuff."

They both shook their heads, but after a glance at each other, Jack decided—screw it.

The owner wouldn’t want their package opened, but at this point, who cares about the owner.

The smuggling job was worth only 4000 Euro, and with bribe expenses just 5000, risking life for that?

Jack wasn’t dumb—better to find a fence and sell it themselves.

As for Lille, he only speculated there might be something other than lizards in that box due to the butterfly effect.

But... there were indeed lizards in the box.

When Jack touched the box’s switch, Arasaka’s logo appeared on the cargo info tag.

"Holy shit, an extinct lizard! Looks like it came from the Lesser Antilles! We hit the jackpot!"

"So..." V had another question, "Arasaka chased us miles for a broken lizard and even clashed with Military Science?"

"This isn’t just a broken lizard, it’s an endangered species..." Jack stopped midway, "But yeah, it still doesn’t add up."

Lille kept rubbing his head, trying to piece things together.

If he didn’t figure this out, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

"Based on the information we have, I can only guess that Military Science robbing us attracted Arasaka’s attention.

Arasaka might have been watching Military Science for a while, waiting to see what smugglers they mess with, hoping to intercept?"

Jack asked, "Why would they watch Military Science?"

"...I guess... maybe because of Atlanta. Arasaka probably thinks what happened in Atlanta is severe, considering the official news said Kantao attacked Military Science.

If we follow that line, Arasaka might currently need dirt on Military Science or similar information badly.

But... this still raises more questions—why do they need this information so urgently?"

Lille massaged his temples and suddenly remembered something—

In the upcoming year 2077, Arasaka was exposed in a scandal; they installed an electromagnetic catapult on the Moon—

But in this world, only the European Space Agency was permitted to set up and operate such devices.

Military Technology discovered and reported this to the European Space Agency, causing a threatening investigation from Europe.

Currently, it was early 2076... maybe Arasaka caught wind of something? That’s why they’re likely so sensitively following any Military Science news?

But... Military Science’s biggest scandal involves them secretly messing with the Black Wall alongside NUSA, and what does that have to do with me?

This world has too many conspiracies and deceptions, being in it, mysteries don’t lessen just because Lille was a traveler, on the contrary, the butterfly effect might stir a storm.

"On the surface, I think this theory holds water... but, whatever, guessing doesn’t help here.

For now, let’s discuss how to handle these stolen goods—first the lizard, who do you plan to sell it to?"

Jack shrugged, "The only fence I trust is the Father—oh right, I guess you didn’t know..."

"Who says that?" V suddenly spoke, "Jack, actually, I’m also from Haywood, I’ve got good connections with the Father."

Jack was dumbfounded.

He pointed at V, then at Lille.

"So... you’re not even wanderers, you’re from Night City?"

Lille spread his hands, "Exactly, alright, stop overthinking it. Let’s sell the goods to the Father. But let’s wait a bit before handling the smart weapons.

Just in time, with you connecting us, I’ve got a few questions for him."

So... from beginning to end, was I the only one kept in the dark?

Jack looked at the smirking V and the indifferent Lille—

He suddenly realized, back when they were on the other side of the high wall, they were already in Night City again.

All swindlers.

Ah, Night City, good my ass good.