Chapter 237 - 219: Assignment: Pursue the Monster

The explosion at the border wall was big news, impossible to hide.

A processed video surfaced and even circulated within the NCPD—

The blurred figure in the processed video did little to diminish the intensity of its content.

In the video, someone drove off a cliff, crashed onto the top of a Mo Xi, and then manually opened up the armored vehicle.

Standing atop the Mo Xi’s armor, they used whatever was at hand: machine guns, technical rifles, even the Mo Xi’s hatch cover—

That hatch cover was flung precisely onto someone, welding half their body onto the armored vehicle’s armor plating.

What defines a butcher? This is the definition of a butcher.

And the NCPD was terrified, because they knew military technology wouldn’t intervene—the butcher was coming to town.

So, for work purposes, the NCPD invested a lot of resources into restoring the video, specifically to analyze the butcher’s fierce methodology.

During the restoration process, they noticed that the guy had something in his mouth—an experienced narcotics unit captain became interested, suspecting the person was high on drugs.

What kind of drugs could be so potent?

Excited, NCPD immediately poured more resources and time into the restoration analysis, hoping for a significant breakthrough.

However, after a painstaking video restoration...

They found out it might just be a chicken bone.

This discovery silenced the NCPD; it completely failed to unravel the mystery behind the butcher’s prowess. The chief pondered over the nickname given to him within the department hundreds of times, feeling the fear of his subordinates, and then it hit him—

Why were they studying the video? To dispel fear, to find a way to defeat the butcher.

But a method of defeat is not something you find overnight by merely watching a video, right?

There is, however, a way to dispel fear:

Rather than strengthening oneself, it’s easier to disparage someone else. He likes to eat, doesn’t he? Let’s stop calling him a butcher.

Why not call him a cook instead?

Thus, a new file was added within the NCPD:

[Subject for Confirmation: Desert Cook]

[Weakness: Suspected need for substantial food intake before taking action]

.....

Changing a name might alleviate fear but only marginally, perhaps over a meal.

When faced with the real person, everyone will still be scared shitless.

"That’s the origin of the nickname, and it’s an internal piece of NCPD information. Don’t spread it around; consider it part of the down payment to you," said Jack as he stood by the dining table, his expression grim, causing Old Han to tremble, afraid that the big guy might suddenly lose it and devour the fried chicken in the shop before smashing up the place.

V also had a cool expression, while her other hand subtly pinched... Lille’s thigh under the table.

Lille’s mouth twitched, and he swiftly activated his Prosthetics to nudge V’s hand away.

Of course, none of this was apparent to the two cops sitting across the table; they just thought the three of them were incredibly serious and intimidating.

So much pressure.

"Ahem..." Lille coughed twice, grabbed a can of cola from the table, and took a sip. "We’re quite interested in your case, but why didn’t you issue the task through a middleman?

This might complicate things."

Reaver had explained to Old Han why they hadn’t gone through middlemen but instead took the job directly from the NCPD’s bounty website:

He believed there were still people in this city who had faith in law and order.

Old Han burst out laughing, betting 5 euros that the person taking the job was just messing with him to dull his edge.

To a certain extent, Old Han was mocking Reaver’s earlier explanation: what kind of mercenary in this city actually believes in law and order? I laugh at the very mention of law.

At this point, yes, someone was indeed not playing Reaver—they had arrived at the restaurant.

However... to say these three were here to abide by the law, Old Han could swallow the plates on the table and still wouldn’t believe it.

After some thought, Reaver still said, "I believe there are people willing to help the city maintain order... I mean, upholding at least the most basic moral line.

As for the middlemen, the job is complex and messy, and there are few leads; no middleman wanted it."

Lille calmly responded, "Then you’ve found the right people. We’re here to support the NCPD in maintaining social order and good morals, officers, don’t judge a book by its cover.

And by the way, my brother has his own name—he is called the Big Shot."

Isn’t this judging a book by its cover!

Old Han took back his hand from Reaver’s shoulder and carefully pulled out a tissue from the box on the table, wiping his mouth and hands.

Reaver seemed relatively calm, his eyes even lighting up with flames, "I know you guys, you are... the idiotic Burger Kings."

"...Nope," Lille shook his head.

"It’s Burger King dealing in dumb Big Shots!" Old Han corrected him righteously!

Kidding, the word on the street was that the big shots with complicated names didn’t like their names pronounced wrong.

With such a brain-dead yet complex name, how much must these three psychos... no, these three big brothers hate having their names misread?

So, Old Han called out to the restaurant owner, "Tom! Three Burger Kings, please!"

"I don’t eat burgers, let’s have some fried chicken instead." Lille shook his head; the last Burger King he had on the street tasted mediocre and was even a bit dry.

Fried chicken is better than Burger King.

Old Han’s brain started to overload as Reaver patted him, signaling him to keep the cool expected of a cop.

"Since you’ve taken on the job and made it here, you’re not here to mess around. Let’s talk business."

"Please— but I still have to say, what’s with these freakin’ weird names."

Reaver looked up at Lille: why are you able to say such things?

Of course, he didn’t voice it out loud but silently took out a Separation Chip from his pocket and pushed it towards Lille:

"This time, we’re investigating a kidnapping case by the Tiger Claw Gang.

These beasts are grabbing people off the streets in their patrol cars to shoot films for them, and the type of films... is on this."

Reaver handed over two Black Superdreams, one titled "Acid Bath", the other "Hardcore Shaving Stick".

As he handed out the discs, Reaver’s anger surged again:

"These beasts, the youngest victim is only 15 years old!"

It’s well-known that filming Super Dreams is a process of recording the biological state of the filmer and storing it as data.

This records the characteristics experienced by the filmer during the event; the more advanced the recording equipment, the more detailed the recording, the closer to the actual experience.

From the description, it’s not hard to grasp how thrilling such obscene Super Dreams are when filmed, and how well they sell. As people increasingly become desensitized, some deviants start to crave for more bloody and violent content and then get hooked.

Clearly, these two Black Superdreams are of that extremely depraved type.

Without even looking, Lille knew what was inside: the first disc was about taking a bath, the second disfiguring a body.

He reached out for the Separation Chip; V also curiously reached for the Black Superdreams, so Lille casually slid the discs towards himself, leaving V grasping at air.

Lille inserted the Separation Chip and asked, "Any suspects in mind?"

"Yes— there’s a pervert in the NCPD database called the Righteous Jotaro. Actually, I’m certain it’s not suspicion; I’m sure he’s connected to these crimes!

But the NCPD always gives excuses like lack of manpower or other reasons, leaving us knowing there’s such a criminal but completely unable to catch him!"

Reaver was visibly agitated.

Just how rampant is crime in Night City?

The NCPD has many criminals recorded, most of whom are gang members. If you have a Prosthetic Eye linked to the NCPD database, you can see killers and rapists everywhere on the streets.

Yet NCPD officers might be posted just 100 meters away at a street corner from these criminals.

The criminal network in Night City is complex, and the number of cases is staggering. It’s undeniable that the NCPD is understaffed, but it’s open to question how many cases they genuinely don’t want to investigate.

Since Reaver used the word "brush off," it’s clear that indeed someone doesn’t want to dig into this matter.

Lille waved his hand dismissively: "This job’s easy; got any leads?"

Reaver nodded: "My informant bought these Black Superdreams from a guy named Lenny, we could track this Lenny down.

Or if you can manage, you could also extract information about the filming location from the Black Superdreams.

I suggest we split up and cover both."

"Analysis of Black Superdreams... let us handle both sides, we’re quick with results."

Reaver was a bit surprised: he had never heard of mercenaries taking on more work voluntarily.

He glanced at Old Han, looking for some advice, but Old Han remained silent as if he didn’t know what to say.

So Reaver nodded: "I have no objections if you’re willing. But can I hear how you plan to go about it?"

"Street tactics, are you sure you want to hear?"

"...Alright then, I’ll wait for your news, but please try not to cause too much damage."

"How could we, we never mess around." Lille joked, "You can completely trust our professionalism.

In fact, we’ve already cooperated with the NCPD, you can check the bounty claim records."

Reaver did not respond; what he worried about was precisely this: Burger King had collected nearly a hundred bounties related to the Night Wandering Ghost all at once!

But by this point, he couldn’t find anyone better for the job—and he wanted to get to know these three daring blokes a bit more.

"Alright then, I’ll head back first and get you a short-term bounty exemption. Other officers who recognize you will see the exemption."

Having said this, Reaver paused, looking earnestly at Lille: "Gentlemen, I am aware of what you’re capable of, and I’m no fool, I know you may have other intentions.

But I hope you take this seriously, they are not like you.

The Tiger Claw Gang’s business is blood-soaked and brutal, only the filthiest individuals would turn their sights to those without any power to resist, slaughter them like livestock, and then film and sell the Super Dreams.

Righteous Jotaro is a monster without a conscience."

Lille smiled and removed the Separation Chip from his neck:

"That’s why you’ve got the right people for this, we’re professionals at it."