A bounty of 100 million eurodollars was enough to drive anyone into a frenzy. People asked one after another: Who is Lucy?
Clearly, not many knew her before this, but after this incident, she was thoroughly famous.
However, although Lucy wasn't famous, she wasn't entirely unknown either. She had worked as a mercenary for a while, so there were certainly quite a few people at the Afterlife who knew her.
It only took half a day for these people to find Maine's crew; if they couldn't find Lucy, finding them was simple enough.
"Have you thought it over? Work with us. The 100 million eurodollar bounty is all yours; we just want to take Lucy away."
"Relax, we won't hurt her. We just want to figure out exactly what Saburo Arasaka is planning."
Inside the Afterlife, the fixer Faraday, whom Maine's crew had worked with before, had found them. Obviously, he came for Lucy's whereabouts.
As early as the moment the bounty announcement appeared, they realized something was wrong. Maine wanted to get his teammates out quickly—while they couldn't find Lucy, finding him was all too easy.
Facts proved this to be true. Everyone in the Afterlife knew Lucy had a close relationship with their squad. However, they were too slow; the surroundings had already been blocked off by other mercenaries, preventing their leave.
Saburo Arasaka's bounty didn't just affect ordinary people; the first and fastest to act were always the mega-corporations. Their resources and intelligence were incomparable to ordinary people.
"Whatever Arasaka can give you, we at Militech can give the same. Cooperate with us to catch Lucy, and the 100 million is yours."
"As long as you can call her over, I can pay you an extra one million eddies upfront."
The speaker was the woman behind Faraday. After she spoke, Faraday shut his mouth and stepped back; clearly, she was the one truly calling the shots.
Meredith Stout, a manager from Militech. She had received temporary orders to assist Faraday in investigating Lucy.
"People from Militech? What on earth did Lucy do to make all these mega-corporations make a move?"
Maine looked around expressionlessly. The entire Afterlife bar was surrounded; these top-tier mercenaries were now all his opponents.
Arasaka plus Militech—these two mega-corporations were arguably the strongest forces in Night City. Being targeted by both of them at the same time... Maine knew he had no choice.
"I understand..."
Maine lowered his head, hiding his eyes in the shadows.
...
...
"Beep beep beep!"
"Is this Miss Lucy? We have Maine and the others. If you don't want them to die, how about meeting us at the Afterlife?"
On the AV, Lucy received the call from Maine, but the voice on the other end was Faraday's—a plain and simple threat.
Soon, she saw the image of Maine, half-dead, alongside the others, and fell into silence.
Reason told her this was obviously a trap and she shouldn't go easily, but emotion told her she had to save them.
"Maine counts as an old friend. It's just a bunch of mercenaries; trust that we'll be fine."
Seeming to guess her internal conflict, David pulled her into his embrace and comforted her.
Hesitation was the worst enemy at a time like this. David knew they would definitely choose to save them in the end, so he made the decision directly.
V also expressed agreement. They weren't the type to leave people to die; or rather, they valued their friends highly. This friendship was very expensive in Night City.
Moreover, David expressed that he was currently very powerful; he was confident he wouldn't lose to any mercenary.
"It takes about thirty minutes to get there from here. You stall them; we're going to save Maine."
"But..." Lucy wanted to say this was too dangerous. The three of them against the entire Afterlife?
Lucy originally wanted to save them, but with Maine's squad on one side and David and V's safety on the other, she was indecisive.
"Don't forget, David is no longer an ordinary person. Besides, their target is you; they definitely won't leak the news widely. The mercenaries surely want to take the lion's share for themselves."
Able to single-handedly take down a ninja—even if relying on a sneak attack and the opponent's carelessness—David's strength was far beyond the norm. Top-tier mercenaries would find it hard to pose a threat to him.
For a 100 million bounty, there couldn't be too many mercenaries who knew her intel. In other words, they would only be facing those guys at the Afterlife.
As the top mercenaries in Night City, their strength wasn't weak, but that was only relative to other mercenaries. They weren't on the same level as David, who had reached the standard of a ninja.
"Then it's decided. Save Maine's squad, and then... we go to Arasaka Tower ourselves to meet Saburo Arasaka!"
David knew there was no point in hiding like this forever. They were up against the entire Night City. It was better to charge directly into Arasaka Tower; he actually wanted to see exactly what Saburo Arasaka was planning.
The AV sped rapidly toward the Afterlife. David closed his eyes to rest, feeling his body restored to its peak. A fierce battle awaited them.
...
...
"Is this sufficient?" After hanging up the phone, Maine looked at Faraday and the others.
"Not a bad performance. One million eddies have been transferred to your account."
Meredith spent money without any heartache. It wasn't her money anyway; it was corporate funding approved from above, with no skimming to be done.
However, Maine knew the game. Just as he received the transfer notification, he looked at Meredith and transferred two hundred thousand back.
The two tacitly said nothing, but clearly, her attitude toward Maine's squad improved significantly. She waved her hand, ordering someone to untie them.
"Now we can be considered partners. Relax, as long as we catch Lucy, you won't be short on money."
Militech didn't lack this 100 million. They wanted Lucy herself. They were extremely curious about why Saburo Arasaka was doing such a thing.
Everything would have to wait until Lucy was found. Whatever Arasaka wanted to do, they wouldn't let them do it.
The enemy's desire was what they had to stop; Militech's logic was that simple.
Normally, there was nothing wrong with this, but this was an abnormal situation. Lucy herself didn't know what Saburo Arasaka saw in her.
Time passed minute by minute. The half-hour mark was almost up. Maine's squad exchanged glances and quietly shrank behind the crowd.
"Ding—" A crisp metallic sound rang out at the door, attracting the attention of many.
Immediately after, a violent sonic boom and intense light enveloped the entire bar. David had thrown a dozen flashbangs at once, precisely hitting the mercenaries blocking the exit.
"I heard you were looking for me?" Lucy appeared alone at the doorway; under the intense light, the crowd could only see the silhouette of her body.
But that voice was unmistakable. It was their target, the 100 million eurodollar Miss Lucy.
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