"Thanks, brother. You're with the Aldecaldos too?"
The middle-aged man at the front was smiling at Cassidy. To him, the leader of this convoy adorned with the Aldecaldos emblem looked every bit the experienced old cowboy.
Cassidy returned the smile, saying, "Cassidy, from the Aldecaldos. You're Saul Bright's people here, right?"
"Mhm... Ah! So you're the guests Saul mentioned! Perfect, I was just about to call and ask why you hadn't arrived yet after finishing up here!"
The man slapped his forehead and laughed. "Saul told me yesterday, your request is to get the people, vehicles, and cargo past the checkpoint, then escort you to the clan's camp? No other demands, right?"
"That's right. These kids need to avoid leaving any border crossing records, and the goods they're carrying can't be traced. After that, we'll all be staying at the clan's camp here for a while."
Cassidy then asked, "Your name is?"
"Norman. These are Panam, Mitch, and Scorpion."
Norman introduced them one by one, then praised, "Mitch and Scorpion are both ex-military. Mitch is great with driving and fixing vehicles. Scorpion's a special forces veteran, skilled in assassination. Panam is one of our own, don't let her youth fool you, she's already an excellent fighter."
Then, Norman's gaze shifted to the group behind Cassidy, kids who looked no older than fourteen, most with Asian features.
Though dressed in nomad gear, the flashy neural tattoos and cybereyes on their faces made it clear these weren't your average kids from a nomad clan.
"Are these from your clan, or did they hire you as a guide?" Norman probed.
Cassidy shrugged and said, "More like we teamed up to come here. And he's the one in charge."
The old cowboy tipped his hat brim toward Mercer, who was quietly observing the situation behind them.
Cassidy's words made Norman widen his eyes in surprise, and Panam and the others behind him exchanged puzzled glances.
But Mercer had already stepped forward with a smile, extending his hand to shake Norman's.
"Mercer, Alex Mercer. A friend of Cassidy's."
"Whoa..." Panam couldn't help muttering under her breath, "This guy looks like just a kid." Mercer's mouth corner twitched slightly as he turned to look. The girl with wheat-colored skin and a few freckles on her face gave an embarrassed smile.
Mitch beside her gave Panam's head a firm pat. "Don't mind her, she just speaks without thinking sometimes, uh, I mean, she's got no filter."
Panam moved her head away irritably but still offered an apologetic smile, saying, "No offense, you just look really young."
"Well, that's not wrong. I am only fourteen."
Mercer laughed, completely unbothered.
"So, why are you all here..." Norman felt compelled to confirm the intentions of this group of mysterious kids.
"Being hunted, we're hoping to find a way to survive in Night City. We'll figure out the rest as we go."
Mercer paused for a moment before continuing, "We won't be freeloaders either. I'm sure you can tell."
He turned slightly and pointed to the chipware socket on the back of his neck.
"We're all netrunners. Young, maybe, but our skills are decent enough."
"We can help with your network infrastructure, equipment upgrades, cybersecurity maintenance, that sort of thing."
"And if you run into any trouble while we're here, we're willing to lend a hand."
Seeing the other kids nodding in agreement, Norman got a general idea of their situation. He wasn't too concerned about them being hunted; it wasn't uncommon among nomads.
"Norman, I've spoken with Saul. These kids are good, they know their limits. They won't cause any trouble."
Cassidy vouched for them. He'd gotten to know the group fairly well on the journey.
Mercer was the type who seemed warm on the outside but was actually pretty reserved. Easygoing and approachable, but not easy to truly connect with.
It wasn't that he was difficult to get along with; it was just hard to know what to talk to him about.
Kyoko was easy to get along with; her optimistic nature and kind heart were obvious at a glance.
Lucy, on the other hand, was more aloof. She didn't seem to trust easily and almost exclusively listened to Mercer, relying on and trusting him deeply.
In contrast, Daichi and Leon had hit it off well with Cassidy.
They were both warm, cheerful kids, he'd almost started treating them like half-sons.
And Daichi and Leon felt the same way about him. After all, aside from Mercer, who was a bit of an odd one, everyone who'd escaped from Arasaka needed some emotional support.
But overall, Cassidy could vouch for them; they were good kids.
"What I say doesn't really matter... but Saul's already setting up tents for you at the camp, so I think it should be fine."
"Since we've run into each other, wait here while we clean this up, then we'll head back together."
"Just our luck today. This area's usually deserted, but we ran into a few Raffen Shiv out scavenging."
Norman sighed, then warmly called out, "Panam, chat with them for a bit. I need to patch up the tire here."
"Scorpion, keep an eye out in case the Raffen Shiv have backup."
"I'll search these Raffen Shiv bastards, see if they've got anything valuable, might as well make some extra eddies out of this."
Mitch said with a laugh. He was a balding middle-aged white guy, with an M-shaped receding hairline and a circular bald patch on the back of his head.
Mercer guessed he might have British ancestry.
Scorpion seemed somewhat cold, wearing a hood that revealed half of his stern, hardened face. He watched Mercer cautiously, scrutinizing him for a good while before suddenly asking, "Was it you who hacked their vehicle earlier?"
"Yeah, their vehicle systems are a decade old. Wasn't hard to breach."
Mercer's casual tone made Scorpion nod slightly. He turned to Panam and said, "Don't underestimate him. Even the netrunners I had back in the military couldn't breach those vehicles as fast as he did. He's genuinely skilled."
Scorpion kept one more thought to himself; those cars seemed to malfunction almost simultaneously, and from the looks of it, more than one quickhack had been uploaded at the same time.
Only a netrunner with top-tier 'Intelligence' could pull off such effortless simultaneous breaches.
If some less sharp netrunners tried the same, their brains would be steaming by now.
"Is that so?"
Panam now regarded Mercer with considerably more respect. Scorpion rarely praised anyone, but she just waved it off.
"Alright, kids, lend a hand. Check the cars, scavenge the battlefield, then we'll get you across the border."
Lucy and the others set to cleaning up the scene with practiced ease, looking no different from these seasoned nomads.
The Aldecaldos, who had been observing them, couldn't help but nod in quiet approval.
Mercer, meanwhile, walked over to Panam and took a moment to study her up close.
The Panam now seemed no older than eighteen or nineteen. Compared to the wild, mature woman from the game, her skin was fairer and smoother, giving her a more vibrant, youthful energy.
As for her figure, it was just like in the game, around 170 cm tall, with curves in all the right places and long legs. Even more striking than in the game, she radiated a sense of youthful vitality.
"How do you plan to get us through? Cassidy must have told you, we don't want to leave any immigration records, and we've got some tricky black-market goods that can't be discovered."
Mercer asked, while Panam, who was inspecting the engine of a Raffen Shiv vehicle, just chuckled confidently. "This is our specialty as nomads.
Simple. Our car will go first. When we reach the border checkpoint, you'll queue up with us.
When it's our turn, I'll go in and hand the payment to the inspector in charge, 500 eurodollars per vehicle, including people and cargo. Then, based on what I pay, he'll let you cross one by one."
After finishing, Panam smirked, "Well? Simpler than you expected?"
"Indeed... They won't inspect the goods or check identities?"
Mercer double-checked; this wasn't something to take lightly, which was why he'd asked Cassidy to arrange for these people to meet them outside the border in the first place.
"Relax. Unless there's some incident that forces a lockdown from above, it's really that straightforward.
This is Night City. They don't care where you're from or what you're carrying.
You know Dogtown? That's in Pacifica, Night City.
Word is, even Militech Centaur armor gets airdropped straight in there. You think smuggling a few small items compares to that?
Besides, we Aldecaldos aren't pushovers. If they take our money, they'd better let us through. If they try to cause trouble, we won't just stand by and let them seize our goods."
Mentioning Dogtown, Panam's expression turned sour.
"Thanks to that asshole, ahem, I mean that New United States traitor Colonel Hansen, all the high-end stuff gets airdropped through Dogtown now.
Us nomads have seen our income drop a lot. Hardly any big jobs come our way anymore. So those checkpoints won't waste time either. Pay the fee, move on; they won't say a word of nonsense."
Mercer nodded, understanding, but still cautiously pressed further. "What if someone leaked our personal data and asked these border stations to pay extra attention to us?"
"Damn, what kind of trouble did you guys get into to be this paranoid?"
Panam sounded a bit impatient but still thought it over seriously before saying, "Alright then, you kids ride in Norman's big van.
His van's been modified with a special metal layer inside. The inspection beams at the border stations can't penetrate it, on their scanners it will just look like a black void.
Load your car and goods inside, stay quiet, and leave the rest to us.
Once you're through, wait by the roadside. We'll make another trip to bring your car in. That's it."
Mercer nodded at Panam's words.
"Alright, we'll move the stuff in soon.
Until I secure new identities, it's better to be safe than sorry, to be honest, we're in pretty deep trouble.
Whether it's the people or the goods, if discovered, it could mean serious trouble."
"Got it. I won't ask more."
Panam said, then called out to Norman, who was nearly done patching the tire, "Norman, you drive later. Use your precious van to get them through. They need your vehicle to cross."
Norman caught on immediately. "Understood."
He glanced at the Raffen Shiv vehicles and said, "Alright then, Mitch, Scorpion, I called some folks from the family. They'll come later to take these cars away.
Except for the one with a dead engine, the others can be fixed up and sold.
You two help them drive the cars over. After we get them across the border, I'll bring you back to get your own vehicle."
Mercer's group had three cars in total, Cassidy driving one, Scorpion and Mitch each driving one, just enough to bring them all through. Once across, Mercer and the others could drive themselves to the camp in the eastern part of the city.
Since they were entering from the south, they could even take a detour through Night City, giving Mercer a chance to see the city he'd been dreaming about for so long.
"Alright."
Scorpion, a man of few words, started helping Mercer and the others move their things.
When they opened the van's cargo hold, they were startled by how packed it was.
Were those all high-end Arasaka refrigerated cases with code locks? That was rare.
But they stayed professional and didn't ask a single question, just loaded everything into Norman's Columbus van.
Mercer ran his hand over the van's metal body. The reinforced frame seemed coated with a special black material, probably what allowed it to evade the security scanners at checkpoints.
Soon, the main supplies were transferred to the van.
Mercer's netrunner cyberware, harvested along the way, including valuable cyberware from that Arasaka agent, was bundled together and stored in refrigeration.
He planned to repair and sell it later. Also among the items were several professional laptops bearing the Arasaka logo that Mercer had brought.
As for the rest, firearms seized on the road, valuable gold jewelry, electronic components, and the like, they were left piled in the original vehicles.
Mercer intended to offload all that junk at the Aldecaldos camp. After that, he could start by making some money, then find a reliable cyberware doctor to complete his modifications.
He needed to install the top-tier netrunner cyberware he had been treasuring all this way, and see if he could add anything else while he was at it.
Once everything was packed, Mercer went over the details of the operation one last time with the others, then climbed into the cargo van already filled with supplies.
—--
Sitting in that cramped space, Mercer's heart began to race, not from claustrophobia, but because...
He was finally arriving!
The city that had haunted his dreams, Night City!
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Bonus chapter @ 900 power stones.
If you're a fan of Hunter × Hunter, you might enjoy my other translation. HxH: Dying Makes Me Stronger. It's a hidden gem fr.