"Bastard! Get your filthy hands off me!"
Rebecca swatted furiously at the hand pressing against her forehead, glaring up at V—who stood a full head taller than her. Her fierce look carried little real intimidation.
"Don't forget who saved your life, you damn woman."
V nodded once, then casually shoved the "little runt" aside. She turned back to Arthur trailing behind her. "Maybe we really should build a shooting range. Not a bad idea."
"You could just grab a few empty bottles from my place. Trust me, with your aim... targets that small would be more than enough."
Arthur's tone was laced with teasing as he scanned the surroundings.
It was just a modest three-story building, but according to V, the basement extended five full levels below.
Considering its location, the purpose of this place wasn't hard to grasp. When the corporate war broke out, the front lines were chaotic, and the main battlefield—Pacifica—wasn't far from Westbrook.
This was likely a fortress Night City had prepared in advance. Given the war at the time, it was absolutely necessary.
In that conflict, the New United States' aim was to preserve Night City at all costs—not let it end up a ruin like Chicago.
So they hadn't deployed strategic weapons inside the city. By the war's end, they even abandoned the bulk of their deployed personnel just to appease the enraged citizens of Night City.
Those CIA agents are still holed up in the trash heap that is Dogtown to this day...
"This place... who'd you get it from?"
The three circled the compound a few times. It really was a good spot—secluded but not crude. Most of the equipment still functioned, and the most valuable thing of all was that standalone network server.
Only a physically isolated network could truly be called independent.
There was no way something like this could have been secured with just a few people's pocket money...
Raising an eyebrow, V smirked, clearly satisfied. "Funny thing is, even though I'd love to see Arasaka go down right now, we have them to thank for this place ending up in our hands."
They'd returned to the ground floor. An entire underground level had been dedicated to housing that massive server. It was badly damaged, but after some isolated repairs... it could still be brought online.
"This was Arasaka's—military classified.
During the destruction process... the final disposal report landed in the counterintelligence department's hands. By coincidence, my team was assigned to verify it."
She glanced toward the battered gate. "There's nothing tricky here. Once the classified data was destroyed, the exterior property was transferred to Subspace Corporation, just another ordinary building on paper.
In short... it has no ties to Arasaka anymore.
All we had to do was spend a little to lease it."
"Arasaka won't come looking for it, right?"
Arthur instinctively furrowed his brow, his voice gravelly.
V shook her head with confidence. "Relax. Arasaka has countless abandoned sites like this.
Forget Arasaka—every corporation does. They've discarded so many bases they can't even keep track of them all.
When they abandon something, it's thorough. All ties cut, all files wiped clean on the spot."
She clapped her hands lightly and announced with a flourish, "So... this place is ours now."
"Looks like you're pretty pleased with your new shabby place... but honestly... this place isn't much better than those half-built wrecks in Dogtown."
Before Arthur could finish pouring cold water, V slung an arm around his shoulder and cut him off.
"It'll get better, yeah?
Our security's already way up—especially the network side. That alone's worth a toast, don't you think?"
V clearly had Arthur figured out—aside from sticking his nose in trouble, alcohol was his other vice.
"Right... weren't we supposed to be getting to work?"
Arthur steered the topic back.
At that, Rebecca—who had looked bored a moment ago—snapped to attention, her wide red eyes locking on them.
"Yeah... truth is, if we want jobs, just about every fixer would take us in.
But I'm really not in the mood to keep playing house with those damn Scavs."
V rubbed her chin in thought.
"With the skills we've got now... trust me, we can aim higher."
"As long as we don't get ourselves killed."
Arthur's raspy voice carried its usual weight. He shot a sharp glance at Rebecca, whose excitement was hard to miss.
"Stirring up the big players is like kicking a hornet's nest. That's never fun."
"Ha... true enough. So we stay cautious, keep the trouble far away. And besides, the big players all have enemies of their own."
V's expression hardly changed, her confidence burning bright—dazzling as her looks.
That confidence was earned. She'd been winning for far too long. Whether in Arasaka or as an Edgerunner, she had survived every crisis. Even against the giant that was Arasaka, she'd come out alive and thriving.
"So? What exactly is the job... You'd better lay it out for me."
Arthur's question brought V back down to earth, her voice carrying a faint note of uncertainty.
"Jackie said he's already got a lead. If nothing goes wrong, he'll be here tonight."
By the time Arthur dragged himself out of bed, the sun was already at its peak. Nightfall wasn't far off.
"Hmph...
Let's see what the guy has to say.
If it weren't for that damn 'thing,' we might have to ask his mom to drag him back home for a while."
Arthur's tone had taken on a quiet edge of menace without him realizing it.
"Relax. Jackie won't let us down."
Across from him, V looked like she was holding back a laugh, but her words still defended her brother.
Thinking back to Jackie's eager face, even she couldn't help feeling curious.
They were all seasoned mercs, had dealt with corps more than once. What kind of job could get him this invested...
...
(60 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser