When Jingxuan arrived at the factory entrance, two men and two women were already there, chatting.
Dog Brother was picking his nose without a care for his image:
"You put on makeup before going to Lizzie's, but for the factory, haha, come on, we're here for serious business negotiations, and we might even have to fight. And you're still touching up your makeup? Look, the organizer is the last one to arrive."
Jingxuan walked, waving her hand, and Dog Brother's illusion dissipated:
"Aren't you annoying? You said it yourself, serious business. For serious business, of course, you need to pay attention to your appearance. It's about respecting the other party."
Dog Brother's illusion immediately flashed to Lucy's side in the distance, leaning his elbow on her shoulder. Since Dog Brother was just a virtual image and voice, distance made no difference; he wouldn't be unclear just because he was far away:
"Showing our faces to those faceless Maelstrom punks? Is there any point? Look, Lucy didn't even put on makeup."
Jingxuan ignored Dog Brother and greeted her teammates one by one:
"Lucy, you're looking much better after two days."
Lucy's state wasn't really good at all, not physically, but emotionally. She hadn't recovered from the deaths of Maine and Dorio, and her speech was a bit downcast:
"Little A, you're here."
"See? Lucy didn't put on makeup because she wasn't in the mood, nah nah nah."
Jingxuan finally replied to Dog Brother, then spoke in reality:
"By the way, what did you do with Kiwi later?"
Rebecca clasped her hands behind her head: "Hmph! That old hag, we let her go."
This was a bit unexpected for Jingxuan: "Let her go?"
Rebecca twisted her mouth, looking displeased:
"Well, what else could we do? Our Maine's crew, the leader and co-leader are both dead, my brother is dead, Falco retired to focus on his wife and kids, and it's just Lucy and me left. We'll let that old hag Kiwi live."
Lucy added:
"Although Kiwi betrayed us, she was stopped in time and didn't cause us any significant actual harm. Let it go."
Jingxuan understood that Rebecca and Lucy were both very emotional people; even if Rebecca's mouth was foul, her heart was still soft:
"Little A, you're so awesome, why don't we follow you from now on?"
Jingxuan was stunned by Rebecca's words. She had never thought about being a leader or forming a mercenary team.
She was currently only focused on the Relic chip and her mother's whereabouts:
"We'll talk about that later. By the way, David, is your mother still strongly against you being a mercenary?"
David rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger:
"Of course, she was dead set against it at first, but I'm making money and keeping up with my studies. I wasn't stupid enough to discuss it with her; I just told her the results after the missions were done and the money was paid. And I think what I'm doing is right. My mom only works one job now. Oh, right, Sister A, here's the Sandevistan for you!"
Jingxuan reached out and took the ominous item. First James used it and died. Then Maine used it and also died.
Dog Brother: "Don't be afraid, nothing will happen if we use it. We have double the spirit."
Jackie interjected: "Guess what? I'm not sure if Arasaka will treat David like a dish later, but Militech's people have already taken a liking to this kid, throwing him an olive branch and letting him choose his position."
Rebecca walked up, poking David's face hard with her fingertip:
"You stinky brat! If you dare to become a corporate dog, I'll be the first one to take you down. We're Cyberpunks, anti-corporate, okay?"
Lucy seemed to be helping David, pulling Rebecca back:
"Wouldn't it be great if he could really get into a corporation? It would be good for him and good for us too. We're all friends. If David can really work for a corporation, he can take better care of us later."
Jingxuan leaned close to Lucy's ear, whispering softly, the warm breath and tone from her small mouth made Lucy's face flush and her heart pound:
"Friends, huh? Friends who sleep together?"
Lucy was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, shy and bristling:
"Th-that was just a coincidence! I drank too much that day!"
David didn't hear Jingxuan's whisper and looked at Lucy strangely, which made Lucy's gaze dart even more.
Dog Brother: "Don't tell me, David and Lucy are quite a good match, whether it's their looks, their age, or their talents in their respective fields, they're practically a golden couple."
Jingxuan's tone changed, becoming formal:
"Alright, enough chitchat. Shall we go talk to those Maelstrom freaks? Let's have a good chat with Xiao Ping Tou."
Lucy saw her chance to escape the awkwardness:
"Okay! Let's go in now, Rebecca, let's go."
The three women walked towards the All Foods Factory. Jingxuan looked back:
"Jackie, David, I'm counting on you two as external support. If a fight breaks out, just rush in. Although we're outnumbered, if we can form a pincer attack, we'll have some advantage."
"Oh!"
Jackie and David clenched their fists in acknowledgment.
The gate of the All Foods Factory had long been heavily fortified with various obstacles and automated machine gun turrets. There were many places to hide people, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Such a scale, even if a corporate regular army wanted to force their way in, they wouldn't have an easy time.
Maelstrom had converted the underground garage into an entrance and exit. Jingxuan pressed a fixed comms panel with a spider emblem:
"We're here for Royce. Dexter DeShawn sent us to discuss a deal."
A dull electronic voice responded, rigid in tone:
"Go to the server room. They're waiting for you."
The rolling shutter automatically rolled up, and the three women entered.
Rebecca: "Heh, what a warm welcome."
Lucy: "Food factory? I think it's a military fortress."
Jingxuan's vision was pitch black because she had just moved from a sunlit area into a dark environment, and her pupils hadn't adjusted yet. She scanned with her optical scanner and understood what Rebecca and Lucy meant.
This place was truly armed to the teeth. The garage also had automated machine gun turrets and even various proximity mines.
"Maelstrom really likes to tinker, it's not fake."
Jingxuan grumbled, but in her mind, she thought this was nothing. Even without Lucy's help, she could black out all these weapons herself and use them for her own purposes.
However, Maelstrom seemed willing to talk properly; these weapons were currently offline and inactive.
She was only grumbling internally, but Lucy had already started working.
Jingxuan: "Hey, hey, Lucy, you're already hacking? What if they find out?"
Lucy replied softly: "We can't be in too passive a situation. If we don't hack now, we won't have a choice once we're inside. If the negotiations break down, escaping will be extremely difficult. Besides, with these automated weapons guarding, David and Jackie outside won't be able to help, even if they want to. They're both pure fighters and don't know any hacking."
Jingxuan nodded in understanding and joined Lucy, her optical implants flashing red.
Rebecca usually loved to complain, but now she was very well-behaved, not wanting to bother the two hackers.
Although Jingxuan and Lucy were hacking, they couldn't do it too obviously. They still walked slowly and deliberately, not wanting Maelstrom to notice anything unusual through the surveillance cameras.
On the other side, two Maelstrom low-lifes were watching the three women on the surveillance screen, their faces full of lewdness:
"Hey! You think there are three little beauties here? How about I get two and you get one?"
The Maelstrom guy next to him was practically drooling:
"Get lost, you bastard! I'm sick of braindances; I need to get my fill with some real action! You only get one! I want two!"