The plan was set, and the two wasted no time, preparing to act immediately.
But just before they set off, a communication came through Arthur's neural link.
It was Okada Wakako; perhaps she had a job for him.
Arthur answered the call, ready to refuse, but after hearing the content, he immediately swallowed the words he was about to say.
"A rich man's daughter was kidnapped by Scavengers to a stronghold. Actually, he's not that rich, just a middle manager at a company.
Now, this poor father has scraped together 100,000 euros and came to me, hoping to rescue his daughter.
I thought about it, this kind of job needs a steady person, and you're quite suitable, so I came to ask you.
100,000 euros, that's already the father's limit. You can use it however you want; the father just wants his daughter back alive."
After listening carefully to her words, Arthur suddenly thought of something and asked.
"You said, where was that girl taken by the Scavengers?"
"To a back-alley clinic in Kabukicho. It's funny, in this damned city, nine out of ten clinics are Scavengers."
The old lady's tone was as calm as ever, as if she wasn't the one discussing a transaction.
Although he already had some guesses, Arthur still asked Wakako for the exact address.
"Although I know this might be a bit out of line, for some reason, I need to know the girl's specific address before I can decide whether to take the job or not."
Arthur's voice was met with silence. After a long while, Wakako's aged voice finally spoke.
"Though we haven't known each other long, strangely, I'm willing to share some of my limited trust with you.
Here's the address."
Receiving the information from his neural link, Arthur immediately compared it with the information in the chip.
He indeed found that clinic among the supply points.
"I'll take this job, Madam."
Without further hesitation, Arthur directly responded to Wakako, who, satisfied with the reply, ended the communication.
Immediately after, Arthur received the 100,000 euro transfer. He casually gave Jackie 50,000, and Arthur decided to act immediately.
"Jackie, Wakako gave me a rescue mission, and the target is one of those supply points.
We'll go looking for trouble under the guise of the mission, so we won't be suspected."
Arthur briefly explained the situation, and the two headed towards the back-alley clinic.
With the cover of this mission, the operation immediately became perfect.
You know, half of Night City's mercenary missions involve rescuing people from those disgusting Scavengers.
With this layer of cover, the slaughterhouse would definitely not notice anything unusual, after all, such things happen too often.
Leaving the clinic, Jackie couldn't wait to get on his beloved motorcycle, and he turned around to pat the back seat.
"Come on, Arthur."
Arthur glanced at him, his large rear almost covering the entire motorcycle.
"Forget it, Jackie, I also have a surprise for you."
As he spoke, a light flashed in his eyes, and then, a car slowly drove up from a distance.
It was an old Mahesupplon FS3. That description isn't very vivid, but its nickname perfectly summed up its characteristics—the Old Toaster.
This car was even more unusual; its cheap plastic and fabric exterior was already in a terrible state of decay, exposing thin, flimsy metal.
From the outside, its size seemed quite spacious, as if it could hold a lot of things, but it was best not to pretend to be something it wasn't.
After all, its engine sounded like an old man's cough in the middle of the night; he was genuinely afraid it would spew out alcohol.
"This is..."
Jackie looked at the scene before him in shock, a Mahesupplon freshly dug out of a grave.
"What can this do? It's practically rotting."
"It can drive! Stop talking nonsense, get in and drive."
Arthur urged impatiently.
"How about we split up and meet there?"
Jackie asked tentatively, struggling.
A joke! Not riding his brand new ARCH Nazaré, but driving this piece of junk.
This world must have gone mad.
"No!"
The voice was resolute.
Hearing Arthur's words, Jackie couldn't help but retort.
"Why not? I can wait for you nearby."
"You want a reason? It's simple, because I can't drive."
In the end, Jackie still got into the driver's seat of the Old Toaster, as Arthur's reason was unassailable.
The two set off north towards Kabukicho.
Listening to the various strange noises coming from the car, Jackie finally couldn't hold back and asked with a resentful look in his eyes.
"Where did you find this? It's not going to fall apart halfway, is it?"
"Don't worry, you can try to drive it at a hundred miles an hour.
This car cost me 1,700 euros."
Arthur was sitting in the passenger seat. As he spoke, the rearview mirror on Arthur's side suddenly fell off.
He leaned over to look and saw it was just a loose bracket. Arthur reached out and firmly pushed it back, and the rearview mirror returned to its original position.
"See, don't just look at how rotten this car is; it's not without its advantages. At least it rarely needs repairs."
After a bumpy ride, the two finally arrived in Kabukicho.
This place has the same positioning as Japantown in Westbrook, except the former is located in the slum of Watson, while the latter is in prosperous Westbrook.
It was also for this reason that Kabukicho was extremely chaotic and shrouded in a foul stench.
Watson had always been a contradictory place, having once been glorious but now synonymous with poverty.
This contradiction was even more apparent in Kabukicho—
In the center of the road, you could see buildings combining ancient Eastern and modern styles, tall and elegant.
But beneath these buildings, you could also see small shacks made of corrugated iron, messy like festering sores growing out of the structures.
Parking the car casually by the roadside, Arthur discovered another one of its advantages: no one would be interested in it.
Leaving the main road, the level of chaos in Kabukicho sharply increased. In the narrow alleys, people lay haphazardly on the ground.
These drug-addicted junkies were long past living.
Gangs would let them out, allowing them to get money however they could, knowing that the money would automatically end up in the gang's pockets.
When they were close to death, they would be sold to Scavengers. Although they weren't worth much, a fly's leg is still meat, and it saved them the trouble of cleaning the streets.
As they approached the back-alley clinic, Arthur whispered to Jackie.
"This time we need to be low-key; try not to make too much noise."
Their target was the slaughterhouse, and it was best not to attract attention there.
Entering through an unfinished building and descending the stairs without guardrails, Arthur and Jackie arrived in a spacious underground area.
At the end of the space was an iron door, with a camera flashing a crimson light.
The two walked straight over, and at the same time, the door was pushed open from the inside, and several people rushed out.
"What kind of rats are these, looking for food all the way here?"
The leader was a scrawny dwarf. His entire upper face had been replaced with cybernetics, and two mechanical eyes glowed red.
"Why don't we just deal with them directly, so these two little darlings don't get scared and wet their pants, and we'll have to change their diapers."
A guy standing next to the dwarf mocked, and the group burst into laughter, mixed with unpleasant electronic synthetic sounds.
These people had generally undergone extensive visible modifications, with missing panels filled with dirty machinery and tangled conduits, and even flesh mixed within the mechanics.
In the dim environment, they looked like a group of ghouls laughing maniacally.
Arthur looked at the scene before him, his heart undisturbed. He had seen too much on his journey and killed too many, and these modified fanatics didn't even interest him.
"Although I don't know what animal gnawed on your skin, since you can still talk, we can have a quiet discussion.
I heard a poor girl named Jessica was kidnapped by you. Her father is willing to pay.
Why don't we make this deal? After all, you only kidnap people for money. Why not choose a path where everyone profits peacefully?"
"Jessica or whatever, we don't know her. Besides, the pigs that come to us are all distinguished by numbers.
If you want to talk, come with us and see if that little pig is here.
Business is about fairness. How can we deceive people about something we don't have?"
As he spoke, the dwarf grinned, his mouth devoid of a tongue, instead a metallic tentacle wriggled.
He turned sideways, making an inviting gesture.
"So... please come in, gentlemen.
Oh! Don't bring weapons!"