The vehicle quickly arrived at Twist Street in the Kabuki District, also the crime scene where Mercer committed bloodshed last night.
He glanced ahead, seeing that the black sex doll shop in the distant alley still had NCPD tape outside. Marks from the fire hadn't been repainted over yet.
Looking at the NCPD investigating at the alley entrance, Mercer, as the culprit, could only feel an inexplicable sense of irony.
Parking the car not far off, Mercer fearlessly got out.
The others followed him out of the car, except for Qiwei who stayed inside, reluctant to come out: "A, I...don't really want to show up here."
"I understand, afraid of running into acquaintances, I get it. But as I see it... you're with me now, stand tall, don't be afraid."
Mercer said, tossing his pistol over: "If you don't want to come out, just stay in the car.
V, leave the car keys with her, if things look bad, drive off first and call me.
Later, go to the gun shop and pick out one you like, even a hacker needs a handy piece.
If someone annoying bothers you, send me a message and I'll have V handle it.
Or just pull the trigger—short press for limited range power, long press to charge, you'll feel a jolt when it's fully charged."
"Thank you... A."
Qiwei nodded at Mercer, showing a relieved smile.
She always felt that since meeting Mercer, she might have said "thank you" more than in the past ten years combined.
Mercer nodded back, then walked hands in pockets towards Kodama Wako's pachinko shop.
On the way, he saw a few who seemed to be chatting aimlessly, but were actually in charge of security nearby for the Tiger Claw Gang.
Kodama Wako's shop wasn't big, just a few dozen square meters with a dozen machines, a fair number of people were playing excitedly.
Inside the machines, small steel balls were continuously dropping, paired with enticing images of beautiful women and stimulating music. Mercer glanced a few times, uninterested.
Pachinko, a small steel ball gambling machine loved by the Japanese, only a fool would think gambling can make them rich.
Mercer stepped forward, Wako's office was just behind the pachinko shop.
"You, what are you doing here!" A Tiger Claw Gang member in a suit, looking unfriendly, blocked Mercer's way, a samurai sword by his waist.
Mercer glanced at him: "I just messaged Wako. I'm A."
"Oh, Ms. Wako mentioned someone named A coming to see her... but she didn't say you'd bring friends."
The Tiger Claw member, with a cold expression, sized up behind Mercer, his gaze pausing on Rebecca and Pira.
"You two are late, all the jobs have been taken."
He recognized these kids, formerly Wako's favorite mercenaries, Sunrise Dad's children.
Heard they were to inherit the business... yet late for their first job, utterly unreliable.
Mercer, calmly: "They came with me... I can go in alone."
The Tiger Claw member's prosthetic eye flickered, probably reporting to Wako, after a while, he stepped aside, allowing access to Wako's office door: "Go on, Ms. Wako is expecting you."
V glanced at Mercer, who returned a reassuring look before heading alone into the office.
Through a narrow corridor, a small office appeared before him.
Kodama Wako, an old-school intermediary in Night City, sat behind the desk, examining Mercer with a scrutinizing gaze.
Estimated to be over the age of seventy or eighty, this elderly woman didn't care about maintenance like most did. Her face full of wrinkles under silver hair resembled a kindly neighborhood granny.
"A... I thought you'd never come see me in person."
"I originally thought so too because, with intermediaries like you, Ms. Wako, the best way to get closer is to complete some jobs beautifully first, let you see my capabilities before we talk.
Otherwise, negotiations would be pointless, meeting would just waste time."
After Mercer finished, Wako chuckled softly:
"You're not wrong... however, I've already heard what you did at Rebirth yesterday.
You casually fried a hacker's mind and took care of the berserk Fenrir with that mercenary named V in one round.
Not just that, I also know a sex doll shop was hacked on Twist Street last night, a lot of people died.
Many homeless sex dolls ran away, I checked this morning, inside was a girl named Qiwei...
You did this too, didn't you? A? Just for that girl called Qiwei?"
After Wako finished, Mercer promptly nodded: "Ms. Wako knows Qiwei?"
Wako, smiling, shook her head: "Of course not.
But when something like this happens on my turf, I need to know who did it, right?
With so many girls running off, I naturally thought first, was it a girl who got outside help?
As for that girl named Qiwei, among my people, she's somewhat known.
Pretty girls tend to stick in the young guys' memories.
Originally, I couldn't figure out who did this, but just as you came over, my people reported seeing that girl Qiwei with you.
That's when things clicked for me.
Like I said, where in Night City would there be such a powerful, nameless hacker."