Cyberpunk: Legendary Life

Afterlife Bar.

Gloria raised her head and downed the spicy tequila in one gulp, killing one Johnny Silverhand directly.

After finishing the drink, she put down the glass, quickly covered her mouth with her hands, and coughed a few times, as if she was choking on the chili flavor in the glass.

Gloria finally regained her composure, then let go of her hand, and said with some embarrassment, "Mr. Tang, I'm just kidding."

Tang Yu also suffocated 'Johnny Silverhand' in one gulp. The taste was really spicy. Only Johnny's crooked head could think of soaking chili peppers in tequila.

He felt that anyone who drank this wine for the first time would have to cough. When Gloria raised her head, he found that her cheeks were already a little red.

"Just get used to it. Sometimes life is like this glass of wine. The sweet and sour taste of the beer and the bitter and spicy taste of the agave are all mixed in. You can't tell what the taste is, but it's all over the top."

Gloria was thoughtful, and then asked seriously: "Mr. Tang, do you come here often?"

Tang Yu put down the wine glass in his hand and said with some emotion: "Well, there used to be a lot of people coming, but now there are less. Intermediaries like you are welcome to come to discuss business, but people from companies like me are not welcome to drink."

He thought that since they were already in the next life, it would be a good time to give Gloria a guide on the rules of the middleman's path, as a way to give her another helping hand.

"You will have to deal with the afterlife a lot in the future, especially Rogge. You need to know some of the rules on the road."

actually.

Anyone who lives in Night City has heard the rumors about the Afterlife Bar, especially the Queen of the Afterlife, Rogge.

Almost all mercenaries want to take over jobs from Rogge, because they are all big jobs, and they might become famous and rich overnight.

The Afterlife is a paradise for transactions, commissions, sales, and information. This time the client is from the Wandering Tribe, and they were specifically chosen to be in the Afterlife Bar. This is enough to show that the sign of the Afterlife is known far and near.

Gloria felt a little surprised. She understood that Tang Yu was going to teach her, and her expression immediately became serious.

Tang Yu continued to explain: "The middleman, to put it simply, is the intermediary who bridges the gap between the funder and the mercenary."

"There are a lot of middlemen in Night City, divided into three, six, and nine levels. There are only a few who can really play on the stage."

"There is no other free middleman with Rogge's strength in the entire Night City, but even she has to be constrained by the company at some point."

"The era of freedom has passed. Nowadays, without a corporate background, it is difficult to enter the middleman industry and carve out a niche."

Gloria's pupils shrank slightly. She didn't expect that Queen Rogge would also be affected by the company. She is the most powerful middleman in Night City, which shows how deeply the company's power has penetrated.

She knew that without Tang Yu's support, she would never be able to enter the middleman business in her life, so she couldn't help but listen more seriously.

In order to explain more clearly, Tang Yu used the middleman Faraday as an explanation, who she had interacted with before.

"For example, Faraday, who you have dealt with before, is backed by military technology. To a certain extent, he is more like an agent of the company. The commissions he issues are basically related to the company. He is not a real middleman in Night City. "

"Because the real middlemen are not rootless people. Each middleman has his own territory and controls the resources and intelligence in the area. He only finds people to work for the company, which is somewhat less interesting."

"Even in an era when the world is declining, if middlemen want to gain a foothold in this industry, they must abide by the rules of 'integrity and cooperation'. In Night City, where the law is trampled underfoot, your reputation is your brand. "

Gloria understood clearly and understood Tang Yu's subtext that if she wanted to become a real middleman, she could not only rely on Tang Yu's power, but also had to have her own connections and strength.

Tang Yu gave a few examples to let Gloria know how many middlemen there are.

"Take this commission as an example. In the bad land where the wanderers live, Dakota is one of the middlemen. She never betrays the mercenaries, but she also never allows others to betray her. Going to the bad land is indispensable without her. Deal.”

"And in the city of Night City, there are even more middlemen with names."

"Westbrook's middleman, Wakako Okada, is a gentle old lady who has a close relationship with the Tiger Claw Gang and is both good and evil."

"Heywood's middleman, Father Sebastian, used to be a priest in the Valentino Gang. Anyone who dared to wave a bad word in front of him was sent to see God."

"Danotinovich, a middleman who is active in the municipal center, has a wide network of contacts. He has close relationships with companies, media, mercenaries, and street boys. He smuggles all kinds of prohibited items and is worth a lot of money."

"In addition, there are many middlemen with reasonable strength who roam the streets and alleys of Night City."

"There is a middleman in Santo Domingo where you live, 'Old Captain' Muammar, who usually does small tasks."

The middlemen Tang Yu mentioned were all people he had dealt with many times. Anyone who could make a name for himself in Night City basically had his own sphere of influence and faction.

After hearing this, Gloria's expression gradually became solemn. She had never thought that there were so many skills in the intermediary industry.

Now, compared with these experienced middlemen, the gap between her and these experienced middlemen is really huge.

All her support comes from Tang Yu alone. If she wants to truly step onto the stage of Night City, she needs more efforts.

Tang Yu said this not to put pressure on her, but to let Gloria understand that if she really wants to help herself, she must be fully mentally prepared to meet the challenge.

He had no intention of really letting Gloria carve out a territory in Night City on her own.

Instead, we hope that when she really has the opportunity to take charge of a force, she will be able to take control firmly.

As for this opportunity, it was naturally Tang Yu who planned for her and personally sent her to the middleman stage in Night City.

Gloria looked at Tang Yu with a focused expression and said sincerely: "Thank you, Mr. Tang, you really taught me a lot. I will seize the opportunity and work hard."

Tang Yu is a person who looks at actions and results. It is useless to say nice things. He stood up and said: "It's almost time. Let's go to the private room and wait."

The three of them left the bar and walked into the private room that had been reserved in advance.

The private rooms in the Afterlife Bar are top-notch in terms of security and concealment, with signal shielding and physical sound isolation. All conversations cannot leave this private room unless you spill the beans.

The three of them sat on one side of the box, and some fruit drinks were placed on the table.

Sasha sat on Tang Yu's right hand side, looking at the box curiously, reaching out and touching the leather cushion, as if he felt something else about it.

Tang Yu noticed her behavior but remained silent.

Gloria sat on Tang Yu's left hand side and checked that it was almost the appointed time. The client should be coming soon, so she took the initiative to tell Tang Yu some information.

"Mr. Tang, Regina Jones has resigned from News 54. She sensed something was wrong, and Military Technology is arranging agents to investigate the last big exposure."

"In order to avoid being discovered, she destroyed all traces of information and left the news station. Now she is working alone. She mainly wants to sell intelligence and various news."

"According to her own idea, she wants to continue investigating the Cybermaniac incident and want to research some useful information."

Tang Yu nodded and thought it was reasonable. Regina Jones took this path because of the big exposure.

After taking advantage of Arasaka's trick, Military Technology will definitely investigate the matter of the mole. It would be wise for Regina Jones to resign, otherwise suspicion will be raised on her and she will be exfoliated even if she does not die.

Suddenly, there were footsteps at the door of the box, and two figures walked straight into the box.

Tang Yu followed the sound and found that the other party was wearing simple clothes, jeans and a sleeveless jacket. It was a typical bad-land wanderer style, but it was a little strange to wear a medical mask.

After the two entered the house, the box door automatically closed, the conversation mode was turned on, and the signal shielding device was activated.

One of them, a tall and fierce man, asked in a buzzing voice: "Which one of you is Gloria?"

Gloria motioned for the two of them to sit down and talk, and then said openly: "I am, now you can talk about this commission in detail."

The fierce man did not sit down, but took the initiative to stand aside, waiting for an elder in front of him to take a seat.

The elder was wearing an old-fashioned cowboy hat. The brim of the hat had faded and fell off the thread, making it look a bit shabby. After looking at the three of them, he spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Since I'm not mistaken about the person, I'll tell you the truth. This commission requires a visit to our tribe to complete the investigation."

Gloria noticed the strangeness of this commission and asked, "You mean to go to the bad land."

She knew that most wanderers lived together in the Bad Land, where scavenging, looting, theft and killing were rampant, and tribal conflicts often occurred, which was extremely dangerous.

If you want to go to the bad land to complete the commission, I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble.

The elder in the cowboy hat replied calmly: "That's true, because what I want to investigate happened in our tribe. This matter is imminent. We tried to find several middlemen, and finally Regina Jones recommended you to us. .”

Gloria held her ground, vaguely guessing that the incident was related to the other party wearing a medical mask, and asked seriously: "What happened to your tribe?"

The elder in the cowboy hat sighed, his tone unusually heavy.

"We also find this strange. Recently, members of our tribe have begun to die inexplicably one after another. The cause of death cannot be found at all."

"At first, we thought there was a problem with the water source, but after changing to a clean water source, some people continued to be infected and died."

"Later, we suspected that the infection was spread through the air, and we wore medical protective masks, but still had no effect."

"We have tried many ways to figure out the truth behind the death of our clan members, but we have not achieved anything."

"In order to prevent new infections, the corpses had to be piled up away from the tribe and away from water sources."

"The strange thing is that the piled up corpses will disappear the next day and can't be found where they went."

Hearing this, Tang Yu also realized the seriousness of the problem.

Infectious diseases and missing corpses are all signs that this tribe is being targeted.

The elder in the cowboy hat couldn't hide his depression. It was obvious that the constant deaths of tribe members had caused a great psychological burden on him.

"So, we arranged for people to check the situation and want to know where the body was."

"But I didn't expect something even more painful to happen. The tribe members who were sent were also missing the next day. When they were found, they were already dead in the desert, with only a pair of bones and bones left."

Gloria's face turned cold. She couldn't help but think of that scene. On the dark and windy bad land, terror was rampant, harvesting the lives of the tribesmen wantonly.

Tang Yu frowned slightly and thought. The key to the question is, why do infected corpses disappear?

Moreover, the guard was also dead, leaving only skeletons and remains.

Are they really cyber zombies?

People who died of infectious diseases slowly woke up late at night, climbed up from the ground unsteadily, and ate while their fellow guards were not paying attention.

After eating and drinking, this group of cyber zombies fled and wandered in the vast bad land.

Not a bad idea.

Tang Yu quickly gave up the idea of ​​a joke. He was well-informed and had yet to see any company that could develop the T virus.

The reason why this tribe suffered such bizarre deaths must be something fishy.

Seeing that Gloria remained silent, the elder in the cowboy hat seemed to think that the other party did not believe what he said.

He took out a microchip, put it on the table and handed it to Gloria, and then said.

"We took some photos and videos, you can take a look and make a decision."

Gloria picked up the chip, put it into the biological nerve slot, turned the prosthetic eyes, and began to read the content.

After a while.

After Gloria finished reading, her face looked a little heavy, and then she nodded towards Tang Yu, indicating that what the other party said was true.

Whether to accept this commission or not depends on Tang Yu's intention.

Tang Yu analyzed that this matter is likely to involve the company. Infectious diseases and stolen corpses look like they are engaged in drug research.

As for the specific drug research, we have to go to their tribe to find out.

The elder in the cowboy hat also knew that this commission was difficult. After all, no one would want to do this kind of work, so he pleaded.

"We are willing to pay full or even double the reward. As long as you can investigate the cause of death, everything is easy to negotiate."

"If you are willing to send people to our tribe, even if they fail to investigate, a deposit of 30,000 euros will be considered your compensation."

"In addition, this is the current address of our tribe, which is not too far from the outskirts of the city, so please consider it as appropriate."

The elder in the cowboy hat transmits the tribe's address to Gloria.

Thirty thousand euros is not a small amount of money. Even if there is no gain, it is still a guaranteed profit.

But the higher the reward, the higher the risk.

Tang Yu judged that this infectious disease was not spread through air, water, contact, etc. If the transmission medium was such a high-intensity medium, I am afraid that the entire tribe would be dead.

He suspected food poisoning, or to be precise, food poisoning.

The food sources of the wandering tribe are different. Most of them travel in small groups to find supplies and food, which are either looted or scavenged.

If someone poisoned someone intentionally, the death of some people would be completely consistent with the logic of representation.

Tang Yu asked: "Is there any inevitable connection between the dead of the tribe and the deceased?"

The elder in the cowboy hat looked at Tang Yu. Judging from the way Gloria looked at him frequently, this person should be the real owner, so he said solemnly.

"The deceased are basically members of the same family, and occasionally there are individuals, but there are not many connections between families. The tribe is relatively large, and not everyone can maintain harmony."

After hearing his words, Tang Yu basically confirmed his judgment.

This tribe was kept in the dark from beginning to end. It was most likely that they were used as a test subject by a certain force, and they were accurately poisoned to death, and then the bodies were dragged away and recovered for further research.

The cycle goes back and forth.

Only if the experiment is successful can death be avoided.

If the experiment fails, if this situation continues, even if the tribe is not extinct, it will become disorganized and will collapse in a short time.

It is extremely difficult for a wanderer without a tribe to survive in the bad land. If possible, he will encounter a member of the Luan Dao Gui, who will be cut into a stick and hung on the car as a sacrifice.

Tang Yu asked casually: "How big is your tribe?"

The elder in the cowboy hat responded: "Originally there were 1,349 people, but now forty people have died due to infection. Some tribe members were worried about their survival safety and fled hundreds of people overnight."

After he finished speaking, he couldn't help but start to shed tears. He covered his nose and sobbed. Suddenly, he burst into tears and blamed himself.

The fierce man next to him seemed to want to comfort him, but didn't know what to say. He just looked at Tang Yu for help.

The commission has been clearly stated to investigate the cause of infection and death.

Tang Yu was 70% to 80% sure. Even if the investigation could not find out, it was not very dangerous.

But what he really wanted to test was Gloria, to see if she had the courage to take on this terrible badland commission.

When Gloria saw the elder in the cowboy hat sobbing, she felt extremely complicated. It was obvious that this commission was not easy. There were infectious diseases, missing bodies, and the tribe collapsed. If this matter was not investigated clearly, a tribe of thousands of people might end up in ruins. die.

From the bottom of her heart, she couldn't stand it and wanted to help the other person get out of the whirlpool.

But now as a middleman, she can't just act based on emotion. If she rushes to promise to the other party before carefully considering the matter, she is irresponsible to both the client and the mercenary.

Without detailed intelligence, the work of mercenaries will be extremely passive.

Gloria was lost in thought, trying to figure out the key to the commission.

She tried to abandon all emotions and only focus on the commission itself. Her brain was working rapidly and her thoughts gradually began to boil.

Infectious diseases, missing bodies, transmission routes and other factors were put together in her mind, trying to come up with a perfect answer.

Sudden.

Gloria's eyes flashed with a glimmer of light, as if she wanted to understand something instantly!

She immediately looked back at Tang Yu beside her, her eyes full of confidence, but she still wanted to seek confirmation from him first.

In an instant.

Gloria's eyes met Tang Yu's, sincere and passionate.

Tang Yu said nothing, just looked at her quietly.

Gloria was slightly stunned, not getting Tang Yu's clear approval like before.

But she soon understood that this was a test for her, a test that would determine her confidence.

Tang Yu had already sent her off on the last journey, and she had to cross the river by herself for the rest.

Gloria understood the meaning of Tang Yu's gaze. She could not retreat from this step because it was a choice she was confident and sure of.

As if she had received the greatest support, she no longer hesitated, looked at the elder in the cowboy hat, and spoke bluntly.

"This commission."

"I took it!"

Johnny: "Tell me, what's your plan for instant noodles? Are you looking for my gossip material? To get some new writing materials, so you dragged me back from the road?"

V: "The big boss of the 'Tok' financial institution has rewarded the helmsman! You can't thank him enough!"

Johnny: "Okay, we can cooperate like this and get the instant noodles into the dark room. I'll just say a few words!"

V: "Deal!"

Instant Noodles: "Ehehehe???" (quickly dragged into the dark room by V Zi)

Johnny: "Torque's financial boss, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, looking back at the past, how beautiful it was, that summer you were eighteen~that summer you were eighteen~that summer you were eighteen~"

V: “Johnny!!!”

————

PS: No more tonight. I just finished my work and I’m so tired.

Special thanks to the big boss of Tuoke’s funder for the reward, the big boss is heroic, and the big boss makes a fortune!

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