Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 43 21. Mission, begin.

"There are so many people."

It was the day of the commission. After the client Faraday sent them over and negotiated with the guards who were obviously Arasaka, Carl, Oliver and Jack were allowed to carry their weapons and enter a warehouse at the transportation port in the Arasaka coastal area. After they entered, they found that even though they had arrived an hour early, they were still considered to be a relatively late group of people.

Because in addition to them, there were already at least twenty mercenaries inside, wearing all kinds of prosthetic bodies and holding various specially modified firearms, waiting there.

“There are indeed a lot of people.”

In response to Jack's sigh, Carl then began to observe the mercenaries who were going to carry out the mission together. Not to mention, after a closer look, Carl found that he could recognize most of the prosthetics and weapons on them.

"Hypodermic armor, mantis knives, Saratoga submachine guns, Kenshin pistols, Nova pistols, and even the SOR-22 kinetic precision rifle that you managed to get, Oliver. They seem to be very capable people."

None of these weapons are cheap, at least the low-level mercenaries can't afford them. But it makes sense, how could someone who was sent by various middlemen use a weapon like the Lexington?

"You have to tell me that."

Oliver looked at the SOR-22 kinetic precision rifle in his hand, then at the Saratoga submachine gun in Jack's hand, and then at Kenshin in Carl's hand, and found that if the three of them took their weapons and integrated into this group of mercenaries, there would be no difference between their teams.

"Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, Carl, Oliver, including us, there are twenty-six people now. If each person is paid a hundred thousand in hiring fees, how much did the employer spend this time?"

"You've overlooked the middleman and a host of other expenses. It's definitely a number that we can't even imagine, Jack."

Oliver felt that it was a number that he might never reach in his lifetime: "The gap between people is really bigger than that between dogs."

"It's like you've seen a dog in Night City."

Karl laughed and said, "I have seen a lot of cute dogs and even raised one before."

"I've never seen it before." Oliver gave Carl a middle finger for his show-off behavior: "Are company dogs not dogs anymore?"

"You two should stop arguing with each other. There's another person here. Look, does that person look familiar?"

Jack nudged the two men with his elbow, signaling them to look towards the entrance of the warehouse they had not entered not long ago. Oliver and Carl looked over and found that they were indeed acquaintances.

“That’s not the one from before.”

Looking at the blond muscular man who was alone and holding a large machine gun in one hand, Oliver recognized him: "The one who was fighting in front of Mewtwo's store. I remember he had two teammates at that time. Why is he alone?"

"Maybe they're dead, or they're not considered qualified to take part in this mission."

Carl was not very impressed by the burly man, and said casually: "After all, nothing that happens in Night City is surprising."

As Karl was speaking, he discovered that the blond burly man actually walked straight towards them after seeing the three of them.

"Looking for trouble?"

This was Carl's first thought, but then he realized that it was not the case, because after the blond burly man approached them, his expression showed a look as if he had finally found it.

"You must be Carl, Oliver, and Jack."

The blond sturdy man called out the three of them by name as soon as he arrived, and then introduced himself: "My name is Mann, and I used to help Faraday, but Faraday said he only had three people available for this mission, so I accepted the commission from other middlemen. I'll be on an escort mission later. Do you want a partner?"

"Mann?" Carl was not in a hurry to answer. He first sent a message to Faraday and confirmed the other party's identity before saying, "Why did you want to team up with us?"

"Just this mission."

Mann looked at the other teams and then at Carl and the others. "After all, we have a relationship with Faraday. I feel like you guys are trustworthy. I'm also a little curious about your abilities. I've been working with him for quite some time, and he actually gave up on my team and chose a new team. I never thought this would happen."

"Plus, you're alone, right?"

Carl could see the cleverness beneath Mann's muscular appearance. It was very dangerous for one person to carry out a life-and-death mission for such a reward as escort, so he thought of relying on the relationship of the middleman to keep each other warm.

Mann is certainly not a fool, as he can become a mercenary on the streets with the help of middlemen. He knows that there is strength in numbers.

“That’s what I meant.”

Mann didn't care that Carl saw through his thoughts. He saw that Carl was the leader of this group, stared at Carl and asked, "What do you think?"

"What are you good at?"

"If I need to, I can rely on a subcutaneous armor and hold this 'Type 31 heavy machine gun' in the front. Is that enough?"

Being in the front, in other words, if Carl and others behind him have any ideas, they can shoot him in the back at any time.

"That's enough."

Carl reached out his hand and shook Mann's hand: "It's a pleasure to work with you."

"Pleasant to work with."

A smile appeared on Mann's face: "Captain."

"Just call me KK. You can use it as a code name."

Since Mann has temporarily joined the team, Carl doesn't mind introducing their situation.

"Jack, what you did is similar. Anyway, it's up to the two of you to suppress the others with firepower. Oliver is a medical staff and sniper. If you are injured or need long-range support, you can ask him for help. As for me."

Karl thought about his position and gave a strange answer: "When the fight starts, you will know."

"Will we know when the fight starts?"

Mann didn't quite understand, but seeing that Oliver and Jack seemed to understand, he just ignored it.

Anyway, it's just one mission, so a basic understanding of cooperation is enough. If we can survive and complete the mission this time, who knows when the next cooperation will be.

Time passed quickly as the mercenaries got acquainted with or observed their teammates.

At exactly nine o'clock, a company dog ​​wearing Arasaka uniform walked into the warehouse with a group of Arasaka security personnel.

The mission has begun.

(End of this chapter)