[Mission: Rebellion (Completed)]
[Reward: Bounty (Variable)]
John received the payment on his way back to Oil Drum Street.
Eden is a wealthy employer.
This money is more than all of John's earnings combined during this period.
The facade of Harbor Company isn't luxurious, but the battle skills of the entire staff and the cost of their prosthetics and firearms are quite high.
John is also considering taking on jobs at Harbor Company.
Of course, not right now.
Eden needs to handle his sister's affairs, and it's a good time for John to enhance his own skills during this period.
[Shop - Black Engine Restaurant]
Silver Rider is parked in the back parking lot.
There are surveillance cameras here, and familiar old faces from the restaurant surround the area.
The doorbell jingles.
Genius is personally tidying up the tables.
A few scattered customers are having breakfast.
Black Engine Restaurant offers crisp bread and meat sauce pasta, the coffee is machine-ground and lacks taste and class.
John sank into his seat with relief.
He hadn't slept for a whole day and night.
"Just bring me something, I'm starving, right now I just want to fill my stomach and then sleep for a day and a night."
"Wow, you actually didn't lose a hand or a foot."
Genius joked, gesturing at the LCD screen, where the news was playing above the counter.
Under the hovercar's lens.
A fierce gunfight broke out at the entrance of Harbor Company, and you could even see Silver Rider drifting on the overpass in the constantly switching scenes.
Genius gave him a nod.
"How did you get mixed up with Eden Weitz?"
"Damn, do you all hang out online every day? How come as soon as I get back from the brink of death, it feels like the whole world knows."
"Who told you to make the news two days in a row? Really thrilling, the rock singer from Markados gang got kidnapped, and last night middlemen from half of Eden City were offering a reward for a Silver Rider 577, and you parked it outside my shop."
"Is Martos that famous?"
"Yes, a rock singer, very close to the gang, even changed his last name. Markados gang wants to hit the streets using popular celebrities to elevate their status, interesting right?"
"Helping them secretly take care of competitors?"
"Who knows, but you kidnapped their cash cow, got some guts on you."
John put down his fork, feeling that even eating was uninteresting.
He suddenly realized, and said:
"Should I leave now? Drive the car away, to avoid street punks causing you trouble, after all, I've got money on me now, I can find a place to settle down."
"Hahaha!"
Genius laughed and shook his head. "Oil Drum Street can accommodate you, and you're safe now."
"Will Markados let me go?"
"It's Eden Weitz, he announced to the public last night, taking full responsibility for everything that happened at the Nocturne Bar, while you were just an unknown worker."
"Aren't they afraid of the gang?"
"It's the gang that's afraid of him."
Genius crossed his arms. "Didn't you understand before doing the job."
John shook his head.
Genius was silent for a while, then explained about Eden's background.
He was among the first batch of retired officers after the independence battle of Eden City, formerly a mercenary in the north, all other information is sealed, even intermediaries who can find out dare not spread it around.
Genius talked about the background of Eden City.
Currently, law and order in the city is maintained by the police, anyone caught on camera committing a crime or exposed afterward has bounties issued for them, filed records, and subsequent arrests arranged.
But they lack funds, equipment, and manpower.
All officers must risk their lives daily, doing the most unrewarding work.
Corruption and violent law enforcement are common.
This institution might solve brawls and street racing, but can only turn a blind eye to the multitude of criminal activities. If they encounter cyber psychos with overloaded prosthetics, luxurious weapons, and burnt chips, they can only evacuate on-site and disperse the crowd.
Then, the special task force is called in.
They are Eden City's strongest fighting force, tasked solely with one mission - to eliminate cyber psychos!
Only lunatics can fight lunatics.
The special task force is equipped with weapons of excessive lethality, the finest prosthetics, and even experimental high-tech.
If street violence continues to escalate, until the police can't handle it ...
The special task force descends from the skies aboard transport planes, using primitive means to suppress all targets.
"This group maintains the baseline of order in Eden City."
"I've only ever seen them from behind caution tape and on the news, heavy armored with large guns, uniformed, but Eden City's police force has been corporatized, who's managing the special task force?"
"Managing? No, mate, they're independent."
"Impossible, where do they get so much good equipment from? Companies and capital control everything, there must be some financial backing, right?"
"The special task force is an independent department, all companies, and enterprises in Eden City must pay protection fees, equivalent to taxes, and unscrupulous capitalists are willing to use these soldiers to obtain first-hand product data."
"Dual cooperation, I see, but will all enterprises cooperate?"
"Haha, you're too young. Decades ago, when Eden City just declared independence amidst the flames of war, it was utter chaos, cyber psychos rampaged the streets, burning, killing, and looting."
Genius poured a glass of wine.
"In theory, the entire city is built and maintained by the special task force, the initial order was established in blood, and even now it's the baseline of order; any enterprise that rebels is rejected by Eden City!"
"What's this got to do with Eden Weitz?"
"Harbor Company is responsible for collecting debts for the special task force. There's always some naive enterprise attempting to shirk their duties, and Eden is the one who fixes the problem, shows up to deal with unrepentant defaulters, then uses goods and property to cover the debt."
"I see..."
John frowned as he sat at the front of the bar.
No wonder Eden's team could use military equipment, there's a huge force supporting them behind.
"They even invited me to work."
"Not bad, Harbor doesn't recruit often, let alone you don't seem to have any military background."
"My brain's a mess, hey..."
John rubbed his head, trying to look on the bright side—at least he got a free car, and doesn't have to deal with the aftermath of the kidnapping.
He took a shower at the restaurant and laid in the employee rest room, daydreaming.
Such a mysterious force as Eden, he managed to latch onto it, and it all started with a mission Black Spider picked out of the junkyard.
But John is sure of one thing, following the hints will always yield something great.
He needs to survive and support himself.
Now everything's getting better, there are many job opportunities, he can look for middlemen on Oil Drum Street, or go to Damascus Camp, and once Eden finishes his work, he can apply at Harbor...
John lay in bed, lost in thought.
His cyber psychos become more mysterious.
Is it some kind of special virus?
How to explain the blueprint and technical modification?
What's the damage limit of Black Light?
...
It all started with Tiebang Logistics.
There's even a main quest in his mind.
[Main Quest: Accident Truth]
[Description: Find out the inside story of the last job, understand the course of the accident.]
[Reward: Prosthetic [Model-T17]]
Everything needs time to explore.
John is determined to investigate the truth of the last accident once he stabilizes.