"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Though, if I'm not mistaken… two of us have met before."
Jhin gave Rebecca and the others a small bow, smiling as he spoke.
Lucy stood off to the side, eyes sharp and wary. A top-tier assassin appearing out of nowhere like this… nothing about it felt right.
"Jhin, why are you here?"
Rebecca asked, resting the weapon Jhin had given her earlier on her shoulder. In her view, Jhin clearly wasn't hostile—if he had been, they would've all been dead already.
There wouldn't be any talking.
"I was just passing through. The situation caught my attention, so I hacked into the surveillance… then realized it was you. So I figured I might as well wipe everything out for you."
Jhin spoke calmly, arms crossed.
Among everyone present, only Rebecca took his words at face value. The others didn't look convinced, but no one challenged him.
After all, he had saved their lives—and in doing so, offended some unknown corporation.
In truth, when the security team was attacked, their cameras had already transmitted everything back to base, and Jhin hadn't bothered to jam the feeds.
There was no need. Those guys couldn't threaten him… unless they tried sniping him.
A 50mm sniper rifle? What? You're calling that a cannon?
Impossible. Look—single-shot, needs to be aimed, huge power, long range. If that's not a sniper rifle, then what is?
"Save the chit-chat for later. We've got an injured man here."
Jackie's face had gone pale—he was clearly losing too much blood.
"Oh—right. Get Jackie to Little China!"
Pilar stopped sizing Jhin up, slapped his forehead, then rushed in to support Jackie.
Hearing him, Jhin slowly put away the healing vial he'd pulled from the slot in his gear. Not because he cared about wasting it—he simply wanted to confirm whether they were going where he thought they were going.
As the group prepared to leave, Jhin fell in step behind them. No one objected—after all, he had saved them, and following along wouldn't hurt.
Though the car might be a bit crowded…
"I'll follow behind you. Just go. Don't worry about me."
Seeing their concern, Jhin spoke with considerate politeness.
No one questioned him after that—they were in too much of a hurry.
After settling Jackie in the passenger seat, Pilar slammed the accelerator. A burst of exhaust followed as the car shot down the road.
Jhin watched it disappear into the distance, then turned and walked into the darkness.
"Hey, bastard—think he'll catch up?"
"Who knows. Hopefully not. I don't want to deal with someone like that."
Pilar rolled his eyes at Rebecca.
Lucy nodded in full agreement. Someone like Jhin was simply too dangerous—especially after she'd seen the aftermath of his fight… it was…
Just thinking about that scene—beautiful yet drenched in blood—made Lucy's face go pale.
Thanks to Pilar's "excellent" driving—meaning he ran every red light and caused at least a dozen cars to crash—they eventually arrived at the fortune-telling shop Jackie had mentioned.
The car was basically totaled, but that wasn't a big deal. It was just a soul-ring junker that had changed hands countless times. Jackie was already grateful Pilar hadn't fought him for the steering wheel.
Once they helped Jackie inside, a startled, worried female voice rang out.
"Holy crap, Jackie—what happened to you?!"
"Haha, just a scratch. Took a bullet during a Gig."
Jackie, forehead dripping with cold sweat, forced a smile at Misty.
"You sure like acting tough, man."
As she spoke, Pilar poked Jackie's wound, making him suck in a sharp breath, then continued supporting him. "Could you take us to the Ripperdoc here?"
"Alright, follow me."
Misty nodded quickly and led them toward the back room.
"Hmm? More customers?"
Vik stood up from in front of the TV and came to the doorway, lifting a brow—then spotting Jackie's pale face.
"Jackie? What the hell happened to you, kid? Come on, get him up there."
Vik immediately frowned, swung the operating chair around, and gestured for Pilar to set him down.
Once Jackie was on the chair, Vik activated the diagnostic systems and began prepping surgical tools.
"Uh… aren't you supposed to ask for the price first?"
Rebecca blinked, completely thrown off.
"Vik always saves people first, then talks about the price."
Misty explained, then looked toward Jackie with worry. Jackie still managed to give her a thumbs-up.
Vik finished the scan, removed his goggles, and said, "Kid, you're lucky. You got here just in time. Any later and you'd have paid a lot more. Still, I recommend replacing the organ with a cybernetic one."
"Then go for it, Vik. I trust you."
Jackie answered with a grin.
"Alright. Remember—you said it."
Vik smiled back, injected the anesthetic, and motioned for Misty to start a blood transfusion. Jackie had lost quite a lot earlier.
Footsteps sounded at the door.
"Seems I didn't lose track of you after all."
Jhin chuckled lightly as he stepped inside.
"And who might this be?"
Victor examined Jhin, shock and pity flashing in his eyes. To him, this kid didn't have much time left. With cyberware modified to this degree, going cyberpsycho was only a matter of time.
And for someone already in that state, Vik had no advice left to offer. The damage was done—there was no going back.
"My name is Jhin. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Vik."
Roland smiled as Vik appeared in Jhin's field of vision, already wondering whether Vik might have any compatible templates.
Honestly, if Battlefield Mechs and PROJECT existed in the same universe… Vik should get along pretty well with Viktor's template. After all, Vik's full name was Victor Vik.