In a corridor somewhere in Clouds, Kikyo activated her Optical Camouflage Skin. The next instant, accompanied by tiny star-like electrical sparks flashing across her body, she completely merged into the surrounding environment, becoming entirely invisible.
"That person is too incredible." Judy watched the slightly distorted human shape leave, her wide eyes filled with surprise.
It wasn't surprising that she was astonished; a living person had "vanished" completely right in front of her. It would be strange if she weren't surprised.
Judy had only heard of, but never seen, this kind of camouflage skin that could distort light. Now, she was truly enlightened.
"Honestly, what exactly do you guys do?" Judy's complex gaze settled on Berry. "Your abilities don't seem like those of street Mercenaries trying to make a living."
She still couldn't clearly see through the Berry in front of her, but the previous V, and now Kikyo, far exceeded her understanding of street Mercenaries.
It made her wonder just how deep a quagmire she had stumbled into.
The thought of working for these mysterious people next made Judy even more nervous. Working for a mysterious organization with no known background was never a good thing in Night City.
If there was even basic trust between employers and employees, Night City wouldn't have spawned such a large group of middlemen living off commissions.
Working for people with no clear origin or destination often meant the sewers or a meat processing plant as the final resting place.
However, for now, they needed to rescue Little Ai first.
Judy sighed, bringing her focus back to the main task.
Even if it meant getting into trouble, she couldn't abandon Little Ai.
"Found it? The monitoring room." Judy asked in a low voice.
"You can see for yourself." Berry didn't answer, directly controlling Kikyo to connect to Judy's optical implant and share the current view.
The floor was covered with discarded playing cards and used white plastic wrappers. The air in the dilapidated corridor was slightly distorted, and a humanoid figure passed through. An ordinary person wouldn't notice this ghost-like figure without a careful look.
This figure was Kikyo, who was currently infiltrating.
She was now in Clouds' non-guest area, far from the outside hustle and bustle, where the server rooms, staff lounges, and dressing rooms were located. Kikyo cautiously moved through these areas, looking for a room that resembled a monitoring room.
The backstage area was only so big, and Kikyo found it after only a few turns.
Monitoring Room.
Seeing the doorplate clearly labeled "Monitoring Room," Kikyo nodded, she had found it.
"Anything unusual?"
"A customer in the VIP lounge got drunk and threw up on a sofa."
"Hmm, still normal enough."
Inside were two Tyger Claws, and the wall-sized screens in front of them displayed every corner of Clouds, even including the restrooms.
It seemed these guys didn't pay much attention to user privacy.
Kikyo curled her lips in distaste, preparing to enter the room.
"I say, why hasn't the next shift arrived yet?"
The Tyger Claw staring at the monitor screen seemed a bit impatient; there was nothing interesting today to pass the time.
Yesterday was truly exciting; a sex doll in the VIP area went crazy and almost scared a customer into impotence. Woody, that guy, had to pay a lot for that.
But today, it was as idle as any other day, nothing stimulating, which was why this Tyger Claw seemed so bored.
However, as he stared at the screen, he suddenly felt something strange. Why hadn't his buddy answered?
"Hey, I said..." The Tyger Claw with the character 'ruthless' (ruthless) tattooed on his arm had just turned when he saw his brother, who had been sitting beside him, now lying on the ground. His body instantly bristled, and he almost jumped up.
Something's wrong.
He wanted to shout that, but he couldn't make a sound. It was as if some invisible force in the air had firmly locked onto his neck, making it impossible for him to breathe.
Tiny sparks of electricity flashed, and Kikyo revealed herself. Her hand was firmly clamped around this guy's neck, and she was squeezing hard.
Crack!
A crisp sound of bone breaking rang out. The Tyger Claw in her hand's head was twisted to the side, and he stopped breathing.
Carefully placing the body on the ground, Kikyo looked at the monitoring system that occupied the entire wall, preparing to take action.
"Done."
Judy, who was sharing the view, breathed a sigh of relief. Such a stealth assassination scene was too stimulating for her; she had been holding her breath, not daring to exhale.
"Next, we just need to find out where Evelyn is."
Judy nodded repeatedly. Good, everything was going according to plan. As long as they found Evelyn and took her away, it would be over.
To be honest, those bastards from the Tyger Claws really didn't treat customers and employees as people. The previous restrooms were one thing, but the situation in the staff lounge was clearly visible, and looking at the awkward position of the camera, it seemed to be a deliberately hidden pinhole camera.
The thought of those sex dolls cursing the club in the lounge, with the club knowing everything clearly, made Berry feel a hint of sadness.
Kikyo quickly scanned through the images on the various screens. Evelyn's chip had fried last night, so she definitely couldn't be with a client now, which significantly narrowed the search area.
Kikyo then scanned through places that looked like medical rooms, but still didn't find Evelyn. Berry frowned.
Something wasn't right. Evelyn hadn't left the club yet, so how could she not be found?
However, Berry didn't lose heart. She continued scanning, this time turning her eyes to the staff lounges.
Scanning them one by one, finally, Berry seemed to catch something and moved her eyes back to the room she had just seen.
The room in the image was incredibly dim. A broken bed was vaguely visible, and a figure curled up on it.
"It's Evelyn." Berry said.
She saw clearly; that person curled up in pain on the bed, wasn't it the confident and strategic Evelyn from before? Now, wearing a skimpy outfit and miserably curled up on the bed, Berry almost didn't recognize her.
"Where?" Judy urgently asked. Following Kikyo's shifting gaze, she finally saw Evelyn's miserable state.
"Damn it, Little Ai!" Judy, who had earlier harbored some resentment towards Little Ai, felt an urgent pang in her heart upon seeing Little Ai's wretched appearance, wishing she could rescue her immediately.
Little Ai was truly as Berry said, her brain damaged by revenge.
"Berry, please, save Little Ai! I'll do my best to help you with whatever you ask of me!"
Seeing Judy's anxious expression, Berry shook her head with complex emotions.
This Evelyn really had a good best friend.
However, your Judy will soon be mine.
Looking at Judy's anxious little face, Berry smiled.
"Don't worry, Judy, we'll save her."
Now things were simple. They just needed the two of them to go in, cooperate with Kikyo to carry Evelyn out, and it would be done.
However, just as Kikyo was about to leave the monitoring room, an unexpected event occurred.
The door to Evelyn's small room suddenly opened, letting in light from the corridor, and at the same time, two heavily tattooed Tyger Claws walked in, seemingly talking about something.
Kikyo's expression was serious as she brought up the audio from the small room on the control panel.
"...Woody sure knows how to make us work. Let's hurry up and move this chick to his office."
"Hey, are you crazy? Talking bad about Woody here."
"Keep your voice down, damn it. It's just the two of us. If you don't say anything, who'll know?"
The two Tyger Claws chatted as they approached and lifted the unconscious Evelyn, one from the front and one from the back. The talkative Tyger Claw continued to speak.
"I say, what's the point of Woody screwing this unresponsive piece of meat?"
"Who knows? Maybe Evelyn is pretty?"
"Get out of here. Most faces nowadays are cyberware; you can make them as good-looking as you want. I say, Woody is still after her peachy ass..."
"Whatever, let's just deliver her to Woody, and then we'll find our own fun after work."
The two of them left the small room, carrying Evelyn.
"Berry!?"
"Don't panic, we're going over immediately."
Judy anxiously looked at Berry, whose expression was serious.
She knew this Woody.
Woody, full name Oswald Forrest, was the manager of the Clouds club in the game.
He was the one who sent the damaged Evelyn to Brother Finger and then sold her to the Scavengers for black braindances when the treatment didn't work.
Now that Woody was involved, things were troublesome. Berry shook her head.
In this situation, resolving it quietly would most likely be impossible.
It seemed today they would have to fight their way out.
"Let's go. Maybe we can save Evelyn before she's taken to Woody's office."
"Alright, let's go!"
Berry pulled out "vitamin b" and walked ahead, while an anxious Judy also pulled out a tech pistol and followed behind.
Kikyo had already traversed the path into the depths of Clouds, finding no one, so the two almost jogged towards the staff lounge area.
And Kikyo had already set off ahead of them.
"Manager Forrest, we've brought the person to you!"
The one bowing and scraping now was the same guy who had been calling him Woody earlier.
"Good, you two can leave!"
Woody was a burly, bald man with a wrinkled scalp like orange peel. His eyes were deeply set, gleaming with ferocity, giving him the impression of a jackal when he looked at people.
"Yes! Yes!"
The two subordinates placed the unconscious Evelyn on the sofa, bowed, and left, not forgetting to close the door behind them.
"Evelyn Parker." Looking at the unconscious Evelyn on the sofa, Woody's temper flared. His face wrinkled, and his eyes gleamed with malice.
It was this bitch who, for some unknown reason, went crazy last night and had her head explode while serving a client, scaring the client who was busy licking her nether regions quite badly.
To protect the club's reputation, Woody had paid a hefty hush money. If it were just this small amount of money, it would be fine, but the most important thing was that this incident caused him to be severely reprimanded by the gang's higher-ups.
Didn't countless younglings have their eyes on his position? And it had to be at this time.
As a gang member, dissatisfaction was never left until the next day. After dealing with the mess during the day, Woody intended to get his compensation from this Evelyn.
After that, he would just throw her to that old perverted Cyberware Doctor, Brother Finger.
The club had spent a lot of money to clean up Evelyn's mess; she only deserved a cheap Cyberware Doctor.
To be honest, if it weren't for this bitch's decent performance, Woody wouldn't even have planned to treat her; he would have just sold her to be filmed for black braindances.
And just as Woody, fuming, approached the sofa and unbuckled his pants, with a click, the room door suddenly opened.
"Who the hell are you!?"
Woody glared and roared at the doorway. Of course, if he wasn't currently wearing large boxer briefs, his intimidating presence would have been more effective.
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