"Maintain alert for one hour, if there's no unusual activity, cancel it. Also, double the number of guards tonight."
"Yes, BOSS."
Berry spoke, and the Mercenary took the order and left.
A serious Berry now possessed the aura of a gang boss, that calm and composed authority that could suppress everything and handle anything.
Sometimes, this feeling could give others confidence and reassurance, making them believe that things weren't as bad as they seemed.
At least Judy was just barely recovering from the life-and-death race she had just experienced.
A little while later, two cans of solution were placed on Berry's desk.
Both were green, and the solution inside seemed to be churning, making one imagine the viscous flowing sound.
When the two items were placed together, Berry finally confirmed her hypothesis.
These two cans of solution were the same thing.
One was found in the Motorcycle Gang's basement, and the other was brought back by Kikyo, both neatly placed before her.
In the system interface, information about both was displayed.
"Mysterious Solution
Possesses a slight effect of amplifying the emotions of living organisms, recommended for spray application."
This was the description for the solution from the Motorcycle Gang's basement.
And the other can.
"Mysterious Solution
Possesses an extremely slight effect of amplifying the emotions of living organisms, recommended for spray application."
These two cans were essentially identical.
The difference was that the one obtained from the Tyger Claws was more diluted, and its effect wasn't as strong.
What exactly was this stuff for?
Previously, Berry wouldn't have had this doubt.
Because judging from the solution's effect of amplifying emotions in living organisms, it was similar to 'leaves' (drugs), and Berry had thought it was some kind of stimulant to make casino gamblers more addicted.
But now, Berry dared not think that way anymore.
Because the Tyger Claws were actually injecting this stuff into people.
Why were they doing this?
From Brother Finger's testimony, it was known that the Tyger Claws planned to send these injected sex dolls to another place, not just keep them for a week to test drugs as they had initially told the sex dolls.
This reminded Berry of the gamblers frozen in the casino basement.
They also seemed to be sent somewhere.
There were too many suspicious points; Berry was now full of questions.
But she had to think, because if she didn't thoroughly understand this thing, perhaps one day others would come knocking, and she wouldn't know what was happening.
She had to figure out the whole process now.
Otherwise, she wouldn't sleep soundly.
Berry continued to ponder.
The sex dolls would be sent somewhere, and the gamblers who lost all their money also seemed to be sent somewhere.
Could it be that they were all being sent to the same place?
Berry had to guess this way, as the information she had was simply too little.
So where did these drugs come from, and were the collectors of the victims also the creators of these drugs?
Berry felt like her hair was falling out from thinking, but she still couldn't come up with any reliable information.
After all, her intelligence was too scarce.
She could only guess.
Perhaps some mysterious force was collecting human bodies, and their need for human bodies was... wait, Berry suddenly felt like she had grasped something.
All the human bodies they wanted to collect were related to this solution.
Casinos used this as a spray for gamblers to inhale, and the Tyger Claws directly injected it into sex dolls.
They had all been exposed to this stuff.
Perhaps, the human bodies that mysterious force needed were those who were tolerant to this drug, or conversely, those with good absorption capabilities.
Berry suddenly felt like she had caught onto something crucial.
If this was filled in, then according to her guess, the whole process should be:
Some force provided this drug to gangs to screen and test people, and then those who met certain requirements would be sent back to them to achieve some ulterior motive.
In the absence of intelligence, Berry could only guess this much.
Looking at the sex dolls who were nearly semi-comatose after being safe, Berry knew that now was not a good time for questioning, so she would have to wait.
"You all stay here for the next few days, and leave once it's safe."
Seeing these extremely exhausted individuals who had narrowly escaped death, Berry stated her arrangement.
But after she said it, someone immediately objected.
"Hehehe, no need to trouble you with that, um, I have an escape route arranged with a Fixer. I want to leave Night City now, could you please..."
Since being brought into the building, Brother Finger realized that he had truly gotten involved in something extraordinary.
This was clearly another gang, and they had just offended the Tyger Claws.
Perhaps it was even intentional.
Thinking of the fierce-looking Mercenaries in the building, Brother Finger began his own speculation.
The two girls who implicated him in running away were not looking for their friends at all; they were people from this mysterious organization in front of him.
This was a conflict between two gangs.
Brother Finger, with the quick Reflexes of an old Night City resident, instantly understood this.
And he immediately thought of himself.
Two gangs in conflict, and he was completely an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.
And gang conflicts, of course, involved blood and corpses. He had dealt with flesh and blood his whole life, but he especially didn't want to be lying on a surgical chair, or worse, become a corpse in an incinerator.
So, Brother Finger now wanted nothing to do with these two big shots; he just wanted to run away quickly, far from Night City.
His business was finished, but he didn't want to lose his old life.
"Do you need me to arrange someone to send you?"
Seeing that Brother Finger had his own plans, Berry didn't intend to force him.
Although Berry was initially very angry that this guy was in cahoots with the Tyger Claws, in the end, he helped a lot, so Berry decided not to make things difficult for this lecherous old man anymore.
"Ah, no, no, I can handle it myself!"
Hearing that Berry wanted to find someone to send him off, Brother Finger waved his hands repeatedly.
He was just afraid of getting involved with them again.
Now, he was single-mindedly preparing to follow the old path of runaways: taking a Nomads' vehicle out of Night City through a Fixer. Anyway, with his skills, he could find work anywhere, so he had no nostalgia for Night City.
So, Brother Finger was ready to flee; he didn't even drink a sip of water. The door opened, and he hurried downstairs and left.
His fleeing figure was very much like the 'Wasted Blade' of Dongbei.
However, after Brother Finger fled, another person also raised an opinion.
"Berry, I'm sorry, but I can't leave Evelyn alone in the apartment."
Judy also expressed her request with a troubled look.
Indeed, she should be troubled, as all of this started because of her, but from the current situation, she couldn't resolve it on her own.
"I plan to take her to Lizzy's to hide for a while. I'll contact you again once it's safe."
"Okay, alright, then you take the secret passage in the building. It leads to a junkyard about a kilometer away. Leave from there, and no one will find you."
Judy was stunned for a moment; she hadn't even known there was such a secret passage in this building.
But Berry merely shrugged, offering no explanation.
Are you kidding? As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows; she couldn't possibly not have a secret escape route prepared.
During the renovation, she had a few Mercenaries dig a hole in the utility room on the first floor, which was now just wide enough to pass through.
Well, it just hadn't had walls installed yet, so one would get a bit dusty.
"Then these girls can stay here for now. They have nowhere else to go, and this is the only safe place right now."
Berry looked at the still-shaken sex dolls and arranged a path for them.
"Hmm, thank you!"
Though she was now dispirited, Judy still thanked them sincerely.
She truly owed Kikyo, Berry, and The Hive too much; they could have chosen not to get involved, but... looking at Kikyo leaning against the wall, Judy's expression was complex.
After everyone was settled, only Berry remained in the office.
Only then could she contemplate decisions for the future.
The Hive's armaments must be strengthened.
After this encounter with the Tyger Claws, Berry deeply understood that the current Hive was still too weak.
Not only was the number of personnel severely insufficient, but their combat power was also clearly lacking.
However, to expand these, The Hive's current funds were also clearly insufficient.
The Hive's main source of income currently was Berry's counterfeit cyberware business. Although with her genius operations, cyberware manufacturing had largely achieved automation, relying on this limited output to support more people was very difficult.
She needed to open the bar as soon as possible, and also find other business avenues.
Berry had to get The Hive's funds circulating quickly.
Because only with enough money could she recruit more people and make more attempts to enhance the combat power of her subordinates.
Berry knew that The Hive's high-end combat power was still acceptable for now. Her girlfriend V and good brother Jackie were considered first-class Mercenaries in Night City, and with herself and her Chassis, the high-end combat power was barely sufficient.
But Berry was still not satisfied, because she knew that even the strongest flesh had its limits.
V and Jackie had very few cyberware surgeries on them. Although they could become first-class Mercenaries through experience and intuition, they were still flesh and blood; how could they compare to those who had their entire bodies modified?
Yes, she was referring to the likes of Adam Smasher.
According to Berry's classification, the strongest active Mercenaries in Night City could be described as "legendary." Adam Smasher, the elusive Morgan Blackhand, and Johnny Silverhand, who was about to win his resurrection match, all belonged to this tier.
V and Jackie, who had not yet fully matured, could at most reach the "Epic" level, below "legendary," just like her current two Chassis.
Growth takes time, but currently, Berry didn't have that time, and Jackie and V weren't particularly keen on cyberware, so she wanted to take another shortcut.
That was exoskeleton armor.
That's right, she planned to use exoskeleton armor to enhance the strength of her subordinates. This was what she had been contemplating and preparing recently.
And now, the Tyger Claws incident had sounded the alarm for her; it was time to accelerate the research and development of the first generation of exoskeleton armor.
Note:
Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!
I wish you all a year filled with blessings, success, good fortune, and happiness!
Important Announcement:
I will be on Lunar New Year holiday starting February 15th, 2026, and will return on February 23rd, 2026. During this time, I will focus on resting and spending time with my family.
During my break, I will prepare some new chapters, which I will post regularly after the holiday ends. Please stay tuned — the following parts are very interesting!
Thank you so much for your incredible support. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!