November 6, 2075, was officially nearing the end of the year.
Thanksgiving was not far off, and Christmas was only about a month away.
Therefore, Night City, this broken place, also gained a few touches of festivity due to the arrival of the holidays.
There were many people in this city, but no matter their race, everyone in Night City celebrated Christmas, and Jax was no exception; he had celebrated several Christmases with the Moxes.
How to describe it... it was probably a night of wild partying with tons of alcohol. Susie Q would distribute bonuses to the Moxes' sisters during this holiday, so it was the most important holiday for the Moxes.
Infected by them, Jax slowly began to value this holiday, which to him was a 'foreigners' festival'.
In the economic zone apartment building in northern Watson District, Jax, dressed neatly and wearing a hat, opened his door and glanced at the opposite door. After a moment's thought, Jax walked over and rang the doorbell.
This was a well-located apartment building in Watson, very close to the Afterlife and also very close to the Moxes.
The reason for moving here was Rogue.
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This was considered her territory, and some of her intelligence contacts also lived in this apartment building.
Therefore, this was essentially an apartment building inhabited only by 'insiders'.
And everyone from Maine's crew had now moved into this apartment building, oh, except for Lucy.
It wasn't that she wasn't moving, but her apartment in Heywood hadn't expired yet, plus as a hacker, Lucy had a lot of things, so moving would take some time.
However, she had already chosen a room. This building only had four floors, and Jax and his group all lived on the third floor.
Jax lived in 314, Sasha's room was 307 directly opposite, and Lucy's room was 315.
Rebecca also chose a room for herself and moved into 308... She didn't plan to live with her brother, Pilar, anymore.
Before, it was due to lack of money that they had no choice but to live under the same roof. Now that they weren't so short on cash, and with this place being chosen by Rogue, the rent was especially cheap, so why should she still live with Pilar?
Compared to Santo Domingo and Heywood, housing prices in Watson District were generally much cheaper, which was naturally due to Watson District's geographical location.
Located in the frontline area after the nuclear bomb explosion, the north was full of abandoned industrial parks and slums, coupled with the local chaos, rampant gangs, and mercenary gatherings, Watson District could be said to be the place in Night City that ordinary people were least willing to go to.
Maelstrom, Tyger Claws, Animals, Scavengers, Moxes...
To be honest, except for the Voodoo Boys in Pacifica who didn't want to come into the city, and the Valentinos and 6th Street Gang who guarded Heywood and Santo Domingo respectively, Watson District was truly a den of all evils...
Therefore, with all these factors combined, Watson District was naturally not a place ordinary people would come to, even though it was adjacent to City Center, with Japantown and Little China as two good entertainment venues.
"What's wrong?"
The opposite door was suddenly pushed open, and Sasha poked her head out. Wearing pink pajamas, her hair was a bit messy, and she was looking at Jax groggily.
"Are you... staying up late again?" Jax looked at Sasha, walked forward, and reached out to tidy her hair.
"Yeah, I binge-watched a show last night. The one Lucy recommended to me is quite interesting," Sasha said with a yawn.
As she spoke, she suddenly grinned mischievously and hummed, "I understand what Lucy means. Recommending a show to me is just to keep me from ambushing you, right?"
Jax was a bit speechless, "Who's ambushing whom, exactly?"
"You have good stamina, so you decide." Sasha pursed her lips. "Lend me your motorcycle key, I need to go out." Jax had originally thought of asking Sasha to go with him, but seeing her yawn, Jax thought about it and decided to go alone.
"What are you going to do?"
"Go pick up the car. I already finalized it with Old Captain two days ago. I bought a car from him for 170,000 euros." When he mentioned this, Jax became a bit excited.
A car... After being in this world for so long, Jax was finally going to have a car of his own!
He didn't have a driver's license, but... that didn't affect him driving at all.
After all, there were countless people without driver's licenses in Night City. Among the cars running on the road, how many could you find with proper documentation?
Heh, they were either pieced together from a junkyard or bought from a second-hand dealer.
After all, how could ordinary people afford expensive cars?
"Oh..." Sasha nodded and returned to her room with a yawn. The pink-decorated room formed a stark contrast with Jax's room.
This apartment building was old, and everything inside, from the lighting and wall paint to the furniture, was old. The overall atmosphere was a gray and oppressive one, but Sasha's room was very cozy.
Well, Sasha was an otaku who loved anime... it was normal for her to decorate her room.
After a while, Sasha ran out, holding a pink acrylic small card with fingertips painted with light blue nail polish.
She handed the item to Jax and said, "The motorcycle is parked in the underground garage. You press it, then follow the sound..."
"Forget it, it's too troublesome. How about this, turn around." Sasha took the chip back and patted Jax's shoulder.
Jax turned around, and Sasha then lifted her foot and attached the small card to the small card slot behind Jax's left ear.
With her pupils turning yellow, Sasha complained, "You should find time to replace your cyberdeck. Your current cyberdeck... has too few functions. The Moxes are really something, why would they install such a cyberdeck for you? This thing must be an antique from decades ago, right?"
Jax rolled his eyes: "It's good enough that they even installed one for me; I didn't pay for it."
How could Kolina and Susie Q have known Jax would have such strength? When they took Jax in, they never really thought he would achieve great things in the future; they just followed the Moxes' philosophy and offered help.
Therefore, installing a cheap cyberdeck for Jax was perfectly normal.
"Hacking your cyberdeck is really easy, but any hacker who gets in will be completely dumbfounded, because besides an optical implant, money transfers, and calling functions, you have nothing! Damn, you can't even install a demon doll Trojan on this thing," Sasha continued to complain.
As a hacker, she had the most authority to speak.
The fewer cyberware and implants a person had, the harder it was for a hacker to operate after hacking in.
Why?
Because the cyberdeck is connected to implants. The cyberware and various implants in the body need to be connected to the neural network in the brain and linked to the cyberdeck so that the cyberware can function.
Otherwise, just putting cyberware into the body without connecting it to various parts of the body and reacting, how could it be operated?
Precisely because of this, this kind of low-level cyberdeck... burning it up simply can't kill a person, because at most it burns off the external chips. Even the most powerful hacker can only disable the optical implant function, disable the communication function, or intrude on calls to eavesdrop with this kind of cyberdeck.
As for transferring and stealing money? Ha... that's even harder. That's going against the banks... Are you saying that you, a hacker, plan to invade a cyberdeck and then get money from Red Lotus Bank or Rothschild Bank?
Don't be ridiculous, there's no such device. This requires biological sensing operation by the person themselves, otherwise, the money won't be transferred out.
Therefore, entering this kind of old-fashioned cyberdeck is incredibly easy; anyone can just barge in, but once inside, they'll be dumbfounded.
Deep brain nerves, brainstem, etc., because they are not connected to implants, simply cannot be burned!
"Alright, I've installed it for you. When you get to the basement, look in your contacts interface. There's a special call button; press it, and my motorcycle will automatically track your location."
Sasha handled all the team's network security protocols, so she could operate on everyone in the team without any effort.
Take Rebecca, for example; don't let her high-end gear fool you. Because Sasha built the firewall, Sasha only needs to glare, and Rebecca will enter a bricked state!
"Is your motorcycle that advanced?" Jax looked at Sasha, surprised.
"Advanced? You're just old-fashioned!" Sasha said, reaching out to push Jax, and hissed like a cat, "I'm going to sleep, I'm so sleepy!" "Alright, alright, then you get some good rest." Jax smiled and nodded, pushed out of her room by Sasha.
Then, Jax walked out of the apartment building.
It had been over a week since he returned to Night City, and during this past week, Jax and Maine had already formally laid out their future plans in Night City.
First, after consulting Gloria, the two types of businesses they currently planned to undertake were as follows: 1. Let Gloria return to her old profession, still focusing on selling weapons and implants, with the best-case scenario being to open a shop in Watson District.
After asking Rogue for her opinion, Rogue immediately said that if Jax's side only paid 150,000 euros, she would let Gloria open the gun shop right outside her own shop.
Damn, opening a weapon shop right outside the Afterlife?
No, would they still worry about not having sales channels then?
Of course not!
Because seven out of ten people who went to the Afterlife were mercenaries!
So in this situation, even if you put a pig as a signboard girl, with a sign next to it showing prices, the goods would still sell, not to mention Gloria's excellent communication skills.
Therefore, as soon as Jax mentioned this to Maine, Maine immediately agreed.
Are you kidding? Leaving aside how to handle the supply, just the fact that the shop could be opened right outside the Afterlife, how could they not open it?
This was also because Jax had enough influence; otherwise, who could open a shop right outside the Afterlife? Therefore, Maine immediately transferred money, emptying what little cash he had left, and helped the team buy the shop rights.
As for the supply, Gloria also said not to worry. There were too many people selling weapons on the city network. Although they were all junk weapons and implants, didn't Pilar have the technical skills in this area? Let him repair and restore them, dismantle parts for new assembly and upgrades, and then sell the weapons.
Buying junk items at a low price, modifying them, and then selling them at a good price would definitely not result in a loss.
So the first business was to open a shop next to the Afterlife.
The second was Gloria's suggestion to open a security company.
The team's combat power was very strong. For example, Rebecca, Maine, and Jackie, after Tigress's special training, Rebecca and Maine had become much stronger, and Jackie was a natural street kid. He had an innate keen combat sense and was a sharpshooter even without implants or loaded chips. Now with a military-grade Sandevistan, his combat power naturally went without saying.
The team's hackers could also be outsourced for small jobs. Gloria would handle this aspect; she knew many people with such needs.
So, the team's second business was to open a security company in Night City.
As for why Gloria knew all this and had such connections... well, it can only be said that aside from combat and hacking, Gloria's talent for making money was truly maxed out...
When she had no channels, she relied on herself to send David to school. Now, with Jax and his group to utilize, and with Rogue's help and connections, Gloria operated like a fish in water!
Damn, the ancients truly didn't deceive me; having an elder at home is truly like having a treasure!
Well, although Gloria's age wasn't actually very old, Gloria was actually about the same age as Maine. She... got pregnant with David before she was 18.
Besides business matters, there was also the task of recruiting 'newcomers' that Maine and Jackie were responsible for.
No longer just mercenary team members, but people for the gang, for the family.
It seemed that early this morning, Maine had taken Jackie and Dorio to find that person called... what was his name again?
Ah, Bone Kree's people.
Maine was preparing to persuade him to join, to bring him into the security company that was about to be founded, even though they didn't even have a proper office location yet...
But it didn't matter, what if it was a makeshift operation?
In this place where fists do the talking, as long as the strength is there, everything else is unimportant.
As for why Jax didn't go...
That was because Jax wasn't good at talking.
After all, Jax was usually silent. In Maine's words, he was a 'brooding pervert'; in Jackie's words, he was 'acting mysterious'; and in Pilar's words, Jax was'showing off to pick up girls' again.
In the underground garage, as Sasha had instructed, Jax opened his contacts and indeed saw a pink little icon next to the contacts.
It was a pink cat pattern, a small cat wearing sunglasses with an earring on one ear.
After clicking it, Jax saw the vehicle presentation interface.
There was only one identifier inside. After clicking it, about five seconds later, Jax heard the roar of an engine in the underground garage.
Then, a pink, cute-style motorcycle appeared, driving towards him driverless.
Jax narrowed his eyes, wondering if the car he bought from Old Captain could also have this feature.
He didn't know if that car had this function...
Getting on the motorcycle, Jax made a call to Old Captain.
A moment later, the call connected.
"Hello?"
"Old Captain, can I come over now?"
"Of course!" Old Captain laughed loudly. "Your call is truly timely. I just finished preparing the car you liked this morning. Come to this place in Santo Domingo; I'll be waiting for you there."
"Okay, I'll be right there."
Hanging up the phone, getting on the motorcycle, Jax drove out of the underground garage and headed straight for the address Old Captain had sent.
"I'm finally... going to be a car owner!"