“Talk. What is it?”
John was still holding up his pistol, his gaze icy as he asked.
“Middleman Sal! He said he’s waiting for you at the gym! Said it’s big business!”
The man spoke at once, terrified that if he were even a moment too slow, he’d get his head blown off.
“Sal?” John frowned slightly. In order to make his later killings of the Skeleton Iron Gang look like contracted jobs, he had indeed made contact with some middlemen besides Paul, so…
“Someone else put a heavy bounty on the Skeleton Iron Gang? The same group casting a wide net recently?”
John knew his own situation best. The sudden increase in bounties on the Skeleton Iron Gang earlier had not been because of him as a killer. Though that was indeed possible, with a brain that had received compulsory education and possessed a foundation in mathematics, he could say with absolute clarity that it would never happen that fast.
The only possibility was that someone was deliberately using this pretext to create trouble for the Skeleton Iron Gang. If this was not a coincidence, then his previous actions had produced results.
With realization dawning in his heart, John’s finger also left the trigger.
“I understand. You can go!”
“Hoo…” The man, as if granted amnesty, let out a long breath, but still didn’t dare run. He merely edged, bit by bit, out of John’s attack range in the least threatening posture possible.
John couldn’t be bothered with him either. Turning around, he headed toward Quartz Gym…
…
In this cyber world, a gym sounded a little strange, but existence was reason in itself. Unlike gyms on Earth, where people worked out to lose weight or gain muscle, gyms in this world served more as places to break in cyberware.
No matter how skilled a cyberware doctor was, it was impossible to fine-tune cyberware to the point of perfect compatibility. That last bit of dissonance had to be slowly worn down through use. For ordinary people, a few months would generally be enough to break it in. But some professions were destined not to have that much leisure, especially mercenaries. As long as cyberware was damaged and repaired, slight adjustments were unavoidable. They couldn’t possibly rest for a few months every time they fixed their cyberware, could they? But going to the front lines with cyberware that wasn’t in peak condition was even more of a death wish.
And so, pumping iron in gyms naturally became something these combat professions gathered to do. And in places like this, there would naturally be no shortage of middlemen handing out jobs to them.
“Hey, Sal, sending someone straight to my door to find me isn’t exactly by the rules, is it?”
Passing through a crowd of hulking men lifting weights, John spoke without the slightest attempt to avoid others. Saying a middleman didn’t follow the rules was already the same as pointing at his nose and cursing him, but Sal seemed not to hear it at all. He walked over with a smile, narrowed his eyes, and said,
“I left messages at several places you often go, and I left word with Paul too, but these past few days you’ve been like you evaporated from the world. For the sake of this big order, I could only send someone to your place to take a look.”
“To see whether I was dead or not?” John’s words were not polite, but as a veteran middleman, Sal understood this meant he was willing to talk. He immediately pointed toward a private training room nearby and said,
“Shall we talk somewhere else?”
“Your turf.” John replied without much concern, and the two of them walked into the room just like that. Only after the door closed did Sal speak.
“The Skeleton Iron Gang came to me. They said they want to see you.” Sal took two bottles of sports drink from the vending machine by the wall, handed one to John, and only then continued,
“You’ve been making too much of a splash. The Skeleton Iron Gang has plenty of trouble on its hands now too, so they want to ‘talk’ with you.”
“How talk? With this?”
John pulled out his pistol, adopting a posture that clearly said, “If you don’t give me an explanation, I’ll blow you away.” Seeing this, Sal jumped back two steps as if by reflex before saying,
“Damn it, don’t point that thing at me! Listen carefully, this is something very common in the districts. They think you’re pretty strong and want to recruit you! As long as you agree, everything before this will be written off. The treatment is also very good: a base salary of fifty thousand a month, a luxury apartment in the West District, and normally they won’t need you to do anything. Only when necessary, you’ll help the gang solve a little trouble. The commission won’t be lower than what you’re earning from jobs now!”
“And if I don’t want to?” John’s matter-of-course tone made Sal’s brow twitch.
“God, that’s already the treatment of a security captain at a major corporation! Oh, damn it, can’t you move that thing away first?”
Sal tried to get out from under John’s muzzle, but after failing twice, he finally raised both hands as if resigned to fate.
“Oh, listen, don’t bring that garbage-district idea of ‘if you offend someone, you have to offend them to death’ into the districts! Hatred is a luxury here. If you’ve got the fists, then you deserve the benefits. If I were you, even if I didn’t join, I’d still make the trip. At the very least, you can get a sum of ‘ceasefire money.’”
“How so?”
John’s brows lifted, as if he had finally become interested. Seeing this, Sal immediately said,
“They give you a sum of money in exchange for your promise not to take the initiative against the Skeleton Iron Gang again. When you can’t beat someone, you spend money to buy peace. It’s very common in the districts.”
John did not respond immediately, but Sal understood that silence at a time like this was a sign his attitude was loosening, and hurriedly continued,
“Friend, what are you working as a killer for? Money? Or fame? If you keep being a lone-wolf killer, taking jobs one by one and risking your life again and again, when will you ever become a legend? But as long as you come to an agreement with the Skeleton Iron Gang, that means you single-handedly beat a big gang that controls one-ninth of the district into submission. Overnight, you’ll become a legend of Saint Luotan!”
“You sound like you especially want me to accept.” John looked straight into Sal’s cybernetic eyes. “How much intermediary fee did they give you?”
Sal’s smile froze for an instant, but his tone remained very natural. “I’m an intermediary. Of course I take money. If it weren’t for Paul having some friction with the Skeleton Iron Gang, this money wouldn’t have fallen into my hands… Hey, hey, what’s with that look? Don’t tell me you want to turn around and take a cut from me?”
Looking at Sal’s exaggerated expression, John furrowed his brow, then waved a hand and said,
“It’s not to that extent. But who’s going to talk with me? Don’t send some little punk whose words aren’t worth a fart…”
“It won’t be like that. The one coming to talk will definitely be someone who can make decisions. Mm, I estimate it should be the Skeleton Iron Gang’s strategist, Edwin.” Sal thought for a moment before giving his reply. Hearing this, John’s heart stirred, and he said,
“Strategist? What use is that kind of useless bastard who only knows how to run his mouth? Tell the Skeleton Iron Gang: talking is fine, but find someone presentable, someone who can make decisions for the Skeleton Iron Gang!”
“Garbage-district dumb [beep]—if Carlos really shows up, I don’t believe you’d dare go!” Sal cursed inwardly. Looking at John’s manner, he understood that there was no explaining the status of a strategist within a gang to this kind of garbage-district madman who only recognized fists. But he was only a messenger. Saying too much would only arouse unnecessary suspicion. Thinking this, he simply threw the mess back and said,
“I can’t decide that, but I’ll pass your words on to them. Wait here for a bit. I’ll go contact them now!”
PS1: As for whether the protagonist’s clones can avoid assimilating cyberware… the answer is no. His main body can, but his main body is like the lords of the Tower District, valuing life experience more, so it will assimilate them. (Actually, more of it is that installing cyberware requires a certain amount of rehabilitation, such as adapting to new limbs, learning to control strength, and getting used to feedback between neural signals and electrical signals. Also, one must systematically modify one’s body and install things like an electronic brain for assistance; otherwise, one cannot handle high-grade cyberware.)
The clones are another issue. First is their creation. In essence, the protagonist is not using source energy to assimilate cyberware and create clones; he is using his cheat ability to make a clone, merely involving source energy in the process. This is a black box, completed by the cheat ability, and he himself cannot control it.
Second, after a clone is created, can it install cyberware without assimilating it… In theory, this is actually possible, but the practical problem is… the clone’s control system cannot handle cyberware. Mm, some people may have forgotten: when the protagonist makes a clone, the requirement for the head is to have receptors, not to have a control hub. Although the result does have a brain, it basically only has vegetative reflexes, equivalent to a 386 processor that can’t run a AAA game. Control relies on the protagonist’s consciousness, but if the cyberware is not assimilated, his consciousness cannot drive cyberware that requires explicit commands.
Of course, he could also include an electronic brain when making a clone, but first, the cost would soar. To drive five-star, it would have to be at least high four-star. Second, what if the AI rebels after being fleshified?
PS2: Please stop correcting “hao rongyi.” “Hao rongyi” and “hao bu rongyi” mean the same thing. If you don’t believe it, you can look it up in a dictionary. I’m saving everyone word count, so why is everyone correcting it? (laugh-cry)