Cyberpunk: The Ultimate Saga

"V, long time no see—you're still alive, huh~?" Claire smiled from behind the counter at Afterlife, sliding a cold beer toward V. "You look like hell. Have a drink. Relax a little!"

"Thanks, Claire. Damn sun's been roasting me alive." V grabbed the drink and downed it in one go, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Got any gigs lately?"

Getting into Pacifica without an excuse was tough. The best way to slip through was to accept a job that required going there.

"Plenty of gigs," Claire replied. "Depends on what flavor you want." She wasn't just a bartender here—she was one of the best info brokers in the Afterlife.

This merc hangout was always buzzing with business, grudges, and quiet deals. People killed and got killed like it was nothing.

"I need one that takes me into Pacifica," V said directly.

"Pacifica?" Claire raised an eyebrow and paused, drying her glass. "You mess up big-time or something? That's the kind of place people run to when they're out of options."

Located on the edge of Night City, Pacifica was more no-man's-land than neighborhood. A refuge for the hunted, it was the perfect place to lay low—or disappear.

"City's getting out of control. Just trying to set up a fallback," V said, inventing a half-truth.

"You'll have to wait, then," Claire said with a shrug. "Voodoo Boys run that place. Even fixers keep their distance."

Suddenly, a voice V hadn't heard in a while cut through the bar's noise, freezing him in place.

"I've been looking for you, friend!" Dexter DeShawn dropped into the seat beside him, grinning as he exhaled a puff of smoke. "What do you say we catch up? Maybe... in my car?"

Feeling the cold metal press against his ribs under the table, V forced a smile. "Sure, Mr. Dexter. Let's go."

---

Badlands

Dakota Smith looked grimly at Valff, who now had only one functioning hand and one foot left. He lay motionless on the ground, a mangled wreck of what used to be a man.

"I've contacted Su Petrochemical's reps," Dakota said. "We'll meet this afternoon."

"Great." Lily Cross smiled in satisfaction. Finally, things were starting to move. When she had downtime, she often chatted with Lena Fox. Lately, Lena had been getting more valuable intel from Biersen, earning herself a daily extra payout of one or two thousand eddies.

Lily wanted to scream, "Why can't I take those missions instead?"

But this job wasn't done, and the team had to split up to cover ground. All she could do was envy Lena's endless parade of delicious food photos.

"This is the meeting location. Now hand him over," Dakota said coldly.

"Sure it's legit?" Lily asked, waving the printed coordinates in her hand.

"It is."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. Mike!" Lily called out.

Mike Taylor dragged Valff like a bag of trash and dumped him in front of Dakota before silently heading back to the vehicle.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Lily said sweetly. She pulled out 50,000 eddies and handed it to Dakota.

Dakota snatched the money with gritted teeth. Business was business. Grudges were a different story.

That, too, was something Leon Black had taught her.

As Lily's vehicle sped off, Dakota turned and gestured to her team to haul Valff away. He wasn't worth much now, but he was still one of theirs.

---

The Next Morning

"Hello. I'm Lily Cross." Lily offered her hand with a charming smile to a tall man with sharp European features.

"Joe Gerulf," he replied, shaking her hand. "Dakota said you're looking to make a deal?"

Gerulf, the Su Petrochemical regional lead in Night City, handled guerrilla operations, discreet assignments, and planting agents inside corporate structures.

Su Petrochemical didn't have much pull in Night City. Between rivals like Biotechnica, Militech, Arasaka, and Kang Tao, there was no room for another player. But that never stopped them from trying to squeeze in.

Corporate warfare in Night City was a quiet bloodbath: infiltration, blackmail, assassinations, data theft—it never ended.

Initially, Gerulf wasn't interested in new deals. They lacked the manpower to act on anything major. But Dakota had pleaded relentlessly, and given how much she helped in the Badlands, he decided to hear them out.

"Yes, but before we proceed," Lily said, "I need to know—can you authorize this kind of deal?"

"I can," he confirmed.

"Good. Then contact headquarters. You might not have the clearance for this one."

Gerulf's smile faded. "What kind of deal are we talking about?"

"Come with me," Lily said, waving him toward the vehicle. "See it first. Then you'll understand."

Sighing, Gerulf followed her around to the back of the truck, expecting disappointment or some foolish attempt at bluffing.

But when Lily opened the trunk—his expression changed completely.

A Biotechnica black-gold safe stared back at him.

"Shit!" Gerulf's head snapped toward Lily, stunned. But she raised a finger to her lips.

"Keep it down."

He took a deep breath. "How much are you asking?"

The implications were enormous. Biotechnica's black-gold classification was reserved for the most sensitive and dangerous intel. If this was real, it could secure him several promotions—and a fortune.

"Fifty million," Lily said, flashing five fingers.

"Impossible!" Gerulf shot back instantly. "If it were black-red, maybe. But black-gold? That's beyond absurd."

"Then you name your price," she replied coolly.

"Ten million."

"Goodbye." Lily slammed the trunk shut and turned to leave.

"Wait, wait! The price is negotiable!" Gerulf rushed to stop her.

"Mr. Gerulf, you know what this is. A black-gold Biotechnica safe. Whatever's inside—it's guaranteed top secret. And Su Petrochemical can't pass this up."

"I get that," Gerulf nodded. "But you need to understand something else…"

He grinned.

"It could be empty."

Lily blinked. "Empty?"

Gerulf leaned closer. "We've been fighting Biotechnica for a long time. Decoys and traps are part of the game. Sometimes they load an empty black-gold safe just to bait enemies into exposing themselves. That's why our company sets a fixed buy-in price for them—ten million. No matter what's inside."

"That way, even if it's junk, we treat it as training for our engineers."

He continued, "Now, if you want a higher price, we can do that—but only after we crack it. Based on its contents. That could be a lot more... or a lot less."

Lily didn't reply right away. The implication was clear: trust them with the box, and wait. But trust was dangerous in their world.

"I'll discuss it with my team," she said finally.

"Fair enough," Gerulf said with a polite nod. "I'll start prepping the cash either way. Just be careful. Real or fake, this thing will attract hunters."

Lily nodded, then gave the door a tap. Mike Taylor revved the engine and drove off.

---

Gerulf watched them leave, a strange light flickering in his eyes.

He had considered using force. But when his scanners pinged the dozens of armed bombs in their trunk, he wisely backed down. One wrong move, and the entire block would become a crater.

---

They drove out of town and into the hills. A barren mound of dirt came into view.

"How'd it go?" Lily asked aloud.

The air shimmered, and a man stepped forward—Ethan Cross—stretching like he'd just woken up.

"They were sharp. Left without revealing a thing," he reported.

As a sniper, Ethan didn't need to speak. The threat of his crosshairs did all the talking.

Gerulf never even realized someone had him in their sights the entire time.

"They're corporate-trained. They know better than to flap their mouths," Lily said, unsurprised. "Still… it's funny. Same family name, but Joe Gerulf and Leon Black—so different."

Ethan shrugged. "That's rank for you. So… what do you think about what he said?"

"People lie with two mouths," Lily replied, pulling a lollipop from her pocket and popping it in. "That 'bait-safe' excuse? It's plausible. Corps do stuff like that. But…"

She narrowed her eyes. "Those black-gold safes are too secure to just fake. If it was just a dummy, someone would've cracked it already. We couldn't even make a dent."

They had tried—quietly. Lockpicks, digital intrusion, even brute force. Nothing worked.

Trying anything louder would've brought the city down on them.

"So, sell it while we can," Lily concluded. "The fact that we failed just proves it's the real deal."

"Want to ask the Captain?" Ethan offered.

"He said to handle it ourselves," Lily said with a pout. She'd already tried asking, but Leon Black wasn't interested in these 'side quests.'

"As expected of the Captain!" Ethan laughed.

"He's not here, no need to brown-nose."

"It's sincere!"

"Yeah, yeah~"

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