That is the scent of danger.

The agent's keen senses made him immediately aware that the person in front of him had more than one life on his hands.

A formidable mercenary.

Carter didn't think much, let the other party go in first, and then left himself.

The expert sat in Carter's seat, reached under the bar for a touch, and pulled down a small mechanical device, crushed it, and threw it in the nearby trash can.

How many of these are there already, aren't these people annoyed?

Ever since the conflict with the Trauma Team cooled down, agents had been coming wave after wave.

The listening and surveillance equipment dismantled could be sold by the pound.

Most were dismantled by Lin Miao, and a few were found by players.

Some even hired mercenaries planning to launch a rocket attack on the bar, but they were all repelled by the players.

And when the Wanderer showed up, the agents didn't stop but intensified.

They even stashed equipment or advanced cyber-optics intended to scan the Wanderer, probing whether they were heavily armed, and what connection they might have with the light power armor that appeared that day.

However

Just as the expert was about to get up, a burly mercenary sat down next to him.

"A glass of brandy, with ice."

Although he wanted to go to Dog Town to ask Alex for her disguise techniques, Li De knew if he went now, he'd probably get beaten into a pulp.

So he could only change attire, pretend to be a mercenary, and come here.

He even asked Dino for a day off, losing the month's perfect attendance bonus and getting docked two days' pay.

This glass of brandy was further adding to Li De's already poor financial status.

The pay for a bar security guard really wasn't high, he needed tips to get by, and to keep a low profile, Li De didn't dare take those high-paying gigs, having to work at construction sites during the day just to make ends meet.

After all, even for him, he needed inhibitors; the equipment wasn't used anymore but still needed maintenance, and he had to pay rent on the safe house...

Night City's grooves.

The intelligence agency's agent was reduced to this point, even Alex would laugh at him if she saw.

Thinking of this, Li De couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile.

Family, it's a downfall.

"Brandy?"

The bartender's voice raised quite a bit.

"How could you order that sewer drink?"

"Truly classy people should be like me, one spoonful of chili powder mixed with three spoonfuls of sesame paste, paired with rich oyster sauce..."

Bam!

The Natural Curl came running over, landing yet another punch on the back of the bartender's head, then forcefully pressed the bartender's head down, apologizing repeatedly to Li De.

"Ah~ Sorry, customer, this bartender's brain doesn't work too well, I'll handle him right away."

Then he turned and grabbed the bartender's collar and shouted.

"If you damn well don't want to work properly, then give me back the money, I spent 150 euros just to get that bartender to agree to let you work for a day!"

"Okay, okay, I got it."

The Wig, having been spat on, showed no expression, apology unwavering.

He flicked away the hand from his silver hair and then obediently took a bottle of brandy from the bar and properly poured a glass of wine.

"Huff... huff..." The silver-haired one already regretted bringing this scatterbrained buddy into the game, wasn't this just bringing trouble on himself?

So he could only threaten.

"If you dare to slack off again, I'll sell you to the violent woman to work off your debt!"

"?!"

"Customer! Your brandy with ice! Please enjoy!"

The Wig's movements were so swift that Li De didn't even see the glass being handed over to his table, even with both hands outstretched and bending over.

The action was as respectful as it could be.

"..."

Li De was full of black lines, but due to his skin color, he disguised quite well.

Taking a sip of his drink, Li De began to observe the bar.

He followed those two foolish mercenaries all the way here, and found out that most of the mercenaries messing around Night City lately were spending here.

Even though they would drink at other bars, they'd ultimately come back here.

Strange atmosphere, weird mechs, inexplicable decorations.

User-crafted graffiti filled the walls with ACG style, various cartoons, game characters, completely clashing with Night City's chaotic punk.

Entering felt like stepping into two worlds.

"First time here?"

The expert turned to look at the earlier mentioned burly man, at least two heads taller than him.

Danger

This guy was more dangerous than anyone the expert had seen, even more dangerous than the light power armor that almost killed him.

"Uh-huh."

Li De nodded.

"I heard Santo Domingo recently opened an interesting bar, got bored in the Watson District, so came to check it out."

"But I see so many mercenaries here, which fixer has so many gigs for you guys? How's the pay? Would you mind an outsider like me?"

"Why would we."

The expert glanced at the other's shotgun.

"The mission hall's in the back, after registration you can take any gig, provided your skills meet the threshold."

"Mission hall?"

A curious term,

Do the gigs here wait for mercenaries to pick them up, instead of having fixers find acquainted mercenaries? How's mercenary skill assured?

"What if the gig fails?"

"Failing a gig results in deducted reputation points; the higher the reputation, the higher the mission completion rate, allowing access to more difficult, higher-paying gigs."

"For example, I'm at E+, able to take on relatively easy jobs."

The expert's gameplay focus wasn't on taking gigs and leveling up, but on other aspects, leading to his low rank but high completion.

Li De frowned, he'd never even heard of this method before.

Lin Miao took inspiration from traditional RPG works; wasn't this setup common in novels and comics, suited perfectly for player use.

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