Bone Shards slowly raised his head, staring at the corner of the ceiling.

There was a secret camera there, equipped with a special plugin from Argos Optical Company, used to record transactions inside the casino, even external lense disruptors couldn't interfere with it.

The key is...

This line is known only to Bone Shards.

He thought for a moment, then shook his head with a smile, speaking into the phone.

[You've got quite a few tricks up your sleeve, ah... I wasn't planning to hide it from you anyway, because in my original hypothesis, you shouldn't have survived.]

"Stop talking bullshit, where's the freezer?"

[At the border checkpoint in West District, at least, it was when I sent it to you.]

Smuggling is the most common illegal activity at the border.

Many forces were eyeing this business, the wasteland outside city checkpoints controlled by Wanderers and Exiles, of course, companies specializing in inter-city transport also had influence.

But once you reach a checkpoint, enter the city limits, gangs and companies have more power.

West District is Black Gold Gang's turf.

Countless eyes were watching the illegal immigrants.

Tonight, a few hours before Vito's retirement feast, the Gaia Cell Company used unofficial means to send in a batch of "experiment materials," the documents and procedures seemed complete, but to professionals, they were full of loopholes.

The corruption at the border checkpoint noticed it.

They thought it was a big company's product, or unreleased samples, in any case, things that were valuable.

Stuff like this usually makes a good profit.

The checkpoint itself collects a hefty hush fee.

If they encountered knowledgeable insiders, they might even attempt to discreetly sell the items to the black market.

If all else fails,

they could take a few photos to sell to rival companies for a profit.

So these photos were passed along, eventually delivered to Bone Shards' inbox.

On another front.

Both Bone Shards and Mr. Vito had investigated John.

There were more cameras in society than neon lights visible to the naked eye, and the data barriers between companies were insurmountable. Trying to erase them wasn't easy, there was always a corner somewhere recording your traces.

The intelligence broker got Welch's identity information.

That employee from Tiebang Logistics's transport fleet looked very different from the current John.

After further investigation, they discovered another situation.

Someone was attempting to erase "John" from society.

There were deletion traces in Tiebang Logistics's files, the entire transport fleet's insurance information was canceled, nothing about him in ECPD Citizen Records Database, even the company's partner hospital's records were gone.

Bone Shards knew John's identity had issues, but there were no clues.

Until...

The border checkpoint sent the photos to his inbox.

Tiebang Logistics' "John Welch" was lying in the freezer.

Bone Shards immediately noticed the familiar face, and then at Vito's retirement feast, he forwarded the document to John unchanged.

[I'm busy as hell too, not interested in secrets, at the time I just thought I'd give you a little shock, mm-hmm, the effect was not bad.]

"So where's the body?"

John blurted out, seeking an answer, chilled to the bone.

"Wait, he... am I dead?"

[Calm down, John.]

[How would I know if he's dead or alive, the freezer has already left the checkpoint, probably lying in some Gaia Cell lab now.]

"You goddamn liar, you were playing me all along!"

John pounded the nearby wall, leaving a clear bloody handprint.

"Even if I had killed Angelica back then, what would you have given me!"

[Don't question my credibility, you little punk, if you really had done the job for me back then, I would've arranged to rob the checkpoint, I wouldn't be interested even if you jerked off over the body afterward.]

Bone Shards' tone turned assertive.

He seemed to care a lot about his credibility.

Police sirens echoed in the high skies of the city.

Colorful neon intertwined with red and blue flashing lights, gunfire faintly audible, the chaotic streets gradually calmed under SAT's strong suppression.

Industrial smoke slowly settled.

In the damp alley, wastewater fell like localized rain.

Bone Shards waited long without a response.

[John...?]

The call was disconnected amid weak breathing.

Bone Shards glanced again at the corner of the room's camera.

[Eden City - Outer Casino Area]

John, dizzy from blood loss, the first thing he did upon regaining consciousness was to hang up on Bone Shards.

The casino would soon notice the missing personnel.

Bone Shards would also associate the issue with the camera line.

John braced against the wall, stumbling to stand, leaving behind a pool of light red blood mixture in the alley, and the corpse of a Black Gold Gang thug.

He stripped the hooded jacket off the deceased, covering his face, got up, and walked to the open area in front of the casino, blending into the crowd, quietly slipping away under the gaze of the Black Gold Gang enforcers.

Suddenly.

A few hoodlums smoking in a corner stepped out.

They just put a hand on John's shoulder, blocking his way, trying to extort something valuable from him, but quickly noticed the tattered shirt and twisted cybernetic limb under his coat.

"Tsk, not interesting."

"Let's go, this fool's already got messed with by a Ghoul."

"Still bleeding, tough bastard."

…

Those conversations were drowned out by ringing ears.

John panted, walking unsteadily, his artificial eye focusing several times to see the road ahead clearly, as he regained awareness, a few of the thugs had already left cursing.

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