Hearing V's eagerness, Berry nodded in satisfaction and said,
"Jackie is going to deal with a group of Scavengers today. Maybe you can provide some assistance. Just be careful not to accidentally injure friendly forces."
"Leave it to me."
V didn't say much, just gave a thumbs-up.
In the Hive Tower parking lot, a group of armed individuals had assembled. Leading them was a guy holding an assault rifle, standing in the bed of a pickup truck.
From his bulky physique, clearly a result of consuming plenty of protein powder, and his red and black jacket that looked like it hadn't been changed in eight hundred years, it was clear this guy was Jackie.
And the armed Mercenaries gathered below were, naturally, the Hive's Mercenaries.
Looking at the assembled group, Jackie's lips curled into a satisfied smile.
Jackie had once been part of a gang, the Valentinos Gang, a gang Jackie remembered quite fondly.
But unfortunately, Jackie later left.
It wasn't that he wanted to, but one time he nearly died, and Mrs. Welles negotiated with the gang to let him leave so her youngest son wouldn't die too early.
But sometimes, human destiny is just that strange.
After leaving the gang, Jackie didn't take the so-called righteous path; instead, he started working independently, becoming a 'lone wolf' Mercenary.
The biggest job he had ever pulled off in his not-too-long Mercenary career was, naturally, the one at Konpeki Plaza.
And as for the outcome, everyone already knew.
But now, Jackie felt he had moved on and found a second spring in his Mercenary career, because he and his buddies were working together.
It proved that to make it big in Night City, just being good at fighting wasn't enough to last long.
A gangster who doesn't use his brain will always be a gangster.
To grow big and strong, you have to do business, and you need guns, money, and people.
So, Jackie was quite satisfied with the current situation.
Not only was his dream of becoming a Night City legend steadily progressing, but he also had more money in hand.
The only thing that still annoyed him were the Scavengers.
Scavengers, Scavengers, these things were like cockroaches, everywhere.
Jackie fought Scavengers when he was with the Valentinos Gang, he fought Scavengers when he was a lone wolf, and he still fought Scavengers when working for the Hive.
It could only be said that the second-hand cyberware market was too attractive. Every day, ruthless individuals joined the ranks of the Scavengers, not to mention that Scavengers were just individual gangs; even established gangs actually engaged in similar activities.
Thanks to little Berry's extraordinary talent,
The knock-offs she created lacked features and capabilities, but they had one good point: they were cheap enough that even when resold as second-hand goods, their price couldn't beat that of first-hand goods.
Berry was like a capitalist factory, thoroughly crushing the natural economy that was still in the workshop stage.
Therefore, the Hive, which was stealing the Scavengers' business, naturally became a thorn in the Scavengers' side, and the two factions were irreconcilable.
Fortunately, Night City's Scavengers were all small gangs, and their cold-blooded nature meant they didn't even trust their own comrades, let alone unite to eliminate the Hive.
Thus, the Hive mainly dealt with Scavengers in the Westbrook District and Scavengers in the Northside Industrial District of Watson.
Recently, a group from the Northside Industrial District hadn't learned their lesson and was preparing to expand their business in the Kabuki area. Jackie, as the Hive Organization's general for dealing with Scavengers, naturally wouldn't let them succeed.
After receiving intelligence, Jackie led his men, preparing to deliver the Hive's warm greetings to the Scavengers.
More specifically, of course, it was to kill every last one of them.
"...Brothers, the time has come to serve the organization! Facing us, the Scavengers have only one choice: run away with their tails between their legs!"
A morale-boosting speech was needed before the work began.
Jackie stood in the truck bed, holding his gun, and shouted to the people below with full vigor.
"Tell me loudly, what is the motto of our Hive?"
"Uh..."
At Jackie's shout, no one could answer. The people below looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
Did their Hive even have such a thing?
"All for the bounty?"
A young man carrying a gun replied softly, unsure.
"Go, go, go, what are you saying? Are we that vulgar?"
Jackie waved his hand dismissively, a hint of impatience on his face.
Could their vibrant organization have such small ambitions?
"Let me think, for honor?"
Another middle-aged man wearing sunglasses replied with similar uncertainty.
"Hey, we're not working for the Night City Council now, why are you talking about such flowery nonsense?"
Seeing that everyone was wrong, Jackie finally spread his hands and stated his own view.
"It's love and loyalty, my brothers! Our Hive is undoubtedly a loving organization!"
Jackie extended his hand, as if making a summons, and expressed his insight.
"For love and loyalty, for our brothers and sisters, let's go!"
Shouting out his understanding of the Hive, Jackie let out a loud cry, raising his gun high, inspiring everyone's morale like an upright gorilla.
"Good, for love and loyalty!"
"For the brothers and sisters of the Hive!"
The Mercenaries, ravaged by realism, couldn't quite grasp Jackie's romantic ideals, but this didn't stop them from cheering for it.
After all, it didn't sound like a bad thing.
And that was enough.
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