In Night City, Santo Domingo, within a car repair shop that serves as a 6th Street Gang stronghold, in an office on the second floor, several data shards containing money were laid out on a table, alongside weapon cases holding disassembled firearms ready for assembly.
An old man sitting in front of a computer wore an oversized cowboy hat, a denim outfit, and old-fashioned, cleated leather boots. His appearance made him look like an old cowboy from the last century.
Gunner looked at Reiner before him. It was a significant upgrade; he, who was once just a minor cadre in a simple combat suit, was now wearing a handsome military uniform.
Reiner's weapon had also been updated, switching from an old-fashioned large-caliber kinetic weapon to a more convenient and faster smart weapon, which still packed a punch.
Gunner took a cigar from a case, picked up a delicate cigar cutter, snipped off the tip, then elegantly used the heater on the end of a pistol to light the cigar, taking a long puff.
"Captain, it's been a month today. I admit Ms. Gloria is very capable, but a month is also enough to prove our sincerity," Reiner said in a deep voice.
Gunner took a drag from his cigar, looking at Reiner. He understood Reiner's meaning.
After some thought, Gunner realized it was true, so he said, "Counting today, how many times have you invited Ms. Gloria now?"
"It's the 71st time," Reiner immediately replied.
"71 times... no one has ever refused us that many times..." Gunner's eyes flickered at the news.
Since that incident, the situation in Night City had changed. The Tyger Claws' territory was heavily fragmented, and the incident had a significant impact on them.
Half of Japantown was damaged, nearly a third of the Tyger Claws' businesses were shut down, and a large number of gang members, including many core figures, had died.
However, a month was also enough for the Tyger Claws to regain some vitality, and now, they were constantly harassing Santo Domingo, while also seizing territory in Watson District with a large number of personnel.
The areas overlapping with the Moxes, territory once "generously" given to the Moxes, were now being steadily reclaimed.
This meant that the Moxes' current situation was very difficult. Their territory overlapped with the Tyger Claws, and as the Tyger Claws consolidated their territory, the Moxes were naturally the first to be affected.
To put it this way, the Moxes' Braindance shops were barely able to stay open now.
After all, no customer would want to play in a shop where, late at night, a group of armed people covered in glowing tattoos were loitering outside.
The 6th Street Gang, however, had gained considerable benefits from this upheaval. Parts of Charter Hill were now occupied by the 6th Street Gang.
Gunner had made great contributions in this incident, and his status within the gang had risen significantly. He had now escaped his previous difficult situation.
Currently, Gunner commanded nearly three hundred people. In terms of business, Gunner now managed three car repair shops,
a food factory, a custom firearms shop, and his own smuggling route.
With money, naturally came people, and territory expanded accordingly.
But Gunner still hadn't harmed Gloria, not only because Gloria's suggestion had helped him—she was talented—but also because... Gloria was connected to the group of lunatics who caused all of this!
Although a month had passed, a flood of news and information had washed away people's memories.
Under the television's constant indoctrination, ordinary people seemed to have forgotten about that incident.
But as a beneficiary of that event and a gang leader, Gunner naturally still remembered.
"Keep things as they are, still prioritizing inviting Gloria, but..." Gunner hesitated, then said:
"This time, make sure Gloria comes to the 6th Street Gang. Just as you said, Reiner, it's been a month, and that's enough to prove our sincerity, but our patience is also limited."
"Yes! I will make sure Ms. Gloria comes!" Reiner shouted.
Reiner had been impatient about this for a long time!
71 times, 71 invitations!
For the past month, Reiner had gone to Gloria's doorstep almost twice a day, and each time he was met with a closed door!
Yes, even if Gloria had helped the Captain, being treated this way still made Reiner resentful.
With the change in status, one's mindset... naturally also changes. Moreover, Gloria had no background whatsoever.
Now, the only one helping her was that mercenary from the former Valentinos.
That guy named Jackie was a good fighter, but he was still just one person. What could he do?
In front of his three hundred men, saying he was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot would be an overstatement!
In the afternoon in Santo Domingo, in front of a skyscraper—Gloria looked grimly at the group of people before her.
"Am I to understand that you're now planning to kidnap my son and me, instead of inviting me?" Gloria said in a cold voice.
She had lost her usual smoothness and politeness because... David was currently in their hands.
This made Gloria furious.
Reiner put an arm around David's shoulder, followed by several 6th Street Gang members, and said with a smile, "Gloria, what are you talking about? I'm just inviting David to visit the 6th Street Gang."
"Don't call me by my name!" Gloria quickly retorted, looking at Reiner, then added, "Aren't you afraid of Jax and Maine returning if you do this?"
"Him? Let's not even talk about the fact that he's been missing for a month, probably dead out there. Even if he did come back, what then?
Would he really go against the 6th Street Gang for you? He has plenty of trouble of his own. If he came back, Arasaka would be the first to not let him off the hook," Reiner said.
Gunner had already had him investigate early on. Gloria was not part of Maine's crew. The reason that monstrous crew helped her was indeed because she and Jax were neighbors.
Neighbors... ha, the word 'good neighbor' didn't even exist in Reiner's world!
Setting aside whether the person who dared to kill a corpo in front of the media could return, even if he could, would he then go against the 6th Street Gang for Gloria?
He already had enough enemies!
Gloria fell silent. For a month, the people from Maine's crew had vanished completely from Night City as if they had all died, without a single trace of news.
If not for the help Jackie and the Moxes had given her, then... Gloria might have already joined the 6th Street Gang.
As for her relationship with Maine's crew, Gloria naturally wouldn't reveal it.
Currently, the only person from Maine's crew in the entire city was Jackie. He hadn't been captured by corporations or died, but Jackie's situation was also very bad.
He was no longer a mercenary because no one on the street would hire him or give him jobs. Because of Maine's crew, Jackie had been significantly implicated.
But it was precisely because of Jackie that Gloria had consistently refused the 6th Street Gang.
She always told David what kind of person he should be, but in the end, if she herself, in front of David, chose the wrong... direction.
Ignoring the help offered by Jackie and the Moxes, solely for her own benefit, and then making... the wrong choice, then what right did she have to keep lecturing David?
"Let's go, Gloria. It's just a sightseeing trip. Why are you so resistant? In Santo Domingo, no one can refuse us."
Reiner smiled, his face showing a smile, but his eyes were full of coldness. The arm around David tightened slightly. He was no longer hiding his attitude.
That's right, he was threatening her.
David wasn't flustered by this; instead, he calmly looked at his mother.
Gloria gave Reiner's face a cold stare, agreed, and quickly sent a text message to Jackie.
"That's right, Ms. Gloria. You've finally made the correct choice."
Reiner released David, then, with his people, he clustered behind Martinez and her son.
Subsequently, outside the skyscraper, several cars with 6th Street Gang insignia drove onto the main road.
"How much longer until Jax? Why isn't he out yet?"
Americas Jaguar Fortress.
After a month, Maine, who had lost a lot of weight, looked at Sasha and asked.
Sasha, wearing a pink jacket and hacker clothes, dressed adorably, shook her head: "I don't know."
"How can you not know? Sasha, I mean, don't you often run into his room at night?" Maine said, feigning defeat.
Sasha rolled her eyes and said, "Do I run into his room at night specifically to talk about training with him?"
Unlike before, Sasha no longer hid her relationship with Jax.
She didn't reveal it before because she was shy; after all, she was older than Jax, and the matter of a hacker big sister bullying a fresh-off-the-street little brother would be quite embarrassing if it got out...
But now it was different!
When Sasha snuck into Jax's room at night, she deliberately made noise, precisely to let... her know!
"..." Lucy, standing nearby, twitched the corners of her mouth twice, then reached for a cigarette case and pulled out a cigarette...
"Give me one too…" a weak voice sounded beside Lucy, it was Kiwi.
Her eye sockets were sunken, and the original red iron mask had been removed, replaced by a new chin—it was Kiwi.
To be honest, Kiwi's appearance… no, who knew if this was Kiwi's original appearance.
Anyway, the Kiwi in front of them, after having her chin installed, was very beautiful; she was already tall and charming, and although very thin,
her mature aura and the mystery brought by being a hacker were very attractive.
And now, with her chin installed, it was no exaggeration to say that Kiwi was a great beauty.
But at this moment, the way she looked, her entire state was not very good.
Lucy handed Kiwi a cigarette and asked her, "How many times did you throw up?"
"A little better than before, I only threw up three times this time. What about you?"
"Twice," Lucy said. She thought for a moment and added, "But our situations are different. Shoko clearly took special care of you."
Lucy emphasized the words 'took care'.
During this past month, Lucy, Sasha, and Kiwi had all been learning hacking techniques from Shoko. In the beginning, Shoko lectured, and they listened.
Later, it became a continuous series of battles, using the equipment in the base for cyber duels.
Although there were protections and no substantial danger, the losing party would experience physical discomfort due to the large amount of data being poured into their head. After all, battles between hackers are about who can inject a virus into the opponent first.
Kiwi smiled, a cigarette in her mouth, and took a deep drag. She said with emotion, "I never thought there would be a day when I would be so desperate. I learned hacking just to have a means of living, but now… damn, this is pushing me to my death."
Lucy just smiled at her words. She had made considerable gains during this period as well.
Shoko was truly teaching them three wholeheartedly. During this time of numerous duels, Lucy had grown very quickly.
They didn't know that during this period, just the three of them had already spent over a million Euro in operating expenses for the Americas Jaguar Fortress base.
As everyone was chatting, Tiger Woman appeared.
She appeared with Rebecca, smiling, and said, "Alright, the boss has approved it. You can leave here today. Oh, and your communication devices have been activated."
"Finally, they're on! Damn, it's been a month! Who knows what Night City looks like now!" Maine immediately shouted.
Dorio smiled and said, "How about calling Jackie and Gloria?"
"Yes, I miss Jackie so much!" Maine immediately said.
With that, he started dialing.
Pilar chuckled and leaned close to Maine, ready to listen to the call.
"Are you an idiot?" Rebecca rolled her eyes at her brother's sneaky actions and said, "Wouldn't it be better to use squad comms?"
They immediately switched to squad communication. A moment later, the call connected.
"Holy crap, Maine?!"
"It's me, Jackie. Hey, how have you been lately?"
"Oh my god! You're still alive? That's great, I thought you… never mind that, anyway, I'm so happy to hear your voices." In the video, Jackie's eyes reddened for a moment, then he broke into a big smile.
"Oh, about Sasha, she…" As if remembering something, Jackie immediately spoke, his tone anxious.
Ever since that call with Sasha, Jackie had been unable to contact her again. It was the same as when he tried to call everyone else, only receiving synthesized female voice replies. This made Jackie worried about Sasha's situation.
She went to the Badlands alone, risking capture. That place… it's too dangerous!
"Jackie, I'm here. I found everyone," Sasha immediately said.
"You're really something, sis," Jackie sighed in relief. Then, as if remembering something, he quickly said loudly, "Oh, Maine,
where's Jax? I have something to tell you guys."
"Jax hasn't come out yet, he's still training. If you have something to say, we can meet in person. We should be in Night City before evening, let's have a drink tonight," Maine immediately said.
"You're coming back today? Damn, that's great!" Jackie's voice held a hint of excitement.
Heaven knows how wronged he had felt during this time!
Every Fixer, upon hearing his name, immediately became arrogant and gave him no good face. Even Father and Rogue ignored him, deliberately keeping their distance.
Jackie was not a greedy person; he valued his reputation more than money. But being treated like a rat in the circles during this time, Jackie was already incredibly annoyed!
If it weren't for protecting Gloria and helping the Moxes, with his personality, he would have already exploded!
But now, everyone was finally coming back!
"I'll just tell you directly over the phone. The 6th Street Gang has been bothering Gloria during this time.
I'm currently with Anna from the Moxes, heading to the 6th Street Gang's stronghold. Damn, they used to just block Gloria at her door, but today, they directly took Gloria and David away.
When you come back, just head straight there. You might even be able to help. I won't say anything more specific, I'm almost there."
Maine was stunned and wanted to ask more, but Jackie had already hung up. It seemed he was indeed in a hurry.
"What's going on?"
"Never mind what's going on, we need to tell Jax about this immediately."
"Why would the 6th Street Gang bother Gloria? With her personality, she wouldn't expose her connection to us."
"Is that the point? The point is our people are being troubled."
"Alright, let's wait for Jax to come out," Maine said. Then he looked at Tiger Woman beside him and said with a smile, "We'll have to trouble you then, Tiger Woman. It looks like we need to rush back to Night City as soon as possible."
"I never intended for you to drive back. Are you still trying to trick us out of a few cars?" Tiger Woman rolled her eyes at his words.
These guys!
Including all the cyberware on Rebecca, these people had spent at least five million in base expenses this past month. That's five million!
Although the boss was very rich, Moira, the face of Danger Girl Agency, could earn it back by taking a few private jobs and shooting a few magazine covers. But… even a capitalist boss would feel the pinch, right?
And when they left, they were still thinking of getting two cars from the base. Pfft, are the cars in the fortress and the cars you can buy in Night City even on the same level?
Seeing that Tiger Woman had seen through his thoughts, Maine gave a dry laugh.
Forget it, he would just honestly take the AV. Compared to tricking them out of two more cars, quickly returning to solve Gloria's predicament was the most important thing.
"Click—"
At the sudden sound, everyone quickly turned their heads and looked at the door of Training Room Number Two.
The iron door of Training Room Number Two opened, and thick white smoke emerged. A thin figure walked out of the smoke.
His clothes were soaked with sweat, his black hair was wet and plastered to his cheeks, his pupils were red and bloodshot, his face was thin and pale, and a faint smile hung on the corner of his mouth.
"Oh, why are you all here?"
Jax looked at everyone, took a breath, and said with a smile.
In this past month, if there was anyone in Maine's crew who grew the fastest, it would be Jax, Rebecca, and Kiwi.
Rebecca had Tiger Woman's personal tutelage, Kiwi had Shoko's special care, and Jax?
He had been in close contact with Adam Smasher for a month, in various scenarios, using various methods…
And Jax went from using Braindance chips a few times a day at most, to more than ten times a day, and then in the last few days, Jax went back to only using them a few times.
And now, Jax had officially cleared it.
Not as he originally thought, being able to last thirty seconds in front of Adam Smasher.
Instead… the Braindance chip could no longer handle the time constraints and was directly scrapped!
During this month, Jax also received four missions in the fortress: two were training missions with Adam Smasher, and the other two were a mission with Sasha and a mission with Lucy.
And these four missions provided Jax with 2.5 attribute points.
1 free attribute point, 1.5 random attribute points.
Therefore, his current panel attributes are—
Body: 11.85
Reflexes: 9.16
Technical Ability: 10.02
Intelligence: 4.55
Cool: 9.2
Skills: … Yes, including the effect of the 'First Glimpse' badge, Jax's Body attribute had already exceeded 12 points, and several major attributes had also broken through or were close to ten points!
It was no exaggeration to say that Jax had been completely reborn in this past month!
Adam Smasher… he's practically a mission dispenser! Two missions in a month, damn, he's so nice!
"You're finally out!"
Maine grinned, looking at Jax.
"It's time for us to go back to Night City."
Jax nodded, smiling:
"It's time to go back, otherwise, they'll all forget about us."