— Maliketh Aeneas —

I put a bullet through the head of the last gonk. Damn, I hated when these bastards called in reinforcements.

They couldn't just face death gracefully? Why call reinforcements if you're gonna die before they ever show up?

Of course, when the reinforcements did slide through, I laid them out relatively quickly. This Sandevistan, along with my Ren, was putting in work.

Never before had jobs been so easy.

I walked out of the building and took a deep breath.

It had been 3 months since I met Dorio, and I had started going on a fucking tear when it came to jobs.

I didn't expect to meet Dorio back then; that was a pleasant surprise. And I gotta say, she was hotter than I expected; the way she was eyeing me up and down told me she felt the same way.

I hadn't emptied my balls since I'd gotten here, and I wouldn't mind having a night of fun with her sometime. Let's hope we meet again soon.

I don't want Maine swiping her after all.

Though, thinking about her hasn't been the only thing I've been doing. About a week after meeting Dorio, several other fixers within Night City contacted me, saying they had jobs that needed doing.

The one I've been most in contact with is none other than Dexter DeShawn. The guy pays damn well, and while I know not to trust him completely, I can't pass up the money he offers to keep me around.

I know right now he's buttering me up. Paying me a good cut for smaller jobs before he eventually offers me a big job with a big cut. Other fixers have been doing the same, and I have taken up some of their jobs, but I've mainly been working for Padre and DeShawn.

Now, as far as Nen and Haki go, I've picked up Basic Observation Haki and tried the Nen Category Test.

Unsurprisingly, I'm a Specialist.

I've also tried diving into Conqueror'sConquerer's Haki, and while I can use it, I can't do anything beyond freezing someone in place right now. Which doesn't really mean shit when my Ren combined with bloodlust has the same effect, and in some cases, it can be fatal.

This means Conqueror'sConquerer's Haki, as of right now, is a dud.

With the job done, I called DeShawn.

"[Talk to me.]"

"It's done. All gonks wiped out, you won't have to hear from them again."

"[That's what I'm talkin' about. The money's at the usual spot.]"

With those words, he hung up. I activated Ren and blasted off toward the Afterlife. That's typically where he would leave my pay along with some of his people.

It took me about ten minutes to arrive at the bar and enter. I passed by all the people, a few giving quick greetings before going back to what they were doing. I had only been here about six or so times, but there weren't many faces I recalled. Of course, there was one-

Rouge.

We never really talked, but I had caught her eyeing me on more than one occasion, and one time, she even tested me once. Activating her Ten for a second or so before shutting it off, this got my attention, and all she did was continue staring at me while sipping her drink.

I was almost sure she wanted to talk to me and was waiting for me to come to her, but I was doing fine without her as my fixer.

She was on a high horse, and I wanted her to know I was the prize, not her. She may be an amazing fixer, but in time, I could slap around everyone in Night City.

If she wanted to work together, she'd come to me.

I made my way over to DeShawn's booth, grabbed my paper eddies from one of the guards, and got the fuck out of there. I had no reason to stay, and I didn't fuck with those guys at all.

They were the type of fuckers to pop a bullet in the side of your head for a minor inconvenience.

As I started leaving the club, I felt another ping of Nen aura from my side. I paused and let out a deep breath as I looked over and again; sitting at the booth was Rouge, although she wasn't looking at me this time. It seemed like she was conversing with someone else.

Try as she may, I won't give in and approach her when she's playing games like a fucking child. Isn't she like 70 right now? Seriously, being the best fixer in Night City has left her with an absolutely massive stick up her ass, and if anyone's gonna take it out-.

It's gonna be me.

— Later —

I frowned as I stared at the TV. Never in my new life had I been so down. I was sitting, watching porn by myself. Hell, I wasn't even rubbing one out.

I wanted some pussy, call it withdrawal, but I really needed to get laid. Fighting every day with my life on the line must have boosted my human instincts to procreate because there is no reason why I should be this down bad.

I was this fucking close to heading down to one of the dollhouses so I could have some fun or something. Anything!

*RING*

Oh, thank God. Padre called at the perfect time.

"Padre, how have you been?"

"[Fine, and you, Maliketh?]"

"Same old. What can I do for you?"

"[I believe it is I that should be asking you that question.]" Padre chuckled from the other side of the line. "[There is a job, the pay is the best you've seen yet, even working for DeShawn.]"

That got my attention. I had made tens of thousands of eddies on a single job before working with DeShawn. It was a damn hard job as it involved a Haki user, surprisingly enough, but he only seemed to have Observation Haki. It's actually the event that pushed me to grind my ass off for Obv Haki.

"How much are we talking?"

"[Fifty thousand eddies, at least. Are you in?]"

Fifty thousand! That was a damn good amount. I am sitting on a little over 150K eddies right now, but another 50K would be appreciated.

"Yeah, I'll be at the Coyote Cojo in ten."

"[See you then, mijo.]"

I shot off of my couch and jumped out of the window. It was time to make some money!

It took me five minutes to reach the bar, and upon entering, I made my way to Padre's booth and sat. Giving the older man a grin.

"So what's the job?"

"Someone's eager." He smiled, taking a sip of his glass.

"You offered me the largest payday of my career thus far. Eager just about sums it up."

"Well then, see for yourself." He pointed at the table, and I looked down to see a red data shard. I quickly picked it up and shoved it into my NeuroPort.

Immediately, I could see why the job paid so much.

It was a tough job, that's for sure.

It was commissioned by Meredith Stout, a woman I recalled from Cyberpunk 2077. She was higher up in Militech and holds her role even now. The job was a protection detail. I had only taken up a job like this once.

Someone in Militech had hired several mercs to take out the person I was supposed to protect. Meredith allies with the protectee and wants to take down the guy who hired the mercs to kill him.

I see, so it's a delicate kind of job. Meredith doesn't want to alert the rat that she caught on and thus is hiring mercs to protect the target instead of sticking Militech soldiers on him. That way, the mercs will attack, and when they do, we get answers out of them and push to capture the rat.

It's honestly a pretty good plan. It looks like Meredith is useful for something besides being sex on legs.

With all the information I needed, I ejected the data shard out of my neck and placed it back on the table. "Something like this needs some prep. When am I doing this."

"In time. It's also something you can't do alone. I have a few people who can help. We'll meet back here in a week at around midday."

"Fine with me." I smiled, leaning back in my seat. "Mind if I stay here a while?"

"I was hoping you would." Padre nodded with a grandfatherly smile. "Your company is always appreciated.

"Then I'm glad I'm not a bother." I chuckled, looking at Padre's guard. The man returned my looks momentarily before realizing what I wanted and walking toward the bartender's counter to get us some drinks.

What was the point of being in a bar if not to drink and mingle?

The night was still young, and I planned on having some fun!

— Chapter End —

Beta Read by Uncle Forz

Author's Note: It's a shorter chapter because the next chapter will be the job, and I didn't want to get it started in this one.