“Ow~ cough cough cough, I… I’m fucking dying.”

The client wasn’t strong, a white man with parted brown hair, a shirt under his leather jacket, like a cowardly wretch.

John kicked and broke his ribs, then turned to scan the girl.

[Name: Xia Li]

She looked much like the photo Barry provided, dressed in a white inner layer, with bruises on her legs and cheeks, numerous small wounds on her body, lying motionless on the bathroom floor.

“F*ck, is she dead?”

John turned the gun on the client.

The guy turned his head, raised his palm to block, curling up beside the toilet, wishing he could squeeze into the cracks.

He screamed frantically.

“No, man, I didn’t X her!”

“What, you’re not up for it? So… you resort to violence to satisfy your perverted desires… and then beat her to death?”

John voiced his analysis.

“What!? No, shit, she was hurt when she entered the room, your club beat her themselves, it has nothing to do with me, she’s simply drugged unconscious now, I…”

He babbled incoherently, breathing desperately to ease his tension, glancing timidly at the armed thug before him, quickly retracting his gaze.

John looked down to survey the surroundings, kicked a syringe, and saw the label through a scan.

[Drug: Fragrant Beauty (Injectable)]

[Manufacturer: Raqi Pharmaceutical]

[Description: An anesthetic drug causing users to experience confusion, fatigue, and drowsiness. Effects last 12 hours, with at least a 4-hour interval between doses. Low addiction potential…]

“You’re… you’re not Eastern? Uh, and you’re not working for Owl Town either… right?”

The genteel man had picked up a little courage, perhaps because John hadn’t immediately shot him, his tone filled with anticipation and tension.

John felt he wasn’t just a simple client, so he initiated a scan.

[Name: Pierre Corado]

[Affiliation: ALW (Americas Insight into the World)]

[Record: Incarcerated for filming secretly and dangerous driving, now a freelance employee at American Insights News Broadcasting Company…]

Pierre was one of those intern journalists, to put it bluntly, just like a paparazzo left to roam outside, without health insurance, without a fixed salary, receiving only the lowest allowance.

Most of them fade into obscurity after muddling through, while only a few manage to win the favor of supervisors through various means, work odd jobs, eventually endure until a liver replacement, barely reaching the same starting line as direct hires.

The company exercises strict control over job positions, no matter how much disdain and scorn they receive, and when an opportunity to board a hovercar presents itself, many will break their heads to seize it.

Pierre didn’t have much youth to squander, so he risked everything to uncover explosive news to exchange for rewards or a formal position.

An AI incident occurred at the private Sex Doll Club on Sakura Cross Street, an absolute blockbuster news event shocking the entire city; two councilmen dead, dozens of corporate executives in ICU, casualties exceeding two hundred…

Pierre keenly captured this chance to turn his fortunes around.

He was near the private club at the time, directly stripping the clothes off the emergency team corpses, carrying custom equipment, taking the elevator from top to bottom, frantically changing outfits among the inferno and piles of corpses, even sneaking into the machine room to copy vast amounts of data…

Pierre wasn’t networked with Shark Coin, operating entirely offline, slipping through the least populated areas.

By the time the scene was cordoned off, he had already disguised himself as a critically injured person without an insurance package, running through the garbage-filled alley.

“I swear, not a single media outlet in all of Eden City has the wealth of firsthand information I have!”

Pierre spoke with wide eyes, trembling with excitement like a bottom-dwelling insect finally clutching a lifeline.

He even forgot about the gun in John’s hand.

The documents were inside the bag he carried, including videos and photos copied from his prosthetic eye recording device, along with a Separation Chip he picked up, extracted from machine room wreckage, data storage pulled from his mobile terminal…

The waterproof black travel bag was packed full.

It held not only the dirty dealings of Raqi Industry and Owl Town but also actual conditions at the scene; any involved parties could potentially unearth intelligence from it.

Company agents and the ECPD successively arrived at the scene.

The Sex Doll Club was quickly locked down, followed by street and alley gang fights led by Owl Town and the Black Gold Gang, a municipal state of emergency was declared with curfews enforced, with SAT suppressing the city…

It was chaos, utter chaos.

Pierre didn’t know whom to trust.

But he knew full well that the cleanup by Raqi and Owl Town included silencing and erasing traces, and the things he held could make him disappear from Eden City a hundred times over.

This down-and-out paparazzo exhausted his wit and made the right decision: he didn’t immediately jump out, didn’t reveal he had the goods, and didn’t run home; instead, he used reverse thinking, taking a loop around Sakura Cross Street and slipping into another Sex Doll Club, booking a girl, infinitely renewing the fee to stall for time and think of solutions.

The company army and public relations department hadn’t even discovered his presence first-hand, nor had they had time to fully assess the specific losses and involved personnel in the incident.

The club Pierre hid in was Floating Life Capital, with its cheap package, offering meals and lodging, and matched with Xia Li.

He was in no mood for clients, even eating had no appeal, worried the Sex Doll would expose him, so he drugged her unconscious, checking life signs periodically and injecting nutritional fluids twice.

Then… John kicked the door in.

Pierre had already noticed John’s attire didn’t resemble the suit-wearing club security, his attention focused on the Sex Doll, speculating that he was a mercenary collecting fees.

He pleaded with John to take him when escaping; Owl Town was now scrutinizing very strictly, a white face entering and exiting the club with a sack full of materials would raise more suspicion.

“Head to Chengxin Square, I’ll manage from there.”

“…Sorry.”

John checked Xia Li’s condition, hoisted her, and prepared to leave.

Pierre scrambled to his feet, trying to emphasize the news value of the goods, arousing the mercenary’s greed.

“…This, this is a small thing, take me, just tuck me in a corner and drive into the city; as long as you drop me at the square, I can name any price you want…”

“Have you ever been targeted by a company?”

John grew slightly annoyed, pointing at the package.

“This thing can stab into Raqi Industry’s heart, making the entire PR department and its backstage bosses flip the table for it… even if you hide in the most luxurious apartments, a hovercar will park at your doorstep, crashing through a hundred-meter-tall glass curtain wall to take you out… you need to find someone with enough backbone to withstand Raqi Industry’s fury to turn it into a resource, and in the eyes of such high-level figures, you’re not even worth farting… Want my advice? Don’t daydream, throw this thing away sooner, never let anyone know… you set foot in that damn building that day!”

John warned Pierre, even pulling out his gun, contemplating whether or not to kill him to avoid jeopardizing himself—he distinctly remembered that his job was merely to extract someone from the club, don’t rush to dive into the frying pan when the small task hasn’t been completed.

“I know, man, I’m so fucking clear on that!”

Pierre seemed on the brink of madness, viewing John as his last-resort salvation, pursing his lips, face pallid but with a hint of determination.

“A contact told me Owl Town is searching nearby; many people who passed by the scene that day have been visited afterward, if you leave, I may end up as just a corpse…”

“Why should that matter to me?”

“No, just a deal, how much do I have to pay to convince you to take me and move the goods; it won’t implicate you, buddy, I don’t want to die, I also don’t want to sit on that grimy high stool, spending the last penny in my pocket on the cheapest watered-down drink, don’t want to be fucking stinking like a homeless bum all over again, I, sigh~ I just want to be a decent person!”

All the repressed emotions in Pierre finally poured out, he looked like those fools dreaming of becoming big shots in Eden City.

“I just want to make something of myself!”

“Heh, you’re crazy.”

John sneered and shook his head.

Pierre stood up straight, his hand on the service bell, eyes red and speaking with the tone of someone ready to die.

“Either take me away or kill me.”

[Mission Objective Triggered]

[Mission Objective: Retrieve Target]

[Objective Completion: 0/1]

[Objective: Escape from the club with the girl and Pierre]

[Mission target triggered, choose your approach:]

[Accept the deal, provide escape for Pierre]

[Decline the deal, eliminate Pierre]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep