Chapter 87: Chapter 73: Infiltrating the Studio (Part 2)
"Are you John?"
He wore a musty jacket, his face gloomy, the coat covered in creases and wall dust smudges.
Evidently not having much luck in Eden City.
John hesitated to speak.
He had been frequently called out by strangers recently.
"Yes, that’s me. Speak your mind."
"Oh, my God, it really is you, the mercenary, right? I’ve got a job I’d like to discuss with you."
The guy dragged a chair over and sat down without invitation, his gaze constantly darting around.
He had the air of someone perpetually dodging debt.
"I’m Clafu."
"What kind of job?"
"Hostage rescue."
Clafu’s throat moved awkwardly, hesitating for a moment, he grabbed a half-drunk black beer from the table and downed it in one go.
John squinted his eyes.
Clafu caught his breath and began explaining the situation.
Due to debt issues, his girlfriend had been kidnapped by the Owl Town gang. Now that the money problem was solved, he hoped John could rescue his beloved girl.
John rested his hand on the back of his chair.
"Sorry, man, um, you don’t really look like someone who can solve debt problems right now, let alone pay my fee."
Clafu instantly became agitated.
His lips trembled, as if too afraid to speak. After glancing around for a moment, he lunged toward the bar, continuously apologizing to the bartender.
John raised his hand to signal to those around.
If this guy didn’t produce something valuable, John would personally take him by his jacket and kick him out of the bar.
Clafu began fiddling with the TV above the bar, switching from Eden City news to a talk show.
An impeccably made-up host appeared on the screen.
He’d undergone facial reconstruction, using hell jokes as stand-up material, humorous yet eerie, with flashy attire and frequent poses...
The studio was filled with canned laughter.
John indicated he should explain.
But Clafu just looked up eagerly, then suddenly, with a nervous expression, rushed over...
John followed his gaze:
The scrolling text at the bottom of the screen began to change, the latest lottery numbers for Eden City TV were [00729815].
Clafu’s eyes were bloodshot as he leaned close to the table.
He emitted a putrid smell, shakily handing over a slightly creased lottery ticket.
Next to it was Eden City TV station’s anti-counterfeiting code.
The numbers on it were indeed the winning numbers for the current period.
"Shit, did you fucking win millions of euros?"
John double-checked and found the numbers matched.
"That’s right, buddy!"
Clafu’s eyes and saliva were about to burst out, his breathing was rapid, like a drug addict on the verge of a fix.
"Now I have a large sum of money, so I hope you can help me bring Courtney back, John. I’ll pay you twenty percent, you get it? You can make a killing!"
[Side Mission - Stockholm]
[Reward: Compensation (Variable)]
John eventually accepted the mission.
He drove his motorcycle back to Sakura Cross Street, feeling a bit conflicted on the way—his past interactions with the Owl Town gang were infrequent and unpleasant.
The coordinates provided by Clafu were input into the navigation system.
He had apparently done some investigation too, confirming where Courtney was being held.
[812 Sakura Cross Street - Crimson Studio]
The billboard suggested it was a film company.
A shooting base for pornographic Super Sensing Chips, surrounded by similar industry clusters, and you could also see talent scouts, each with several girls, moving about.
[Mission Objective Updated]
[Find Courtney. (Unaccomplished)]
[Gather film company intelligence. (Optional)]
John holstered his large-caliber revolver, walking like an ordinary tourist along the damp alleys looking for a route.
The residences in Owl Town gang territory were narrow.
In an industrial style, paired with various old facilities.
It had a scent of slowly withering in the neon lights, until death.
The streets were surrounded by Owl Town gang enforcers.
As the second-strongest gang in the district, rivaling the Black Gold Gang, they were very confident within their control area, with the closed circuit camera boxes blatantly displayed on the public area rooftops.
John climbed up the iron stairs to the top, kicked open the rusty locks, and walked out.
He raised his hand to shield against the light pollution of the glaring neon.
Hovercars and various billboard projections swept across the densely-packed rooftops through the glass curtain walls, washing over them repeatedly.
John pulled out a data cable to hack in.
With a flicker of his cybernetic eyes, he marked all the Owl Town gang guards inside the building into data streams.
He memorized the room layout to minimize ineffective searches.
[Neutralize studio security. 0/12. (Optional)]
John had already climbed over the wall, reaching the building’s side entrance, leaning near the passageway, checking his carried firearms.
"Hmm?"
New information appeared before him.
[Do not cause any kills. (Optional)]
This meant a full stealth operation, taking the hostage without raising any alarms.
John pondered for a moment, deciding to give it a try.
He stowed away his rifle and revolver.
The passageway was unlocked; opening it revealed corridors filled with carts, containing clothes and bedding reeking of a fishy smell.
The rooms on either side of the corridor were steaming rooms and kitchens.
John’s cybernetic eye linked with the security cameras in the entire building, visualizing the enemy’s position and movements through data tags.
He silently slipped into a room.
An Owl Town gang lackey was defrosting frozen food bags, humming a tune, looking quite content.
"Hmmm, hmm, sashib... um, ummuff!"
John restrained him from behind, ensuring he fell unconscious, found something to tie him up, and dumped him into a cart.
[Item: Authorization Plugin (Hacked)]