"NOW do you get it?!"
Ethan shouted.
Maine's single-track brain finally derailed. He realized instantly—this was a setup.
"Dorio! Barghest is coming for all of us!"
They shouted through a thin wall, voices crystal clear on both sides.
Ethan's pistol rounds pinged uselessly off the armored drone. He fell back fast, shouldered his sniper rifle, and squeezed the trigger amid the hail of fire.
The Nekomata's penetrating power sent the drone crashing down in a burst of flame.
"Nice shot!"
Maine flashed a grin and complimented Ethan's takedown, then went back to screaming into comms for his crew to retreat.
Ethan: Nice my ass!
He'd already slung his rifle and was sprinting in the opposite direction.
This wasn't about sparing Maine's crew anymore. He couldn't even save himself.
What the hell is happening?
[CALLING: Mr. Hands]
[No Answer]
In the darkness, Ethan's eyes flickered with each failed call. He ran through everything in his head: Hands commissioned a Dogtown fixer. He'd been ordered to investigate. He was supposed to intercept the edgerunners...
Where did it go wrong?
Wait.
Mr. Hands' smiling question thundered through his memory:
"Do you recognize her?"
Was it Sasha? Ethan thought he'd hidden his reaction perfectly. How had Hands known he recognized the crew?
His heart sank. He didn't know why Militech netrunners had hit Hamster, but one thing was certain:
This was corporate quicksand. He was the bait. Once in the water, big fish and small fish all fought for a piece—and in the chaos, the corporations got dragged into the mud too.
No answer on the phone. Ethan finally understood.
Night City. There's no such thing as trust.
His arrogance. His assumption that he understood Mr. Hands. Hell, he'd even thought of himself as a "player" on equal footing with Hands.
Plenty of mercs died at the hands of fixers. Night City was full of them.
This was the bloody truth.
"Motherfucker. Playing me?"
Ethan glanced back at Heavy Hearts—that green laser shooting into the sky. Right now he wanted to shove this rifle in Hands' face and empty his pistol into him.
But reason always won in Ethan's head. He bit down hard, clenched his fists, and kept running.
He knew stopping meant facing the worst possible outcome.
From the start, he'd been too focused on the system's stat boosts. He'd forgotten this world ran on darkness. Human hearts were unpredictable by any power.
Screw the rewards. Staying alive matters more than anything.
Ethan had done everything he could for Maine's crew.
Before he knew it, several figures were running in the same direction in the distance.
Ethan almost laughed despite himself. Maybe heroics could win a fight, but only if you had overwhelming power.
And right now, his mercy hadn't woken them up. Barghest had.
Bunch of idiots!
He didn't bother with them. He vaulted over a building and slid down an exterior support frame.
His goal: the area near the Voodoo Boys' usual hangout on the hilltop. From there he could reach other parts of Dogtown. The gang activity would create chaos when Barghest arrived—perfect cover for escape and laying low.
Meanwhile, Maine's group sprinted along their own retreat path. Ditching their vehicle was the only option—Barghest crawled all over Dogtown's roads now.
"What did Sasha say?"
Dorio's voice was grim.
Rebecca spun and fired, staggering a drone, then kept running. "Maine, what about the fixer?!"
Maine shook his head. "Can't reach them. That kid was put out as Barghest's bullet sponge. Sasha says Militech and Arasaka are going at it—"
"They're probably trying to wipe out our whole network."
"The intel's fake. Arasaka's netrunner is pulling data. Nobody can move."
Pilar shouted: "Drones on our six! Shit! I told you—I should've stayed home working on my project!"
"Shut up, asshole!" Rebecca took a shot to buy him time, cursing her useless brother.
She'd noticed the young man scaling the ruined building in the distance. Mixed feelings.
That guy somehow knew her name. But this time, they'd all fallen into the same pit. Maine hadn't expected the job to involve corporate giants.
The original fixer had said: some client wanted to mess with Dogtown, annoy them a little. Good money. So they'd taken it.
Enough to live on for half a year. Who'd say no?
"Ahem. This is Colonel Kurt Hansen."
Dogtown's PA system crackled to life. Hansen's voice echoed in every corner.
"Dogtown is our home. Our sanctuary. We need weapons to arm ourselves, to resist oppression!"
"But now, those Militech and Arasaka dogs want us to lay down our arms and obey!"
"Here, there is no compromise..."
"Citizens of Dogtown—take up arms! Eliminate these vermin who've invaded our haven!"
"I, Kurt Hansen, swear: every Dogtown resident's rights will be protected! Let those corporate whores burn in hell!"
"Corporations violate our interests—I'll make sure all of Night City sees their true face!"
Clever bastard. Redirecting the shitstorm.
Ethan finally understood Hansen's play.
Bottom line: Dogtown took the hit, so Hansen was pinning it all on the corporations. Let them tear each other apart.
Before transmigrating, Ethan never understood why Dogtown survived untouched in Night City.
Even NUSA and the city government stayed silent.
Logically, Militech, Arasaka, Kang Tao... any of them could take Hansen head-on. Hell, NUSA could team up with Militech and flatten this private fortress.
But it never happened. Real-world deterrence at work.
Whoever moved first would have someone else watching their back for vulnerabilities.
When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman wins. First mover loses.
And the corps had to keep their distance from this plague. Hansen wanted them to fight—everyone ends up with a mouthful of fur while he watches from the sidelines.
Not to mention Hansen's backing from Cuban "pharmaceutical" interests: whenever Havana lights a cigar, someone somewhere dies. (Note: "Pharmaceuticals" is a euphemism. The implications are obvious.)
That's why Hansen lived comfortably in Night City. All these factors combined.
Ethan's clearest knowledge was the 2076-2077 timeline—the legends' stories. How this world would develop, whether it would follow his expectations... all unknown.
Night City's lesson came hard and fast, slapping the dazed Ethan wide awake.
PLZ THROW POWERSTONES.
300 , 500 , 1000 for each milestone 1 Bonus Chapter.