In the evening, in the cafeteria of Americas Jaguar Fortress base, Maine's crew gathered at a table, enjoying a good dinner.
The food was excellent. Although they hadn't tasted the corporate employee meals from Arasaka or Militech, they imagined it couldn't be better than the food at Americas Jaguar Fortress, because a reporter once broadcasted that company employee meals generally consisted of pet food discarded by factories... That's right, in this world, eighty percent of people eat worse than pets.
And that stuff... it was nutritious, but its taste was inevitably terrible.
But here?
The food was changed every three days. Although all the meat was synthetic, it was high-quality protein produced by legitimate workshops!
Coupled with skilled cooking and seasoning, the result was: meaty texture + great taste = delicious!
As for nutrition... screw nutrition! If you wanted nutrition, wouldn't it be better to drink gooey energy liquid and take pills?
Therefore, during their days at Americas Jaguar Fortress, everyone might have been unaccustomed to other things, such as not being able to freely enjoy alcohol, but they adapted very well to the food.
On Jax's tray, the largest item was a synthetic hamburger patty the size of his palm, with three or four pieces of broccoli in a small square container.
Plus a Mexican meat pie and half a slice of pizza—that was Jax's meal.
However, the two people sitting beside him were eating completely different things.
To his left sat Sasha, and to his right sat Lucy. Sasha's plate held an American grilled steak, gravy biscuits, oatmeal porridge with a huge amount of sugar, and a milkshake.
Lucy's had tuna pizza, a small piece of Japanese grilled fish, a glass of vegetable juice, and a chocolate bar with extremely high sugar content.
Hackers seemed to be very fond of sweets. Regardless of gender, as long as they were hackers, they would replenish their sugar levels when they were free. Jax thought this was probably because their brains operated far beyond ordinary people when working, requiring sugar to replenish energy.
"I'm telling you, this atmosphere really isn't right..." Maine, who had just finished eating, heard Dorio mutter.
He chuckled, put his arm around Dorio's shoulder, and whispered into her ear: "It's fine, what can you do when Jax has such good luck with women? We'll just watch, it's like watching a TV show."
"I just wonder if this will affect our crew?" Dorio said, glancing at Pilar, her mouth twitching.
Sitting opposite Jax, Pilar gripped her fork tightly, looking at Jax with indignation. When she forcefully stabbed her fork into the meat patty, it was as if she wasn't stabbing meat, but the bastard in front of her...
And Rebecca, who was sitting right next to her brother Pilar, also looked at Jax with the same resentful expression.
Only Kiwi sat quietly eating, taking out the tube used for suction from under her mask, placing it on her plate, and sucking energy liquid. To be honest... Kiwi eating was truly terrifying, like a giant female mosquito.
She ignored the scene before her. At first, Kiwi found it quite interesting, but after watching for a while, she found it boring. She glanced at Jax and saw him sitting upright, eating obediently, and Kiwi secretly "snorted."
She had expected a good drama...
But what was the result?
That's it?
Sasha was pretending to be silly and cute, while Lucy feigned indifference as if nothing was happening.
Only Jax was nervous. Boring... this was too boring!
"How long are we staying here?" Sasha suddenly asked.
"Probably another half a month or so."
Maine thought for a moment and said, "When you came, did you pay attention to the news? Was there any news about us on it?"
"News? Oh, speaking of that, there really is!"
Sasha nodded, swallowed the meat in her mouth, took a small sip of her milkshake, and continued:
"Channel 54 has recently been broadcasting foreign wars, and it's been a while since they reported anything about Night City. WNS, on the other hand, has been broadcasting a lot of gossip news, and even the night radio is talking about celebrity gossip. Anyway... the wind direction is a bit strange.
It seems like someone has erased what we did. Besides some sporadic news in the first two days, afterward, hardly any TV stations spread it online. The Japantown incident was directly defined as an internal corporate struggle within Arasaka. Someone leaked that Tanaka made a mistake and was secretly dealt with by the higher-ups."
Sasha became a bit conflicted: "If this continues, will we end up becoming corporate dogs?"
She was very smart. Although she couldn't directly contact Maine, she wasn't idle during her days in Dogtown, but privately investigated various useful pieces of information.
After integrating this information, Sasha immediately discovered that someone was secretly eliminating the impact Maine's crew had caused in Japantown. Those variety interview programs, variety gossip news, and corporate insider revelations were the best evidence.
Otherwise, it made no sense. With such massive traffic, it would be strange if these TV stations didn't capitalize on it and fiercely devour the traffic.
Just as Jax was about to explain to Sasha, Tiger Woman, dressed in a formal suit, walked briskly into the main entrance of the cafeteria.
This stunning beauty walked with a powerful stride, her military training evident in her every movement. Her outstanding appearance and exceptional demeanor attracted many gazes as soon as she appeared.
Many Americas Jaguar Fortress trainees and Danger Girl reservists immediately went up to greet Tiger Woman, and she also greeted each of them warmly with a nod.
"Meow!"
The plate in front of Jax jumped, and Lucy's body also trembled. She immediately looked at Sasha, a hint of competitiveness in her eyes.
Is this cat going to declare war on me directly?
But when Lucy looked over, she saw Sasha stand up, hands on the table, a fangirl expression on her face, her big eyes fixed on Tiger Woman, who had just walked in.
"It's Tiger Woman, it's Tiger Woman!"
"Ah ah ah ah ah..."
Sasha shrieked in a high-pitched voice, her face instantly turning red.
"Uh, didn't you just see her? She and I picked you up together, did you forget?" Jax tilted his head and asked Sasha, a bit speechless.
"She was wearing a helmet and a mask then, okay? I only recognized her when she took them off here!" Sasha immediately retorted.
She, Sasha, a Danger Girl enthusiast!
Tiger Woman walked over to Jax, leaned her hands on the table, and said with a smile, "Sasha, right?"
"Mhm mhm!" Sasha nodded, looking at Tiger Woman.
Earlier in the AV, Sasha's mind was completely on Jax, and she hadn't paid any attention to the tall woman wearing a helmet and mask in the AV.
It was precisely because of this that Sasha was so pleasantly surprised now.
Living a long life, good things really do happen!
She actually got to meet and chat with a Danger Girl one day!
"Shoko is very interested in you and wants you to meet her later." Tiger Woman relayed the task Shoko had entrusted her with.
"Shoko? Are you talking about Asa Shoko?" Sasha's eyes lit up.
"You know her?" Tiger Woman chuckled. Tiger Woman was not resistant to the enthusiasm of the girl in front of her.
On the contrary, under her boss's training, she had long developed the ability to be "approachable" to fans.
After all... while Danger Girl was a powerful combat crew, it was also an idol group that was once famous worldwide... though now it was somewhat outdated.
After all, the first-generation girls who were most popular back then have now become grandmas...
"I know! I also know about her relationship with Moira the Mouse, Ms. Tiger Woman, is the relationship between Moira and Shoko really as rumored, that they are a couple?"
Jax was stunned, looking at Sasha who asked the question, and then at Shoko.
He also liked Danger Girl, but his level of liking couldn't compare to Sasha's. Among the first generation of Danger Girl, Jax only knew the face of the group, Moira.
Then... were Moira and Shoko a couple?
Wait, damn it, what am I thinking?
What era is this? Would this be a strange thing?
Let alone this, in Night City, this city of dreams, what kind of people can't you find?
There are even idiots who actually screw AVs... ever heard of a flaming big cannon?
"Yes, it's true. And Shoko's situation... never mind, it's not much of a secret, and Shoko doesn't mind.
I'll tell you, Shoko was actually a little boy during her high school days! It was only because of a physical mutation and deformity that she underwent the surgery her father prepared for her, and then she became who she is today.
By the way, you guys just need to know that they're a couple, don't spread it around. After all, the boss is still counting on Moira to attract money for her." Tiger Woman said with a smile.
Sasha nodded excitedly, as happy as if she had found a treasure. The previous subtle rivalry with Lucy while sitting next to Jax completely vanished. She was genuinely happy now.
After Tiger Woman finished speaking, she exchanged a few more words with Jax, then stepped forward and grabbed Rebecca's ear: "Eat, eat, eat, how much longer do you plan to eat?"
"Didn't I tell you to come find me in the training room before nightfall?"
"No way! You go first, I'll be there in a bit, I can't leave right now!" Rebecca immediately started fussing, flapping her arms and trying to hug Kiwi, unwilling to go with Tiger Woman.
What? Why didn't Rebecca hug Pilar?
Damn smelly old brother, who the hell wants to hug him?!
"That's not up to you. Disobedient fellows deserve a good lesson." Seeing Rebecca being a brat, Tiger Woman sneered, then grabbed Rebecca by the collar, used her arm strength, and lifted Rebecca up.
Kiwi, who was dodging Rebecca's small meaty hands, narrowed her eyes.
This woman's strength... is really damn great.
Rebecca is 1.5 meters tall, a l*li with fleshy thighs. Just by looking at her figure, she gives the impression of weighing less than 100 pounds, but in reality, Rebecca's current weight is 407 pounds... That's right, Rebecca is a 200-kilogram l*li!
When she was weighed two days ago, Rebecca's weight was almost catching up to Dorio's, almost becoming the second heaviest person in the crew...
The first, of course, was Maine, at 577 pounds. After all, even without cyberware, Maine, with his muscular body and nearly two-meter height, weighed over 300 pounds.
Currently, more than forty percent of Rebecca's internal cyberware has been replaced, and those were all custom cyberware plans Tiger Woman designed for her, such as skin, bones, blood vessels, artificial organs, etc. Those things are high-end goods that are very difficult to buy on the market.
Good quality means the weight naturally won't be low. After all, most combat cyberware is related to "metal," so it's impossible for it to have no weight.
"I'm not going, I can't go!"
"Damn it, Jax, Maine, save me!"
"I can't leave right now!" Rebecca, being dragged by Tiger Woman, shouted loudly, secretly looking at Lucy and Sasha.
What a joke... these two have already gotten ahead of her, and she's been happily oblivious all this time. And what's the result?
She was the one who first had this idea!
The first day she met Jax, she developed an interest in him. A natural-born, good-looking, good-natured guy—he perfectly matched Rebecca's type.
But now, why the hell was she the one with the slowest progress?!
She was the first one to arrive!
And sometimes, Rebecca really felt that her interactions with Jax were like that of a father and daughter.
Damn it, who wants to be your daughter?! I'm older than you, okay?!
Jax, for his part, just waved at Rebecca with a wry smile.
"I'm going to find Ms. Shoko!" Sasha also quickly got up, tossed her tray aside, and ran out with a patter.
Jax was dumbfounded.
Got an idol, don't need a husband anymore?
"...I'll go too." Lucy suddenly said, a hint of determination in her big eyes.
Although interacting with Shoko might expose her identity, Lucy didn't care anymore.
Her progress was already slower than Sasha's. Though unwilling to admit it, she had already lost in her relationship with Jax.
And in terms of ability, Lucy also knew she was inferior to Sasha. She might be more well-rounded than Sasha, after all, Lucy had received professional education,
and followed the academic path.
But if hacker skills were scored, Sasha would probably be an eighty-point hacker, specialized but with a high score.
Lucy, on the other hand, was only seventy points, well-rounded but without any outstanding achievements.
So... she also had to go. Asa Shoko, as Arasaka Michiko's strongest hacker, could be said to rank among the best in the world's hacker community, and that wasn't an exaggeration. She was a hacker who could score over ninety points.
Didn't you see how she played with Sasha like a cat plays with a mouse?
What? If ranked like that, how would those legendary hackers be ranked?
Bartmoss, Spider Murphy, what about those monsters?
Those guys... of course, they were all people who exceeded a hundred points.
If a hacker's test paper was 100 points, then they were the ones who broke through that limit, they were the ones who created the test paper.
"Never mind, I'll go too." Kiwi thought for a moment, wiped her "mouthpiece" with a handkerchief, rolled it up, and then pressed it into her esophagus.
Jax was stunned. Damn, every time he saw Kiwi eat, he felt like throwing up. This action was truly sanity-draining... In an instant, except for Rebecca, who had just been dragged away by Tiger Woman, the three hackers in the crew were all gone.
Maine took a deep breath, "I'll go find Rebecca and Tiger Woman."
Dorio naturally followed Maine.
So, it became Jax and Pilar face to face.
"You..." Jax said to Pilar, intending to ask her what she planned to do next.
"You what?! You annoy me!" Pilar rolled her eyes, stood up, patted her perky butt with her super-long arm, and left.
He had also found something to do in this fortress, which was to learn from the technical staff there.
Then, Jax sat in his seat, speechless and alone.
How did it turn into... me being alone?
Never mind, actually, this is pretty good.
Everyone is making progress. Tiger Woman is teaching Rebecca, Maine and Dorio are learning along the way, and now... Lucy, Sasha, and Kiwi are going to find Shoko, most likely wanting to learn hacking knowledge from her.
Pilar also has his own things to do at the base.
What about himself?
Then... continue training. He wants to master Shadow Song to perfection.
Jax needs to understand all kinds of weapons during this time, after all, that can better utilize the effects of Shadow Song.
One month's time.
One month passes quickly, in the blink of an eye.
But one month is also very slow, because for Night City, a month is enough for several corporate dogs to die, gang leaders to be assassinated, and Fixer to rise and fall.
So, when they return to Night City...
What kind of changes can we, having grown, bring to Night City?
Future.
The two-year agreement with Arasaka Michiko.
And, V, who should be appearing soon.
Jax smiled and quickly ate his meal.
He also had to prepare to go to the training room.