At nine in the morning, Jax and Maine Jackie were sitting together at a 'fast food restaurant' in Watson District, ordering their meals.
"Are Rebecca and Pilar not coming?" Jax finished ordering his food and turned to Maine, asking.
Maine, who was ordering for Dorio, paused and said, "Pilar went to help her, she's with Viktor."
Jax nodded, then looked at Jackie with amusement and asked, "Jackie, why are you here so early?"
Jackie, who had ordered two Mexican meat rolls, chuckled and said, "You're all staying in Watson District, even Viktor and Misty are in Watson District. What am I supposed to do alone in Heywood? I don't have anything to do these days anyway, so I just came to keep you company."
Jax nodded, and just as he was about to speak, Jackie continued on his own, "But it's only for these few days. I'm free for these few days, so while I still have time, I came to Watson to help out. Whether it's the gun shop or the company, just say if there's anything you need me for."
"What are you going to be busy with in a while?" Maine heard this and asked Jackie.
Logically, Jackie shouldn't have any important tasks to do right now, just like everyone else in the family.
Whether it's the gun shop or the company, he only needs to spend a little time checking on them each day. Moreover, Jackie isn't in management yet, unlike Maine, who has to worry about the security company's affairs.
Jackie would certainly get busy eventually, after all, he was a core member of the family, but that would only be after the security company was established and he went to become the head of security.
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But why was he suddenly going to be busy so soon?
Jackie replied, "I just picked up a small gig. Originally, I wasn't going to take it. After all, the situation is special right now, and we all decided to quit the mercenary life.
So I've been trying to fade into the background, but this gig was requested by a buddy of mine. He said he needed someone to go to the Badlands to pick someone up."
"My buddy is timid and has never been out to the Badlands. He somehow stumbled into this gig and it looks like he got scammed, so he asked me for help. All the pay goes to me. I'm familiar with the Badlands, so I thought about it and decided to help him out."
Maine nodded, "Take it easy. Even though you have a Sandevistan, there are still a lot of Nightwalkers in the Badlands."
Jackie smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, I've always been most careful about these kinds of issues, you all know that, right?"
Jackie wasn't bragging; he was completely different from his outward appearance.
When on missions, Jackie, like Maine, was indeed one of the meticulous ones. However, the difference was that Maine planned ahead and prepared thoroughly, while Jackie was quick to react on the spot and could find good solutions in urgent situations.
Therefore, Jackie was actually particularly suited to be a mercenary, especially a lone wolf mercenary.
But Jackie's personality didn't support him being a lone wolf... this guy was simply too fond of making friends, and he was the kind of person who would give his all for his friends.
Jax, listening to Maine and Jackie's conversation, his hand holding the tray trembled, then he turned to Jackie.
"You're going to the Badlands to pick someone up?"
"Huh? Yeah, Jax, is there a problem with that?" Seeing Jax's sudden surprised expression, Jackie immediately became serious.
"No, nothing... it's just, Jackie, do you know who you're picking up?"
"Not yet, the Fixer hasn't given me detailed information. When I get to the Badlands, I'll contact the person by phone, but the number of people and the mission have been made clear."
Jackie recalled, saying, "It seems like I'm picking up someone who left a nomad family. That person somehow took a smuggling job from some city and needs to deliver something to Night City. My mission is to bring that person into the city and ensure the goods aren't lost."
"An outsider, smuggling, it's too difficult to get into the city," Maine said from the side.
"Male or female?" Jax looked at Jackie, asking seriously.
Still thinking?
That's right... It's already early December 2075, and the time is almost 2076!
Jax became a little excited. After thinking carefully, he figured out the specific timeline. Although his intervention had changed Maine's crew and some people and events around them, V... especially Nomad V, her timeline for coming to Night City would not be affected.
According to the original timeline, V arrived in Night City before early 2076, then met Jackie by accident, and with Jackie's accompaniment, V entered the edgerunner circle.
Then, V and Jackie struggled in Night City for nearly a year, rising from unknown street punks to gaining a reputation.
And during that year, Jackie and V befriended the Fixers Father Sebastian, Old Captain, and Wakako, and then... Rogue.
This part of the game was narrated through various cinematic sequences, which attentive players should have noticed.
And mercenaries who could enter Afterlife and catch Rogue's eye were considered elite mercenaries in the streets. Regardless of whether they acted recklessly, they must have completed many missions to gain Rogue's attention.
Therefore, V didn't become famous immediately after arriving in Night City; she and Jackie worked very hard to climb up!
So... is there a six-month time difference between V and David?
Mid-2076 is the timeline when David died at Arasaka Tower in the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime...
"Male or female? The Fixer didn't say." Jackie was a bit confused, not understanding why Jax was so interested in such a small mission.
Wasn't this just a perfectly ordinary street gig?
Picking someone up, delivering smuggled goods, to put it bluntly, this kind of mess happens every day in Night City, after all, people enter Night City from outside every day, chasing some darn "dream."
But if Jax knew Jackie's thoughts at this moment, Jax would say, "Yes, this is a perfectly ordinary mission, but the person you're picking up isn't ordinary!"
If nothing unexpected happens, V is the ceiling of this world!
Do you understand the power of a five-discipline Cybertronian?
"Let's go back first, what are we talking about standing here?" Maine noticed the surrounding gazes and, with a chuckle, reached out and patted Jax and Jackie on the shoulders.
Saying that, Maine carried his tray and walked to an empty seat in the restaurant.
Jax and Jackie immediately followed him.
After sitting down, Jackie immediately spoke as soon as he put down his tray, "Jax, I'm not very clear about the specifics of that mission yet, because that person is still some distance away from Night City.
The Fixer said the person would probably arrive at the Badlands town in a few days, so I don't know if it's a man or a woman right now, and I haven't even received the drop-off location yet."
Jax nodded, but after thinking for a moment, Jax said, "It's fine, but, Jackie, can I tag along on this mission?"
"Hey, hey, hey, Jax, what's gotten into you?" Maine, completely confused, looked at Jax and asked, "This is just a perfectly ordinary small mission. Why would you want to go along?"
"Furthermore, if Jackie hadn't already agreed to it, and if this wasn't essentially Jackie helping his friend, I would have told Jackie to refuse this mission directly. Do we have time to take on such missions right now?" Maine said seriously.
"Well... it's something," Jax said, looking at Maine, then continued, "I can't tell you the specifics, but in short, I need to go with Jackie on this mission."
"Then why don't you just go directly..." Jackie thought for a moment and said.
"If you go, my buddy will be at ease," Jackie chuckled, slapping the table and saying,
"The other party seems to be a refugee coming to Night City, and they're very cautious. The Fixer said it's a one-on-one handover. If I bring you, that person will definitely become suspicious. So, why don't you just go directly? I'll give you the Fixer's contact information then."
"Do I know this Fixer?" Jax asked.
"Just a small Fixer from Heywood. He knows you, but you definitely don't know him," Jackie waved his hand and said.
He lowered his head and took two bites of food, his eyes lit up.
Meanwhile, Jax had already received the Fixer's phone number from Jackie.
After thinking for a moment, Jax directly dialed the number.
"Hello?"
After a moment, a cautious voice, slightly hoarse, came from the other end. It was a man.
"Hello, Mr. Ester, my name is Jax..."
"I don't care what your name is, how did you get my number?" The Fixer on the other end immediately said seriously.
Jax froze, then in the next second, he deactivated his Kiroshi Optics interference function. Jax had forgotten... when he dialed an unknown number, his Kiroshi Optics would automatically create interference.
The specific effect... well, it was similar to when V called Mr. Hands, making it impossible to see the face, and even slightly distorting the voice and body shape.
Therefore, it wasn't surprising that Ester, as a Fixer, didn't recognize him after the call connected.
With the Kiroshi Optics function deactivated, Ester clearly froze in Jax's eyes.
And Jax introduced himself to Ester: "I am Jax, Jax of the Moxes, Jax of the Edgerunner family."
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A hint of fear flickered in Ester's eyes. After a moment of stunned silence, he quickly said, "Mr. Jax, you, why would you call me?"
What a joke... How could it be this killing god?!
In Night City, there were a lot of people named Jax, at least a dozen people had that name.
But there was only one famous Jax!
Thinking about all the things Jax had done, Ester's heart began to tremble.
Ester's ability to climb out of the highly competitive Fixer circle and even establish his own small territory in Heywood was largely because he was one of the first to benefit from the 'whale fall' after the downfall of the multi-faceted Janus back then.
Well... calling Janus's death a 'whale fall' might be an exaggeration; that guy wasn't that big, but the meaning was the same. Ester was a Fixer who climbed up by feeding on Janus's corpse.
Therefore, of course, he wouldn't be unaware of how Janus, the high-ranking Fixer who once dominated the Heywood Mansion area, had died.
He was killed by this seemingly gentle and refined ordinary young man with black hair...
"Jackie said he took a smuggling job from you, to pick up a nomad in the Badlands and bring them into the city, right?" Jax had barely finished a sentence when Ester quickly spoke:
"Mr. Jackie doesn't want to do this commission anymore? Then I can unilaterally cancel the commission. This won't affect Mr. Jackie's reputation, and no deposit will be deducted. I'll go right away..."
"You misunderstood," Jax interrupted him.
Ester closed his mouth.
"I'm here to ask you, can this mission be transferred to me now?"
"What? Mr. Jax, wait a moment, did I hear that wrong? This is just a perfectly ordinary and simple small job. Normally, such a job wouldn't even be assigned to a mercenary of Mr. Jackie's caliber.
The reward for this commission is 2800 Eurodollars, and it doesn't include reimbursement for postage and travel expenses. Customs fees will be reimbursed, but it's only a 500-chip, whether it can handle the checkpoint personnel, well... that's up to the entrusted person to handle themselves."
Ester's voice grew smaller and smaller as he spoke.
No way, a job that only pays 2800 Eurodollars is being given to a mercenary of Jax's level?
If he were to go out now and say he wanted to take commissions, there would be countless high-difficulty, six-figure commissions waiting for Jax to take.
A smuggling pickup job like this has the least difficulty and danger. The only trouble is going to the Badlands, with the possibility of encountering Nightwalkers. Therefore, this kind of commission is purely a rotten job; only mercenaries who are truly desperate in Night City would take it.
Or, it's specifically used to scam people.
So, why would Jax actively ask to do such a rotten job?
However, facing Ester's confusion, Jax just smiled and said, "I do want to take this job. Can it be transferred to me?"
"Of course, then I will handle it for you. Do you need me to forward this commission to Rogue?" Ester said hesitantly.
Jax was Rogue's person; everyone in the streets knew this, so Ester was very conflicted right now.
On one hand, getting involved with these people would help his future career.
But on the other hand, if Jax took a job without telling Rogue, then he wouldn't be able to stay in the Fixer circle.
Jax understood Ester's meaning, nodded, and said, "Yes, then I'll trouble you to handle it."
Seeing Jax say this, Ester breathed a sigh of relief, then nodded, excitedly saying, "Okay, Mr. Jax, I understand. I'll start processing this matter immediately."
Ester finished speaking and was about to hang up the phone.
Jax quickly asked, "When does this commission start?"
"It's probably in three days. I contacted the Fixer on the other side; that guy specializes in serving nomads. He told me that the mercenary who took this commission on the other side will enter the Free State of Northern California in two days."
Ester said truthfully.
Jax nodded, thanked Ester, and then hung up the phone.
Next, Jax was met with Maine and Jackie's puzzled gazes.
Seeing this, Jax rolled his eyes.
Ask, ask... ask what?
Should he say that he was finding an invincible backer for the family's future?
Anyway...
V is coming, so clean up... get ready to meet V!