“From what I saw yesterday, there were only two or three Tyger Claws members in that small restaurant. I just didn’t have enough equipment with me, otherwise I could have cleaned them all out by myself,” Hiroshi Kitagawa continued.
Leon, who was walking behind him, was left somewhat speechless and replied:
“Then why did you even ask for a job through Wakako?”
“Just in case. This concerns my sister, so I can’t afford to be reckless,” Hiroshi answered.
As they approached the elevator, he asked:
“Do you have your own car? Or are you coming with me?”
“I’ll go with you,” Leon said after thinking briefly.
Delamain’s taxi was excellent, but in the end it was still only a taxi.
It could guarantee his safety during the ride, but it could not stay parked and wait for Leon to finish the job like a personal chauffeur.
Unless he paid for Delamain’s Excelsior package, the vehicle would not wait in the parking lot for however long it took.
If he found himself in a situation where he had to retreat immediately, Leon did not believe the enemy would kindly give him time to wait for his taxi to arrive.
Hiroshi did not answer and simply pressed the button for the underground level.
When they reached the underground garage, he led Leon toward a black car.
Archer Hella EC-D I360.
An older model that had appeared on the market back at the beginning of this century.
It was notorious for extremely average performance in almost every regard, but it had two major advantages: it was durable and extremely easy to repair.
Even today, this car could still be seen on the streets.
Since almost all of its parts were made from cheap, rugged materials, maintenance was also very cheap and simple.
Leon looked at the car.
Without a second of hesitation, he immediately sat in the back seat.
That way, if there was a crash, at least he would have someone in front of him to take the first impact.
Hiroshi had no idea what thoughts were going through Leon’s head.
He sat behind the wheel, authorized the vehicle with his personal chip, and started the engine.
The old car let out a series of painful, deep noises before slowly pulling out of the garage.
“What’s your plan?” Leon asked from the back seat, holding Black Unicorn in his lap.
“First we’ll pretend to be customers and scout the interior. Then we’ll try to slip through unnoticed and get her out. If that isn’t possible, we’ll break through by force.”
Hiroshi briefly looked toward the rearview mirror.
“Or do you have a better idea?”
“If they really kidnapped your sister and are keeping her in that restaurant, then she is almost certainly not the only one. They’ve probably been doing this for quite a while.”
Leon said calmly:
“If I were you, I’d watch the location for a day or two and determine exactly where they keep the abducted people.”
“No way!”
Hiroshi rejected the suggestion immediately.
“My sister has already been with them for two days! If I wait a few more days, are you going to come with me and pick up her body?!”
Leon shrugged.
“You’re the client. You pay. You decide.”
However, Hiroshi still seriously considered his suggestion.
After several moments of silence, he asked:
“So, you’re suggesting we assess the situation first and not immediately charge in headfirst?”
“If you’re strong enough to kill all the Tyger Claws there by yourself, feel free to ignore my advice.”
Leon opened the bag and began checking its contents.
“Right… this is about my sister’s safety. We can’t do something stupid.”
After thinking briefly, Hiroshi made a decision.
“Then we’ll do it like this. Because of your appearance, they’ll probably lower their guard. Pretend you’re my younger companion and try not to attract attention.”
“First we’ll go inside and eat something.”
“If there aren’t many of them, we’ll strike suddenly.”
“If there are too many, we’ll first find some weak point from the outside.”
“Alright,” Leon replied.
He had no objection to that plan.
Then he took an injector out of the bag.
Hiroshi noticed it in the rearview mirror and immediately shouted:
“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?”
“Muscle stimulant. The effect lasts about an hour. Once we go inside, I probably won’t have a chance to use it, so it’s better to take it now.”
Leon calmly pressed the injector against his arm and injected the contents.
Preparations like this, similar to combat stimulants, almost always had certain side effects that could not be avoided.
For example, after the effect of this muscle stimulant wore off, the user would feel pronounced weakness and exhaustion for several hours.
But the benefit during combat was equally obvious.
Leon had tested it before.
With his current physical condition, the stimulant temporarily increased his Body by a full 2 points!
That meant his Body rose to 6, already fairly close to the level 7–8 that he considered the world-class peak of natural human ability!
Of course, because the difference between each individual Attribute Point became enormous, what looked at first glance like only a small increase was actually incredibly difficult to achieve.
Some people could train their entire lives and never naturally increase even a single point.
That alone said enough about the strength of this stimulant.
And the price matched the effect.
One injection cost roughly as much as the average Night City resident earned in an entire month.
“You really have no sense of the value of money…” Hiroshi could not help saying.
Still, he did not complain further.
If Leon was willing to spend his own money to increase the chances of saving his sister, Hiroshi certainly would not complain.
The rusty old car continued dragging itself along the road.
From inside, Leon could clearly hear creaking, squealing, and various worrying structural noises, which made him begin to seriously wonder whether the vehicle would fall apart before they even reached their destination.
He was starting to regret the decision a little.
Maybe he should have called Delamain after all.
Even if he had to wait for a taxi to arrive during an escape, perhaps that would still be better than relying on this wreck.
Leon could already imagine the scene.
The two of them somehow break through the enemy encirclement.
At the last moment they jump into the car.
The enemies remain behind them, completely stunned.
Hiroshi steps on the accelerator…
And the engine dies instantly.
Black smoke starts pouring out.
The hood flies into the air…
Leon was fairly certain that at that moment everyone present would simply stand there and stare in disbelief.
But fortunately, the fact that this car had somehow managed to survive far beyond its expected service life and was still driving in 2075 meant it had some special qualities after all.
After a little more than ten minutes, Hiroshi finally drove him to the small restaurant.
From the outside, it looked no different from countless ordinary roadside restaurants.
The interior could be seen through the large glass windows.
Greasy tables.
Occasional dirty stains on the floor.
And beside the door, a neon sign flickered:
[OPEN 24 HOURS]
“Stick to the plan.”
Hiroshi lit a cigarette, almost as if trying to calm his nerves with it.
He exhaled a cloud of smoke, then entered the restaurant with determined steps.
Leon checked once more how well his equipment was concealed.
Inside the bag on his back was the Kang Tao G-58 Dian together with the rest of his supplies.
The Kang Tao A-22B Chao was hidden beneath his jacket.
Across his chest, he wore a long sheath containing the still-undrawn Black Unicorn.
As long as no one searched him carefully, it would be difficult for anyone at first glance to suspect that a sixteen-year-old was carrying several weapons.
Leon followed Hiroshi inside.
Business at the restaurant was obviously not going well.
Hiroshi ordered some food at the counter, after which they found a table in the corner and sat down.
“Looks like there aren’t many of them.”
Hiroshi kept his head lowered while trying to eat the not particularly appealing food, at the same time watching the restaurant from the corner of his eye.
“I barely saw any of those brightly dressed Tyger Claws idiots.”
Then he added more quietly:
“And the restaurant doesn’t have any automated defense turrets either.”
“I didn’t see a single Tyger Claw outside while we were approaching,” Leon replied.
“There’s no one inside either, at least as far as I can see. The only place we haven’t checked yet is the upper floor.”
Leon picked up a skewer of fish balls.
He stared at it suspiciously for a long time before finally trying one.
It was elastic and rubbery.
It resembled plastic quite a bit.
“So, do we attack now?”
Leon discreetly slipped his hand beneath his jacket and firmly gripped the pistol handle.
He was only waiting for Hiroshi’s signal.
The signal could be, for example, smashing a glass…
Leon would instantly stand up and shout:
“This food tastes like sewage shit!”
Then he would draw his pistol like lightning, aim it at everyone in the restaurant, and add:
“Don’t anyone move!”
In this world, the reason for starting a conflict was never particularly important anyway.
You just picked one.
Hiroshi also kept his hand on the pistol beneath his clothes.
But then the roar of engines sounded outside the restaurant.
He immediately released the weapon.
“Someone’s coming.”
He cautiously looked through the window.
A bright-red sports car raced toward the restaurant, with several equally conspicuous modified motorcycles following behind it.
On the body of the sports car was a large stylized kanji inscription:
[Tenka Musō — Unrivaled Under Heaven]
The entire combination of red, green, and traditional Japanese aesthetics was so striking that almost anyone in Japantown would immediately know who the vehicle belonged to.
The Tyger Claws.
Sure enough, the sports car and motorcycles soon stopped directly in front of the restaurant.
One Tyger Claws member opened the trunk of the car.
Then, completely openly and in front of every passerby on the street, he pulled an unconscious woman out of the trunk.
He lifted her and carried her toward the restaurant’s back entrance.
“Damned scum…”
Hiroshi’s metal cyberarm hand clenched around the glass so hard that the glass began to crack.
“Do you still want to attack immediately?” Leon asked, casually assessing the situation.
Eight people in total.
No more, no less.
Even if several more members were hiding inside, the total number probably did not exceed ten.
If he pulled out the G-58 Dian now and opened fire, at least half the people outside would probably fall before the others even realized what was happening.
The survivors would then probably try to take cover behind the vehicles.
“Wait.”
Hiroshi lowered his head.
“I need to figure out where they’re taking her.”
He carefully listened to the footsteps outside the restaurant.
His auditory enhancer picked up the external sound waves, amplified them, and sent them directly to his auditory nerve.
He could clearly hear the heavy footsteps of the person carrying the woman.
The footsteps were much slower and deeper than usual.
Then came the sound of stairs.
The person climbed to the upper floor.
In the end, he entered some room from which muffled female moans could be heard.
A moment later, a dull impact sounded.
As if the woman had been thrown onto the floor.
“I found them.”
Hiroshi raised his gaze toward one section of the second floor.
His eyes became icy.
But the very next second, he froze.
A man dressed in the Tyger Claws’ characteristic white suit approached them from another part of the restaurant.
Six armed men followed behind him.
It was as though he had known they were here from the very beginning.
He walked up to Hiroshi’s table and placed both hands on the surface.
Then he stared at him without moving.
The six men behind him raised their weapons at the same time and aimed their barrels at Leon and Hiroshi.
The small restaurant filled with the sounds of weapons being chambered and readied.
“Long time no see… Hiroshi.”
An evil voice came from the man’s mouth, low and threatening like the hiss of a venomous snake.