Rain slowly sat down in his seat, then folded his hands beneath his nose, looking at Sasha in front of him.
“What…
exactly do you want us to do?”
Sasha looked at Rain and finally mustered the courage to ask her first question.
“Hmm…
good question.
It’s actually quite simple.
If I say a certain name, perhaps you’ll understand.”
Hearing Sasha’s question, Rain smiled slightly at her and leaned back in his chair.
“Galina.”
Instantly, Sasha’s eyes widened upon hearing that name, and she abruptly stood up.
“What do you mean?!”
“Calm down, Miss Sasha.
Don’t forget…
whose territory this is.”
Seeing Sasha’s reaction, Rain leaned forward slightly, tapped a finger on the table, and said with a darkening gaze.
Sasha felt a chill in her heart at the sight and obediently sat back down.
“…That’s my mother.
What do you want me to do?”
“It’s not about what I want you to do, but…
what do you want to do?”
Rain smiled upon hearing her words and said something that made Sasha freeze for a moment.
But soon, Sasha reacted, her eyes widening and her tone becoming somewhat excited.
“Wait, you…
are you saying you’re willing to help me find the truth?
But why…”
“No, no, no.
This is called an equivalent exchange.
You achieve your goal, and I achieve mine.
I can even provide you with protection and a certain amount of compensation.
How about it?
The rewards are quite generous, aren’t they?”
Rain smiled as he extended a finger and wagged it at Sasha.
After listening to Rain’s words, Sasha gradually calmed down.
“I understand…
what do I need to do?”
“Hmm…
there’s not much you need to do for now.
For now, you just need to return to your original life and wait for my notice.
At the same time, I will move your files into Arasaka’s list of external personnel directly under me.
You’ll receive a salary and some protection from Arasaka.”
Rain spoke to Sasha after thinking for a moment, then took a file out of a drawer and handed it to her.
The file contained only Sasha’s biological information authentication; there was no name, photo, or even a gender listed.
“Your codename: Lynx.”
Sasha took the file Rain handed over and nodded to him.
“I understand…
so how should I address you?”
“Call me Rain, Boss, or Employer.
Any of those will do.”
“Understood, Boss.
Then Maine and the others…”
“You don’t need to worry too much about them.
I still have a use for them.
Hmm…
you can return to their team later.
Once I reach an agreement with them, you can all go back to your lives as Edgerunners as if nothing happened.
I’m also happy to give you all…
a little help.”
and…
thank you, Boss.”
After saying that, Sasha bowed to Rain, making him pause for a moment.
“No matter what…
you’ve given me the chance to seek justice for my mother…”
“…Go on then.
Get some good rest during this time.”
“Mhm.”
Watching Sasha leave, Rain couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile.
“Canris.”
“Yes, Boss!”
“Get ready.
We’re going to meet our Edgerunner friends.”
“Roger!”
…
“Hey, what do you think is going to happen to us next?”
Pilar glanced at the Arasaka security personnel responsible for watching them not far away, then turned to look at Maine beside him.
“What’ll happen?
Heh…
nothing more than becoming test subjects for some big corporation’s Cyberware.
Eventually, we’ll turn into goddamn Cyberpsychos from the modifications and get our heads blown off by MAX-TAC.
Bang!
End of story.”
Maine gave a short laugh and spoke.
“That sounds pretty damn plausible…
Hey, Dorio, what do you think?”
“Me?
I’ve got pretty much the same thought, though Rebecca might get grabbed and turned into a Joytoy to make them some money.”
“No way!
I’m a famous Edgerunner, for crying out loud!”
Hearing this, Rebecca couldn’t help but retort.
“I don’t think so either.”
“I didn’t expect you to actually say something nice, you stinky big brother!”
“No, I mean you’re flat as a board front and back.
I doubt anyone would want you.”
“What did you say?!”
After Pilar said that, Rebecca was so angry her twin-tails practically stood on end.
She immediately tried to kick Pilar, but because her hands were cuffed, Pilar just twisted his hips and dodged it.
“You bastard, don’t you dare dodge!!”
“Idiot, who wouldn’t dodge?
Ahahaha!!!”
Clang—
“Quiet!”
As the group grew rowdier, an Arasaka security guard stepped forward and tapped the iron bars in front of them with his gun.
Maine spat on the ground at the sight.
“Corp-rats…”
“Do you think…
we can still get out?”
“Get out?
It’s impossible…
electrified iron bars, password-reinforced blast doors, a fully armed Arasaka elite security squad, disabled Cyberware…
any one of those things would be enough to handle us, let alone all of them stacked together.”
Falco shook his head with a bitter smile.
The group fell silent, knowing that everything Falco said was the truth.
“I wonder how Sasha is doing…”
Suddenly, Rebecca couldn’t help but mutter in a low voice, and the others nodded slightly.
“She probably escaped… Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
after all, we haven’t seen her.”
“Probably.
After all, Sasha wouldn’t have been able to save us in the end.
With her hacking skills, she shouldn’t have been caught that easily…”
The group spoke up one after another, though none voiced the main suspicion in their hearts…
it was a sort of beautiful hope…
“It seems your spirits are still quite high.”
Suddenly, a voice came from not far away, causing them to jump and snap their heads toward the sound.
There they saw Rain in a sharp suit, followed by the hulking Canris and a small, fully armed security squad.
“Oho, looks like we’ve run into a real big shot today!
What a goddamn honor!”
Rain let out a light chuckle, then tilted his head toward the cell.
“Turn off the power grid, then open the door.”
“Yes, Minister!”
Minister?!
The moment they heard that title, everyone’s eyes widened.
To them, even a corporate supervisor was a big deal, let alone a Minister…
Then their hearts sank.
Being targeted by such a big shot was hardly a good thing…
Soon, the cell door was opened, and Rain walked in.
Canris, being quite sensible, brought a chair inside and placed it down.
After Rain sat down, he waved his hand toward the back.
“Alright, you can leave.
Withdraw all the security personnel from here and turn off the surveillance.”
“This…”
A Security Supervisor showed a look of hesitation upon hearing this.
“Hmm?”
Rain immediately shot an unfriendly look at him.
“I understand!”
Maine and the others were filled with confusion as they watched Rain’s series of actions.
Soon, only Maine’s crew and Rain were left in the cell.
“…Mr.
Corporate Big Shot, I’d like to know why you brought us here.”
“First, let me introduce myself.
I am Rain Vermilles, Minister of the Special Operations Department directly under the Security Department.”
Maine’s eyes widened suddenly as a commission Faraday had sent him earlier flashed into his mind.
“It’s you?!”
“Hmm?”
Rain looked at Maine with some surprise.
“It seems someone recognizes me.
That’s good; it’ll make our following conversation easier.”
“Minister Rain has so many capable people under him, there shouldn’t be anything you need us to do, right?”
“Quite the opposite…
the people under me…
are basically unusable, especially for what comes next.
Of course…
this is also an opportunity for you.”
Rain rested one hand on his knee and grinned at the group.
“I can give you a promise.
As long as you’re willing to accept these terms, you’ll receive the corresponding compensation—and not just once.
You’ll also get Arasaka’s protection and your current freedom.”
“And if we don’t accept?”
Maine asked after a moment of silence, looking up at Rain.
Rain slowly narrowed his eyes.
“Think about it again.”