Johnny's expression at that moment was truly something to behold.
But after a while, he returned to normal.
"Yeah, it's been fifty f*****g years..." Johnny sighed and then fell silent.
It was clear he had taken a bit of a hit.
After all, seeing an ex-girlfriend again only to find out she had kids? That could be a tough pill to swallow.
Liam Carter smiled and shook his head.
Not only was Johnny stunned, but even when he had heard the news during The End of the Sun, his reaction had been just as colorful.
But, judging from the phrase "we can go back to the way we used to be" that Rogue had said later, it seemed like the child's father was no longer around.
Now that Rogue wouldn't have to worry about the hammer coming down on her, Johnny still had a chance.
Besides, should he even care whether Rogue had kids or not?
Thinking of this, Liam smiled and reassured him, "It's okay, Johnny. You still have a chance now that you're back. Trust me."
"Fk, this is so f***g ridiculous." Johnny didn't answer directly but just cursed before disappearing.
"Kansas? I have some memory of this guy. He came back to Night City around '09, I think." Rogue's tone carried a hint of uncertainty.
Liam nodded, continuing her thought.
"That's right. He arrived in Night City at noon yesterday and was taken to a Militech stronghold in Watson.
"After that, he was secretly transferred. Where exactly? That's what I need you to find out for me."
All of this information had been retrieved by Shockwave through network caches.
But that was as far as they could go.
Since Kansas was transferred a second time, he must be in a secured, isolated Militech network.
In an era where rogue AIs had turned cyberspace into a fragmented island, even Shockwave couldn't get past those barriers.
Rogue smirked. "Liam, you're still as bold as ever, but you know this time you're poking into Militech's internal affairs, right?"
"Don't give me that," Liam chuckled. "Even Kang Tao and Orbital Air have their own deep-cover spies. Do you really expect me to believe you don't have anyone inside Militech?"
"Don't worry, you won't lose money on this job—five million eurodollars. How about it?"
Rogue blinked in surprise, then grinned.
"I love doing business with people like you," she admitted, "but I do have one question."
"You want to ask how I knew about your Orbital Air moles, don't you?" Liam smiled knowingly.
All of this was common knowledge in the game.
Was it really that surprising that he knew?
Rogue was momentarily speechless before she finally let out a bitter laugh. "I take back what I said earlier about liking doing business with you."
"For five million eddies, you'll have the information you need by tomorrow morning. Cash on delivery."
Liam shook his head and transferred the money directly to Rogue's account.
"Here's the money upfront. Now, do your thing."
"You trust me that much?" Rogue looked at Liam in surprise.
She had been in the business for decades, but she had never met someone like him.
Liam shrugged. "Just doing it for someone else's sake."
With that, Liam pulled Ember Carter up and walked toward the door.
As they walked, Ember tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Hey, you stingy bastard, aren't you being a little too generous?"
"Kang Tao must've paid you a fortune for this job, right? And you just dropped five million for a bit of intel?"
"You don't know s**t," Liam shot back. "Do you have any idea how much we paid to find out about Herman last time?"
Ember thought for a moment and guessed, "A million?"
Liam rolled his eyes.
"Higher. Try again."
"Five million?"
"Keep going."
"More? Then… a hundred thousand?"
Liam shook his head and held up two fingers.
"Last time, finding out about Herman cost us only twenty thousand eddies."
"What?! Twenty thousand?!"
Ember stopped in her tracks, dumbfounded.
Good lord.
Kang Tao was one of the biggest megacorporations in the world, standing toe-to-toe with Militech.
And yet, getting insider info on them had only cost twenty thousand?
"No way! I'm going to get our money back!"
Fuming, Ember turned on her heels, ready to storm back inside.
"Hey… come back here."
Liam pulled her back, laughing. "What's the matter? You think five million is too much now?"
"Oh… I think fifty thousand would have been more than enough!" Ember huffed, her eyes practically blazing with anger.
Why was Kang Tao's intel dirt cheap while Militech's cost a fortune?
Did people look down on Kang Tao, or was Militech just that much better?
Liam smirked. "For fixers like Rogue, once a deep-cover mole is involved, all it takes is an encrypted message to get what they need.
"As for the price, that depends on the importance of the target and their status.
"Herman? Just some low-level issue of mine.
"But Kansas? He's connected to both megacorporations.
"The guy has access to stuff Herman could only dream about."
That explanation seemed to calm Ember down a bit.
"Fine… I'll let it slide this time."
Even as she said that, she still sent a message to Alex Han, detailing the whole situation.
Neither Rogue nor Liam had any idea that this little episode would later trigger a massive internal security sweep in Kang Tao.
Several deep-cover spies were exposed and eliminated.
The next time someone tried to buy Kang Tao intel from Rogue, twenty thousand eddies definitely wouldn't cut it.
After leaving The Afterlife, Liam and Ember didn't head straight back to the villa.
Instead, they went for a long walk, taking in the real Night City.
Along the way, the streets were filled with aggressive pedestrians who swore like sailors and had a penchant for violence.
Fistfights and street brawls were a common sight, and crimes were happening left and right.
They even witnessed a full-on gang war unfold right in front of them.
The Tiger Claws and the Maelstrom gang were going at it in broad daylight.
They also had the misfortune of running into a group of Scavs.
And the unlucky bastards thought Liam looked like an easy mark.
You can probably guess how that turned out.
As the smoldering wreckage of a car lit up the night, Ember finally had enough.
"Forget it. Night City's nightlife is overrated. It's nothing like Shanghai."
And with that, the two hopped in a hovercar and headed back to the villa.
Late that night, Ember stirred in bed.
Noticing the empty space beside her, she hesitated for a moment.
Then, slowly, she lifted the blanket and tiptoed toward Liam's room…
Free trail is available 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Advance chapter in PATREON
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