Chapter 34: Welcome To Night City!

When Leo walked into the border checkpoint with four smart shotguns, the staff at the weapons storage were stunned. Four smart weapons? "What? We're runners. It's normal to carry a few smart weapons for self-defense." Sitting in the interrogation room, Leo explained this to the customs officer. "Normal?" The customs officer twitched his mouth. "What do you think? Carrying four smart shotguns? What kind of family are you from?" Leo shrugged and handed over the customs declaration, with a money chip tucked inside. "Look, everything we're transporting is listed here, and these weapons really are just for our protection. No need to make a fuss, sir. You can check what's inside first." The customs officer took the customs declaration without a change in expression, but in reality, just seeing the big letters "L.O.A" was enough. The key was whether what was inside was enough. Typically, a bribe of around 1,000 euros is sufficient for smuggling, but this kid seemed a bit tricky—he needed to check first. If it was still just 1,000 euros, then the kid could dream on. As a seasoned customs officer, he could tell if transport personnel were violating regulations just by touch—his fingers were all cybernetically enhanced. A full 5,000 euros—quite generous. The customs officer relaxed a bit and asked, "Which family are you running for?" "This time, it's for myself," Leo said, his heart sinking. This guy was still thinking about selling the information to rob him. He could have claimed to be from the Bakkers family, but it wouldn't have made much difference. The customs officer would still check with the middleman, making it impossible to fake. And once they knew Leo wasn't backed by a nomad family, they'd get ideas. "Reckless, even a bit foolish—every time I see someone like you, I'm glad I'm not on the other side of the table." "So—are we done here?" "Of course, you can go." Leo left the interrogation room, and as he retrieved his weapons, the officer in charge of guarding them said, "Welcome to Night City." As he walked away, he could still hear the people behind him talking: "There's always some idiot who thinks Night City is some kind of paradise." "Idiot? Not sure about that. What kind of family carries four smart shotguns? Looks like they're from Kang Tao." Getting back into the car, V immediately asked, "How'd it go? No problems?" "Let's go—" Leo tossed the gun to Jackie in the backseat. "Stick to the plan, stay alert—Jackie, get your gun ready." "Alright." V pulled out her pistol, the "Dying Night," and loaded it—this action made Jackie, who was holding the smart shotgun, quite nervous. "Wait, wait, chica, choom, what are you doing?" As the roadblock slowly retracted into the ground, Leo pointed to the customs gate sign— "Welcome to Night City!" "Someone's planning a welcome party for us, Jackie. You didn't pay your middleman enough, but the good news is, we're professionals—" "What? Mierda (damn), you—" "Get ready, they're coming!" As soon as they left the checkpoint, the towering holographic billboards of Night City and the skyscrapers shrouded in the night sky came into view. From here on, they were in Night City territory—on the left side of the road, they could still see Biotechnica's farms and apartments, all planted with wheat that could be processed into ethanol! A land producing liquid gold—this was their battlefield! Leo could clearly see several Militech Emperor Ragnar armored cars heading their way— Bringing Night City's unique rules to welcome them: everyone robs me, and I rob everyone! Jackie was about to lose it! "Me cago (I can't believe this)! I didn't sign up for a war! Is this how you do smuggling? This is professional? You're not professional smugglers, you're professional corporate fighters!" "You got that right!" V laughed, "We really are professional corporate fighters, choom! I can tell you want to be a big shot! But what's a big shot? Is it getting crushed by Adam Smasher, having a stamp put on you, being buried in a grave, and having a few kids in a bar order a drink named after you? Is that a legend? If you can't handle this, maybe you should go find a factory job!" Hearing this familiar speech, Leo couldn't help but laugh: "Seems like someone's learned the essence, but did you pay the royalty fees for that line—" Beep beep—beep— Several Militech Emperor "Ragnar" armored cars drifted to a stop in front of them: "Please stop your vehicle. You are transporting corporate property and are suspected of smuggling—" Leo floored the gas pedal, spinning the car around and driving straight towards Biotechnica's greenhouse farm! "Screw you!" V started firing! The barrage of bullets forced the Militech operatives to duck, and Leo wasn't worried at all that the four cars' occupants would pose any real threat! "Look at them, they've only got four cars, and maybe ten agents tops!" V reloaded after emptying a clip. "Finish this job, and I'll give you a cut of the take!" "Only? Damn, damn, damn! I hired two lunatics to help me smuggle!" Jackie pulled out two pistols from his pocket, yelling as he stuck his body out the window, "Alright then, bring it on!" Bang! Jackie was using a Tsunami Defense Systems Nue pistol, a large-caliber, no-frills, cheap but highly reliable street gun—a favorite among big guys! The barrage of bullets, combined with the large-caliber rounds, shattered the windshield of the lead Emperor Ragnar. V seized the opportunity and sent a burst straight to the driver's head! The car veered out of control and crashed into a utility pole! "Wow! Nice shot!" Jackie was impressed, "What kind of implants do you have?" "This is called talent!" The two finished reloading their magazines inside the car while Leo made a sharp turn, using the greenhouse to block the line of sight. His hands trembled slightly as he gripped the steering wheel, his heart racing—yes, despite having faced death many times since his rebirth, this was his first time in a high-speed chase! "Whoo-hoo! Awesome!" Leo's sudden shout startled both of them, but soon enough, the Militech operatives caught up again! "Keep it up!" V signaled Jackie to continue firing— But then, something unexpected happened! Suddenly, orange-yellow bullets rained down from the sky, hitting the back of their car and separating them from the Militech vehicles! "What the hell!" Leo thought to himself, realizing something was off— V shouted, "Oh crap! It's Arasaka drones! They—they're coming after us!" The drones had forced the Militech agents back with their barrage and now had their guns trained on Leo and his crew! "Arasaka?" Leo was momentarily stunned, his mind racing—but the battlefield wouldn't give him much time to think! Boom! The car sped around a corner, and out of the corner of his eye, Leo saw an armored vehicle coming at them from the side! Screech— The car spun several times on the road. Leo cursed under his breath, but V stayed calm! In an instant, she activated her Kerenzikov reflex booster to the max, gripping the car door's outer edge tightly and grabbing the handle of the smart shotgun mounted on the roof! "Leo! Aim!" As the car spun to a stop, Leo looked up to see an Arasaka operative just stepping out of their vehicle, ready to suppress them— "Fire!" Bang! The Ba Xing Chong shotgun's blast bloomed like fireworks in the night sky, shredding the Emperor Ragnar's driver into pieces! The bullets tore through the driver's compartment, even hitting the Arasaka agent who was just stepping out! Not only that, the rounds triggered a small explosion on impact, blasting the operative into a gory mess! Boom! A terrifyingly powerful weapon! It was like a miniature swarm missile! "Nice shot, V!" Jackie had just recovered from the impact of the collision, fighting the urge to vomit as he raised his gun to fire at the drones above! Several quick shots sent the drones veering off course, and Leo slammed on the gas! Boom! The engine of the Galena "Rattler" roared to life, and with a quick acceleration, the car surged forward, pushing the three of them toward the Badlands! The Militech operatives, now blocked by the Arasaka drones, looked pale—they had no idea why Arasaka was getting involved! But just moments ago, they were trying to make some extra cash, and now it had turned into official business! "Requesting fire support from the Basilisk! Arasaka seems to care a lot about this cargo! We need to find out what's in those crates!"