Chapter 80: Continuous Income

Kang Tao still places significant importance on the lost cargo from Atlanta, which means that Militech likely does as well. Before the meeting, Leo had considered handing over the Yinglong and Ba Xing Chong, along with their blueprints, to Kang Tao. But now, it seemed wiser to be cautious. He needed to find a way to get rid of those items—either sell them in Dogtown or simply dump them. Whatever the case, he couldn't keep them. And they had to be sold in different places to avoid suspicion. With that in mind, Leo made a quick call to Rosanne, who picked up almost immediately. Rosanne: "I was just about to call you. The five cans of time-release stimulants are all sold out, along with the vaccines. I priced them slightly below what the Sixth Street gang was offering—60,000 per can for the stimulants and 70,000 per dose for the vaccine. The nomads quickly scraped together the cash. I'll only take the agreed 30% cut this time, but next time you'll have to find buyers either in the city or through smuggling routes, and I'll have to take at least 60%." Leo: "Who was the Aldecaldo buyer?" Rosanne: "The middleman was Dakota Smith. She also asked for your number, so she might call you in a bit." Leo: "Perfect. I have someone who brought in a batch of goods. See if the Aldecaldos have anyone heading to Mexico who can sell them there." Rosanne: "What kind of goods?" Leo: "Smart weapons—four in total. Two Dian SMGs and two Zhuo shotguns, all prototype models from Kang Tao." Rosanne: "That's some high-quality stuff. Why not sell it in Night City?" Leo: "The goods are too hot." Rosanne: "Got it. This is a big deal, though. I won't handle it myself—you'll have to talk to her directly. I'll give her a heads-up for you." Leo: "That works. I'll give her a call when I get the chance." Transaction: +700,000 Eurodollars At El Coyote Cojo, after securing the deal with Kang Tao, the four decided to celebrate by having a drink. The four raised their glasses. "To big money!" After the toast, the three downed their beers, while Leo sipped on a soda. V threw an arm around Leo: "Haha—drinking soda in a bar, only a weirdo like you would do that." Leo kept a straight face: "We got paid. The last batch of goods sold for 1 million. Roshan took 300,000, and we split the remaining 700,000. We'll set aside 70,000 to pay back Old Vic, so each of us gets 210,000." "Wahoo!" The three toasted again, the huge sum making even Chesson envious. He said, somewhat sourly: "These days, dealing drugs is where the real money's at." Leo replied: "Oh, come on. Arms dealing is a steady business too. The path's been laid out for you, now it's up to you to walk it." Chesson nodded, though he seemed a bit uninterested—after all, hearing about the massive profits Leo's crew was making, he was almost tempted to become a merc himself. Kang Tao planned to equip Chesson with a full set of work chips. As a legitimate contractor, the chip would record the worker's activity when inserted into their neural slot, ensuring Chesson wouldn't be "cheating on taxes." The benefit was that the legitimate chips were highly efficient and could work in tandem with automated equipment, upgrading Chesson's manual black market operation into a semi-automated gray market factory. Smart ammunition was much more complex than standard ammo. In addition to the traditional bullet components like the bullet head, casing, and gunpowder, it had a trajectory correction system to alter its path mid-flight. This was high-tech stuff, requiring the bullet to be fitted with a micro-signal receiver and sensors to exchange information with the external environment, making it far more expensive to produce than regular bullets. With the legitimate work chips, Chesson estimated his small factory could produce about 150,000 to 500,000 rounds annually. The market price for small smart bullets for pistols and SMGs was 6 eddies per round, while smart shotgun shells went for 30 eddies each. As a monopolized technology, the profit margin for smart ammo was substantial, especially for smart shotgun shells. The annual revenue could hover around 4 million eurodollars, with a monthly net profit of about 120,000 eurodollars after costs. After giving Leo and his crew their 20% cut, Chesson would be left with roughly 100,000 eurodollars per month in pure profit. 120,000 eurodollars might sound like a lot. And honestly, it was a substantial sum, but it wasn't as astronomical as one might imagine. That's why Kang Tao agreed to let Chesson handle the production—smart ammo was undoubtedly valuable and monopolized, but the ammunition business was part of the arms trade's downstream, meaning that middlemen like Chesson wouldn't see the highest profit margins. Sure, with some clever maneuvering, prices could be raised a bit, but not by much. 100,000 eurodollars a month is not insignificant, but compared to others, it's modest! Even without comparing to someone like Leo, who, when successful, earns near-zero-cost profits, the drugs sold by Biotechnica were still absurdly expensive. But for Jackie and V, getting a few thousand eurodollars a month for doing nothing was something they never dared to dream of before. Leo had broadened their horizons and whetted their appetites, and now Chesson was feeling the impact too. As soon as Jackie got the money, he transferred 100,000 to V. "Hey, I've repaid you—feels good. This is the most cash I've ever had at one time." Upon receiving the money, V immediately glanced at Leo. Leo gave Jackie a helpless look—seriously, who's this eager to pay back a debt? Leo could only obediently transfer the remaining amount to V, keeping only 10,000 eurodollars for himself. Receiving the money made V's eyes light up—her savings had now reached 860,000 eurodollars, close to breaking the 1 million mark! But she wasn't satisfied, and she slammed her glass down on the table. "Why did Roshan take 30% right off the top? I'm not okay with that!" "Sis, think about it. That batch was stolen goods, dirty money. She could've taken 50, 60, or even 70 percent and still been generous!" Handling stolen goods was far more complicated than V imagined, especially with drugs. If it were just stolen guns, it wouldn't be a big deal since Night City was flooded with firearms. As long as it wasn't a controlled weapon like a Masamune, the only worry would be the original owner tracking it down. But drugs were a different story—Biotechnica's agents kept a close eye on these things. They allocated a significant portion of their annual profits to Night City's drug regulation departments and other governmental entities. Simply put, if you sold goods in Night City, you couldn't avoid this issue. If pushed too far and NetWatch got involved, it would become an even bigger mess. Selling to nomads cut out the fixer, but selling within Night City was a far more complex affair. Regardless, dealing with that first batch of goods was satisfying, making them rich once again. Of course, Leo was still in debt, now owing V 60,000 eurodollars. Watching V gulp down her drink, a terrifying thought crossed Leo's mind—what if I'm forever in debt to V? "Whatever—" V poured herself another drink, "Let's enjoy it now—tonight, the bar tab's on me! Order whatever you like!" "Hey, hey, hey! V! You stole my line!" Jackie hurried to pull V back, but his voice was drowned out by the rising cheers— The atmosphere in El Coyote Cojo skyrocketed. A Valentino kid with a high mohawk jumped onto the bar and started belting out a tune. Mama Welles, seeing V like this, smiled and waved at Jackie. The mother and son knew today would be a big payday, and they headed to the back to bring out more alcohol. In truth—though the bar was already packed, the news that someone was picking up the tab would soon spread across Heywood, drawing in every available youngster to get a free drink. When that happened... things would get wild. Leo smiled at the revelry, holding a bottle of soda in one hand and a plate of synthetic steamed meat in the other as he headed out of the bar. He happened to bump into the busy Mama Welles. "Leo, are you leaving? Not staying for a drink with the others?" "Ah, it's a health thing—can't drink. Mrs. Welles, please keep an eye on V. Don't let her drink herself to death; we've got to hit up The Afterlife tomorrow." "The Afterlife?" Mrs. Wells looked puzzled. "Jackie didn't mention that. He only said he was going out for some fresh air tomorrow." Leo froze—oh no. He had just thrown his buddy under the bus. Mama Welles sighed as she saw Leo's expression: "Leo, you're different from them. I know you understand me. Jackie's been trying to join a gang since he was a kid, and he's gotten into trouble more than once. But now, the stuff he's into is getting more dangerous. I just... I just don't want him to end up like his father." Leo was silent for a moment before replying: "Mrs. Welles, you have to understand, this is who Jackie is—or rather, until he truly believes he's made it big, he won't understand what you're saying." "Or maybe he'll only realize it after he's dead," Mama Welles muttered a curse in Spanish. She resigned herself, saying, "But maybe that's just how Welles men are—perhaps with you around, Jackie might actually become someone." Leo smiled but was lost in thought about the past. In his previous life, he'd seen too many parents demanding promises from him—promises that their kids would return, that they'd succeed, that they'd... die with honor. But how could anyone guarantee such things? In the end, it was all just a matter of mechanically searching for words in his head to respond with. Mama Welles was a wise woman—she knew there was no way to make such promises. "I thought you'd be dragging him back to the garage to reflect on things by now." Mama Welles chuckled: "He's already listened to me once. Quitting the Valentinos was the hardest time of his life. But I was right—if he hadn't, he wouldn't have met you guys. I'll keep an eye on both of them. But I'm sure V will be calling your name soon, begging you to come back and drink." "Just ignore her. She'll calm down eventually." With that, Leo headed towards the metro—despite the late hour, he still needed to make a trip to Old Vic's clinic.